Line of Scrimmage: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (Pass To Win Book 2)

by Roxy Sinclaire

  He stopped and froze. Only his eyes were moving like a madman’s. “What? What are you talking about? You cunt!”

  “What? You heard me, scumbag! I regret the day I ever met you. I hate you!” I screamed from the top of my lungs.

  “Liar! How could you do that?” He raised his hand to hit me, but an invisible force stopped him from doing so. “You whore! What have you done? The business deal is history. Remember that! I will never accept it.”

  He went out, ruby in the cheeks. The door closed itself with a jerk.

  I felt my knees buckle and I fell on the ground, sobbing. Loud sobs tore from my chest. I cried and wailed. My life was crumbling before me. I put my head in my hands, my vision blurry. Everything had seemed so ordinary. I had returned back to the right track. And now this. More tears were sliding down my cheeks. They fell in torrents, ruining my make-up. Fuck!

  However, the thing that pained me most was the possibility that this jerk James could be Mia’s biological father. Shit! Oh boy, what had I done? That didn’t help my crying at all. On the contrary, I cried even harder with no chance of stopping. All my sadness and sorrow escaped through every pore of my body.

  I scared him off, all right. But what would happen if… if… the paternity test proved that Sean wasn’t the father. This idiot would destroy my life. Ashes. Gone. Dead. What would happen to Mia? That poor thing. What was her fault in all of this? I couldn’t stop myself. My thoughts were running wild, coming up with worst case scenarios—each more horrible than the last. My past had come back to haunt me. I had to pay for the mistakes of my past. That was a fact. My cruel reality.

  Without having anything to do or anyone to turn to, I fished my phone from my bag. I dialed Sean’s number and he picked up immediately.

  “Kayla! Hey, babe!” He said all cheerful.

  That shattered my heart even more. I broke down into tears. Crying my soul out. “Sean! Sean, please, help me! Please, come and pick me up!”

  Hearing me in tears and distress, he was alarmed. “Babe, what happened? Where are you?”

  I told him where I was. “I’ll explain everything. Just come, please.” I wiped my nose with the edge of my sleeve. And waited. For my prince on the white horse to save me.

  My eyes scanned my wrists which were blue from the tight grip of that moron. I cursed under my breath.

  Tears fell down in black lines. All thanks to the mascara.

  Didn’t someone say not to cry because mascara was too expensive? Well, I didn’t hold onto that rule tonight.

  18

  Sean

  The windshield of my car was smeared with droplets of rain. I was driving like crazy. As if the devil was chasing me. I was sure that every man whose loved one called him in horror would act the same.

  The streets were wet because of the ugly weather. The rain was beating down mercilessly. My wipers were working in full force.

  Finally, I got to the restaurant Kayla told me about. I saw her wrapped up in a coat with her hair wet and framing her beautiful face. Her whole make-up was destroyed.

  At the sight of her, I immediately sprang up from my seat and ran towards her. I hugged her tightly. Her whole body was shivering, partly from the cold and partly because of the shock.

  “Babe, what happened? Tell me. Are you okay?” I showered her with questions as I took off my jacket and put it on her.

  “T-T-Thanks,” she replied. “I’ll tell you everything in the car.”

  “Oh, Kayla. You scared me so bad,” I said not letting her go. And I wouldn’t let her go anywhere. I was going to protect her. All the time. 24/7 if needed.

  “Sorry for that.” She gave me a wan smile.

  “Don’t apologize. Come in,” I said and held the door for her.

  Once we were inside my car, I turned up the heat to the maximum level. It was eerily silent.

  Pressing the gas pedal, we were on our way to her apartment. I didn’t want to push her, but nevertheless I was dying to know what she had gone through.

  “James Clarke was at the dinner. He’s the leader of the project team or something like that.”

  “Who?” I asked, shifting to look at her briefly.

  “The man I had… You know… After we broke up.”

  My jaw dropped. “Mia’s possible—”

  “Yeah. That one. He was rough with me and followed me to the bathroom. He wanted to… I don’t know.”

  I stopped in the middle of the street. Horrified. “That fucker! Did he do something to you?” I shouted at the top of my lungs.

  “No, he didn’t. It’s okay.”

  “It’s not okay, babe. Far from it. That fucking bastard!” I shouted. “I’m going back,” I said and started to turn.

  Kayla grabbed my arm. “No, Sean. Please don’t. Don’t make it worse than it is. Leave him. I’ll deal with him.”

  “It can’t be left like this. I’ll show that bastard what happens to people that mess with my loved ones!”

  “No. Calm down Sean. He won’t accept our deal and my boss will be angry with me.”

  I breathed in and out. When I learned to control my rage, I was taught to always consider the consequences.

  “I told him he might be Mia’s father.”

  “You what?”

  “I had to. He called me a liar and…” Kayla started crying. “He said that the deal was off.”

  “Oh, babe,” I said and hugged her. Her tears wetted my shirt.

  “It’s all my fault. I’m the one that let him into our lives that night eight years ago.”

  “Shh… Babe, I’m here. Forever,” I whispered and caressed her hair. And with that all of my wishes to go back and kill that lunatic were revived. How could he touch something that was mine? Piece of shit! I was angry to the core, but I concealed that from Kayla. I could feel the blood pumping through my veins and felt like I was breathing fire from my nostrils, I was so pissed!

  “Promise me you won’t do anything to him,” she breathed out. “Promise me you’ll let it go.”

  “Okay. If you don’t want me to, I won’t. I promise,” I replied quickly in order to calm her.

  I sighed as I closed my eyes; and against my will I repeated, “I promise.”

  Kayla had composed herself and freshened up. She had reapplied her make-up and smiled in the car mirror. All of it was behind her. Or at least she tried to make it look that way. But I knew better.

  “Why don’t you come inside,” she suggested.

  “You sure?” I said, raising my eyebrows.

  “Absolutely. Say goodnight to Mia plus you’ll get to meet Danielle. You still haven’t met her, right?”

  “Okay.” I smiled. I loved these unexpected moments with Mia that seemed to keep coming up in my life. Not as often as I wanted them to, but still, I was content.

  Danielle was a young woman, a bit younger than me and Kayla. She had long blonde hair and green eyes that scanned everything. She was sitting on the sofa with Mia, a few toys between them.

  “Sean! Sean! Sean!” Mia shouted as she ran towards me. I crouched down to pick her up in my arms.

  “How’s my most beautiful girl in the whole world, hmm?” I asked kissing her cheeks.

  “Great. I’m playing with Danielle. Do you want to join us?”

  I opened my mouth to say that I would love to, but Kayla interfered. “Mia, sweetie, you have school tomorrow. It’s time to go to bed. You can continue later.”

  “But I don’t want to go to bed,” she replied with sad puppy eyes. Then she remembered something and turned to me. “Can you read me a bedtime story? Please, please, please!”

  “Definitely, yeah. I’ll read you two if you like,” I said, giving her my biggest happiest smile.

  Danielle stood up and picked up her bag.

  Kayla ruffled Mia’s hair. “Go, brush your teeth and wait for Sean in your bedroom. We’ll say goodbye to Danielle and he’ll be in. Okay?”

  “Yay!” Mia laughed and ran.

  I watched her run
happily as my heart warmed. Suddenly a hand was extended before my eyes. Danielle.

  “Hello, sir. My name’s Danielle Rowen. I’m Mia’s nanny, as you surely know,” she said and giggled.

  “Nice to meet you.” I shook her hand and smiled a bit fake. I had a strange feeling about this woman.

  Now she lowered her tone. “Just so you know I’m your biggest fan.” she said as she winked.

  Told ya! I could smell these kinds of girls from a mile away.

  I turned to see Kayla’s expression, but she didn’t seem to pay attention. She was already taking care of the toys scattered everywhere.

  I was speechless. What was I supposed to reply? Thank you? That I liked her compliments? No. That was the old Sean Coleman. This, the new one, said, “Okay. I’ll see you out.”

  Perhaps it was a bit rude, but that was the only way for this woman. I opened the door for her.

  “So that we keep in touch and coordinate. For Mia, you know. When you want to see her,” she said and offered me a piece of yellow paper. There was a phone number written on it. And next to it her name.

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  “No matter the time, call me, okay?” She exited the apartment. Just when I wanted to close the door, she turned and blew me a kiss. Seriously? What a pushy parasite of a woman! I had had enough of all these crazy women. When was it going to end? A tiny voice in my mind whispered in my ear: Never.

  I shook my head and looked for Kayla. She was waiting for me.

  “Come on, let’s read our… Mia a story, okay?” I asked. I was going to say something else instead of Mia, but my tongue stopped me from saying so. I guessed that I didn’t want Kayla to think that I was labeling myself as her biological father when perhaps I wasn’t. That bloody paternity test stood between us. I so badly wanted to be her father. I really did. I wished for nothing else.

  Kayla understood my dilemma and only nodded. “Yeah, let’s.”

  We found ourselves in Mia’s bedroom. I picked up a storybook lying on the nightstand and turned a random page.

  “Any special story requests, princess?” I asked Mia winking at her.

  “No. Anything.” She giggled as Kayla covered her with the blanket up to her small chin.

  It was a story of a miller’s daughter I hadn’t heard of until now.

  “Once upon a time there lived a miller’s daughter…” I began when Mia interrupted me.

  “Can the both of you tell me a story? I’d really like that,” Mia said in her tiny voice.

  Subsequently, I looked at Kayla. She was as taken aback as me. Kayla met my gaze and nodded.

  “All right,” she told her daughter. “What story are we going to tell, big guy?” She turned to me and laughed.

  I laughed as well, closing the storybook. “Okay… So… Once upon a time there lived a sad elf. He was bigger than the average of his kind and was very good at climbing trees.”

  “Why was he sad?” Mia asked.

  “Because he loved a human,” replied Kayla. “She had beautiful long hair and wonderful, warm eyes. They had met long ago, but she had to return to her world, because she didn’t belong in his.” Kayla glanced at me. Her eyes were teary.

  We were telling her our own story. I was the elf and she was the human. It was a story we knew by heart, obviously. And the one we could tell in turns. Where Kayla stopped, I continued and vice versa. A huge smile appeared on Mia’s face whenever the storyteller shifted. Her eyes were alight. I had never seen her that happy before.

  “… Together they married and had wonderful children. They all lived happily ever after. The end. It’s time for Princess Mia to sleep,” I said, smoothing down the blanket and leaning to kiss her forehead.

  Kayla had already stood up when Mia shook our world with just four words. Her eyes were looking at me. “Are you my daddy?”

  I was about to fall off the bed. My body froze completely. I did not expect that. Cray cray, right? Kayla was in shock as well. This came like lightning on a sunny day.

  I started to mumble and stutter, struggling to find the right words. But I couldn’t find any. Hashtag utterly startled. That hashtag worked for Kayla as well, who was sweating heavily. Oh, what a small girl could do to two adults.

  “I… He… Well…” Kayla began, but couldn’t finish.

  “It’s okay,” Mia broke her off. “I really don’t care. Because I love him anyway.”

  That was an even bigger bombshell for me. “You really do?” I asked in a tiny voice.

  “Yeah, I do, Sean. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re my dad or not. I love you no matter what.”

  I couldn’t help it but kiss her on the forehead. “I love you, too. To the moon and back. Even more than that.”

  All of us chuckled and Mia went to sleep afterwards. Kayla and I closed the door.

  “She’s so smart. I can’t believe it,” Kayla said, smiling.

  “Yeah. We think that she’s just a kid and that she doesn’t see anything. We were wrong.” I chuckled. The kid tricked the both of us.

  “I, myself, didn’t expect her to say that. But I was pleasantly surprised that she accepted you. She didn’t say a single word to me,” Kayla replied.

  “A brilliant girl,” I concluded through laughs.

  I stayed with Kayla a bit until it became really late.

  “I have to go now, babe,” I said kissing her.

  “No, please stay for a bit longer.” Her eyes were pleading. With a heavy heart I had to leave. I didn’t want to either.

  “Believe me. I want to spend the rest of my life like this. Come on now, Mia could see us.”

  We chuckled. I went to my place and on my way there, I felt as if I was flying. My biggest fear that Mia wouldn’t want me as her father was gone. Phew! Thank God for that! I sensed that I could do anything. That anything was possible. I was the king of the world!

  As I changed into my pajamas, I remembered the nanny. Danielle Rowen. Her name meant only trouble. She was trouble. I had a strong feeling in my gut that she was a woman I should stay away from. I didn’t like her. It was that simple.

  19

  Kayla

  “Wanna grab some lunch with us?” My assistant said in front of me.

  I was buried in the papers and without even looking at her declined. “As much as I want to I can’t. This business proposal is a real pain in the ass.”

  She chuckled and wished me good luck.

  “Thanks,” I replied. “I’m gonna need it. Badly.” I stared at the proposal printed on more than a hundred pages and propped my head on the heels of my hands. “Oh my God, what am I going to do? Poor me!”

  Procrastinating was definitely not an option. So I turned off my computer and put my cell on silent mode. It was only me and the proposal and a yellow highlighter. Editing and rewriting.

  I thought that my head was going to explode. It was insanely warm and I felt like several handfuls of water or a nice shower would feel amazing. However, my wishes were one thing and my possibilities quite the opposite. I was locked in my office until I had crafted the perfect business deal. Perfect was put in bold, italic and underline by my boss. So, yeah. It had to be perfect in every meaning of the word.

  It was nearly lunchtime and the office was almost empty. My stomach was grumbling; I hadn’t eaten a single thing since yesterday’s early dinner. And now it was past midday. Famished.

  I chased away those thoughts and tried to desperately concentrate on the redraft. It turned out that writing it was hard, but editing it was harder. Redrafting it, however, which was something like rewriting it, was unbelievably tough. I had put all of my original thoughts and ideas into the first draft. That sank. So, I was supposed to come up with something new. What that new was exactly, no one could tell me. Everything was up to me. Thanks, guys. Thanks, boss.

  For sure I was going crazy. All morning long, I started to talk to myself.

  “Shit, this was left out… Fewer numbers, more facts. Got it… That paragraph is too shor
t… Oh, I didn’t think of that the first time…” I was mumbling to myself as my pen ran across the paper, leaving notes and even lengthy paragraphs in the margins.

  A knock on the door.

  Startled, I jumped from my seat. I was staring at my boss who had a neutral expression on his face. What the heck did he want now? What was I? A puppet? Kayla, this—Kayla that?

  “Sir?” I said, bewildered.

  “James is on his way. He wants to give us a second chance.”

  That was enough to brighten up my mood a bit. “Really? That’s fantastic news!” I exclaimed.

  “Yes, it is. But it won’t be if you mess it up again.”

  “I promise I won’t,” I interrupted him.

  “Good. He said that he wanted to go through it with you,” my boss told me, staring directly in my eyes. I wasn’t blinking.

  Swallowing hard. “Okay. Anything else?”

  “Oh, yeah. Almost forgot. He mentioned something strange. He told me that you didn’t exactly want the proposal to go through. I thought that you’d be the one to explain it to me. I mean, what he meant by that.”

  “I-I-I don’t know…” I began, but was cut off by his raised hand.

  He came closer to me. His huge stomach touched the edge of the desk. “This,” he said and placed his sausage-like fingers on the papers on my desk. “This is the most important proposal in the history of the company. You understand?”

  “Mhm.” I nodded.

  “We’re making history here. You hold the destiny of the whole law firm. And if something doesn’t work…”

  “It will. I assure you,” I said with my teeth clenched.

  “If something goes wrong, if you don’t make sure this proposal passes, you can clean out your desk and be gone from here. There won’t be a place for you here. Mark my words,” he said, turned shut the door with a bang. Ouch.

  After he was left, the only question in my mind was when had everyone started to go nuts? First, James, then my boss. What was wrong with people? My boss had always saved a smile for me and encouraged me when I was working. He pushed me to be better. And this… This was far from that. I thought to go to his office and tell him everything face to face, but decided not to. I was going to push this damn proposal through once and for all, come hell or high water.