Mitch didn’t know what had happened, but he found himself dateless Wednesday night. Determined to stop second-guessing the real reason behind her cancellation and take Becca’s excuse at face value, he sent her a text wishing her to feel better and accepted a raincheck for Friday night at his place.

He had better things to do with his free time than pine for a woman he couldn’t stop thinking about. Like planning the rest of his life.

Opening up to Becca had been like giving himself a relief valve, allowing him to let go of the stress because he wasn’t where he should be post-retirement. She’d been right. There was no hard and fast rule for when he had to start his new job, whatever that might be. But he did have time to research the hell out of his options.

By Friday evening, he had plenty to tell Becca…provided she didn’t cancel again.

The doorbell rang.

He felt like an idiot for rushing to the door. Mitch had never been so eager to spend time with a woman. But he knew that acting desperate and needy often worked against a guy. Just as it had worked against the few women he’d dated. He wanted a confident partner, one who liked him for himself and not his outward trappings. And he wanted a woman who had an independent nature but could also lean on him for support, both emotional and mental.

Wouldn’t Becca want the same?

The doorbell rang again. He answered this time.

She stood wrapped in a scarf, hat, and jacket. She looked like a purple Michelin Man.

“Why hello, Madame Grape.”

“You’re hilarious.” Her nose was red. “Are you going to let me in?”

“Wining already, eh? Come on in, then.” He stood back and shut the door behind her. “Get it? Wining? Like, without the H?”

“No, I don’t get it. Because my brain has frozen over.” It seemed to take her forever to unravel herself from her many layers. But when she emerged, she wore jeans and a simple long-sleeved T-shirt with a lame logo.

“Seriously? Soccer Moms Do It Better?”

She smirked. “What can I say? This is one of my favorite shirts.”

“When did Simon play soccer?”

“Four years ago.” She sighed wistfully. “I really miss the parents.”

He grinned. “You ready for our movie night? I would have fed you, but you told me you’d already eaten.”

“I’m stuffed. We had ravioli earlier.”

“I’m having a sub. Sorry, I didn’t get to eat yet.”

“No worries.”

She followed him into his media room in the back of the house, and they settled in for a rousing rendition of Wonder Woman. The new one he’d recently purchased on DVD.

“Oh, I love this.”

He grinned. “I thought you would. They’re playing it at the cheap theater downtown, but I thought, hey, I can do cheap right here.”

“Great. You think of me and think cheap.”

“Exactly.”

They both laughed.

After he fetched her something to drink—of the nonalcoholic variety—they watched the beginning of the movie while he ate.

“You weren’t kidding about being hungry,” she said as she watched him finish his sandwich.

“I spent the day talking to people and looking around town.”

“For what?”

He paused the movie. “I thought about what you told me the last time I saw you, and I realized I like working with kids. And that I love football, even after all these years.”

She watched him, her attention a hundred percent focused on Mitch. “And…?”

“And I’ve decided to start a sports program for kids. One that can dovetail to the current park program. You know, make sports available to everyone, not just parents who can afford it.”

She smiled. “That’s great.”

“You don’t know how good it feels to have a sense of direction.” He meant that. “I don’t need the money, but I need the validation,” he admitted. “I need to know I’m good at more than throwing around the pigskin.”

“Mitch, come on. You have to know you’re more than a football player.”

“Well, I am a son and brother too.”

“Oh please. Are you fishing for compliments?”

He frowned. “No. I’m being serious.”

“You’re smart, successful, and driven. You can’t rest because you figure you have to do something with yourself, even though others in your position would live a life of leisure and go yachting or skiing all the time.”

“Would you, in my position?”

“No, but we’re talking about you.”

“We aren’t. You are.”

She ignored him. “So, instead of trying to make even more money than you already have, you decide to help children in need.”

“I have enough money. I don’t need more.”

“Everyone needs more,” she said, and she sounded angry.

“Becca?”

“Sorry. It’s been a rough week.”

He reached for her hand and squeezed. “I’m sorry. What happened?”

“Nothing to worry about. Same old, same old.”

He had no idea what her same old might be. “Tell me. Hey, you listened to me whine. Least I can do is listen to you bitch and complain.”

She chuckled. “Yeah? Well, I found out my landlord is raising the rent, and it threw me for a loop.”

He frowned. “Is he—”

“Or she.”

“Sorry, she—”

“No, it’s a guy. I just wanted you to realize women can be real estate moguls too.”

He sighed. “If you’re done with your teachable moment… Is he trying to take advantage of you?” He’d break the guy’s teeth.

“Yes. No. Not really.” She sighed. “We have a provision for increased rent, and I have an out. But I hadn’t realized I’d need to deal with a new lease. I understand why, and it seems legitimate. Unlike you, the rest of the world revolves around making money.”

“Now that was bitchy.”

She blinked and gave a startled laugh. “You know, it was.”

“So, if I offered you money to take care of the problem, you would…?”

“Slap you silly.”

“I figured.” Yet he planned to look into the situation regardless. “What are you going to do?”

“Deal with it. I manage my money wisely. Always have. This is just another obstacle to overcome.”

She had a sparkle in her hazel eyes, a brightness that came from working hard and doing her best.

“Is Simon worried?” he asked, concerned about the boy.

“No. I don’t share these kinds of problems with him. I’m not sure why I shared it with you, if you want the truth.”

He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “I always want the truth, even when I act like I might not want to hear it.” He let her tug her hand away. “Becca, do I scare you?”

“Yes.”

“See? I didn’t want the truth, but I did.”

She laughed. “That’s not confusing.”

“I know. I’m a conundrum wrapped in a riddle around a puzzle.”

“Have you been talking to Nora?” she asked with suspicion.

He grinned. “She called me earlier asking for Deacon’s email address. How did you know?”

“Conundrum sounds like one of her words.”

He laughed. “It is. I get ten points for using it. Witness,” he said, pointing at her.

She shook her head. “Well, Mr. Riddle, how does me admitting you scare me make you feel?”

“Good.”

She scowled.

“Because you scare the crap out of me, too.”

“Me?” Her eyes widened.

“Honey, the moment I saw you, I was hooked. I don’t do deep relationships. Watching my parents spend blissful years together while my brother married a demon from hell, it was confusing. And tough to deal with. Deacon wanted the same things I do—love, a family, a future. And Rhonda shit all over it. Other men, debt, tabloids… He took it hard, and I guess I did too.

“My girlfriends have always taken a backseat to football. I admit it. But I don’t have football blocking for me now. There’s you. And I like you. A lot.” He was falling for her, hard. “I don’t see anyone else when I’m out. I don’t think about other women. I just think about you.”

“Well.” She swallowed. “You, um…”

“Yeah. But that’s me. How do you feel about me?” He hadn’t meant to push her, but it had grown more difficult to keep his feelings inside. After all he’d told Simon, he couldn’t do less and pretend he cared little for Becca Bragg. Not when he wanted her by his side, always.

“I told you about Neal, how hard it was to let him go.”

“You did.”

“I’ve dated since, obviously. But nothing’s ever felt real. Nothing solid. Then this new obnoxious, showy football player comes to town.”

“Obnoxious, sure. But showy?”

“And he’s handsome and funny. He helps my son and the other boys, and he turns out to be nice man.”

He winced. “Nice? Really?”

“Nice is good, trust me.”

Well, if she liked it, okay.

“And I make a big move to seduce him one day, and I’m hooked.”

“Now that I like to hear.” He stood, ignoring the paused movie, and brought Becca to her feet.

“But things are complicated. I have a son who’s in high school. A business that takes up all my time. And these feelings for you are messing with my head.”

“I get you. I do.” He slowly led her from the media room down the hall to his bedroom. “Don’t forget the warnings from family to go slow, to not screw things up for Simon. Oh, and to not get sucked in by a pretty face.”

“I’ve heard all that.” She grinned. “So, have you been warned by Nora or Deacon?”

“Both.” He stripped off his shirt, pleased when she did the same. “Ah, great minds think alike.”

She removed her bra, and he had to touch. “You have the prettiest skin. Curves in all the right places.” He hugged her, groaning at the feel of her full breasts against his chest. Her nipples were hard, rubbing against him.

He palmed her breasts and felt their weight, his hands close to her heart.

“That feels good,” she whispered.

“Too good,” he whispered back and kissed her.

Tongue, lips, and a hint of teeth threw them both into a fog of lust. Clothes disappeared as they meshed, fully connected in all ways but one.

“Condom,” she moaned.

He laid her down on the bed and reached for one in his drawer. Then she grabbed it  and put it on him, mounting him before he could think.

The feel of her body gloving him was better than anything. He stared up at his own warrior goddess as she rode him, her hair thrown back, her skin aglow. Her stare was direct, warm, caressing.

“I’m so close,” she warned.

He added a firmer touch, grazing her clit with fingers too rough for her soft skin.

She keened and clamped around him, and the sight of her climax pushed him into his own. He emptied into the condom on a moan, needing so much more from her.

“Becca, honey. You’re…” Everything.

When he finally stopped, he could do no more than stare up her, his heart full. Her smile reflected her joy, and the beauty of the moment overwhelmed him. The tough guy, who could bench her weight and more, who had tackled bigger men than Deacon and run in more touchdowns than any other guy in the league the past two years running, lost himself in emotion.

“Becca, I love you.”

He didn’t expect her to say it back, not yet. And he sure the hell hadn’t planned on saying it first, but it had slipped out. She surprised him by kissing him breathless once more. Becca trailed her hands and mouth over all of him. She pulled away and removed the condom, tossing it to the floor. Then she followed with more kisses, stroking and petting, until he was rock hard and wanting again.

“God, Becca. You’re driving me crazy.” The lovemaking turned from soft to wild, Becca silent and hungry, licking him up with a mouth that wouldn’t quit.

When she reached his hardening cock, she took him inside, her lips bringing him fully back to life.

“Turn around,” he wheezed, not sure a man should—or could—come again so fast.

Becca didn’t listen, and he jerked in her mouth as she tongued him, then sucked him down in heady draws.

The orgasm about broke him. “I love you so fucking much,” he confessed when he could catch his breath.

She remained quiet as she crawled back up his body and lay on top of him.

Like the missing piece of the puzzle, she fit. And he held onto her, knowing it unlikely he’d get to keep her with him overnight. If at all…

 

******

 

Becca left Mitch hours later, after napping with him before making love one final time. Nothing wild and crazy, but soft, sweet, and so mind-blowing she’d done nothing but pray his name as she lost herself in an orgasm that turned her world upside-down.

I love you so fucking much, he’d said. And he’d meant it. Endorphins or not, the man had twice admitted to loving her. All that talk about feelings and a future.

She shivered in her bed, staring at the ceiling, her heart racing as if she’d run a marathon. And lost. Tears filled her eyes, her emotions all over the place.

Elated that Mitch loved her. Worried it had all happened too soon. Glad it wasn’t just her feeling so much for him.

Terrified at the thought of losing someone else she loved…

Becca raced to the bathroom and paused over the sink, not sure if she’d throw up or just needed to splash her face with water. She looked pale. Haunted, she thought, as she stared at herself in the mirror.

Mitch had said he loved her.

Could she trust him? Did she know him as well as she thought she did? Was she crazy not to at least give him a chance?

Becca gripped the sink and swore silently, half wishing Mitch had never come to Hope’s Turn and interrupted her happy yet empty little world. Half hoping he meant what he’d said about loving her.

After years without Neal, she hadn’t thought she’d ever feel giddy in love again. But fear tainted her joy, and the addition of the holidays confused her even more.

Her Christmas revolved around family. Her, Simon, Nora, her aunt and uncle. Her father and stepmother were an afterthought, and they felt the same way about her. Neal had lost both of his folks to cancer at a young age, and they’d never been close with his extended family.

But now she couldn’t imagine Christmas without Mitch somewhere nearby.

A good thing? A bad thing? How would Simon feel, no longer being the only man in her life?

She couldn’t afford to make a mistake, rush into things, and perhaps damage her son.

Simon was too important to her. She knew Mitch would agree.

But how did she know that?

She tore herself away from her reflection, tired of looking at a crazy woman, and tried to get to sleep. But a buzz from her cell phone distracted her. She read an incoming text from Mitch.

Stop thinking so hard and go to sleep. Everything will work itself out. neal.

She froze, in shock.

Fuck. I meant Nervous Nellie. Damn autocorrect. I’m sorry, Becca. Seriously. Ignore me and go to sleep. Love you. M.

Another declaration of love. Once her heart stopped racing, she stared at the message, some fanciful part of herself imagining Neal reaching out to her, telling her it was okay to love again.

Tears filled her eyes, because he seemed a distant memory now, no longer such a part of her life. Which was crazy, because she’d lived years without him. But somehow, when she’d been single, she’d been married too.

But with Mitch by her side, she didn’t feel single at all. She had a boyfriend. One who loved her.

The butterflies in her stomach fluttered, and she stared at her text message until the words blurred. Then she dropped off to sleep, dreaming about Neal and Mitch playing football while Simon looked on, smiling.