Escorting the Player (The Escort Collection Book 3)

by Leigh James

  "I only gave her about a thousand," I said, referring to the bills I'd handed to Avery earlier. "Is that enough?"

  "I already gave her two thousand earlier this week," Avery said, her voice flat, "so I'm thinking no."

  "She's knows you're on an assignment, right?" My voice was tight.

  She picked at some invisible lint on the T-shirt she'd changed into. "Yep."

  I cracked open a beer. "This isn't good. If she went public—"

  "She won't," Avery said, interrupting me. "I'll give her whatever she wants. I won't let her do that to you."

  I took a sip of beer. "I'm sorry she's like that. And that you have to deal with her."

  Avery raised her eyes to mine. "Not as sorry as I am."

  "Maybe I can help…" I let my voice trail off. I didn't know what to say. I really didn't want to get involved with the sister. I could tell she was bad news. She was also probably a black hole—if I started giving her money, she'd never go away.

  She shook her head. "That's not your responsibility. I'll deal with it."

  After I finished my beer, we listlessly went to bed. "I can't watch the show," I mumbled. "Practice early." I crawled under the covers and motioned for her to join me. Our earlier high had come crashing down, and now I just felt exhausted.

  "S'okay," Avery said, coming close to me but not touching. "I'm tired, anyway.

  "Good night," I said. It sounded awkward and formal.

  "Good night."

  * * *

  AVERY

  Of course, I couldn't sleep. Images of my sister in her rented dress kept swirling in my mind, as well as images of Jess and Pax inspecting her.

  She was a liability and I knew it.

  What was worse, Chase knew it. And it seemed to bother him.

  I rolled over and watched him sleep. Lila wasn't a bad person; she just wasn't always a good person. But I'd meant what I said—I wouldn't let her hurt him. His powerful chest rose and fell rhythmically and I studied him, mesmerized. I wouldn't let anyone hurt him.

  Especially not me.

  * * *

  After a fitful night's sleep, I woke up to find Chase already out of bed. I stumbled out and found him in the kitchen.

  "Hey," he said. "Want some coffee?"

  I nodded, trying to gauge his mood. "Are you happy about going back to practice?"

  "Oh yeah." He looked so excited that I relaxed, even though I hadn't been fully aware that I was tense. "Can't wait. Would you like to come with me?"

  I perked up. "Can I?"

  "Sure—it's fun. A lot of fans come out to watch us practice. It's free, and it's a great way to get them excited about the season." He checked his phone. "Eric said he expects a record turnout today because I'm going back, and Pax is going to be there."

  "Oh boy."

  "It'll be all right," Chase said, easily. He seemed back to his normal, upbeat self. "Coach will keep us separated. I just have to keep Reggie occupied so he doesn't pummel him."

  "Reggie will just be psyched that you're back," I said.

  "That's true." He smiled at me, and it was like the sun coming out.

  I quickly put on a pair of jean shorts and a Warriors T-shirt, my hair pulled up into a bun. We took Chase's truck to the stadium. He was quiet on the way in.

  "Are you nervous?" I asked.

  "Not at all." He shook his head. "I can't wait. I've missed it."

  Warriors Arena was enormous, surrounded by parks and a plaza with restaurants, shops, and bars. Chase hustled me to the entrance of the practice fields, taking in the group of players already waiting for him. He turned to me, grinning. He was clearly in his element.

  "Okay. You go up and sit in the stands and cheer for me. Real loud, like I like it." He leaned down as if he was about to kiss me. "Thank you for being here," he said, with a look that melted me. "It means a lot."

  I smiled at him, feeling as though things were back to normal between us. "Are you kidding me? This is awesome!"

  "Then you should come with me every day. I seriously love having you here, babe."

  He put his hands in my hair, leaning over me, and then crushed his lips against mine. It felt so hot between us I was worried my shorts were on fire. "Mmm," Chase murmured, pulling away too soon. "We need to do more of that later. We wasted too much time sleeping last night."

  I stared up at him, feeling woozy. I forced myself to snap out of it. "Chase Layne, you stop that right now. Get over there and see your teammates."

  He laughed. "Chase Layne hates to leave you. But he has to go." With a parting nod, he ran off happily toward his team, as if he was a little boy and couldn't wait to practice.

  I climbed into the rapidly filling stands and sat with the rest of the fans. A lot of them gave me curious stares. One woman in particular kept looking at at me, trying to make eye contact.

  I finally turned to her. "Hi," I said awkwardly.

  "Hi!" She was obviously thrilled that I acknowledged her. "You're Chase's girlfriend, right?"

  "Right." I felt stupidly proud.

  "We"—she said, motioning to the rows of fans all around us—"are so excited that Chase seems happy. It's a terrible shame about that wife of his. Ex-wife, I mean." She looked momentarily chastised, but I just shrugged, trying to indicate it was fine. She leaned forward conspiratorially. "I never saw her smiling, that one. It was like she was too good for him." She snorted. "As if." Seemingly satisfied, she turned back toward the practice.

  I watched too, mesmerized. Chase was out there, glorious and muscled, in the center of the field. I couldn't help staring at his calves. They were huge. I guess I hadn't noticed them before, but with his football pants on, they were accentuated, glistening in the sun and straining beneath the fabric.

  I mentally slapped myself. Here I was, sitting at training camp for the Warriors, drooling over the quarterback. I forced myself to stop ogling his calves and take in my surroundings. The stands had filled already, and the grass nearby was quickly being covered by picnic blankets and eager fans. There were hotdog vendors and places to buy slushies; the air of excitement was palpable in the crowd.

  I watched as Chase deftly threw a pass, the ball sailing down the field to Reggie, who caught it easily. Smiling, Chase turned to look for me in the stands and our eyes briefly connected. My heart leapt.

  I hated to admit it to myself, because I knew it was going to hurt later—but even with the Lila drama, and the fact that I was Chase's fake girlfriend, this was hands-down the best week of my life.

  That was sad. It was also true.

  Practice continued through the morning and eventually they took a break. Some of the fans had autographs signed by Chase and the other players. And then I saw a very attractive, albeit overdressed, woman with long dark hair make her way out to the field and drape her arms around one of the players.

  Oh shit. It was Jessica Layne.

  One of Chase's teammates came up and whispered in his ear as he chatted with the fans. Chase shot a wary glance over his shoulder. I took a deep breath and headed down to see him. I could see Jessica and Pax still out on the field, their arms around each other, having a full-blown make-out session, violating every ethical and moral code that a wife and a teammate should hold dear.

  Chase leaned over me when I finally got to him. "I can't believe they're doing this," he said. "It's so unprofessional."

  "I know," I said. I looked over his massive shoulder and caught Jessica staring our way, her gaze flicking curiously over me. I turned back to Chase and grabbed his hand. I didn't want his first practice back ruined. "You're playing really well," I offered. "Everybody in the stands is raving about you. And one woman even told me she was happy you're getting a divorce. The fans are not loving Jess right now."

  "Well, that's good I guess." He shot another look over his shoulder, where they were still engaged in a very public display of affection. "I just want him off my team."

  I squeezed his hand again. "I know." I went back to my seats, my stomach roi
ling on Chase's behalf. I watched as Jessica strutted back across the field in her inappropriately sexy dress and took her place in the stands.

  The woman who'd spoken to me earlier leaned over. "Did you see that?" she hissed. "Absolutely no respect for this team. They ought to throw her out."

  I grimaced in agreement.

  As I watched the practice continue, something was clear to me—Jessica wanted to hurt Chase. Bad.

  I had to make sure she didn't get to my sister.

  That would be a disaster.

  Chapter Eighteen

  CHASE

  I made some phone calls that afternoon and just sort of wandered around in a foul mood. Jessica and Pax had gotten to me today. And the sister had gotten to me last night.

  Just when I'd thought everything was looking up…

  Eric called me. "Hey buddy."

  "Hey." I cracked open a beer and stalked out to my patio.

  "I talked to Wes—they're trading Pax this week. They made the call right after that stunt he and Jess pulled at practice. Tim fully endorsed it."

  I sat down heavily. "Good."

  "You okay?" Eric asked.

  I took a swig of beer. "I just want this to be over with. Jess's seriously trying to fuck with me. I don't even get the point. She's getting a ton of my money. Why would she pull that shit at practice? I can't wrap my head around what she's doing."

  "I have an idea…but you're not going to like it."

  "Just tell me." I had more beer to ward off a threatening headache.

  "I heard through the grapevine that she and Pax are shopping a reality show around," Eric said. "I think she's trying to get as much attention as possible to drum up interest from the networks."

  "Great," I groaned. "So I can be featured as an off-screen villain while she and Pax prance half-naked around a pool."

  "Maybe." Eric sighed. "Probably."

  "What sucks is that they just won't go away. They'll ride this pathetic wave as far as they can."

  "I know," Eric said. "It does suck."

  "It's good that you hired Avery for me," I offered, trying to find a bright side. "At least I'm faring well in the hot new girlfriend department. The team seems good, too. They were totally supportive today. It was awesome to be back."

  "Good," Eric said, his voice neutral. "But I think they would have been anyway. I don't think Avery changed that. I think she just changed how you feel about it. I don't know how much actual credit she gets."

  I bristled at his words. "I thought that was the plan—I was supposed to appear like I was in control, and the rest would fall into place. Remember? Your little pep talk? When you talked me into this in the first place?" My voice was rising. He was seriously on the verge of poking the Chase Layne bear. "What are you saying now—that this was a bad idea?"

  "No—hey, calm down," Eric said. "I'm just concerned."

  "About what?" I barked.

  "That she's becoming a liability," he said quietly. "The sister has me worried. The fact that she showed up at that function bothers me."

  My stomach sank. Eric was saying what I'd been thinking for the past twenty-four hours. "She asked Avery for money," I said.

  "Fuck," Eric said. "What's her deal?"

  I drained my beer. "She doesn't work. She sponges off Avery. She's greedy and cares more about weed and nice clothes than she does that her baby sister's out turning tricks to pay their rent."

  "That's just fucking great," Eric said. "Does the sister know? About you?"

  "Yeah."

  My agent went quiet for a minute, digesting the news. "So what's the play?" he finally asked.

  "Avery said she was taking care of it."

  "That might not be good enough," Eric said.

  I thought of Jess, watching Avery and Lila, her arms crossed against her chest.

  "I know," I said.

  * * *

  AVERY

  I was headed to the kitchen when I heard Chase yelling out back. I went toward the door and then froze. "Remember? Your little pep talk?" he barked into his phone. "When you talked me into this in the first place?"

  I opened my mouth and then closed it, listening to the rest of the conversation even though I knew it was wrong.

  She asked Avery for money.

  She doesn't work…sponges off Avery…doesn't care that her baby sister's turning tricks…

  And the clincher. This was a bad idea.

  He was talking about me. And Lila. And he didn't sound happy about any of it. In fact, he sounded positively furious.

  I looked out the window and saw his face, which was normally open and happy. It was now pinched and angry.

  I fled for the relative sanctuary of my room. A jumble of emotions fought for dominant position inside me as I paced, wringing my hands together.

  Lila was ruining everything. But what else was new?

  What was I really upset about?

  I needed the money from this assignment. If I didn't get it, I would have to keep hooking. There was no other way I was going to make ends meet. I didn't have anyone to take me in, Lila didn't seem interested in earning a paycheck, and my landlord certainly wouldn't do us any favors.

  But even though the money was the reason I was here, it wasn't the thing I cared about. That's not why I was in my room, pacing, on the verge of tears.

  It was Chase. It was his tone, discussing me as if I were a stranger. An inconvenient problem to be solved.

  The hired help.

  I thought I'd felt something real between us over the last few days. It was the way he'd looked at me, held me, called me babe. Was that all an act? So he could get laid?

  A star NFL quarterback, a gorgeous one, didn't need to manipulate their way into lady parts. Or pay to get in there, for that matter. But was that what Chase was doing? Even though he'd bought my services, did he feel like it was necessary to charm me first? To assuage his guilt?

  Mr. Golden Boy couldn't deal with fucking a hooker, so he made it seem like he was winning me over… Was that true? Is that what had happened between us?

  I stopped pacing and looked at myself in the mirror. That wasn't what had happened to me. It was something much worse.

  It was real feelings.

  * * *

  I went to practice with Chase every day. I hadn't told him about the conversation I'd overheard because I didn't know what to say. Pax was gone, traded to Tennessee. Jess had gone with him and was posting their every carefully choreographed and filtered move to social media.

  We settled into a routine, but I felt unsettled. Chase was right next to me, but I didn't know what he was thinking. I also didn't know how long our arrangement would continue to last, or how I was going to deal with it ending.

  Real feelings were a real pain in the ass.

  I made dinner every night. Chase and I were back to binge-watching Game of Thrones. The characters were being treated egregiously, in my opinion. I'd started watching with the covers pulled up to my nose. Bad things kept happening. But still, I couldn't turn away.

  I was in too deep now. I cared too much.

  We were back to having sex, too. But it was different. Now every time I came, I felt like I was going to cry. Emotions were a seriously messed up thing. As far as I was concerned, mine could go fly a kite.

  Chase closed on the new house. He seemed excited. I felt…like I was going to cry.

  The landline rang while Chase was in the shower. I would've never thought of answering it, but I was standing right there and checked the Caller ID in case it was Eric. It wasn't—but it was a number I immediately recognized. My heart stopped.

  "Lila?" I answered the phone. "How did you get this number?"

  "I have my ways," she said. "Besides, you told me never to use your cell phone again."

  I took a deep breath, willing myself to calm down and simultaneously preparing for the worst. "What's up?"

  "You haven't been in touch," she said, her tone wheedling. "I feel like you're cutting me out. You finally
got a piece of something nice, and now you don't want anything to do with me."

  Actress, my head warned, but I still felt my heart wrench. "I'm sorry. I haven't done anything to try to hurt you on purpose. If it seems like I'm distancing myself, I'm only doing it to protect this job."

  "You don't have to lie to me, you know. I think you care a lot about Chase. Admit it."

  I would admit nothing of the kind to my sister. "I'm just trying to help him by making this look real. And to make enough money that I never have to hook again."

  "When're you coming home?" she asked.

  "I don't know." I didn't want to think about it.

  "Well, I need more money between now and whenever that is."

  "How much more?"

  "Two million." Lila sounded casually defiant.

  "Two million dollars?" She was insane. "You're kidding, right?"

  "I am not kidding. Tell your pretend boyfriend I want two million dollars, or I'm going public with your story."

  "Lila…you can't do this to me," I said, my voice strangled.

  "I'm doing it for us," she said. "To protect our future."

  I was shaking. My sister. My greedy fucking sister. "You can't go public and you know it. I told you I signed a confidentiality agreement. If we breach that, we won't get anything. I won't ever even get paid. And they'll come after us. Who wins then?"

  "I want you to consider what I'm telling you. Because I'm not kidding," Lila said, her voice even. "Chase Layne has plenty of money. He doesn't need it. From what I've read, he gives to charities left and right. Let him give some of that money to us. And don't worry about your confidentiality agreement—this is blackmail. It isn't covered in some contract clause."

  I felt like the floor was going to drop out from beneath me.

  "I am not going to ask him for that amount of money. Over my dead body." My voice was shaking.

  "You should think about what I'm saying," Lila said, her voice soothing. "It makes sense. We need to think about ourselves. An opportunity like this isn't ever going to knock again."

  "You are not a charity case. It's time you grew up and stopped taking advantage of other people. Otherwise, you'll be a dirty old grifter before you know it. Just like mom." I struggled to catch my breath.