Quarterback Casanova (Kansas City Griffins #1)

by Lisa Rayne

  He laughed. “It will actually be for all of us. You’ll have to share with me and Tallie.”

  She smiled a little. “I guess I could be persuaded to share. Fine. You can stay, but …”

  “Yes.”

  Her smile disappeared. Her voice got soft. “You have to keep your word, Dash. You’re only staying here to sleep.”

  His hands came out of his pockets and he gave her the Boy Scout’s honor symbol. She shook her head at him, which made him laugh again. He’d never been a Boy Scout and she knew it.

  She grabbed his shirt off the couch and handed it to him. “And, I’ll sleep on the couch. You take the bed.”

  He collected his shirt from her. “I didn’t mean to displace you, Naomi. I’m fine with the couch. I just want to be on hand as early as possible.”

  “I get it. But I’m not letting you squeeze your six-foot-three-frame onto that couch. I’ve got money riding on the next game.” She patted his chest as she spoke. Thinking better of the move, she snatched her hand away. “Like you said. It’s late. We should go to bed.” After a moment’s hesitation, she added, “Separately.”

  She pushed him towards the hallway.

  Dash trudged to Naomi’s room. He peeled off the rest of his clothes and sat on the edge of her bed. He glanced down at his lap. He was still aroused. Naked, aroused and sleeping in Naomi’s bed … without her. Not exactly how he’d expected this night to end, but he’d take it.

  He glanced towards the master bathroom. Maybe he needed to take a cold shower. Bright and early tomorrow morning, he’d finally get to hear his little girl call him daddy. If all that took was for him to keep his hands and his penis in check, he could do that. He glanced back towards the bedroom door.

  Or could he?

  _

  Dash tossed and turned amidst the scent of Naomi. The relief garnered from his cold shower couldn’t shield him from the aromatic taunt left behind on her sheets. The smell of her favorite body gel mixed with a hint of her fragrant skin conjured memories of her body beneath his. Their recent interludes in Ibiza traipsed erotically through his semi-conscious mind until he jerked awake.

  He should have taken the frigging couch. The size of the bed offered no comfort when he couldn’t shut off his desire-laden mind. He grabbed the bath towel he’d tossed across the end of the bed, wrapped it around his hips, and padded on bare feet down the hall. When he reached the couch, he stood over Naomi to watch her sleep.

  She was curled in on herself in the fetal position under a fuzzy cotton blanket. The sight made him smile. Naomi got cold easily. No matter the temperature outside, she always seemed to need covers. She’d had fuzzy blankets and throws stashed all around his house when they were together.

  He’d missed seeing them after she left. He’d taken for granted such simple nuances of her. How it made him feel to walk through his door and find her on the couch hunched over her laptop wrapped in a cocoon of fuzz—or cotton or wool—hadn’t registered until she was no longer around to make him feel that way.

  Simple reminders of the comfort of them together plagued him. He wondered what it would be like to have the right, the privilege, to spend every night and wake every morning under the same roof as the ladies of his heart. He sighed, shutting his eyes against the ephemeral vision floating through his mind.

  “Dash, is something wrong?” Her voice floated up to him.

  He’d forgotten what a light sleeper she was. He hadn’t meant to wake her. He’d just needed to be near her for a while. “Yes.”

  She jerked up. “Is something wrong with Tallie?”

  His hand settled over hers on the blanket, preventing her from removing it.

  “No. Tallie is fine.”

  “Then what’s wrong?”

  He let the loaded question hover before telling her the truth. “Your sheets smell like you.”

  “Oh.”

  He couldn’t see her face clearly, but he felt her body relax.

  “Sorry about that,” she whispered. “I’ll get you some fresh sheets.” She shook off his hand and the blanket.

  “I have a better idea.” He scooped her into his arms.

  “Dash, put me down.” She kept her voice low so as not to wake Tallie.

  “In a minute.” He continued his trek to the bedroom.

  “Dash, this is not a good idea. Not with Tallie in the house.”

  Dash shoved the bedroom door partly closed until it rested ajar against the jamb. “Tallie is young enough this won’t have a lasting impression on her.”

  “I disagree.”

  Climbing into bed with Naomi still in his arms, Dash dropped the towel and settle her in against him. “Besides, tomorrow over breakfast, we’re telling her I’m her father. Remember?”

  Her head lifted. “That doesn’t mean we should—”

  “Shh.” He threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her head down to kiss her forehead. “Relax. I’m not going to break my promise. But, if I have to smell you all night, I should at least get the benefit of holding you in my arms.”

  As much as the smell of her skin and hair against his nose made him thick and long of manhood, he’d hold himself in check through the night. He believed Tallie would have no negative effects from seeing him sleeping with Naomi, but he’d hate for her to walk in while they were making love. That might be a whole different story.

  The next morning, Dash and Naomi awoke to giggles and the tugging of the covers from the bed. Tallie was trying to pull herself up but only managed to pull most of the covers onto the floor.

  Dash leaned over the bed and lifted the toddler. “Good morning, princess. How did you sleep?”

  “Talon.” She patted him on the cheek before hugging him tightly around the neck.

  Dash looked at Naomi. The plea in his eyes was clear.

  “I guess I don’t get to wait for breakfast, huh?” she said.

  He smiled at her, complete with dimples. “You can if you want. But there’s really no time like the present.”

  Naomi reached over and smooth Tallie’s wild hair. “Hey, sweetie. Can you say ‘daddy’?”

  “Daddy!” Tallie clapped as she said the words.

  Naomi praised her. “Yeah. Good job, sweetie.”

  Before Naomi could say anything else, Tallie dropped down against Dash’s chest and said, “Daddy.”

  He squeezed her, his voice came out as tight as his grip. “That’s right, princess. I’m your daddy, and I love you.”

  Over the top of Tallie’s head, Dash caught Naomi’s eyes. The tell-tale glistening of her emerald orbs disclosed the moment wasn’t emotional only for him. Naomi jumped up from the bed and shut herself in the bathroom.

  His heart ached for her. He was so full right now. Finding out about Tallie and having the connection he’d felt rebuilding with Naomi made him feel light enough to float. Irrationally, all he could think was now she was his forever. With Tallie’s existence, he would always be linked to Naomi. How much he wanted that link to remain exclusive, without another man ever entering her life, made him absolutely giddy with the possibilities.

  He hated that what should be a happy time for them turned out to be such torture for her. He had an urge to track down her loser of a dad and kick his ass. They knew where he was. He’d become a college coach after he left the pros. He currently coached at a Division I school in Nebraska, at Dash’s alma mater in fact.

  Looking at the door, he considered going after Naomi to see if she was all right. Thinking better of it, he decided to give her some time.

  Propping Tallie up against his raised knees, he bounced her. “Hey, my girl, want to help daddy make breakfast?”

  Tallie clapped. “Eat!”

  He laughed with her. “Eat it is.” He loved his daughter’s enthusiasm. Her habit of clapping when she got excited endeared him. He didn’t understand how a father could ever turn his back on such wonders.

  Raising up, he caught the sheets right before they slid off his naked body. Oo
ps. He adjusted, gathering the top sheet around him and placing Tallie on the floor.

  “Race you to the kitchen,” he said to the toddler.

  She took off running in a fit of giggles, and he quickly negotiated on a pair of pants before running after her. Time to make a coffee cake so he could make his other girl smile as well.

  And maybe, just maybe, it was time he convinced her to deal with her own daddy issues. He’d have to tread lightly, but he could no longer sit back and watch his Creole Queen suffer in silence. Could he convince her that it was time she took a road trip to Nebraska?

  *

  By the time Naomi emerged from the bathroom, Tallie was a mess and Dash had the coffee cake in the oven. She walked into the kitchen on his chuckles over Tallie’s attempt to help him clean the counter. Tallie’s version of cleaning included making a bigger mess, not reducing it.

  Dash looked up, sensing her at the kitchen entrance. She caught his surprise when he noticed the large Griffins practice jersey she’d draped herself in. His number graced the front and his name floated across her shoulder blades in the back. The jersey flowed down to her knees. He’d left it at her place year’s ago. When they’d split, she’d hadn’t even thought to return it. Like now, she tended to wrap herself in it when she was feeling sorry for herself. She’d wrapped herself in it and cried herself to sleep many a night after the split with Dash. When she’d found out she was pregnant with Tallie and Dash didn’t care, she’d practically lived in it.

  At the time, being pregnant and dumped had made her feel entitled to a week-long self-pity party. Once Tallie was born, she gave up such self-indulgent, useless habits. She had a child to raise and support. She refused to model weakness and misery to her child. She had more backbone than that.

  This morning, she’d slipped a little. The scene with Dash and Tallie had hit her hard. She didn’t understand how she could be so happy and so miserable at the same time. The emotions had overwhelmed her. The flood of feelings from her childhood—knowing her father didn’t want her—became a deluge as she’d watched her daughter and Dash together.

  What would it be like to wake up to that scene every morning? Her and Dash in each other’s arms, Tallie scrambling to join them in bed. She wished for it, but knew it would never happen. She’d never even told the man she loved him. Couldn’t tell him. His fear of attachment was as strong as her fear of abandonment.

  She stepped the rest of the way into the kitchen. “Did you guys actually get any flour into the cake batter or is it all on my counter?”

  Tallie and Dash looked at each other and grinned. The matching sets of dimples broke through Naomi’s funk. She smiled, unable not to enjoy them together. She loved them both so much.

  Remembering the promise she’d made to herself in the bathroom, she stashed the negative energy and decided to count this morning as a blessing. No more wasting the moment. She would allow herself to enjoy their family time together.

  “What can I do to help?” she said to the pair.

  Dash picked up a flour-drenched Tallie and handed her to Naomi. “Why don’t you freshen her up while I take care of the omelets?”

  Dash had breakfast ready when Naomi and Tallie made it back. He’d set the table, including a child’s plate and sippy cup at Tallie’s highchair.

  Naomi helped him move a carafe of juice and bowl of fresh cut fruit to the table and sat in the chair beside Tallie and across from Dash. When she bowed her head to say grace, Dash took her hand and Tallie’s, making her look up quickly.

  “Why don’t you say it out loud?”

  “I … um,” she muttered, before she recovered her aplomb and nodded. “Okay.”

  Naomi blessed the food. A strange peace drifted over and around her, cocooning the trio in a normalcy that felt familiar. When Tallie began to play with her strawberry pieces, Naomi had to chastise Dash for doing more to encourage Tallie than discourage her. Almost everything Dash did seemed to make Tallie giggle. For his part, she didn’t think she’d ever seen Dash laugh so much in one day, let alone one hour.

  For the first time, a heavy sense of guilt washed over Naomi for having kept them from this, from each other, for so long. They’d missed out on a lot. She could already see how much her daughter would blossom into a different person than she’d be without Dash in her life, and those added facets to Tallie’s personality would make her daughter sparkle more not less.

  Good, Lord, how could she possibly have justified denying her daughter this bond?

  Startling her from her thoughts, Dash rose from his chair. He kissed Tallie on the top of her head and stepped around to Naomi’s chair to do the same to her. When he looked into her eyes, his expression turned concerned. “Naomi, are you all right?” he asked quietly.

  She nodded. “Of course, Dash. I’m fine.”

  He knelt beside her chair and cupped a large hand over the fist she’d balled tightly in her lap. “Are you sure? You don’t regret what we did this morning do you? Telling Tallie I’m her dad?”

  “Daddy!” Tallie yelled, crumbling the fistful of omelet she held high in her hand.

  Naomi and Dash looked over at her. Dash chuckled. Naomi just smiled.

  Looking back at Dash, she said, “No, Dash. I don’t regret it at all.” She eased her other hand to his face, palming his cheek and rubbing lightly against his morning scruff. “I’m so sorry. I should have found a way to tell you when we moved back. I shouldn’t have—” Her voice broke.

  “Shh,” Dash soothed. “It’s okay. I didn’t make it easy for you. I’m as much to blame as you.” He pressed against the hand at his cheek and turned his head to kiss her palm. “Thank you.”

  Her brows rose in question.

  “Thank you for this morning. Thank you for allowing me to be here now. I don’t care about the past. I have my daughter now and for me, nothing else matters. Understand?”

  She nodded, shaking loose teardrops that had been lounging against her lashes.

  Dash rubbed the droplets away with his fingertips. “I have to go to practice now. I hate to eat and run, but …” He shrugged. “You okay with kitchen cleanup?”

  Naomi cleared her throat, praying for a normal voice. “Yeah. Tallie and I got this. Go to practice.”

  Dash eyed her intently for a moment. He hesitated, as if he wanted to say more. Finally, he leaned up, stuck spread fingers through the hair at her nape, and swooped in to press his lips to hers. He kissed her with an odd sense of urgency and gentleness unlike any kiss he’d ever given her before. When he pulled away, Naomi’s heart raced so fast she had to wonder if the front of her—his—jersey pulsed noticeably from the pounding.

  Without a word, Dash released her and shot from the room to hurry off for practice.

  Naomi pressed a shaking hand to her lips. Looking over at Tallie, she said, “Taliana Marie, I think your daddy just ruined me for all other men.”

  Tallie clapped and burst into giggles. Naomi had to laugh with her.

  Chapter 19

  Several hours later, Dash knocked on Naomi’s front door. He leaned his right forearm against the doorjamb, takeout bags in hand, listening for sounds of movement inside. Light shuffling approached the door, then silence. He suspected Naomi was checking through the peep hole.

  A lock click muffled through wood before Naomi materialized in a small crease between the open door and the door frame. “Dash?”

  He held up the food bags. “I hope Tallie likes Chinese food. I brought dinner.”

  “Um …” She glanced behind her then down at herself. Running a lazy hand through her loose hair, she offered him a resigned smiled. “Okay. Tallie will like that. She seems to pretty much like all food.”

  “I see she takes after her mother in that regard.” His eyes flicked over her, noticing her bare feet and long legs sticking out from under his practice shirt. His pulse stuttered with the thrill that she still wore his graphite and gold colors. He didn’t even try to repress the wicked grin that spread at his discov
ery. He bent quickly and pecked her on the lips.

  Naomi blushed, stepped back, and let him in. “Uh, we went out and ran errands after you left.” She brushed a self-conscious palm over the front of his jersey. “When we got back, I decided we’d simply laze around. I didn’t expect to see you again today.”

  His grin held while he looked her over again. “The laze-around look works.”

  She dropped her head, shaking it from side to side. He closed and locked the door, and she called for Tallie.

  As usual, Tallie came out at a thundering run. When she saw Talon, her legs sped up. “Daddy back!”

  Naomi grabbed the Chinese food from his hand, knowing he’d want to grab Tallie instead. Tallie jumped into his arms, and he used the momentum to spin her around. The sound of her laughter filled the house.

  Dash carried the jubilant ball of energy into the kitchen and set her up so they could eat dinner. Dinner progressed much like breakfast had, as if they’d been doing this together for years. Dash held their hands while Naomi said grace. Tallie smeared almost as much food over her high chair table as she ate, and Dash encouraged her messy behavior. By the end of the meal, a frustrated Naomi gave up trying to discourage Dash or control the mess, making sure to warn him that he’d be the one cleaning up their daughter.

  After dinner, he shooed Naomi out of the kitchen. Since he’d left her high and dry with the breakfast dishes, he insisted on full evening cleanup duty. Once he and Tallie had the kitchen in order, Dash gave Tallie a bath, then built them a magnificent fire in the living room.

  He rolled around on the carpet with Tallie, deflecting Naomi’s concerns that he was playing extremely rough games for a girl. Naomi finally managed to distract them by suggesting they watch a movie together. Dash led Tallie over to the media center and allowed her to pick.

  True to her football roots, Tallie selected Disney’s The Game Plan. Talon was tickled she’d picked a movie about a football player. Naomi found it ironic Tallie had selected the story of a single football player who finds out his extremely short marriage to his ex-wife resulted in an eight-year-old child he never knew he had. As the tough bachelor quarterback with a superstar ego gears up for a big championship game, he comes to realize the biggest win he can achieve is the heart of his daughter.