Xavier had the XM radio tuned to classic rock. He hummed along with Sweet Home Alabama as he drove to the paintball arena. Izzy was definitely fun and unpredictable. He’d give her that. In some ways, he wondered if he should be nicer to her, but she was the one who’d lied to him and bought him with her daddy’s money, so the guilt went away pretty quickly. Yet, his mama expected him to treat every woman with respect, and he always did. His dating streaks never went as long as the women wanted them to, but he was kind to them before and after he told them goodbye.

“I didn’t figure you for a Lynyrd Skynyrd fan,” Izzy said, sitting primly next to him.

He grinned over at her, impressed she knew who Lynyrd Skynyrd was. She definitely had latched onto all those etiquette lessons and looked every bit a princess, even in her casual clothes that she claimed she could get dirty in. His grin deepened. He liked teasing her.

“Guess they didn’t have classic rock at your high-dollar private schools,” he said.

“No, but we all jammed out in our dorms at night.” She practically flung the words at him.

“I would’ve liked to see that.” Then he was imagining her in a nightgown dancing around the dorm, and he had to force that thought away. “You move like a dancer—very fluid and beautiful.”

“Oh, thank you.” Her voice was full of surprise at the compliment. “I took ballet for fifteen years.”

“Fifteen years?” He whistled. “That takes a lot of discipline. So no desire to dance the mamba or salsa or whatever dance they do in, what’s that show all the girls love?”

“Dirty Dancing?”

He snapped his fingers. “Yeah, that’s it. I need to see that sometime.” He winked at her.

She stiffened. Her mother had been one of the best salsa dancers ever, and Dirty Dancing had been their movie. Of course, her father had knocked all the happiness and dancing out of her mother with his cheating. “Why do you ask? You know how to dance?” She gave him a sidelong glance.

He chuckled. “Malia tried to teach me. She said I was pretty good.”

Of course. He’d dated the woman who’d won Dancing with the Icons a few years ago and was now a co-host of the show. Izzy should thank him for reminding her that he was just another cocky player. With her dad owning the Titans since she was a teenager, she’d come across her fair share of muscle heads.

“What? No spicy response?”

“I don’t think you want to hear what’s going on in my head.”

“I do. Truly.” His eyes left the road for a second and zeroed in on her. She got the sense he actually did want to know, but if the celebrity gossip was even one percent correct, he was too much of a flirt for her to be interested in him. If she ever settled down, it would be with a nice, solid man who didn’t even know how to tease or look at another woman. Boring, safe, and if possible, zero chance of infidelity. She’d repeat that a hundred times and hopefully she could stop flirting with Xavier or dreaming of something she’d never have.

“No, you don’t,” she said. “You wouldn’t be half so cocky if you knew what I really thought.”

They pulled into the parking lot of Fun N Run Paintball Park. Xavier put his sport utility in park and stared at her. Izzy ignored him and looked around. There was a collection of rusty train shipping containers stacked in her view. The containers were covered with graffiti and formed haphazard two to three story buildings circling the edge of the dirt parking lot. Hopefully they were for hiding behind not climbing into.

“So this is how you’re going to get me dirty?” she asked.

“We’ll see which one of us isn’t half so cocky after today.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at him throwing that back in her face. She flung open her door and jumped down, not waiting for him to get it.

“Hey.” He protested, exiting the vehicle quickly and coming around to her side. “I do have standards for my dates.”

She glanced up into his dark brown eyes. “Such as?”

“I get the door, I pay, and I always get a kiss on the first date.” His dimples deepened, and she knew temptation had never been so blatantly enticing.

“I guess I can live with the first two, but don’t plan on the third.”

He moistened his lips and moved a little closer. His musky cologne wrapped around her, and she couldn’t quite think straight.

“You sure?” he asked. “I’ve heard I’m a pretty good kisser.”

“You should be! You have enough experience to make that kind of claim.” Her face flushed with anger thinking about all the women he’d probably kissed and most likely hadn’t stopped at kissing. She suddenly wanted more than anything to get through this date and be done with it. She moved to walk around him, but he wrapped his large palm around her upper arm. Her arm heated up from the simple touch, and she found her gaze drawn to his again.

“You shouldn’t believe every rumor you hear, Princess.” His voice was dangerously low, and Izzy got a little pleasure out of knowing she affected him too.

“What else am I supposed to believe?” She challenged him with an imperious glare. If he wanted a princess, she could easily give him one.

“Maybe believe that I’m a good guy who just wants to play football, and if I’m really lucky …” His dimples deepened even without his signature grin. “Maybe I’ll find a beautiful princess to kiss.”

The look in his eyes had her spellbound. She couldn’t move and didn’t want to. He leaned down, and before she could escape or protest, he wrapped a hand around her lower back, drew her roughly to him, and kissed her more intensely than she’d ever been kissed. His lips were warm, demanding, and absolutely wonderful. His body, pressed against hers, had her humming with desire. Those large palms seemed to have a mind of their own, as one gently caressed her lower back and the other traced along her neck then tangled itself in her hair. She never wanted his touch or his kiss to end.

Regrettably, he pulled back and stared down at her. She felt she could see into his soul at the moment. That he wasn’t the ladies’ man the media had made him out to be. That he was innocent and good and … kissing her when he hardly knew her! He was every bit as promiscuous as she’d feared and no gentleman.

Her hand darted up, and she slapped him across the cheek. He didn’t move, and she was pretty sure it had hurt her hand worse than it’d hurt him. Finally, he pursed his lips, nodded, and took a step back, his hands dropping away from her.

“Guess I deserved that.”

“You’d better bet your philandering hands you did. Don’t ever kiss me again. I’m not one of your little … followers who want everything you’ve got to give.”

Xavier’s eyes shuttered. “Excuse me while I go buy the tickets.” He pivoted and left her standing there, walking to a booth with a teenage kid manning it. The young man’s mouth was gaping open when he saw who was coming, or possibly he had witnessed the kiss, the slap, and her outburst.

Izzy wrapped her arms around herself and took long, slow breaths. Xavier Newton had just kissed her. Really, truly kissed her. She didn’t know if her heart would ever recover.

* * *

Xavier’s heart thumped loudly, as if he’d just snagged a Hail Mary over a defender’s head and sprinted in for a touchdown. Izzy, Izzy, Izzy. How could one woman be so beautiful, intriguing, and infuriating? Maybe it was true that she’d bought him at the auction for her hospital, not for some ulterior motive that her father probably had, but how could he know? Contrary to what the public believed, he wasn’t a playboy, and that kiss had rocked him to the core.

He’d planned this date to try to ruffle her feathers, and he’d sworn to himself he wouldn’t touch her. Way to blow that one out of the water, X. The need to get to know her better was stronger than the urge to work out every day so he could be on top of his game. He still didn’t like who her father was, but was that really her fault? His own father had overdosed when Xavier was three, so he had no memories of him. It was one of the few subjects his mama didn’t like to talk about, but he knew better than anyone that you weren’t necessarily like your parents.

His thoughts quickly swung back to that kiss. Kissing her had been powerful and overwhelming. She fit perfectly in his arms, and he loved that she smelled like a sweet flower. Then she’d slapped him. He should be ticked, but it actually made him smile. He liked her spice. Yes, the objective of this date definitely needed to change. The focus now was on charming Princess Izzy and seeing exactly what made her tick. It wasn’t going to be possible to keep his hands to himself, and he didn’t even want to try.

“Hello, Mr. Newton,” the kid at the ticket booth said, his fingers tapping quickly on the wooden counter. “We’ve got everything set up for you, sir, just like you asked.”

“Thanks.” Xavier smiled to try to calm the teenager down and handed over his credit card. “Are you going to be part of the paintball game?”

“Y-yes, sir.” The young man took the credit card, ran it quickly, and placed a receipt in front of him to sign.

Xavier scribbled his signature quick. “Great. It’s going to be fun.”

The kid nodded vigorously. Xavier wanted to get back to Izzy, but he liked how this teenager seemed nervous and not cocky or begging him for a signature. “Do you want me to sign something for you?” Xavier asked.

“Would you?” The kid’s jaw dropped. “Oh, thank you, sir. My boss made me promise not to bug you or stare at you creepy or anything, but you’re my favorite player. Honestly.”

Xavier grinned and took the football and permanent marker the young man produced. This kid was prepared. “What’s your name?”

“Tyson.”

Xavier wrote a lot more carefully than when he’d signed the receipt. To Tyson. Play hard. Pray hard. Xavier Newton.

Tyson took the ball reverently. “Thank you again, sir.”

“Sure thing. Thanks for keeping my coming here quiet.” As a NFL star, his every footstep wasn’t dogged by paparazzi like a Hollywood star would have to deal with, but there were still plenty of photographs out there circulating about him. He wanted to keep this date just between him and Izzy.

“Oh, of course, sir. We’re honored to have you.”

Xavier couldn’t help but chuckle. He loved fans. He hadn’t even looked at the receipt, but he knew he was paying a pretty penny to rent out the whole facility and rent ten of the staff members to play a couple games of paintball with him and Izzy. He didn’t want to deal with people off the street who might make a fuss about him. The staff had been instructed to play and have fun with the game and to treat Xavier and Izzy like any other customer.

He jogged back to Izzy. She was pacing next to the Land Rover.

“Okay, they’re all ready for us,” he said.

Izzy rounded on him and wagged a finger in his face. “And I’ll have you know that I never kiss on the first date.”

She looked so cute, and sadly upset, that he didn’t know what the appropriate response was.

“Furthermore, I’ll thank you to keep your hands and lips to yourself.” She continued, getting up in his face. “I have standards, unlike the women you usually date. You will treat me with respect, or I’ll call an Uber.”

“Oh, really?” Now she was ticking him off. She didn’t know anything about the women he dated. Sure some of them were ready to undress him before the opening scene of a movie, but he’d dated some really nice ladies too. Plus, Izzy had wanted that kiss as much as he had. “So none of this?” He grasped her hips between his hands and yanked her against his chest. He’d meant to startle her out of her self-righteous diatribe, but the effect on him was strong, his body heating up with desire.

She planted her hands on his chest, and his breath shortened.

“I’m, uh …” She drew in a shaky breath. “What was I saying?”

“You’re calling an Uber.” He reminded her, tilting up his chin defiantly.

“That’s right,” she said all prim and grumpy. But her hands not only stayed on his chest, they stinking squeezed his pec muscles.

“Well, if you’re going to ditch me, I might as well give you a reason to.” He bent his head and claimed those full lips with his own again.

She let out a sweet little moan then ran her hands up his chest and to his cheeks, cupping his face between her delicate hands. She pulled back and whispered, “I love your dimples.” Then she was kissing him again, her arms flung around his neck, pressing up into him as he held her tight.

He finally decided he’d better stop pushing his luck and released her. They were both breathing heavily. “Are you going to slap me again?” he asked, knowing this time he might deserve it. He didn’t know her very well, and their relationship so far had been fire and ice, yet he couldn’t seem to stop kissing her. He liked to think he had better self-control than he was showing today.

“I should.” She shook her head and stepped back. Xavier’s hands dropped to his sides, and it felt worse than fumbling the football. “I can’t be kissing someone like you.”

“Like me?” Well, that was hurtful. She obviously had a different ethnic background like him, and he hadn’t figured her for a bigot. “African-American?” he asked tightly.

“No.” She pushed at his shoulder. “You’re such a dork. No, not that. Because you’re a pimp daddy player who goes through women like they’re chewing gum.”

Xavier took a calming breath. Blast his agent and his stupid career plans—look like you’re a big star, and you’ll be a big star. Blah, blah, blah. It was all for the image and more money. Now his top two teams were fighting over him, so it had worked, but when he finally met someone he wanted to kiss and get to know better, it made life a sticky mess.

He glanced away from her beautiful face, trying to think how to explain. What would she believe? The entire staff waited at the entry, all geared up and watching them. Izzy’s gaze followed his. “We’d better go. You’ve set up this fun date and all.” But she sounded so sad. She’d wanted him to refute her comment. He could feel it.

She turned toward the entrance. Xavier caught her hand and stopped her. She glanced up, and those soulful brown eyes reeled him right in.

“Izzy, please don’t believe everything the media shows.”

“If I believed even one-hundredth of it, you’d still be too much of a player for me.”

What did she want, a stinking saint who’d never kissed a woman? Asking her that question wasn’t going to help his cause. “I understand you have a lot of questions and maybe doubts about me, and honestly, I have questions about you too. Can we just slow this down and give each other a chance? You’ve got to admit there’s a spark between us.”

Izzy stared at him, considering. Finally, she gave his hand a squeeze. “Does slowing it down mean no kissing?”

Xavier rubbed his thumb along the soft skin on the back of her hand. “Maybe for a few minutes.”

Izzy glanced down at their joined hands then up at him. Sighing, she held onto his hand and tugged him toward the gate. “Let me beat you at paintball. Then we’ll see about the rest.”

Xavier laughed. He liked her far too much considering the baggage she came with.