Play Me

by Kelly Elliott

  The door shut, and I put on a smile. “Good morning, Mr. Owens. I hope you brought my shoes with you.”

  I stared out over the pasture, my hands tightly gripping the railing as I tried to push away this strange ache in my chest. I hadn’t been able to get Kendall Wales out of my head for the last six days. She was consuming my thoughts day and night, and it was beginning to piss me off. When she’d put those damn boots on and followed me into the barn, I wanted to back her against the wall and kiss the living shit out of her.

  Fuck. Stop thinking about kissing her.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so conflicted about something. It’s a simple yes or no, son.”

  My father’s voice pulled me from my wandering thoughts. I turned to face him. He sat in one of the rocking chairs on my back porch, a knowing grin on his face. As if he could read my mind. He probably could. Brett Owens, my dad. The former college star, NFL MVP, and football coach loved by all. That was my dad. They were some big shoes to fill, but he never once made me feel like I had to fill them. Even now, he was here for me.

  “The woman drives me mad, Dad.”

  He arched a brow. “The woman you spent only an hour or so with? The woman who had the balls to drive down here and offer you a job?”

  I huffed. “You didn’t meet her.”

  Shrugging off my comment, he went on. “So if you don’t want to consider it, why are you driving up to Bowling Green today? Surely it’s not to give her back her shoes and tell her no again.”

  I hated that he could see right through me. At least three times I picked up those shoes, ready to ship them back to Kendall and move on. Each time I held them, I saw her smile and those damn blue eyes that had played in my dreams since she’d stormed onto my ranch. Those blue eyes and their color that reminded me of home. I could close my eyes and picture the blue sky of Wyoming, and when Kendall looked at me, I saw it right there in her eyes. After she’d left, it had been the first week in over a year that my dreams had not been nightmares. The first time in over a year my thoughts had been consumed with something beautiful rather than something tragic.

  “You and I both know I would never coach a minor league football team. It would be career suicide.”

  “Do you intend to go back to coaching?” he asked, his voice sounding hopeful.

  My heart ached, and for a moment, I felt nauseous. “No, but I’d like to keep my options open.”

  He nodded and took a sip of his coffee. After I’d called him Tuesday night to tell him about Kendall’s little visit, he’d informed me he was coming for a visit of his own. He’d clearly heard the uncertainty in my voice, the struggle with what to do and how to step back into an industry that had nearly drove me to a place so dark I was afraid I’d never escape it.

  I knew my father, and he wasn’t coming just to visit. He was coming to watch over the ranch while I headed up to Bowling Green to figure this shit out. I wasn’t going to coach, that I knew. But there was something about Kendall Wales that made me want to help her with this team, made me want to see her succeed, and I knew I was the man to help her do it.

  “It wasn’t your fault, Hunter.”

  Bile threatened to climb up into my throat.

  “I should have known, should have seen the signs. Something.”

  My father sighed and shook his head. He’d played professional football early on in his career and had been damn good. After an injury and a messed-up relationship with the owner of the team, he’d retired and went on to coach the University of Austin to three straight national championships. Then he’d walked away from it all to be with his father, who had been diagnosed with cancer for the second time. My mother, of course, followed him to Wyoming after quitting her job as an ESPN college football sideline reporter. To say football was in my blood was an understatement.

  I lived it.

  Breathed it.

  Played it.

  Coached it.

  I was first-round NFL draft pick my junior year at the University of Austin where my father coached. I knew football, and I was fucking good at it. I played four years in the NFL before I decided to move to my other passion. Coaching. I started off as the defensive coordinator for Tennessee Spartans before moving four years later into the position of head coach at the age of thirty, the youngest NFL coach to date. Until one of my players died right in front of my eyes and changed my entire life.

  “How? No one could have seen that. He had an undetected heart condition, Hunter. You could not have known that.”

  “I pushed him too hard.”

  “It was during a damn game, and he was running the ball in for a touchdown. How is that pushing him too hard? He was doing his job.”

  I looked into his eyes, shaking my head. “I should have known.”

  “So that’s it? You’re never going to forgive yourself?”

  “No,” I replied instantly.

  We sat in silence for a few moments before he did what he always did when we got to this point in the conversation—changed the subject.

  “Did I tell you about when your mother and I met?”

  A warm smile spread over his face, and I sat in the chair opposite him, relieved that we were no longer talking about that day.

  “Mom has told me her version. That the two of you saw each other on the sidelines, and you both knew there was something magical between you.”

  He chuckled. “Well, she’s right, but that wasn’t exactly the way I remember my feelings.”

  It was my turn to laugh, and it felt good. The heaviness from the conversation only moments ago drifted away in the light breeze.

  “She was beautiful, and I knew I wanted to... get to know her. Then I met her, and I wanted to strangler her. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to drag her from my boss’s office back to the airport or put her in my bed.”

  With a groan, I scrubbed my hands over my face. “Dad, I didn’t need a visual.”

  “All I’m saying is I see the same thing on your face, son. Trust me when I say you cannot deny to yourself that you’re attracted to Kendall Wales. It will only frustrate you more. What you need to figure out is if you can push that to the side and do the job she’s offering you.”

  “No.”

  “No, you can’t push the feelings aside, or no to the job?”

  I sighed. “I won’t coach the team, but I will offer to be the consultant for one year. That’s all I’m willing to give her to help turn the team around.”

  “From what I’ve read, it needs more than just turning around. Might take more like five years.”

  “I always did like a challenge,” I stated with a grin.

  He leaned forward. “And the attraction?”

  With a smirk, I stood. “What attraction?”

  The entire drive up to Bowling Green, I cursed Kendall Wales. How in the hell did one woman make me consider getting involved in the one thing I vowed never to be a part of again?

  Football.

  The thought of stepping on the sidelines of a football field made me want to throw up. My head ached just thinking about it. Maybe what I needed to do was to give her back her overpriced shoes and walk away from this ridiculous situation. Yes. That was exactly what I was going to do. All this stress was my body reacting to a beautiful woman. Kendall Wales had appeared out of the blue and woken up a part of me I’d hidden away. It had been a long dry spell since the last time I had sex. At least a year... or maybe it felt that long. The last person I had slept with had been Rachel, my ex. Her true colors had come out after I’d walked away from my coaching job and said I wanted to be a rancher. In her eyes, giving up my coaching job wasn’t going to buy her all the expensive clothes, shoes, and all the other materialistic shit she was into. Little did she know I had more money than I knew what to do with thanks to smart investing.

  I turned on the radio and groaned. My father had used my truck last and had left it tuned to the eighties channel. “Oh, hell no, I am not listening to this!” I changed the channel to
my favorite country station. My mother was obsessed with eighties music, and I’d had to spend my entire life being forced to listen to artists like Cutting Crew, INXS, Belinda Carlisle, and Glass Tiger, to name just a few. I shuddered at the memory of “Mad About You” blaring in the car on my way to football practice. My father might have let this shit grow on him for the sake of my mother, but I was never going to let that happen to me.

  As I drove the relatively short distance to Bowling Green, I tried not to think of Kendall and how adorable she’d looked in my mucking boots. Or how it had made my cock strain against my pants when she’d made her way around the horses dressed in her business attire. No, I needed to focus on all the reasons I was going to turn down her offer.

  I pulled into the parking lot of the office building complex on the other side of the stadium. After sitting in my truck for what seemed like forever, I grabbed the damn shoes and headed into the building. I was going to tell Kendall thank you but no thank you. My life back in Tennessee made me happy. It was what I wanted—or at least I thought it was what I wanted.

  After clearing my way through security, I headed up to the general manager’s office. Kendall’s office. A young woman, maybe twenty or so, sat at a desk. I walked past her on my way in, ignoring her as I went.

  “Oh, wait! Excuse me! You can’t just walk in there! Sir, please wait!” the woman shouted as she attempted to stop me. It was sort of cute how she thought she had a chance. I easily had over a hundred pounds on her.

  I pushed the door open and found Kendall staring at her computer, a look of frustration etched on her beautiful face. My knees went weak at the sight of her. What in the hell? She quickly glanced up, stood, and made her way around the desk as the young woman attempted to get around me.

  “I’m so sorry, Ms. Wales. He just walked right by.”

  “It’s okay, Amber. I was expecting Mr. Owens.”

  I forced myself not to smile at her words, although I felt my mouth twitch in spite of myself. Both of us were surprised as hell I was standing in her office. Her voice lacked the confidence to convince me otherwise. I raised a brow and finally gave her a smile.

  The assistant shut the door, and Kendall put on her professional smile. Damn, it was a turn-on to see a woman so confident and sure of herself. They were few and far between. I wanted to tell her I thought it was amazing that she was taking on this task, especially since her father owned a very successful NFL team. I’d played against the Panthers plenty of times. Some games I’d won; some they had. But Damien Wales was a well-respected man, and I knew he must have had total confidence in his daughter. I also knew he’d probably have me killed if he knew of all the sexual positions I had dreamed of taking her in the past week.

  That bit I’ll keep to myself.

  “Good morning, Mr. Owens. I hope you brought my shoes back.”

  My mouth dropped opened and then snapped closed again. Is she kidding me right now? She was asking about her shoes? Her. Shoes. And to think I’d been about to give her a compliment for taking over this team. I didn’t know if I wanted to pull her into my arms or throw her shoes at her.

  I decided neither was a good option.

  “I did. I also came to tell you I do not want the position of head coach for your team.”

  Her smile faded, and I swear her shoulders slumped. She quickly regained her composure and stared at me for the longest time before speaking. Her voice made my insides warm with a feeling I’d never experienced before. I quickly forced myself to ignore it.

  “You drove all the way here to return my shoes and tell me you don’t want the job again?”

  Say. Yes.

  “Yes.”

  Her blue gaze dropped to the floor with what looked like defeat, but her body remained strong. If I hadn’t been watching, I might have missed it. I hated myself for making her feel like that, if even for a second.

  “I don’t want the head coach job, but... I will offer you my assistance as a consultant. I’ll give you one year.”

  Kendall considered this for a second without giving anything away before she crossed her arms and replied, “One year? Only one year?”

  Don’t look at her chest. Or the way that dress hugs every single perfect curve. Focus, man! Focus!

  “One year. That should be enough time to help you get the team back on the right track and winning. Then my time here is done, and I go back to my ranch.”

  “A year to get the team on the right track?”

  I ran my hand through my hair with a groan. “For Pete’s sake, Kendall, are you going to repeat everything I say in the form of a question?”

  She looked as though she was about to speak, but she stopped herself. I was certain she’d been about to repeat what I had just said.

  Clearing her throat, she glared at me with a look meant to intimidate me. All it did was turn me on. “So let me get this straight. You’re turning down the job I offered you but offering to do another job? One that wasn’t even presented to you?”

  I wanted to smile at the bite of sarcasm in her voice.

  “That sounds about right.”

  Her body shook with... was that anger? This woman was hell on wheels.

  “Listen, I don’t need a job from you, Kendall. Hell, I don’t even want a job working for you. You’re going to drive me fucking insane—I can see the writing on the wall. I promised myself I would never step foot on a football field again, but I don’t particularly like being called a pussy.”

  “If I recall correctly, I called you a coward.”

  Glaring at her, I went on. “You challenged me, and here I am. Take it or leave it. You have one minute to decide.”

  Her eyes turned dark, and she took a step closer to me. My fists clenched tightly as I pushed away the urge to cup her face in my hands and kiss her until she was breathless. There was something about this woman that made me lose all common sense, including my ability to focus on our current conversation because I was mentally undressing her as she approached me. It was the storm brewing in those blue eyes that had me getting worked up in all the wrong ways.

  Shit... what is that smell? Is that Kendall?

  As she grew closer, I could smell something so fucking delicious it made my head spin. Jesus, what did this woman bathe in? And what in the hell is wrong with me? Her scent was now throwing me off balance. This wasn’t going to work. I needed to get the fuck out of there and back to Tennessee. Now.

  “I see you’re not interested in my proposal. Fair enough. Good luck with the team, Ms. Wales. I wish you all the best.”

  I turned toward the door. The moment my hand landed on the knob, she spoke, and it felt like time stood still.

  “Hunter, wait. Don’t leave.”

  My eyes closed briefly at the sound of her voice, at the words she spoke so softly.

  Smiling, I turned to face her. Her eyes roamed my body in the most seductive way a woman had ever looked at me. Either that or she was planning on how to bury my body in the woods when all was said and done.

  She motioned for me to sit as she rounded her desk and took a seat. “I have conditions.”

  Conditions? Of course she has conditions.

  I followed and sat in the brown leather chair. It was my turn to cross my arms and stare at her.

  Kendall placed her arms on her desk, folded them, and flashed me a smile I knew she reserved for those poor bastards in the boardroom.

  “Are you going to just sit there and flash your fake smile at me, or are you going to give me your conditions?”

  Anger flashed in those baby blues. She leaned back in her chair and glared at me. My cock twitched in my pants as I gave in to a smirk.

  This was going to be fun.

  Hunter Owens was actually considering the job. I’d hoped, but I truly never believed he would take it after the incident in the barn. Think. Think. Think. I had to handle this delicately, or he would walk out the door. Hunter Owens was an enigma. I wondered what had changed his mind.

  Reg
ardless, I had to seal the deal. I needed to show everyone that I was able to make the unthinkable happen. Plus, I enjoyed getting under his skin, probably more than I should have. Being near Hunter day in and day out was going to test me in the worst possible way. Even in these few minutes we’d been around each other, my thoughts kept going to what it would feel like to be in his arms.

  In the week since I’d seen him, my memories hadn’t done the man justice. His sexy, gruff demeanor had bad boy written all over it.

  Keep him off balance. Give him the unexpected. Calmly, I said, “First, can you please gently place my shoes on the floor? They’re expensive, and you’re clenching them. Those types of shoes shouldn’t be clenched, Mr. Owens.”

  I saw the fire in his eyes as he opened his hand and they clattered to the floor. “Done.”

  So, he was testing me. I would continue to push; there was something about knowing I aggravated him that thrilled me at the same time. It was a dangerous game I was playing. I gave a sweet fake smile. “I think you missed the gently part.”

  “You said you had conditions.” His smirk told me he might be enjoying this as much as I was.

  Welcome to the club.

  Earlier, I’d had to bite the inside of my lip to the point of pain in order to stay focused on the task at hand. In reality, all I wanted was to have him grab my face and kiss the ever-living hell out of me. Then toss me on the couch and fuck me senseless. The entire situation left me feeling off kilter.

  I leaned forward to clear my thoughts and steepled my fingers. “Yes, I do. You and I both know that a year as consultant will do very little to get this team on track. It’s going to need a complete overhaul.”

  I paused, waiting to see if Hunter wanted to add anything. He remained silent. Fine by me. “I would assume as a consultant, you’re going to look for a suitable coach while you’re assessing the players.”

  Hunter smiled at me in that way that had my core heating. Yet he remained silent. Maybe he was testing my knowledge or he was seeing where I was going. I wasn’t sure. Regardless, I needed to stay on task. His deep voice rattled me at times. “Let’s say you find a coach within a month or two, at best, which is unlikely. At that point, you’re going to have to mentor him and the team to build a cohesive unit. The season will nearly be over before that really starts happening. I need two years minimum, unless...”