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  Field of Play

  Frances Stockton

  When private investigator Grace Daniels agrees to help football star Dallas McKay find his birth parents, she’s determined to remain professional. At least until the gorgeous athlete lands in her lap while celebrating a touchdown and delivers a panty-drenching smile. However, haunted by memories of childhood bullying, Grace is certain Dallas would never want her.

  Dallas is instantly hooked when he meets Grace, and persuades her to spend a weekend with him. Finding her amazingly responsive and adventurous in and out of bed, he puts aside his commitment issues to convince her he’s playing for keeps.

  Together they push their sexual boundaries and fall in more than just lust. But when Grace’s investigation begins, and their exes conspire to tear them apart, their new relationship will be tested. They’ll have to overcome outside interference, and their personal demons, to find happily ever after.

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing

  www.ellorascave.com

  Field of Play

  ISBN 9781419933066

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Field of Play Copyright © 2011 Frances Stockton

  Edited by Briana St. James

  Cover art by Syneca

  Electronic book publication February 2011

  The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Field of Play

  Frances Stockton

  Dedication

  To my mom and dad, John and Mary Orth, for giving me wings to fly.

  Acknowledgements

  A special thank you to my brothers, Jack and Tom, and my sister, Kathy, because they’ve always believed in me. As the youngest of four adopted children, I’d also like to applaud the many wonderful parents who have opened their hearts and their homes to children across the globe.

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Boston Red Sox: Boston Red Sox Baseball Club Limited Partnership New England

  Sports

  Chevy Camaro: General Motors Corporation

  Duraflame Fire Place Logs: Duraflame, Inc.

  Elvis Presley: Elvis Presley Enterprises

  Ford F-150: Ford Motor Company

  Ford Mustang: Ford Motor Company

  Penn State: Pennsylvania State University the Nonprofit Corporation

  Plymouth Road Runner: Chrysler Group LLC

  Shelby Cobra GT: Carroll Hall Shelby Trust

  University of Maryland, College Park: University of Maryland Public Corporation and Instrumentality

  University of Texas Longhorns: Board of Regents, The University of Texas System

  U.S. Army Airborne Rangers: Department of the Army Agency of the United States Government

  Chapter One

  Griffins Nest Stadium—Alexandria, Virginia

  Ten seconds ticked down on the clock.

  The crowd was electrified, calling out, nine, eight, seven, the shouts deafening as quarterback Ricky Weathers delivered a forward pass to wide receiver Dallas McKay. Drawn to her feet, Grace Daniels stopped breathing when she saw the receiver’s big hands catch the ball from midair and pull it in.

  In the blink of an eye, he headed to the endzone, totally outrunning and outgunning the other team’s defense to cross the goal at zero.

  “Go Dallas!” Grace yelled, somehow remembering to breathe as the crowd went crazy.

  And to think she came to Griffins Nest Stadium feeling certain she’d be bored because it wasn’t baseball. The moment she saw Dallas McKay on the field, she’d been riveted to every second. There was something about him that demanded a woman’s attention. From his tremendous height to his agility and quickness, he’d reminded her of a Native American warrior charging across a field covered with stampeding buffalo, only to take down his prey with a bow and arrow.

  “Touchdown! Griffins win with a spectacular reception by Dallas McKay!” The PA announcer shouted in dramatic fashion as fireworks cracked the sky overhead.

  Stunned at how easy Dallas had made it look, she was shaken by how close he was to where she was. Wait, he’d circled the endzone in celebration for just a second and now he was getting closer and closer. He was still running, even after the time clock ran down!

  “Grace, you’d better sit down,” her friend Anna Black warned and tugged her back down into her seat. “I think Dallas is going to do one of his famous high-fives with someone in the crowd, and this time, it’ll be you.”

  Grace dropped to her seat just as Dallas McKay scrambled up and over the wall. Stunned that he’d leapt the barrier with such ease, she was unable to move as he whipped off his helmet and handed it to a security guard.

  To the delight of the crowd, he punched his fist into the air, the game-winning ball in his right hand. Just then he caught the edge of her hiking boot and landed right in her lap! Of their own accord, her arms went around his waist and pulled him in as easily as he’d caught the football.

  How he’d done it without crushing her, she’d no idea. But now that he was there, oh lord, she wasn’t sure she’d let him go or breathe again in this century. The man was magnificent, comfortably warm even though it was the dead of winter and he was wearing a green and gold football uniform with pads.

  “Hello, beautiful, now this is a real fine lap to settle into. Nice and warm,” he said with a grin so wide that he charmed her socks off. He brought his hand around and nestled the football between them. Even though there didn’t seem to be an ounce of fat on him, he wasn’t exactly light. But she didn’t care. Her thighs parted and Dallas used his thigh to shift the ball right into place. One end of the ball pressed between the vee of her thighs, finding her clit. Instantly her insides quivered and pleasure zinged through her belly like a lightning storm. Just like that, she’d come.

  Holy cow, that’s impossible. Grace Daniels was certainly not supposed to react to him in any way, especially not to be rendered mute or experience clit-tingling orgasms from a football.

  “What do you say about keeping this for me until later?” he asked, jostling his thigh again. There was no way he could know that the point was pushing her clitoris or that she was wickedly turned-on by him. Or could he? It was January and it was thirty-five degrees. She was bundled in a thick coat and wore gloves, wool socks and hiking boots.

  “I’ll hold your ball for you,” she said, deliberately shifting so that it wasn’t lodged against her pussy. “The crowd’s calling your name, you know?”

  “I hear them. You okay? Did I hurt you, baby?” he prodded, finally scooting back. It’d been ages since she had been thought
of as a baby and longer since a man called her anything but her name.

  “I…I’m fine,” she croaked. Gads, was that her voice? She tried again. “This is a strange way to meet. I’m Grace Daniels.” Holding out her hand to him, she waited to see if he’d accept it. He took her hand in his and bent low at the waist. He wore tight gloves on his hands to protect them from the cold while playing, but she swore she felt calluses. The stadium roared with laughter when the charming Dallas McKay brought her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the back of her gloved knuckles. Even that was hot!

  Something cold touched her nose, helping to cool her off, some. It’d begun to snow. Little flakes dotted his hair. Grace wanted to wipe the drops away and bury her face into it.

  “Nice to meet you too, Grace. I saw you sitting here in the stands and I had to celebrate that catch with you,” he admitted, standing now. He didn’t take the football back.

  Breathe, Grace, breathe, she told herself, taken in by Dallas McKay’s straight raven-black hair that stopped at his shoulders and the way the lights and fireworks played off his burnished skin. For a moment, she thought she saw remnants of his ancient ancestors in every line and chisel of his face. She didn’t know if Native American warriors had been very tall back in history, but Dallas was really, really tall at six foot seven, and he had the lean, sculpted muscles of an ancient Spartan.

  Behind them, the local media circus had begun. The players had taken the field and everyone wanted a piece of the man standing right in front of her. Security guards had converged to protect Dallas from the crowd, but it didn’t look like he was going anywhere until he was ready.

  “I think the news crews are going to have a fit if you stay here much longer,” Grace pointed out, gesturing to the crowd. “Better go entertain the masses.”

  “Nice touch, Dallas,” Anna commented beside her. “I’m glad you two could finally meet.”

  “Hey, Anna, thanks for bringing Grace to the game,” he said, then returned his eyes on Grace as he leaned sideways and whispered in Anna Black’s ear.

  His intense brown eyes might be Grace’s undoing if she wasn’t very careful. Already, she could feel her face flush with heat as she felt his gaze scorch her from head to toe. Because she was fair-skinned, she got blotchy when she blushed, not pretty. It didn’t help that it was cold and getting colder with the addition of snow flurries. Plus, they had a whole stadium riveted on the two of them.

  By luck, he didn’t seem to notice her blotches and the crowd noise sounded far away. He straightened away from Anna, not once losing sight of Grace.

  “All set for later. I’ll see you real soon, baby,” he promised, grinning down at her, and a flood of heat rained down Grace’s inner thighs. If it weren’t for a trick of the lights and magical fireworks, she could have sworn she saw his jaw tighten as if he was very aware of her arousal.

  Finally, he leapt back over the short wall and was back on the field, sprinting toward the celebration with his teammates. Since they’d just won a tight game with a stunning touchdown that added to Dallas’ potentially record-breaking season, the Griffins deserved this moment.

  “Well, that was an unusual way for the two of you to meet,” Anna commented, her voice deliberately kept low.

  “I’ve heard McKay’s quite the charmer,” Grace replied, not really sure what to say. She clutched the football. It felt warm. How was it that it was cold enough to snow, yet she felt nothing but Dallas McKay’s touch through her gloves? For a brief second she closed her eyes, recalling that amazing catch.

  “What’d he say to you, anyway?” she asked, opening her eyes.

  “He told me to bring you back to the locker rooms so he could talk to you privately,” Anna answered.

  “Wasn’t that a given?” Grace asked. “Since we’re supposed to have a blind date tonight?”

  “Dallas McKay has uncanny eyesight. It’s one of the reasons he’s good as a receiver,” Anna answered. “Frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t notice the way he’d been watching you from the sidelines. He made that catch to impress you.”

  Grace had noticed the curious looks he’d sent their way during the game. She’d figured he was trying to make their part in the ruse look authentic.

  “Come on, let’s go see our men.”

  Anna stood up a little slower than usual. Considering the baby bump that prevented her friend from working as a mascot for awhile, Grace was admittedly jealous. If she was four months pregnant with twins while wearing a winter coat, she’d look like the Michelin Man.

  Hoping her envy didn’t show, Grace smiled. “I’m looking forward to it,” she said, though now that she met Dallas in person, she was more than a little nervous.

  Clutching the football to protect it from screaming fans, she mentally calmed her fluttering nerves. She was star-struck by the very man she shouldn’t be. Dallas was a potential client. As a private investigator who had recently opened her own business, she hoped to use this case as a catapult to being able to hire more investigators and security specialists.

  Keeping close to Anna, Grace let the other woman guide the way. Anna flashed her security credentials and it wasn’t long before they were in the belly of Griffins Nest Stadium. From the dull roar of the crowd outside, Grace guessed it would be a while before the players came into the locker room area.

  They had to pass another security station, but once they were in the clear, they walked to the room designated for the mascots.

  “Isn’t the guy working the crowd going to need this room soon?” Grace asked.

  “Actually tonight’s mascot was Sarah,” Anna answered. “When I asked her for some alone time with Kyran after the game, she said I could wait here. It’s kind of a ritual for us anyway. My husband will make sure Dallas comes here.”

  “So then it’s all set?” Grace questioned.

  “Looks like it,” Anna said. “Don’t worry, Grace. Everything will be fine. Dallas is a great guy. I wouldn’t have recommended you to be his PI if I didn’t think he would also look out for you.”

  “Then the vaulting into the seats was really an act meant to throw off anyone wondering why I’m hanging out with Dallas McKay.” She wanted to think it’d been spontaneous. Yet she knew their meeting had been prearranged.

  “That was not planned. I guarantee Derek Billings and Coach Cahill are going to warn him off doing that again, even though he jumped into the Griffins private box on the field,” Anna stated. “But what a way to meet his new girlfriend, don’t you think?”

  “I’m not really going to be his girlfriend. We’re just going to meet for a few dates to throw off the press,” Grace reminded.

  Anna went over and took a seat in a worn recliner. “I have the feeling Dallas’ response to you is genuine. Not once since I’ve known him has he called a woman baby.”

  “He was playing a part.”

  If that was the case, why were her insides knotted so tightly that only a long night with her multiple-speed vibrator would ease her tension? Deciding that was the best way to calm her nerves later, Grace stopped herself from pacing.

  “The football won’t break if you put it down,” Anna commented.

  “Strange as it seems, I promised to keep it safe for Dallas. But whenever I look at the ball, I relive his touchdown.” Grace put the football on a bench, took off her coat and gloves then picked up the ball again.

  “Dallas will appreciate that,” Anna assured, laughing softly. “Besides, no matter what you believe, I think he has a crush on you already. The man couldn’t stop looking at you.”

  “Yeah, there’s a lot to look at,” Grace murmured, trying not to get negative now. It’d been years since she doubted herself. Instead of the thirty-year-old woman she was, she felt more like the awkward teenager she’d once been.

  “Grace Daniels, don’t you dare think like that,” Anna corrected. “Kyran told Dallas you were pretty. He did not lie.”

  “Kyran’s a great guy.” Grace was glad Kyran thought she was p
retty. Maybe she was, but she couldn’t erase her six-three, larger-than-average frame, even though she exercised regularly and avoided eating junk food. When she was a teenager, she’d been subjected to harassment for her size and looks. Every once in a while, those nasty comments still came back to haunt her, especially when meeting a man as hot as Dallas McKay, but she wasn’t a teenager anymore.

  She could handle posing as Dallas McKay’s girlfriend long enough to solve his case.

  * * * * *

  Dallas was nervous. He couldn’t believe it.

  He didn’t get nervous, not with women. He’d certainly never been a saint and had broken his share of hearts. While he wasn’t proud of that statistic now, he could look back at his choices in girlfriends and see that he’d purposefully chosen women he’d be unable to commit to for the long haul.

  But that was before he’d seen the lovely, curvaceous Grace Daniels sitting in the Griffins reserved seats. It didn’t matter that she was there to help him find his biological family. Dallas couldn’t have predicted his reaction to her. All he’d been told by his assistant coach, Kyran, was that Grace was pretty and a damn good private investigator. That didn’t stop the instant hard-on he’d gotten when he ended up in her lap.

  Dallas grinned as he reached up and turned on the shower. Warm water rushed out, dousing him. Really glad management installed private shower stalls, he thought of the way Grace Daniels’ lap cushioned his game-winning ball. Her thighs had clenched, her mouth had parted as if she’d come and he couldn’t wait to find out what she’d look like when her pussy was filled with his cock.

  Rock-hard and ready, there was no doubt in his mind that he would fuck her. Thinking of ways to get her off, he dropped his hand to his dick and pumped hard and fast. He let his hand do all the work, his thoughts on Grace and having her gorgeous mouth wrapped around his cock. It didn’t take long to come. But he sure intended to make his first time with Grace Daniels last a hell of a lot longer.