“Just trying to keep those hungry young quarterbacks off my back.”
Coach laughed. “You know we have to recruit young talent. They’re no threat to you. Not for a while anyway.”
It didn’t matter. Mick was always aware that he was one injury away from being replaced in the game. He was thirty years old, and his time was limited. He took a glance to the sidelines where Brad Samuelson and Coy Bowman stood with clipboards in their hands. They knew every play; they practiced every day. They stood at the ready to step in and take his place. Young kids, eager to be the next big thing in professional quarterbacks. They were good, too. A little green, but good. Which meant Mick had to stay on his game if he wanted to continue to live his dream for a few more years.
Not just yet, boys. I still have several more years to play.
As long as he stayed healthy.
They worked drills for a couple more hours, then hit the showers. When he stepped out of the locker room, Liz was there in a killer gray suit and high heels that looked like they could do some serious damage to a man’s private parts. She pushed off the wall and came toward him.
“Hoping to ogle some naked man flesh?” he teased.
She rolled her eyes. “If I wanted to see all of you naked, I’d have walked in there.”
True enough. Wouldn’t be the first time she’d strolled into the locker room and had conversations with one of her clients while they were showering. Most of the guys had gotten used to seeing her, though the younger guys usually dropped their tongues on the floor when she came walking in. She was definitely noticeable, and she knew it and used it to her advantage. Liz didn’t have a shy bone in her body.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Samuelson and Bowman looked good today in drills.”
“Uh-huh.” He turned and headed out the side door toward his car. Liz followed. “Your point?”
“You’re thirty now, Mick. Time to focus more on the game and less on some woman and her kid.”
He stopped, turned, leveled his gaze on her. “My relationship with Tara is none of your business.”
“It’s my business if she affects your game play.”
“Did you watch me practice today?”
“Yes.”
“How did I look?”
She lifted her lips. “Like the number one quarterback in the league.”
He clicked the remote and opened the door to his SUV. “Then stay out of my personal life, Liz, and go bother some other client who’s not the number one player in his position.”
NATHAN’S POPULARITY HAD GROWN BY LEAPS AND bounds, and all because of Tara dating Mick. She tried to keep his feet on the ground and tell him that this could all end tomorrow if she and Mick decided not to see each other anymore, but Nathan brushed her off and said that he and Mick would always be—what was the word he used? Tight. That was it.
She was afraid her son was growing too attached to Mick. And not only Mick, but Mick’s family. He Skyped with Ian and Steve, Mick’s cousins, on a regular basis, as well as whatever the hell those kids did online in that Warcraft game. Not that she really minded, since it was another avenue that was safe and kept her kid off the streets, and Mick assured her they were good kids.
But little by little her life as well as her son’s had begun to revolve around Mick. And Mick’s family. Now she was even planning a party for Mick’s parents’ anniversary, and that meant almost daily phone calls to Jenna, who she decided was an absolute riot. She had a wicked dry sense of humor, took nothing seriously, and she fiercely loved and protected her family. Tara could see why. Mick’s family was perfect. If Tara could choose a family for herself, the Rileys would be the kind of family she’d want.
But they weren’t her family and likely would never be her family. Sure, she and Mick got along great, but Mick had a lifestyle totally foreign to her. She was enjoying the hell out of playing the game with him right now, but it was temporary. Once his football season started up, he’d be busy, Nathan would start school and his football season, she’d dive into moving her business to the next level, and that would be the end of things. She just hoped Nathan wouldn’t be hurt over all this when Mick no longer had time for him.
Maybe it was time to start easing back a little. She was already having a little too much fun with him. And okay, that too much fun thing was engaging her heart and her emotions in a way she hadn’t expected. She hadn’t wanted to get involved with him at all, but he’d been insistent, and she hadn’t exactly been forceful in pushing him away. After all, the sex had been phenomenal, and oh, God, had she really needed some great sex in her life after years of drought. But now? Now things were starting to get serious, at least on her side of it.
So, yeah, it was definitely time to let go.
She leaned back on the chair and picked up her notebook, jotting down some shopping supplies for the party. Nathan was out with the team tonight, so she intended to enjoy her quiet time.
Until someone knocked at the door. She sighed and set down her cup of tea and the notebook, went to door, and peeked through the peephole, smiling when she saw it was Mick.
“Hi. What are you doing here?” she asked as she opened the door.
“I gave one of the guys on the team a ride home. His car’s in the shop and his wife had the other car,” he said. “He lives near you, so I thought I’d drop by.”
“Come in.” She closed the door behind her. “A little late for practice, isn’t it?”
“Offensive team meeting went a little longer than expected.”
“I see. Would you like something to drink?”
“Water would be great.”
“Okay.” She went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water, came back, and handed it to him. He was sitting on the sofa, so she went to sit next to him as he finished the bottle in a few long gulps.
She realized he had been looking at her notebook. “Am I interrupting something?”
“No. I was just working on some notes for your parents’ party.”
“Thank you again for doing it.”
“You don’t have to keep thanking me, Mick. You did insist on paying me, after all. Which is totally unnecessary.”
“Hey, it takes time out of your day to put an event together. Why not get paid for it?”
“Because it’s your family, and I volunteered to help because I wanted to, not because I expected money for it.”