I heard the flight attendant cough behind me. “Final boarding for the flight to Los Angeles.”
We broke apart.
“I hope you reach your goals. Go number one in the draft. Become rich and famous. Get into the Hall of Fame.”
“If I do, you have no excuse not to find me and track me down,” he said. “I’ll say goodbye, but it had better not be for forever.”
I smiled and squeezed his hand.
The moment his fingers slipped from mine felt worse than being stabbed by a thousand tiny knives.
I handed my boarding pass to the attendant and paused at the door to the jet bridge.
He stood where I’d left him, staring at me. I’d never forget the look in his eyes as I turned and walked away.
PRESENT
The wide hallway was getting dusty again. The big house seemed to gather the little white specks faster than they could be swept away.
I slipped into the home office quietly, barely disturbing the cracked door on my way through. A wide picture window framed the green grass and small trees of the large backyard. In front of the window sat the impressive wooden desk Travis’s father made as a wedding gift.
Travis bent over the wooden surface, fingers flying over the keyboard of his computer, words appearing on the screen at a dazzling rate.
I waited until he finished his page and stretched before I crossed the room and set the steaming mug of tea beside him. I didn’t like to disturb him while he wrote.
“Thank you, Sexy,” Travis said. He cracked his fingers as he pushed away from the desk and put his arm around me, drawing me close.
“It’s my pleasure,” I said. “Are you planning on writing all day?”
He nodded. “I may go for a walk later, since it’s such a nice day, but I have a lot of words I need to get done today. Being famous got me this novel deal, but it won’t type the words for me.”
Despite only playing a few years in the league, Travis had been one of the most dynamic and explosive quarterbacks ever to play the game. He’d successfully pivoted out of football, but America would never have enough of Travis King.
“Do you ever regret leaving the game?” I asked. “You wanted to be the best of all time—win the most championships, enter the Hall of Fame… that’s all out of reach, now.”
Travis leaned back in the chair and gave me that look he had—the one that made my heart jump.
“That’s all I wanted for a long time, Juliette. My entire life. But it changed the week we met. I’ve never told you this—told no one—but the real reason I pursued the trade to Los Angeles wasn’t because I needed a fresh start, or to build a dynasty from scratch. That’s what I told everyone, and that’s even what I’d convinced myself. But that wasn’t it.”
His blue eyes were so intense.
“It wasn’t?”
He shook his head and smiled. “I knew you went to school in Los Angeles, and I figured you’d still be there. I came for you, Juliette.”
“Oh, my God. Travis…”
I’d never guessed. Not in all these years. Our reunion had felt like the most improbable coincidence in the world—the unlikely, unfathomable mechanisms of fate.
Travis had tilted fate in our favor and stacked the deck.
“I love you so much, Travis.”
I leaned down for a kiss, but Travis surprised me by pulling me into his lap. Even after a few years of retirement, his strength was enough to make my panties wet whenever he threw me around.
“Maybe I could be persuaded to rise to the occasion for some extracurriculars,” he said, his voice a low, throaty growl in my ear.
I giggled. “Maybe later, Mr. Writer.”
His hand in my hair pulled me close for a kiss, this one deeper and more demanding than the last. As it so often did, the heat between us burned brighter, flaring into the intense blaze of passion. There was one thing I could always count on, and it was the way we needed each other as often as we could get it.
I broke the kiss. “I have to get going, Travis. Otherwise, I’ll be late to the lab.”
He nibbled my ear. “I shouldn’t keep Dr. King from her research. I’m lucky to have married a doctor.”
I bit my lip. Was now the right time to tell him? I’d been bursting with the news, and it was nearly impossible to keep in.
I leaned in to whisper in his ear. “How does it feel to have impregnated a doctor?”
Travis took me by the shoulders and pushed me away from him so he could look me in the eye.
“You’re pregnant?”
I grinned.
He whooped in his trademarked Travis King style, pulling me to him and crushing me in a giant hug.
“I’m going to be a father!”
I laughed. “Yes, you are. And you’ll be a fantastic one, too.”
He pulled me back again to look into my eyes. “It’s the start of our own little team of Kings.”
I knew that look.
“Hey now, Cocky. Don’t go getting too ambitious. We’re just having one to start with, are we clear? I will not be pumping out a football team for you to play with.”
He grinned and kissed me.
“I’m not cocky. I’m confident.”
Epilogue
~Juliette~
“Let’s go, munchkins, line up!”
Troy and Lexy took up positions opposite each other, the two eldest children of Travis King eager to show their father that they’ve been practicing. Jeff and Tia, barely old enough to walk, ignored their father’s commands and continued to pick at dandelions in the grass.
“And, hut!”
Lexy threw the ball back between her legs. She flung it so hard that it almost clocked Travis in the face.
“Whoa! Okay, run. Run, Lexy!”
Lexy was only nine, but she could run like a gazelle. Her older brother couldn’t keep up, falling behind just far enough that when the ball flew over her shoulder in a perfect pass, he couldn’t stop it.
“Lexy for the touchdown! The princesses win!”
Travis sprinted to the other end of the backyard and picked his daughter up, twirling her around and setting her on his shoulders as they marched back to the house.
Even on her father’s shoulders, she still couldn’t reach the lower branches of the impressive trees dotting the yard. They’d grown so much in twelve years.
We all had.
“Well, hey there, Sexy. Enjoying the show?” Travis asked. “Imagine a woman like you watching a little game like this.”
I smiled. I’d been watching ever since I got home from the lab. Seeing Travis interact with the children never failed to give my heart a boost when I needed it. His ability to work from home and spend time with the kids had nurtured a close bond unlike any I’d seen.
The man had excelled at being a football player, was an incredible writer, and an even better father. I couldn’t believe my luck.
All from a cocky college boy I met at the airport one spring.
Life had a funny way of working out.
“I could watch the show all day. Does this quarterback know any adult games?”
He took Lexy off his shoulders and tapped her on the butt. “Go play with your brother, sweetie. Daddy’s got to talk with his Queen.”
The adorable little girl sprinted into the grass and tackled Troy, prompting a spirited wrestling match.
“What kind of adult game do you have in mind?”
I tapped my chin. “There’s a card game I’ve heard of, but it doesn’t have a name. Someone said you have to strip off a piece of clothing every time you lose a hand. I sure hope that isn’t true, because I’m wearing nothing underneath this dress.”
Travis’s eyes roved my body as I gave him a sultry look.
“Don’t be too long putting the kids to bed,” I said, walking into the house.
Steal
A Bad Boy Romance
Kat
I didn't need another arrogant jerk to distract me from my career.
&n
bsp; But there was something about James I couldn't resist, despite how wrong it was. The ex-Marine took control every time we were together, and it felt so good to let him.
Despite how he made me feel, I couldn't shake the conviction that he would destroy me.
James
Manipulating people is an art, and I'm Michelangelo.
My name is James Stratton. At least, that's the name I'm using right now. I'm a con artist. A grifter. But I only steal from assholes who deserve it.
Kat has no idea that I'm her childhood friend. I've changed. Grown. Matured. And I'm back to get even with the girl who broke my heart.
Buy Now
Also by D.G. Whiskey
STANDALONES:
Pulse: A Stepbrother Romance
Steal: A Bad Boy Romance
Royal Rogue: British Bad Boy Romance
Shaken: A Football Romance
Fallen: An Angel Romance
Extracurricular
DEVEREUX NOVELS:
Capturing Liberty
Taking Flight
Chasing Charity
Learn more about me and my books at my website.
www.dgwhiskey.com
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About the Author
D.G. Whiskey is a world-traveling writer from Toronto in his late twenties who is happiest when exploring new countries and meeting new people. He’s spending the winter writing in South East Asia, gathering inspiration from incredible new experiences.
Enraptured by fictional worlds since reading Lord of the Rings at age seven, and spurred on by dozens of bookcases packed with his mother’s fantasy and romance novels, D.G. has been writing stories for twenty years. With a background in engineering and a passion for writing, he’s a firm believer that you should never let yourself be put into a box—you can accomplish anything!
Connect with D.G. on Facebook: Profile and Author Page. Or, send D.G. an email at [email protected].
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DGWhiskey
www.dgwhiskey.com
[email protected]
Acknowledgments
I’d like to extend my sincerest thanks to the readers who reach out and let me know how my writing has touched them—it humbles me greatly and is truly the reason why I write. I love to hear from you, so please don’t be shy!
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Extracurricular Page 29
