Keeneston, Kentucky . . .
Sienna woke to the sound of her phone ringing. She groaned and reached across her bed for the phone on the nightstand. What had possessed her to give her cell phone number to her patients? Oh yeah, the lucrative contract she had received from the Lexington Thoroughbreds.
Since graduating with her doctorate in psychology four years earlier, she had paid her dues and earned the respect of the coaches at the NFL’s newest team, the Lexington Thoroughbreds. She planned to expand her small business to include the local universities as part of her clientele. Right now, she worked four days a week at the Thoroughbreds’ offices and counseled players on everything from mentally preparing for games to working their way through divorces. The other days of the week she saw anyone who wanted her services. Some were high school coaches, some were college players preparing for the pros, and she even saw some high school players in order to help them with the stress of being recruited by colleges. But only the players and coaches of the Thoroughbreds had her personal number.
“Dr. Ashton,” Sienna mumbled as she put the phone to her ear. It was still dark out so whoever it was had either gotten up early or was just getting in for the night.
“Yo, Doc. I got a question for you,” the friendly deep voice said from over the phone.
“Jaylen? What time is it?” Sienna asked as she sat up in bed.
“Three in the morning,” he happily responded. “Oh, were you asleep?”
“That’s typically what people are doing at this time.” Somehow this twenty-two-year-old made her feel old at twenty-nine.
“Oh, sorry, Doc. I’ll make it quick. Is it true that having sex hurts your game on the field? ’Cuz I have this hottie who is dying for a little Jaylen Cox lovin’, if you know what I mean.” Jaylen chuckled.
Jaylen was in a fight for the starting running back position and the first regular season game was only two days away. The final lineup would be announced tomorrow during practice.
“While there has been no evidence of it hurting performance, some believe it helps relax you, and in fact gives you a mental boost,” Sienna got out before she was cut off.
“We’re on, Boo!” Jaylen called, and Sienna heard a girl giggle in the background.
“However, it has been shown that lack of sleep does hurt your game.”
Jaylen paused for a moment then held the phone away. “Sorry, Boo. It’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning. I gotta get to bed. Doctor’s orders.”
Sienna smothered her laugh with her hand. Jaylen had to be her favorite patient—even if he did call her in the middle of the night. He did exactly what she told him, was always polite, and always had a smile for her.
“Thanks, Doc. I don’t want to do anything to mess with my game. I better get to bed. See you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight.” Sienna hung up her phone and kicked the covers off her bed. She padded barefoot over the hardwood floor to the kitchen of her small bungalow home on the outskirts of Keeneston. She had bought the old house last year and had just finished putting all of her touches into it. It was five minutes from downtown in one direction and five minutes from her parents’ farm in the other direction. After working all day in Lexington, it was nice to come to her little spot in the country. And Keeneston was definitely country.
The small town now had two stoplights. The main stoplight was downtown. The town had been built in the 1700s and still possessed that old world charm. The buildings were brick, painted in historic colors from the past. The windows were large and filled with displays from local artists, antiques, and decorations. Main Street was lined with flowers and American flags. Everyone knew your name and horns were only honked to initiate a greeting. Of course, that was both good and bad. Since everyone knew your name, they also knew your parents’ names, your grandparents’ names, and when you were doing something you weren't supposed to be doing. She and all the Davies cousins had really hated it when they were teenagers. But now that she knew she wanted a family of her own someday, she was sure there was no place better to live than Keeneston.
Sienna opened the cupboard and pulled out some tea. She heated the water, filled her mug, and went to the small back porch that overlooked part of Desert Farm, owned by Their Royal Highnesses, Mohtadi and Danielle Ali Rahman. They were royalty to a small Middle Eastern island called Rahmi. However, they’d always just be Mo and Dani to her. Especially since Dani was her mother’s best friend and Sienna’s godmother.
Sienna took a sip of the hot tea and sat on the cushioned chair. She curled her feet under her and used her father’s oversized football jersey from when he was a quarterback in the NFL to cover her toes. While September in Kentucky wasn’t cold per se, it always seemed like it after the hot, humid days of summer. Her mother, Kenna, had suggested that a man would keep her warm on nights like these. Her father, Will, had told her a dog would do just as well, which is how she found herself with Hooch.
Sienna had broken up with her boyfriend six months ago. Things had gotten serious, but just like with the others, she bolted as soon as marriage came up. Her mother groaned; her father cheered. She had drowned her sorrows at the Blossom Café with one of Zinnia Meadows’s concoctions called Chocolate Glop. It was just that, a big glop of warm, melty, gooey, rich chocolate cake with ice cream on top.
After consuming two of them and a glass or three of the Rose Sisters’ Special Iced Tea, her best friend, Sydney Davies, drove her home and deposited her in bed. When Sienna had awoken to the feel of water dripping on her face, she’d opened her eyes to find Hooch. He kinda looked like the dog from that old movie, Turner and Hooch, except he was a massive black dog with jowls that hung like floppy ears from his mouth, sitting over her on the bed, drooling. His tree trunk-thick tail thumped against her comforter happily as he snorted through his bulldog nose. Sienna had taken one look at the ugliest dog she’d ever seen and had fallen in love.
Sienna once had heard the handle to the porch door jiggle, and Hooch had ambled out of the house with his perpetual I’m so sleepy look on his wrinkly face. After discovering Hooch had just walked into her house through the screen door, she’d replaced it with a glass door with a handle knob. Hooch had learned after one day how to use his nose to lift the handle and push the door open. But at least the door closed now so other animals didn’t wander in during the night and jump into her bed.
The porch’s floorboards shook slightly as Hooch dropped to sit in front of her. He rested his drooling jowls on her lap and closed his eyes. Snores shattered the silence of the night and Sienna just laughed. Who needed a boyfriend when she had Hooch?
* * *
The Lexington Thoroughbreds’ stadium wasn’t actually in Lexington. The massive complex sat on twenty-five acres right outside of Lexington, and luckily it was on the side closest to Keeneston. It didn’t matter that Sienna had worked there for two years. She was always amazed when she pulled up to the massive complex that held seventy thousand people. In addition to the stadium seats, locker rooms, vending areas, and so on, there were also six thousand club seats and eighty suites on top of the Thoroughbreds’ executive offices and conference rooms.
Sienna pulled into her reserved parking space in the employee lot and walked to the glass doors that led to the offices and training rooms before getting into the private elevators and making her way up to the executive offices. She waved at Janice Hemingway, the fifty-two-year-old secretary who ran the office. No one got past her unless they had an appointment. She chased off football groupies, pissed-off fans, reporters, and unhappy exes who tried to sneak in.
“Morning, sugar,” Janice called as she looked over the rim of glasses. Her black hair was pulled into a tight bun at the top of her head. “What happened? You don’t look like you slept at all.”
Sienna unconsciously patted her light auburn hair and wondered if she had more concealer in her office. “Had a phone call in the middle of the night. It always takes me a while to get back to sleep.”
“You need a man in your bed,” Janice said, giving Sienna a maternal stare that was nearly identical to the one she received from her own mother.
“I don’t need a man. I have Hooch,” Sienna called as she headed to her office.
“That ain’t a dog. That’s a snorting horse. And nothing should drool that much! It just ain’t right,” Janice called after her.
Sienna passed the trio of owners’ offices. Her father and a bourbon Thoroughbred named Earnest Gallagher represented one third of the team's ownership. A silent partner, Mo, owned the other two-thirds. When her father had told his best friend about the possibility of a team moving to the area, Mo had researched it and decided it was a good investment, considering Kentucky had no other major league teams in any sport. Mo decided to invest in the Thoroughbreds so long as he didn't have to serve as the face of the franchise. He didn’t want the attention or responsibility of running the team. Instead, he left that up to Sienna's father and the general manager, Brad.
“Yo, Doc!” Jaylen Cox called out as he jogged down the hall. Sienna smiled at him and inserted her key into her office door. “You were right. I went to bed right after I hung up with you, and I feel like a million bucks.”
“Do that every night this week, and you’ll feel like the twelve million bucks you’re being paid,” Sienna teased the giant man following her into her office.
Jaylen and all his muscles dove onto the couch. “I had morning sex and feel great. You’re right about that making you all relaxed and shit. You should try it.”
“Et tu, Brute?”
“I don’t know Brute, but if he’ll give you some, I say go for it. You’re real tense, Doc.”
Sienna snorted. Great, now she was even sounding like Hooch. She had heard that owners sometimes could resemble their dogs . . . maybe she did need a man.
“So, what’s up? I have an appointment in a couple minutes,” she asked to deter further conversation about her lack of a sex life.
“I wanted to say thanks. I got the job! I’m the new starting running back of the Thoroughbreds. My agent will be thrilled. He’s coming this afternoon to meet with all of us and to talk to the front office about different stuff.”
“You should know what that stuff is, Jaylen,” Sienna lectured for the hundredth time. Too many of her patients had no clue what was going on with their own finances. They just let their agent handle everything.
“I know, I know. I’ll look over everything he gives me today. I promise.” Jaylen stood up with his trademark smile and walked over to her. “But if it weren’t for you and your techniques to help me stay calm and focused on the field, I wouldn’t have beat out Hummel for the starting spot.” Before Sienna could say anything, Jaylen had her wrapped up in a bear hug. “You’re the best, Doc.”
When he stood her back on the floor, Sienna had a smile to match his. “I’m proud of the work you’ve done, Jaylen. Have you talked to Adrian?”
“Yep. Talked to him this morning. He wished me luck and told me to do better than he did as a running back because he was coming after me for the spot all season long.”
“How do you feel about that?” Sienna asked as she walked with Jaylen to her door.
“I think it will keep me motivated. But it’s not all I’m thinking about. I’m just happy to have my shot to show the world what I can do. Of course, all the ladies will be trying to keep me from my doctor-prescribed sleep,” Jaylen winked as he bounced down the hall.
Sienna smiled before taking a seat at her desk. She had a lot of work to get through before her next appointment.
* * *
Sienna picked up Malik Coleman’s file and said goodbye to Coach Banks, the head coach of the Thoroughbreds. Coleman was her age, but she was sure he felt more like sixty than twenty-nine. He’d had two surgeries and was going to limp along for his last year of his contract with the Thoroughbreds. In their previous session, he’d admitted he was in constant pain from a shoulder injury he’d received in the last game of the postseason.
The soft knock at her door brought Sienna’s head up. The tall and lean Malik stood at the door. “Are you ready for me, Doc?”
Sienna smiled at him. The way he gingerly moved made her think of her grandfather, and she had to stop herself from rushing to help him. “Is your shoulder still hurting?” she asked instead, taking a seat across from Malik.
“Like the devil. And now my knee is acting up again. It’s so swollen the team doc had to drain it this morning. But tomorrow is the last first game of the season for me. I just need to ride the bench and collect my retirement at the end of the season. I’m meeting with my agent to discuss my retirement funds and everything soon.”
“Is that what you’ve been focusing on?” Sienna asked.
“Sure have. I’ve been doing the visualization you taught me to help speed my recovery. But when I meditate at night, it’s the sight of the ocean I focus on. Thanks for all the tips on relaxation, by the way. I’ve been able to get around three hours of uninterrupted sleep now.”
Sienna gave him a professional smile. Pain had been keeping Malik awake at night for the past year. His doctor gave him sleeping pills, but Malik had a history of drug addiction and didn't want the temptation. Two months before, he had turned to Sienna initially for help with his lack of focus on the field, which resulted in his injury at the end of last season. He finally disclosed his insomnia to her two weeks ago.
“Four hours is our next goal. I’ve been talking with experts in this field and have learned a guided meditation I hope will put you to sleep for even longer. All this week I want you to call me when you’re ready to go to bed. You can put the phone on speaker, and I’ll guide you through it. The phone will disconnect when I hang up and hopefully you’ll sleep even better.”
Malik’s eyes rounded in surprise. “You’d do that for me, Doc?”
Sienna smiled kindly at him. “Of course. I’ll have you feeling like a new man in no time.”
Malik’s lips curved into a grin. “And maybe I’ll be up for finding a girl to fulfill the morning sex prescription you gave Jaylen.”
Sienna felt her face flush. “I didn’t . . .”
Malik held up his hand to stop her. “Whatever, Doc, it worked. You should have seen him in the gym this morning. He was killing it.”
“I don’t even want to know what he’s telling the guys,” Sienna said and shook her head.
Malik moved to sit up. “If you don’t mind, I have to cut it short today. I’m meeting with that new physical therapist you recommended.”
“Layne Davies?” Sienna happily asked of her friend from Keeneston.
“That’s her. My doctor wasn’t thrilled I chose someone other than his old crony, but I really didn’t like him last time I saw him. I talked to Miss Davies last week and was really encouraged by her attitude. Plus she comes to me with that new fancy practice of hers.”
Sienna stood and walked with Malik to the door. “I hope she can help you. Let me know how it goes when you call me tonight.”
Sienna let out a sigh as she returned to her desk. It was already two o’clock, and she hadn’t even eaten yet. Her policy was when she was with a patient she kept her door closed. If she didn’t have a patient, then her door was open and anyone who needed to see her could walk in . Today was the day the final lineup was posted, and she’d been inundated with players dropping by. Some just wanted to tell her the news. Some wanted help so they could improve on a certain aspect of their game. And some needed to vent at having been moved to second string or the practice squad.
“Knock, knock.” Sienna looked from her desk to the handsome man in a suit at her door. He certainly wasn’t a player. He was city handsome. Not athletic handsome like her players or country handsome like some of the men in Keeneston who worked on the horse farms. He was gym membership built with dark brown hair in a perfect swish of the bangs and a suit that must have cost a fortune.
“Can I help you?” Sienna asked, watching the man confidently step into her office.
“I’m Seth Hayes, a sports agent,” he said smoothly and held out his hand. “I’m here meeting with some of my players and thought I would introduce myself. They’ve all talked very highly about you.”
Sienna stood and shook his hand. He held it a moment longer and smiled. It didn’t take a doctorate to know he was hitting on her. As she looked him over, she decided he just might be the answer to her six-month drought. An obviously sexy man who was interested in her and who lived somewhere else sounded good to someone a little . . . how would she phrase it . . . commitment shy.
“It’s nice to meet you. Which players do you represent?”
“Malik Coleman, Jaylen Cox, Zack Sanders, and Deon Wofford. I know a couple of them see you. Jaylen can’t stop talking about you. It’s why I wanted to meet you.”
Sienna smiled at Jaylen’s name. “He’s a great guy. I’m happy for his success. He has a long career ahead of him.”
Seth sent her a sexy playful grin. “I sure hope so. I know you probably already ate, but I’ve been in meetings all day. I was hoping I could talk you into a second lunch.”
“Actually, I haven’t eaten yet.”
Hope shone in Seth’s dark green eyes. “Great. You’re the local. Why don’t you pick, and it’ll be my treat?”
“Let me just check my schedule,” Sienna said, hopeful that she didn’t have any more appointments for the day. She was starving, and not just for food. “It looks like I have a clear schedule. There’s a bourbon bar in Lexington I enjoy. They have great burgers. Let me give you the address and I’ll meet you there.”
Sienna wrote the address on a piece of paper and handed it to Seth.
“Perfect. I’ll meet you there. May I walk you to your car?” he asked.
“That would be nice,” Sienna smiled up at Seth. She closed her files and put them in her satchel before locking up the office. Maybe Janice and her mother had been right after all. Having a man around who looked like Seth and was as nice as he was wouldn’t hurt a thing.