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Jacobe shrugged. He had been surprised to see her. Pleasantly surprised. After Christy’s betrayal he’d often wondered what would have happened if he’d called Danielle again. “I wouldn’t mind reconnecting.”
Especially in the bedroom. He didn’t know what bit of fate had put Danielle in the courtside seats behind the bench tonight, but he had no intention of squandering the good fortune. He’d love nothing more than a repeat of their night together.
Danielle and her friend stopped their conversation to look their way. Her eyes widened behind those cute black-and-gold glasses she wore before she turned toward her friend. The dark-haired woman elbowed Danielle and said something. Danielle looked back his way and gave him a shy smile.
Ah, yeah, he was going to thoroughly enjoy reconnecting with Danielle Stewart. She’d driven him crazy back then, pestering him to use his popularity for good. The only person who’d seemed to think he could be good at something other than playing ball.
Her lectures had always fallen on deaf ears. Mainly because he couldn’t stop himself from thinking of peeling off those cute little cardigan sweaters she seemed to always wear and kissing her until the passion in her warm dark eyes was because of him instead of whatever cause she was championing. He’d always wondered what she would do if she’d known that while she droned on about ecosystems or some other nonsense, he’d wanted nothing more than to plop her on top of the nearest desk and make her glasses fog up.
He lifted his head in acknowledgment, then crossed the room her way. Isaiah, Kevin and Will followed. People stopped and congratulated him and the guys on the win. He spoke, but kept his attention on Danielle. She wore a fitted gold-colored Jacksonville Gators T-shirt that made her luscious breasts look like twin works of art, ankle-length jeans that hugged her ass perfectly and flats. Her thick, dark, shoulder-length hair was parted on the side to sweetly frame her heart-shaped face.
“You came,” he said when he got to her side. He opened his arms and leaned in for a hug. He had to hug her. She was too cute and curvy to not hug.
Her eyes widened, but she leaned in from the waist and patted his back. Jacobe fought the urge to pull her in for a real hug instead of one that left enough space for two small kids to run through.
“Well, you invited me.” Her eyes met his and she sucked in a breath, then looked away. “This is my coworker, Debra.” She straightened her glasses and gave another shy smile.
She was still attracted to him. Good, because if she’d shown up with any intentions of reliving their night together he was game. He needed a distraction. They’d won, but the price he’d have to pay for hitting Rob hovered over him like a cloud.
He reached out a hand to the pretty woman next to Danielle. “Nice to meet you, Debra. I’m Jacobe. These guys here are my teammates, Kevin, Isaiah and Will. Fellas, this is Danielle Stewart.”
The guys nodded and shook the ladies’ hands. Jacobe watched both of them for any signs that they were interested in Danielle. Interest did light up their eyes, but mainly in the way they darted glances between Jacobe and Danielle. He hoped his instincts were right. He didn’t need another teammate sleeping with the same chick as him. He had definite plans to eventually sleep with Danielle again.
Debra grinned and shook his head. “I know who all of you are. We’re both big fans.”
Jacobe looked back at Danielle. “You’re a fan?”
She nodded and met his eye without glancing away like she had before. “I am.”
“How long have you been in Jacksonville?”
“Since right after college.”
Jacobe frowned, upset by the idea that she’d been so close without him even knowing. Though he had thought of her over the years, he hadn’t gone so far as to track her down. “I didn’t know that.”
“We don’t exactly hang out in the same circles.” She glanced at his teammates.
“I guess not.”
Debra leaned forward. “So, Jacobe, how do you know Danielle?”
Jacobe met Debra’s eyes and searched for any indication she already knew about his one night with Danielle. He couldn’t fault Danielle for telling people about that night—a few of the women he’d had one-night stands with over the years had loved to brag about it afterward. He would be slightly disappointed if Danielle had done the same. That night had been spontaneous and wonderful, awkward but somehow special. A secret between them. He’d never expected her to brag.
“What did Danielle say?”
“That she helped you study, but that’s about it.”
Relief eased more of the tension. She hadn’t bragged to her friend. “Danielle tried helping me out in biology. I was a little hardheaded then.”
Danielle raised a brow. “Just a little.”
Debra leaned forward and looked expectantly between him and Danielle. “Was she just as driven back then as she is now?”
“When it came to biology and giving back she was. I remember her always trying to get me to volunteer for various causes or skip parties to study.”
Danielle smirked and leaned against the bar. “Tried but was unsuccessful. You never wanted to volunteer, and there was always some party to attend.”
“I gave back in my own way. You always liked to judge.”
Her shoulders straightened. “I didn’t judge.”
“Yes, you did.” He looked back at Debra. “When she rolled up the sleeves of those cute little sweaters she wore I knew she was pissed and that someone was about to get chewed out.”
Debra laughed. “She still does that. In the office we say she’s ready for battle.”
Danielle held up her hands. “I’m going up against politicians and businessmen. I have to be ready for battle.” The familiar fight-for-what’s-right tone came to her voice.
Isaiah watched her with growing interest. “Politicians and business men? What do you do?”
“I’m the executive director for the St. Johns River Watchers.”
Jacobe exchanged glances with the fellas to see if they recognized the organization’s name. Isaiah nodded. Of course he would know. Kevin and Will shrugged.
“Impressive,” Isaiah said.
“The River Watchers?” Jacobe asked. “What’s that?”
Her look said she was disappointed but not surprised by his ignorance. “We’re a watchdog organization that makes sure businesses, governments and citizens aren’t doing anything to harm the river. Our goal is to protect the river and, ultimately, the beach.”
Jacobe wasn’t surprised by her career path. “You’re still trying to save the world, huh.”
Her shoulders stiffened. “And you’re still turning your nose up at saving the world.”
Kevin cleared his throat. “Oh, look, I think I see the sign to get out of the cross fire.” He looked at Isaiah, Will, and Debra. “Pool, anyone?”
The others agreed quickly and scuttled away. “Wow,” Danielle said, watching the four leave. “We still know how to clear a room.” She took a sip from the straw in her fruity drink.
Jacobe chuckled. “We didn’t even have to raise our voices this time. Remember when they kicked us out of the library?”
She smiled. “Yes, the study session before our first test of the semester. You were so distracted and you kept pulling out your cell phone to do other things.”
“The test right before a rivalry game,” he replied. “I was trying to watch videos of the other team’s footage.”
“You couldn’t wait until we’d finished? One hour, that’s all we had.”
“I couldn’t help it. We met right after practice. I had basketball on the brain.”
“How hard was it to focus for an hour?”
“Very.” He thought of that day. Basketball hadn’t been the only thing on his brain. “You had on that pink sweater with a tight white T-shirt under it.” She’d buttoned the sweater to right beneath her breasts. The swell of her chest above it was like a beacon to his eyes. “I had to look at videos on my phone or stare and wonder how you’d squeezed into that shirt.”
Her mouth snapped shut and her eyes were wide. He chuckled. “Yes, I was checking you out back then. I thought you would have figured that out by now.”
“I hadn’t. I thought it was just that night.”
He shook his head. “I wanted you long before that night.”
She tucked her hair behind her ears and stared into her drink. “You never said anything.”
“I’m not into cheating. Too much drama.” Something he’d learned the hard way.
Her eyes flew to his. “Neither am I. I only...did what I did because I’d heard you and Christy broke up.”
“We had.” They should have stayed broken up.
“But then I heard you two were back together.”
“We got back after the draft. She said she was pregnant.” He couldn’t stop the anger from creeping into his voice.
Her eyes widened. “You have a kid?”
He shook his head. “Thought I did. Turns out he wasn’t mine.”
“Oh.”
“That’s why I hit Rob tonight. He brought it up.”
She scowled. “In the middle of the game. That’s a dick move.”
Jacobe grinned. He’d always loved her candor. Her spark. “Some would say the same about me hitting him.”
Her brows pulled together and she drew her lower lip between her teeth. “I’d thought that when you hit him and walked away so coldly. I guess I understand now. I’m sorry to hear about what Christy did.”
“I don’t want to talk about that.” He shouldn’t have told her. Only a few people knew about that situation. A part of him didn’t want Danielle to think he’d slept with her that night and gotten back with Christy on a whim.
He needed to change the subject before the old familiar bitterness of that situation took a hold of him. He’d come here for a distraction. He let his gaze slowly roam over every inch of Danielle’s sexy curves. “Instead of talking about the past, how about we get out of here?”
The sympathy in her eyes evaporated. “Excuse me?”
“I thought we could catch up. It’s been years.”
“Yeah, and we can catch up right here, right now.”
“You don’t have to be shy with me, Danielle. You popped up at my game, in the seat right behind me. Kind of reminds me of that night. I’m good with us hooking up again.”
Danielle leaned back. “I was there because one of our donors gave us his courtside seats. I didn’t think you’d even remember or recognize me.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because I never heard from you again after that night in college.”
“That was my mistake. Believe me.”
A vision of Christy in his hotel room after the draft, crying and saying they belonged together and that she was pregnant, popped into his mind. She’d dropped a positive pregnancy test on the bed when he’d accused her of showing up just because he’d been drafted. Would Danielle understand the sense of responsibility that had come over him when he’d seen that plus sign and Christy’s tears? That nothing else had mattered other than being a better father than the one he’d had.
“You know you’re just the same as you always were.” Danielle broke into his thoughts.
He met her gaze, was surprised to see anger in her eyes. “Excuse me?”
“I came here because you invited me. I thought that maybe, despite that night together, you would be cool and decent. That we could... I don’t know, talk like the adults we are. I didn’t come here so you could try and sleaze your way into my bed.” She hopped down from the stool. “You have a good night.”
He watched her storm off. She said a few quick words to Debra, who glared at Jacobe before she dropped her pool stick and followed Danielle to the door. Kevin, Isaiah, and Will gave him confused looks. Jacobe cursed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Damn. Now he’d have to go down to that River Watcher place and apologize for being a jerk.
* * *
Jacobe’s shoulders were tense as he entered the main conference room for the Gators with his agent, Eric Jones. Eric had caught a red eye flight from Los Angeles to be here for this early morning meeting. Eric would probably be the only one who had Jacobe’s back today.
Meetings with the management staff were never fun. He had a pretty good idea of the lecture he was about to receive. Tone down the aggression. We can’t afford to lose you right before the play-offs. Try and keep your name out of the headlines. He’d heard the same lines constantly over the past few years. Never mind that he had toned down his behavior recently. The situation with Christy was a blow he hadn’t known how to handle. He’d taken out his aggression on and off the court. For the most part, he considered himself over that blow. It was only when assholes like Rob used the situation against him on the court that his efforts to stay out of trouble were forgotten.
Three people sat around the conference table. Coach Simpson in the usual polo shirt and khakis he wore on off days. His teal-gray eyes met Jacobe’s with determination. Rebecca Force, the team’s public relations supervisor, sat primly next to the coach. Brian McClain, one of the team’s owners, was the last person at the table. Jacobe’s shoulders tightened even more. Brian reminded Jacobe of his high school principal with his graying brown hair, stiff suits and perpetual frown. Like his high school principal, Brian never saw anything good in Jacobe off the basketball court and made no qualms about his opinion that Jacobe joining the team would be a distraction. Only their joint goal of a play-off win for the Gators kept them civil toward each other.
“Are we waiting on anyone else?” Eric asked, after they greeted everyone and sat in the chairs to Coach Simpson’s left.
Rebecca shook her head. “No, just waiting on you two.”
“Sorry for keeping you all waiting,” Jacobe said.
Rebecca gave him what he guessed was supposed to be a friendly smile. The tightness around her eyes contradicted the action. “You’re actually right on time. We met for a few minutes before you got here to discuss a few things.”
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. “Let me guess—you met early to talk about me.”
Eric held up a hand. “Wait a second, Jacobe. Before you get upset, let’s hear what she has to say. Though I would have liked to have been included in any discussions regarding my client.”
Jacobe would have liked that too. He looked at Rebecca. “What do you have to say?” He didn’t bother to hide his frustration.
He didn’t like being discussed beforehand like he was a threat that needed to be neutralized. Never had. Not when he was sent to the principal’s office in school, or when his mom used to get on the phone with her girlfriends and discuss the latest note sent home from school and all the reasons Jacobe couldn’t be well behaved like other kids.
Rebecca broke into his thoughts. “The league commissioner called this morning.”
Jacobe scoffed. “Already? I guess he couldn’t wait to tell me I’ve messed up. So what is it? A fine? One-game suspension?”
Eric glared at Jacobe. “Let me do the talking.”
Brian jerked forward in his chair. “Try a five-game suspension.”
The words stunned Jacobe into temporary silence. “Five games?” He’d expected to miss a game, maybe two, not five. They were a few weeks away from the play-offs. If the team lost at this time they could miss their chance at being a number-one seed. Worse, they may not make it at all.
“Yes. Five,” Brian said. “Your antics are hurting the team. When the rest of the owners overrode me and brought you here, I knew it would be a problem. You don’t care about this team. You don’t care about anyone but yourself.”
