Game Plan (The Entwined Series Book 1)

by TJ Penn

  “The free food and drinks having nothing to do with that decision, huh?”

  We do our best to act offended. “What, never! How could you think that, when we came all this way to see our favorite bartender? You just hurt us.” Sam is such an easy going guy, until you mess with one of the women that work here; then he is a beast.

  The sad part is no one around here seems to know anything about him. He has been here for years, but it was like one day he just popped up. He never talks about his past and he never asks any of us about our past. Lost in my thoughts, I never even realize he’s left until he comes back with beers in hand.

  “Here, you ladies get the best beer on tap.” He sits them down in front of us with a smile and a wink. Then, he is off to go to the other side of the bar to attend to a few other customers.

  After we finish the beer, we walk up to the window to order our hot wings and fries. “While we wait, what do you say we hit the jukebox?” Flipping through, I come to the conclusion we need to update the music a lot. There is nothing in this thing from the last ten years, but we make do with what we have and drop several nickels in the slot. We should have the next forty-five minutes covered.

  We’re just starting to really get into dancing when Guy yells our name, saying that our food is ready. As we make our way back to the bar, two guys walk up behind us and slip their arms around our waists.

  “Hey, Baby! What do you two think about helping us have fun tonight?” I look over to make sure Elizabeth is okay, and when she looks at me, I know she is just barely keeping her panic at bay. I have to get us out of this now!

  I feel my own panic starting to build, but I push it back down. I have to I can’t let myself fall apart. Why can’t guys like that, let girls just enjoy a night out without creating an issue?

  “Hey, I asked you a question,” he says pulling me in closer to him. “Why don’t you come over here with us and tell me all about the good time we are going to have tonight?”

  I look over to the bar and see Sam getting out the bat. The bat he keeps behind the bar, to deal with the guys that get a bit rough with the girls that work here. I shake my head at him, letting him know I have this. I need to handle this with as little attention as possible.

  “I can show you a good time. Though, I think our definition of a good time may differ just a bit. See, I find a good time spending my nights off at a gun range. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, how about I show you the fifty different ways I can bring a man your size, down to his knees? Now, I am sure none of those few things really are that interesting to you; now are they?”

  The whole time I’m sweetly talking him, I’m digging the heel of my shoe into his foot.

  “No. No. I’m sorry. Enjoy your night ladies.” At that, they release us to go on our way while I leave him with a severely hurt foot and a sneaky smile on my face. When we make it back over to Sam, he checks us over to make sure we aren’t damaged in any form from the two idiots.

  “I’m so sorry y’all. The last time I checked on you two, y’all were dancing. I thought it was safe for me to run into the back for a couple of items I needed for the front. Are y’all okay? I should go over there and teach them how to treat a lady.”

  I can’t help but to smile at Sam's concern. I am able to convince him that we are fine, and to let it go. He eventually agrees, but I am sure he has something up his sleeve. The rest of the night plays out like any other night. We dance in the side room, and even talk Sam into joining us during his break.

  We finally decide to leave the bar around midnight and start the walk back to the bus. We turned down Sam’s offer to hang around till closing so he could give us a ride. We need to walk and breathe in the fresh air to help clear our heads. The air is crisp tonight and we can feel a storm coming. I just hope we make it home first.

  Just as we are getting off of the bus, the bottom falls out of the sky. “Crap! Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to run so we can get home? Let’s go!” Elizabeth yells at me.

  “Why run? We are already wet. Didn’t you ever just like walking in the rain?” About that time, we see a flash go off. At first, I think it’s lighting, but realize it is a camera flash going off. I look over in the direction of the flash. A car is already pulling out. Why would someone want pictures of me? I thought it would take a while for the news outlets to take notice of me.

  Goosebumps break out over my arms, and I feel uneasy about the whole thing. “Hey, you ok?” Elizabeth asks coming back to where I’m standing.

  “Yeah, I just don’t know. Something about that didn’t feel right. I mean the other night was crazy, people shoving cameras in my face and asking so many questions. I didn’t feel like that then, so why am I feeling like this now? It makes no sense.”

  She throws her arm around me and leads me back to our place. When we are walking up, I see our little slice of paradise. It’s our bit of heaven, our place of rescue; it couldn’t be more perfect. Though to the outside world, it would look like a place that is a few years away from being abandoned. The white paint is peeling; the steps look ready to fall down at any moment.

  “How have we let the house get this bad?” Elizabeth looks up to see what I’m talking about. I can see it in her eyes when she understands.

  “I don’t know. But, maybe we could use some of the cash from the other night to repair the place. It may not take care of everything, but we can at least start. What do you say?”

  Smiling at her, because we think alike, I nod my head. We continue inside, and instead of hanging out downstairs, I decide to go up and give Robert a call. I hope calling him will calm my fears.

  “Someone better be dying.”

  Oh crap, I forgot about the time. “I’m so sorry; I didn’t think about the time. Crap, go back to sleep and I’ll talk to you later. Again, I’m so so sorry.”

  Robert chuckles on the other end. “Well, I’m awake now. To what do I owe this wonderful surprise?”

  “It’s nothing, seriously, go back to sleep. It can wait.”

  “You don’t sound alright, what is going on? Are you okay? Do you need me to come over?” I hear rustling in the background.

  “No, seriously, everything is fine. Just something strange happened tonight. We went to Dani’s for a girl’s night, and when we got off the bus coming back home, a man was there waiting, like he knew we would be there. He took pictures of us. I just got a bad feeling is all. It is no big deal. It just caught me off guard, I think. It really is no biggie. The feeling will pass. I’m sure. You have practice tomorrow, go back to sleep.”

  “It was likely just someone trying to get a few pictures to sell to a newspaper. Hey, since you called, do you have any plans for tomorrow? I was going to call you in the morning to see if you wanted to do something.”

  “Sorry, but I already have plans. We are going to get up in the morning and hit the hardware store. We want to fix up the outside of the house. I figure it’ll take a while, but it needs the work. We plan to work right up to the time we have to head into work. Well, all that will be left of me, that is. I figure fixing the stairs; I’ll lose a finger or two.”

  “It sounds like you have a busy morning planned, so you will need to get some sleep. I’ll hang up so you can get to it.  Sleep well, Bailey.”

  “Goodnight Robert.”

  After I hang up with him, I feel better. I’m able to lay down and drift off to a dreamless sleep.

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  Chapter Eight

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  I wake up the next morning with the sound of hammers and men laughing and talking outside. What the hell is that! After I’m able to get up and drag myself to my closet, I manage to get dressed. The real trouble comes with making it down the stairs. The closer I get to the bottom the louder it becomes.

  I make my way down to where Elizabeth is sitting on the couch holding her head. “You might want to walk outside,” she whispers. I guess she has as much of a hangover as I do. What
kind of evil person makes that kind of noise outside a person’s house after they had drunk heavily the night before.

  When I emerge from the house, I’m struck speechless. There are several big men walking all over the property with different supplies.  Finally, I spot Robert bringing more wood up the walkway. As I start toward him, I hear a man beside me quietly say, “Careful don’t fall. The steps may look done but they are far from it. Here allow me to help you.”

  He takes my arm and helps me down the half built stairs. “I Trent. You, lovely lady, must be the one and only Bailey.” I finally get a good look at him and he is huge for such a quiet man. Standing here, he has to be all of six feet, three inches tall and three hundred and thirty pounds.

  The old me wants to cringe just from his size alone, but he has the kindest brown eyes with a slight twinkle to them His dark hair is on the long side and is sticking out all over the place.

  “I don’t want seem rude, but what is going on here?” I ask him as I use my hands to indicate all the organized mess going on around us.

  “I figured from the look on your face he didn’t tell you. So, all I am saying is you might want to ask him about that,” he says pointing to Robert. I mumble a thanks and head in that direction. I quickly turn back around and yell at him. “Oh, and Trent, it was a pleasure meeting you.”

  Robert sees me making my way toward him so he starts walking over. The first thing he does when he reaches me is to place a light kiss on my cheek. “Morning. I hope we didn’t wake you. I swear I told all these goofballs to be quiet. I wanted to surprise you.” He looks so cute when he thinks he may be in trouble.

  “Well, they did wake me up, but I am more interested in knowing what y’all are doing here. Not that I mind seeing you, and even with a hangover, Elizabeth is enjoying the view,” I say pointing over my shoulder to the open blinds where she is watching all the guys.

  “You see, as I lay there last night after you hung up, I got to thinking. Could I really live with myself when I saw you again and you were missing some of those beautiful fingers of yours, and about how that would also hinder you in your job. So, I got up this morning, called some of the guys, and decided to come do it for you. That way, you get to keep all your fingers. While the guys not only get a workout session, we also can call this a team building project. See a win-win for both of us.”

  “Well, what can I do? You can’t expect me to sit in the house and do nothing, can you?”

  Shaking his head, he asks, “Now, where do you think stepping in and helping with a team project helps us? I’m using you to help the team here. Now, go! Get back inside, out of the way before I paint your nose white.”

  I try to stare him down. After a few seconds, I decide to pick my battles and let him have this one. “Fine, but this isn’t over.” While I’m walking away, I hear him laughing. He will pay, I just don’t know when or how yet.

  Around noon, I fix all of the guys sandwiches and sweet tea. I had driven into town earlier to get the ingredients for the sandwiches. Robert had been kind enough to let me use his car for the quick run. When I came up with the idea, I had expected Robert to argue, but, even he knew, he couldn’t stop me from doing it.

  As I sit here watching the sandwiches dwindle, I start to wonder if I had underestimated how many sandwiches these guys could down; not to mention the tea. I try to think of anything else I have in the house I can make quickly. I am so deep in thought, I don’t even hear Robert sit down next to me.

  “What do you have going on in that head of yours?” He asks me while rubbing my neck.

  “Nothing, I’m just wondering if I have anything else in the house to fix for you guys.”

  “You don’t have to do anything else. We’re good with what’s left. Anyway, we are fixing to start back to work. We may not get the whole house painted today, but we should have it done tomorrow. I hope you don’t mind we got white paint again You didn’t say you wanted to change the color. I figured we would just go back white.”

  Trying to decide if I should mess with him, I look around like I am disappointed. Suddenly, I see the car from last night parked by the curb. “What the hell!”

  Robert looks to see what I am staring at. “Who is that? Bailey, where are you going?” Robert walks with me toward the car. About that time, the guy takes one more quick picture and speeds off.

  “Seriously! Coward! Stay and tell me who the hell you are, if you are going to take pictures of me!” Yes, I am standing in the street looking like an idiot. When I turn around, the whole team is looking at me. Feeling stupid, I start to walk back to the house when Robert steps in front of me, making me stop in my tracks. Looking worried, he starts asking me things I can’t answer. I try to go around him.

  “Bailey, what is going on? Can you stop for a minute and talk to me?” That is the moment when all the fear disappeared. Anger floods me.

  “You want me to tell you? Well, guess what, your guess is as good as mine. I have no clue what is going on. At first, I thought it was the paparazzi, but I don’t think that now. So what do you want me to tell you?”  By this time, I’m screaming at him with tears running down my face. At his stunned look, I push past him and run for the house; feeling small and out of control. Why do I feel like this when I see that guy? I don’t know him or why he would be following me.

  After a while, I am able to get control of my emotions. I feel so stupid for the way I acted. I’m getting ready to go back downstairs to apologize to Robert for screaming at him when there is a knock at my bedroom door. Thinking it is Elizabeth, I yell for her to come in. But, it isn’t her that walks into my room.

  “Oh, it’s you! I was just on my way down to see you. Look, I am so sorry for freaking out on you. I just don’t know why that guy sets me on edge, but he does. I know you don’t understand, and that is okay. I just…”

  Robert interrupts me and walks over and sits on my bed looking concerned. “Bailey, do you know why anyone would hire a private investigator to follow you? I got his tag number when he pulled off. I have a couple of friends in the police department so I had them run the number for me.  It came back to a George Phillips. He is some big PI here in town.”

  No, it can’t be him; he is behind bars. But, who else would hire someone to follow me? It has to be an accident. There is no way it can be him. I can’t tell Robert about my past. Not right now anyway, maybe in the future. And, if this thing between us grows, he’ll have to be told, but not now. I can’t.

  “Yeah, I have no clue why anyone would have a PI tailing me. If I can think of anything later, I’ll let you know.” I am not even sure if I am making sense anymore. I have to get him out of here so I can calm myself down.

  “Look, I’m sorry about what I said, but I think I need to lay down for a bit.” He comes over to hug me. I know he’s worried about me, but I can’t stand to see the pity in his eyes. I have never felt more dirty than I did the moment I saw the concern in his eyes.

  When he finds out about my past and my part in the conspiracy to wreck the plan he has to save the team; those eyes will no longer look at me like that. Those beautiful eyes will be filled with hate. I’m dreading the day that happens, but I have no choice now. I have to get the car up and running, so we can get out of here.

  Chapter Nine

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  “Hey Bailey!” Robert yells across the bar.

  “Can you please not be so loud,” I tell him after he reaches me.

  “Awe, come on, are you ashamed of me now?” Rolling my eyes, I can't help but laugh. I'm not sure what has gotten into him, but I love seeing him in this mood.

  “Listen, I don't have long until I have to be back with the team, but there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

  Oh no, he wants to call it quits! Okay, I can handle this, and to be truthful, it may be for the best. I steel myself as Robert starts to talk.

  “You know that the season is about to start. Basically, I like you, and even though I
am going to have very little time to spend with you, I want to still be with you, Bailey. I would understand it if you say no, but please don't.”

  Without giving him an answer, I let my actions do the talking. I grab him and bring his lips to mine. Even with all the cat calls going on, we don't stop till we are both out of breath.

  “I’ll take that as a yes. Wait, it’s a yes right?”

  “Yes, it is a yes, you dork.” After one more mind blowing kiss, Robert rushes back out the door.

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  What am I going to do now? I'm not sure even though it’s only been twenty-four hours after he had walked out of the door. One thing I did know, I hated myself more and more for what I was doing to Robert. He had been nothing but kind and generous to me. I can only hope he understands when he does find out.

  I have a meeting with Ronda today to see where we go from here. As I am straightening the items on the table, she walks in the door. We aren’t too worried about anyone seeing us as it is late, and the guys are spending the night in a hotel in the next city over for their first home game. It really isn't that far, only about fifteen minutes away, but they all agreed to stay in tonight so they would be prepared for tomorrow.

  “Ronda.” I say as a way of greeting when she walks in the door. What else can I say, I really don’t like her, but she is my means to an end? Before she even has a chance to respond, I start with the speech I had been playing over and over in my head.

  “Look, is there some other way we can accomplish your goal of selling the team. I mean; I’m not backing out, but I have met them and they all seem like really nice guys. Most of them have bought homes around here. Isn’t there a loophole or anything?”

  Ronda rolls her eyes at me, while replying to me like I am a two-year-old. “Do you think if I had a way to offload those good for nothing losers on to someone else I wouldn’t have done it already? Are you that stupid? I have had four lawyers comb over that will. There is no out, no loophole, nothing! This is my only option to get rid of them. You had better not fail me girl.”