His Seduction Game Plan (7 page)

“Don't get hurt,” King warned. “She's not the only one who can fall for it.”

“I'm not playing with her, not like that, Kingsley. It's just I want her to want me to see the files. If I bribe or force or seduce her into it...she'll always remember that about me.”

Kingsley clapped him on the shoulder.

“I wish we could go back ten years and keep our younger selves from—”

“Don't say it. I wish that, too. But we both know we can't. You've managed to make a new start for yourself. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm going to figure it out, too. You know it takes me twice as long as you to do anything.”

Kingsley laughed the way that Hunter wanted him to. He wouldn't think about going back in time because he wasn't sure he'd even do things differently. Not breaking up with Stacia would have meant spending a life together that he knew both of them would regret.

But at least she'd be alive.

Yeah, there was that.

His father had once said there were no such things as shortcuts and finally Hunter felt as if he got it. He'd been paying for every mistake he'd made and everything he wanted. The price didn't bother him most days, but on nights like this one when he wanted to be an average guy on a date with a pretty woman, it did.

He needed something from her. But if he wasn't careful he'd end up hurting her.

“Are you going to bring her to San Francisco for the Seconds party?” Kingsley asked.

“I want to. I don't know if she can be away from her father for that long so I'll have to check,” Hunter said.

“Good. I think the more she gets to know us the more inclined she'll be to let you see Coach's files.”

“I hope so,” Hunter said.

“If you think it would be easier, I don't mind playing the heavy. I'm actually really good about getting what I want,” Kingsley said.

Hunter didn't like the idea of Kingsley manipulating Ferrin any more than he liked the thought of doing it himself.

“Ten yards at a time,” Hunter said.

Kingsley laughed. “Just like Coach always said.”

“It's as true off the field as on. I mean it's the only way I have been able to stay positive and think that one day we will find the answers.”

“You know something?” Kingsley said, getting to his feet. “Me, too. Let's go find the ladies and have a drink. Then you can ask Ferrin to go with us to San Fran. I'll be there for moral support.”

More like to mock him if he made a mess of the asking. “Whatever. I don't need a wing man with Ferrin.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I am.”

Kingsley led the way back to the house, where Gabi and Ferrin were sitting in the kitchen, each sipping a glass of wine.

“Everything okay?” Hunter asked her, sitting down.

“Yes. It was just my mom,” she said, blushing. “I hadn't called her in a few days so she wanted to check on me.”

“Moms are like that,” Gabi said. “Mine stops by the house if I don't call her every day.”

“Made for a few uncomfortable moments,” Kingsley said.

Everyone laughed. Hunter was looking down at the table when he felt Ferrin's fingers on the back of his hand. “Do you mind taking me home? I know it's early but I want to check in on Coach.”

“No problem.”

They said goodbye to Gabi and Kingsley and Hunter took the circuitous route home. The night sky was clear and the full moon lit the way.

“Thank you for helping me catch that football tonight,” she said.

“You did all the work. I just offered a few tips.”

“Well, the tips worked. Listen, football is my Achilles' heel and tonight you made me almost like it. That means more than you could know,” she said. “Also thank you for not pressuring me about Coach's files and stuff. That makes it a lot easier to just relax and get to know you.”

“Is it working?” he asked. But he knew he'd sort of pressured her by telling her what those files meant to him.

“Yes,” she said with that sweet, innocent smile.

“Would you like to come to San Francisco with me for the party at Seconds?” he asked.

“I'd love to.”

“I'm not sure if you can be away from your dad overnight but we can stay with some friends of mine or we can drive back after the party.”

“I'll let you know after I talk to Joy. If she can stay the night with Dad then I should be fine,” Ferrin said.

Seven

“G
ood morning, Joy,” Ferrin said as she came into the kitchen.

Joy jumped and then turned down the volume on the TV she'd been watching. “Just getting my morning fix of gossip.”

“Anything good?” Ferrin asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

“Not really. I was hoping to see something about one of my boys,” she said.

Joy was a huge fan of boy bands and hadn't stopped hoping that One Direction would get back together. She thought they were sweet young men who just needed some time to straighten themselves out.

“I'll take Coach's tray up to him while you keep watching,” she said.

“Thanks, Ferrin. Oh, a man named Graham called for you yesterday. Said he'd try back today,” Joy said.

Graham Peters. She didn't really want to talk to him again. “He asked to come and go through Dad's stuff. I told him no. Dad gets really agitated when anyone from the college is mentioned. Have you noticed?”

“I have,” Joy said. “I think he's still upset they ‘retired' him instead of letting him come back to work.”

“I agree. Let's just keep putting Graham off until I talk to Coach.”

“I will.”

“Are you sure you'll be okay watching Coach overnight?” Ferrin asked before leaving. Joy had agreed to stay the night but Ferrin wanted to make sure the other woman didn't feel pressured to do so.

“I don't mind.”

Good. Now all she had to do was make sure her father would be okay if she left. And maybe try to figure out what to do about Coach's files that everyone seemed to want to get their hands on.

* * *

The house on Beacon Hill that Hunter took her to was a restored Victorian that looked like a picture postcard from the past. The Tiffany stained glass windows and painted wood trims all added to the ambiance. She was nervous.

Why wouldn't she be?

She'd never gone away for a night with a man before. The men she dated tended to be like her. Homebodies who were happy to spend date night sitting in front of the television with a tub of popcorn watching movies.

They had taken a limo down to San Francisco. They'd left the sunroof open, and she'd pretended to be glamorous. But her thick, curly hair had whipped around her head until she'd finally given up and pulled it back into a messy bun. She had her sunglasses on and was dressed casually as was Hunter. She wore a pair of cigarette pants that ended at the ankle, a red-striped top and a pair of ballet flats.

When the door to the home opened and she glanced up at the woman standing there, Ferrin felt unkempt by comparison. The other woman had straight hair that hung neatly to her shoulders, and she wore a chic sundress. She waved at Hunter and smiled over at Ferrin.

“I'm so glad you are here,” she said. Her accent was American but had a patrician sound to it.

“We are, too,” Hunter said. “Ferrin, come and meet Kara, Gui's wife. She and I are distant cousins through our fathers.”

“That's right, a long time ago, we were into oil,” she said. “But that was a really long time ago. Now I'm into kids.” Three little girls poked their heads around her legs. The eldest couldn't have been more than five. They were adorable with their thick black hair—two of them with curls and the youngest with straight hair like her mother.

“Hello, cherubs,” Hunter said, dropping down on one knee as the girls came running toward him. They all jumped on him and he hugged them close before he stood up.

The eldest came over to Ferrin and tipped her head back. The little girl had big brown eyes with the thickest eyelashes that Ferrin had ever seen. “I'm Zara.”

Ferrin stooped down so she was on eye level with the little girl. “Ferrin. Very nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” she said. “We are making cookies. Do you want to help?”

“I'd love to,” Ferrin said.

“You don't have to,” Kara piped up. “It's a messy endeavor.”

“I don't mind at all,” Ferrin said. Zara slipped her hand into Ferrin's and led the way inside the house. Hunter followed close on her heels.

“This is Chloe and that's Luisa,” Zara said as they walked past her sisters.

“You smell pretty,” Chloe said.

“I like your hair,” Luisa said.

The little girls all crowded around her as they entered the kitchen, talking a mile a minute. When she sat down at the kitchen table—as directed by Zara—Luisa climbed on Ferrin's lap and touched one of her curls. She was the youngest daughter with the straight brown hair.

Ferrin wondered if Luisa wished she looked more like her sisters. “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“A princess knight,” Luisa said without even hesitating.

“That's silly, Lu,” Zara said.

“Papa said I could be. Mama!” Luisa jumped down from Ferrin's lap and dashed into the hallway where Kara and Hunter were talking.

“She's such a baby,” Zara said with the attitude that could only come from being the eldest child. “Chloe, show Ferrin how to stir the cookies.”

Chloe came over and climbed up on the chair next to Ferrin. “We just have to add the chocolate chips. Mama keeps them up on that shelf.”

Chloe pointed to the location and Ferrin stood up to get them. She brought the bag back over as Hunter entered. “Suckered Ferrin into getting you some chocolates, I see.”

“They are for the cookies,” Ferrin said. “Are you allergic?” she asked Chloe.

“No, she's not. She's just a chocolate fiend,” Hunter explained.

“Papa is, too,” Chloe said with a smile that was two parts angel, one part devil. “I wasn't going to eat them,” Chloe said as she snuck one into her mouth.

Ferrin hid her smile as she poured a handful of chocolate morsels into the dough and let a few miss the bowl and land in front of Chloe. Hunter grabbed one and then scooped Chloe up and settled her next to him on the bench she'd been kneeling on. He reached for the bag of chocolate and poured a handful for Chloe and himself.

“Better hurry up with that stirring, Ferrin, or they might just be butter cookies.”

Ferrin noticed that Hunter was a natural with kids. First with Conner and now Kara's girls. Why hadn't he found a woman to settle down with? She knew that he had the controversy of the Frat House Murder in his past, but that was ten years ago, and he'd been declared innocent. She knew he worried about other kids' reactions to Conner at school. Was that what held him back? Plus, NFL players had no shortage of women who wanted to be with them. Why not Hunter?

“You're staring not stirring, woman,” Hunter said.

“Yeah, woman,” Chloe added with a laugh.

“Chloe Angelina, are you into my secret stash?” Kara asked as she entered the kitchen with Luisa by her side.

“Yes, but I needed them for my cookies,” Chloe said. “And Uncle Hunter wanted them.”

“Uncle Hunter is a bad influence,” Kara said with a wink at Hunter. “How are the cookies coming?”

“Well, I incorporated as many chocolate chips as I could,” Ferrin said.

Kara came over and looked down into the bowl. “Looks good. I say we let Uncle Hunter and the girls put them on the tray and in the oven while we get to know each other.”

“Can he do that?”

“Woman—”

“Enough of calling me woman,” Ferrin said.

“Fair enough, but I'm a world-class cookie maker. Isn't that right, girls?”

The children all had huge grins on their faces as they nodded and smiled over at her and Kara. She knew they were up to something but it wasn't until Kara led her out into the hall and put her finger over her lips, pointing for her to look back inside, that she figured out what it was.

Hunter and the girls were all eating the dough out of the bowl with a spoon.

“Do they always do this?” Ferrin asked.

“Yes. They love it when he visits.”

“Is it dangerous to eat the dough?”

“Not in the small amount he allows. But they feel like they are sneaking around with him and they like it.”

“Don't all girls?” Ferrin asked.

Kara laughed. “Yes.”

* * *

Gui, Tristan and Christos had formed Seconds nightclub because they were rich boys without a shot at running their families' companies. Over the years they had all settled down and married. Christos's brother had died and Christos had taken over the running of his family's shipping line. Tristan was second in command at the largest magazine publisher in the world. And Gui, well, Gui sort of took care of the day-to-day management of Seconds and his family. He wasn't interested in the corporate world.

As soon as Kingsley had arrived with Gabi and Conner, the women had dashed out for an impromptu shopping trip and the men were now happily sitting in the living room watching the kids.

Hunter wanted this for himself. He knew that his chances of having a wife and kids were diminished by the past. Not because there was a chance he'd be charged again in Stacia's murder but because it was unresolved in his mind and in the minds of many others who'd followed the case.

“Dude, you look way too serious for
Peppa Pig
,” Kingsley said.

Suddenly these cute kids and happy men were too much for him. “I know. I need some air.”

He got up and let himself out of the house, walking down Beacon Hill toward the water.

“Hunter, wait,” Kingsley called. “I need some air, too.”

Kingsley caught up with him and the two men walked in silence for a while.

“Talk to me,” Kingsley said. “I am trying to read the play but nothing makes sense. We are closer than ever to getting some real answers about Stacia, you have a great woman in your life and it seems like we are finally making up for the mistakes we made in college. Help me understand what's going on with you.”

Hunter stopped and looked out over the bay. It was chilly here but the cold didn't really bother him. In fact it suited the mood he was in today.

“We're not close.”

“Why not?” King asked.

Hunter looked down at his feet and pushed his sunglasses up on his head as he looked over at Kingsley. “I can't go through with seducing Ferrin into letting me look in Coach's files anymore. It's not right. I have to let her decide on her own. Her dad doesn't want me looking in his records, and she still doesn't want to go behind Coach's back. It's bringing up a lot of stuff from her childhood—he wasn't a very good father and the existence of these files is painful to her in a way. I almost think I need to back off.”

“That sucks,” Kingsley said. “Want me to ask her?”

“No. I think that will simply make things worse.” Hunter stopped, turned to look at King and felt that brotherly love between them. He shook his head. “I don't think that will help at all. I know I have to do this. I'm going to do it. But I just... I keep getting caught up in this life that I never really thought I'd have.”

“I know what you mean.”

“How could you? You have Conner and now Gabi. You seem to be better at moving on that I am.”

“Well, not really. I always closed myself off before Gabi. And you have a lot more guilt than I do. You have to forgive yourself for not being able to save Stacia, Hunter. You've never been able to do that.”

“How can I forgive myself when I still don't know what happened?” It was a question he'd asked himself more than once and the answer still evaded him. “The things I do remember from that night don't make me like myself at all. I was spoiled when I broke up with her. Afraid that if I had a girlfriend I might not be able to enjoy all the perks of being a professional football player.”

“If Stacia hadn't died, would you feel the same?” King asked.

Hunter rubbed the back of his neck and put his head down. “I don't know. It doesn't matter anyway, she is dead. And we were both too drunk to remember seeing anything that night. There's no chance for someone like Ferrin and me until I figure this out. No chance.” “She likes you, Hunter. Not because of the football or your money or because you're dangerous. Somehow she likes you.”

“Don't take this the wrong way but you're not exactly intuitive,” Hunter said.

“You're right, I'm not. But Gabi is. She's convinced Ferrin's the one who will help you move on.”

Gabi was convinced. If only it would be that easy to convince Ferrin, but he knew it wouldn't be. “Do you think Coach is protecting someone?”

Better to talk about the past, which he knew and was comfortable with, than the future and Ferrin, which made him feel out of control.

“It's the only thing that makes sense to me,” Kingsley said. “You said he recognized you.”

“Yeah, but then he got sort of vague. From what Ferrin said he has pieces of memories but not the entire picture.”

“So either he's protecting someone because he remembered or he's not sure what's going on and is afraid,” Kingsley said. “I wish we'd been able to talk to him before he had the stroke.”

“Me, too,” Hunter said. But a part of him was glad they hadn't. Ferrin wouldn't have been at Coach's before his health failed and he'd have never met her.

Calmness spread through him as he realized that no matter what happened he wouldn't trade these few weeks with Ferrin for anything. That scared him like nothing else had. Ferrin mattered to him and he knew he was destined to let her down.

* * *

Ferrin had enjoyed the afternoon shopping with the women. She had some good girlfriends back in Texas and she realized how much she missed them. She needed to make plans to leave her father and go back home. She knew she was staying now for Hunter. Sure, he wanted permission from her to go through her dad's old files, and if she were honest she'd have to admit she was leaning toward giving it to him.

But she'd wanted more time to get to know him. A part of her was afraid if she just let him have access to her father's files he'd find what he needed and then...leave. That was what she'd been afraid to admit to herself. It didn't take a genius to realize that Hunter wasn't exactly the boy next door. He was very focused on her, very interested, and she was so scared to believe it might be for herself and not for the files. So she was stalling so she wouldn't have to find out.