Playing for Kicks (Play Makers Book 5) (53 page)

• • •

With her face resting on his chest, Tess
twined her legs in his, wondering how she could possibly have
stayed away for so long.

“I missed your body,” he said huskily.

“It missed you too.” She pulled back enough
to capture the diamond charm between her thumb and forefinger.
“Where did you find this?”

His smile brightened. “I saw something like
it a few weeks ago. A horse like this one, only no jewels, just
gold. And it was too big and flat. And the stride was totally off.
So I explained the problem to the jeweler, who turned out to be a
designer. So we drew up some concepts and eventually settled on
this.”

She cuddled closer. “It’s so amazing you grew
up with wild horses. Did you catch many of them?”

“That’s the thing about wild horses. If you
catch them, they aren’t wild anymore, right?”

“Oh, right.”

He sat up and pulled her into the crook of
his arm. “When I was a kid, I tried getting close to them, but they
always took off. So I worked on my approach. Tried to seem
non-threatening. Just hanging out nearby. And sometimes a really
curious one would trot over. Cautious—ready to bolt if I made a
sudden movement—but moving closer. And I’d move closer too. It took
a lot of practice. But every once in a while one would trust me
enough to actually eat out of my hand.”

“Wow.”

“It’s like we made a pact. The horse let me
be part of its world, and in return, I promised not to put a rope
on it.”

“And you were never tempted to do that?”

“Never. My old man used say it was the
horse
catching
me
. And he was right.”

She let the idea sink in. Because as crazy as
it sounded, this was exactly how Sean had approached her. Patient.
Earning her trust. A scone here, a taco there, riding in separate
cars, waiting for her to trust him enough to come to his house. And
even now, when she was clearly eating out of his hand, he saw
something special in her and was determined to respect it.

In other words, the exact opposite of Bam’s
bumbling toast.

“What are you thinking?” he murmured.

She gave a sheepish sigh. “My emotions were
such a jumble this week. I’ve been Colbee for so long, then
suddenly she was gone. I didn’t expect it to hit me so hard, but it
did. So I felt disoriented. Almost desperate, I guess, to fit into
my
new
life.” She stroked his face. “You’re so smart. You
figured it out right away. You see me—well,
this
way.” She
held up the diamond charm. “Not just a piece of a puzzle but
sinfully happy with my life. Living in the moment. Like the wild
horses do. It’s so crazy I lost sight of that.”

“A piece of the puzzle? Why does that sound
familiar?” he mused. Then he scowled. “Bannerman, right? What’s
with
that guy?”

“It’s fine now. And he meant it as a
compliment. I was just so vulnerable.”

He surprised her by chuckling. “It actually
is
a compliment, you know. He wasn’t talking about a jigsaw
puzzle, Tess. He meant you’re the last clue in a mystery. The
pivotal clue to the destiny of the Triple Threat.”

“What?”

“It started last summer. We’d go drinking,
and he’d talk about the women we’d end up with. He tried to predict
for each of us, and was dead wrong each time. So when John found
Erica, Bam called her the first piece of the puzzle. Rachel was the
second. And he kept saying
mine
would be the pivotal clue.
Then I told them about Kerrie . . .” His expression grew
distant. “That was the day Bam stopped joking about it. So when he
made that toast last week, it felt pretty cool. Even for
Bannerman.”

“Wow.”

He nodded, then cupped her chin in his hand
but didn’t speak, so she urged him breathlessly, “Say it. I want
you to.”

“We don’t need to say it. Just promise me you
won’t change for us. Especially not for me.”

“I love you, Sean Decker. So much it takes my
breath away.”

“Yeah?”

She kissed him tearfully. “Remember what we
said in San Francisco? We’re so lucky we found each other. We can’t
care about what happened before we met. Just enjoy what we have
now.”

His eyes were dark with love. “That’s all I
need, Tess. So figure out what
you
want, and I’ll work
around it.”

“Thanks to you, I know exactly what I want,”
she said breathlessly.
“You.”

“Huh?”

“I want to live with you. Sleep with you. Go
for walks with you. Write articles on your beautiful balcony at
your beautiful home. Hang with your friends. Help Erica with the
baby. Live in the moment with the man I love.”

“Man, that sounds nice.” He cleared his
throat. “What about bartending?”

“I’ve been giving Gusty some advice, so I
might keep doing that for a while.”

“Awesome.” He nibbled her ear. “Any chance we
can start right now? Go to my place, I mean?”

“I want to show off my necklace. And you in
the tux.
And
meet Coach Riga.” She sighed. “And I need to be
there for Erica’s sake. I had a meltdown while we were shopping,
and even though I was just blowing off steam, she took it to heart.
Because she’s such a great friend.”

“You were upset about Bam’s toast?”

“That was part of it. The whole week was a
perfect storm of insecurities. So I tried to fix it with better
clothes. Better hair. Maybe even a better job.” She wrapped her
arms around his chest. “I should have come to you right away.”

“You sounded different. Busy, or so I
thought. I didn’t realize it was stress until last night. I should
have come over right away.”

“No, you did the perfect thing. Chained your
gorgeous, naked body in the basement and howled my name at the
moon.
Yum.”

He grinned. “You liked that, huh?”

“It was just what I needed.” Picking up the
horse charm she murmured, “And now this . . .”

He reached for her, but she scooted away,
reminding him, “We’re late. So just let me rinse off and we can go.
I’d invite you to join me, but I need to keep my hair dry or we’ll
have a disaster on our hands.”

“I’ll use the other bathroom. And catch a few
minutes of the Dodgers game. They’re going for their third
no-hitter this season.”

“Oh, wow. We should
all
be watching
that. History in the making, right?”

“Want me to call the guys? They’ll be here in
thirty seconds. Guaranteed.”

It was so tempting. The hunks could watch the
game while Tess reassured Erica and brought Rachel up to speed. But
the blue dress beckoned, as did the chance to meet Coach Riga.

So she warned Sean, “Stop tempting me,
Romeo,” and headed off to the shower.

• • •

After scrupulously tucking her hair under the
hotel-supplied shower cap, Tess reveled in the hot, sudsy water.
Her inner gyroscope had regained its balance thanks to Sean and his
charm. Including
the
charm, which she held in front of her
admiring, grateful eyes.

It no longer mattered if Kerrie got there
first. If she was his Juliet. Because Tess was something special
too. Not just a fun girl who wouldn’t rock the boat or cause him
more pain, but a wild spirit who could frolic with him for the rest
of their lives.

Craving the feel of his arms, she stepped out
of the shower and carefully toweled off before pulling off the
shower cap. Then she groaned in frustration. Because yes, it had
kept water out. But apparently steam had penetrated, deflating the
expensive blow-out. And worse, deflating it more on one side than
the other. Flat and flatter.

She tried using the blow dryer, but it just
emphasized the imbalance, so she resorted to her traditional fix by
using gel and a scrunching motion to crimp it evenly, more or less,
on both sides of her face.

To her surprise, it looked better than in the
old days thanks to the highlights. Encouraged, she touched up her
makeup and went back to the bedroom, picked up the blue dress from
the floor, and shook out the wrinkles.

Unfortunately, there was a streak of black on
the bodice. Maybe mascara, maybe a scuff from Sean’s highly
polished dress shoes.

She could try a little club soda on it. But
why bother? Because she had another dress, didn’t she?

• • •

Back in his tuxedo, Sean stared in open-mouth
awe at the TV screen. Eighth inning, still a no-hitter for the
Dodgers. The announcers were going wild. Sean was going wild. And
if Tess would just hurry up, she’d go crazy too.

Luckily he was recording it at home so she
could see it later.

“Sean?”

He turned toward her voice, relieved she
would catch the end of the game, then stared at the awesome sight.
The other dress had been pretty, but this?

“Man, you look hot,” he told her reverently,
his gaze traveling over the iridescent beads, down to her gorgeous
legs, back up to her playful smile, then setting on the diamond
horse dangling between her perfect breasts. “Nice dress.”

“It’s all wrong for such a fancy fundraiser.
But I love it. And if you like it, too—”

He silenced her with a kiss. “You sparkle
like the necklace. It’s unbelievable.”

She melted against him, then drew back and
demanded, “Another no-hitter? Is that even possible?”

“You’re watching history, babe,” he agreed.
“But I’m DVR’ing it. And we should get going. Because you look
awesome
in that dress.”

“Does it remind you of a Roaring Twenties
flapper? That’s what Erica said.”

“More like a gangster’s moll from the
Thirties. Only hotter. Like Bonnie and Clyde.” He fingered a lock
of her hair. “I like this, too. It’s sparkly. Like you.”

“Back off, Romeo. Coach R’s getting
impatient.”

He chuckled, knowing it was probably true.
Daniel Riga
hated
to be kept waiting.

So he pulled her close and murmured, “Five
minutes with Riga, okay? Then we go to my place. Or rather,
our
place.”

“Our place,” she agreed, brushing her lips
across his then tugging him stubbornly toward the door.

• • •

“This is nuts,” Bam complained, and Erica had
to agree. They had been partying at half speed, always keeping one
eye on the arched entrance of the Ashton ballroom for Sean and
Tess.

“You said you heard from her,” Rachel soothed
them. “So we know they’re coming. They must have hit a traffic snag
or something.”

“She lives in the building,” Bam muttered.
“So we all know why they’re late.
Pancakes.
The dude’s out
of control.”

Johnny chuckled. “You kept throwing them
together. What did you think would happen?”

“I thought he’d bang her once or twice a
week. Not make a
caree
r out of it.”

They all laughed, and Erica joined in even
though her thoughts were on Tess’s last text message.

We talked. All good. YAY!!

What did that mean? That she had confessed
her fears to Sean and he had convinced her that
she
—not
bat-shit crazy Kerrie—was his Juliet? Or had she reached some other
resolution? Either that she could be happy with him, even knowing
she
wasn’t
his Juliet. Or that she would let him down easily
after the gala.

Poor Sean. Poor Tess. Poor everybody.

“Oh, man,” Bam said reverently.
“That’s
why she’s my Bammie.”

All eyes turned to the doorway to see Tess in
her dazzling flapper dress, her arms and legs bare and beautiful,
her smile transcendent, her arm looped through Sean’s.

And he looked amazing too. But didn’t he
always? Especially in a tux? Rachel always joked he looked like the
groom on a traditional wedding cake, and it was so true. Aside from
Johnny, he was the handsomest man Erica had ever seen in her
life.

The question was: would he need those good
looks again soon? To find another love when Tess gently told him
good-bye?

Rachel eyed Erica teasingly. “I thought you
said the dress was blue.”

“I was wrong,” Erica admitted. “I pushed her
to buy the blue one, but she knew all along
this
was the
one.”

Bam grabbed Tess as soon as she came within
range. “Hey, babe! You look like a million.”

“So do you,” she said in a loud whisper.
“Ditch Rachel and we can run away together.”

“Hey,” Johnny complained. “I thought you were
running away with
me.”

“You snooze, you lose, big fella.”

Bam grinned. “Nice diamonds. What’s the
occasion?”

“No occasion,” Tess said with a sigh as she
held up a delicate pendant. “Just Sean being Sean. Isn’t it
gorgeous?”

Bam turned to Sean and asked wistfully, “Is
that the horse you shot? Bummer.”

“Geezus, why does everyone say that?” Sean
scowled. “No, it’s not the horse I shot.”

“I know what it is,” Johnny interrupted.
“It’s Tess. Right?”

They all looked at him, then Tess stepped
over and wrapped her arms around his chest. “You
always
got
me. Right from the start.”

“Yeah,” Sean admitted. “I guess that’s what
makes you the big dog.”

Bam snorted. “She’s a horse? I still don’t
think that’s a compliment.”

Tess turned to him and smiled. “See how the
horse is so carefree? In harmony with nature? That’s what I aspire
to be. And it’s just so—well, so romantic that Sean sees it. And
Big John too? That’s the icing on the cake.”

The halfback nodded. “You sparkle like the
diamonds, that’s for sure. Nice job, Deck.”

“Glad you approve.”

Frustrated, Erica took Tess by the arm,
pulled her a few feet from the group, then demanded under her
breath, “Are you okay? You seem a little manic, no offense.”

“I’m fine, Erica. And I’m so sorry I worried
you. It’s all good now. I promise.”