by Hart, Taylor
In one quick motion, he had his hands on her shoulders and had pulled her back into the sitting room, put her on the couch, and sat next to her. “Talk.”
Humiliated, she shook her head.
He waited a few seconds. Then, he got up and retrieved the ice before sitting next to her again.
“I’m sorry. I’m … just scared. And I know ... Rationally, I know that Ken’s problems were Ken’s problems, but I guess I’ve just been on my own for so long I keep thinking that there is no way anyone would ever want to get involved with me. Or … I can’t even think about a relationship, because what if something happens to Callie?”
Brooks slowly reached out and took her hand. “I told you. I’m not going anywhere.” He let out a sigh. “I have always thought what I do is more important than anything I could ever say. Amber used to tell me that I needed to talk more. We even went to counseling. I …” He took the ice down and looked at her. “I guess I should just say it. I really like you.”
She felt silly. It was like they were confessing feelings in junior high. “I like you, too.”
He grinned. “So we’re in extreme like.” Leaning down, he brushed his lips to hers again.
She giggled at the phrase and knew that she was definitely in more than extreme like.
Brooks grinned and pulled back. “Hey, want to split a pizza?”
Chapter 18
Half an hour later, Brooks sat across from Ana on the floor, splitting a pizza they’d ordered from an all-night pizza place.
“Isn’t eating pizza a cardinal sin for you?” She grinned at him and took a piece of pepperoni.
Taking a huge bite of pizza and then chewing before he answering, he grinned. “Admit it, you kind of like Callie’s habit of stalking me.” Her reddened cheeks only fueled his desire to tease her more. “Oh, see, there it is. C’mon, you probably make all the recipes I post for whole food dinners, don’t you?”
Taking a sip of water, she nodded. “You caught me.”
He laughed and shoved down a few more bites. He hadn’t even realized how hungry he’d been. “You’re right. I probably shouldn’t be eating pizza at one in the morning.”
“Me neither.”
He looked her up and down. With her flowing blond hair that had a shade of red to it in the right light, and wearing her yoga pants and T-shirt, she looked beautiful, but too thin. “I think you can stand to put on a few pounds.”
A light laugh escaped her. “Right, just what most women want to do.”
He gave her a serious look. “I’m serious. We need to get some meat on your bones and get you tough.” He shoved back the side of his T-shirt and flexed his bicep. “Get some guns on you.”
Her eyes widened, and she laughed harder, choking on a bite of pizza.
“You okay?” He grinned at her as she slugged back some water and then took in a deep breath. Trying not to just stare at her, he glanced down at the piece of pizza in the box. He debated and then decided against taking it. “Do you want the last piece?”
Putting one hand on her stomach, she leaned back on her other hand and let her head fall back, closing her eyes. “No. I already think I’m going to be sick in the morning.”
It was fascinating how much he enjoyed looking at her. Especially like this. Relaxed. Happy. Full. It astounded him how satisfying this moment felt for him, knowing he’d had something to do with it.
Her eyes flashed open. “You really need to hold ice on those bruises.”
Standing, he picked up the pizza box and their trash. “Do you want to hang out for a bit longer?”
Glancing up at him, she shrugged. “Not as a friend, but as someone in extreme like with you, right?”
He got back to her and held out his hand to help her up. “We’re celebrating tonight—in extreme like. Let’s go lay on the bed. I promise I’ll stay on my side, and we can talk.” Gently, he leaned down and kissed her.
She hesitated.
He kissed her again.
She giggled. “Okay, I’ll stay for a little bit, but then I’m going back to my own room. And no kissing on the bed.” She grinned at him.
“Okay.” He would take what he could get. It was funny to him that this same woman was the one he couldn’t get away from fast enough less than two days ago. He lay down and put one ice pack over his eye and another ice pack on his lip.
Tentatively, she lay on the other side of the bed. Feeling like she was way too far away, he held his hand out to her. Scooting closer, she grinned at him. “You probably have more places that need ice?”
He patted his shoulder. “My shoulder’s good, if you want to lay your head on it.”
She took his hand and scooted a bit closer. “I’ll stay here.”
“Okay.” He didn’t want to pressure her to get closer to him, but he felt so drawn to her. He closed his eyes, satisfied with her hand in his.
She squeezed his hand. “Tell me something about you. You know everything about me.”
Glancing at her, he saw that she’d closed her eyes. “Hmm, like what?”
She let out a sigh. “Well, you’re right. I guess I do know a lot about you. The Brooks Stone in the media, but … I want to know something that’s not in the media.”
His mind spun. “Like what? You know I was a foster kid. No parents. No siblings.”
“I do know that. I’m sorry.” She scooted closer to him.
He sighed. “I decided a long time ago that I could spend my life upset about my crappy childhood, or I could focus on the future. On the now. On what I’ve been given.”
“You impress me, Brooks Stone.”
Dropping the ice, he leaned over and flicked off the light above the bed. “Good, I’m glad I can impress someone.” He slid back down, facing her. Softly, he put his hand to her cheek. “But I’m really not impressive.”
She gave him a slight cuff to the shoulder. “Are you kidding me? You’re a professional football player. Who just kicked my ex’s butt even with an ankle injury.” She quickly sat up. “Oh my gosh, did you hurt your ankle?”
He scoffed. “My ankle’s fine. Lie back down.”
Putting her hand over her heart, she let out a sigh. “I should never have let you fight him. I wasn’t even thinking. You have the game in less than two days.”
“Hush, lie back.” Gently, he tugged her back into him.
Tentatively, she relaxed and leaned into him. “You amaze me again and again.”
It already felt so right, having her here with him. “Ana, do you realize how amazing you are? Single mom taking care of a little girl with a disease that no one thinks she can fight any longer?”
She sniffed. “Except you.”
Smelling her vanilla scent, he leaned into her. “Yes, I do.”
“No kissing.” She put her finger on his lips.
But he was determined and got the kiss. “Just one.”
She didn’t move back, and he could feel her breath. “You believe she’ll get better. I’ll always owe you for that.”
He kissed her again. “What can I say? I always bet on the underdog.”
She kissed him with more passion.
He pulled back. “What about no kissing?”
She laughed. “I guess I lied.”
He kissed her again, holding her close. He wanted so much more, but he wanted to wait for it too.
She sniffed.
“Are you crying?” He touched her face and found tears.
“Do you really believe that Callie will beat this?”
He pulled her head to his chest and propped his chin on her, feeling like they fit together so perfectly. “Yeah, she’s gonna beat this.”
He didn’t know how long they stayed there like that. Time stood still, and in that moment, he realized he loved her.
She pulled back. “Brooks, tell me how you know she’ll beat it.”
He heard the doubt in her voice. He settled back into the pillow, keeping her head on his shoulder. “Because I’m the one in a million
. I’m the kid that got picked to play pro. I’m the kid that made it. And Callie deserves to be that one too. She … she just is. I feel it.”
He heard her suck in another breath. “Thank you. For believing.”
“Always.”
They waited a few minutes, saying nothing. Not needing anything except this moment.
“I’m still waiting to know more about Brooks Stone.”
He sighed.
“I want to know you.”
He hesitated, but he wanted to tell her the truth. “Amber left me. Before she died that day, she told me she was leaving.”
“Wh-what?” She pushed back from him, but he pulled her close again.
He forced himself to tell her all of it. “We’d had some troubles getting pregnant. She didn’t think I’d been there enough for her. I was in the thick of the season, but she thought I should have been at all of the appointments. So she told me she was done, and she took off. She had already packed a bag. An hour later, I got a call from the hospital.”
“Oh, Brooks.” She cuddled closer to him. “I’m so sorry.”
Then he did what he hadn’t allowed himself to do before, and tears fell down his cheeks.
She reached up, touching his face. “I’m so sorry.”
He snorted and wiped miserably at his face. “You’re the first person I’ve told.”
She kissed his cheek. “It’s okay.”
In that moment, he realized why part of him was so attracted to her: she had soothed the same pain in her frightened daughter. “You’re good at comforting people. Did you know that?”
She let out a sigh. “I don’t think most people would say that.”
“Most people don’t know the real you.”
Snuggling into him, she squeezed his hand. “Tell me more.”
After a few seconds, he decided to lay it all out. “I’ve been depressed. At least, that’s what my agent says.”
“Of course you have,” she said kindly.
“My agent caught me on the bottom of the pool the other day.”
“I’m so sorry, Brooks.”
Tears welled up in his eyes. “That was the day he asked me to come meet Callie.” He was silent.
She put her hand on his face, wiping his tears. “I remember watching the funeral proceedings with Callie. You stood there in that line at the funeral. You shook those people’s hands and accepted condolences. You buried a woman who’d left you.”
He hadn’t thought about it so plainly. “Man, you sure have a way of making it seem worse.” But he knew she was only speaking the truth.
“Couple that with being a foster kid, abandoned at birth ...” She trailed off.
Taking her hand, he settled back into his pillow, loving the way she was cuddled into him and the way she sounded protective of him. It was exactly how he’d felt about her and Callie since the night he’d offered to come with her.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re not saying anything. What are you thinking? I analyze too much? But it makes perfect sense you had all this anger inside of you and wanted to just … punch someone.” She pulled back and slammed a fist next to his shoulder.
“Whoa, tiger.” He laughed, loving her fire, her passion. “We’re gonna have to get some gloves on you.”
She put her hand back on his, but stayed propped on her elbow. “I’m sorry you went through so much.”
Staring up at her moonlit face, he found himself smiling. “I think it might have all been worth it to be right where I’m at now.”
Chapter 19
Ana woke to the sound of knocking. Sitting up, it took her a moment to register that she was in her hotel room. Thoughts of the previous night, kissing him, talking with him, and falling asleep next to him, went through her mind.
“Ana!”
Jumping off her bed, she flung back the door. Brooks stood there, hair gelled, wearing dark jeans and a Miami Surf athletic T-shirt.
Her insides went all gooey. “H-hey.”
One arm was up, and he leaned against the doorframe with a rugged smile. A bruise darkened half of his face, but she thought he still looked good, even with a bruise like that. “I tried to call, and when you didn’t answer, I started knocking. Then I had to knock harder. Sorry to wake you.”
Putting her hand to what she was sure was a rat’s nest of a mess, she stepped back. “What’s up?”
For a second, he only smiled and kind of blushed. She would definitely tease him about that later. Before she realized what he was doing, he bear-hugged her and picked her up. “Good morning.”
She laughed, and he put her down and gently kissed her. Her heart raced, and she knew she was blushing. “Good morning.”
Vaguely, she remembered lightly waking and realizing that he was carrying her to her room. She smiled. “You didn’t have to carry me to bed. I could have walked.”
Reaching forward, he took her hand. “What would you say if I said it’s part of my hero complex? That I actually liked tucking you in?”
She grinned back, loving the way his hand felt in hers. “I would say that you definitely have problems.”
He bent down and kissed her again. “You have no idea.”
Pulling back and trying to clear the cool mint aftershave out of her mind, she focused on him.
“Airport.”
“Oh my gosh, airport.” She rushed back into the room.
But she still heard him laughing. “Hey, I’m going down to do a photo op for the hotel. I’ll be back to get you in half an hour.”
* * *
As they sat next to each other in first class with her hand tucked in his, Ana couldn’t help but think about how much things had changed between them. She couldn’t help but think about how much everything in her life would now change.
Gratitude washed over her. Now she could take Callie to Brazil. She had to get everything from her townhouse stored. Maybe she would just have a huge sale. She calculated how much she had saved and how much she’d need to take out in loans; she’d sold her mother’s home last year, and she would be close to having enough—at least to get them there and stay for a few weeks. She could keep doing work for clients online. She would figure it out.
“What are you thinking about?”
She turned and saw a dreamy look on Brooks’s face—a look that surely mirrored her own. “Oh, I was just thinking about the details of getting us to Brazil.”
He squeezed her hand. “I was thinking about you going, and I have a favor I need to ask you.”
“Okay.” She had no idea what she could do for him, but she would do anything for him. This man was the man who’d given her hope again.
“Let me pay for it.”
“What?”
He leaned closer to her, his blue eyes serious. “Please.”
“No.” No. No. No. She already felt indebted enough to him. “You’ve done enough.” She turned away from him, taking her hand out of his.
“Ana,” he insisted, his voice getting louder.
Her answer came quick and sharp. “No.”
For a few minutes, he didn’t speak, and she picked up one of the magazines in the seat in front of her and pretended to study it. Eventually, he broke the silence. “Can I tell you something?”
She pretended to halfway listen to him. “Sure, go ahead.”
He waited. “Will you please lean back?”
Exhaling, she complied and leaned back. “Fine.” She kept the magazine in her hands.
He looked at her hand like he wanted to take it, then focused on her eyes. “You know how much I make a year.”
She jabbed a finger toward his face. “You know you wouldn’t be able to write this off on your taxes, because it’s not going to an organization. It would be going to an individual.”
He looked bored. “You know I don’t care about stuff like that.”
Clearly, he was crazy. She sucked in another breath and fought her urge to cry. This wasn’t possible. This j
ust wasn’t possible.
Tentatively, he picked up her hand.
She tugged hers away. “Don’t.” For several minutes she tried to ignore him, hoping that the topic would end there, until her patience ran out and she finally turned to look at him. “What?”
His look was severe. It was like the look he’d given Ken the night before, when he was about to fight him. “So you’re going to ask Sam Dumont?”
“No. I’m going to use every ounce of money I have and then continue to work for clients online.”
He sighed. “I have sixty-five million dollars in my account.”
Not knowing why he was telling her this, she turned to him in exasperation. “Shh, don’t.” She glanced around to see if anyone else had heard.
“No.” He put his hand on her arm. “Please look at me.”
She stared at him, unsure of why she wanted to cry again.
“I have sixty-five million dollars in cash. I have a couple more million wrapped up in homes. I have endless supplies of free things that people give me, hoping I’ll endorse their products. But guess what I don’t have?”
She blinked. “What?”
“A daughter.” Now his eyes got glossy. “I don’t have a spunky, football-hero-worshipping daughter with beautiful green eyes like her mother’s and a wish to live so her mama won’t be alone.”
Tears threatened to flow. “Did she say that?”
He nodded and gently took her hand. “I don’t think you get it. Don’t you remember? God told her I would help her.”
Now she couldn’t stop the tears.
“I know this might sound crazy to you, but I’ve never had a child love me the way your daughter does. Some might say that she’s a silly girl, but you and I both know better than that. Knowing your daughter, being with her even a short time, was one of the only times I think in my whole life I’ve been able to understand when people talk about God’s love.”
She still cried.
“It would be a gift to me. It would be my honor if I got to help in some small, minute way on this journey to save her life.”
She shook her head.
He squeezed her hand. “I mean it, Ana. I love Callie. That is a gift to me. She melted my heart. She taught me more about love and friendship and kindness in one day than I’d learned my whole life. Please … let me do this.”
