Touchdown Baby (13 page)

Chapter Eleven

Luxury surrounded Ava, from the thousand thread count sheets that graced the guest bed to the carpet so plush she felt like she was walking on clouds. The only thing keeping her in the real world was the music that pulsed in the air.

The need to escape Jace and the choices she was not ready to make sent her to her room, but the opulence was so far removed from who she was she needed fresh air. A glance out the floor to ceiling windows showed the perfect distraction. Sneaking out, in the hopes of going outside to take a walk down to the lake that butted up to Jace’s property, Ava checked both directions before leaving her suite and made it almost to the steps when the music stopped.             

Ava was surprised to meet a sweaty Jace at the bottom of the steps. He looked delicious; she felt lightheaded. Being eye level with golden-tan muscles chiseled from hard work made her panties wet. Watching droplets of sweat slice down his abdomen and into the band of his work-out shorts brought her attention to the happy trail of hair that led to her own ecstasy. Was there a sudden loss of oxygen in the room? Not knowing if it was from the weight of her secret or her body’s reaction to him, she stammered to come up with an excuse for her rude behavior earlier.

“I was just going to go out and get my bags.”

“I put them in the living room,” Jace answered with a nod toward her right.

The immaculate room he motioned toward had her shabby suitcases in the expertly designed space. The hardwood floors that stretched throughout the living area gleamed from polishing. “Thanks. Uh, your house is really beautiful.”

“It works.” Jace looked everywhere but directly at her. “I took out a couple of steaks for dinner. Would you like me to put them on the grill?”

Why did she feel like he was just as uneasy as she was? He didn’t have any secrets that would ruin her career. “You don’t have to go to any trouble. I can just eat a sandwich.”

“No problem, I have to eat too. I’m going to run up and take a shower.” Just like that, he was bounding up the intricately handcrafted staircase and into the room directly across from hers.

Ava walked out of the house and into the beautiful spring weather. As she looked at the lake, the scattered clouds that hung in the early evening sky turned amber and purple with the lowering sun. Concerns about every decision she made in the past three years began to dissipate. The peace that settled over her was cathartic when she remembered she now had someone she could talk to about her secret. Cell phone in hand she dialed Roxi in the hopes her friend would still want to talk to her.

Ava left a message for Roxi to call her and turned toward the house she would be staying in for the next two weeks. The house seemed larger than she originally noticed. The full basement wasn’t visible when they drove up, but from behind the house was massive.

A deck ran across the back and gave the impression that some of the old Jace was still there in the superstar man. Every average man wanted a deck for his grill. The monstrosity Jace called a grill dominated its surroundings. Just like a typical man, bigger had to be better.

With a tug on the kitchen doors, she quickly discovered she locked herself out. She hoped the basement door below the deck would be unlocked and she could enter there, but it was locked as well. Snooping around the house, she discovered a path behind a privacy fence. Curious, she followed the path and walked into paradise.

The in-ground pool was like nothing she had ever seen. The travertine that surrounded the crystal-clear water glimmered in the evening light. The far side had a waterfall that looked as if nature had put it there, and it spilled into what had to be at least a twelve-man hot tub. The urge to shed her flip-flops and stick her feet in the inviting water won out.

The warmth sluiced across her legs, and Ava allowed herself a moment to enjoy the fantasy that this was all hers. That she had no secrets and could love Jace openly while their daughter played in the shallow end of the pool.

****

When he found her, stretched out on the stone looking at the clouds that were scattered across the evening sky, feet dangling in the hot tub and a smile of contentment on her face, Ava looked more beautiful than anyone Jace had ever seen. “I was wondering where you’d run off to. I take it you like the pool?”

“Amazing, it’s your own private paradise. The only thing missing is the cabana boys to serve me drinks.”

“What do you want to drink?”

“A mai tai with an umbrella or a strawberry daiquiri would be wonderful.”

“Would a Corona work?” The sound of the cap popping made Ava jumped. He watched her come back to reality. The conversation with Roxi must have upset her, and she didn’t seem willing to share it with him. He wanted to give her a few days to live in a fantasy world he could create for her.

Simple pleasure crossed Jace’s face as he handed a beer to Ava and sat down beside her to stick his own feet in the pool.

Tilting the bottle to her lips, Ava drank deeply before Jace dropped his own bomb on her. “I know you don’t want to have a relationship. I’m sorry for kissing you earlier. It’s

just…I feel so normal with you. The money, fame, cars, the house, they don’t impress you. You get that I kept my Mustang only because it makes me happy. I realized how much I miss just being Jace. Not
the Golden Boy
or, worse, a
dead-beat dad
.”

“I never understood your hype myself.” Ava tried to lighten the mood, but Jace was not feeling fun at the moment.

“I got a call from Roxi a few minutes ago, and she told me to pamper you the next couple of days.”

The initial look of panic that crossed Ava’s face when he mentioned Roxi confused him. What the hell was up with those two? The air temperature dropped as the light faded, and he felt Ava shiver beside him.

Jace slipped his arm around her shoulders, and he felt her fight herself not to snuggle into his embrace.
What changed?

The comfortable silence was gone so he figured he would get all the news out at once. “I have an appointment on Tuesday for the paternity testing.” The moment the words fully penetrated her psyche Jace felt it, she trembled with anticipation, relief, fear? He wasn’t sure, but when she pulled her legs out of the water, they both got up and headed to the house in silence to prepare dinner.

****

After they finished eating a dinner of superbly cooked steaks, baked potatoes and broccoli, which was now the grown-up Jace’s favorite meal, Ava absorbed her surroundings. If she had this deck on her house, they would eat outside every day.

Since his declaration earlier, the tension in the air was staggering.

You have to say something
.

Finally getting up the nerve to bring up the big pink elephant that seemed to be following them around, Ava started with “I think we need to….”

At the same exact moment, Jace began to speak. “I think we need to….”

They both tried to speak at the same time again. The hilarity of the situation caused a necessary break in the tension and allowed the conversation to begin at a natural pace that relaxed them both.

“Ladies first.”

“I was just going to thank you again for all of your help. I know you have the press conference tomorrow, and you don’t really need my added stress on your plate.”             

“You’re not stressing me out. I just wish we could get to know each other again under different circumstances.”

The view captured her attention, and she just gazed across the lake that bordered the back of Jace’s property. She tried to brush off his words, and before she knew what she was saying she turned to him. “I know the paternity testing is weighing heavily on you. If there is anything I can help out with, I’ll be there for you. Would it help if I went to the press conference with you tomorrow?”

Dear God, Please give me the strength to stand by him and not break into a million pieces if this turns out to be his child.

Ava watched the play of emotions cross Jace’s face: gratitude, embarrassment and shock. Jace was stunned into silence.

“I appreciate the support, but I thought you didn’t want to be involved in the media. Going out in public with me is going to throw you head first in the deep end.”

Ava knew whatever she said right now would never leave the privacy of Jace’s backyard, and she decided to hold nothing back and let him know the truth. “I want to be there for you. I know the consequences of going out in public with you, but I think our friendship is more important than a write up in the paper.”

Damn, I meant to tell him about Ashlyn.

The sound of thunder had Ava jerking her head toward the sky where clouds gathered in the distance. When she looked at him, she wondered if he recognized the significance of a thunderstorm?

Trying to bring a halt to all the intense emotions that rippled through her body, she stood and began to gather the food and dishes. “Don’t worry. I won’t embarrass you in public. I’ll keep my mouth closed, and I can stand off to the side. I just want to be there for you as a friend.” Needing to escape her embarrassment, she said, “I think we should take the food in the house. It looks like a storm is heading this way.”

“Do you mean it?”

She could act as if she didn’t know what he was talking about. Since the day Ava had discovered she was pregnant, she had to make hard decisions. She was proud of herself and the obstacles she had tackled, so when he continued to wait for her response, she answered with a simple, “Yeah.”

The slight rise of the left side of his mouth, showed his pleasure at her admission. “I want you to be there with me tomorrow, and just so you know I have thought about our time together and I feel the connection too.”

“Just because I’ve thought about it doesn’t mean I think we should do anything. There are so many things you don’t know, and they will change everything once you do.” Between the feelings that were swirling around them as they stood together on his back deck and the electricity the approaching storm was causing in the air, Ava knew in her heart this was not the time for her deepest confession.

“At some point we’re going to have to discuss the attraction we share. I won’t pressure you right now, but before you go home, we are going to discuss it. By the way, you could never embarrass me.” With those parting words, Jace walked into the house with an armload of dishes and food.

Ava watched his retreating back with love, lust and a hint of anxiety.

****

Press conferences were nothing like she thought. Two hundred people in a small room that reeked of coffee, cigarettes and sweat. Apparently, they were not the only ones who had to take the steps to get to the third floor conference room. An elevator had been jammed when they arrived early that morning, and since Jace agreed to wait until the reporters who had been stuck were able to attend, the occupants of the room passed the time with coffee and donuts and the occasional cigarette on the designated balcony.

Ava waited off to the side and watched Jace. He stood proud and confident, addressing the large group of men and women all clamoring for the inside scoop and discussing what had to be one of the most embarrassing situations imaginable for a man who was both an athlete and role model.

The deep baritone sound of his voice vibrated in her chest as she listened to his unscripted statement. “I am taking every step necessary to work this matter out. Unfortunately, the lab won’t be able to get me in until this Wednesday. It takes a minimum of forty-eight hours after the testing of all parties before they’ll have any results. It will be a long week before I will have a definite answer.”

It had been a hard pill for Jace to swallow that morning, when he found out the mother and child wouldn’t be taking their tests until Friday. She gave the excuse she was not available because of work. Which meant the results wouldn’t be ready until the next week.

“Thank you all for listening and understanding my current situation. I hadn’t planned to take any questions, but I’ve changed my mind. I would be happy to answer a few questions.” Jace appeared to be relaxed as the reporters all tried to get their questions in first.

The questions began in a wave of confusion, and with a laugh at everyone’s exuberance, the crowd relaxed, and Jace answered questions based on hands that rose constantly.

Most of the questions ranged from his feelings of possibly being a father to how this development would affect his game. He answered questions about his vanishing act after being served with papers. He was asked about his own paternity, and
history repeating itself
. It was obvious he had a different last name from his parents. They just didn’t know the backstory, and he wasn’t about to tell it now. He ignored that question, but the pain from his past etched stress lines across his forehead.

Then someone actually had the nerve to question him in reference to the beautiful brunette who had accompanied him to the conference.

“She’s a friend of the family.” The charming smile he shot at the reporter worked with his generic response, and oddly, Ava felt let down.

They had agreed he’d give only the basic facts in reference to Ava’s attendance. “Does your friend have a name?” the chunky reporter asked.