by Sosie Frost
Rose grinned at her mother first, but she spun and gave me a cheesy smile too. The banana did the trick. She grabbed a hunk of fruit, squished it in her fingers, then extended her hand toward me. When I didn’t move, she squeaked and bounced on the counter.
“She’s sharing with you.” Piper explained. “She doesn’t do that for just anyone. I’d say you’re forgiven.”
She shared with me?
I couldn’t leave the kid hanging, but I didn’t want to get too close. Rose made nothing out of it, dropping the banana in my hand and ending the moment with a little coo and smile.
She served herself another piece and then offered one to her mom. Piper gobbled it up with fake ravenous noises. Rose loved it.
Why did the twenty-pound bundle of energy feel safe touching me? Being around me? Sharing with me?
I ate the bit of banana to make the kid happy.
“She’s…” I didn’t know what to say.
“Amazing,” Piper whispered. She cleared her throat. “And getting so big. I feel like she’s already all grown up.”
We had different definitions of grown up.
“I’ve been working a lot,” she said. “Out of necessity. I have a nanny for her, but she’s expensive. And my job’s keeping me away from home more than my budget expected.”
“Because of me?”
“Well, Mr. Hawthorne…Let’s just say you aren’t very good for either of our careers at the moment. You’re even worse for my personal life.”
“Can’t be all that bad. You liked the hot tub.”
She didn’t take the bait. “But now you understand. I can’t be fooling around in hot tubs with bad boy linebackers. I have to think of my baby. She comes first.”
Christ. Now I felt like a total dick. Her baby had nothing to do with what happened in the hot tub, but everything to do with me resisting the trade. It wasn’t fair that my feud with the agency was separating Piper from her baby.
A year ago it wouldn’t have mattered to me. Hell, a week ago, I wouldn’t have given a shit. But now? I just ate a piece of smooshed up banana served to me by a giggling baby who looked at me without fear.
I’d never had anyone trust me like that.
“Look.” I sighed, deep. Hated what I was about to do. “I’ll talk with Maddy again.”
“You will?”
“Yeah. No sense in you working this hard. If Maddy wants the trade that bad, he can waste his time fucking with me.”
I thought it was good news. Piper wasn’t convinced.
“Why won’t you just agree to the trade?” she asked. “It’s a great opportunity for you…and your only chance to keep playing.”
Rose reached for me. I didn’t trust myself to take her offered hand.
“It would be the biggest mistake of my career. Of my life.”
“Being melodramatic again?”
“You know which team wants me the most,” I said. “Ironfield would give their left nut—” I censored myself before the baby learned anything worse from me. Twenty minutes in my presence and I was already the worst influence in her life. “Ironfield is desperate to sign me.”
“But isn’t that good? They won the championship last year.”
And unless I wanted to exchange future championship rings for brass knuckles, I wasn’t going anywhere near that team.
“They know my reputation. Worse, they know what I’m capable of doing on the field—legal and not. They want me on their team, but not as the lynchpin to their defense.” I exhaled. “They’re trading for me because they plan on making me hurt people.”
Piper eyes widened. “What do you—”
“They want me to be The Beast. Not the player, but the animal. The monster. They’ll ask me to break the rules. To play dirty. And the worst part is…I know I can. I know I would. I spend every minute of every day struggling to control my thoughts and actions, but there’s a pit of rage that exists in me. If I go to Ironfield, they’d expect me to become a villain. I’d be dangerous and wild and full of hate. I don’t want to become that man, beautiful.”
“Cole—”
I didn’t let her speak. “I’ll talk to Maddy. You have more important things to do than spend your every waking moment here with me. I’ll do business with him again. No sense in you missing out on time with your little girl.”
Piper wrapped an arm around her baby, keeping her steady on the counter. Such a natural and protective and loving movement, and she didn’t even realize she did it.
“Cole, that’s very generous of you.”
“If we have business to conduct, no reason it can’t be done during business hours.”
“That’s true.”
“Or over dinner.”
Piper’s eyebrow rose. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
“Are you…asking me out?”
It was easier than asking her to stay. “Don’t get presumptuous, beautiful. Now that you know why I want to stay with the Monarchs, we can talk about my options over dinner.”
“Oh…of course.”
“And then we’ll finalize my plans in the hot tub.”
She rolled her eyes, but I liked the way she smirked. Rose reached for her, and she settled the baby on her hip and shouldered her diaper bag. Stalling. Trying to think of a reason to say no…or maybe what she’d wear when she said yes.
“We can have dinner.” Piper arched an eyebrow. “But it will be purely professional.”
“Of course.”
“I mean it, Cole.”
“You have no faith in me.”
“I can’t get involved in anything…complicated.”
“I’ll make sure the menus are real simple.”
“Fine, one dinner.” She cast me a devilish smile. “Then…maybe the hot tub.”
I hardened, but Piper was the best kind of tease. I followed her to the door, but only Rose looked back. She waved at me with an uncoordinated flap of her fingers.
I never imagined myself the bye-bye type, but I waved as the door closed.
I immediately dialed Maddy.
I told myself I called to get the agency off my ass. Figured it’d be easier to score with Piper if I did her the favor and relieved her of her trespassing responsibilities.
But that wasn’t the real reason.
I did it to help her.
I did it because that baby gave me a piece of banana.
I did it just to know it’d make Piper happier.
Maddy answered on the second ring. “Cole! Got that checkbook ready? The league wants twenty-five grand in fines for a clean hit. I’m already appealing it, don’t worry—”
“I didn’t call about the fine,” I said.
“Oh!” He got too excited. “Is Piper there? Did she talk to you about the trade?”
“Yeah.”
He laughed, artificial and condescending. “Good man. I knew you’d eventually sign the waiver. You do like to make it hard on us, big guy.”
“I’m not consenting.”
“But—”
“This is over, Maddy. I’m not taking the trade. I’m staying with the Monarchs.”
“Cole—”
“Stop sending Piper here. I realize the trade is important, but you don’t have to force Piper and her baby to my house anymore. From now on, if you got a problem with my decisions, you deal with me.”
“The baby? She had the baby over?”
“Yeah, because you made her deal with all this shit after hours.” And the thought still pissed me off. “So listen to me, Maddy. This is the last time I say this fucking bullshit. I’ll pay the fine. I’m not consenting to the trade. And you’re not sending Piper over here anymore. Got it?”
“I apologize for my daughter’s behavior, Cole.”
Was he listening to a word I said? “It doesn’t matter.”
“She never should have brought the baby.”
“It’s not about the baby—”
“If she didn’t impress upon you how important
this trade is then she wasn’t doing her job properly. I trusted that she would convey the seriousness of this deal, and it’s apparent that she’s only inconvenienced you.”
“That’s not—”
“Don’t worry, Cole. I’ll take care of it.”
“Take care of it?” That sort of shit never sounded good. “What the hell are you going to do?”
“I’ll fire her.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll resume management of your representation I’ll start the appeal for the fine. See if we can get it bumped down. Thank you, Cole. I’ll be in touch.”
“Listen to me, you son of a bitch…”
The call disconnected. I redialed, but Maddy bounced me to voicemail.
My temper snapped, but I didn’t put my fist through a wall. I didn’t yell. I didn’t even have the urge to drive to the agency and punch that bastard in the nose.
A new feeling prickled over me, as consuming and painful as the anger.
Regret. Dread.
Panic.
This…would make for an awkward dinner conversation when I took Piper out.
How the fuck did I get her fired?
9
Piper
I knew who knocked on my door.
He was goddamned lucky the oak separated us or I’d teach him an entirely new definition of the word football.
Cole could pound all he wanted. I wasn’t getting up. Too many boxes and clothes and toys and everything cluttered the living room. Why would I waste my energy tip-toeing through the disaster to answer him?
He didn’t stop knocking. Part of me thought it was ironic. The rest of me—the parts fired from my job for trying to save his—decided to let him yell in the hall until his throat burned raw.
“Piper!”
I didn’t answer, but Rose shouted for me.
“Mamamamama!”
Little traitor.
I hauled her into my arms and flung the door open. I wasn’t happy to see him or his chiseled jaw or storybook eyes or the straining t-shirt stretched over his muscular chest.
Rose gave him an excited squeal.
Whose side was she on?
“Go away,” I said. “You’ve done enough.”
Cole spoke fast. “I had no idea what Maddy was going to do.”
Like that made it better.
I tried to slam the door, but Cole jammed his foot into the frame before it closed. Since he wasn’t my client anymore, I didn’t care if it hurt him. Let him break his toes or drown in his hot tub. I wouldn’t lose any sleep.
“Did you know…” My voice rasped low. “I walked into work yesterday and found that my father had packed my office and left my things out front on the front desk?”
“Piper—”
“The receptionist told me I was fired. And when I asked about Dad, she handed me a note that said he’d call me when he was ready.”
I didn’t bother telling Cole what else I’d found in my box. Dad had stashed his own framed pictures of Rose in with mine. He blamed everything on my baby, every reason my life went wrong.
And at the bottom of his note? A plea.
Please marry Jasper so I won’t worry about what happens to you once I’m gone.
It didn’t hurt any less to know that Dad was looking for a reason to fire me, to force me into a marriage I didn’t want. But I wasn’t giving up. Not yet. Not ever.
“I had picked out a dress to wear to dinner with you,” I said. “Used it as packing material for my dishes instead.”
Cole loomed in the doorway, but he hadn’t taken a step inside the apartment. Probably because he didn’t fit. He looked down at me with a scowl.
“Piper, I didn’t tell him to fire you. I’m sorry it happened.”
I bumped Rose higher on my hip. “Fantastic. And since I can feed my child with apologies, we’ll be fine.”
“You didn’t answer your phone.”
I hadn’t wanted to talk to Cole, but I also didn’t want him to know that I gave him a second thought.
“I’ve been a little busy.”
He glanced over the apartment…all of the apartment. So tiny it might have shamed me if I had any capacity for shame left.
“I wanted to...help,” he said.
“Cole Hawthorne, my knight-in-shining-armor.” I laughed. “Can you blame a girl for not being interested in your help?”
He stepped into my apartment despite me not inviting him in.
So it’d be war then.
I kicked open a box and laid a blanket inside. Rose squealed as I set her in the box. I let her play with Mr. Bumpybottom while I got rid of Cole.
He looked over the disaster of an apartment and kicked a roll of bubble wrap. “You’re packing?”
“Just lost my job.” I stole the duct tape from Rose before she tried to eat it. “I can’t afford it here.”
“Where will you go?”
An excellent question. “I have no idea, but at least I have time to look.”
Cole dodged a box of dishes and steadied a teetering stack of duffel bags filled with Rose’s clothes. He surveyed my home—most of which would fit in his foyer. If he thought he’d find a hot tub out back, he was sorely mistaken.
“You actually live here?”
He was less of an asshole at his own house. “Yes.”
“It’s a little claustrophobic…” He crossed his arms, frowned, then uncrossed them. “I feel like I’m going to break things.”
“Then get out.”
He stepped away, flinching as Rose bumbled up from the box, blanket on her head and not a care in the world.
“I wanted to talk.” He shrugged. “About…everything.”
And I wanted to finish packing so I could move before I depleted my meager savings. “I think we’ve said enough.”
“It looks like you’ve been stuck packing for a while. Do you want something to eat?”
Was he kidding or just the world’s largest asshole? “Are you asking me out?”
“You gotta eat.”
“Not with you.”
“You’ll want to talk to me.”
“Wanna bet?”
He shrugged. “I’m your biggest client. You need to court me a little.”
“I don’t have any clients. I was fired.”
“You do now,” he said. “I want you back.”
“You want me?” I kicked a box out of my path. “To do what?”
“To be my agent. I fired Maddy.”
Oh, this poor bastard had hit his head one too many times on the field. “You’re delusional. I’m not an agent. I don’t know anything about football or how to best represent a player like you.”
Cole expected my resistance. “I think you could learn for a million dollars.”
I quieted. He smirked.
“Count them zeroes, beautiful. If you’re my agent, you get the commission. With that kind of money, you and Rose could buy the whole damn apartment complex.”
And a lot more.
Private school. Good clothes, better food, a great nanny. Rose would never want for anything.
I didn’t answer him. Cole didn’t like my silence. He ran a hand through his hair, loose and wild like how he wore it on the field.
“I haven’t told anyone else why I’m refusing the trade,” he said. “I don’t think they’d understand, and I doubt even more that they’d care. You’re the only one who seems to give a fuck. Who better to represent me than the only person I trust with the truth?”
Oh, damn him.
Cole stared at me. His eyes deepened, a royal and rich blue that shouldn’t have charmed me more than the prospect of a million dollars. This wasn’t a man who trusted anyone with anything. Not his life. Not his job. Not even his reputation on the field, as terrible as it was.
I hated myself for considering his offer.
I hated myself more for realizing there wasn’t a force in the world that would keep me from taking the job.<
br />
Pride and principles meant nothing when my child needed food, clothing, and shelter.
“Fine,” I said. “I have a state certification, but that doesn’t mean I’m a practiced agent. I’ll do the best I can, but—”
“That’s all I’m asking. I’ll do my job, and I’ll make yours easy.”
“I doubt that.”
Rose buzzed from inside her box. She pointed at him and squealed. Bossy little thing. She expected him to get on the floor and play with her.
Imagining him sitting beside her, laughing and smiling, was a mistake. I had no idea I’d like the thought so much.
Cole heaved a breath as he glanced over my apartment. “I have one condition to your employment.”
Of course he did. “I’m not going out to eat with you.”
“We won’t have to go out.”
My eyebrow rose.
“The offer comes with room and board. You have to say with me.”
My mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?”
“You need a place to stay, and I need someone to represent me. You want the job; you move into the mansion.”
“Are you out of your mind?”
Cole smirked. “What’s wrong, beautiful? A few days ago I couldn’t keep you out of my house.”
“Very funny. The answer’s no.”
“I don’t like the word no.”
Cole stepped closer. I couldn’t break through the boxes for an effective retreat. I shifted as best I could, trying to put any distance between us before I was trapped in his woodsy, masculine scent or stared too intently at his lips.
“You need a place to live, and I have plenty of room,” he said.
“That’s not the point. I have a baby.”
“And where better to take care of her than in the lap of luxury?”
“A home is more than walls and columns, Cole.”
“So I’ve heard. You wanted to spend more time with her…” He gestured to my babbling baby. “I can give that to you. Represent me, earn easy money, and have a beautiful place for your daughter to live.”
He made it sound so perfect and dangerous. Like it wouldn’t be the worst idea of our lives.
He asked me to live with him. He offered his home for my child and his career for my own fortune, but what did he expect in return? I had enough to box up in my apartment without worrying about what he packed between his legs.
