The Big Man Falls

by Cassandra Carr

  “It was fun.”

  Mari got in her car and drove away. Jon watched her, then shook his head. He hadn’t been overstating things when he’d said he’d never met anyone like Mari. Just the way she teased him made her more attractive than any other woman he’d dated.

  Something was happening between them, and it was happening fast. The weird thing was, even though he was definitely attracted to her, he flat-out liked her. She fascinated him on a level no other woman had before. Scrubbing his hands over his face, Jon let out a quick, hard breath then climbed into his SUV.

  FIVE

  On Monday, Jon was in the office working on the logistics for the beginning of training camp when the Storm would train for two days with Navy SEALs. Formerly they’d gone to an Army base and done some work with them, but after hearing about the success of even tougher programs like this one for bonding teams, Jon had brought up the idea to Keith, the team’s general manager. Initially Keith was skeptical, worried the players might be injured, but Jon had kept pushing, and after speaking with a couple of other GMs, Keith had given the okay to a trial run this year.

  Jon hadn’t spoken to Mari yesterday, even though he’d spent the entire day waffling between calling her and leaving her alone. She certainly seemed to want to see him, but she hadn’t called either, so he wasn’t sure what to do. The emotional investment Jon felt this time made him question every word and action. He wanted to talk to somebody about how messed up his mind was, but didn’t have close friends around Buffalo, and even if he did, he was wary of admitting a woman was getting to him like this. It wasn’t something guys like him did.

  His pen clattered to the floor and Jon jumped. Great, now the woman has me so tied in knots I’m reacting to a pen falling as if I’d been shot.

  After rising, Jon paced his small office. He couldn’t stop thinking about Mari. Her smile, her soft curves, how it felt to have her in his arms. Even the fact she found him attractive was an endless source of internal deliberation, as one side of his brain said she must be delusional while the other side did a fist pump.

  A knock at the door had him spinning to face it, his heart in his throat. “Come in.” Dammit, my voice just cracked like I’m fifteen years old. Get it together, you idiot.

  Keith entered the room. “You okay? You look flushed.” The other man scrutinized him, and it was all Jon could do to school his expression.

  He really didn’t want to have to tell his boss, a man who’d been happily married for years, he was mooning over some pretty girl and couldn’t concentrate for shit. Jon would’ve loved to talk to the man, but didn’t think it would be real professional to pour his guts out to the guy who hired him. “I’m fine. What’s up?”

  For the next half hour, he and Keith spoke about a couple of players who had been injured toward the end of last season and how to approach their training when camp started. They were debating if one particular player should participate in the Navy SEAL program when Jon’s cell began to ring, clattering along the surface of the desk. He glanced down. Mari.

  Keith raised an eyebrow. “You gonna get that?”

  “It’ll go to voicemail.”

  “So who’s Mari?”

  Jon’s mouth went dry and he coughed before answering. “You could read that upside down from the other side of the desk?”

  Keith smirked. “Uh-huh. Not all of us are going blind, old boy. Now who is she?”

  “Just a woman I’ve dated a few times.” He didn’t want to meet Keith’s gaze, knowing his eyes would give away how much he was trying to act casual.

  Sitting back and crossing his legs at the ankle, Keith asked, “You’re dating someone? When did this start? I don’t think you’ve dated anyone since you came here.”

  His eyes narrowing, Jon said, “Just because you didn’t know about it didn’t mean it didn’t happen.” Except that he’s right. A few bar hookups would not be classified as dates by most of the population.

  “Okay, okay,” Keith answered, putting up his hands. “Don’t get defensive.”

  “Are we done here?” I really don’t want to talk about my personal life right now, and especially not to you.

  “Anxious to check your messages?” If Keith’s grin got any wider, he’d split his face in two.

  Might be an improvement. Keith was probably considered handsome by the ladies, but Jon just couldn’t look at another man that way. He could admire their physical strength, but to assess their looks? No thanks.

  “Seriously?” Jon rolled his eyes. “That’s the best you’ve got?”

  “Nope,” Keith said with a straight face. “But I don’t want my head coach coming over the desk to strangle me, so I’ll keep quiet.”

  “Excellent idea,” Jon murmured. In a louder voice, he said, “Now get out.”

  “We’ll talk more about the training with the Navy SEALs tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  Keith left, closing the door behind him, and Jon grabbed his phone. Mari had left a voicemail.

  Hi there. It’s Mari. I was wondering if you’d like to have lunch again tomorrow, or maybe meet for dinner again. I wasn’t sure about calling you since I’m, um… frankly I’m not sure where we stand with each other and if I’m suffocating you or freaking you out. I hope I’m not. Anyway, call or text me.

  Relieved he didn’t seem to be the only one obsessing about their burgeoning relationship, Jon immediately dialed Mari back and she answered after a few rings.

  “Hi, it’s Jon.”

  “Wow, that was fast.”

  “I was in a meeting.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dist—”

  “It’s fine. Summers are pretty casual here. Once the season starts it’ll get crazy at times, but now is the off-season and I have more free time. And yes, I’d like to have lunch or dinner or whatever with you.”

  “’Whatever’? Sounds intriguing.”

  Jon didn’t have the first idea of how to respond to Mari’s flirtatious tone. He always thought he sounded like a moron when he tried to flirt.

  He did the only thing he could think to do. He laughed and hoped it didn’t sound like someone was killing a hyena. “I was trying to give you the option to pick which one you’d rather.”

  “Or we could do both.” Jon heard a loud exhale through the phone. “I’m sorry. I’m totally coming on too strong. You must think I’m some sort of sex-starved stalker.”

  “No, not at all. Both works for me.”

  “Really?” Mari’s tone belied the doubt she must be feeling. “You don’t have to say yes just to spare my feelings.”

  “I’m not. I’d like to see you. Sometimes I wish we could get together even more often than we do.” He held his breath, wondering what Mari would say to that.

  “I do, too. We’ll have to work on that. How about we meet at the marina for lunch, and then I make you dinner at my place?” She paused. “Or is that going too far? Do you want to stay in public places?”

  “Mari, it’s fine. It sounds great. I can cook enough that I don’t starve, but if you can make a meal that actually tastes good, rather than the stuff I usually come up with, I’d enjoy and appreciate the experience.”

  Where the hell did all that come from? Jon was totally talking out of his ass at this point. When a player needed calming down, Jon usually assigned the task to one of his assistant coaches, since it had never been a strong suit, but Mari appeared to respond to his clumsy attempts to make her feel more comfortable.

  “Okay then, lunch and dinner it is. Anything I should stay away from?” She sounded so happy that Jon did a mental fist pump. Maybe this whole relationship thing would be something he could do after all.

  “I eat a lot of chicken, but don’t let that stop you.”

  “No chicken. Got it. Crap, my timer is beeping. I gotta go. See you at noon.”

  She hung up before Jon could even answer, and he stared at the phone for a minute. Then, shaking his head, he put the cell down on his desk an
d forced himself to work, with limited success.

  SIX

  The next day, Jon arrived at the marina almost fifteen minutes early. Last night he’d tried to slap some sense into himself about Mari, but this morning had crawled by as he waited for their lunch date. He stood at the metal railing, his hands gripping it as he looked out over the water. Lost in thought, Jon spun on his heel when someone touched his shoulder.

  Mari leapt away from his flailing arm and he reached out, catching her as she stumbled then pulling her into his body.

  “We have got to stop meeting like this,” Mari said, sounding out of breath.

  “If it gives me a chance to play rescuer to a damsel in distress, I’m good with it.”

  Mari laughed, snuggling a little closer and a surge of pride welled in Jon’s chest. He’d flirted and she hadn’t run away screaming.

  “Now that you’ve got me here, what do you plan to do with me?”

  “This.” Pushing his free hand into her hair, Jon kissed Mari. This time he was more aware of the people milling around them, but that didn’t stop him from briefly dipping his tongue into her mouth. After pulling away with reluctance, he asked, “Hungry?”

  They got food and sat at a picnic table, eating and talking about all manner of things, from movies they’d seen to places they’d been. Jon hadn’t even realized how long they’d been sitting there until Mari’s phone rang.

  After taking the call, she said, “That was the lab. Some of our samples appear to be contaminated. No freaking idea how that happened, but I need to go take a look at them.”

  “If you need to postpone dinner—”

  “This won’t take long, but it needs to be done sooner rather than later. I’ll text you directions to my house.” She was already moving away even as Jon still sat at the table. “See you tonight, and I hope you’re hungry!”

  Mari was definitely a high-energy girl. Jon had no shortage of his own, but even he looked calm next to the force of nature she was. He rose, taking their trash to the garbage before going back to his office.

  Deciding it might be wise to burn off some of this excited nervousness before he went to Mari’s house, Jon changed into workout clothes and went downstairs to the state-of-the-art gym facility that the Storm’s arena boasted. A few of the guys, mostly the real young ones working with the team’s strength and conditioning coach, were there, but they largely ignored him. If Jon’s guess was right, he scared them.

  Gonna be a lot scarier things than me once you get out on that ice, boys. Might want to man up while you still can.

  Smiling to himself, he set the exercise bike for twenty minutes to warm up and began to pedal. ESPN was on the several TV’s scattered around the room, and since he’d forgotten his MP3 player upstairs, Jon watched it with half an eye while he got his heart rate up. After finishing on the bike, he moved through a circuit training routine, wanting to push himself hard, but not daring to without a spotter. Jon was a lot of things, but careless wasn’t one of them.

  He swiped a towel over his face then went back to the bike, hopping on for a twenty-minute cool down. Nearly ninety minutes after he’d come downstairs, Jon was ready to head into the showers. The coaching staff had their own little dressing room area, complete with showers and a whirlpool. He took a quick shower then changed into his cargo shorts and team T-shirt once more before going back upstairs, his mission of burning off some nervous energy successful to at least some degree.

  Mercifully, the day ended and Jon got the hell out of Dodge before anyone could stop and ask him questions. In his SUV in the parking ramp, he read over Mari’s text of directions once more, slid the phone into a cup holder, and started up the vehicle.

  It roared to life and Jon smiled. Though pretty unnecessary for the conditions in which he drove the SUV, he’d had the engine souped up as soon as he’d purchased it. The noise reverberated through the garage.

  Fighting the legions of commuters on their way to who-knew-where made Jon cranky. He freaking hated traffic—one reason his place on the water was so convenient, it was close to the arena. Finally, after being stopped at what seemed like dozens of traffic lights, Jon turned onto Mari’s street. The houses in this section of town certainly wouldn’t be considered new, but it wasn’t as if they were ancient, either. Bungalow-style abodes dominated the space and Jon idly wondered if Mari owned or rented.

  If she owned one of these, she must feel a lot like he did when he got home to his cavernous, empty rooms. Such a huge space being taken up by only one person couldn’t help but make that person feel alone, lonely. He’d considered downsizing to a smaller apartment, but it had seemed like too much of a bother over something he could ignore most of the time.

  Mari hadn’t said if he should park in the driveway or on the street, so he went the safe route and chose the street, reading the parking sign carefully. The people looking for cars that were in the wrong spot worked shockingly quick and Jon wasn’t in the mood to get a fifty-dollar ticket just because he wasn’t paying attention.

  He knocked on Mari’s door and shifted the bundle of flowers he’d picked up on the way. In all his years, Jon had never once given a woman flowers. It wasn’t as if he thought the idea was ludicrous or that women didn’t deserve to be treated nicely, but he hadn’t found one worth spending the money on. With a start he realized what a sad commentary that was on his life thus far. He’d gladly buy Mari a whole house full of flowers if that was what she wanted.

  You’re turning into a girl. Quit it.

  Then Mari opened the door and he nearly dropped his flowers. She was wearing a pair of denim shorts so tight he was sure vital parts were having circulation to them cut off and a plain white tank top, mercifully over a bra. If he’d seen no evidence of a bra, it might’ve been all over.

  “Hey, come on in.”

  Jon wondered if he was supposed to change his clothes before coming here, but when she wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on tiptoe to graze her teeth over his jaw, all rational thought took the train to Mushville and he merely held on as Mari practically climbed him, pushing Jon against the wall and grinding their pelvises together. He groaned and Mari stepped away, her hand covering her mouth.

  “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Here I am, practically mauling you when all you did was come over for dinner. Ignore me.”

  Kicking the door shut, Jon said, “Not a chance,” and reversed their positions.

  Mari let out a small squeak as he pushed her into the wall next to the door. Before he knew it Mari’s legs were wrapped around him and her tongue was so far into his mouth he figured she could lick his tonsils. He gripped Mari’s thighs and without thought pushed his pelvis into her, letting her feel how hard he was.

  She moaned and, coming back to reality, Jon gently set her on her feet once more. “Holy hell.”

  “What you said.” Mari straightened her shirt then ran a hand through her hair.

  “I feel like I’m always attacking you.”

  She jammed a hand onto her hip and said, “Jon, just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I don’t like sex or that I don’t want sex. In fact, as I recall, I’m usually the one attacking you.”

  This was not helping his erection subside. “I-I know, but—”

  “No buts. Well, not that kind anyway.” She winked, pivoted then sauntered into the kitchen. “You coming?”

  Jon groaned and Mari giggled. With any luck, soon.

  He followed her into the kitchen and sniffed the air. “What are we having? It smells awesome.”

  “I made a beef roast with potatoes and veggies. You said you eat a lot of chicken and I thought you might appreciate beef.”

  “I love beef.”

  “Sit and I’ll get everything out.”

  “Can I help?”

  “Nope, just need to dump everything out onto a platter. I expect the beef will be fork-tender.”

  “You may have a slave for life if this tastes as good as it smells.” The table had already been set
for two, with glasses of water at each place and a basket of bread in the middle.

  “A slave, huh? I do have a long list of home-improvement projects.” With one smooth motion, the dinner slid out of the pot and onto the large oval platter on the counter. Jon’s mouth watered. Mari brought the platter over and set it on the table. “This is a five-pound roast. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said I hoped you were hungry.”

  “You don’t expect me to eat all this, do you? Even during my playing days I couldn’t put away a meal like this, and certainly not now.”

  “No, I plan to eat some,” she said with a smirk.

  “Still…”

  She covered his hand with hers. “I’m teasing you. Eat what you want and I’ll freeze the rest.”

  Dinner passed in much the same way as lunch, conversation flowing easily between the two of them with added sound effects as they both enjoyed the food. After Mari put the platter with the remaining food back on the counter to wrap up, she grabbed a large bowl and brought it over.

  “Strawberries? Oh, man, I love strawberries. I don’t remember the last time I had them, though.” His brain immediately pictured the plump fruit spread out over Mari’s torso as he nibbled from one side to the other, and he forced his thoughts back to reality.

  “Are you kidding me? They’re in season! Well, a little past season, but still. And you said you liked strawberries just now…” Her eyebrows drew down. “You do eat fruits and vegetables, don’t you? You’re not just being polite? I mean, you have the body of a god, so there’s no way you could be eating crap all the time.”

  Jon coughed into his hand. “You’re incredibly good for my ego.” At this point in his life, Jon wouldn’t consider his body anywhere near that of a god.

  “Good. Someone should be.”

  They dug into the strawberries and soon Jon sat back, putting up a hand when Mari asked if he wanted more. “I couldn’t eat another bite. I’d explode.”

  “Now there’d be a picture.”