Seduced by the Game (52 page)

“Sometimes, but no, the
plane didn’t go down. Water?” She held up the large bottle, then scooped some
ice into a clear plastic cup and filled it at White’s nod. “I messed up the
flight number and stuttered half of my safety instructions. Tangled up the
elastic on the mask. Public speaking is
much
scarier than flying!”

For some reason, White
seemed to find that hilarious. He choked on the water he’d swigged, forcing Tim
to pound on his back to get him to stop coughing. A loud
click click click
sobered
White up fast.

Before Tim could assure
White it was nothing, Madeline had it covered. She leaned over Tim, her body
heat spreading over him, the delicate floral scent of her perfume surrounding
him, as she pointed out the window and winked at White. “It’s just ice. You’re
not scared of that, are you, honey?”

Looking sheepish, White
shook his head.

Before Madeline could move
away, Tim touched the back of her hand. He didn’t say a thing, not wanting to
embarrass White, but it meant a lot to him that she’d taken the time to ease
his fears. He tried to express his gratitude with his eyes and a slight curving
of his lips.

Her cheeks grew nice and
rosy red. He could feel the heat from her skin as she leaned close to whisper
in his ear. “You’re very welcome, Tim.”

* * * *

What the hell is wrong
with me?
Madeline
stared at herself in the mirror above the sink in the Miami airport bathroom.
She’d changed out of her uniform quickly, as usual, for some reason never
feeling clean after a few hours on a flight, but this time, she didn’t just
feel fresher, but more…alive. And about as giddy as a teenage girl who’d
finally earned a smile from the handsome high school quarterback.

She couldn’t help but
laugh at herself. Through her years working as a flight attendant she’d met
rock stars, actors, and plenty of athletes. None of them fazed her because each
and every good-looking young man reminded her of her three younger brothers.
Being twelve years older than the eldest, she’d had a hand in raising them and
never could seem to put aside that motherly instinct. The wild antics of the
rich and famous and not-quite-grown-up amused her, which was probably why she
was chosen so often for chartered flights.

The boy, Ian White, hadn’t
been any different. He was the same age as her second youngest brother, all
tough and yet vulnerable, just like Jonathon. She looked over at the pillow
she’d taken to fix for him, which brought on a vision of the boy’s coach.

Assistant coach. Tim Rowe.
She’d
never heard of him before she’d been assigned to the flight. A few of the
player names were familiar, but she always took the time to memorize the names
of passengers on smaller flights to give them more personal service. This was
the first time she’d ever considered making it more “personal” than was
appropriate.

After applying a bit of
gloss to her lips to defend them against the dry winter air, Madeline shook off
the lingering sensation of Tim being so close and picked up the pillow to tuck
it under her arm while grabbing the handle of her suitcase with her free hand.
She walked out of the bathroom, mentally going over all the reasons she should
keep things with Tim professional.

We will be working with
the team for a very long time. You don’t want things to get awkward.

Of course, there was no
reason for things to be awkward. She was a grown woman, and
if
anything
happened between them, she wouldn’t fool herself into thinking it would last.

He walked away without
looking back. If he was interested, he’d have . . .

Have what? For all he
knew, she’d been more interested in his brother.

Aren’t you?

There lay the real issue.
Dean Richter possessed all the qualities she typically looked for in a man.
Self-assured, power oozing off him in waves, his very presence telling her
that, if he got her alone, she’d willingly surrender every ounce of her
control. Most of the time that was exactly what she needed from a man. The
knowledge that she could just let go.

Her cheeks were hot again
and she stopped by a small vendor to buy a bottle of cold water. Yes, just
recalling how she’d responded to Dean had her hormones dancing like a million
little fireflies in the night. Who could resist a sexy older man who looked at
you like he could already see you naked beneath him?

Dean could give her a
night she’d never forget. Could satisfy all her darkest urges.

She took a few long gulps
of water, letting it cool her down as she idly looked over the men in the crowd
milling about the terminal. Before long, she realized she was looking for his
face. Not Dean’s, but Tim’s. Softer eyes, a voice that held concern when he
spoke to White, his expressions so easy to read. She hadn’t mistaken his
interest in her. If he’d asked her to meet him, for coffee, for dinner, for…
Ugh, she wasn’t making any sense. Honestly, she hadn’t had a man in her bed for
way too long. Appropriate or not, she wouldn’t have said no to either man.

But Tim was the one she
wanted to know. Maybe sex with him would be a bad idea after all. She liked him
already. Things could get complicated.

“Hey! Madeline!” The
masculine shout came from the line in front of Subway. It was White, and his
boyish grin made her smile as he grabbed his bag of food and ran up to her. He
shoved his shaggy brown hair off his forehead. “Sorry, ma’am. Just glad I
didn’t miss you. Do you think it’ll take long to fix my pillow?” He shifted the
strap of his large duffle bag on his shoulder, continuing before she could
answer. “Not that I wanna rush you, but I can’t sleep good without it. I know
it’s stupid. The tear ain’t that bad, so I could just take it—”

“It’s not stupid at all.
And don’t you worry, I can have it ready for you before the game’s done
tonight.” She couldn’t help reaching out to pat his cheek as his grin widened.
Damn, she missed her little brothers.

“Maybe you could meet up
with Tim and he could make sure I get it?” White glanced over his shoulder and
Madeline spotted a few of the other players, waiting in the distance. Tim
wasn’t with them, but White lowered his voice as though afraid to be overheard.
“Just don’t tell him I suggested it.”

“White!” The black-haired
team captain, Callahan, shouted, leaving the group as though to come get White.
“Hurry up!”

Without thinking, Madeline
put her hand on White’s arm. “How do you suggest I meet up with him then?”

“You can…ah…” White
scowled as if he was frustrated with himself for not thinking that far ahead.
Then he scowled at Callahan as the other man joined them. “I can find my own
way to the hotel, Captain. Chill out.”

Callahan’s lips thinned.
He glanced over at Madeline. “The kid bothering you, miss?”

“Not at all. We were
trying to figure out how I will meet with Tim to return the pillow once it’s
all fixed up.” Madeline patted White’s forearm, smiling when his tense muscles
relaxed under her hand. “I’ll get ahold of the team’s travel coordinator, Ian,
and take it from there. No worries.”

With his lips softened and
an amused light in his eyes, Callahan changed from hard and cold to dangerously
attractive. Still too young for her, but her wariness of him faded away as he
motioned toward the escalators. “Or you could follow us down to the bus and
just ask Tim.”

Refusing would make it
seem as though she was avoiding Tim, but by going to the bus, she might give
him the wrong impression. Would he believe she only wanted to ask him about
returning the pillow? What if he thought she was coming on to him?

Would that be so bad?

Yes. She preferred for men
to make the first move. To get a feel for what they expected from her before
she set herself up for disappointment.

“You don’t have to do it,
ma’am. Really.” White stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and
hunched his shoulders. “Stupid to go to all this trouble.”

“Enough of that, White. It
ain’t no trouble, is it, miss?” Callahan curved his hand around the back of White’s
neck in a rough, affectionate gesture that had White snorting and elbowing his
captain in the ribs. The same hold would have frozen Madeline. She wet her lips
with her tongue, missing Callahan’s next words. He chuckled, repeating himself.
“Come on, he doesn’t bite. Not unless you ask real nice.”

The
last
thing she
wanted was for this young man to think she was afraid to speak to Tim. But she
was tempted to elbow Callahan herself when she nodded and he smirked. As they
walked to the escalator, she gave him a sidelong look. “Didn’t your momma teach
you it isn’t polite to speak to a lady that way?”

All the teasing, the
friendliness, disappeared from Callahan’s expression. He glanced over at her.
“No. But she wasn’t a lady herself.”

You really stepped in it
there, genius.
Madeline sighed as Callahan quickened his pace, noticing how the
other players avoided him as though sensing his mood. White stayed close to
her, taking her suitcase and his pillow when they reached the bus, offering to
keep an eye on it while she went in.

The bus was huge, the
seats larger than those on any bus she’d ever been on, but it was still a bus,
with little space to move around. All the players either stayed outside or
quickly sat to let her pass, making her feel very self-conscious as she made
her way toward the back of the bus.

Tim, who’d been sitting at
the edge of one of the last seats before the bathroom stall speaking to his
brother, glanced over and stood quickly when he spotted her. His head hit the
bottom of the luggage compartment.
Hard.

“Fu—damn it! Ow!” Tim
laughed at himself and rubbed his head as he moved closer to her. “I wasn’t
expecting to see you again until we got back on the plane. Not that I didn’t
want to, I—”

Dean snorted without
looking up from the clipboard in his hands.

Usually, uncertainty in a
man turned Madeline off. For some reason, it made Tim more approachable. She
stopped worrying about how coming here looked and smiled at him. “Ian asked me
if I could get his pillow back to him after the game tonight. We both agreed it
would be easier if I met with you to return it.”

“The pillow…” He blinked.
Nodded quickly. “Of course. We’re staying at the Marriott. I could meet you in
the lobby—of course, White could meet you there himself.”

“Yes, he probably could.”
Madeline decided to just go for it. She wanted to spend some time with Tim,
away from his brother and the team. That he hadn’t taken over and asked her out
didn’t change that. This would probably go nowhere, but she needed to see that
for herself. So she went for blunt honesty. “I think he’s playing matchmaker,
which is adorable. I couldn’t disappoint him.”

The skin around Tim’s eyes
crinkled as he gave her a broad smile. “You do know he’s twenty-two, not
twelve? And a big boy like that isn’t ‘adorable.’”

“Ha! I’ll have you know
men don’t fully grow up until they hit their thirties. Most of your team is
made up of children.”

“True.” Tim cocked his
head slightly. “So you’re going out with me to make the boy happy?”

“I don’t know, Tim.” She
grinned at him, having more fun just talking to Tim than she’d had on actual
dates. “You haven’t asked me.”

Casually resting his hip
on the arm of a seat, arms folded over his chest, Tim shrugged. “I said we
could meet in the lobby.”

Something slapped a seat
in the back of the bus. Dean made an irritated sound as Tim looked over at him.
“You, brother, are an idiot. If you don’t ask her out for coffee, I will.”

Dean’s sharp tone made
Madeline shiver. She could imagine him using that tone with her if he wasn’t
pleased. Could see herself doing everything in her power to make sure he rarely
had a reason to.

She’d been in the
lifestyle for a few years, going to clubs in different cities, always sceneing
with men more like Dean than Tim. There was no way she’d refuse if Dean asked her
for coffee…or pretty much anything. He pushed all the right buttons by simply
being in the same space as her.

Tim seemed to notice. He
gave her a stiff smile. “He doesn’t say anything he doesn’t mean. He will take
you.”

No mistaking his meaning.
She frowned, irritated that Tim wasn’t making more of an effort. Even more
irritated at herself for wanting him to. She took a deep breath. “I didn’t come
here to see him. But I do think I’m wasting both our time. I’ll meet you in the
lobby after the game. Good luck.”

Before she could turn her
back on him, he put his hand on her arm. She went still. He spoke softly.
“Wait.”

For several beats, she
stood there, shaking with a strange mix of humiliation, frustration,
and…anticipation. His grip on her arm was firm, not enough to hurt, but enough
to keep her from walking away. She sensed something in him that she’d been
missing before, a power that wasn’t quite as bold as his brother’s, but no less
intense.