ROMANCE: BAD BOY ROMANCE: M.V.B. - Most Valuable Baby (Sports Secret Baby Romance) (Contemporary Interracial Pregnancy Romance) (22 page)

Can’t busy.

That’s right. I’ll be busy for the rest of my life. If I have it my way, I’ll never see Noah Alexander, except on the opposite side of my TV screen.

I turned my phone on silent.

That’s what I needed in my life, peace and silence.

I have worked so hard. Undergrad, masters, residency, choosing a specialty and killing myself to prove I was worthy. Constant recertification. I made connections. I put years into making a name for myself, and then I ruin it all by being one of those girls. Female physical therapists already have a bad rep. People assume we sleep with all our big clients, and now I was a stereotype. I was a percentage. I was a label, and I couldn’t blame anybody but myself. I couldn’t even bring myself to regret it. If anything I regret coming too soon. I regret not being able to have sex with him again and I regret that I can’t pretend. I don’t want to just be Noah's friend. If I can’t have him as my own, then I don’t want anything to do with him.

As expected, The Engine was back in top form, out on the green tearing it up. It was where he was meant to be. His physical come back made me a sudden interest and I was offered an athletic trainer position from a few teams. I wanted to say yes to the Panthers, after all, they gave me a chance when nobody else did, but the idea of being in the same room with Noah was unbearable. He took my breath away on the TV; I couldn’t imagine what would happen if I saw him in real life. I traveled to D.C. to see the Redskins facility and to Wisconsin to talk relocation packages with the Green Bay’s coach. The options were overwhelming.

I held the phone tightly as it rang. “Hello?” Just the sound of her voice made me feel better.

“Hey mom,” I said tearing up.

“Out with it. What’s the matter?” she asked.

I curled on the bed and told her. I told my mom everything, how I fell in love with my client, how he made my blood boil and how I was considering leaving North Carolina.

“Well you already far from me,” she said. She lived in California, in a retirement home that could give an all-inclusive resort a run for its money. “So another state won’t matter none. Just do what feels right honey. Go with your gut. Trust your heart.”

“But my heart is what got me into this mess in the first place,” I whined.

“Then trust it.” She sounded so sure. We didn’t talk often, with the time difference and her having too much fun in her free time.

“I miss you so much Ma.”

“You know I miss you.”

“When are you going to come visit?”

“Whenever I get some free time.”

“So sometime next year,” I said, and we both laughed.

Nothing is as therapeutic as talking to your mother. When I hung up, I was no closer to making a decision, but I believed my mother and decided to wait until my heart told me what to do.

CHAPTER EIGHT

I check my phone again, thinking I felt it vibrate. It’s my imagination, and the screen was as clear of notifications as it was five minutes ago. She was ignoring me. I hated being ignored. I hated even more how out of control I felt. I appeared on top of the world. My knee was healed, and I was playing my best season yet. I got four new sponsors, including a Cheerio contract. I should have been ecstatic. Instead, I’m jittery and going almost 8 weeks without sex. I’m a goner without a hit, and if Harper didn’t answer my text, I was going to pay her a house visit. I would pay someone to go into her application records and give me her address. I was not above doing that, because I missed her like hell. No one has compared to her ever since I had her. I thought we were good. I thought we could be friends at the very least, but she played me. She blocked me out. She wouldn’t answer my calls or reply to my texts.

There’s been word that she’s looking to take Green Bay’s offer as an athletic trainer. Coach already told me they offered her a position. Do you know how far away Wisconsin is from North Carolina? I’ll tell you how far, too damn far. I couldn’t let her go. I had to stop her, somehow. Say I was sorry or whatever I had to just so she wouldn’t leave.

I was giving a small photo opp for some college journalists. They wanted pictures of me using the facilities, and I happily obliged. It was easy, now that my knee was better, I literally just had to work out. I like photo shoots like this. I didn’t have to talk. I could do what I want and zone out. In my daydreams, I would see her. She would be turning the corner or coming out of one of the offices to bring me something. She would smile and tell me she missed me. Or sometimes she’d kiss me. Sometimes her eyes got big, and she tried to hide behind Kyle, our hiring manager.

Wait what?

This was not a daydream. I repeat this is not a drill.

I jumped from the machine, startling the reporters.

“Excuse me for one moment,” I say to them, already halfway out the door.

She and Kyle are turning another corner, going towards his office and I take off running.

“Harper!” I know she heard me because people are starting to stare.

Would you believe she starts walking faster? Damn Kyle for keeping pace with her. She must have told him something. Maybe he’s helping her. Maybe they’re dating, and I almost trip thinking that might be a possibility. Then I run faster. She wasn’t getting away that easy.

I slam my hand into the crack just before the door closed shut. Kyle wasn’t so rude to slam my fingers in the door. My fingers cost several million, and he didn’t want to lose his job over some petty drama. I didn’t even acknowledge him as I pushed my way into the room.

“Oh hey Noah,” she says so exaggeratedly normal, I almost laugh. “What are you doing here?”

I don’t bother with the ‘I work here’ line because I’m angry. “So you didn’t hear me calling you?” I growl.

“Nope,” she squeaks.

“So you didn’t get my calls?”

“No,” she shakes her head.

“None of my texts either huh?”

“Uh uh.” She shakes her head, no, and I step so closer.

She’s seated in front of Kyle’s desk, gripping the armrests so hard her hands are turning white. She looks so small and tired.

“Ok. Then I’ll make it easy on you and tell you what they all say.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. We’re bothering Mr. Barbour.”

I lean closer to her face so she can see how serious I am. “Do I look like I give a damn about some meeting you’re having with Kyle?”

Her eyes flicker, and I can see she’s getting angry.

“Harper, I love you,” I declare and she gasps as tears come to her eyes. “It took me some time to figure that out, but I do.” Her hand is over her mouth as tears stream down her face. I wipe them away. “Baby don’t cry.” She sniffs.

“I heard you were considering a job somewhere else, and I just had to tell you. If you go to Wisconsin, I’ll have to switch teams, and you wouldn’t believe the paperwork that’s involved in breaching a contract,” I say lightly. “But I would do it. I would do anything for you.”

I pull her onto her feet. “Harper without you, nothing feels the same. Not even the game I love feels the same. I can’t live without you girl. Tell me you’re not leaving me.”

She shakes her head sniffing and wipes away more tears.

“Say it Harper.”

“I’m not leaving you.” Those were the sweetest words I ever heard. I wrapped my arms around her tightly and put my nose into the familiar scent of her hair.

“I love you, Coach,” I whisper.

“I love you too Slim,” she whispers back.

~A few weeks later~

“It has been an emotional night for us this game. So close as the Broncos bring us into overtime. It’s a tie here folks, but this last play should be the determining factor. I have never seen Noah ‘The Engine’ Alexander looks so intense. It's clear he plans to be unstoppable tonight. Can he make it happen for Carolina? Fifteen seconds on the game clock; second down and eight yards to go for the Panthers. Alexander sends Quincy Adams into motion, Alexander takes the snap and drops back looking down the field for an open receiver. With time winding down Alexander throws up a Hail Mary to a double covered Quincy Adams; and he’s got it! Quincy makes a move up field, and goes down the sideline before he is brought down from behind and tackled out of bounds to stop the game clock with 4 seconds remaining. The pass from Alexander to Adams was a forty-eight yard pick up. With what should be the last play of overtime Alexander and the Panthers line up one final time choosing not to opt for a field goal for three points, which would tie the game and send us into double overtime. But to go for a touchdown for six points and win it all on this play. Alexander hikes the ball and drops back getting protection on a blitz on the outside edge with a block from the running back Patrick. Alexander passes the ball to an open Adams in the end zone and he pulls it in for a six-yard TOUCHDOWN in overtime! The Carolina Panthers have won the Super Bowl ladies and gentleman! What a fantastic way to end the year for Noah Alexander, and his Carolina Panthers. First getting engaged and now winning the Super Bowl. He truly can’t be stopped.”

Bad Rookie Habit

CHAPTER ONE

It was always a treat when Ms. Khela Caldwell came to watch the team practice. No one on the team particularly knew much about her, but seeing her standing next to Coach Dennison was a rare and welcome sight. Usually, she did all her managing from her little office on the other side of campus, and players were never allowed to go and see her. There wasn’t a rule about it or anything, but she quite pointedly ignored players unless it was extremely necessary, so no one had ever been able to secure a meeting in her office.

Dean, personally, loved seeing Ms. Caldwell. She was the epitome of professional beauty in her black pencil skirts and well-fitted jackets, and her smile, though not usually sent in a player’s direction, made her entire face light up, even when it didn’t reach her eyes. With her ebony skin, curly hair, and dark intelligent eyes, Dean wouldn’t be surprised if she was the fantasy of every member of the Stablesmith University Scorpions. She was certainly Dean’s, but he would never dream of disrespecting her wishes to make his fantasy come true.

A fly ball came zooming towards Dean out of virtually nowhere, and he was able to stop staring at Ms. Caldwell just long enough to spring into action, his strong legs propelling him forward as he dashed forward. He was just about able to catch the ball before it flew off into some corner of the field, tossing it back to another position player before the batter was able to get to second base.

“Williams!” yelled Coach, his voice strained to a furious roar. “Quit daydreaming! There’ll be a foot up your ass next time you do!”

“Sorry, Coach!” Dean called back, grinning and barely sorry at all. He understood the pressure that Coach Dennison was putting him under, though. The name Dean Williams was the most talked about in all of college baseball news this season, and he had to live up to what was expected of him. He was the best batter the sport had seen in years, and one of the fastest center fielders in the league. Whether he liked it or not, he had a lot to live up to.

Although he was a good player, the Scorpions had tough competition. Training hours had reached intense new lengths, and regimens were getting stricter and more difficult to follow. Coach was careful never to let the boys fall under more strain than they could handle, but they were still exhausted and pushing themselves harder than ever.

Maybe that’s why Ms. Caldwell had come down to watch them practice today. Maybe she was worried about how the Scorpions would fare under the new training, or concerned that they weren’t training hard enough to get far enough in a league filled with amazing teams. Dean could see her speaking to Coach now, her brow furrowed slightly, her lips moving quickly. He didn’t know much about Ms. Caldwell. She was relatively new to the university, but she’d been an Athletic Director for another institution before. Rumor had it she’d been fired from her previous job, but there was no way to know for sure.

Dean had tried to get on the director’s good side for a while. He knew how to work out his public relations, and he wanted a good business relationship with his team’s Athletic Director, especially since he was looked to as the leader of the team and would need to speak with her on the Scorpions’ behalf. But she’d never let him into her office, only waved him away or told him to go through Coach.

He’d call her a terrible director for that, but she’d done well so far. She was very involved in the team and often discussed strategies and tactics with Coach, having been an avid player herself in youth. And most of the things she’d suggested worked really well. But Dean wished she was a bit more open to the players, maybe a tad friendly instead of distant and aloof. He wondered, absent-mindedly, what lay beneath that hard, stony exterior. A part of him really wanted to find out. Maybe he would.