First Down (First and Ten #1) (12 page)

“Anything you would like to share with me, sweetie?”

Turning, she wondered what he was talking about.

He pointed to the notebook.

She laughed. “I had a break-through on an idea for some research that I want to do. There is a new drug that I just learned about, and I think it could be beneficial for people who are in the early stages of dementia. I was standing in your amazing shower, and it came to me. I wanted to write down an outline before I lost it. I think you’ve shaken something loose in me, Jack, because I’ve been puzzling over this for a couple of weeks.”

Taking her hand, he squeezed it. “You will have to tell me what I did, so I can keep doing it.”

“My brain is always working and is very rarely quiet. But the time I’ve spent with you over the last couple of days has slowed me down. I can feel the quiet when our bodies are together. This is the first time it’s lasted for more than a few minutes.”

“So us being together is a good thing?”

“Absolutely. When we were sitting next to the pool last night, I felt it wash over me. You know that feeling you get when you’re underwater and your body is weightless, and there’s no sound and you’re looking up and all you can see is the light filtering through the water? Well, that’s the feeling I get when I’m around you.”

Tilting his head, he gave her a smile and held out his hand. “Come here.” He watched her take his hand, and in one motion, he had her in his lap, wrapped in his arms.  Gently, he let his finger run over her cheek, across her mouth, and down her neck, and knew the truth of them in that moment. One way or another, they were going to be together for the rest of their lives. He was holding the love of his life in his lap, and that was that. Her mouth dropped to his, and their future was sealed in the kiss she gave him. He had a lot of wooing and romancing to do before he could tell her about his plans for their future.

He moved her legs so she was fully in his lap and studied her. “I want you to hold the memory of that calm feeling that I give you, because I’m about to tell you what’s on the websites.” He felt her try and move, but he held her close. “I’m not going to let you go yet.”

“It can’t be that bad, Jack. How many pictures can there be?”

He pulled his phone out of his shorts and looked for the pictures that his agent sent him. He silently handed her the phone, moved his hands to her back, and held on. He watched her flip through the pictures and then read the short article that accompanied them. She finally glanced up, and there was no smile in sight. She had every right to be mad, and he was going to do his best to handle it.

She handed him his phone back and then gave him a stare that might frighten lesser men. “In the future, I would like you to tell me if my hair is sticking up. I can’t believe that you didn’t tell me about the weird bump in my ponytail.” She slid her hand over her wet hair and frowned. “Why are these people so interested in us?”

“Because I’m not photographed with a lot of women. People are curious, and the tabloids feed off of that. When I was paid out on my contract at the end of the last season, a lot of people got real interested in me, because the amount of money involved. Unfortunately, as my girlfriend, you’re going to be exposed to that curiosity.”

“It’s creepy, and I don’t care for it. By the way, I’m not your girlfriend.”

“By the way…you are. There is no way you would have slept with me if you were not planning on having a relationship with me. So you can tell yourself whatever you want, but we both know the truth.”

“Maybe I like to sleep around with a different man each night. You don’t know me that well.” She watched him try and hold a smirk in and then watched him fail completely. “Jack Ellis, that’s rude. You could at least pretend to believe me.”

He struggled to stop smiling, and he couldn’t. “Ana, would you like to be my girlfriend and become the love of my life?”

She studied her nails, and then looked him up and down before answering. “Maybe. I’ll think about it.”

“Let me take you on a date and show you what a good boyfriend I can be.”

“I’ll go on a date with you, and then I’ll let you know.”

“Fair enough. Since you like to sleep around, let’s get back in that bed and get sweaty all over again.”

“No, I want a date first.”

He slipped his hands inside her robe and let them roam around a little. “I like the picture of us outside the restaurant, because your smile tells me everything that I need to know. You like me, Ana, and I’m going to make sure that you know how much I like you.” He leaned forward, kissed her forehead, and ran his nose along hers. “Maybe I can get us a copy of it, and we can have matching pictures on our dressers.” Her hand glided across his cheek, and he felt his heart go boom…boom…boom, in response.

“You know, Jack, you look like a big, aggressive football player, but really you’re a big sweet man with a heart of gold.”

“I think that’s something that you can keep to yourself.”

“Oh, I plan on it. I don’t need more girls going after you. I imagine you already have plenty throwing their panties at you.”

“Does that mean that you would like to keep me all to yourself?” He watched her face grow red and her eyes wouldn’t meet his, so he pretty much had his answer. He moved his hand around her waist and brought her flush against his body. “I would like to go on record as saying that I want you all to myself.”

“Mr. Ellis, you better move that hand of yours, because I have to go to work.”

“Are you sure about that?” He slowly let his hand roam around to the front and was about to cover her breast when she leaned back and out of his reach.

“Don’t be naughty.”

“But I have all of these ideas running around in my head, and I want to try them out.”

“You can come over after work tonight, and we can try one of your ideas out. But I expect to be fed before I give into your wild sexual demands.”

“How does Chinese sound?”

“Perfect. Now let me up, so I can go and impress my bosses.”

“I guess I better do the same. I hope I can still perform after you had your way with me.”

“Did I sap all of your super strength?”

“No, I probably have a little left in reserve, but not much.” He noticed that she let the date requirement fly out the window. Not that he wasn’t going to take her on a million amazing dates in the future.

Monday

Sun Life Stadium

Jack sat and gulped his protein shake. Practice had gone better than expected, and he was playing at his peak performance. He was definitely in the zone and gave the credit to how he’d spent the last twenty-four hours. Even his coach had commented on how well he did in practice.

Clark and Justin walked over, joined him on the bench, and drank down their own shakes.

Clark elbowed him and wagged his eyebrows at Jack. “So you and Ana left quickly after breakfast yesterday. Did you guys have someplace to be or special plans?”

“Shut up, Clark. It’s none of your business. I don’t want you talking about Ana that way.”

“What way? I was just asking about how you spent your Sunday off. Relax, man.”

“I am relaxed, but I want you to show respect for the woman who is going to be my wife.”

Justin studied Jack before asking his question. “So you’ve know this woman for how long?”

Jack got up, threw his cup in the trash, and glared at his friends. “I met Ana a month ago, and I’ve gotten to know her over the last two weeks. I know it’s crazy, and I don’t care. Who knows? Maybe we’ll have a kid by this time next year.”

Clark laughed out loud and slapped his knee. “She’s not going to be having babies anytime soon. She’s in that fellowship program. Ella told me about it, and she is one of five people to be accepted. She’s not going to be giving that up to start popping out babies.”

“We’ll definitely be married by this time next year. The babies can come when they come. The point is that I want you both to show some respect.” He watched them put up their hands in surrender. Spinning around, he walked toward the weight room with a big smile on his face. Making a mental note to discuss babies with Ana. It might be a good idea to see how many she would be willing to give him. He wanted three or four, but he’d settle for two if that’s what she wanted. As he made his way across the field, he remembered that he hadn’t taken her on a real date yet. Maybe he should do that a couple of times before he brought up the babies. Perhaps, he could get some ideas from some of the married guys. After all, they must have come up with some good ones if they got women to marry them. As he opened the room to the complex, he ran into Coach Bellows. “Hey. How’s it going?”

The man studied one of his star players and tried to determine what was different about him. “What the hell have you been doing, Ellis? You had an outstanding practice today. I know you work hard, but today you made it seem effortless.”

“Thanks, Coach. I think things are coming together for me, and the work is paying off.”

The big grizzly bear of a man shook his head. “No, son, it’s something different. Let me think about it, and I’ll come up with it.”

“Yes, sir.” He moved off in the direction of the weight room and laughed to himself. He knew the answer, and it was Dr. Ana James. That was his new answer for most things. They were meant to be, because her last name was his first name. He entered the weight room and spotted Brian. Walking over, he noticed that his friend looked a little pissed off, and it wasn’t the dumbbells that were making him feel that way. “Hey, Brian.”

“Hey, Jack. Where were you this weekend? I never heard from you.”

Staring down at the ground, he waited a moment before answering. “I went to Ronnie DuMond’s Halloween party, and then I spent the day with my new girlfriend.”

“What the hell, man? Why am I just now hearing about this?”

“I met Ana at the beginning of the month in San Diego. She’s Ronnie’s best friend from college. I’ve been hanging out with them for the last couple of weeks. I would’ve invited you, but Ronnie might kill you if you got within ten feet of her.”

“She wouldn’t kill me, but she wouldn’t be too happy, either. I wonder how many voodoo dolls have my face. It happened over a year ago. You would think that she would’ve gotten over it by now.”

“Five.”

Brian glared at Jack. “What did you say?”

“I said five. She has five dolls with your face. She likes to stick the really big needles into them. And I don’t know why you think she should be over it when you’re not.”

Kicking the carpet with his big feet, Brian rested his hands on his hips and let out a big breath. “I never cheated on her. It was all a big misunderstanding.”

“I think the problem was that you ended up dating the girl who you supposedly didn’t sleep with when you were dating Ronnie. No offense, friend, but there’s no coming back from that. I can’t really blame her for going for the heavy artillery.”

“I realize it wasn’t one of my best decisions. But when Ronnie broke up with me, I had nothing left to lose. I drowned my sorrow in the woman who made herself available.”

“Like I said, I can’t really blame Ronnie. You humiliated her in the press with people she works with.”

“I know, man.  I got scared and acted stupid, and I paid the price. I had the best woman in the world, and I destroyed any chance with her.”

“Yeah, you did.”

Brian flipped off his good friend and then laughed. “I guess I can’t expect any sympathy.”

Jack shrugged and moved over to one of the benches. “Spot me, man. I want to get my workout in and then plan a date that’s going to impress Ana.”

“So this is serious, man?”

Jack adjusted the weights and then smiled at his friend. “I’m going to marry this girl.”

“That is serious.” Brian stood over his friend and watched him start his reps. He thought about Ronnie DuMond, just like he did every day. His chances were non-existent, but every once in a while, he dreamed it might be possible.

Monday

Miller School of Medicine

Ana sat in one of the labs and wrote notes on the study that she wanted to run. Her meeting with the director that morning had been productive, and he’d given her the parameters that the university wanted. If she could get the grants, she might actually have a shot at making it happen. Her phone buzzed in her white lab coat, and she pulled it out and saw Jack’s face as the caller id came up. “Hi, Jack.”

“Hi, sweetie. How was your meeting this morning?”

“I think it went well. The director was open to my idea, and I’ve been given the go-ahead to write up the protocol for the study and pursue the grants. If everything comes together, I could get started in the spring.”

“Wow. That’s great. I’m so proud of you. You have to explain what your study involves tonight. Are we still on for dinner?”

“Yes, we are. Unless you have something else to do.”

“The only thing that I have to do is you.”

Ana felt her face grow hot as the memories from last night ran through her head. “Mr. Ellis. I can’t decide if I like what you said or not.” She tapped her pen against her tablet and looked out over the sterile surface of the empty lab. This was the environment that she’d always been most comfortable in, but spending time with Jack was starting to change that. The man on the phone was color and warmth, and she was beginning to crave him and it.

He laughed into the phone. “You liked it. I’m guessing that your cheeks are that pretty rose color right now. You’re thinking about what we did yesterday and this morning, and you want to do it again.”

“You’re very sure of yourself.”

“Sweetie, I didn’t get to where I am by lacking self-confidence.”

“I wish I had a slice of your self-assurance. I’ve been shy and awkward most of my life, and I’ve often wished I was different.”

“I think you’re perfect. You have a ton of confidence when you’re around me and your friends.”

“I’m comfortable around my friends, and I guess I’m becoming comfortable around you, too.” She started doodling on the paper and wrote his name as she listened to him speak. His voice was deep with a slightly flat mid-western accent. She had no clue why the sound of it was making her so happy and relaxed. She must have zoned out, because he was calling her name. “Sorry, I missed that. What did you ask me?”