Playing for Kicks (Play Makers Book 5) (58 page)

Once again, no need to date.

That worked great until yesterday, when I
stepped into the elevator at my condo building and saw a girl.
Something about her activated the long-dormant dating instinct. I
gotta admit, I did
not
see this coming.

So there we were. She was carrying a big box
of DVDs, and since I hadn’t seen her around before, I figured she
was moving in. Since words are my business, you’d think I then said
something witty, but it went something like this:

Me
: Just moving in?

Elevator Girl
: Yes, this seems like a
nice place.

Me
: Do you need some help?

EG
: That’s sweet of you, but I’ve got
it under control.

Okay, so that phrase—“that’s sweet of
you”—kind of threw me. Any guy worth his salt knows it has tons of
different meanings. Sometimes it’s out-and-out flirting, right?
Sort of like when they marvel at how strong you are when all you
did was pick up a twelve-pack of beer. But sometimes it’s a
put-down, like “that’s so sweet of you to think you can score with
a hot babe like me.” And then there’s the patronizing, mom-ish
meaning: “That’s so sweet to try and carve the turkey at age 3, but
let’s let daddy wield the big knife, shall we?”

I couldn’t get a handle on what the elevator
girl was trying to say. It didn’t seem like a put-down, but not
exactly flirting either. And to complicate things further, I
actually
am
a very sweet guy (not that the ex would agree
with me on that).

So we got to the 3rd floor, she said good-bye
and walked down the hall, and I continued up to my place on the
5th. Which leads to my opinionated rant of the day—how can a
seemingly normal girl turn an articulate bullshitter like me into a
tongue-tied idiot? Why do we put up with it? Oh, and what do I do
now? Because trust me, I’m going to date her or die trying.

Now on to the reason you stopped by—my
pre-analysis of this year’s NFL battles. Everyone else is focusing
on the potential Super Bowl contenders, but I’m hung up on the new
expansion teams. Particularly the Rustlers . . .

Click
here
for more sports from Jake Dublin . . .

COMMENTS:

Anonymous from SD
:

Give it up, man. She’s not into you.

Tweetie Burred
:

Leave her alone.

Ed the first
:

Where are the stats, man? Tall, short?
Blonde, brunette? Give us facts, or at least the closest Bond
girl.

The Opinionated Sports Guy
:

She’s not the Bond-girl type. Maybe
Christina Applegate in
Anchorman
. Except less ballsy. Or
Naomi Watts in that horror film about the creepy kid stuck in a
well.

Ed the first
:

Hot.

Tweetie Burred
:

Naomi Watts again? U really R hopeless.

Anon 2
:

What DVDs were in the box? Chick flicks?
Better run, dude.

The Opinionated Sports Guy
:

Good question. It was sci-fi mostly, but not
the artsy or animated crap. Some seasons of
Babylon 5
, for
example. I was too busy noticing her
stuff
to really notice
her stuff.

Freelance Critic
:

If she looks like C.A. and likes sci-fi,
she’s already taken. Don’t waste your time. Try online dating. It
worked for me (3rd anniversary coming up). As for the Rustlers,
they’ve got years of mediocrity ahead. Not sure why you keep
harping on them. Man crush on Coach Spurling maybe? You’ve got a
better chance of scoring with him than the elevator girl, tho.

The Opinionated Sports Guy
:

You’re a riot. And you’re wrong. They’ll make
the playoffs for sure. Mediocrity isn’t in Spurling’s playbook. But
meanwhile, congrats on the anniversary.

The Play Makers Series

Read all the books in the

Play Makers Series

by Kate Donovan!

Play by
Play

Former college football star Jake Dublin’s
wildly popular sports blog also details his personal life. And
lately it’s all about Sophie, the pretty young woman who just moved
into his apartment building. His readers know her only as “Elevator
Girl,” and they’re all rooting for Jake to score.

The blog posts and banter with his followers
are all in good fun, and he fully intends to come clean with the
woman he’s wooing and wowing. That is, until she confides that she
grew up in a house full of jocks and even dated a few. Her verdict?
Never again!

Jake knows he needs to confess. But somewhere
along the line he fell in love with Sophie and can’t stand the
thought of losing her. So he procrastinates, and blogs, and digs
himself deeper into a hole, until it all leads to a showdown that’s
so nail-biting, not even the best play-by-play guy could ever have
seen it coming.

Playing for
Keeps

When Erica McCall finally gets her big break
in advertising, she knows just which spokesperson to pitch:
gorgeous football superstar Johnny Spurling. She has followed his
career since college and knows he’s perfect for the spot, even
though it’s common knowledge his famous family doesn’t do product
endorsements,
 
ever
. But Erica
knows Johnny’s weak spot, and she’s confident she can use it to
gain his trust and seal the deal.

Quarterback Johnny Spurling is running out of
time. His father’s health is failing, and there’s one last thing
he’s asked Johnny to do—settle down and produce a son, before it’s
too late. Which means Johnny needs a new kind of girlfriend. No
more casual hookups or high-maintenance divas. When his
sister-in-law claims to have the perfect candidate, he urges her to
set up a postseason blind date.

Then Johnny meets long-haired, long-legged
Erica and can’t resist her outrageous proposal—or her. So he
decides he’ll do the commercial and have one final, hot-as-hell
fling before settling down. They set the ground rules, then proceed
to break every one of them as fun turns to the kind of true romance
that just
doesn’t end with the final
touchdown
—and with luck, never ends at
all.

Play
Date

Bam!

When quarterback Johnny Spurling cancels his
blind date with Rachel Gillette on account of matrimony, she
cheerfully agrees to a substitution—Sean Decker, another hunk in
pro football’s feared Triple Threat. But love doesn’t spark between
the adorable kicker and the kindergarten teacher, and she wonders
if she’s destined to sit on the bench forever.

No one is crazy enough to match Rachel with
the third member of the Triple Threat. Bam Bannerman is Thor-like
of body, potty of mouth, and hot as hell. And when he spots the
classy blonde at Johnny’s wedding, he’s determined to have some
fun. Sure, she’s prim and proper, but he’s Bam, isn’t he? So no
problem.

To Rachel, who’s tired of being ignored and
rejected, the rowdy halfback is a hilarious change of pace. They
sneak away, he rocks her world, then she fondly bids him
farewell.

But Bam isn’t done scoring, and before Rachel
knows what’s hit her she’s enjoying weekly hookups with the
irrepressible stud. When a heartsick Sean signals he might want to
get back into the game, she suddenly finds herself with her hands
full—and discovers her arms, and maybe even her heart, are full
too.

Power
Play

Brand-new sports agent Darcie Kildare knows
her way around a contract. But football? She’s still got a lot to
learn. And she definitely isn’t ready for a chance encounter with
quarterback Wyatt Bourne, known as “the Surgeon” for his precision
passing, cutting humor, and rampant god complex. After completely
embarrassing herself, and being mocked for her efforts, she only
hopes she never sees the gorgeous hunk again. Except of course in
her most private fantasies . . .

Wyatt doesn’t need an agent. In fact, he
doesn’t need anyone, much less an ambitious babe with a hot body
and a smart mouth. Even worse, her agency represents the Triple
Threat—Wyatt’s bitterest rivals—a fact she gleefully rubs in his
face every chance she gets.

Darcie doesn’t actually mean to taunt him,
but she owes him a zinger or two, doesn’t she? Plus, it’s so darned
much fun. And
he’s
having fun too. She can see that in the
steely eyes that turn cobalt at a moment’s notice. Something is
happening between them. Something neither of them ever felt before.
Something Darcie has dreamed of her entire life.

But the Surgeon has spent a lifetime making
sure it
never
happens to him. And as Darcie discovers too
late, he really is the best at what he does.

Books by Kate Donovan

The Play Makers Series

Play by Play

Playing for Keeps

Play Date

Power Play

Playing for Kicks

The Trace Elements Series

Trace Elements

Random Elements

Time Travels and Paranormals