Scored(9)

I give Layton a meaningful look.

She nods.

As soon as my sister leaves, we’re looking up Drake’s Dolls.

“Paige, would you mind helping me?” Layton asks. “With all the wedding stuff, I’m afraid if Mr. Drake were to pick our space, I wouldn’t be able to give his charity the attention it deserves.”

“Um…” I look at my sister, who gives me this ‘what’s wrong with you’ look. “Sure?”

“Thanks, y’all. Knowing the two of you have my back really helps. I’ll make sure to push him in the right direction.” Finley glances at her Apple watch. “Crap. I have to cut this short. Meeting with Coach Kinnear, and he wants to move it up an hour.”

“Thanks for eating with us,” I say, grabbing her hand and squeezing.

“Maybe next time you’ll be the one to ask me,” she says.

I roll my eyes. “Maybe I will.”

Finley leaves enough cash to cover her bill and takes a last gulp of water before bolting out of her seat. Her heels click rapidly on the sidewalk as she hurries to her Mercedes.

“Bye, Finley,” Layton calls out.

Finley waves in our general direction.

I blow out a breath. “I don’t know if I should strangle or kiss you.”

“You can thank me by paying for lunch.” She taps her fingers on the table. “Now we know all about Dallas. Or we will as soon as we learn about his dolls.”

“That sounds so gross,” I mutter as she searches.

“Oh my.” Her brow wrinkles and she gives me a small smile. “It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“It can’t be good either.”

She hands over her phone. “Honestly, it reads a supermarket tabloid. No telling what’s true or not. But Finley didn’t seem too concerned about either of us being around Dallas.”

In other words, my sister didn’t think he’d hit on us. Not exactly a selling point. Quickly, I read over the articles.

Most of them seem to point to the fact that he likes to have a good time and lots of female company. He’s a single guy—am I supposed to hold him to the same standard as one who’s in a committed relationship? In fact, none of the women who are interviewed ever accuse him of cheating on them. Only a few out make it sound like he’s having orgies in space or the owner’s box.

Layton’s right. This is exactly like something you’d catch yourself reading in the grocery store. Maybe I shouldn’t hold something against him that he has no way of defending.

“Still…we don’t know everything about him,” I remind her.

“Fair enough, but I don’t recall your sister forbidding you from seeing Dallas.” She grins. “In fact, I think she was encouraging you to spend time with him.”

“Only to help with his charity.”

“What your sister doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

“That’s because she’ll be the one doing all the murdering.” I take the bill from the server, pulling out my purse and fishing out my wallet to get my debit card. “Besides, I have no reason to date him. Other than him knowing Finley, I bet we have nothing in common. And you know I don’t like the cocky he-man types. I prefer my men like Darcy… well-spoken, well-read, and—”

“—swimming in an ornamental pond in a white shirt that clings to their muscular chest?”

“Exactly.”

“I don’t know—romantic literature has been your wheelhouse for such a long time that maybe you should consider action and adventure.” She wriggles her brows at me. “Dig deeper into the human ecology of men and women—specifically, a librarian and a football player. How would the two interact? Would their social environments keep them apart, or make it all the sweeter when the two decide to explore—”

“I got it. I got it,” I say with a laugh. “Okay, if he asks me out again, and that’s a big if, I’ll consider saying yes. But he can’t ask me back to his place. It has to be a proper date.”

Layton smiles beatifically. “That’s all I can ask, but you still have to make out with the best man at the reception.”





CHAPTER 4




Dallas


I’m a risk/reward type of guy. The greater the risk, the greater the possible reward. I’ve lived my entire life like that, unafraid to take chances. For the most part, I’ve always landed on top. Even when I didn’t, I learned from the experience, never let it hold me down or back.

When I first realized I could make an actual career out of football, I wanted to play for the Cowboys so bad I could taste the BBQ sauce on the ribs. In fact, they drafted me… and after the season was over, they got rid of me. Any other guy would have talked shit about the team, made everyone think they were the ones missing out on keeping Dallas Drake. But that wasn’t remotely true at the time.

I was a nobody in a sea of somebodies, each one with a personality bigger than life itself. I thought by keeping my head in the game and simply playing when Coach sent me in that I would be safe, that the fans would come, and I would be mostly secure in my position. That little fantasy came to a quick end. I have to thank the Cowboys for doing me a favor, actually. If it weren’t for them, or advice from Aiden that I followed, I wouldn’t have broken away from the pack, became famous, and been drafted as a starter for the Renegades.