Chapter 3
Carly tried to ignore the urge to look up but failed as Mr. Andrews introduced Gage Wilson and loud applause broke out across the room.
Carly’s gaze was drawn by the deep timber of his voice. She gasped softly hoping no one noticed when he caught her eye and one corner of his perfect mouth tipped up before he continued, “Thank you for the warm welcome. I’m thrilled to be joining you as the new head coach of Oaktown High. I’m looking forward to getting to know all of you and hope we can work together to create a winning football team. My son will be a freshman this year and was chosen for the varsity squad by Coach Allen before he left. Please treat Jonathan as you would any other student and don’t hesitate to tell me if you have any problems concerning him or any of the other boys.”
Carly watched with her insides tingling as Gage Wilson grinned and shook a few hands as he made his way through the room. Her stomach clenched when he headed straight for the empty seat opposite her at the next table. As he pulled the hard-wooden chair out and angled it sideways toward the front of the room just as she had done to her own chair, she tensed and clasped her shaking hands together in her lap. Shivering, she fought to ignore the fiery sparks of electricity shooting straight to her core as his muscular legs brushed up against her side while he squeezed through the gap between the chairs and took the empty seat.
“Hello again, Ms. Owens,” Gage said, holding out one large hand. With her face and neck flaming, Carly pulled one shaking hand from her lap and placed it tentatively into his outstretched one. A delicious shiver snaked down her spine as his warm hand engulfed hers in a firm, but surprisingly gentle shake.
“Good morning, Coach Wilson,” she croaked, quickly withdrawing her tingling hand and turning toward the front where the principal had started to speak. Throughout the morning, Carly became increasingly confused and flustered every time the tempting man beside her shifted around in the too small for his large frame chair and accidentally – or maybe not – pressed a muscular arm or leg into her side repeatedly. She was struck by how much it reminded her of being in high school and accidentally sitting next to the cute, popular guy who you knew would never give you the time of day. Only this time, she wasn’t a naïve teenager, and she wasn’t sure at all he hadn’t noticed her.
By lunchtime, her bra felt like sandpaper scraping across her puckered nipples as she clenched her legs together trying to ease the throbbing ache in her core at being so close to the one man she fantasized about repeatedly over the years. She hadn’t had sex with anyone since discovering her ex-husband’s infidelity – well over two years ago. With her resolve to steer clear weakening with every touch, she wasn’t sure if she should be thrilled Gage seemed interested or not. While it would be nice to feel some affection from a man after so long, she also didn’t want to get hurt again. But of course, she could be imagining everything, and all his looks and the brushes against her didn’t mean what she thought they did.
As everyone began to get up to leave for the mid-day break, Carly jumped when Gage’s voice rumbled beside her, “Where are you ladies heading for lunch?”
Carly sat in stunned silence unable to answer for a few seconds then let out a grateful sigh when Rachel jumped in to answer. “We’re going to Rosalita’s over on Third Street. Want to join us?” her bubbly, red-headed friend asked with a big smile from the other side of the table.
“That would be great. Are you sure you don’t mind?” Gage asked, looking pointedly at Carly as she stood up on shaking legs and grabbed her purse from the back of the wooden chair.
Taking a deep breath and reminding herself he was just a man, albeit a gorgeous one, Carly squared her shoulders. She looked up at his handsome face. “Of course, we don’t mind. We’d love for you and anyone else to join us.”
His face lit up at her answer, and her heart skipped a beat. As she studied his firm, square jaw and full lips perfect for kissing, he turned and asked some of the coaches still standing around if they wanted to go. After two of them said yes with the rest deciding to go elsewhere, he turned back to Carly’s little group.
“All right. Should we ride together or just meet you there?” Gage asked a small smile tilting up the corners of his mouth.
Glad he was giving her the choice since she wasn’t quite ready to be squeezed up against him in the tight confines of whatever vehicle he might be driving, she took a deep breath. “Let’s just meet there, if that’s okay?”
“Sure, no problem. We’ll see you there, then,” he replied giving her a slight nod before turning and walking away with the other two men. With Rachel giggling and Sophie gulping nervously, Carly joined her two friends, not sure what to think, as they followed the guys out the door.
***
As Carly pulled her car into a parking spot near the front of the terra-cotta-colored adobe sided restaurant, Rachel squealed in the seat beside her. “Can you believe we’re going to lunch with Gage Wilson?”
“I’m not sure I can do this,” Sophie muttered, her knees bouncing up and down as she looked at Carly in the mirror.
Carly drew her brows together in concern. She focused on her friend’s pale reflection ignoring Rachel’s excited giggles. “If it’s too much for you, I can run in and tell them we changed our minds and we can go somewhere else.”
“No. I don’t want to ruin your chances with Gage Wilson. I’ll be okay if you both promise to sit on either side of me. I’ve got to start somewhere in getting over this stupid shyness around men,” Sophie replied as she lifted her chin and gave Carly a determined look in the mirror.
“Only if you’re sure,” Carly reassured her sweet friend in the back seat.
“I’m sure,” Sophie answered as she gave Carly a wobbly grin.
Carly turned to Rachel and cleared her throat. “Okay, then. Remember what Mr. Andrews said. We need to treat Gage Wilson like anyone else. Oh, and we should probably call him Coach Wilson,” she added, hoping she could stick to the advice herself.
Rachel flipped down the visor to check her reflection. “Yeah, you’re right, but it’s going to take some effort, especially being so close to the gorgeous Gage Wilson. Err…, I mean Coach Wilson.”
Sophie giggled softly her head appearing in the gap between the seats. “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem for you and me, Rachel. It’s obvious Coach Wilson only has eyes for Carly, whether she wants to believe it or not. I wasn’t sure until he went straight for the chair next to her even though there was an empty one on the other side of their table much easier to get to. And then made every effort to “accidentally” touch her whenever he moved around.”
Carly stared at both her friends. If Rachel and Sophie had noticed, then was it possible she hadn’t imagined things? Was he interested? Her heart fluttered, and she shivered, wondering what his big strong arms would feel like wrapped around her as he kissed her with those perfect lips, conveniently forgetting her resolve to stay away from him.
Flustered, Carly grabbed her purse and keys.
“We better get inside,” she said as she opened her door and stepped out into the hot August air.
The possibility of her fantasies coming to life did nothing to soothe Carly’s nerves as they passed through the arched doorway and into the air-conditioned foyer of the restaurant. Walking up to the hostess stand flanked on each side by large colorful ceramic pots filled with bright flowers, she immediately caught sight of Gage, his head towering above everyone else.
“We’re with them,” Carly informed the hostess while nodding her head toward the table in a secluded alcove on the far side of the restaurant.
“Ms. Owens?” the older Hispanic woman in a traditional Mexican yellow dress hand embroidered in bright greens and reds queried with one painted eyebrow raised as she turned to the room. “I guess you are,” she chuckled when Gage waved and grinned. “Enjoy your lunch.”
While winding their way between the multi-colored tables and chairs filling the large space, Rachel, dragging Sophie behind her, sped up making a beeline for the empty seats next to the other two guys, leaving Carly no choice but to take the one next to Gage.
After squeezing into the empty chair, he pulled out, and quick introductions to the other two coaches, who much to Rachel’s dismay and Sophie’s relief were married, Carly took in a deep breath of the spicy, peppery scent filling the restaurant. She let out a long slow breath, imagining how the dark hair dusting Gage’s muscular forearm resting on the edge of the table would feel like if she ran her fingertips through it. Appalled at her wayward thoughts, Carly reached for the glass of water the waitress had placed in front of her and took a long drink to cool her rapidly warming body.
As soon as the waitress finished with everyone’s orders and left, Carly reached for a chip from the red plastic basket in the middle of the table wincing as Rachel’s eyes lit up with a gleam. Carly quickly popped the crispy corn chip into her mouth, hoping Rachel wasn’t about to say something too embarrassing.
“So, Coach Wilson. Do you have a girlfriend?” her friend asked, and Carly let out a groan.
Despite the awkward question, she was anxious to hear his answer. But not wanting to be obvious, Carly grabbed another chip and loaded a hefty scoop of the tomatoes and peppers from one of the black three-legged salsa bowls on the table and took a big bite. A blast of intense, spicy heat filled her mouth and nose and she began to cough uncontrollably. Immediately she started waving her hand in front of her face trying to cool the burning sensation invading her mouth. Between gasps of air, Carly managed to chew and force down the spicy mixture with a hard swallow. With her eyes blurry, she blindly grabbed her glass of water and took several gulps of the cold liquid only vaguely aware of Rachel asking if she was okay from across the table. When the burning finally started to ease, her chest tightened as a strange tingling floated along the top of her thigh. She glanced down and jumped slightly at the sight of Gage’s fingers brushing along her jean-clad leg. A breath of warm air whooshed past her ear as his deep rumbly voice murmured, “Are you all right?
Carly jerked up and managed to sputter, “I’m okay.”
“Dios Mio!” their waitress cried, muttering a string of incoherent Spanish words as she raced back to the table. “I’m so sorry, someone at another table asked for extra hot salsa I must have gotten it mixed up with yours.” The flustered waitress quickly gathered up the bowls of the offending mixtures and replaced them with new ones.
Amidst all the flurry, Gage kept rubbing along the top of Carly’s thigh. With her skin tingling and her thoughts fuzzy at the feel of his hand on her, Carly sat unmoving, not quite sure what to do. Letting out a quiet exhale when he gave her leg one last stroke then reached for a handful of chips, she braved a glance. Her quivering heart skipped a beat as his concerned steel-blue eyes gazed at her.
He brushed back a fallen lock of blond hair from his forehead and tipped one corner of his mouth up before turning his attention to Rachel and her question.
“No, I don’t have a girlfriend, but I’m hoping I can remedy that soon. I recently ran into someone who I wouldn’t mind asking out sometime,” he answered and turned to look at Carly with one eyebrow raised.
Despite the rapid beat of her heart, Carly straightened in her chair deciding to ignore the unspoken question, overwhelmed by the attention. She had to steer the conversation to another topic and quickly.
Clearing her still burning throat, she asked, “So, Coach Wilson. How do you like being the new head coach?”
“I’m loving it. It’s so much better than I expected,” he answered, holding her gaze before finally turning to Rachel as she spoke up.
“Do you miss playing football?” Rachel asked taking Carly’s unspoken hint to change the subject.
“Not at all. Contrary to what most people believe, I never intended to pursue a professional football career. The offer from the Rattlers fell into my lap at the right time, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I’ve always wanted to coach, and I’m thrilled I’m finally getting the chance,” Gage answered, a genuine smile on his handsome face as the waitress approached the table with a tray loaded down with their orders.
As the conversation quickly turned to other topics while they ate, Carly found herself relaxing despite her proximity to the golden-haired Adonis. Gage’s easy banter with everyone at the table and the friendly way he’d greeted a couple of fans who’d approached wanting a picture with him eased the tension in her shoulders. She tugged her bottom lip in between her teeth. Resisting the larger-than-life man next to her was going to be harder than she thought.