His Seduction Game Plan (4 page)

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“You can look through Dad's files. But... I'll go through them with you,” she said.

Score.

But it didn't feel like a touchdown. He felt as if he'd gotten the points due to something sly. A cheat.

“When you're ready,” he said. “I still want to teach you to catch and spend the day with you.”

She gave him a long look from those gorgeous eyes of hers. And he realized there was much more to her than he'd noticed before.

“Waiting isn't going to make me think you want to be with me more than you want to see the files,” she said.

“I know. But it will make me feel better that you are letting me see them,” he said.

“For a badass that's not really a tough attitude.”

“The last time I put football before a woman it ended badly, Ferrin, but I need to make sure my conscience is clean on this.”

“Are you talking about Stacia? I want to know more about that. But I know it must be hard for you to talk about it,” she said.

Ferrin was right; he didn't want to tell her the painful memories of Stacia's death, how he'd broken up with her the very night she was murdered and had felt guilty about it ever since. But he knew he was going to have to. Only by talking about the past could he believe that she would understand why those files were so important.

“Definitely,” he said. “But not today. Today is about the present.”

She gave him another look, and to his guilty soul it seemed she read the truth buried beneath what he hoped was charm. “Fine. But you know it's hard to move forward when you are carrying the weight of the past.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and nodded. “I'm very well acquainted with that fact.”

“It's okay. This is only our second date. I was just trying to be helpful,” she said. “Occupational hazard, I guess.”

“Right, psychology professor. Why teach instead of practice?” he asked.

“Teaching suits me. My parents are teachers.”

“I guess coaching is teaching, isn't it?”

“I meant my stepdad, but coaching can be considered teaching, as well.”

She didn't include Coach when she talked about her parents. That was interesting, and he wanted to know more. He would take today to learn about her and when he got her home he'd tell her the whole truth about Stacia and the past.

Four

T
he beach wasn't too crowded in the middle of the day as they walked down it. Though she'd said she wanted to talk, she wasn't too sure now. Hunter seemed to have no barriers and she didn't really want to know the raw, broken man underneath the sexy exterior. She'd reacted to him on an intimate level and it would be much easier to just kiss him, take him to her bed and then show him the door.

But his pain was real to her. Observed in the quiet moments when he thought she wasn't watching him. There was a palpable drive to it, as well. The woman in her wanted to comfort him.

Sex would do that, she thought.

Lust. It truly had been a long time since she'd met a man who just plain turned her on the way he did.

Emotions. These emotions weren't comfortable for her. Give her a nice, calm feeling of indifference—that was really all she wanted.

“What's the deal with you and your dad?” Hunter asked as he stopped to look out at the sea.

“I'm not sure what you mean,” she said. This was a mistake. Just go buy a football and let him throw it to her. That was what she should have done. But instead she'd wanted to talk.

Her mom would be...understanding. She'd probably be able to offer some insight that Ferrin herself was missing. She wondered if he'd let her call a time-out on their day date to call her mom.

She started laughing at how ridiculous that thought was.

“You okay?”

“No. No, I'm not. I suggested this to get to know you better but you turned the tables on me and suddenly I realized I don't want to let you any closer. I don't want to get to know a man who loves a sport I hate. A man who wants something from the father I barely know. A man who makes me aware of myself as a woman. I am so used to being in control of myself and my environment.”

Hunter put his hands up, shoulder-level, and cocked his head to the side. “I wanted to play football. It's quick and physical and neither of us would have to do much thinking while we were playing.”

“Except I would. I can't catch.”

“I think you can.”

“Past history would say otherwise,” she said, knowing she was letting him lead her away from the fact that she'd just sort of laid her soul bare and he'd scooted around it.

She had to remember that. The fact that he had ignored the emotion she'd shown him and ducked behind football. He was an expert at blocking.

“It's all in your head,” he said. “Just start thinking ‘I'm an expert receiver.'”

She looked at him. As if she cared if she could catch a football. Well, okay, she did. It was the one thing that was a concrete reminder to her and her father that she wasn't the child he wanted or thought he deserved.

“I'll try,” she said.

“Listen, I don't think we can do the big, serious talk thing. It's just not my style and it makes me really uncomfortable. Want to try surfing?”

“Surfing?”

“Yeah, we could grab some wet suits and boards,” he suggested. “I bet I'll spill my guts when we are out there.”

Doubtful. “Counteroffer.”

“I'm listening.”

“We rent paddleboards instead. Didn't you say that was one of our options earlier? I know a great cove just over there,” she said, gesturing to it. “And as a bonus I can actually do it without wiping out.”

“Accepted. Where do we rent the boards?” he asked.

She led him to the shop that she'd been using. They both purchased bathing suits and paid for their board rentals. She dashed into the dressing room to get changed and realized that she was excited.

Forget about lust; it would wane over time. She was just thrilled to be here with Hunter. And that hadn't happened for her with a man in a really long time.

She stored her clothes in the locker provided by the establishment and stepped outside to find Hunter chatting with a group of men. He said something to them and they waved as he walked away.

Fans.

His life was different from hers. He was a celebrity, which was easy to forget when they were alone. But it was important for her to remember. It must be difficult for him to balance the adulation from the fans who loved him and the condemnation of the people who still weren't sure he hadn't killed his girlfriend. She wasn't looking for entrée into that type of life or was even sure that was what she wanted.

“Lookin' good, lady,” Hunter said.

“You're not so bad yourself,” she said, but being flirty didn't feel right to her.

He wore a pair of board shorts that rode low on his hips. His chest muscles appeared firm even from a distance. Her fingers tingled with the need to touch him.

“Why are you out with me?” she asked after a moment.

“You were waiting on my front step when I got home. My mama raised me to be gentlemanly,” he said.

One thing she was coming to know about Hunter was he spent a lot of time deflecting any honest answer with humor or sarcasm.

“I'm serious. You're a famous person. You should be with a model or some other gorgeous woman.”

He put his hand on her waist and drew her closer to him. “I am with a gorgeous woman, and I'm not famous at the end of the day. I'm just Hunter. A guy who used to play football and is now here with you.”

She wanted to take his words at face value, and even though she was pretty sure there was more to the story than he'd said, for today she was happy to ignore it.

It was only their second date. No matter how many times she reminded herself of that fact, it still felt as though they had much more between them.

* * *

Hunter followed Ferrin as she paddled out into the ocean toward the cove she knew about. He hadn't wanted to tell her the truth that for every group of fans who remembered him from his playing days there were at least two groups of people who remembered him from being arrested and accused of murder.

He had stayed away from dating seriously, because what woman deserved to be under that kind of spotlight?

They paddled for about an hour before she led the way back to shore into a private cove. There were a young mom with her two kids and some seabirds but otherwise they had the beach to themselves.

They carried their boards out of the water and set them on the ground. “That was nice.”

“I'm glad. It's the kind of nonsport I enjoy.”

“Why do you call it a nonsport?”

“Coach. He always said I wasn't an athlete and I guess I believe him. I like yoga and rock climbing and stuff like this.”

“You know he's not right,” Hunter said. “You're plenty athletic, honey.”

Coach wasn't a very good parent, Hunter thought, and it surprised him. He was seeing a different side of the man he thought he knew. On the field Coach had always nurtured his players.

Hunter reached for Ferrin's hand. He had said as much as he could.
The good stuff.
The stuff about Stacia that made him seem like a decent guy. Nothing about the boy who'd broken up with her just hours before she was found dead. The guy who wanted to be “free” so he could graduate and get as much NFL tail as he could. That guy didn't deserve closure. That guy was probably living in the karma he'd created. If he fixed it...maybe then he'd have some peace with the past.

If only it were that simple. But a part of him wanted it to be. A big part of him wanted to be like the other people who visited the beach, carefree and enjoying a day in the sun. Not carrying around the burden of not meeting parental expectations as Ferrin was, or the chains of the past as he was.

They wouldn't really be able to do that but they could try.

“Honey? I don't believe I gave you leave to call me honey.”

“Would you prefer
baby
?” he asked.

She flushed and bit her lower lip. “How about you stick to my given name for now.”

She moved through life cautiously; she was all rushing yards and strategic huddling behind her offensive line. He wanted to warn her that wasn't the way to win the game, but he suspected the strategy worked well for her.

“Tell me about your name,” he said. “Ferrin is a bit unusual.”

He joined their hands together and noticed how well they fit, her longish fingers braiding nicely with his. He tugged her into motion, walking along the line where the tide swept onto the sand.

“It is different. I never purchased a souvenir with my name on it growing up,” she said.

“Same. There weren't a lot of key chains with Hunter on them,” he said. “So are you named after someone?”

“Yes. It's my great-grandfather's middle name on my father's side. It was his mother's maiden name. Usually Ferrin gets buried as a middle name or something like that. But my mother, whose name is Jennifer, thought her own name was too common and wanted me to have a unique name.”

He smiled.

“A unique name for a one-of-a-kind woman,” he said.

“I wish you knew me well enough to believe that,” she said.

He paused. He kept forgetting how serious she was. How deep that mind of hers ran and how she saw past some of the flashy things he'd been throwing out for so long that he sometimes forgot they weren't real. He wished he hadn't said that to her. Not now. He should have waited until he knew her better.

“I will,” he said, the words a promise to himself.

“Don't. Let's just—”

“Stop selling me short, Ferrin,” he said.

“Was that what I was doing?” she asked. There was something fragile about her as they stood there in the sun with the surfers out on the waves and the kids busily building sandcastles on the beach.

“Yes. Why do you do that?” he asked.

She tugged her hand free and wrapped her arm around her waist. A shy woman. Not the one who'd driven to his house and sat in the sun waiting for him.

“Promises are easy to make. Just a couple of words today and then forgotten. Maybe that's what this day should be. Just a bit of fun until we figure out if I can go behind my father's back and give you what you want. But another part of me will want to believe it. Want to see you as a man who is more than just empty words that the sea breeze swept away. If you aren't I'll have to deal with that,” she said.

Fair enough. He'd been many different things to people and he knew that more than once he'd failed them. He was human and fallible.

“We all make mistakes, but that doesn't mean that everything I say is a pass fake. I might be focused on cleaning up my past but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try to have a decent future. I'm tired of cleaning up the bad juju.”

“I know we all make mistakes. Especially me. It's easy to stand here next to you and imagine saying, ‘Hey, Dad, I'm going to let Hunter have those boxes,' but when I get home it will be harder. The more I know you and the more I like you, Hunter, the worse that decision is going to be. Maybe it would be better if I left California and let you and Dad sort this out for yourselves.”

“Better for whom?” Hunter asked. “Not for me. I wish I could just say forget it and walk away, but I can't,” he said, turning and pulling Ferrin into the shadow of his body. He carefully took her sunglasses from her face and their eyes met.

Her eyes were troubled. He wanted to find a way to relieve her and make her feel that if she gave him access to the past nothing bad would happen to her father. But Hunter had no real idea of what was there. And walking away or letting her walk away from him didn't feel right. He couldn't understand why keeping Ferrin with him was so important. He only knew that it was.

“I would walk away from the past if it would let me go. I would do that for you, honey, but it's out of my hands. Bringing the facts to light is the only thing that will put the past to rest.”

* * *

Hunter was intense when he stared into her eyes. If the devil looked like Hunter she'd gladly sell her soul to him. But he wasn't asking for her soul. He wasn't even asking for her heart. He was asking for a chance at normal. Something that had always eluded her.

Not because of her father, though there were times when she blamed him for that. But she knew it was all down to her and her ideas of what life and relationships should be. She felt odd a lot of the time because to her it seemed everyone had something normal to draw from. Not her disappointment with her father.

She tipped her head forward and their foreheads touched. She saw that Hunter had closed his eyes, and took advantage of the moment to study his face closely. She noticed the tiny scar underneath his right eye and how thick his eyelashes were. She brought her hands up to his face, cupped his jaw and felt the feathery smoothness of his beard under her fingers. Hunter captivated her.

She'd been trying to protect herself by throwing up barriers between them. By making her father's files and Hunter's hotness into things that should make her back away. But they didn't. He was complicated and intriguing and he drew her the way a flame drew a moth, even though she was smart and knew she might get burned. She also knew it was worth it.

He was worth it.

And hell, if she were completely honest, she'd admit she was worth it, too. She deserved the chance to be with a man like Hunter. No one said every relationship had to last forever. In fact, she'd be happy with a few weeks. Just something fun.

Surely he could do fun?

He seemed like the poster boy for fun.

She brushed her finger over his soft beard and then his lips. They were firm but also soft. His eyes opened. There was something unreadable in his gaze but she didn't let that bother her. She let the salty sea breeze sweep through her and carry away her worries and her fears. Fear had kept her in that big mansion on the hill in a dark house with a father who by turns resented her and pretended to dote on her. Fear had been responsible for her making those boxes into an ultimatum and fear had driven her out of that house this morning and straight to this man.