End Zone: Texas Titans 2

End
Zone

Book Two in the Texas Titans Series

Cheryl Douglas

Copyright © by Cheryl Douglas

All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced, including photocopying, graphic, electronic, mechanical,
taping, recording, sharing, or by any information retrieval system without the
express written permission of the author and / or publisher. Exceptions include
brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Persons, places and other entities
represented in this book are deemed to be fictitious. They are not intended to
represent actual places or entities currently or previously in existence or any
person living or dead. This work is the product of the author’s imagination.

Any and all inquiries to the author of this
book should be directed to:
[email protected]

End Zone © 2013 Cheryl Douglas

End Zone—Book Two

High Rollers marketing director, Matt
Hudson, has had a thing for Kristen Beck for as long as he can remember. She
was the untouchable prom queen who was out of his league back in high school,
but the tables have turned. Since Matt was named one of cities most eligible
bachelors, he can have his pick of beautiful women. As soon as he sees a
magazine profile touting the success of a certain sexy event planner, he knows
he’s found the one he wants.

Ever since her magazine feature,
Kristen Beck has had more job offers than she knows what to do with, but when
her irreplaceable assistant demands a stress leave, Kristin knows she can’t
afford to take on any more projects. When one of the partners in the High
Rollers chain offers her a lucrative contract, she regretfully declines.

But she has no idea Matt Hudson isn’t
willing to take no for an answer.

As Matt Hudson stared at the glossy
magazine on his desk, he knew he’d found the answer to his prayers. Kristen
Beck. She had been the object of his adolescent fantasies, but high school
seemed like a lifetime ago. He wasn’t the same geeky kid who couldn’t get a
date with the prom queen even if he’d offered her an obscene amount of money.

Lasik eye surgery had replaced his thick
glasses. The best physical trainer in the state helped him gain six-pack abs he
was proud to sport while playing beach volleyball. The kid with two left feet
had grown up and found passion in taking extreme risks that would deem him
certifiable in most circles. His days of caring what other people thought of
him were over.

He’d come into his own and developed his
identity as a partner in the High Rollers chain. In one short week, he could
attend his high school reunion and silence the bullies who used to shove him
into lockers and steal his lunch money. He’d return with a smug smile, a Rolex,
a black Amex, and a limo parked at the curb.

According to entertainment magazines, he
was one of the most eligible bachelors in the country. Only one woman could
take him off the market: his fantasy girl. When he’d laid eyes on Kristen Beck
during his freshman year, he’d said to his friends, “I’m going to marry that
girl someday.” They laughed uproariously, but he knew the day would come when
he would get the last laugh.

Matt’s partner and company president, Jaxon
Davis, strolled into his office without knocking, which was par for the course.

“Most people know that a closed door means
knock, dumbass,” Matt said, glaring at him. “Unlike you, I work for a living.”
No one worked harder than Jaxon, but Matt enjoyed getting a reaction out of his
long-time friend.

“Whatever. I don’t have time for your B.S.
today. We need to talk about the anniversary party.” Jaxon sank into the guest
chair. “Have you hired an event planner yet?”

“Funny you should ask.” Matt tapped his
engraved silver pen against his lower lip. “I was just thinking about that.” Matt
slid the magazine across the desk. “What do you think of her?”

Jaxon’s eyes widened when he saw Kristen
wearing a short black dress, standing against a backdrop of orchids floating in
a multi-tiered waterfall. The picture had been taken last month at a political
fundraiser she’d planned. “Holy hell.” Jaxon picked up the magazine,
scrutinizing the photo. “That’s gotta be air-brushed, don’t you think? No woman
is
that
perfect.”

“Kristen Beck is.” If she wasn’t, she
wouldn’t have remained Matt’s fantasy.

“You know her?” Jaxon asked, looking
skeptical. “How?”

“We went to high school together.”

Jaxon laughed as he tossed the magazine on
the desk. “Which means she probably doesn’t even know you’re alive. No offense,
buddy, but I saw your yearbook pics, remember? You weren’t exactly a lady
killer.”

“Kristen and I were friends.” Okay, friends
might be a stretch, but he believed she would remember him. After all, he had
been the reason she passed calculus. If not for him, she would have been kicked
off the cheerleading squad, and according to her, her daddy would have taken
the keys to her car.

Kristen hadn’t been like all the other
cheerleaders. She was sweet. She paid attention when he tutored her instead of
rolling her eyes and popping her bubble gum before asking if he could just do
the work for her. He remembered exactly what she said as she planted an
enthusiastic kiss on his cheek. “If you ever need anything, Matt, just ask. I
owe you big time.” The time had finally come to collect.

“So you think she’ll agree to plan our
anniversary bash?” Jaxon scanned the headline proclaiming Kristen the state’s
premiere event planner. “My guess is she probably has more business than she
knows what to do with.”

“You might be right.” Matt raised a
shoulder. “But I can be pretty persuasive.” He hadn’t always been that way. A
decade of dating beautiful women had taught him how to play the game.

In college, he’d started to come in to his
own. When his father bought him a Porsche for his twenty-first birthday, he
realized what it would take to turn the head of a woman like Kristen: money and
lots of it. He’d always had family money, but unlike his younger brother, he
wasn’t satisfied to live off his trust fund. He wanted to make his own mark in
the world, and he had. High Rollers was a big mark, and he had been an integral
part of their success. He was the branding expert who’d turned High Rollers
into a household name. They had a high-end sports bar in every state across the
country.

“If you say so,” Jaxon said, standing.
“Have you offered her the job yet?”

“No, I’m gonna look her up online. I think
I’ll pass by her office instead of calling. Nothing like shock value working in
your favor, right?”

Jaxon laughed. “You said she hasn’t seen
you since high school? Yeah, she’ll be shocked all right. Good luck. Let me
know how it goes, okay?”

“Will do.”

***

Kristen tried to hold on to her patience as
her assistant dabbed her eyes with a balled-up tissue.

“I just need a little time to pull myself
together, Kristen. This breakup with Ben really hit me hard. I was so sure he
was the one, ya know?”

Kristen tried to refrain from rolling her
eyes. Shell was brilliant and creative, but she’d been looking for
the one
for most of her forty-nine years. She kept picking one loser after another, convinced
each and every time that she’d found the man of her dreams. After four years of
working together, Kristen had gotten a little tired of her front row seat to
the horror show known as Shell’s love life. She suspected part of the reason
she didn’t date much was because she was afraid of ending up like Shell.

“I’d love to be able to give you a little
time, Shell, but you know we’re booked straight through the holidays. I need
you.”

Shell sniffed delicately. “You know the
last thing I’d want to do is let you down. You’ve been like a sister to me, but
I have to put myself first for once. I need this time away.”

Kristen took a deep breath. Shell was the
glue that held her business together. She couldn’t afford to lose her
permanently. “How much time are we talking about?”

“My mother’s not using her condo in Florida
right now. I think I’ll go there for a month, regroup, try to figure out where
to go from here.”

Kristen rubbed her temples, wishing she was
the type to down a stiff drink or two in the middle of the day. Given her
mother’s history with alcohol, Kristen was careful about not using it as a
crutch. “A stress leave, that’s what you called it?” Not that the label
mattered. The bottom line was that she was losing her right hand for at least a
month.

Given how flighty Shell was, she could very
well go to Florida and find the next love of her life. She’d stay there a few
months, or however long it took for her to become too clingy and sabotage the
new relationship. Then she’d come back claiming she needed a diversion, like
work, to get back on track. They’d been down that road before. Given how long
it would take her to train someone new, Kristen’s hands were tied. She’d have
to find a way to survive without Shell for the next four weeks—or longer, if it
came to that.

“You know I hate to do this to you, hon,”
Shell said, pouting until her collagen-infused lower lip looked as if it might
join her chin. “I know how busy we are, but I’d be useless to you if I stayed.”
She waved a manicured hand in front of her face. “You know how I get all weepy
after a breakup.”

Not to mention whiny
.
Like the world is coming to an end.
“I hate to lose you,
Shell, especially now.” Kristen sank back in her chair, wishing she had it in
her to threaten or at the very least cajole. She’d never been a hard-nosed
boss, and she didn’t have the energy for another pep talk. Maybe Shell leaving
until she was over her broken heart was best for both of them.

“Consider two of the four weeks my paid
vacation, and don’t even worry about paying me for the other two weeks,” Shell
said. “I’ll get by without a paycheck.”

Of course you will
,
living at your mother’s beachfront penthouse rent-free. Tough
life.
Kristen hadn’t taken a vacation in the six years since she’d started
her business. The odds of her taking one with an emotionally unstable assistant
like Shell were lessening by the second. Her mother and stepfather were
hounding her to join them for skiing in Vermont over the holidays, but that was
her busiest season. She’d probably have a frozen TV dinner in front of her
broken gas fireplace on Christmas day again. Not that she was feeling sorry for
herself…
much
.

“What can I say, Shell?” Kristen pulled her
hair free of her ponytail when her head started to ache. “You’re a grown woman.
I can’t force you to stay here. I can threaten to fire your ass, but we both
know I’d just be blowing smoke. With the holiday season right around the
corner, I need you.”

With a wide smile, Shell stood, smoothing
her tight gray skirt. “You’re a doll.” She blew Kristen kisses as she backed
out the door. “I’ll text you to let you know I got there safely.”

“Please do,” Kristen muttered, turning to
face her monitor. She had a few hours of work to do before she could even think
about calling it a day, maybe more after Shell’s little announcement.

“Oh, excuse me,” said a deep male voice
Kristen could have sworn she recognized.

Her head snapped up, and her eyes locked
with a hauntingly familiar gaze. She searched her memory to try to place him.
She prayed he wasn’t some forgettable date from a lifetime ago trying to coax
her into giving him another chance.

The man’s hands were around Shell’s waist.
She’d obviously bumped into him when she was backing out of the room, and she
seemed in no hurry to extricate herself from the handsome stranger’s grasp.
Recognizing that he could be a potential client, Kristen shot her employee a
warning glare, which Shell predictably ignored. As soon as a handsome man
entered the room, Shell couldn’t focus on anything or anyone else. He dropped
his hands to his sides and stepped back.

Standing, Kristen offered him an apologetic
smile. “I’m sorry, were you looking for someone?”

“I think I’ve found her.” He gave her a
quick once-over before a slow smile revealed straight white teeth. “The years
have been good to you, Kristen.”

She could have sworn her heart skipped a
beat. How did she know him? More importantly, why was her body responding as
though she’d known him intimately? She’d only been intimate with two men: her
former fiancée, the lawyer who occupied the office down the hall, and her
college boyfriend. Whenever Shell claimed that was just sad, Kristen claimed
her career took all of her time. That was true, but she had to admit it was
kind of sad.

“You don’t recognize me, do you?” he asked.

His smile morphed into a full-on grin, and
Kristen had to reach for her desk to avoid being bowled over by the power of
their sexual chemistry. “No, uh, should I?”

“No.” He slid a hand into the pocket of his
dress pants and propped a shoulder against the doorframe. “In fact, I might
have been a little offended if you had recognized me.”

Getting more confused by the minute,
Kristen noticed Shell was still in the room. “Don’t you have to go home and
pack, Shell?” Kristen tried to ignore the thrill bumps rising on her skin.
Thankfully, she was wearing a black turtleneck and black skinny pants, so he
wouldn’t notice them.

“I guess so,” she said, sighing
dramatically. “I always miss the good stuff.”

“Good-bye,” Kristen said firmly. She waited
until Shell had slipped past her guest and out the door before she lowered into
her chair. “I’m sorry about that. Shell has quite a flair for dramatics, but
she’s a creative genius.”

“I’ve heard you’re the genius behind this
operation,” he said, casting a quick glance around her spacious, well-appointed
office.

Since she often met clients in her office,
she’d gone to the expense of leasing space in an upscale building and taking
months to painstakingly select every accessory. “That’s nice of you to say. Do
you mind if I ask how you heard about us?” Then she remembered he’d spoken of
their past. She watched him move through the room as if he belonged there. He
admired her accessories and art before moving to the bank of windows that
overlooked the city. “I’m sorry, do you mind filling in the blanks for me? You
said we know each other, but I honestly can’t remember—”

“High school.” He looked more amused than
offended. “Matt Hudson. I tutored you in calculus.”

Kristen shook her head in disbelief. She
remembered Matt Hudson, the sweet, shy, geeky guy who’d tried to hide the fact
that he had a crush on her. That kid had a bad complexion, wore thick glasses,
had braces, and looked as though he could use one of her mother’s famous pulled
pork sandwiches. “No. No way.”

Matt threw his head back and laughed, and
she felt heat pooling in her belly. She had never heard a sexier sound, though
she knew he didn’t intend it to be.