First Down (First and Ten #1) (21 page)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Friday

Ana considered the many options for Christmas lights and wondered what the best choice for Jack’s house would be. Taking a sip of her coffee, she wandered over to the options for the front lawn. Considering the shape of his house, maybe these were a better idea. She heard a whistle, turned, and saw him walking down the aisle with a cart. He had on his practice sweats, his hair was sticking up in the back, he hadn’t shaved since Wednesday and she’d never seen a more handsome man.

He rolled the cart next to her, looked at the large lawn ornaments that she was considering, and took his coffee cup out of her hand. “It’s only because I love you that I’m willing to come to Home Depot on black Friday at seven in the morning.” He put an arm around her shoulder and stared at the six-foot Santa that she was considering for the front lawn. He decided to play the suffering partner card to see if it might benefit him later.

She stepped away and moved toward the reindeer set that had flashing lights. “You got lucky at five this morning and then again at six. So don’t act like you’re suffering. You told me you would take me wherever I wanted to go after you were able to breathe again.” She turned the box around, so she could see how big it actually was. A theme was starting to come together in her mind for the front of the house, and she needed a couple more elements. She strolled away and noticed that he followed hot on her heels.

“I thought you would want to go to breakfast, not Home Depot.” He caught her hand as she moved toward the inflatable decorations. “I thought we both got lucky this morning. The way you screamed my name made me think that you felt the same way.”

“I do feel lucky. I feel lucky that there are not that many people interested in Christmas decorations, and we can roam around a little before we decide.”

She felt him kiss her head, and she leaned into him. “This is my first holiday in Florida, and I want to make it special.”

“Sweetie, we’re not going to even be here for Christmas.”

“What are you talking about?” She turned and faced him with her hand on her hip. “I think you skipped a step.”

He brows furrowed and he tried to smile before he responded. “I’ve made all these plans in my head, and I guess, I forgot to discuss them with you.”

“Spill. What is going on for Christmas that I don’t know about?”

He led her over to the garden furniture and had her sit next to him on a glider. Only in Florida would they have the furniture displayed next to the holiday decorations. “I have a game in San Diego on the twentieth, and I thought you could fly out for it. Then we could celebrate the holidays with our families. I figured that I should meet your parents, and I would love to see my brother and Rachel.”

Pushing back and forth on the glider, she looked out over the shoppers and thought about his idea. It was a good one. She would love to see her family and check in on Birdie and make sure that her pregnancy was going well. “Okay. I like your idea.”

He let out a whoop, leaned over, and kissed her. As soon as his mouth met hers, he felt desire light up his nervous system. Ana’s hand pushed against his chest, and he finally registered that she wanted him to stop. He let her go, opened his eyes, and looked at her to see why she wanted to stop kissing him. He watched her point to someone staring at them.

A salesperson stood in front of them, and he appeared uncomfortable. “Sorry about the interruption, but I was sent over to tell you that we ask you two not to make out on the garden furniture. My manager wants you to know that there are a lot of children in the store, and he wants to keep it G-rated.” He stared down at his feet and started to turn around.

Jack smiled. “I apologize for smooching my girlfriend. It won’t happen again.”

“Thanks, man. And good luck on Sunday. I’m a big fan, and the team is going to make it all the way this year.” He nodded and then walked off toward plumbing.

Jack looked at Ana, and noticed that she had her hand over her mouth in an attempt to keep the laughter in. “Please don’t say anything. Let’s just pick the holiday decorations and get out of here.”

She couldn’t hold it in anymore, and she doubled over in laughter. Once she was done and pulled herself together, she smiled with tears in her eyes. “We just got in trouble for making out in Home Depot. I wonder how many places that piece of news is going appear later today.” She watched him stand and take her hand in his.

He pulled her up, kissed her head, and searched for their abandoned cart.

“Does this mean that I get to choose the theme for the front lawn?”

“Yes, sweetie. You pick whatever you want. I’m just here to lift the heavy boxes and load them into the car.” He watched her face light up as she looped her arm in his and followed him to the decorations. His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he heard her phone go off in her purse. Both of their phones going off so early in the morning probably did not mean good news. He didn’t want to pull out his phone, because he did not want to leave the happy bubble he was in with Ana. They’d had a couple of good weeks together with little news from the woman who was making accusations against him. “I’m going to ignore it for now.”

“Me, too. I want to pick out stuff for the holidays before we have to face whatever is out there.” She kissed his arm as they stood in front of the many options. “How do you feel about snowmen?”

“Whatever you want is fine with me. I’m sure your taste is better than mine.”

“I do have good taste, because I chose you.”

Laughing, he held her hand as she picked out decorations for their first holiday together. He decided to focus on this moment together. Whatever they picked out today would probably still be around when their first child was born. That thought alone was enough to make whatever was floating out there not seem that important. What happened between them was all that mattered.

*******

“Are you absolutely sure that you didn’t sleep with her? Maybe you got drunk and don’t remember.”

He slapped his hand on the table and let out his frustration. “I can’t believe that you are saying that. Do you really think that I would do that?”

She stared across the table and didn’t back down one inch. “I don’t know, Jack. Quit acting like I’m accusing you of larceny. You are a twenty-six year old professional athlete with more opportunities to indulge in your desires than the average male. You’ve dated women like this in the past; it’s not like it’s out of the realm of possibility.” Sitting back, she crossed her arms in front of her body and studied him closely. “In fact, I’m the exception to the rule. The woman who is saying these things is very much like most of the women that you’ve dated over the years.” She wasn’t going to be intimidated by the death glare he gave her. It might work on other players, but sure as sugar was not going to work on her. If she had any hope in surviving this relationship, then she needed to be able to stand up to him. “You didn’t want to use protection with me, so I figured that it’s happened before.” His face became beet red, and he looked like he was going to blow his top.

Instead he stood, went to the refrigerator, and pulled out the pitcher of iced tea. He was trying to breathe and get himself under control.

“This woman has a lot of specific details about you, and she has shared them all over the internet. Her story is starting to have some teeth, and I want to make sure that I understand the situation.”

As he refilled their glasses, he tried to smile at her and not crush her in his arms in a hug. He didn’t want to see the doubt on her face or hear it in her words. How could she not know him and understand that what happened between them was because he was going to marry her? Yes, he did enjoy his first few years in the league, but he was never that crazy. He certainly never slept with the woman who was causing all the trouble.

Sitting, he took a sip of his drink and stared at her. He let out a deep breath and tried to get his thoughts to make sense. “I did not sleep with that woman, and I’ve put a DNA sample at my doctor’s office. So when she is ready to face reality, she can go in there and have her child tested, instead of slandering me. And for your information, you are the only woman that I’ve ever slept with without protection. I decided that I wanted to because you’re the last woman I’m going to be with. So put that information in that big brain of yours and let it compute.” He pulled his plate in front of him and took a big bite of the sandwich that he’d made earlier. She better not be trying to use this as an excuse to get away. There was no way that he was going to let that happen. He pushed her plate in front of her. “You better eat, because when we’re done with lunch, we putting all those decorations up on the front lawn.” He gave her a satisfied smile and took another bite of his sandwich.

“Fine.”

“You bet it’s fine.” He pushed her plate closer and then waited for her to take a bite. He stood and grabbed the bag of chips off the counter. “Can’t have a sandwich without chips.”

“You sure have a lot of ideas about how things are going to happen between us, and I suggest you think about taking me on a date that doesn’t end up in the ER first. I’m not going to take you seriously until that happens.” She took a chip and chewed loudly. “By the way, this is a delicious sandwich.”

Leaning over, he kissed her cheek. “Ok, sweetie, a date, it is.”

For the first time since she’d met him, he was revealing the side of himself that made him so successful on the gridiron. There was steel behind his words, and gone was the easy-going man that he’d been. He was showing her his true nature, and she had to decide if it was something that she wanted to deal with. The conundrum was that forceful Jack was pretty darn sexy. Never had a man made a claim on her in such a forceful way. There was something to be said for it, and she had a feeling that her answer was going to be yes. No matter what people said, the idea of somebody wanting you above everything else was intoxicating. And that what Jack was saying—
I want you and you are mine.
Those were not words that she felt like arguing with. Because she felt the same way about him. The fact that he said it on national television was inarguable. “I want to go someplace fun on our date.”

“Fun, it is.” He scooted his chair closer and smiled as he ate his sandwich. He was going to have to stay on her just like he did the offensive tackles that he went after. Easy-going Jack was gone, and Ana was going to have to deal with the man that had become the most successful defensive end in the league. Love was a lot like football; it was one down after another until you made it to the end zone. His touchdown was going to be marrying Ana and having a family together. “Now tell me about the plans for the front yard. Is it something that people are going to see for the street or is it just for us?”

She put down her sandwich and wiped her mouth. “I’m not sure. What do you think?”

He got up and took another sandwich off the counter. “We can figure it out after lunch. Unless you want to do something else before get started?”

Patting his leg, she smiled. “We did that this morning, and I imagine we’ll be doing it again tonight. I want to get started on Christmas.”

“At least I have a goal to work toward for the rest of the afternoon.”

“Yes, you do, Jack. Think of it as seduction by Christmas decorating.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Monday

Trevor sat at the kitchen counter and listened to Ana whine about having to dress up for the Shark’s charity event and the hospital. He wasn’t quite sure why it made her so cranky that she sounded like a twelve year-old girl. He watched the match of brain and stubbornness and knew in an instant who was going to win out. This was a lot of entertainment for eight in the morning. Ana and Jack faced off like they were in a battle, and in some way, that was true. He figured Jack for the winner of this particular match, because this is what he did for a living. Ana, unfortunately, was completely out of her element.

“Ana, there is no reason to argue over this. You are a resident at the hospital and a recipient of one of their fellowships, and I’m a donor to the hospital, and now our foundation is funding your research. If you don’t want to speak, then I will. But we’re going and having fun.”

“I don’t enjoy these things, and no one will miss me. This is your team’s event, not the hospital’s. People just care about seeing you and rubbing elbows. It’s going to be like the restaurant all over again. Why can’t I just stay home and avoid the pain?”

He stepped toward her and took her hand. “What do you mean, ‘just like the restaurant’?” He didn’t let her look away, and he wasn’t going to let it go. “Did someone say something to you?”

Waving her hand in front of her face, she stared into her coffee cup as if it held all of the answers to life. “It’s no big deal, but it’s not something that I care to repeat.” She felt his hand on her chin as he lifted her face so he could see into her eyes. Damn those moss green eyes of his were powerful. It was like they were pulling the truth out of her and she was powerless against it. “There were some women in the bathroom that said some unpleasant things about me. Then your crowd of fans trampled me, and I ended up in the ER.” She heard Trevor stand and quietly walk out of the room. It was embarrassing enough to admit it to Jack, and she was glad that Trevor gave her the respect of not being an audience to her shame. “This is a celebration of your team’s fundraising efforts.” She pushed her foot back and forth as she studied the pattern of the floor. “No one is going to be interested in me, and I’m going to just end up standing in some corner or at a table in the back. I want to stay home.”

Jack felt like the biggest ass in the world. How had he let that happen on their big night out? No wonder she wasn’t that excited about going with him. He hadn’t shown her how important she was….and that was on him. All he wanted was her happiness. She loved him, but did she like him and want to hang around him? That was the part that he had to figure out, because if he didn’t, then there was no way that she was going to marry him. Taking the coffee cup out of her hand, he wrapped her up in his arms. “I’m sorry about those women and the fan that trampled you. I promise something like that is never going to happen again. I will make sure of it.”