The Rookie: Book 2 The Last Play Series (7 page)

W
hen his phone
alarm went off at seven in the morning, Legend jumped awake, trying to orient himself. He and Charity had both fallen asleep on the big swing.

She jerked awake, frowning and rubbing her neck. “I should have opted for a bed.”

He squirmed out of the sleeping bag and turned the alarm off on his phone. “I gotta go. I gotta be to the little airport that runs the flights for the jumpers in half an hour.”

Charity wriggled out of her bag. “That’s right. I, on the other hand, can sleep for a bit longer because hospital visiting hours aren’t until nine.”

Looking at her with her hair mussed after spending the night on the swing, he felt himself stop. Her soft, white skin hosted a smattering of freckles on her nose. Her eyes that had always looked so blue had a hint of green in them this morning. They were hypnotic.

“Legend?”

“Yeah.” He was jolted out of his thoughts.

She frowned. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

Suddenly, he wanted her to come with him so badly. He didn’t even think before he said, “Come with me.”

She shook her head. “Uh, no. I’m going to the hospital.”

Uncharacteristically, his voice took on a whining quality. It was the same voice Brad used when he was begging Legend to do something. “Ah, come on. We’ll be done by ten. I’ll get you to the hospital right after that. Promise.”

She laughed and grabbed the sleeping bags. “Who are you? You sound like a kid.”

He felt like a kid. He did little jumps and followed her into the house. “You have to come!”

She glared at him. “Do not use the excuse that my grandpa would want me to have a good time. I don’t think good time and hospitable bed would go together.”

He nodded. “Okay, but I know something your grandfather would want.”

“What?”

“He’d want you to get your job back.”

“How?”

He couldn’t believe he was offering this. “I’ll let you do an exclusive. A real exclusive. Obviously, not with all the personal crap I told you last night, but you can tell the public about the crazy life I have. About me jumping out of a plane, two stepping, and playing my guitar. People like that stuff. Dare devil Legend James. It has a nice ring to it.”

She put everything away and turned back, looking at him like he was insane. “I told you I’ve retired as your personal reporter.”

Astonishing himself, he grabbed her arm. “I told you I had to pay for a honeymoon package because it was actually cheaper than a solo flight, so come with me. Please.”

“As your bride?” She looked skeptical.

Flutters stirred inside his gut. “Ha, right. Noooo, come because it bugs me to waste money.”

Pulling away from him, she went into the kitchen and opened the cupboard, pulling out a glass. “I might buy that if I didn’t know you’re getting fifteen million dollars in a signing bonus.”

He let out a breath. “Well, I used to be cheap. Just ask Brad and Jason. They tease me about it all the time.”

After filling up a glass of water, she grinned at him. “Oh, I know you were cheap. Remember, I stalked you.”

He threw up his pointer finger. “See, so you know it’s hard for me to see a good jump out of an airplane go to waste.” Yes, he knew he was being ridiculous, but something about her made him want her to come experience this with him.

She looked doubtful.

“You can redeem yourself as a reporter, telling about my dashing, young dare devil side.” He put on a puppy pout. One he’d seen Brad do a thousand times. One he hated. “C’mon, Charity. Go call the hospital first, check on your grandpa, and then tell them you’ll be there at ten thirty.”

The look on her face told him she was considering it.

“I’ll personally call the
Times
and tell them I was wrong about you and we’re collaborating.”

That was the clincher. He knew he had her. “Really?” She looked doubtful. Then she shook her head. “No, I have to focus on Grandpa.”

“You can do both. Your grandpa would definitely want you to do this.”

“Don’t.”

“He would. You know it.” He pretended to be a crowd of people clapping for her. “It’s a done deal, baby. Reporter Charity Saint is back!”

A small grin lifted the side of her lip. “How come I feel like I’m going to regret this?”

“What’s there to regret? You’ll get your job back,you’ll get to jump out of a plane, plus, you’ll get to hang out with me. It’s all upside.”

She let out a sigh. “Okay, but I have to be back at the hospital right after.” She warned like a mother would warn a teenager.

He fist pumped the air in triumph and then jogged toward the front door. “While you call and change, I’ll go get my car.”

S
he changed
her clothes and called the hospital before calling her mother and reporting no change in Grandpa. Her mother was practically hysterical, telling her if Grandpa didn’t wake up today, she was definitely flying back to help her make some decisions.

Getting off the phone, Charity went to the front porch to wait for Legend, feeling horrible. She hadn’t mentioned to her mother that she was going sky diving with Legend. She felt guilty, but as she walked down the long trail of steps to the street, she couldn’t stop from smiling. Her grandpa would totally like it. He would be happy for her, and he would like Legend, too, way more than he had ever liked Paul. He’d said Paul was too boring, always wanting to talk about his study of ancient cultures and how clean water would change lives. Yes, it was important, but Grandpa didn’t understand any man that didn’t want to watch a good football game.

A stir went through her. Why was she even comparing Paul and Legend?

She pushed the thought aside, focusing on how she would frame the exclusive on Legend. A young daredevil, as he’d suggested, wasn’t a bad idea, but she wanted to show more layers of him—the layers she was beginning to see. It’d have to be just right, and this time Legend would get to read it first.

Excitement filled her. This exclusive, a personal exclusive combined with Legend’s call to the
Times
would definitely secure her job again. It really could be the catalyst to put her on a career path to get noticed for the big reporting jobs.

She couldn’t deny that she was happy when he revved up next to the curb. Her dream was back on track.

L
egend stood
in front of the open plane, staring down at the ten thousand foot drop and did a banshee yell. He grinned at Charity, who grinned and banshee yelled back.

To be totally honest, he was pleasantly shocked that she was the type of chic that seemed to like this adrenaline stuff, too. She’d never done it before either, and the tandem instructors had both mentioned that they seemed like naturals.

Today, Charity seemed energized. Of course, he knew she was still struggling with everything with her grandpa, but he could tell that a second chance at
The
New York Times
had lifted her spirits immensely. If he were being honest, he was excited to help her out. What did he care if she wrote another article on him? His friends were right about one thing—the press was insatiable, and if Charity weren’t reporting his life, someone else would be.

The funny thing was that he’d been the one who’d had to beg her to do it this time. He stared at Charity, at her ponytail and her no make up face. A nervous tinge circled through him. Dang, she was beautiful. He also knew that she was stronger than he’d thought when he’d first met her. She even looked cute in the jumper uniform, and he’d found it cool that she’d taken this so seriously, talking into the microphone on her phone about the experience and taking pictures of him.

“Hey!” he yelled at her.

“What?” she said, grinning back.

“Take a picture of
us
out there!”

She shook her head. “No, I’ll take a picture of you!”

That wasn’t what he wanted. “No, I want a picture of us!”

“It’s time to jump!” one of the instructors yelled. “Do you want to go at the same time? We’ll have to all jump together.”

“No!” Charity yelled.

“Yes!” Legend took her hand in his and gave her a severe look. “I want a picture of us—get your camera ready!”

In the end, Legend got his way. They jumped together, and Charity snapped a couple selfies of them along with more pictures of him for the article.

After it was over and Legend took her to the hospital, they sat in the parking lot for a few minutes, laughing at the pictures and making fun of each other.

“How long are you going to stay here today?” he asked.

“Um, all day.”

He nodded. “Right.” He hated this for her.

“So what else do you have in mind for the article? Ya know, to prove you’re the young daredevil that you say you are?” She fluttered her eyes.

He liked how she teased him. It was kind of like when Jason and Brad teased him, but no girl had ever treated him like this…like a friend. He felt put on the spot by her question. “Um, do I need to do other stuff?”

She smiled. “No, but if you do, will you take a selfie or have someone take a picture and send it to me?”

He shrugged. “Sure.

She nodded and continued to scan through pictures on her phone.

Momentarily, he had a brain freeze staring at her. He was sure it had nothing to do with her immensely blue eyes, her breath taking red hair, the smattering of freckles that he found…delightful. Had he really just thought the word
delightful
? All that chic talk must have messed with his brain. Shaking his head, he let out a breath. “Umm, I could take the ski lift to the top of the mountain and hike down. Is that exciting enough?”

Scrunching her nose, she glanced up. “Hmm, maybe. I mean, if you could add a serious injury to it, like have a mountain lion slash your leg or something, that’d be good.”

He jerked out a laugh. “I’ll try.”

She wiggled her eyebrows at him to show she was teasing.

He hesitated, feeling like a pathetic junior high kid again. “Or if you want to do that with me tomorrow morning, we could get up early before hospital hours and do it together.” He tried to sound casual.

Shifting her eyes from him to the hospital, she frowned. “I…” She pointed to the hospital. “I should just be with my grandpa from here on out, but please keep a catalogue of your activities. I’m thinking this article could run before draft day.”

“Cool. Of course.”

Charity pointed to her phone and laughed. “Check it out. You totally look freaked out in that one.”

Legend made the same face he’d made in the picture. “Whatever, I’m always cool, calm, and collected.”

She bent over, erupting into giggles. “Ah, man.” She stared up at him. “Ya know, I haven’t had that much fun in a long time.” She paused. “Thanks.”

Every part of him wanted to make her stay and hang out with him for the day, but he knew she couldn’t do that. Wouldn’t do that. He grinned. “So it wasn’t too bad being married to me, Rook?”

The words were meant to be silly, but they were more awkward than he’d intended.

Ignoring his comment, she met his eyes. “What are you doing the rest of the week?”

Answering her question made him feel like a loser. “Um, at this point I’m just out for action for the article.”

She studied him, seeming confused. “Sure. Great.”

“Right.” He pretended like he was shooting a gun with his finger, and even while he was doing it, he knew what an idiot he was being.

She sucked in a breath and put her phone away. “Well…”

“You’ll let me know what happens here, right?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Good.”

Breaking eye contact, she opened the door and got out of the car. “Hey,” she said, turning back. “I had a great time, and thanks for ‘chic talking’ last night.” She paused and patted the car. “I really needed that.” She gave him a smile.

He winked at her and then realized he didn’t have a way to get a hold of her. “Hey, I don’t have your cell number, yet.”

Seemingly confused, she frowned. “Oh.”

“Ya know, so I can send you pictures and stuff.”

“Right.” She nodded before giving her number to him.

“And I’m going to call the
Times
right now.”

Pausing, her smile seemed to get sad and she blushed. “Legend, I’m sorry about the first article.”

It was stupid, just stupid, how much he didn’t know how to take her apology. He scoffed. “Ya know, Rook, I gotta say, you’re not a bad first date.”

She rolled her eyes and slammed the door. He heard, “Oh, the ego!”

He roared with laughter and rolled down his window. “You might even get a famous second date!” he hollered out after her.

She glanced back. “Please, don’t give me three because then I’d have to go to jail.”

He laughed harder and hated the way he wanted to follow her into that hospital.

H
e went
to the hotel and took a hot shower. Then he answered some texts from Jason and Brad. He told them about his plane jumping.

He leaned back on the bed and thought about the fact that in less then two weeks he would be signing a contract with the Dallas Destroyers. It was bizarre how long and hard he’d worked for it, and it was almost here.

His mind flashed to Charity. To the way they’d yelled and laughed on the way out of the plane. It had been incredible. Then he thought of Paul. Or at least what he thought Paul would be like. He wanted to take the guy and slam him into the ground—hard. How could he do that to her? Take her all the way to Africa and then kiss someone else? Legend was sure Paul was most likely doing more than just kissing other women.

He called his agent and asked him to call
The
New York Times
and tell them that he’d be giving Charity Saint a real exclusive, one that he endorsed and to do whatever it took to get her job back.

“Whatever it takes?” his agent asked. “Why don’t you wait and give your first real exclusive to the one that pays the most?”

“No, it’s important that Charity gets her job back.”

His agent had sounded frustrated. “Well, I hope this girl’s worth it.”

“She is,” he said, answering too quickly. He got off the phone and couldn’t stop a stupid grin as he thought about her hair flying untamed around her when she jumped out of the plane.

He quickly got ready, shoving all the new stuff he’d bought into one of the laundry bags. He paused in front of the hotel mirror as he was walking out of his room. He’d never been arrogant about his looks. He’d always been told how handsome he was. Girls had always been there, especially with his success in football, but with Charity, he never felt like she was looking at only his physical appearance. Or just the fact he could play football.

He had to quit thinking this way. He rushed out and took the stairs down to the lobby, checking out efficiently. He didn’t know what he’d do today, maybe he could take another ski lift up the mountain, but after sharing the skydiving with Charity, nothing felt like it could compete. A nice surprise was finding a place on Main Street that was still serving breakfast. He allowed himself an omelet and pancakes. Then he ordered an omelet and pancakes to go.

No, he didn’t think it was a big deal he was buying her something to eat. He’d made her go jump out of a plane, so he knew she’d missed breakfast. Happy flutters surged through his stomach at the prospect of seeing her again.

Passing by a vintage record store, he had an idea and swerved back. She was gonna love this. The store smelled like incense and the guy next to the cash register looked like something out of a seventies show. He wore a blue paisley headband, a matching blue shirt, polyester black pants, and clog shoes. He also had a dangling necklace with a peace sign on it. “What can I do ya for?”

“I’m looking for a
Beatles
album, the one with
A Hard Day’s Night
.”

Mr. Seventies went straight to a bin of albums and pulled it out. “It’s used, but it’s still thirty bucks. These are a hot commodity these days—vinyl is back!”

Knowing he was getting worked over, but not caring, Legend pulled out his credit card. “Sounds good.”

The guy pointed at him. “You’re that football guy, aren’t you?”

“Nope.” Legend used Charity’s explanation. “I should totally do a look alike blog though because I get asked all the time.”

Mr. Seventies frowned and ran his card. “Totally.”

Legend walked out of the store with a sack full of food and her grandpa’s favorite album. Dang it if he wasn’t smiling, too. He just had to make one more stop. Luckily, he remembered where she’d hidden her grandfather’s house key.