Love Game

by Maggie Wells

  “You haven’t seen the pictures?” Kate smiled, slow but sure, letting it unfurl as she raked the man across from her with an impudent stare. “That’s why I’m wondering how this whole age thing figures in and if it swings both ways in terms of the gender issue.” She rolled her hand, gesturing for the young reporter to be more forthcoming. “Hey, is it a problem if a female coach seduces an older man?”

  “Seduces?” Danny’s bark of laughter drew every eye to him. He sat forward in his chair. His body language was challenging, but the light in his eyes was the product of pure pleasure. “Are you trying to say you seduced me?”

  Recrossing her legs, she let the delicate high-heeled sandal she wore dangle from her toes. “I’m not trying. I’m saying.”

  “I seduced you,” he asserted.

  “Not at all the way I remember it.” She pressed a thoughtful finger to her lip. “I had the upper…hand, if I recall correctly.”

  “Kate.”

  This time, she acquiesced with a smirk and shrug. “Relationships are all about compromise, right? If it’s easier on that fragile male ego to think it was the other way around, I can afford to be generous.”

  Brittany’s head swiveled like a Wimbledon spectator as she tried to keep up with the volley. “So the two of you are a couple. Has all this fighting been fake?”

  “Oh, it’s not fake,” Danny answered without breaking his gaze. “We don’t agree on much of anything.”

  “And I never fake anything,” Kate answered with a sly smile. “But there are a few things we don’t argue about.” She straightened from her insolent little slouch and got right down to the business of disarming the press. “But I have no problem letting him buy dinner. I consider it my way of closing the salary gap.”

  *

  Admiring Kate’s ability to look so damn beautiful and composed as she launched grenade after grenade into the conversation, Danny gave his head a shake and held up both hands in mock surrender. “I’m not touching the money thing.”

  Brittany’s preternaturally thick eyelashes fluttered as she tried to grab hold of the interview again. Age and experience gave them an edge. Unfortunately, she was too young and ambitious to realize that she was outmatched on both sides.

  “Just as well, seeing as how you have no salary now.” Kate arched one eyebrow at her new husband. “But you agree that our salaries don’t accurately represent our contributions to Wolcott Athletics.”

  “I’m not agreeing to anything without a bomb squad present.”

  “Oh, you were pretty agreeable earlier today.”

  “Kate,” he growled.

  Kate turned to Brittany with a sweet smile. “He’ll land something pretty quickly, no matter how hard you guys try to tear him down. He’s very dedicated. Watches game film instead of Netflix. Knows just when to blow his whistle.”

  Danny narrowed his eyes, knowing damn well it wasn’t his whistle she was thinking about. Poor Brittany looked completely lost. And miserable. This interview was her big break, and he and Kate’s antics were ruining it for her.

  Feeling an unprecedented benevolence for Brittany and more than ready to launch a little shock and awe of his own, he readied his ammunition. He lounged in his seat as if he hadn’t a care in the world, then he craned his neck until he could look Kate square in the eye. “I don’t see how it matters. What’s yours is mine now, right?”

  He had to give her credit. She didn’t even flinch. Instead, she picked up the live round and tossed it right back at him. “I knew I should have insisted on an ironclad prenup covering those glass cases lining the halls.” She leaned closer to Brittany and spoke in a low, confiding tone, but her eyes never left his. “You know he’s only after me for my…trophies.”

  Danny laughed again. Out loud. On camera. Damn, but this woman did things to him. Awesome, wonderful things. Tearing his attention from her, he fixed Brittany with an unwavering stare, willing her to catch on. “She drives me crazy. In every possible way. That’s why I’m keeping her.”

  The reporter searched his face for clues. “Is this… Are you… What’s going on here? Is this some kind of joke?”

  Sometimes there was nothing sweeter than toying with a newbie who thought they had game. Then there were the times you had to cut them a little slack and let them in the game. The fear and uncertainty he saw in those wide, blue eyes told him they’d played keep-away long enough.

  “No joke. You just snagged the headline of the week.” Slipping out of his chair, Danny came around to Kate and kissed her full on the mouth. “You’re stubborn and mouthy and totally wrong about the designated hitter.”

  Tears filled her green-gold eyes. One tangled in her dark lashes, but she didn’t try to dash it away. “Spoken like a man who never had to play defense in his life.”

  He stared at that glistening tear, enthralled by its tenuous hold. “Oh, but you’re wrong. I’ve been playing defense too much lately. I’m ready to score.” He pulled her hand to his mouth and gently kissed her knuckles, then looked straight into the camera. “That’s why I married her.”

  “Nice,” she hissed, throwing an elbow.

  Danny flashed his cockiest grin. “Seemed like a good idea at the time. I need a big, strapping girl like you to guard my flank.”

  “Wuss.”

  “Wait. You’re saying the two of you got married?” Brittany asked, practically falling out of her chair to get closer to them.

  Kate lifted her right hand to reveal the sparkling ring on her left. She grinned when Brittany gasped, and waggled her fingers. “We did. Just this afternoon.”

  Danny gave the perky blond gaping at them an “aw shucks” smile. “I need someone to coach me through the next thirty or forty years, and I hear she’s the best.”

  Kate started to nod, then stopped abruptly. Her fingers tightened on his. “I told him I couldn’t take him to the next level unless he was willing to commit one hundred percent.”

  “I promised a hundred and ten.”

  Crew members whooped and clapped as he snatched his amazing Amazon woman from her seat as if she were barely more than a feather. Kate wound her arms around him. Her toes grazed the laces of his shoes. At last, their lips met. He kissed her sweet but deep. The muscles in her thighs tensed, and he could tell she was fighting the urge to wrap her legs around him. God, he wanted her to.

  They’d exchanged vows that afternoon, but the day had been too jam-packed to spare the wedding night more than a passing thought. He angled his head and slid his hand into her hair, taking everything he wanted from the kiss, cameras be damned. He was thinking about the wedding night now.

  Kate crushed two of his toes when she turned back toward the cameras but thankfully retained enough presence of mind to place herself between the lens and the insistent erection now pressed into the soft cheek of her ass.

  “That’s the only way he can ever win an argument,” she said, giving her head a pitying shake.

  Her silky hair teased his nose as she cast an affectionate glance over her shoulder. She covered the hand he’d placed over her stomach and wove her fingers through his. All around him, signs and insignia proclaimed pride in a school he used to think of as a joke, but standing there with Kate secure in his arms, he finally discovered exactly how a warrior felt after winning the battle of his lifetime.

  “I’ve already won everything I need to win,” he said.

  Kate smirked and cast a glance at Brittany, who’d scrambled from her chair but stood there looking lost. “And he always has to have the last word.”

  “I do not.”

  “Prove it.”

  “What? How?”

  “By keeping your mouth shut so you can’t shove your foot in it.” Turning back to the camera, Kate aimed the full wattage of that magnificent smile straight at the lens. “Good evening, sports fans. Allow me to introduce y’all to Mr. Kate Snyder.”

  Chapter 21

  Keeping his mouth shut wasn’t an option. Not when he had a bride to kiss again
. He was smiling from ear to ear as Kate unhooked his microphone and transmitter and tossed them onto the chair she’d abandoned. And there was no way he could keep his lips zipped when Brittany threw her own version of a Hail Mary.

  “What are you going to do now?”

  Danny stopped, Kate’s hand tucked securely in his, and turned his attention back to the reporter. Some fast-thinking crew member lowered a boom mic just as he started to speak. “Now? Well, right now, I’m going on my honeymoon.”

  “I meant in terms of coaching.”

  He looked at Kate, and she looked back at him, one shoulder hitched up in a shrug. He smiled at her. “I guess that will be a family decision.”

  He released her hand in favor of wrapping a secure arm around her waist. Lame gesture or not, he wanted her to know that no matter what happened, he’d have her back.

  Brittany took his equivocation as an invitation. The cameraman swung around as she grabbed a handheld mic and thrust it at Kate.

  Kate glanced at Danny. Not one to back down from a full-court press, Kate leaned in, forcing the younger woman to ease back a step. “Well, you know my contract is up, and with salary negotiations not moving in the direction they should be moving and Danny looking for a new position…” She paused to give the implications of their current status a moment to sink in, then looked directly into the camera’s lens. “I guess it’s safe to say we’ll both be free agents soon.”

  Before the reporter could produce a follow-up, Danny and Kate made for the ballroom door. The corridor, which had been deserted just a short time earlier, was now crammed with a mishmash of press and fans. People reluctantly gave way as Mike Samlin shouldered his way toward them. Planting himself between the two of them, he gripped their elbows in a hold that made it clear he didn’t intend to let either of them pop loose.

  “Excuse us. Excuse us,” he said as he propelled them past the shouting reporters.

  A fan shoved a Wolcott Warrior baby shirt at Kate. She took it automatically but stared down at it in befuddlement.

  Suddenly, Mike hooked a left and pushed them through a set of swinging doors. They stumbled into a bustling kitchen, but not one of the busy workers bothered to look up at the intrusion.

  Kate tossed the tiny green-and-gold jumpsuit thingy at Danny’s chest. “Well, there’s a fine wedding present.”

  He caught the scrap of fabric, then shook it out. “I think it’s kind of cute.”

  “I’m not twenty, Danny, and this isn’t 1953. I won’t be popping out 3.2 kids now that we’ve been married for four hours.”

  He tossed the baby shirt onto the counter and planted his hands on his hips. “Hey, I’m not the one who gave it to you, so don’t come after me.”

  “I have an offer, if anyone’s interested,” Mike interrupted.

  Both Danny and Kate swiveled to face him. “An offer?” she echoed.

  Danny scowled as the hairs on the back of his neck prickled. “Why are you talking to us? You know where Gene and Jonas are holed up.”

  “I’ve already run it past Judas and Jezebel, but they laughed me out of the room,” Mike muttered.

  “Judas and Jezebel,” Danny repeated. “I like it.”

  Kate took a step forward. “What was the offer?”

  “Danny can stay, but you’d need to agree to remain here at your current salary, Kate.”

  To his credit, Mike’s voice was steady as he served up that morsel of ridiculousness. But that was all the credit Danny could find to extend to him. “Bullshit.”

  “For how many years?” Kate asked.

  “No. There’s no way.” Danny shook his head so hard his vision blurred, but one thing remained perfectly clear to him. There was no way he was letting his wife settle for anything less than everything she deserved.

  “But this could buy us time. Buy you some time to prove what you can do,” she argued.

  “You’ve already proven what you can do. Over and over again.” Danny turned back to Mike. “No one knows what she deserves better than you. I can’t believe you had the balls to come down here and try to serve us this steaming pile of crap on today of all days. The same day you stood next to me as I vowed to love and honor her,” he snarled, his voice rising.

  Mike raised both hands to hold off the onslaught. “I’m doing what my job requires me to do, just as we all have from time to time. Right?” He fixed Danny with a pointed glare. “But now that I can say that the offer has been rejected…” He paused and turned that unflinching stare on Kate. “You are rejecting this offer, aren’t you?”

  Her gaze zipped toward Danny and then back to Mike. “I, uh, yeah. I am.” She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin a notch. “As a matter of fact, my price just went up another half mil. And I think we need to look at schools with better football facilities. That practice field is ridiculous, and no one converts their stadiums between football and baseball anymore.”

  “Actually, a lot of them still do,” Danny murmured in her ear.

  “Shut up. I’m trying to get you a wedding present.” She made a face. “Besides, who in their right mind enjoys watching baseball?”

  “More exciting to watch snail races,” Danny agreed.

  She beamed up at him. “I knew I liked you for a reason.”

  Mike made a show of clearing his throat. When neither of them looked over, he resorted to shouting an “Ahem!”

  Danny chuckled and turned his attention back to his friend. “Yes?”

  “I thought I might mention that when I was in the war room with the wonder twins earlier, I heard the names Tulane and Baylor being bandied around. There’s a room service elevator off the other end of the kitchen. You can use it to join your agents in the temple of greed.” Mike backed off a step as his cell rang. A sly smile curved his lips as he checked to see who the caller was. “Speaking of greed, will you look at that…”

  Activating the call, Mike pressed the phone to his ear and boomed. “Hello, Mr. Donner. Yes. Yes, it’s true,” he said, making shooing motions with his hand. “No, I don’t want to lose them either.”

  Trusting his friend to come through with the clutch catch, Danny took Kate’s hand and started through the kitchen. “Come on. Let’s see what Tulane has to offer besides gumbo.”

  “I do love a fresh beignet,” Kate said, trotting to catch up with him in her heels.

  *

  Twenty minutes later, their respective agents were debating the relative merits of swampy Louisiana summers versus all the things that seemed to go wrong in and around Waco when an insistent knock rattled the door. Kate kept her eyes glued to the list of offers and terms she’d received from various universities as she murmured to Danny, “I think that’ll be for you.”

  Her new husband huffed a laugh and pushed himself off the suite’s sofa and stalked to the door. “Are you claiming to be clairvoyant now too, Coach Everybody-Wants-Me?”

  “Nope, just busy looking over my options. I figured it’d be best to keep you occupied while I work.”

  “Funny girl,” he grumbled, reaching for the handle.

  “You’re not fired,” Mike announced, then brushed past Danny, barreling into the room as only a man who’d downed one too many energy drinks could. Stopping short of Gene’s spot at the quasi-conference table, he crossed his arms over his chest. “We’re not drawing up papers. There will be no termination.”

  The agent eyed him shrewdly. “There was a verbal offer and acceptance of Coach McMillan’s resignation.”

  “We’re prepared to pay a modest bonus to offset any distress we may have put Coach McMillan through over the past couple of days.”

  Kate dropped the legal pad she was holding when she spotted Richard Donner framed in the doorway. “I thought you were on your way to Hong Kong.”

  Richard pursed his lips. “Funny thing about planes. You can turn them around.”

  Mike plowed ahead, his movements jerky but purposeful. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small neon-green slip of paper.
She gasped when he unfolded the sticky note she’d given him with her salary proposal and slapped it down onto the table in front of Jonas.

  “Congratulations, Coach Snyder. This should make you the highest paid women’s basketball coach in the NCAA. By a mile.”

  Kate narrowed her eyes as she rose from the sofa. “And the half mil we discussed earlier?”

  “I added it on.”

  Jonas peeked at the figure written on the scrap of paper, and his eyebrows flew toward his hairline. A laugh escaped him as he looked up and nodded. “He did. I almost feel bad about taking a cut of that.”

  “Feel free to waive your percentage on any terms you didn’t negotiate,” she said mildly.

  “I said almost,” her agent quickly replied.

  Smirking, Kate turned her attention back to the athletic director. “And the other terms?”

  Mike shook his head, conceding defeat in the face of her persistence. “I can’t do anything about the stadium situation until we have ticket sales to justify the change, but we do have a donor who has pledged a generous sum toward the improvement of the practice facilities.”

  “Have you now?” Kate turned toward Richard Donner, an amused smile tugging at her mouth. “I wonder who it could be?”

  “Of course, there are some stipulations on the money,” Richard warned.

  “What kind of stipulations?” Danny asked, speaking up for the first time, his wary gaze on the wealthy alumnus.

  “The Richard W. Donner Athletic Complex,” the man announced, a wide smile spreading across his face. “Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

  As always, Kate was both amused and annoyed by the man’s desperate need for glory. She’d been so sure he’d be unable to resist, she’d banked her entire career on it. “Sounds wonderful. As always, thank you for your generous support of our programs.”

  “Yes, thank you,” Mike echoed, then elbowed Danny sharply.

  “Thank you,” he managed to grunt.

  Donner nodded, accepting their gratitude as his due, then turned to Kate. “I’m just glad you caught me in the flyover states. It’s a helluva lot harder to file a change of flight plan when you’re out over the Pacific, you know.”