by Amy Brent
Tom opened his mouth like he wanted to say something. He was so angry, though, he couldn't, and instead of having an outburst like I knew he wanted to he turned around and walked away. It was the epitome of self-control. I had to respect his ability. I didn't respect his space, though.
I followed him. I needed to have this out now, once and for all, or I would never have the courage again to talk about it.
"I'm all in with this, Tom. I love her."
He froze, his back to me. I tried to decode it - his stiff neck, his tense shoulders. When he turned around he had fire in his eyes.
"You knock her up and you want to tell me you love her?"
I pushed through. "I didn't when it happened but I've been spending more time with her and I do. I've fallen in love with her. She's a stunning person and she will be a great mother. And I would like to stand by her and be the father the child deserves, the man she deserves. You know me, Tom. You who I am. You said yourself I'm a man of integrity."
"I was talking about the damn company when I said that!" He threw his hands up in the air. "I wasn't talking about you sleeping with my daughter and then being with her."
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the black velvet box that had been nagging at me since the beginning of the night. I opened it and showed Tom the ring.
"I intend to marry her, Tom. She's not just a floozy to me. She's everything. I want her to be everything. You said I can build an empire with the business, you said you trusted me to do the right thing."
Tom shook his head, looking over my shoulder. "It's still not the same thing, Brian. My company versus my daughter? How can you compare the two?"
I nodded. "I understand, but I want you to know that I intend on doing right by her and never disappointing you as a father."
Tom looked at the ring again. He sighed and his shoulders sagged. "I can't say this is what I would have chosen for her, but if it's what she wants..." He looked up at me. "She's old enough to decide for herself so if she's happy I'm happy. But if you do anything to hurt her, I swear to God I will kill you with my own two hands. I'm not exaggerating."
I nodded. I knew he wasn't.
Chapter 14: Megan
I didn't go to work anymore. I accepted that I was too far along with the pregnancy to keep going at the pace the fashion world asked for, and I wasn't going to be able to hide it, anyway. Besides that, I was letting Brian pay for things the way he wanted to. I'd accepted that he was going to be in my life. It wasn't what I'd ever imagined would happen, but it wasn't a bad thing.
Brian was kind and caring and honest and dedicated. I could see why my dad wanted him as a business partner. I imagined he would be just as committed as a life partner.
I wanted to be a part of the fashion world even though I couldn't work there. When he visited me he told me things about what happened at the office and I ate it up. When there were fashion shows I read about them in magazines or papers and I started attending them as a guest.
Tonight was another one of those. The show was in a conference center that had been turned into an extravaganza. It was barely recognizable. It was one of the biggest shows of the year and everyone involved was going mad with stress and panic. I was relieved I wasn't a part of it. I was six months along, swelling by the day and I was perpetually tired or in tears or both.
I made my way to the seats and sat down where Brian had reserved one for me. When I attended he made sure I could sit in the front row with him so that I wouldn't miss a thing. I developed a new love for fashion seeing things from this vantage point and I realized that even if I wasn't in the back working my fingers to the bone I wanted to be involved with the fashion world somehow.
The seats were filling up. Background music filtered through the air, laced with the chatter of the already-seated guests and an excitement about the upcoming show that was addictive. I looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Brian. My dad walked past and waved at me before moving on. I waved back. What would he think if he saw me sitting next to Brian? He wasn't usually at the shows. Lately, he'd been doing a lot more paperwork and a lot less schmoozing.
The show started and it was spectacular. It was swimsuits and lingerie and the designers had come up with some next level garments that would take the fashion world by storm. I could almost tell what the articles would say.
Brian appeared a little late and sat down next to me.
"Sorry, there was so much to do," he said. I squeezed his hand and we watched the show together.
When the designer came out after the line was presented he waved.
"I'll be right back," Brian said and hurried away. I watched him go. There was a lull where no one was on the ramp and people murmured and look around. I looked around, too. This wasn't supposed to happen.
Brian appeared on the ramp and walked to the middle of it. Oh God, what was he doing?
"Ladies and gentleman, can I have your attention, please?"
The audience fell quiet, everyone eager to hear what he had to say. This wasn't how it usually worked. I expected him to inform us of some kind of emergency or something.
"A short while ago I met a woman at one of these fashion shows and she turned my world upside down. I thought I'd had it all covered, I thought I was living the life - models, money - but I was wrong. I didn't need models and money. I needed that woman – I needed Megan."
Blood drained from my face when he said my name. When he looked at me I mouthed 'What are you doing?' He smiled and held out his hand like he wanted me to join him on stage. That wasn't happening even if I could climb the ramp.
"Megan Philips, will you marry me?"
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd and my heart nearly stopped. Had Brian Waters just asked me to marry him? Everyone turned to look at me. Brian looked at me expectantly.
"Are you going to stay up there?" I asked Brian smiled and jumped down the side of the ramp, coming to me. He took both my hands in his.
"I love you. I want to be with you. I want us to be a family. Say you'll marry me."
I took a deep breath.
"I'll marry you."
The truth was I'd thought about this for a while now. I wanted to be with him. I wanted to marry him. Where I hadn't wanted him to be part of the picture before, for his sake, I had become selfish. I wanted him to be part of it now.
He smiled and produced a velvet box. He opened it and it contained a ring that made me clap a hand to my mouth. Brian removed it but before I gave him my hand I looked around, looking for my dad. I spotted him in the crowd. He was looking at me, smiling.
I looked at Brian, who was smiling at me too, and gave him my hand so that he could slide the ring onto my finger.
And in that one second….I felt different….I felt complete…happy…satisfied…..in love forever!
A gift for my coach
CHAPTER 1
James
I watched the team jogging around the track as I ran my hand through my tousled brown hair, trying to ignore the vibration of my cell phone in my pocket. I didn’t like to bring it to practice, but my future ex-wife was being a pain in the ass about our divorce and her attorney was hounding me. It didn’t help that I worked as head coach for the pro football team in Philadelphia and they both wanted all of my money. Why was it on me? She was the one that hooked up with a player from Maryland, not me. He made plenty of money as the team quarterback, so let him support her. I sighed and looked down at the screen of my phone with an annoyed expression.
I married her when I was thirty-two, ready for my coaching career after a brief stint in the pros myself. Wendy was blonde and gorgeous, ten years younger than me. I don’t know why I thought that it would work out. Maybe I had too much hope. At least I still had football and I was only thirty-five now, still in great shape so I wouldn’t have any issues getting the ladies into my bed for a rebound fuck every now and then. I just wouldn’t choose greedy young women anymore and stick to ones that were closer to my own age so the situati
on would be clear.
I glanced at the sky and saw that the late afternoon sun was setting in and shoved the phone back into the pocket of my track pants. “Ok, guys. Get back over here!” I yelled as they glanced over and started to jog in my direction. “You played like shit today. I know that it was Rob’s bachelor party last night but use some common sense. We’re close to the Super Bowl and I don’t want to lose our chances because you guys are acting like you play for a college team. Understand?”
They shared long glances, knowing I was right. I kept myself in the loop and the party at the high end strip bar was the talk of the league right now. I wondered what the fiancée would think if she heard about the shenanigans, but that wasn’t my problem. Rob was quarterback for another successful team made millions so she might be willing to overlook his transgressions from the evening. “Sorry, Coach.” I looked at the quarterback and nodded sharply as the others echoed his apology.
“I was young like you once. I had fun but I also had priorities. Go shower and get some rest. I’ll see you here at nine tomorrow morning.” I watched as the headed to the locker room and shook my head for a moment. I was being generous with the time, all things considered. I also figured that I could get a run in early to start my day. All of this divorce shit had my head spinning.
I started to leave the field and walk back to my office, just near the locker room. I was going to shut down my computer and close up for the day and go to the gym. Then I’d grab some dinner at that BBQ place I liked and relax at home.
I was still learning to call the brand new condo home. I bought a house when I married Wendy, but she was hell bent on holding onto the ten thousand square foot palace. I didn’t need the space so I just rented a condo from a buddy in real estate for the time being. It was three bedrooms and spacious enough for me. I brought my great Dane Jack with me and gave him a room to himself for when I wasn’t around. I also had a dog walker that took him out on the regular, a kid next door that had more time than I did.
I heard voices as I rounded the corner and saw the owner Gary Ridge with his daughter, Tory. He popped in every now and then to check on things, though I didn’t know why she was with him. She was in school for engineering, first year I think. Tory was all about her studies and I barely saw her at the house when I went for dinner every now and then. “James. How are you?” Gary called out as I watched the girl type something into her phone. She was a pretty enough girl, even though she didn’t do much with herself. Tory had pale honey colored hair and bright blue eyes but she kept things simple. She was too damn young to even be thinking about and I saw her look up at me before I glanced at her father.
“Good. The team was a bit off today, but I sent them home for some rest, and I’ll work them tomorrow,” I replied as I felt Tory’s eyes burning into my skin.
“The party. I heard it got wild,” Gary responded as he glanced at Tory with a guarded expression. She made sure to look back down at her phone, and he rubbed her shoulder gently.
I didn’t think that he had too much to worry about. Tory didn’t put out the vibe that she would be wild in any way, and I wasn’t concerned about her having any interest in a bachelor party. I’d only known Gary for the last year since he bought the team and it was evident that his only daughter was his princess. I also knew that his wife worried about her, and it was probably going to blow up in their faces at some point.
I was glad that I never had kids with Wendy.
We made some more small talk and I couldn’t help but to steal glances at Tory as I followed along. She was wearing some skinny jeans and an oversized shirt that covered her body, and I wondered what she looked like under all of that. She wore glasses almost all of the time and looked like she was always solving a problem inside of her intelligent brain. I couldn’t help but to notice that she resembled her pretty young mother more than her father, pushing the thought away as he told me to have a good night.
What the hell was wrong with me? I knew that there had been some sparks between us tonight but she was twenty-one at the most. Did I learn nothing from my marriage? Stick to over twenty-five and do not think about your boss’s daughter. That was a surefire way to lose my good job, one that could afford this divorce and keep me close to the lifestyle that I was accustomed to.
I went into my office and cleaned up the desk as her eyes played back through my mind. Damn it, I didn’t need this kind of distraction but she pleaded with me to bring out her bad side with just one look.
I shut down the computer and called into the locker room for the guys to have a good night and sleep. No drinking. Then I walked to my car in the garage and got inside as I felt someone looking at me. I glanced over to see Tory leaving with her dad and I waved with a polite smile.
I needed the gym and an easy woman.
I glanced in the mirror as I finished at the gym. I was a good-looking guy with a head full of messy hair that women seemed to love and forest green eyes. I kept my body in tip-top shape and ate good ninety-nine percent of the time. I had my shit together on the outside but was a bit cluttered inside of my own head.
I knew that there was a waitress that had a crush on me at restaurant and I figured that I’d order it for there and lay on the flirting. She was still young but well older than twenty, so I figured she was good to go. She also knew the drill from previous times and went right along with it.
Amber was working her way through college and didn’t want anything serious. She wanted to study Psychology and make her own money that way, never looking for a handout from anybody. She just enjoyed a good time and was wild enough to have a repeat with.
CHAPTER 2
Tory
I rolled my eyes when Dad said that he wanted to stop by the stadium on the way to meet Mom for dinner. I could’ve met with my study group for the test in a couple days for the time I knew he’d spend there. This was the fifth team that he owned in twenty-five years, and I knew the drill.
I had no idea how gorgeous the new coach was, though. James had to be six-foot-tall, with a muscled body in his track shorts and a fitted t-shirt. He had the kind of hair that you just wanted to drag your fingers through and deep green eyes that promised sin on a stick.
I couldn’t stop looking at him, trying to figure the man out. I guessed that he was in his thirties mainly due to his job, but he looked like he could be in his upper twenties. I was drawn to him, more than I’d ever been to a man in my life. He was sexy and looked like he could handle a woman in bed, unlike any of the guys that had paid me any attention through school. They were all as into school as I was and had the moves of a turtle. The few kisses that I’d had were dull and awkward, but James had full lips that promised a good time.
Jesus, my hormones must be in full gear. Way to go at twenty years old when I was trying to solidify my life and goals. I needed to keep that way from Dad’s work, but there was some heat between James and me that I couldn’t ignore.
All of the other coaches that he’d worked with were more of a fatherly age. There was no sex appeal whatsoever, and I’d be able to talk to them anytime without feeling a single flash of heat. It was business as usual. James made me want to get to know him better and become a part of whatever world he was hiding underneath those clothes.
I saw him going to a shiny black Escalade in the garage when we were leaving. He waved and I swear that our eyes locked for a moment before he was gone and I was left with the team heading out around us as they greeted Dad and tried to give me sly looks. They were young and dumb, jocks to the fullest degree. Not my type. I wanted someone that could have a real conversation with me, challenge my mind. I wanted someone that knew what to do and when to do it. Athletes were not my bag but nor were the guys that I knew from classes or labs.
“What’s his story? He seems young,” I observed as I got into my father’s brand new gray Range Rover.
“He played for San Francisco until he got hurt a couple years back. It was a knee injury, and he was out of the game but had
a lot of skills to offer a group of guys. I didn’t hire him, but I would have if I’d been the owner at the time. James is going to take this team far this year.”
I played with my messy bun and watched as he drove out of the garage and turned to head to the excellent steakhouse that he favored. “So you might be going to the championship?”
“I hope so. This town needs it,” Dad told me as I looked over at him and pushed my glasses up with my left pointer finger. “Maybe you’ll actually get into the sport that way.”
I grinned at him. Dad was always giving me a hard time for not loving sports the way that he did. “That’s why you have Ryan and Thomas, Dad. They watch the sports with you.” My brothers lived for games. I think Dad gave up with me early on when it was obvious that I was more of a bookworm.
“True, but you’re always invited.” I nodded and looked forward as we kept driving down the crowded road.
My body was still hot and throbbing in places that were new to me. I nodded and leaned back as we got lost in traffic. Maybe I should get into football, at least to see more of James.
We went to Barclay Prime, since it was Mom and Dad’s favorite place to eat. It was nice inside with the black and white floors and architecture inside, very pleasing to the eye. The food was also good, though I leaned more towards ordering salmon than I did any red meat. I wasn’t a vegetarian by any means, I just preferred the fish and artichoke for a meal than the standard meat and potatoes.
I ordered an iced tea and smiled as my brothers joined us, ready for a night of sports talk. I didn’t think I’d mind it if I could watch James discuss it. He could make anything sexy and I shivered at the idea of him teaching one of my classes. God, what a divine thought that was. When you’re in a major such as Engineering, most of the professors matched the subject to a t.
Mom listened to her men with a loving smile on her face but also asked me about school. Her and Daddy were protective of me, though I wasn’t sure why. I’d been one of the best behaved of the three of us, always quiet and responsible. Maybe it was because I was the youngest and a girl and it was natural for parents to want to protect daughters. I guess I might come off as naive sometimes as well, but I was observant and sharp when it came to people. I just didn’t give in to what they wanted most of the time.
