Tackled by Lisa Suzanne

CHAPTER 13

“Get in the truck,” Jack demands, and I laugh. It’s the same thing he said when he took me to his office not so long ago, but this time, he’s wearing a suit and I’m wearing a dress.

I haven’t stopped staring at him since he came down the stairs and into the kitchen a minute ago. And to be honest, I don’t think he’s stopped staring at me, either.

I went with a black dress that has red accents around the neckline, sleeves, and belt, and I realize only now black and red are also the Vegas Aces colors.

The moment Jack walked down into the kitchen and his eyes connected with mine, the heat between us was unmistakable.

I haven’t figured out whether tonight is going to be really fun or really dangerous.

We head toward the church in Jack’s truck. Shannon and Kevin will be married here tomorrow morning, and contrary to popular belief, not every single Vegas wedding takes place in a quickie chapel or on the Strip. This one is being held at the church Shannon and Kevin attend every Sunday with a reception to follow at a banquet hall close by. Tonight’s dinner after we practice our roles for tomorrow will take place at Shannon’s favorite Italian restaurant—part of my motivation in choosing a black dress. After all, red sauce stains don’t come out of lighter colors very easily.

“I have a favor I need to ask you,” I begin.

Jack’s gaze darts over to me before his eyes return to the road. “What’s that?” he asks, his jaw clenched.

“Kevin’s cousin broke his clavicle,” I announce.

“How exactly does that affect me?”

“Well he was supposed to do a reading and now he can’t make it to the wedding and Shannon’s freaking out.” I’m babbling.

“That’s awful,” he says, and the teasing in his voice is unmistakable. He already knows what I’m going to ask.

“Would you possibly consider stepping in?”

His eyes stay focused out the window as his jaw works back and forth and why the hell is that so damn sexy when he does that?

“I’m sorry to be asking you a favor,” I say, trying to appeal to what I know of him. “I know you get pounded with them all day every day. But will you do it?”

He raises a brow at my pounded all day every day line. “No,” he says. “Absolutely not.”

“Why not?” I realize I’m begging, but I’m just trying to save the day for Shannon. Besides, I basically already told her he’d do it. I can’t let the bride down.

“For one thing, I don’t want to overshadow the bride and groom on their day. Because trust me, that will happen.” His eyes remain focused on the road.

“What if you’re not overshadowing? What if it’s making their special day even more memorable by having the hottest quarterback in the league read a passage at their wedding ceremony?”

“You think I’m hot?” he asks, and his voice is all low and raspy as his words send a shot of need right between my legs.

“Oh my God, Jack! Come on. I already told Shannon you’d do it, so will you or won’t you?”

He blows out a breath and takes a long time to answer. “Fine. It’s already going to be a spectacle just because I’m showing up.”

“I don’t think that’s true. Do you?”

“I absolutely do,” he says.

We pull into the church parking lot, and he cuts the engine. He stares at the building in front of us for a beat without moving a muscle.

“Afraid you’re going to burst into flames as soon as you walk through the doors?” I tease.

He chuckles a little. “No. It’s just been a long time since I’ve been in a church.”

“Oh? When was the last time?”

He glances over at me. “My father’s funeral.”

Oh. I’m at a sudden loss for words. “I’m sorry for asking,” I say.

“Don’t be. It’s part of life, right?”

He gets out of the car at those words and we head toward the doors of the church where hopefully a happier event will take place tomorrow.

The first person we see as we walk into the church is Shannon’s mom. I expect some sort of greeting, but her eyes immediately fall onto the man beside me. “Oh my God. You—you’re Jack Dalton!”

“The one and only,” he says with a gracious smile. He offers a hand for a handshake. She tosses her arms around his neck instead, and he laughs at her exuberance.

“I can’t believe you’re really here! I’m such a huge fan!” She pulls back, embarrassed by her own reaction to this football megastar. “So good to see you,” she says, finally turning to give me a hug.

“Congratulations, Mrs. Martin. Tomorrow’s the big day!”

She smiles and stares at Jack some more. I spot Shannon and Kevin talking with an older woman who looks like she works here, and when they turn around, I excuse myself and beeline for them with Jack hot on my tail. I introduce my date, and Kevin’s jaw drops as he sees Jack Dalton in the flesh in the same church where he’s getting married tomorrow.

“The legendary Jack Dalton,” Kevin murmurs. “Holy shit. It’s really you.” He turns around and looks at the church as he makes one of those oops sort of faces at his curse.

“It’s really me. And I feel like you just aged me about three decades by calling me legendary,” Jack says with an easy laugh, and Kevin’s eyes widen.

“Did—did you ask him?” Shannon asks me.

“I did, and he agreed.”

“Happy to do it,” Jack says, and he’s sure putting on a different face in front of his fans than he just did in the car for me. I guess that means he’s starting to let me in.

The woman in me is thrilled by that.

The psychologist in me is scared.

I don’t want to lose this job.

Somehow in the last few weeks, it’s become everything to me, and I think it has a lot more to do with the fact that I get to spend day in and day out by Jack Dalton’s side than with the actual position.

He’s behaved himself...for the most part. He doesn’t really need a babysitter. He knows how to act. He was just lashing out since he was having a tough time, and maybe having me here has given him some of the tools he needed to stop what he was doing, or maybe not. Whatever the case is, he’s fine now. If I tell Calvin that, though, I’m out of a job.

And I’m not ready to lose this.

Somewhere along the way, he started letting me in and I didn’t even realize it.

More guests arrive, and everyone has pretty much the same reaction to Jack being here. I’m sure this happens all the time to him...and as the night goes on, I get to witness firsthand that it does, in fact, happen all the time.

I get what he meant when he said even just being here was going to be a spectacle.

The women here stare at him with eyes full of lust while the men stare with awe. The women want to be with him while, as cliché as it sounds, the men want to be him. He’s the best quarterback in the league and one of the greatest athletes in the world. Who wouldn’t want those things?

And he’s my date.

Somehow.

Oh, and I’ve slept with him.

I shift a little uncomfortably on my feet at the thought.

“Let’s have the wedding party over here,” the woman Shannon and Kevin were talking to announces.

Jack glances at me. “I assume that also means you,” I whisper. He nods, and we head in the direction where the other bridesmaids I recognize from last week’s bachelorette party have started to gather.

There’s some flirting. Sara gives him a hug, and Lauren does, too—the two women who were most openly flirtatious with him at the bachelorette party by a longshot—and the others greet him with a little more bashfulness. I wonder if any of them know that the morning after the bachelorette party, I woke up with him in my bed.

Shannon starts making the introductions. I haven’t met all of the groomsmen...and sure enough, there stands the attractive guy I once met for coffee who ran out on me when I scared the shit out of him.

“Hey Vince,” I say cheerfully, and at least I’m not a total loser without a date since I showed up with Jack Dalton. Hopefully people here don’t know he’s actually engaged to marry another woman. At least I hope Vince doesn’t know...but even if they do know, it’s with a grain of salt since it’s what the media has told us.

“Hey Kate,” Vince says a little hesitantly. “Good to see you.” He doesn’t mean those words. They’re spoken out of ingrained good manners.

“Hey, I’d love to introduce you to my date.” I slide my arm around Jack’s waist. I look up at him with eyes that beg him to play along, and I spot a little twinkle in his eyes as they connect with mine.

He tosses his arm around my shoulder, and that woodsy, masculine scent of his bears down on me. It’s so strong this close to him that I can’t help but turn in toward him to get an even better whiff of him.

“This is Jack,” I say.

Vince’s jaw drops open just a little as he recognizes my date.

“Nice to meet you, man,” Jack booms. “How do you know my Kate?”

My Kate?

Did he really just call me his Kate?

And Kate? Not Kia?

I die right on the spot.

My knees are clunking together so loudly that I’m pretty sure they’re echoing in the vestibule.

“Oh, we met for coffee once,” Vince says. “Had a little fun.”

We had a little fun? We literally talked for twelve seconds.

“I’m glad you didn’t have too much fun,” Jack says.

“Why’s that?” Vince asks.

“Because I might not be standing here with her right this very minute if you had.” His arm tightens around my shoulder, and he leans down and drops a kiss into my hair.

I die again.

His lips. My hair. I get that it’s only my hair and it’s not that big a deal and he’s just playing a part, but still. Having his lips anywhere near me is a stark reminder of the one night we shared.

And the more time I spend with him, the more convinced I become that it shouldn’t be relegated to just that one night.

The only problem is there’s an awful lot standing in the way of that actually happening.