Wrapped Up: A Triple Threat Sports Romance (10 page)

Brooke

As the acting head of my father’s company, I was used to being on the cover of business magazines. I was used to giving interviews where I had to talk about my performance or about the company’s performance. In those magazines, my looks didn’t really matter, as long as I looked like I was there to talk about business and not just walking in off the street for the first time.

As the apparent love interest of a pro football player, my
look
took on a different meaning. Every day there were more tabloids trying to figure out if I was his lover, something more, or just an agent helping him renegotiate his contract. Suddenly, I had gone from trying to look as business-like as possible to possibly looking
too
business-like for the kind of press I was receiving.

It was becoming increasingly difficult for us to meet in public without being hounded by the press. Speculation over our relationship drove more and more photographers and reporters to follow us on the streets.

I wasn’t used to all of the attention, and I wondered if it would eventually threaten my job performance to constantly have to dodge paparazzi every time I left the office or the house. I wondered if having to worry about different aspects of my appearance would eventually have a negative impact on my work and detract from my level of professionalism.

Part of me wanted to go back to my normal, quiet life, when my sole focus was running the company. I knew if I went back to my old life, I wouldn’t have Jake anymore, and I would have missed him. All of these contradicting feelings were swarming around inside me, and I wasn’t sure which way I wanted to go.

Jake wasn’t making things any easier on me either. He sent me texts regularly to let me know he was thinking about me throughout the day. It was usually something sweet and simple, just a
hello
here or a
hope you’re having a good day
there. It wasn’t anything to try to disrupt my day by starting a conversation, just a note to let me know I was on his mind.

He left me notes everywhere, too, like the note right about eye-level on my bathroom mirror reminding me of how beautiful he thought I was. It was strange to have someone actually acting like they appreciated me. As a successful woman, so many men I met wanted either to prove to me that they were more successful or to let me support them while they did whatever they wanted. It was strange to find someone who looked at me like we were on the same level in that regard.

It was working. Everything he was doing was working. He was starting to sweep me off my feet, and as good as it felt, it was also scary as hell. It was one thing to see all the signs of how he felt about me, it was another thing entirely to see those same feelings awakening in me.

It definitely provided balance against the barrage of tabloid journalism, but it was going beyond that. And it was too late to do anything about it. I couldn’t have called off the wedding at that point. It would have ruined my chances with the company, not to mention the trouble it could have caused him while he was on the bench due to his injury. He was supposed to be healing and taking it easy, not running around town courting successful women.

In speaking of women, it also seemed to me that he hadn’t seen any other women since we started talking about our arrangement. He was devoting himself solely to me, at least until we tied the knot. And if the notes and texts were any indication, it was more than a devotion to our arrangement that was keeping him faithful and loyal to me.

It really was a scary thought, but until I had complete control over the company, I couldn’t back out of our arrangement.

“I’m really impressed that you are finally getting married,” my father said to me one day, calling me in the middle of the day out of the blue to talk to me about the marriage and the changing of the guard, so to speak.

“It’s an easy decision to make with the right person,” I told him.

“With the right person or for the right reason?” he challenged me.

“Funny,” I said in an effort to dismiss his accusation.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice the odd coincidence of you finding someone to marry pretty much immediately after I told you that you needed to in order to take over the company,” he continued.

“I thought about that when I decided to tell you. I ran into Jake at the grocery store the same day you and I had that big talk about marriage and the company. It
was
a strange coincidence, but I hadn’t seen him in years before that day. And he was the one who got away, so I didn’t feel like I could just ignore him,” I explained, reiterating a bit of my original story, except it didn’t feel like a lie or a cover story anymore.

“Well, as long as you’re happy and you think you’re doing the right thing,” he said in an assuring tone.

“I really think I am,” I said, and then, I decided to say something else that probably put too many of my cards on the table. “Honestly, my first thought was to go out and find someone to marry just to get the company from you. And I really thought about turning Jake down for the fake alternative. When he first started talking about us getting back together, I didn’t think I would be able to make things move quickly enough, so I hesitated, and once I agreed to see him, he came right out and asked me to marry him.”

“Impressive. I wonder what he has up
his
sleeve,” he said, and I remembered our talk about how there were shady aspects to Jake’s life, things I didn’t completely understand. I had shoved some of those things to the back of my mind since he was being so open with me and so incredibly caring.

“You know, I wondered that, too, at one point, but he’s really put my mind at ease here recently,” I replied, defending my fiancé.

“I see you’ve made the papers together,” my father said, changing the subject a little. I could hear the smile in his voice. He was obviously amused by the fact that we had been photographed together. I couldn’t tell if it was a good kind of amused, or if he was beginning to sense that Jake was using me in much the same way I was using him.

“Yes, he can’t go anywhere without the press following him now that football season has started,” I said.

“It seems like you’re taming the bad boy here, at least according to the press. I didn’t realize what kind of reputation your boyfriend had out there, but they’ve said some pretty unflattering things about him.” His voice began to take on that accusing quality I hated so much, as if everything he said was an accusation of some wrong-doing.

“Yeah, it seems he’s lived quite a colorful life.” I found myself defending him again, carefully standing up to my father. I didn’t want to upset him and put him off by defending Jake, but I also wanted to let him know I was devoted to my husband-to-be.

“Well, be careful not to let his reputation tarnish yours. Business, at your level, is still very much a men’s club. And as unfair as it may seem, you will be held to a much higher standard than your peers. You’ve got to come across as a lady at all times. Don’t let his flashy, playboy lifestyle drag you down. Use your class to pull him up. I shouldn’t be worried, I know. I raised you better than that.” It was the first time my father had said anything of the sort to me. He had always treated me as an equal and presented me to his partners as such, though I had to admit that he had done his best to instill the highest values in me in regards of how to handle myself and how to handle business.

“I think that’s how a lot of people are looking at our relationship, as a way to bring him out of the gutter,” I agreed.

“Just in case things don’t work out, I hope you understand that I’m going to have to hold the transfer of the business back until the two of you actually make it to the altar.”

It was as if he read my mind. I was hoping that by talking up Jake and our relationship, I would be able to convince my dad that I was displaying the responsibility and stability he wanted to see in me before transferring the company over. But he wasn’t wanting to see those things in me like he had implied during our first conversation. He was merely wanting to see me get married because
marriage
was all of those things he had talked to me about.

“We’re going to make it to the altar,” I assured him. “Jake is working on the wedding planning for me as we speak.”

“Wait, you’ve got
him
doing it?” my father asked skeptically.

“Yeah, it’s perfect for his injury. He’s on the bench for a couple of games, and he’s not even allowed at practice until the doctors release him. So, while he’s out of commission, he’s working in the office handling PR and working on the wedding planning.” I was trying to keep him as busy as possible so he didn’t lose his mind. I had noticed that when Jake wasn’t playing, he became very anxious, so giving him something to do was the best I could really do for him.

My father sat on the phone silently for a moment before saying anything else. The tone of his silence was one of disapproval. I realized I might have said too much to him about letting Jake handle the wedding for me.

“I don’t think your fiancé should be handling the wedding,” he said finally in a very unhappy tone.

“But it’s really right up his alley. He’s really good at organizing people and managing details. It’s what he’s doing for the team right now since he can’t play at the moment,” I explained.

“No, the bride should be arranging the wedding. But that’s fine. If you don’t want to do it yourself…”

“I don’t have
time
to do it myself,” I interrupted.

“Whatever the case may be, if you’re not doing it yourself, I will do it for you. I am going to be paying for it anyway, so you might as well have the grand wedding ceremony I want you to have.”

I started to argue. We were going to pay for our own damn wedding, and we were going to have a relatively intimate ceremony. We had already agreed on it, and that was what I had Jake working on for us. But I also knew when to keep my mouth shut. My father was suspicious enough of us as it was. It was clear he suspected that we were only getting married so I could get the company put into my name and so that Jake could clean up his image.

If I continued to fight for a small, independently funded wedding he would know we were just staging it. If it had been a real wedding, we would have gone along with his idea for a grand ceremony without question. And Jake wouldn’t have been doing any planning.

I wouldn’t have been so nonchalant about the whole thing because it would have been my big wedding. So I finally gave in.

“If that’s what you want to do,” I told him. “We’ll step back and let you take over.”

“Excellent. I’m going to treat my little girl to the wedding ceremony she deserves, not some other man’s idea of what a wedding should be,” he said, clearly pleased with my decision.

“I know it will be great. Thank you,” I told my father.

I tried to sound genuinely grateful, but I really dreaded having to tell Jake that I was turning the wedding over to my father. He was going to be so disappointed. But if we were going to pull it off, I didn’t see any other way.

Jake

“So all of the work I have done, all the effort I have put into planning this wedding for you, has all been for nothing. Is that what you’re telling me?” I felt like she was pulling the carpet out from underneath me by taking the wedding away from me the way she was.

“I wouldn’t say it’s been for
nothing
,” she said suggestively, pressing herself close to me and running a hand down the front of my shirt.

Even as angry and betrayed as I felt just then, her touch sent chills through my body. I felt my skin thrilling at her touch. I took a deep breath to steady myself against her tempting touch.

“You’ve definitely turned me on with your dedication to our arrangement,” she continued.

Finally, I had to push her hands away. If it had been anyone else in just about any other situation, I would have been more than happy to play along.

“What is it?” she asked, tilting her head to show her concern over my reaction. Her beautiful blue eyes probed my face as if to clarify that I really was telling her no.

“You need to stand up to your father on this,” I told her. I turned away and sat down on my couch, facing the stone fireplace in the middle of the room. Both sides of the fireplace were open, and I had sitting rooms on either side of it, marked by the couches and love seats situated in front of the fire.

“If I do, he’ll bust us for lying about our arrangement,” she told me. “He could easily shut the whole thing down. Then where would we be? You need this as much as I do.”

“No, I don’t. I just need one person on my arm for an extended period of time. I’d be happy to call it off as soon as the season ends, but it has to last at least that long, and it doesn’t have to be something ornate with a bunch of other hands dipping in from outside,” I explained.

Neither one of us wanted to admit that we had allowed it to go too far to turn back now. And I certainly didn’t want to admit to her that part of what was so upsetting to me was the fact that it was still
just
an arrangement. I was starting to want more. Or to at least let it feel like more until it was time to call it quits.

“It’s not a bunch of hands, Jake. It’s just my father. He’s the reason I have to do this anyway.”

I leaned my head back on the couch. She was right about that much: we probably wouldn’t have even spoken to each other if we didn’t both have reasons to be in this middle of this agreement together.

“I’m sorry. I’m losing sight of what’s important here for the details,” I apologized.

“Yes, I think you are. You’re acting like you want it to be real. Jake, it can’t be real. You and I both know that. Now, sure, if I didn’t have to get married and you didn’t need a steady girl, we would probably be able to test the waters to see if we were still compatible or whatever, but right now we have to stay focused on what we’re actually doing here,” Brooke explained.

“I just don’t like the idea of letting your father control so much of what we’re doing. I mean, is he going to control everything?” I looked back at her, standing in front of me in her white business suit with her hands planted firmly on her hips.

I didn’t want to argue with her anymore. I wanted to strip her suit off her sexy little body. I wanted to see her naked before me. I didn’t want it to be a casual encounter this time. I wanted to take my time and kiss her all over her body. I wanted to please her and watch as she gave in to the ecstasy flowing between our bodies. I wanted to give in to my desire, to her advances. I wanted it to stop being so damn serious. It was just supposed to be an arrangement, and since there wasn’t much we had control over, I knew we needed to find something we could manage on our own. Sex was it.

“He’s going to control as much as he can until he turns the company over to me. At that point, I’m going to take control from him,” she said with a deep conviction and a hint of satisfaction in her voice.

“I like it.” I allowed a little smirk to play across my face.

She took a couple of steps towards me. Her expression shifted. She wasn’t thinking about trying to convince me to relent on my stance concerning her father anymore. She was thinking about something else now.

“I know something else he can’t control,” she said as she approached me. She took my hands in hers as she straddled me on the couch. She put my hands on her breasts through her suit jacket and the blouse underneath. She hiked up her skirt so she could spread her legs across my lap. I felt her press her hips against mine.

“Is this it?” I asked her, smiling up at her intense blue eyes. She had me pinned against the couch with her hips and her legs, leaving me unable to turn her away.

She leaned forward, pressing her chest against me and putting her lips against my ear. “No, but it’s very close,” she panted. I could hear her desire in her voice.

I could feel my desire pressing against her between my legs as she rocked her hips back and forth against my hardening shaft. I wrapped an arm around her waist and started to get up. I was going to carry her up to my room and take her on my bed.

“No, take me here,” she said, pressing her hips against me even harder. Her lips met the side of my neck then, and her hands gripped my arms.

The thought of letting her have me right there on the couch made me ache for her. My erection surged against the warmth between her sweet, thin thighs. I considered throwing her down on the couch and just sliding off her panties to take her rough and fast. I wanted to listen to her moan as I treated her like just another girl, just another piece of meat, but she was so much more than that, and I wanted to enjoy every moment of what we had to offer each other.

I took her face in my hands and kissed her lips slowly, catching her bottom lip between my teeth and pulling back to let it slide out of my mouth. Her thighs clenched around my hips, and I could feel her body tense up with desire.

“Undress me,” I told her in a heavy tone.

Without a word, she started working the buttons of my shirt, slowly revealing my chest and abs to her. She pulled my shirt out of the waist of my pants and pushed it aside so she could run her thin fingers over my flesh. I felt her hungry, greedy touch spreading across my skin as she ran her hands back and forth, side to side.

Then, those delicate fingers of hers slid down my stomach to grab my belt. The whole time, she leaned forward with her head resting against my shoulder. Her hot breath brushed my skin as she panted while she rocked her hips against my erection. I could almost feel the tender folds of flesh underneath her panties as she pressed herself against me.

She tugged at my belt, undoing it. Then she gripped the waistband of my slacks and unbuttoned them. She slowly pulled the zipper down along my throbbing sex, and grabbed my shaft through the fabric of my boxers. She ran her hand up and down along my length before grabbing my pants and my boxers to pull them down.

I raised my hips to help her pull my pants off, and when she sat back down on top of me, I could feel the heat and moisture between her legs. She was wet and waiting for me to press through her clothes into her hot little core.

“God, I want you so badly,” she breathed as she pressed her hands against my shirt again, trying to push it off my shoulders and down my arms. All of her weight and strength rested in her hips against my solid cock. She had no strength left in her upper body.

I shrugged off my shirt, leaning up so she could pull it out from behind me. When I leaned back against the couch, the bare skin of my back met the warm leather of the cushions.

“Undress me,” she panted. “Fuck me, Jake.”

I pulled her jacket off her shoulders and let it slide down her arms to the floor. I unbuttoned the thin white blouse she wore underneath it to reveal the black lace bra that her jacket had been hiding from prying eyes all day. The black lace created an enticing contrast with her fair skin. I grabbed her perky tits in my hands and squeezed them through the fabric, pressing her nipples through the openings in the lace pattern.

I leaned forward and licked her hardening peaks through the bra. She cupped her hands behind my head and held me against her chest, inviting me to continue sucking on her tits.

My fingers gripped the fabric covering her breasts and pulled it down to reveal them to my greedy lips, teeth, and tongue. I flicked the hard pink flesh with the tip of my tongue. First on one breast, and then on the other. She sucked her breath between her teeth as I grazed her nipples, one and then the other.

“Take me, Jake,” she begged. “Please, let me have you again.”

My ploy to get her to want me had worked. I could feel her wet for me through her panties. She was growing wetter by the moment, with each thrust of her hips.

“Stand up,” I told her.

She slid back from my lap and stood in front of me.

“Turn around.”

She did, revealing the zipper on the back of her skirt. I took it in my hands and slowly slid it down, opening her skirt to reveal the back side of her thong. I pulled her skirt down, revealing the thin strip of black fabric running down between her cheeks. I could just slide the fabric to the side to reveal her sweet little hole. I ran a hand down between her legs, pressing my fingers against the soft flesh on either side of the thin fabric.

“Back up,” I told her. I parted my legs to let her stand between my knees, the backs of her legs pressed against the front of the couch.

I pulled her panties down, pulling the fabric away from her wet folds. I ran a finger between her soft, wet lips, passing her entrance and sliding up the front of her slit. I pressed my fingertip gently against her nub of pleasure. She gripped my legs as I flicked her clit, sucking her breath in sharply.

I stroked the center of her pleasure a few more times, watching the muscles in her back flex and relax as pleasure surged through her body. I continued coaxing her back, closer to my throbbing erection, as I played with her tender sex.

Finally, as she started to sit against me, my shaft pressed between her soft, round cheeks, I pulled my fingers back and slid them into her hungry little hole. I slid two fingers deep inside of her, running my knuckles against her tight walls.

“Please, Jake,” she begged me, her body quivering with pleasure against me.

I bent her forward and took my shaft in my hand, pressing the tip of my swollen head against her slippery lips. I pulled her by her shoulder against me, stabbing her with my thick, hard cock. I watched her ass slide back against me as I slid into her wet hole. I moaned as I felt her flesh wrap around my shaft.

I had wanted her more than I had realized, and it felt so good to finally give in to my desire for her. I grabbed her hips and pulled that tight little ass against me, pressing my shaft all the way inside of her.

She moaned as I slid her back and forth along the length of my shaft. I watched as I entered and exited her. I watched her skin stretch to take my shaft as I slid her back and forth. I pulled myself back, letting my head slide slowly out of the pit of her pleasure.

Brooke turned around and looked down at me with a hungry desire in her eyes.