Tackled by Lisa Suzanne

CHAPTER 1

“Good morning, Sunshine.” Jack’s smirk is still firmly in place. His blue eyes glow at me, and they’re less navy in the bright morning light and more ocean blue.

Jeez, he’s handsome.

“What the hell happened last night?” The words in my brain slip out of my mouth in a raspy croak.

My phone starts ringing again.

“Don’t pick it up,” he demands. “We need damage control. Stat.”

“Damage control?” Not only is my head pounding, and my stomach churning, and my mouth drier than the desert...but my brain is muddled with confusion.

“Some pictures may have hit the press. You and me dancing.” He shrugs. “It was innocent-ish.”

“Innocent-ish?” I repeat. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Considering good ol’ Cal is paying you to keep me out of headlines, I think he presumed that also meant you’d stay out of my pants.” He chuckles, and he’s awfully chipper considering the circumstances. It’s almost like he likes this.

“Out of your pants? We didn’t...uh—” I lower the sheet I have covering my body and I’m relieved to find that at least I’m wearing clothes.

I don’t remember changing out of the dress I wore to the club last night and into a t-shirt that says Feed Me Tacos and Tell Me I’m Pretty with just my panties on bottom, but at least I’m not naked.

“No,” Jack says, and I let out a little breath of relief. “Not that you didn’t try, and not that I didn’t want to...”

My eyes widen.

“I’m kidding, Kia. You were too far gone and I was ever the gentleman. But when you tore that dress over your head right in front of me—”

I hold up a hand. “Stop. You’re engaged to another woman.”

His lips flatten into a line. “Not because we’re in love.”

“You admit it?” I realize he just told me we have damage control to take care of, but hell if I can wait another second to get the truth out of him. Damage control can wait. It’s already waited through twelve missed calls.

Scratch that. Thirteen.

I click it off again.

He shrugs. “What do I have to lose by telling you the truth at this point? No, I don’t love her. We both mutually benefit from a union.”

“What do you get out of it?” I ask. I might as well take everything I can get in this morning confessional even though I’m still a little confused as to what’s happening here.

“I keep my boss off my ass, for one thing. I get to play the game I love. And, you know, other things.”

I raise a brow, but he doesn’t expand. “And what does she get?”

“Her dream come true. The Dalton last name. A pro football player husband. She gets to be part of the inner circle of football wives, one of the few parts of the organization she hasn’t been allowed to infiltrate. She gets to sit at home and do jack shit while a nanny raises her kid. She gets to keep her lifestyle and make her daddy proud all in one fell swoop. And, you know, other things.”

Other things?

What other things?

“You know what bugs me about you?” I ask, and I plow forward before he gets a chance to answer. “You act like you’re giving me everything I’m asking you for, yet you give me nothing.”

He stares at me with his brows drawn together in a bit of bewilderment. “That’s what bugs you about me? Not the fact that I drive like a maniac or I can be kind of an asshole or we slept together last Halloween and now you’re being paid to babysit me?”

“Kind of an asshole?” I repeat.

He laughs. “I like you, Katie Cat.” He blows out a breath and looks away from me. “A lot.”

“I think I like Kia better,” I mutter even though my stomach flips at his words. “So what do I tell Calvin about last night?”

“I don’t know, Kia. But I wanted you to know what’s waiting for you on your phone.” He stands and gets out of my bed, and goddamn him for looking so hot first thing in the morning. It’s just not fair. “You’ll think of something.”

“Wait!” I yell after him before he walks out the door. He pauses and turns around. “Did you spend the night in here?”

“Someone had to look after you.” His voice is quiet, and then he walks out of my room.

Wait a minute.

Does he actually...care about me?

His actions certainly speak to friendship, at the very least. But maybe there’s more. My foggy brain starts to go down that path, but then my detective skills kick in.

I didn’t have such rabid suspicions about people before Blake cheated on me, but I sure as hell do now.

Jack didn’t agree to go with me last night to be a nice guy.

He did it so he could get me fired.

He knew there would be an opportunity for him to do something that would land him in the headlines, which would only piss off Calvin and potentially get me out of his life.

What a jerk.

And what the hell do I do now?

My phone starts ringing again, and I finally pick it up. “Hello?” I answer, knowing full well who’s on the other end of the line.

“My office. One hour.” Calvin’s voice is firm and measured, and he cuts the call.

I can tell you one thing for sure. I’m not going into that damn office alone.

I feel better after a shower, and I head down to the kitchen for a quick bite to eat. I find Jack in there chugging Gatorade.

“Calvin wants to see us in his office in twenty minutes,” I announce. Okay, so Calvin didn’t say that exactly, but when Jack said I’d think of something, well, this is it. This is my plan. It’s all I’ve got.

“He didn’t call to tell me that.” His voice is flippant, and I want to smack him.

“I guess I’m the messenger, then.” By the grace of God, I keep my tone calm and measured.

He sighs. “Give me five minutes.”

Holy shit. It worked.

I shove a granola bar down the hatch and chug some water, and then just to be spiteful, I grab an orange Gatorade. He appears a few minutes later in shorts and a white Aces shirt. His arms are golden and his eyes are glowing a deep, dark blue. He runs a hand through his hair.

God, he’s dreamy.

And then his eyes fall onto the drink in my hands. He pins me with a glare. “I’m letting it slide once,” he says, and I think he’s teasing me but I’m not totally sure. “Ready?” he asks.

I grab my purse and stop looking at him because all rational thought seems to fly out the window when I’m around him. I fish my keys out of my purse as I follow him toward the garage, and he hops in his truck before I even get the chance to say Kia.

“Come on,” he calls gruffly, and I climb up into the front seat knowing full well what a terrible idea this is.

“Where’s my car?” I ask.

“Still at Caesar’s. We can get it on our way home.”

“How’d we get home last night?” I ask.

He laughs. “Lyft. You were really out of it. The driver almost didn’t let us in because he was afraid you were going to toss it all over the backseat, but luckily he’s a fan.”

My heart pounds as we make our way toward the Complex, in part because we’re sailing in and out of traffic and in part because I still don’t know what happened last night and in part because I’m afraid I’m about to lose my job.

And maybe I will. Maybe I deserve to...maybe I never deserved this job in the first place.

Jack doesn’t need a babysitter.

He needs a way out of the situation he’s suddenly stuck in, and I might just be the right person to help him with that.

The only problem is that if I actually do anything about it, I’ll find myself out of a job. My first paycheck hasn’t even cleared my bank account yet and my job is already on the line. How the hell am I going to make this last ten months?

“You’re quiet, Kia,” he says as we roll through town.

I stare out the windshield even though I feel his eyes on my profile. “What do you want me to say? I’m probably going to lose my job and I’m sure you’re celebrating that fact.” I turn and narrow my eyes at him. “Why’d you agree to go with me last night?”

His brows dip as his eyes return to the road. “To be a nice guy?”

“Is that a question?” I ask.

He doesn’t say anything for a beat, which just confirms my suspicions.

“Were you trying to get me fired?” I ask. “You were awfully convincing when I said I didn’t want to drink, and then you kept refilling my glass...”

“Hey, don’t blame me for your lack of self-control.” He’s so cocky, and I can’t think of another man in history who has filled me with as much rage as he does.

“It wasn’t a lack of self-control,” I hiss, but when I take a look at the facts, I don’t really have a leg to stand on with that particular defense.

“Right.” He pauses. “I have a question for you. Why’d you take this job?”

“I was desperate,” I admit. He chuckles, and I shrug. “Why does anybody take any job?”

He grunts. “Okay, so what do you need money for?”

“I’m going to create my own business and take control of my future so I don’t ever have to work for anybody else but myself. I was able to save a little at my last job since it was a live-in nanny position, so I was looking for another live-in situation to get off my friend’s couch. My phone rang, Calvin was on the other end, and here we are.”

He clears his throat. “Did, uh...did you know it was me?”

“God, the ego on you.” I roll my eyes, and he laughs. “No. If I did, I probably wouldn’t have taken it.”

“Why not?” His voice is soft, and I almost think I’ve offended him.

I don’t want to bring up that night...but he’s forcing me to. “Halloween. Your girlfriend showing up. A viral meme. Complete and utter mortification every time I see the number five. That whole thing.”

“Right. So what business are you going to create?” he asks.

“Aw, JD-Five!” I say with far too much enthusiasm. “Be careful there. It almost sounds like you care.”

I expect a laugh, or at least a grunt of a chuckle. Instead, he’s dead serious when he says, “Maybe I’m starting to.”