by Ann Jacobs
They chatted a few minutes about Colin Zanardi, the first of the Hedgecock High quarterbacks, and Dave Delaney, who’d been Keith’s own hero back when he was a little kid and Dave was tossing passes over on the field. “Dave’s got Hall of Fame credentials, but he’s hit the skids. Too much partying, too many grasping wives. I hear his latest wife walked out on him and took their two kids with her. He’s playing for Colin now, down in Savannah.”
Keith hadn’t been back to Hedgecock since high school. He doubted if anybody would have held that against him since his mom had remarried and moved to Colorado right after his graduation. He remembered Dave telling him he’d never looked back, either. Somehow it seemed sad. He’d made a lot of memories at the old school, and he should have been giving back. Pay it forward was the mantra of most NFL stars, and he’d failed to spread some of his wealth, and his knowledge, back to his roots. “You know, we should all be ashamed because we haven’t gotten together and done something to help Hedgecock.”
“Well, it’s never too late,” Melanie said. “The school needs new bleachers and concession stands before they fall completely apart. We’ve been thinking of a way to raise the money, maybe a festival or something. It might work if all you boys would come back for a couple of days and draw in folks with money from San Antonio, maybe even Dallas and Houston.”
“We could do a football camp.” Keith held one here each year, for high school athletes. He always had fun, and he thought the kids did, too. “I might be able to set one up in Hedgecock, but I doubt many of the families could afford the tuition and fees.”
“I doubt it, too. Times are hard these days. Even your sister’s having a rough time, raising your nephew on her own.”
“Maybe the festival would work. If you want, I can talk to the others and see what they suggest.” He made a mental note to send money to Diane and insist this time that she keep it, for Dylan if not for herself. Never mind that they’d grown apart, largely because Jackie hadn’t been able to stomach Hedgecock or anything in it. He’d stayed away because of her, but now there was no one to stop him if he wanted to reconnect with his roots.
“Let’s keep in touch,” he told Melanie before seeking out Marly’s parents and thanking them for the most enjoyable gathering he’d attended in months.
Mrs. Ragusa checked her watch. “I wonder when the newlyweds will arrive in Orlando, I already miss them and they haven’t been gone much more than an hour.”
“Bobby told me the plane would land around midnight our time. That would be one AM there. I imagine they’ll call you when they arrive.” Keith imagined calling the parents would be the last thing on Bobby’s mind, probably Marly’s, too. It seemed they could barely keep their hands off each other. When Keith tried to remember when he’d been so hot and so carefree, he couldn’t. He guessed those times had been replaced in his memory with the carefully timed matings that got more frantic, every time Jackie had insisted on attempting another pregnancy. “We’d better get going and put Jack to bed.”
This was too happy a night for him to think about the fact his only child had been conceived in a cold, sexless laboratory, or to consider his lack of interest in sex since his wife had died.
Where Memphis had the air of an old but feisty lady, Orlando seemed like a never-ending kaleidoscope of activity. Tourists still milled on International Drive when the limo brought them to the Peabody. Bobby could care less about anything else but getting to their suite and going to sleep in Marly’s arms. His ring felt strange on his hand, until he thought about Marly putting it there.
He kept Marly close as he checked them in. Anywhere else the lobby would have been deserted, but not here. He felt the stares, wondered if the people were gawking at his beautiful wife. They might be sizing him up, if they recognized him. In any case he didn’t like the attention, not now when every sane person should have been sleeping.
“Hurry up for God’s sake.” He growled at the sleepy clerk, scribbled his name on the credit card receipt and grabbed the key card out of the man’s hand as soon as he offered it. “Doesn’t anybody sleep around here?” he said to no one in particular.
“You act like you need some sleep.” When they got in the elevator Marly stood on tiptoe and gave him a kiss.
“I do. Some wedding night this is gonna be, with me having to show up at the stadium by eleven. I can just imagine how the game will go, since I’ve never practiced with this team. Sorry, babe. I didn’t know this trade would happen before the wedding. I’ll make it all up to you.”
After he opened the door to the hotel’s bridal suite, he lifted Marly and set her down inside. “This place is supposed to have a Jacuzzi. Let’s go soak for a while before we go to bed.”
Hot water bubbled around them as they cuddled near a strong jet in a corner of the sunken tub. Its whooshing sounds kept them alert, but Marly could literally feel Bobby’s exhaustion. Hers, too, even though she’d gotten more rest than he had. “Let’s go to bed before we go to sleep in here and drown. Don’t worry about tomorrow, you’ll do fine.”
He dragged himself to his feet and climbed out of the tub. “Don’t bet on it. I’ve never gone in and played an actual game with players I’ve never even seen on tape before. Come here.”
When she stepped out of the tub he wrapped her in a huge, soft towel. “Thank you for marrying me and hanging in for all the curves in the road. I promise this all will work out.”
“I know.” And she did. He had a career to build, and she was here to help him. “Let me give you a quick rubdown. Tomorrow or the next day is soon enough for us to find out if sex is more fun with wedding bands and a marriage certificate.”
“Okay. You can stay here and sleep through the game if you want to. I’m sure I won’t be breaking any records unless they’re for the most interceptions or something equally as bad.”
“You won’t. And if you do you’ll just be getting those miserable stats out of the way. Relax, let me love you the easy way tonight.” Spilling some of the now-familiar smelling oil on his backside, she deliberately made her touch slow, gentle. A soothing touch, one to draw out the tension and let him sleep.
Water still swirled in the hot tub after they got out, and the fragrant bath salts hung in the cool, dry air. For a long time after Bobby drifted off to sleep, Marly lay beside him, watching the slow, rhythmic rise of his breathing and wondering how she could have been so lucky as to make this hot jock want her not just for her body but for her. For the sexy cheerleader, but also for the slightly insecure woman who had so much trouble believing he wanted her for always, not for just a fast, hot fuck.
He’d told her that first night that he was looking for more, and now she was persuaded. Who but a man who loved her would have let himself get caught up in planning for a quick wedding even though he’d surely suspected the timing might have coincided with this trade? “You’re my love, my lover…for always.” Snuggling close to her Bobby, she finally slept.
About the Author
First published in 1996, Ann has sold over 100 romance novels, novellas and short stories to publishers including Berkley, Kensington, Loose Id, Changeling and more. Recently she has begun a new venture, self-publishing. Her first nonfiction book, SELF-EDITING FOR WRITERS,was released last year, along with original and heavily revised romance novels and boxed sets that were previously published. The books, where previously published, have been heavily revised and in some cases completely rewritten.
Ann is known for her hot, Alpha heroes and the strong women who inspire their love. Although a majority of her books are placed in contemporary settings, she has also published an urban fantasy series, several historical romances, and a long series of futuristic, semi-dystopian erotic romance novellas that will be revised and republished in the near future.
Her currently available titles are shown at her website, where buy links are clearly accessible.. Buy links can be found at her website. If you enjoy Ann’s books, please take time to post a short review!
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Also by Ann Jacobs
Hedgecock, TX: Home of the Signal Callers (Calling the Signals #0.5)
More Than Lust (Courthouse Connections 1)
In His Own Defense (Courthouse Connections 2)
Bittersweet Homecoming (Courthouse Connections 3)
The Defenders boxed set (Courthouse Connections 2 & 3)
Love Games (Courthouse Connections 4)
Gettin’ It On (Courthouse Connections 5)
Eye of the Storm (Courthouse Connections 6)
The Prosecutors boxed set (Courthouse Connections 4, 5 & 6)
Jake’s Love (Courthouse Connections 7)
Framed (Courthouse Connections 8) COMING SOON
Capture Me (The Oil Barons 1)
The Closer We Get (The Oil Barons 2)
Promises Lost (The Oil Barons 3)
Rescuing an Angel (The Oil Barons 4)
Texas Fire (The Oil Barons 5)
Breaking Free (The Oil Barons 6)
Hearts Unleashed (The Oil Barons 7)
On the Trail of Darkness (Hunting the Dark Lord 1)
Shadowing the Beast (Hunting the Dark Lord 2)
Stalking the Dark (Hunting the Dark Lord 3)
Owning the Night (Hunting the Dark Lord 4)
Possessing the Night (Hunting the Dark Lord 5)
The Heir (Bar C Legacy 1)
The Bastard (Bar C Legacy 2)
The Brat (Bar C Legacy 3)
Roped (Heart of the West 1)
Hitched (Heart of the West 2) COMING SOON
Lassoed (Heart of the West 3) COMING SOON
Roped, Hitched & Lassoed Boxed Set (Heart of the West 1,2,3)
Game Changer (Gridiron Fantasies 1)
Night Games (Gridiron Fantasies 2)
Playing the Game (Gridiron Fantasies 3)
Rand (San Antonio Connection 1)
A Very Special Favor (San Antonio Connection 2)
Steadfast (San Antonio Connection 3) COMING SOON
This Time, Forever
A Patchwork Romance
The Best Gift
Bliss House
Beneath a Cornish Moon
Blood Gift
The Barbarian (in the anthology, Secrets 3)
Self Editing for Writers (nonfiction)
Here’s a short excerpt from THE MVP, coming soon
(Keith and Tina’s story)
For the first time since Jackie died nearly eight months ago, Keith Connors felt a heavy weight of responsibility start to lift off his shoulders. Finally, after six months of looking, he’d found a nanny he could trust to take care of Jack. And from his own postage stamp-sized hometown, no less. Tina Black had the confidence of Keith’s older sister as well as recommendations from rookie Gamblers quarterback Bobby Anthony and Bobby’s mother, who’d known Tina well while she’d been growing up in a town too small for anyone to have any serious secrets.
Now Keith could get back to the field and concentrate on playing football. Much more time away and he’d have lost his starting slot to Bobby. He knew now he’d been a fool to suggest that the Gamblers draft the talented rookie from Hedgecock County High this spring, but in those first dark days after Jackie’s death he hadn’t known if he could or even if he wanted to go on playing. Plus, Bobby was a good guy who’d deserved the shot and Keith wished him well in his NFL career.
On the way inside the house Jackie had chosen soon after they moved to Memphis, he paused in the foyer and looked at her portrait—one her parents had commissioned and given them when they’d moved in more than nine years ago. The portrait was beautiful, but it wasn’t of Jackie as he wanted to remember her. It looked too much like the Jackie she’d become before she died—brittle, cold and so determined to have her way that she’d stolen herself from him.
Keith turned away from the lifeless painting. He’d spent plenty of time grieving, wondering how he’d ever go on living and bring up the little boy his wife had wanted so desperately. Now he wouldn’t have to face the weekly calls from her mother, offering to take Jack and raise him so he could keep on “playing children’s games” as she generally referred to the career that had made him a multimillionaire before his twenty-second birthday. And he wouldn’t have to listen to his own mom’s worried voice almost every day, asking if he was ever going to find the right nanny to take care of her grandson.
Glancing to the right, at the formal dining room he hadn’t been in since the day of Jackie’s funeral, he continued through the entryway past a curving staircase to the game room and bar where he spent most of his time at home. As he stared out the window and watched a brisk October wind making ripples along the usually calm shoreline of a man-made lake, he tried to picture the young woman who’d be arriving anytime now to take care of Jack.
Funny, though she’d come with Bobby to meet him and his son just two days ago and he’d seen her again this morning at the team’s training facility, he was having a hard time remembering what she looked like. The first time, he’d been most captivated by how Jack had responded to her. He remembered her on her knees in the nursery, lifting his laughing baby in the air while Jack latched onto her hair with both his tiny fists. She’d been young, he remembered that. Just twenty-two, and unlike most women he encountered, she seemed shy around him. That was okay, because she exuded a strong sense of self-confidence when she handled his son. Jack obviously had loved her at first sight. When Bobby’s fiancée had brought her over to meet him and Bobby after practice, his impression had been that looks-wise, Tina didn’t hold a candle to Marly.
He’d scoured his memory, but the only impression of Tina from Hedgecock, Texas, where they both grew up, had been a young shadow of a girl hanging to the back of the group of boys who used to like pestering him to throw a football with them. His sister Diane had coolly reminded him that she’d been best friends with Tina’s mom and that Keith had also run into Tina when he occasionally came to her house to get a ride home from Diana after practice.
Yeah, Diane was still pissed about how he’d turned his back on where he grew up. He’d shoved a lot of childhood memories of Hedgecock deep in the back of his mind. Though he remembered the Black family’s modest frame house a stone’s throw from the school, and he could still picture a tire swing in the backyard and almost taste the homemade cookies he’d eaten there.
Hedgecock hadn’t been so bad. He’d just wanted to get the hell away from there so much, away from the empty, dead-end lives so many of the men working the rigs had. He hadn’t wanted that to be his future.
Tina was only twenty-one or twenty-two now, but she apparently had taken care of her mother until her death a few months ago. Despite her problems with him, Diana spoke highly of Tina’s sense of responsibility, which gave Keith a degree of comfort.
It helped, too, that Bobby recommended her. Some problem had come up back home, bringing Tina to Memphis, but Bobby had assured him it wasn’t anything that would interfere with her being a nanny. The two had been close friends since they were kids, and Keith imagined they’d been lovers, too. If so, that was in the past. Keith couldn’t imagine Bobby’s fiancée putting up with him messing around now, just weeks before their wedding. Marly didn’t strike him as a woman willing to share her man. Tina would have had a hard time competing for Bobby’s attention with the incredibly sexy Marly, anyhow. And that was fine with Keith.
In the past few months he’d interviewed at least a hundred women, most of whom seemed more interested in sleeping with him than taking care of Jack. Tina’s appearance hadn’t stuck in his mind, but her attitude impressed him. She didn’t seem like the type to chase him around the house, trying to seduce him. If anything, he’d sensed a “don’t touch” attitude about her that he’d have wondered more about if only he weren’t so relieved to be getting his life back in order.
Picking up the phone, he spee
d-dialed his mom to let her know Tina had agreed to be Jack’s nanny and that she’d be moving in later today. Afterward he hesitated then called Jackie’s parents, too, bracing himself as he dialed the number for the inevitable tears and thinly veiled accusations that accompanied every contact he’d had with them since Jackie’s death. Nothing he could say or do would bring her back or make her parents believe she hadn’t died entirely because he was a selfish bastard.
Once he got off that difficult conversation, he took a deep breath. After the struggles and grief of the past months, he felt sure Tina was going to be the first good thing that had happened to him and Jack in a while. It almost felt like a new beginning. A good one.
