Daring Attraction

by Melanie Shawn

  “Nope. My dad left when I was a baby, and my mom never had any more kids.” Cole wanted to say more, but practice ended before he got the chance.

  While standing next to Alex as he gave his post-practice pep talk, Cole thought about everything he’d learned about Julianna.

  She’d had Anthony when she was sixteen. She didn’t have any family helping her. She was close with her neighbor Megan—who had two little girls, Chloe and Cameron—that was Anthony’s one and only babysitter. She worked three jobs while raising a kid who was funny, well adjusted, and a straight A student. Oh, and not only could she change a tire, she could also change the oil, and she was quite the handyman—or, in this case, handywoman—around the house. Anthony said that there was nothing his mom couldn’t fix.

  That was just what was on paper. Anthony had also inadvertently given Cole a glimpse into Julianna’s personality through the stories he’d told. He’d learned that Julianna loved lists. She made lists for everything. She never complained, and when Anthony did, she would start listing things he could be grateful for. Which understandably frustrated Anthony, but Cole thought was pretty fucking amazing.

  She bit her lip, twisted her hair, and tapped her foot when she was stressed. Whenever they had a bad day or one of them was upset, she would put on ’90s R&B music and they would have a dance party. All of that and she was so damn beautiful that he felt like he couldn’t breathe when he looked at her. Like her beauty sucked all of the oxygen out of his lungs.

  Cole had always lived by the belief that, if something seemed too good to be true, it was. But he was starting to think that Julianna Perez might just be the exception to that rule.

  “Bring it in!” Alex yelled.

  Cole put his hand in as the kids and coaches yelled, “Go Thunder!”

  A vibration went off in Cole’s pocket, so he pulled his phone out and saw a text from his teammate, Sawyer, asking if he wanted to head down to Time Out tonight. He sent back the same answer he’d given all week.

  Cole: Not tonight.

  Then he smiled when his phone immediately buzzed again.

  Sawyer: Are you sick or something?

  Yeah. Cole had a sneaking suspicion he was sick. Love sick.

  Since the moment he’d laid eyes on Julianna Perez, other women hadn’t existed. He hadn’t gone out or hooked up in seven days. Which, for some guys, might be normal, but for him, was a damn record.

  After letting Sawyer know he was fine, Cole put his phone back in his pocket and jogged to catch up with Anthony and Julianna, who were headed out to the parking lot.

  “Hey. You did really great today, Anthony,” Cole said as he caught up to them.

  “Thanks!” Anthony enthused.

  Julianna smiled but kept walking. In fact, if Cole wasn’t mistaken, she picked up the pace.

  “Are you guys free tonight? We can go grab a pizza and I can go over tips to memorizing the playbook.” He felt like a lowlife for using football and Anthony to try to spend time with Julianna, but his desire to get to know this woman trumped his conscience.

  “Mom, can we?” Anthony looked up at his mom with big puppy-dog eyes that Cole knew he would never be able to say no to.

  Apparently, Julianna did not have that issue. “Sorry. I have to work. You are hanging out with Megan and the girls.” She shook her head as she walked away even faster from Cole, with just a quick glance over her shoulder. “But thanks for the offer.”

  Her actions made it clear that she had zero interest in spending any time with him. Knowing when to retreat, he stopped walking and watched as the pair made their way across the parking lot. When he saw them get into an old Civic that appeared to be on its last legs, he had to stop himself from racing after them and giving them the keys to his Range Rover.

  He wanted to tell Julianna that she didn’t need to work three jobs. That he would take care of anything they needed. And that scared the shit out of him.

  He’d avoided any kind of responsibility as long as he could remember. Other than his mom and his teammates, he answered to no one. He’d never even been in a serious relationship. So why in the hell did he feel responsible for a kid he barely knew and a woman who didn’t want to give him the time of day?

  This was insane. He needed to get a grip. Maybe he would go out tonight after all. So he pulled out his phone and sent a text to Sawyer.

  Cole: See you at six.

  Chapter Four

  Julianna could barely keep her eyes open as she tried to focus on the road. This was her third catering job in the last three weeks, and it had gone two hours later than she’d anticipated. She stank of ketchup because a tipsy partygoer tripped over his own feet, sending his full plate flying through the air before it landed on her shoulder and then slid down her shirt and pants. And the cherry on top of the disaster-of-a-night sundae was, thanks to a new policy at Grand Affairs, the catering company she worked for, she’d had to pool her tips. Which meant that, even though she’d made over two hundred dollars in tips, she’d walked away with less than eighty thanks to her fellow servers’ contributions.

  Thankfully, she now had enough money to replace her tires. But, that kind of money, once she took out gas and what she paid Megan, was not worth her time away from Anthony. Monday morning, Julianna decided, she would look for a different company to work for; one she could actually make the kind of money she needed to pay for things like tires, or the new transmission she’d just been informed she needed.

  As frustrating as tonight had been, she reminded herself that she had Anthony, a steady, good-paying job, a roof over her and her son’s heads, a vehicle, and she and Anthony both had their health. That was a lot more than some people had.

  Julianna had always tried to practice having what her second-grade teacher, Mrs. Finn, called an “attitude of gratitude.” Her teacher had drilled a glass-half-full mentality into the class, and she’d also given them tools to live their lives by that philosophy. One of those tools was to list the things you were grateful for whenever you started feeling sorry for yourself or the grass started looking greener on the other side.

  Julianna had made it through some pretty tough times in her life using Mrs. Finn’s techniques. She’d tried to pass those tools onto her son, but Anthony didn’t seem quite as receptive as she’d been to them. Although, to his credit, he did humor her, which she appreciated.

  Her headlights illuminated the front of her condo as a yawn claimed her. Four hours of sleep a night was what she’d been averaging—obviously, it wasn’t enough. All she wanted was a hot shower and sleep. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, but that was all she would admit to wanting, even to herself.

  She could have been getting six hours of sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, he popped into her head with his mesmerizing green eyes, his sinful smile, his panty-melting dimple, his sexy laugh, and his mouthwatering arms. Cole Carson consumed her without her permission, and there didn’t seem to be anything she could do about it.

  Today was four weeks to the day since she’d met him, and she’d really thought that her schoolgirl crush would have run its course by now. She’d been wrong. If anything, it was multiplying, not lessening. Which was beyond frustrating. Especially considering that, for the last two weeks, since she’d turned down Cole’s offer to go out for pizza, he’d basically been ignoring her completely. It was like she didn’t exist. Which was fine. He was still paying just as much attention to Anthony, and that was all that really mattered…

  When Julianna pulled into her one-car garage, she realized that this was another thing she was thankful for. She had a safe place to put her car, and she never had to look for street parking, which on this street was a nightmare. Since she lived on Elm Street, a lot of her neighbors joked that the parking situation was a “Nightmare on Elm Street.”

  Stepping over Anthony’s bike, which was on its side in front of the garage door, the strong, pungent scent of vinegar hit her again and her stomach rolled with nausea. Julianna wasn’t sure i
f the aroma was in her sinuses or if she still smelled that much like ketchup. She’d rinsed her hair out in the bathroom and tried to clean her shirt and pants with a wet rag and club soda. Although she feared that all she’d managed to accomplish was to smear the offending smell and stain over more surface area than it had originally covered.

  Entering the dark kitchen from the garage, she saw the lights of the television flickering on the back wall and heard the sound of giggles from the girls and a small chuckle from her son. Megan must have let Anth and the girls pick out a movie. Usually, Anthony was in bed when she got home from catering gigs, but every once in a while, Megan would cave and let the kids talk her into staying up past their bedtime. When that happened, she and Megan usually enjoyed a rare glass of wine while the kids finished up their cinematic adventure. Julianna could definitely use a glass of vino.

  “I’m home,” she announced as she moved across the kitchen floor. “I’m just gonna grab a quick shower and then I’ll b—”

  Stopping on a dime, Julianna froze like one of those cartoon characters that got covered in ice. Cole Carson was in her living room. On her couch.

  Was she dreaming?

  Was this real?

  “Hey, Jules. Cole stopped by to bring Anthony his bag. He forgot it at practice.” Megan, who was sitting on the loveseat, explained this with a look of amusement on her face.

  Soooo, this was real.

  Cole Carson was in her spot on the couch, and from the looks of it, he’d made himself quite at home. Julianna had no idea how to process what was happening here. Her eyes were seeing things and her ears were hearing things that were impossible.

  “Mom, Coach Carson’s here. Isn’t that cool?” Anthony asked, clearly excited. He, Chloe, and Cameron were all lying on pillows and blankets on the floor.

  “Cool,” she repeated, unable to form an original response.

  “Hi, Julianna.” Cole’s deep voice rolled over Julianna’s skin like an erotic wave.

  She stared at him, trying to telepathically surmise what he was doing here. She knew that he’d dropped the bag off, but why was he still here? At her house. Chillin’ like it was the most normal thing in the world.

  Her psychic interrogation had no effect on the star quarterback with muscles that turned Julianna’s insides to mush. Grinning up at her, he made no attempt to get up and leave. He just continued lounging on her couch. The part that freaked her out the most was that he didn’t look out of place at all. It was like he was exactly where he was supposed to be.

  “Mom?” Anthony’s worried voice snapped Julianna out of her momentary paralysis.

  “Huh?” Her eyes shot down to her son.

  His face scrunched up. “You smell and you have stuff on your shirt.”

  Shit.

  Not only was Cole Carson here, in her house, but she was covered in stale ketchup. And after sitting outside all day during Anthony’s practice, running with him in the sprinklers to cool off, throwing on her uniform, and being on her feet for the last eight hours at the catering gig, she probably looked like death warmed over.

  “I got… Someone spilled… I tried to…” Ugh. Why couldn’t she finish a sentence to explain anything whenever Cole was around?

  “Why don’t you go and take that shower? I’ll make sure Anth brushes his teeth before bed and clean up before I take off,” Megan offered, as the credits began running on the television.

  Wanting nothing more than to escape from this alternate universe version of her life where Cole Carson was hanging out at her house, Julianna turned and hightailed it down the hall to the safety of her bedroom, after briefly looking over her shoulder at Cole and quickly squeaking out, “Thanks for dropping off Anth’s bag.”

  The smile that spread across his face and the twinkle in his emerald eyes were saying a lot more than, “You’re welcome,” and a flush instantly rose on her face. Why did he look at her like that? It wasn’t just a look of desire or interest. It was…possessive and intimate. Like he really saw her. Like she belonged to him. Like she was his.

  When she reached her room, she shut the door and collapsed against it. She was out of breath, lightheaded, and tingly in places she had no business being tingly in. At least not over a frustrating football player who oozed more sex appeal in his little finger than Elvis had in his swiveling hips.

  Catching her reflection in the mirror above her dresser, she almost laughed out loud at what was staring back at her. Her hair was a rat’s nest, her white button-up shirt had a reddish-orange stain smudged across her entire chest, and her mascara had run, which made her look like a raccoon.

  The fact that she’d thought there was any connection, any sexual tension between her and Cole, was a joke. During her Googling, she’d seen the women he’d dated. She used the word loosely because there weren’t two pictures of him with the same woman. The reflection she saw staring back at her was a big ol’ reality check, making it crystal clear that any fantasy in which Cole found her attractive or where he was actually interested in her was just that—a fantasy.

  Cole Carson had dropped off Anthony’s bag and probably stayed because Anthony had asked him to. He was not here to see her. The look in his eye was probably just amusement at what a hot mess she was, not that she was hot.

  Peeling her shirt off—literally, because it was stuck to her skin—Julianna stepped into the shower in her small bathroom and turned the faucet as far as it could go towards the H. She wanted to stand under a pulsating stream of steaming-hot water and wash off the ketchup and embarrassment. Then she planned on going out and having a glass of wine, whether Megan was still here or not.

  * * *

  “Do not make me regret this.” Megan pointed her finger in Cole’s face as her baby, Chloe, slept peacefully on her shoulder.

  “I won’t.” He lifted his hands in surrender. “I promise.”

  “She’s the best person I know, and if you hurt her, my husband will make you sorry you were ever born,” the five-foot-tall—on a good day—blonde threatened.

  Cole knew that Julianna’s neighbor was serious, but it was hard to take her that way because she looked like a little pixie. With huge, blue eyes and blonde curls that bounced around her face every time she spoke, she made it hard for Cole to keep a straight face. She’d told him—more than once—that her husband was a cop, and Cole wondered how he dealt with this firecracker.

  “I know. I would never hurt her,” he assured her with every ounce of sincerity he had.

  “I’m right next door, and these walls are thin,” she warned in a menacing tone.

  “Got it.” Cole nodded, as Megan carried Chloe and led her oldest daughter, Cameron, out the door.

  It made Cole happy that these two women had each other’s backs. From what she had said, Megan’s husband worked long hours and Julianna was a huge support for the young mom of two.

  After watching to make sure the three ladies made it safely next door, Cole shut the door and took the opportunity of being alone to look at the pictures on the walls. Before Megan had left, she’d checked to make sure Anthony had brushed his teeth, and she’d said that he was already sound asleep, which didn’t surprise Cole. That kid worked harder than any other kid on the field during the clinics.

  As he checked out the photos he saw that most of them were of Anthony, but there were a few with both Julianna and Anthony in them. It broke Cole’s heart to think of her raising her son all alone. She’d been a kid herself when she’d had him. But, she hadn’t let that stop her from making a life, a good life for her and her son.

  Cole never would have thought he’d want to step into a ready-made family. He’d figured that, if he did ever settle down, it would be the sort of scenario where he met a girl and they fell in love, got married, and had kids. But Anthony was special. Cole loved that kid.

  Over the past two weeks, Cole had tried to put Julianna out of his mind. The night she’d turned him down for pizza, he’d gone out with every intention of hooking up with som
eone. Only he hadn’t. After one beer, he’d left Time Out. Alone. And he hadn’t been back since.

  It felt like she’d cast some kind of spell on him that he couldn’t break. And that had pissed him off. So his solution had been to ignore it. Ignore her. He hadn’t talked to her at the Saturday clinics. He hadn’t looked for her in the stands. He’d tried to pretend that she didn’t exist. But it hadn’t worked. All it had done was made him miserable. But, Cole probably would have continued ignoring her if he hadn’t seen what he had this afternoon.

  He’d been on his way to the player’s parking lot when he’d heard laughter that immediately made him feel calm, relaxed. When he turned, he saw Anthony running through the sprinklers on the small patch of grass beside parking lot B, making monkey and other animal noises. Julianna was laughing as she watched her son, and the sound was like the Audible version of a book his mom liked to read—Chicken Soup for the Soul. It soothed him. The temperature had to have been in the low one hundreds, but that sweet sound had washed over him like a cool breeze.

  Anthony had tried to talk his mom into running through the sprinklers with him. She was shaking her head, telling him that she had to work tonight and she couldn’t get wet. Then Anthony—who obviously knew exactly what buttons to push when it came to his mom—asked if she was scared and dared her to run through them. The fire and determination Cole had seen flash in Julianna’s eyes at Anthony’s challenge, had shot straight to his heart. That was it. He realized in that moment that he was all in with this woman he barely knew.

  He watched as Julianna dropped her bag beside the grass and ran through the sprinklers several times, laughing and chasing Anthony. His heart broke wide open—and not because she looked so fucking hot getting soaked by the sprinklers that caused her cut-off jean shorts and tank top to stick to her like a second skin (although that didn’t hurt). No, he’d fallen hard because he’d seen the fighter in her. That special quality Cole knew was the “it” quality that made her a survivor. The thing she had that had given her the ability to build a life for herself and her son at the age of sixteen. That rise-to-any-challenge spirit was sexier than her insane body, pouty lips, glossy doe eyes, and long, silky dark hair.