Love Game

by Maggie Wells

  “He’ll give it to me,” he said without turning back. “You can call the dinner a business meeting if you like, but I can email this little scrap of evidence straight to the chancellor’s office.” He paused, derision contorting his bland features into something ugly. “Nice panties, by the way. If I’d known you were wearing something that girlie, I might have tried a little harder to get a peek at them.”

  *

  Thirty minutes later, Kate was wedged into Danny’s broom closet of an office with a wall of unpacked cardboard cartons boxing them in close. She and the university’s athletic director were the only things standing between her stubborn alpha male of a lover and the phone on his desk. He’d threatened to plow through them both to get to it, but Mike hadn’t flinched, and Kate figured she was safe enough taking her cues from him.

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t give in to him. It’s blackmail. He doesn’t have the balls to follow through anyway,” she asserted, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt.

  Danny glared at her. “It’s not about the balls. It’s the cockblocking that’s got him pissed off.”

  “I don’t think so.” The tips of her ears warmed at the compliment, but she snorted nonetheless. Casting a sidelong glance at Mike, she shook her head. “If he really wanted to get into my pants, he would have made it a while ago.”

  Danny’s jaw tightened. “He didn’t try because he knew you were too much for him.”

  The AD feigned interest in a box labeled “Special Teams and Other Shit,” but the color rose in his face. “All that aside, we can do more damage control internally. I’ve called Millie. She was scheduled to have a root canal this morning but ended up canceling it.” He chanced a small smile. “That alone should get you a little forgiveness for blowing her battle-of-the-sexes strategy.”

  “Yeah, but now she’ll want to exploit the sex,” Kate muttered.

  “I don’t care what either of you say,” Danny interjected. “I’m talking to Davenport. Whether he has a hard-on for Kate or for me, it doesn’t matter. I’m tired of taking the hits. The media’s been coming at me from all sides for the past four years.” He turned his full attention on Mike. “I’ll talk to the chancellor and the board myself, and I’ll do it before I talk to Davenport, but I’m not keeping my mouth shut on this one. I will tell the truth. Whether people choose to believe it is their problem.”

  Mike pursed his lips as he considered Danny’s play-calling. “Enforcing the morality clause is optional,” he mused. “It’s not automatic termination, so if you can talk a good game with the chancellor—”

  “I don’t need to talk any game.” Danny planted his hands on his hips. “I just need to know if you guys are going to cover my blind side.”

  “I saw that movie.” The words popped out. Kate clamped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late. Both men stared at her.

  While Mike wore the expected “are you crazy?” crease between his brows, Danny’s eyes danced with affection and amusement. “Then you know one bad hit can end a career.”

  She blinked, and the common denominator finally seemed so obvious, she was embarrassed to have missed it. All this time, it wasn’t about her versus Danny or the two of them in collusion against Mike and the administration he represented. It was the three of them against everyone who didn’t eat, sleep, and breathe pure love of a game. Any game.

  “Aren’t the three of us proof of that?” Kate asked. This time, the guys wore matching looks of puzzlement. “We all took hits that knocked us out of the game. Mine might not have come from a flying tackle, but believe me. When body parts bump from sixteen inches off the floor, the landing is rarely pretty.”

  “I can’t imagine you being anything but pretty,” Danny said, and the gentle gruffness in his voice made her knees wobbly.

  “I, uh, sorry.” Mike made a point of clearing his throat. “Still here.”

  Kate couldn’t spare their boss a glance. Not when Danny was looking at her like that. His steely-blue eyes were deceptively calm, but in their depths, she saw determination burning bright as a gas flame. And there was nothing sexier than a man so cool he smoked like dry ice.

  “Don’t talk to him. Please,” she added a bit belatedly. “Call that cute, little Barbie girl from NSN. She’d love to get to you.”

  The corner of Danny’s mouth twitched, but he gave nothing else away. “Jealous?”

  “I could snap her like a twig,” she retorted.

  “And I am still standing here,” Mike chimed in.

  “Why is that?” Danny asked without taking his eyes from hers. “Don’t you think you should be calling the chancellor and prepping him for my call?”

  “I never said I’d run interference for you.” They both turned at that, and Mike gave them a meaningful glare.

  “You will,” Danny said quietly.

  “Maybe I should just fire you now and save everyone the trouble,” the AD said heatedly.

  Kate scoffed. “You won’t.”

  “How do you know?”

  Mike’s expression was hard. Holding his gaze was a challenge, but Kate was a woman born to smash any obstacle that got in her way. That was what she’d lost sight of in the years since her playing career ended. She was the type made to climb mountains to reach her goal. The kind of woman who fought for the man she loved and the life she wanted.

  “You won’t because firing him would be ridiculous, and you are not a ridiculous man.” She turned to face Mike as certainty bloomed inside her. “You’ll call the chancellor and anyone else you need to call because you don’t want to lose the best thing Wolcott football has had going for it in…forever.”

  “That isn’t saying much,” Danny reminded her.

  Shifting her attention to the man on the chopping block, she gave him a smile that felt more than a little shaky. “Just hold your horses and wait for Mike to grease the wheels. Don’t talk to anyone but the two of us. And I mean anyone.”

  “Even my mother?” Danny shot back, hackles rising.

  “Your mother is okay, but I’d appreciate it if you’d hold off calling your agent until we’ve had a chance to talk.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Mike asked, instantly defensive.

  “It means we all know Danny has other options.”

  The AD whirled to face his friend. “You’re jumping?”

  “Only if someone makes me.” The two men stood still for an endless moment, eyes locked on each other. Finally, Danny turned and looked directly at Kate. “I don’t want to go.”

  “Then we have to see what we can do to keep you here.” Her voice was embarrassingly husky.

  She reached over and grabbed a sticky note and pen from the cluttered desk. Biting her lip, she scrawled an amount with a staggering number of zeroes attached to it, folded the paper in half, and thrust it at the AD.

  “This is the minimum it’ll take to keep me. It’s less than Geno Auriemma, but more than everyone else,” she said, referring to the winningest coach in women’s basketball. “And when I top Geno’s record, I’ll be coming back at you, so you might as well break it to the chancellor while you’re chewing the fat.”

  Mike goggled at the number on the paper. “I can’t… No one—”

  She held up a hand to stop his stammering. “Bullshit.”

  “God, I love you.”

  Danny’s quiet declaration snared her attention. When she turned, she found him staring at her, his face alight with admiration. She clamped her mouth shut. A lifetime of living in locker rooms charged with the hormones of two dozen women had taught her that silence was often the most effective weapon when trying to get one’s point across. The seconds crept past, each one ticking like a time bomb as the three of them sized one another up. Finally, she cracked the tension with a grim smile.

  “So now we all know where we stand.” Shooting a glance at Mike, she yanked open the office door and gulped in some less-testosterone-saturated oxygen. “Danny’s not the only one with opt
ions, Mike. Make sure the chancellor and the board understand that when you show them that number. I think we can all agree I’ve earned it.”

  Mike said nothing, only nodded and tucked the paper into his pocket.

  “Get to it, ladies,” Kate ordered. “I have a camp to run, and I’m missing my morning session.”

  Their heads jerked back in unison. Mike scowled, but Danny just guffawed. “Ladies?”

  She smirked. “You’re right. I shouldn’t insult women like that.” Stepping into the hall, she started to pull the door closed behind her and paused. Meeting Danny’s eyes, she smiled. “Stop by if you get a chance. I love having pretty cheerleaders watch while I work.”

  *

  “See what I’m up against?” Danny asked his old friend. He sighed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his track pants. “I can’t walk away this time, Mike. I won’t roll over and play dead for you or for this job. Not again. Never again.”

  “Even if she asks you to?”

  “Especially if she asks me to.” Danny skirted the edge of the desk and dropped into his chair like a bag of rocks. “She doesn’t want me to lose this job. I don’t want to either, but I can’t deny her, and I won’t hide behind her skirts.”

  “She doesn’t wear skirts very often.”

  “Actually, she does. She looks fucking incredible in them.”

  Mike sank into the lone guest chair as if he was scared it would be yanked out from under him at any time. “Listen, I know where you’re coming from. Kate does too, if I’m reading her right.” He sat back, caution slowing his movements. “But you can’t just pound Davenport into the ground.”

  “Bet me.”

  Mike smirked and shook his head. “He knows people around here. Board members, boosters, former and future players. Don’t let the size of the pond fool you. It may be small, but it runs deep. He’s been in the loop for the better part of a decade, and he hasn’t completely given up his hopes of a national spotlight. Don’t make yourself his launch pad.”

  “You know what Tommy did,” Danny said, looking his friend in the eye. “If I can handle getting torpedoed by my little brother, I can handle a small-time local reporter. I just wish I knew whether the guy’s semistiffy is for me or Kate.”

  “I think he’s after both of you.” Mike shrugged. “All the more reason not to be hasty. You might be ready to charge in, but you’re not the only high profile at risk here. You have to think about how this could blow back on Kate.”

  Danny exhaled in a slow, measured gust. “Fine. I’ll wait for Millie to spin her magic web, but I’m dealing with Davenport one way or another. Damned if I’ll have that pencil-necked geek lurking around Kate’s house again. That’s just damn creepy.”

  Mike smiled as he reached for the phone on the desk. “I’ll hold him down for you.”

  *

  Danny wound the frayed threads of his self-control tight. “We’ve been over this,” he growled.

  Millie didn’t even blink. She just stared at him over the rims of her zebra-striped reading glasses, unmoved. “And we’ll be over it a dozen more times before I let you do an interview.” Her lips pursed, and she wrinkled her nose. “Even one with a wanker like Jim Davenport.”

  “You think he’s a wanker too?”

  Millie just rolled her eyes. “You won the fair maiden. No need to trample the knave into the ground. Hell, I doubt the guy could even lift one of those jousting things.”

  Danny grinned, tickled that Kate’s friend found it so easy to brush away the competition. “Lance.”

  “Yeah, well, we’ll all concede that your lance is bigger. Now answer the question,” she prompted.

  He heaved a heavy sigh as he slumped deeper into the chair. “I’m just proud to be a part of the Wolcott athletic program. Coach Snyder has been very helpful and encouraging with my players. I can’t wait for the Warrior faithful to see our team in action this fall.”

  “He’ll keep trying to trip you up, trick you into saying something personal about you and Kate,” she said, tapping her stylus against the screen of her ever-present tablet.

  “I’ve been down this road before,” he reminded her.

  Eyebrows arched, she leaned in and spoke slowly but with scalpel-edged precision. “Yes, but the last time, the woman in question decided to ditch you, spill her guts to the press, and marry your little brother.” She fixed him with a piercing stare that had Danny squelching the urge to squirm. “I’m pretty sure Kate’s not going to go that route, so you need to be prepared to protect her privacy.”

  “Her privacy is my privacy.”

  “Yes, well, that’s something, isn’t it?” She flashed a sweet smile so patently false he nearly burst out laughing. “It’s not just her privacy at stake here. You know that, right?”

  “I do.”

  “I mean, her heart is on the line too. Do you get that?” she prodded.

  “Mine is too.”

  His blunt answer seemed to take some of the starch out of her. “That shithead she married hurt her, and now this jerkoff is going to give it his best shot—”

  “He’ll have to get past me to do it,” Danny insisted, cutting her off.

  Millie set her precious tablet aside, tugged at the hem of the snug skirt she wore, and rose from her seat. “Fine.”

  Danny stood too, relieved to be excused from this inquisition so he’d have time to prepare for the next. He had an appointment to meet with Mike and the chancellor at three. An appointment that might make all of Millie’s diligent interview preparation a moot point. But he couldn’t think that way. He wouldn’t. When he’d first been offered the job at Wolcott, he thought the school was a bit of a joke. Now, he never wanted to leave.

  He extended a hand toward Millie. “Thank you for all that you’ve done since I came here.”

  Without warning, the too-cool PR woman was gone, and he found himself being hugged. Hard. “Break her heart, and I’ll break you into pieces so tiny all the king’s horses and all the king’s men wouldn’t even find ’em. You get me?” she whispered in her three-pack-a-day rasp.

  “Got you.”

  Her smile was a little watery when she pulled away, giving his arm an absent pat. “Just figure out a way to get through these next couple of days, and this will all blow over.”

  Though he admired her optimism, he couldn’t quite buy into the possibility of a quick and painless end to all this. “Thanks. It might take more than a couple of days, but I plan to stick.”

  Millie picked up her tablet and tapped it with one scarlet-tipped finger to wake the screen. “The key is to minimize exposure. Try to keep this local. Trust me,” she added, turning her attention to the screen with a grim smile. “There’s always a bigger story.”

  *

  Danny’s chest felt too tight as he stalked through the empty halls. Back in his closet of an office, he couldn’t settle. His skin was itchy. His talk with Millie left him itching to do something. Anything. He tried to busy himself with finalizing the schedules for the upcoming football camps, but Mack pretty much had them lined out.

  The minutes slowed to a crawl. Feeling defiant, he unpacked the tower of boxes he’d ignored since the day he’d moved in. The need to see Kate built inside him like a pressure cooker, but she was scheduled for lunch at the Kiwanis Club. He’d spotted blue sky and green grass on the other side of Millie’s window. Too twitchy to sit still, he decided to change into his running gear and hit the track. Mike could leave a message on his cell if he needed to. There was just no way he could sit there and wait for the ax to fall.

  Mind made up, he started for the door. But the second he twisted the knob, his phone rang. Danny frowned as he answered. His old friend Mike sounded grim as he informed him there was no need to wait until three to come over to the administration building. Chancellor Martin would see him now.

  Chapter 17

  “I admit I had my reservations when Director Samlin put your name forward,” the chancellor said, folding his hands ato
p the immaculate leather blotter protecting his antique desk. He peered at Danny over the tops of his half-moon glasses. “I’ll also admit that I’m not the least bit shocked that you managed to violate the terms of your contract within mere months of signing.” The man’s already thin lips tightened to the point where they almost disappeared. “I have been in contact with our legal advisors, and I am told that we would be completely within our rights to terminate your association with Wolcott University.”

  Danny shifted his weight from one foot to another, swallowing a lump of red-hot anger along with another hunk of his pride. He was being called out on the carpet—literally—by a man he could pound to a pulp, but if he wanted to keep his job and keep Kate, all he could do was stand there and take it. Looking down at the Persian rug beneath his feet, he counted down from five before attempting any response.

  “Yes, sir. I believe you are.”

  Chancellor Martin rose from his glove-leather chair and turned toward the windows that looked down on the campus green. He stared into the distance, letting the silence loom large in the room. Danny glanced at Mike, who simply shook his head.

  “Why shouldn’t I?”

  Danny jumped, startled not so much by the suddenness of the question as the unexpected challenge behind it. “Why shouldn’t you?”

  The man turned to look at him, a smug smile curving his lips. “Yes. Why shouldn’t I terminate your contract?” He spoke slowly, enunciating each word as if he were being forced to converse with the village idiot.

  Anger and adrenaline zipped through him. Standing taller, Danny looked the man square in the eye. “Because I’m the best thing to ever happen to this school’s football program. Because I’m your best shot at making this school something other than the laughingstock of the Mid-Continental Conference.”

  Scorn replaced the man’s supercilious smirk. “And you think that’s truly important here?”

  Mike chose that moment to step in and smooth the waters. “Chancellor Martin, improving our standing within the conference would mean an increase in television coverage and increased visibility in recruiting.”