Susan Mallery - Sweet Spot

She’d accepted her fate, had never considered there might be other paths.

“You, not your baby sister?”

Nicole didn’t want to think about Jesse or the fact that both her sisters were pregnant. “She never had a lot of interest.”

“Do you like what you do?”

She thought about an average day, the people she worked with, the rhythm. “Most of the time. I mean hey, I’m surrounded by cupcakes. Where’s the bad?”

He grinned. “Good point. I always knew I wanted to play football. I grew up north of Seattle, outside of Marysville. Small town, small high school. Football was going to be my way out.”

“What about your family?”

“It was just my mom and me. My dad died when I was little. What I remember about him isn’t good. Money was tight, but that was okay. My mom was so damn proud of me. She really believed in me. When things got hard, I thought about my mom.” Hawk picked up his wine but didn’t take a drink. “She lived to see me get to college on a scholarship, but not much longer after that. I wish she could have seen me go pro.”

“Maybe she did.”

He looked at her. “I like to think so. She was great when I found out Serena was pregnant. We were seniors in high school. I thought she was going to kill me, but she just said we’d handle it.”

Nicole wasn’t sure what her father would have said if she’d shown up pregnant. Not that it ever would have happened. Between school and working in the bakery and raising Jesse, there hadn’t been a lot of time for dating. Or fun.

“How did Serena’s parents take it?” she asked.

“They were angry. They told her if she didn’t give up the baby for adoption and never see me again, they would have nothing to do with her.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No. She was devastated. But I told her we’d get married and be a family. It took a hell of a leap of faith for her to believe me.”

“She was in love.”

“We both were. It was terrifying at first. We got married right after graduation and moved in with my mom. The coach at Oklahoma University put us in touch with some folks down in Norman and they really helped out.”

Nicole didn’t know much about football but she knew he’d picked the right kind of school.

“Living in a place where college football is king made a difference,” she teased.

“I know. We were taken care of. We lived off campus in a great little house. I was supposed to do maintenance to pay rent, but there wasn’t much to do. Serena got a job with flexible hours and decent pay. Everyone there made it easy for us. There were always babysitters so Serena could come to the games.”

Nicole couldn’t imagine that life. It was like hearing the plot of a movie. “You were lucky.”

“We were. Even with all the help we were still a couple of teenagers raising a baby. Nights Brittany had a fever terrified me. I could take a hit with no problem, but every time she fell down, I thought I was going to lose it.”

“An involved dad,” she said lightly, feeling the steady ticking of her biological clock. Why was having a family such a challenge?

“I loved her and Serena. A lot of the guys on the team never understood why I was so happy being with one woman. They were out getting as much as they could and when you play ball you get a lot. But that wasn’t important to me. It was the same when I went pro. For us, it was a chance to be financially secure. We wanted to go back to Seattle, so we bought the house I live in now. It’s pretty ordinary. We wanted a regular life.”

“An unusual dream for a pro football player.”

“I don’t need a lot of expensive crap to tell me who I am.”

Which said a lot about him. Nicole was beginning to wonder if this dinner was a good idea. She didn’t want to start to actually like Hawk. That would create a complication she didn’t need.

“Why did you retire?”

“Serena got cancer. We knew she was dying. Brittany was only twelve, so it hit her hard. Serena and I talked about what was best for Brittany. Me traveling and training six or eight months out of the year wasn’t it. Serena’s parents finally came around, but they’re in Florida now so they only see Brittany every couple of years. There wasn’t anyone to take care of her but me. Retiring was the right thing to do.”

He’d quit playing professional football-an occupation that practically gave him deity status-to stay home and take care of his daughter?

“I got bored in three days,” he said with a grin. “That’s when I thought about coaching.”

“You mean you’re not in it for the money?” she teased, not wanting him to be as good as he sounded.

“I don’t need the paycheck, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Speaking of paychecks, are you going to see Raoul tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

“I have his paycheck. He didn’t work yesterday and I forgot to pay him a day early.” She thought about how tight money was for him. “Maybe I’ll drop it off at his house tomorrow.”

“I can do that.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m his boss.”

“How’s he working out for you?”

“He’s great. A hard worker. I’m glad to have him.”

“Aren’t you happy you didn’t throw him in jail?”

“I’m not going to talk about that.”

“Because you don’t want to admit you were wrong?”

“Something like that.”

THEY TALKED all through dinner. Nicole found her entrée getting cold as she and Hawk debated everything from the Mariners’ chance at making the play-offs to the best place to get coffee. As it was Seattle, there were hundreds of choices.

“You’re talking flavored lattes,” he grumbled. “Girl drinks.”

“Oh, right. And you’re just too manly.”

“I am.”

He looked at her and she stared back. Heat flared, making her squirm. When he reached across the table and grabbed her hand, she had the sudden wish they were somewhere else. Somewhere alone and quiet, where getting naked wouldn’t upset the management.

“If you’re done here,” he began, “I’m thinking it’s time for a little sex-kitten action.”

Her stomach clenched. “I’m yours for the asking.”

“One of your best qualities.”

She thought about saying it was part of their deal, but after their lone sexual encounter, she found herself anticipating getting naked with Hawk again. Even without the bargain she would have been more than willing.

He released her hand and glanced at his watch, then groaned.

“What?”

“I told Brittany she had to be home by eleven, which means I have to be there to make sure that happens. It’s after ten now.”

Math had never been Nicole’s thing, but even she could figure this out. “We don’t have time to go back to my place, get busy and have you home by eleven.”

Hawk looked at her. “It’s your fault. I don’t usually sit and talk to a woman for three hours without noticing the time. Especially when there are other ways to spend an evening.”

Meaning they could have been in bed. She smiled. “Typical guy. Blaming someone else.” But his words made her oddly happy. She liked knowing he’d had a good time, too. Not that she liked him or anything. Well, she liked him, but it was in a “we have a bargain to get through” sense. Not liked him as in any romantic way.

“We’ll reschedule,” she said. “After all, I’m yours to command, so to speak.”

“Good.” He motioned to their server and asked for the bill. “I’ll call you tomorrow and we can set up a time.”

To have sex. She felt her insides quiver. “Just say the word and I’m ready to purr.”

HAWK SET UP THE CHAIRS in the room. It was Sunday and there would be the usual postgame film meeting in an hour.

Despite the less than satisfying ending to his date the previous evening, he was in a damn good mood. Everything was going right. The team was winning, Brittany had picked six different colleges to apply to, and he had a hot woman he not only liked to talk to but make love with at his beck and call. Oh, yeah. It was good to be him.

He heard footsteps in the hall and walked to the doorway. Nicole hurried toward him, looking intense about something. He grinned. While they wouldn’t be able to do anything significant, they could probably manage some hot kisses in his office. That would-

She stopped in front of him, waving a piece of paper. “You just think you know everything, don’t you?”

That didn’t sound happy. “What’s wrong?”

“Gee, what an interesting question. What’s wrong? Hmm, how about the fact that your key player is lying to you about where he lives?”

“Raoul? What are you talking about?” He grabbed the paper from her. “What’s this?”

“His paycheck. I know money’s tight for him, so I decided to deliver his check. I went by his house. The address he gave me is an abandoned building. I couldn’t believe it. So I went inside and someone is living there. I saw clothes and a sleeping bag, a couple of flashlights and this.”

She fished a Pacific High School T-shirt out of her bag. “Does this look familiar?”

Hawk couldn’t believe it. Raoul, living like that? How could he not know? Raoul told him everything. “He never said a word. How long has this been going on?”

“That would be my question to you, Coach. Knowing about this sort of thing would be your job, not mine.”

“THAT’S NOT POSSIBLE,” Hawk insisted. “There’s something else going on. There’s no way I wouldn’t know.”

“I can’t wait to hear the explanation,” Nicole told him, obviously still upset. “He’s a kid, Hawk. I don’t care that he just turned eighteen and legally he’s an adult. He shouldn’t have to deal with crap like this. Living alone in a run-down building?”

“He’s not.” Raoul couldn’t be. Hawk would have known. He cared about his players. He was involved in their lives.