Bounce Down: 1st Quarter: Start of Play

“
Start of
Play”

1
^ST
QUARTER

Bounce Down

1
^st
Quarter: Start of Play

Copyright © 2014 Lorraine
Loveit

Smashwords Edition

All Rights Reserved

www.lorraineloveit.wordpress.com

https://www.facebook.com/lorraine.lovitte

Cover (edited) photograph ©
stryjek – Fotolia.com

Copy edited by Dawn Pitts

Warning:

This work contains scenes of a
sexual nature and is written for adults only (18+)

Legal Notice: This book is
copyright protected. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the author.

Disclaimer Notice: This is a
work of fiction, in which all characters depicted are 18 years of
age or older. Names, characters, places, organisations and
incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or
have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or
locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the
trademarked status and trademark owners of various brands and
products referenced in this work of fiction.

This e-book
contains an excerpt from the second book in the “Playing the Game”
series, Getting Tackled – 2
^nd
Quarter: Paying the
Penalty

Dedication:

To my family

and those supportive
friends

who kept me writing.

Author’s Note

Being an Australian author,
with the majority of my readers in the United States, I would like
to take this opportunity to point out that many of the words within
this novel may appear misspelled, as UK/Australian spelling of some
words (for example, color and colour) vary from the way they are
spelt in novels by American authors.

This work also contains an
abundance of Australian colloquialisms and slang words.

Throughout the four quarters of
the “Playing the Game” series, you will also come across various
terms in relation to Australian Rules football. Hopefully, the AFL
glossary attached will assist you with your “what does that mean?”
questions.

Lorraine Loveit

“
Hello...
hello?”

Oh, my god,
what was I doing? Should I hang up?
No, I
had gone this far. I took a big breath and spoke to the guy on the
other end of the line. “Ah, yes... I’m calling about your
ad.”

“
Hi, I’m
Brendon.”

“
I’m… Su… Su…
Sophie.”

“
You sound
nervous, Sophie. It’s okay, we’re only talking.”

I took another calming breath.
“I know, but I’ve never done anything like this before.”

I could sense the smile in his
deep voice as he answered, “Would you believe neither have I?”

“
Maybe.”
After another pause I asked, “Why do you need to place an ad like
this?”

He laughed, a lovely warm
laugh. “For the same reason you answered an ad like this.”

What a stupid question to ask.
He must have thought I was some kind of idiot. I attempted to
smarten up with my next question, “But how do you know I’m the
right person?”

“
I don’t, but
you did call me so that’s a step in the right
direction.”

His comment
relaxed me a little, but I was still frightened about taking this
first step.
How would I know if I could
trust him?

“
Sophie...?”

“
I’m sorry, I
was thinking... how will this work? I mean, I don’t know you so how
do I know if I will be safe?”

“
No you don't know, not yet at any rate.” He laughed again.
“Trust me, you will be perfectly safe."

“
That’s easy
for you to say. I’m putting my life in your hands, not the other
way around.”

“
Maybe,
Sophie, but I will be trusting you with something as well, my
identity.”

What did he
mean? Surely my identity was on the line also?
Before I could ask, he answered my unspoken
question.

“
Sophie, I
live my life in the public eye and you could ruin my reputation if
word of this got out.”

Well known?
Did I know who he was?
I wanted to see him
in person before we went any further.

“
Why don’t we
meet somewhere public, to see if we like the look of each
other?”

“
That’s sound
great. And when we do meet, I want you to tell me your real name...
Sophie.”

How could he
have possibly known I gave a false name?
Perhaps because I stumbled over it when I introduced
myself.

“
What
is
your
real
name?”

“
I’ve already
told you, it’s Brendon.”

“
And your
surname?”

“
I’m sorry
Sophie, but I can’t tell you that over the phone. I need to protect
my identity.”

Damn! I wanted his surname so I
could look him up at work, like I did with all my prospective
dates, to see if he had a criminal record. I knew this was a no-no,
but as it concerned my safety and I kept the information to myself,
I didn’t see the harm. But without his surname, this was really
going to be a blind date after all.

After a few more words were
exchanged, I decided to risk meeting this supposedly-famous guy
with the deep sexy voice and friendly laugh.

We arranged to meet on
Saturday, in three days’ time at The Esplanade Park in Fremantle.
He suggested the meeting place and gave precise details from where
to park my car, to the location of the bench where we would meet. I
tried to tell myself this was no different than meeting someone in
a club –you are still strangers.

Before
heading out I left a note for my flatmate, letting her know I would
be home for dinner. She worked at the Police Call Centre on
rotating shifts.
This worked well,
allowing each of us some time alone at our rented
townhouse.
 

I tried to think of any famous
or well-known Brendons. Perth was a small city, despite its
population of over two million, so it was quite possible that on
meeting him, I would know who he was.

I had better
remember to phone Mandy
, I reminded
myself. Amanda Stewart was also a public servant who worked at the
Criminal Investigation Branch Headquarters (CIB HQ). We were in
different squads; she was at Racing and Gaming while I was at
Homicide. She was the only person who knew about my blind
date.

Mandy had not
been happy when I told her and had tried to talk me out of
it.
“I don’t understand why you need to do
this! You’ve hooked guys easy enough in the past.”

True, but most of those guys
had been police officers and I wanted someone a bit further
removed, especially considering the type of relationship I was
after. One of my ex-boyfriends had been dominant, but at the time I
had been too scared to try anything with him. Of course Mandy
wasn’t aware of my secret desires, or the fact that I had now
decided to take the plunge.

There was always an element of
risk going on a blind date. It was a risk I was well aware of,
given where I worked. Bearing that in mind, I had devised a safety
plan.

By the time I arrived at the
designated car park it was 7.50. At this time of the morning there
were only a few cars; including a white van and a black sports car.
I knew I was being paranoid but I made sure I didn’t park too close
to the van, just in case.

I put my head
back against the seat and breathed deeply.
I could do this. If I did not like the look of him, I would
simply walk.

I was wearing
a deep red strapless evening dress. It was not really suitable for
the park, but Brendon had asked me to wear a red dress and it was
my only one. Come to think of it, he didn’t ask. I recalled his
exact words,
“Wear a red dress and high
heels so I will know it’s you.”

When I asked
how I would recognize him, he replied,
“I’ll be the one wearing a smile.”
Well, at least the guy had a sense of humour.

My heels sunk into the grass
with every step I took. Cursing under my breath, I wondered why he
suggested, no, stipulated I wear them. The dress was the
identifying feature, not the shoes!

On seeing the
vacant bench, I felt relieved. It was out of sight of the car park,
where I assumed he would be also parking. Good! I wanted to be able
to look him
over as he approached, instead
of the one being scrutinized.

Perched on one end of the seat,
I checked my watch; it was almost eight o’clock. I crossed my legs
trying to appear relaxed, when I was anything but. Even though
there was a light breeze coming from the harbour a few hundred
yards away, my palms felt clammy and I soon started to
perspire.

I was checking the time again
as he emerged from behind me, making me jump with surprise.

“
Hi, I’m
Brendon.” He gave me a lopsided grin as he sat next to
me.

I shook my head in disbelief
and returned his smile. “Of course you are.”

He was sinfully handsome, at
least 6’4” tall with beautiful blue eyes and short, almost black,
hair. He had perfect facial features with the exception of his nose
which was slightly off-centre, as though it had been broken at some
stage. But I already knew how good looking he was, I recognized him
instantly. Still, being this close to him took my breath away.

He was
staring at me, no doubt making his own assessment. I assumed I fell
way below the mark of the females he would have usually associated
with. In fact, I was
literally
below the mark
, being
only 5’3” and if he hadn’t already noticed, he soon would when I
stood up. My facial features could only be described as average,
with my eyes my one redeeming quality.

As his eyes locked on mine, he
quietly asked, “And your name is…?”

I hesitated before replying,
remembering he had somehow known I had given a false name over the
phone, and I now knew he had not lied about his own.

“
It’s Suzie,
Suzie Price.”

“
Better. Nice
dress. It looks good on you with your dark hair; I like
brunettes.”

I had often wished for blonde
hair with a bit of bounce. Instead I thought myself unlucky to be
stuck with my dead-straight shoulder-length chocolate brown
hair.

I blushed at his compliment. I
did not know how to respond, except to mumble, “Thank you,” and
lowered my eyes from his almost hypnotic gaze.

He gently grasped my chin and
raised my head so I was looking directly up at him. “You know me,
don’t you?”

I nodded, while his hand still
cupped my chin. The contact had sent a warm feeling spreading
through my body; so intense that for the moment, I could not
speak.

He released me and asked,
“And?”

Confused, I stared at him,
still unable to utter a word. I let out a slow breath, realising I
had been holding it since he touched me.

Mesmerised, it took another
moment or two before I found my voice, “I don’t know what to think.
I can’t believe you of all people, would advertise for a....”

Before I could complete my
sentence he placed a finger against my lips. He glanced around at
our surroundings. “Why don’t we go somewhere more private? I don’t
want us to be overhead.”

I understood his need for
privacy but knew where this was leading. “And of course you have
somewhere in mind?”

“
I was
thinking of my vehicle.”

“
Not the
white van?” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop
them.

With a confused look he shook
his head. “No, I have a car not a van.”