Going Deep Boxed Set (Books 1-4)

by Virna DePaul

  Sheila’s eyebrows rose until they disappeared below her bangs. “Did he say something to you?”

  Camille really didn’t want to have this conversation, but she also knew Sheila wouldn’t leave well enough alone otherwise. Caving, she recounted what Heath and his dad said about her, feeling the hot press of anger in her chest once again when thinking about it. “Who says stuff like that?” she asked in a huff.

  “Jackasses like Heath Dawson, for one. And quadruple jackasses like his father. The guy’s so hard on his son, I almost feel sorry for him. But I always told you Heath wasn’t worth your time. Would you listen to me? Noooooooo.” Sheila gestured toward Camille. “And now look at you. Heartbroken, discarded, a shell of your former self.”

  Camille pushed her friend lightly, smiling for the first time. “You’re stupid. And I’m not going to let this destroy me. He’s not worth it.”

  “Atta girl! So, did you get some good shots?”

  Camille picked up her camera and began going through the photos, seeing if she had enough to give to Trevor tomorrow in yearbook or if she needed to get back out there and take some more. Most of the shots were mediocre, although Camille found a handful that were definitely nice enough to be featured in the yearbook. And then when she landed on the set she’d taken before Heath had insulted her, she burst out laughing.

  “What is it?” Sheila scooted to Camille’s side and then hooted with laughter. “Oh my God, is that Heath? Why is Jason in Heath’s crotch?”

  It was an action shot, and Camille had somehow taken the photo so it looked like Jason had his face buried in Heath’s groin. Camille and Sheila looked at the photo at all angles until they were red in the face and almost coughing from laughing so hard. “This is the best thing I’ve ever seen,” Camille said between giggles. She looked back at the photo, and the laughing fit started all over again.

  Sheila gasped suddenly. “You have to publish this in the yearbook!”

  “What? No. Mr. Andros would never allow it.”

  “So what! You can swap it out for another photo and he’ll never know. I know you help design the pages and send it to the printer.”

  Camille bit her lip. The temptation was almost too strong: it would be a great revenge on Heath to publish this particular photo. Camille, though, wasn’t as daring as Sheila, and she knew Heath would be humiliated if she included it.

  “I don’t know, what if I get in trouble?”

  Sheila scoffed. “For what? Including a picture you took at a football game in the football team spread? Last time I checked, you don’t get expelled for stuff like that.”

  “Yeah, but still.”

  “You’re way too nice. Heath humiliated you today and you’re worried about his feelings? Come on. He deserves this and worse.”

  Camille looked at the photo again. Sheila was right: Heath did deserve to be taken down a peg, and he’d had no right to talk to her like he had. Heath always acted like he was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and having people laugh at him would be a sweet kind of revenge. Plus, he’d never know for sure who had taken the photo or who’d put it in the yearbook.

  “I’ll do it,” Camille said, emailing the photo to herself to make sure she had a copy of it. “I’ll include it in the yearbook and Heath Dawson will wish he’d never been born.”

  Chapter 1

  10 years later…

  “You’re photographing who?”

  Camille held her phone to her ear even as she kept packing. “The Savannah Bootleggers,” she said, answering Sheila. “The team and the cheerleaders. It’s for a benefit calendar. A couple of photoshoots in Savannah, a pre-season opener in South Carolina, then back to Savannah for one more game. Emma will be with Rich, and she’s thrilled to spend the extra time with him before school starts again.”

  “She’s not the only one thrilled. Holy shit, Camille! How did this happen?”

  “One of the league’s photographers quit unexpectedly and they’re looking for his replacement. They kept my application from last year and decided to give me a shot. I’m taking this job as an independent consultant, but if they like what I do…”

  “Oh my God, oh my God, that’s awesome! But the Savannah Bootleggers? Heath Dawson’s the team’s wide receiver!”

  Of course Sheila would bring him up right when she’d opened her underwear drawer. Now she was staring at a mix of practical cotton and silk and lace as images of Heath Dawson floated in her head. “I know his position and what team he plays for, Sheila. He’s Emma’s favorite player.”

  “Right,” Sheila snorted. “Like that’s the only reason you know what team he plays for. Because your daughter likes him. Not because he’s twice as hot as he was in high school and thinking about him is the way you get off the hardest.”

  “I said that one night when I was tipsy.”

  Oh, how she wished she’d never told Sheila that little tidbit. Even more, she wished it had been any other team she’d been asked to photograph. It was a big opportunity for her, but her excitement about the job had been instantly tempered by the knowledge that the Bootleggers’ wide receiver was none other than her arch nemesis Heath Dawson, the man who’d left Peachtree ten years ago for UCLA, then played for a team on the West Coast before joining the Bootleggers two years ago.

  It had been bad enough that her daughter loved him, mostly because he did a ridiculous dance each time the team scored, which meant Camille had had to endure Emma never missing a game, Emma talking about him incessantly, and Emma putting up posters of him in her room.

  Oh, the horror!

  “Oh my God. You’re going to finally sleep with him.”

  “What? Are you crazy! I haven’t seen the guy in ten years and the last time we talked, he mistook me for a boy. Not to mention you always thought he was a jerk. Of course I’m not going to sleep with him.” Hand hovering above her underwear, she finally grabbed several of her prettiest panties; not that anyone, let alone Heath Dawson, would be seeing them, but if she was going to faceoff with Heath at some point, she wanted to feel her most confident; not like the skinny tomboy he’d humiliated all those years ago. Of course, she didn’t look anything like a skinny tomboy anymore, but inside, that’s how she’d always feel, at least where Heath was concerned.

  “Never say never,” Sheila teased.

  “Oh, I’m definitely saying never,” Camille shot back. “Heath Dawson was a cocky jerk back then and from what I can tell from all the press he gets, he’s still a cocky jerk today.” Well, at least cocky; the press actually went out of its way to point out that even as the league’s top wide receiver, Heath was extremely well-liked by everyone, especially the ladies.

  “Who cares if he’s all cock as long as he can do the walk. And he most definitely can. Besides, you say that now, but then you’re going to get a good look at him, and he’s going to get a good look at you, and… Lordy lordy, can I go with you?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Fine. But I want details when you get back.”

  “There aren’t going to be any details worth sharing. But I should go. Rich is picking up Emma in about an hour and I need to finish packing.”

  “Take something sexy!”

  “Goodbye, Sheila. Love you!” Camille hung up the phone, then started folding blouses and pants into her suitcase. Should she take the white blouse or the purple? The white was boring but standard, but the purple brought out the green in her eyes…then again, they were both serviceable, straight-forward button-up shirts.

  She decided on the purple just as her seven-year-old daughter Emma walked in and sat on the bed.

  “Can you get his autograph for me?” she said, her face lit up with excitement. “You know he’s my favorite!”

  “I’ll try, honey. But he’s a busy guy.”

  Emma’s bottom lip pushed forward, and Camille had to hide a smile. She looked so much like her ex that it was almost disconcerting. Camille sometimes wondered if Emma had gotten any genes from her or if she were
just a clone of her father. Thankfully for everyone, Camille and Rich had split up fairly amicably (well, as amicably as possible given Rich had cheated on her), co-parenting Emma with only minimal bumps for two human beings trying to raise another, smaller human being. She had to admit the fact Rich spent plenty of time with Emma when he wasn’t on the road had gone a long way toward healing old wounds.

  Camille reached forward and poked that pouting, bottom lip. “I told you I’d try. But you know I have work to do, so it’s not going to be my number one goal, okay?”

  “But you will try?”

  Camille smiled wider—at least Emma got her stubbornness from her. “Yes, I’ll try.”

  Emma squealed and began bouncing on the bed, but when her bouncing almost bounced the suitcase right off, Camille gave her daughter The Look. Emma was smart enough to know what that meant and settled down—as much as a seven-year-old could settle down at any given time—only bouncing lightly as Camille finished packing.

  Unfortunately, she couldn’t stop thinking about the last time she’d talked to Heath. She’d hidden it from Sheila, but now that she was going to come face-to-face with him after not seeing him for over a decade, she was a mixture of anxious and…excited? No, she told herself, rolling her panties and placing them neatly inside her suitcase. She just didn’t want to have some awkward conversation about high school and yearbook photos and waterboys…

  She cringed inside, telling herself that had been a long time ago. Still, it hadn’t been so long that the memory didn’t occasionally rear its ugly head and make her feel the humiliation all over again. At least she’d gotten her revenge.

  After that horrible night, she’d avoided Heath for the rest of the school year. She’d taken great pains to make sure she never got within twenty feet of him, not caring if she wracked up tardy slips or detentions given they had math class together and classrooms close to one another for three other subjects. She consistently arrived late to math, heading directly to Sheila, who always saved her a seat on the other side of the room from where Heath sat. She stayed behind to talk to the teachers or took the long way to classes just to avoid him. Her grades had actually started to suffer as a result, but that hadn’t stopped her.

  She’d also gone through with her plan to publish that photo of Heath in the yearbook, Sheila egging her on. When Camille had first opened the printed yearbook and saw the photo, she’d laughed and laughed. And she’d laughed even more when the entire school laughed at football star Heath Dawson, nicknaming him and Jason “Crotch Buddies.” To her surprise, Heath had taken it in stride, although she’d thought he’d looked at her with a small amount of anger more than once. Jason hadn’t taken it as well and had tried to get the yearbook reprinted, but at that point, it was too late. Trevor, the student yearbook editor, had tried to find out who’d done it, but Camille had refused to spill. Just after the school’s graduation ceremony, Camille had seen Heath walking toward her with a determined expression on his face, and she’d practically run away.

  “Do you think his girlfriend will be there?” Emma had stopped bouncing and was now attempting to help Camille fold the rest of her clothes.

  “Whose girlfriend?”

  Emma huffed, like Camille was the dumbest person in existence. “Heath’s! She’s the blond cheerleader, you remember?”

  Ah, right. The latest blond cheerleader who looked pretty much identical to the one Heath had been photographed with last month. And the one six months before that. Blond, tall, thin, built, and gorgeous. Certainly no one who could ever be mistaken for being a boy whether she was wearing an old jersey and jeans or not.

  “Honey, I think all of the cheerleaders are blond.” Camille went to the bathroom, rummaging around for her toiletries. She gathered everything she’d need—shampoo, face soap, lotion, contact solution—then placed her bag of toiletries on one side of the suitcase, her bag of makeup on the other. Should she bring her own hair dryer or would the hotel’s work? She mulled it over, as her hair dryer could dry her long hair faster than most hair dryers. Then again, she’d probably put her hair up when she was working…

  “Do you think he loves her?” Emma asked abruptly, with the guilelessness only small children possessed.

  “Do you mean does Heath love his girlfriend?” Camille was about to give a noncommittal answer, but seeing the hope on Emma’s face, Camille softened. “I’m sure he does, honey. He seems like a good man, despite the ridiculous dancing.”

  Lately, Emma had been asking if certain couples loved each other—did Bill and Sandra love each other? Did Tim and Felix love each other? Did Daddy love Michelle? Or Bettina? Or any of the other women he’d dated through the years—and Camille couldn’t help but wonder if Emma were trying to figure out why her own parents didn’t love each other anymore.

  The thing was, Camille had never loved Rich and he hadn’t loved her. They’d had fun together in the beginning, but Emma had been a surprise discovered the summer after their freshman year in college, just after Camille’s father had died. He’d instantly offered to marry her, and she’d been too afraid to go it on her own to refuse. Somehow, with the help of Rich’s parents, they’d managed to finish college, and she’d done her best to be a good mother and wife, one that supported Rich’s dreams of being a professional hockey player. And even though Rich had attained his dream, the harsh reality of being married to a professional athlete who traveled so much had quickly led to the demise of their marriage. Rich’s cheating hadn’t devastated her, but it had taught her a painful lesson. Or rather, it had reinforced the lesson she should have taken to heart after her run in with Heath so long ago: she needed to resist her attraction to athletes and focus on herself.

  Her career. And Emma. Those were the only things that mattered.

  She zipped up her suitcase, glancing at the time. She had a half hour to kill before Rich picked up Emma. She spent the time chatting with her daughter and making sure she had everything she’d need for the week. When Rich arrived and parked his flashy sportscar at the curb, she waved to her ex, then hugged Emma tight and gave her a kiss. “See you next week, baby, but we’ll talk every day. Lots of birthday party planning to do. Have you thought more about a birthday party theme?”

  “Still thinking. Bye, Mom. Have fun with Heath!” Emma said even as she skipped to meet her father. After they drove away, she stood on the front porch to get her bearings and give herself a little pep talk. She could do this. She could have fun.

  Not with Heath Dawson but in spite of him.

  She could take her photos and chances were he’d never know she was the waterboy who’d made his life hell during senior year.

  Then she’d come home, collect her paycheck, land her dream job and hopefully never think about him again.

  Two hours later, Camille arrived at South Beach on Tybee Island, about thirty minutes outside Downtown Savannah. As she watched, several members of the Savannah Bootleggers played an impromptu game on the sand, tossing a football back and forth as the cheerleaders watched.

  “Going wide!” one of the shirtless men yelled—Camille recognized him as Kyle Young, the Bootleggers quarterback. He was the superstar of the team, featured on shows and magazine covers and even appearing in a movie or two. Kyle was tanned and muscular, and Camille couldn’t help but appreciate his six-pack, even from yards away.

  Heath was nowhere to be seen. She frowned, wondering if he had heard who was taking the photos and had bailed.

  “You’re the photographer?”

  She looked up to see Alec LeBrun, tight end, jogging up to her. He was huge, shoulders broad and muscular, but his warm smile gave him a boyish air. According to the tabloids, he’d just gotten engaged to his gorgeous girlfriend a few weeks ago.

  “Yep, that’s me,” she replied, gesturing to her camera hanging around her neck. “How’d you guess?”

  Alec laughed, flashing bright white teeth.

  “Okay, okay, let’s get everyone together,” a pretty redheaded woman yell
ed, her hair pulled into a tight bun.

  “Heath’s not here yet,” Alec said.

  The redhead smiled tightly and though she looked in Alec’s direction, she seemed to focus on something over his shoulder rather than meet his gaze straight on. “No, Mr. Dawson has yet to grace us with his presence, but we wait for no man. Or woman.” She turned to Camille, holding out her hand. She had the brightest blue eyes she’d ever seen. “I’m Ruby O’Brien, publicist and football player wrangler. I’ll be keeping these lunatics in line today.”

  Camille glanced at Alec, who frowned before he turned away and rejoined the others. Turning back to Ruby, Camille shook the woman’s hand, smiling at her no-nonsense approach. “Camille Pollert. Your help would be great.” She was about to ask that they begin with groups of five, mixed gender, when she saw a man and woman walking up. The man was tall and tan and Camille could tell he was attractive even from a distance. But it was when she heard his voice that she realized who it was: Heath Dawson.

  “Sorry I’m late, everybody! Traffic. You know the drill.” He slapped his buddies on the shoulder, and they heckled him for his tardiness. The woman at his side—a tall, leggy blond, probably the same one Emma had been talking about—hung onto his arm like a barnacle. “Did I miss anything?” Heath asked.

  Camille bit her lip, annoyance filling her. Leave it to Heath to be late and to interrupt her without even noticing she existed. He hadn’t changed one bit since they were in high school. But as she watched him make his way to the group of people, she couldn’t help but admit that some things had changed: he was more muscular, a five o’clock shadow on his cheeks and strong jaw. Teenage Heath had been handsome in a boyish kind of way; adult Heath was gorgeous in a rugged, overtly masculine kind of way that caused Camille to flush all over. Of course, she’d seen him on TV. Magazine covers. Emma’s posters. But it had been easier to blow off his appeal when he wasn’t standing in front of her, his smile as bright and wide as it had been when they’d been younger, but now enhanced with a spark of sensuality. Heath knew he affected women and he used that to his advantage.