Blitzed (The Alpha Ballers #3) (6 page)

It just wasn’t as simple, as cut and dried, as Steve was making it out to be. There were real people involved. “I get that, and I get that this is business, but it’s also a family, of sorts.”

Steve laughed. “I like that you think that way. It’s certainly refreshing, and I don’t often meet people who think like that, especially not,” he stopped and looked me up and down. I couldn’t help but blush, and took a quick sip of my drink. “Especially not any who look as good as you.”

“Thank you, Steve, that’s very nice of you.” It was only recently that I had learned how to take a compliment properly, and I was still getting used to it. Still, even if Steve wasn’t the most exciting guy in the world, it was always nice to hear something like that.

“Sure thing. Keep in mind, though, your coach, Armstrong, he thinks like I do. He’ll get rid of a guy at the peak of their production rather than keep him too long, and if he gets a good offer, pretty much everyone can go.”

On that point Steve was 100% correct, Coach Armstrong would absolutely not hesitate to cut or trade a player when whatever internal calculus he used to determine their value suddenly started showing they were no longer helping the team out.

“I’ll be on the lookout in case he decides he wants to get rid of anyone.”

“Well, while your eyes are open, be sure and check out Hudson Asher.”

“Oh?” No trouble there, if Hudson Asher was ever in the same room as me, I knew it, and I kept an eye on him, even if I didn’t want to. I was like a moth to his flame, all of a sudden, though I couldn’t explain it for the life of me.

“Yeah, he’s a prime candidate. He’s got good experience, he’s led a great defense before, but he’s getting a little long in the oooh.”

I giggled. “He’s 32, Steve, he’s a couple years younger than you.”

“True, true, but, as you put it, I look at spreadsheets all day, Mackenzie. Hudson Asher’s job is to be a physical monster.”

That it is, that it is. And he was very, very good at it. “So you’re saying he’s on the decline.”

“I’m saying whoever he is, he’s not Superman. Linebackers, especially guys who play angry and physical like he does, they don’t usually make it to the mid-30s and still have numbers anyone is willing to extend a contract on.”

“What should we do, then?” I asked, humoring him for a little. As much as I wasn’t the biggest fan of our current line of discussion, I had to admit it was a little sexy to see Steve so fired up about something. This had definitely been lacking in our earlier dates.

“I think you should first look for a good trade offer. Like I said, he’s had a good career up to this point, there are desperate franchises that need a good middle linebacker and who will give you more than he’s worth. You get a good deal like that, help some other team bring in veteran leadership while getting some picks you can use on younger talent, and it’s a win-win. There are probably a dozen teams that would line up to take him off your hands.”

“We certainly could do that.”

“It’s better than having him on the roster, signing him again, and then needing to keep him even when his numbers decline because his contract is too valuable.”

“He’s made team-friendly deals in the past.”

“Yeah, but from what I read, players have a way of seeing the end coming a little sooner than the teams they play for, and then the team-friendly contracts start becoming a lot more player-friendly, if you know what I mean.”

“I have an idea.”

“Yeah.” Steve finished his drink and looked around. “Listen, I didn’t mean to start talking so much shop all at once.”

“Don’t worry about it, actually, I kinda liked seeing you all fired up.” I smiled. “It was pretty cute.”

“Yeah, well, I can get even cuter.”

“Oh yeah? How does that work?”

“It’s a little tough to show you in such an, ahem, public place.” Steve’s smile got a little naughty, and as my second drink took hold, that naughty smile looked sexier and sexier.

Up until now if you had asked me where Hudson Asher was in the room in relation to me, I could have pointed him out without hesitation, but after getting into it with Steve over contracts and football talk, I wasn’t even sure if he was still at the party.

I thought that was an improvement, all things considered. I was here with Steve, and there was no reason for me to be indulging in a harmless schoolgirl crush on one of my father’s employees.

And if he lasted a little while longer with the Patriots, Hud would be one of my employees, with how things were going.

“I like the sound of that,” I said, and finished off my drink, setting the glass down on a table nearby. I rested my hands on the table and looked at Steve, challenging him. “So, what do we do now?” Liquid courage was pulsing through my veins, and I felt like being bold.

Steve was the perfect guy to be a little bold with. Nothing too out of hand or out of character. And if nothing else, Steve could help me get over my little crush on Hudson Asher.

If I could even call it a little crush anymore.

Steve stepped closer to me, around the table that until that moment had been between us, and put his arm around my waist. I let him pull me in, my senses going into overdrive, a little self conscious about public displays of affection, especially in a place like this, with people I worked with, and people who worked for me.

And Hudson Asher. But I was trying not to think about him, and I was doing an OK job at it. Maybe.

“Steve, we can’t,” I whispered, looking around, thankful that no one else looked to be paying any attention to us at the moment. Steve didn’t match my glance, focusing on me the entire time. “Not here, I work with these people.”

“No one cares,” he said back, and kissed me briefly on the lips. My whole body fluttered at his kiss, but I wasn’t sure it was because I had craved it or because it seemed a little taboo in a room full of coworkers at a charity event. I had never really thought of charity events as exciting before, so this was new.

“I do, though. I don’t want people to talk.”

“What’ll they talk about? You’re on a date.”

I gave Steve something that approached a glare. “It’s different for me, Steve, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.” There was no rancor in his voice; Steve genuinely looked like he was interested.

I looked at him some more without replying for a few seconds, just to check, but he only raised his eyebrows and nodded. “It’s just…different.”

“Come on, Mackenzie, that’s not good enough and you know it.”

“OK, OK, two reasons. The first is, I’m a woman working in a man’s field.”

“So?”

“So every thing I do gets judged against that. If I slip up, my entire gender takes a hit.”

“And the second reason?”

“My father owns the team, Steve. All these people work for him. It’s bad enough that I work here too, people are gonna think I just waltzed in here and took the job from someone, like a man, who was more qualified, without stopping to realize that I have worked hard to get where I am.”

“So that means you can’t kiss your date in public?”

I blushed. “No, it’s not that, it’s just…”

I wasn’t willing to say it, but I was already thinking it. Sure, if I really wanted to, I could kiss my date in public, and no one important would really care. The real reason that I didn’t want to kiss Steve in public was that I was worried Hud would see it.

That was dumb. Hud and I were nothing to each other but people we saw at work. He had never shown any interest in me at all, and I certainly had tried to keep my growing attraction to him under wraps, as deeply hidden as I could. So why was this bothering me now?

Unfortunately, I just didn’t have time to figure myself out right now. “Just not here, OK? Somewhere else. Not here.” I looked at Steve, a wan smile on my face, trying to get him to drop the point.

Steve stared back at me like he was about to say something, then got the better of himself. He smiled and nodded, and looked around the room again, pulling back a little further from me, which let me relax. I was attracted to him and I had enjoyed his kiss; if we were alone I’d welcome more such kisses, and return them with pleasure.

Just not here.

Steve’s eyes widened. “I have an idea, then.”

“Oh yeah?”

Steve took me by the arm and pointed with his chin. I followed his gaze and saw a door, presumably leading to another room. “Shall we?” He asked.

My breath quickened. “Yes,” I whispered, “we shall.”

I could tell my cheeks were crimson red with a heady combination of excitement and embarrassment as Steve led me toward the door. I kept looking around and thinking that at any moment someone would point at me and shout “LOOK everyone! Mack going somewhere to fool around with HER DATE!” and then everyone in the room would point and laugh and I’d see Hud standing there looking angry and sad at the same time.

Of course none of that really happened, because I’m a crazy person who concocts these elaborate fantasies to save me from the things I’m scared of. We made it to the door without incident, and as far as I could tell, no one in the room even noticed that we were gone. We stood near the door for a few seconds, looking totally casual, though all I could think about was how suspicious we probably looked.

Once we were through the door, Steve closed it behind us and we were alone. The rush of getting out of the party caught up with me all at once, and for a second I was a little woozy. Steve’s hand was at my lower back, and I was reassured by him keeping me steady.

“Where do we go?” I whispered.

“This way,” Steve replied, sounding so confident that for a second I wondered if he had memorized the plans to this place or something. Given his personality, I wouldn’t put it past him.

I let him lead me down the hall. The lights were lower here, like the hall’s staff didn’t figure anyone would be here so they could save a little bit on the electric bills. There were unused chairs and tables packed off to one side - extras just in case the main hall needed more. More doorways that led to offices and smaller meeting rooms.

And all of it empty.

A twinge of naughtiness raced through me. I felt like we were somewhere we shouldn’t be, like we were breaking into a high school after dark or something. Suddenly, I realized that I was breathing a lot shallower and taking softer and slower steps, which was quite a feat in these heels, like I was trying to minimize the sounds and disturbances I made.

Like anyone was watching. All the security for the event was out front. No one would come down this way looking.

We were safe.

I wasn’t sure how far we’d keep going - there was plenty of distance between us and the main hall already, but I let Steve pull me along, excited to be alone with him. All of a sudden I crashed into Steve’s back as he stopped. He looked back at me as I steadied myself. “You OK?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Where are we going?” I was starting to get a little antsy.

Steve looked around and picked the next door. “Right here,” he said. “Why are you whispering?”

I giggled, enjoying the moment and the drinks I had had. “I don’t know, why am I giggling?”

“You mean whispering.”

“Right, right.” I tapped him on the shoulder. “We were going somewhere?”

“Yes.” Steve opened the door in front of us and we went inside, leaving it open. It was a meeting room, with a long table in the center, and a bunch of chairs all around it. Off to the sides were longer, narrower tables for setting up equipment, food, and bags.

But we were here for something a little more exciting than the furniture. As soon as we were all the way in the room, Steve took my hand and twirled me around. I laughed as he pulled me in, my hands resting on his chest as we started kissing. The drinks took over and I hungrily kissed him, my hands snaking upward to reach around his neck. With these heels on Steve was only a bit taller than me, so I didn’t have to strain at all. I wasn’t used to it, but I could make do.

Steve’s hands moved all around my body over my dress. I had hoped it was just to the left of risqué, but Steve seemed to have liked it - I remember his face lighting up at the restaurant where we’d had our first drink a couple hours ago.

I don’t know how long we were there - when we really got into it, time slowed down, but eventually I realized that Steve wasn’t paying as much attention to kissing me as he was to feeling my breasts up over my dress. I didn’t mind so much; it had taken me a long time but I had gotten comfortable with my curves, and I liked when men appreciated them, but Steve was getting a little aggressive for the first time we’d fooled around.

Up until now all we had enjoyed was a kiss here and there at the end of our dates. I didn’t mind him escalating things, but this was going a little too fast for my taste. I pulled back for a second, unwrapping my arms and moving Steve’s hands very pointedly away from my breasts. Steve grinned at me. I didn’t know how to respond, so I just smiled a bit and shook my head as he pulled me in for another kiss.

Things went back to normal for a minute. We slowly turned around in place, still pretty much in the entrance to the room, which wasn’t doing anything for keeping us out of sight if anyone came down the hall.

But after a minute, things changed again, and this time Steve wasn’t going for my breasts under my dress; no, this time he was more interested in my legs and what was between them. I felt his hand snaking up my thigh, higher and higher, past the silky fabric of my dress and getting close to my panty-covered pussy.

I breathed out sharply, my eyes falling open as I pulled away from Steve’s kiss. “Steve,” I whispered, a little more forcefully this time, “it’s too soon, we shouldn’t…” I reached down and moved his hand lower, out from under my dress, feeling a little guilty, but not wanting to go any further.

This time Steve’s look wasn’t friendly, it wasn’t shy, there was no ‘aw shucks’ quality to it. His gaze was bordering on anger; I thought it had a tinge of entitlement to it. “No, Mackenzie, we should,” he said flatly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

He came back in for another kiss, and halfheartedly I let him, hoping he’d stop there, but Steve’s hand didn’t hesitate very long before coming back up toward what he wanted.