Tara had a brief conversation with Bobby’s parents, who assured her they’d pick up Bobby and Nathan from Coach’s house after the party. Tara would pick up Nathan tomorrow afternoon, so it was all set.

She turned around to head home but stopped in the middle of the field, her heart slamming against her chest when she saw Mick. Or at least she thought she saw him. He’d be pretty difficult to miss, since he was so damn tall, and she’d committed his face to memory until she died. And even though it was dark, the stadium lights were still on. He’d ducked to the west side of the bleachers and disappeared into the crowds leaving the stadium. She followed, quickening her step as she moved off the turf and onto the sidewalk, passing the bleachers where she’d seen him standing and out to the parking lot where a score of people where getting into their cars and taking off.

She climbed onto the brick planting area and scanned the crowds, thought she spotted his black SUV pulling out of the parking lot.

She was obviously imagining things. Why would Mick be here?

She’d told him she never wanted to see him again. He’d made no contact with her in over two weeks. He had a game Sunday. This was a local high school game. No media attention. He’d have no reason to be here.

She was an idiot. She’d worked so hard to push Mick out of her mind.

“Mom?”

She looked down to see Nathan, Carly, Bobby, and Bobby’s parents gaping up at her while she stood like some idiot on the brick wall.

“Oh. Hi there.”

“What are you doing up there, Mom?”

“Uh, just though I saw someone I knew.”

The side of Nathan’s mouth curled. “Mick, maybe?”

He held her hand while she jumped down. “No. Why would you think that?”

“Duh, Mom. Because he was here.”

“He was? How would you know that?”

“Because I invited him to the game.” Nathan turned to Carly and Bobby. “I’ll meet up with you guys in a sec.”

Nathan looked at the ground after his friends left. There was something he wasn’t telling her.

“Nathan?”

He finally lifted his gaze to hers. “Look, I didn’t want you to go all batshit ... uh ... crazy on me about it. I called him and asked if he wanted to watch my first game. He said he’d love to. I left a ticket for him. He came to the locker room before the game, talked to the guys. No big deal, okay?”

“You missed him.”

Nathan shrugged. “Just thought he might want to see me play.”

Tears pricked her eyes. God, this kid needed a man in his life. “I’m sorry, Nathan. This is why I don’t date.”

“Bullshit. Stop using me.”

Her eyes widened. “What?”

“You’ve kept your life on hold because of me. You don’t let anyone get close to you because of me.”

“That’s not true.”

“You love Mick. Don’t you?”

She opened her mouth to deny it but then stopped herself.

“Don’t bother saying a word. It’s obvious you’re practically crying yourself to sleep every night. I don’t know why you’re being such a big baby about this, Mom. You love him. He loves you. Simple, right?”

She rubbed her temple. “No, Nathan. It’s not simple.”

“Then tell me what the problem is.”

“The problem is between Mick and me and is none of your business.”

“Why don’t you quit treating me like I’m a little kid and start treating me like maybe I can handle some grown-up problems? I’m always going to be here for you when sh—when stuff happens that’s bad. You don’t have to make life perfect for me. I know bad things happen. I know you had a shitty—fine I’ll just say it—a shitty life when you were younger. That doesn’t mean you have to look for the bad in every thing and every person. Not everyone is like that. Mick isn’t like that.”

She held up her hand. “Okay, wait a minute.”

“No. I’m not going to wait. And I don’t think you should wait anymore either. You put your life on hold for me. And really, I get that. I appreciate it. But I’m not a baby anymore. Let go, Mom.”

She stood there, speechless, looking at her little boy who had grown up and was now giving her advice. “I guess you have grown up. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Just stop using me as an excuse for not doing what you really want.”

She inhaled, let it out. “Do you think I’ve been doing that?”

“Not always. But with Mick? Yeah. And stop it.”

She nodded, flabbergasted at her son, who had somehow grown up when she wasn’t looking. “Okay. I will.”

“I like him, too, Mom.”

She sucked in a breath, realized she hadn’t been the only one to love Mick.

“I know you do.”

“He’s not a bad guy.”

“No, he’s not.”

“Even if you don’t get back with him, I want to be friends with him. Would that be okay?”

She sat on the brick wall and held her son’s hands. Surprisingly, he let her. “That would be fine. I can’t think of anyone who’s a better person to be in your life than Mick.”

Nathan grabbed her up into a fierce hug that brought a rush of tears to her eyes.

“I love you. Gotta go. Bye.”

“Bye.” She laughed through the tears as he ran off with his friends.

“Go find Mick and tell him you love him,” Nathan yelled when he was halfway down the parking lot.

Tara was mortified, but the kids all laughed, and Bobby’s parents just waved and shook their heads.

Oh sure, her kid dropped this epic pronouncement about maturity and love on her, then ran off for pizza. He’d understood it all so easily, when she clearly hadn’t.

Youth. She certainly hadn’t been that smart when she was his age.

She got into her car and started it up, then made the turn for home, got a block down the road, and abruptly pulled onto the freeway.

Nathan was right. It was time to stop being scared and stop making excuses.

She knew what she wanted, and it was time to go get it.

TWENTY-ONE

MICK HAD JUST FINISHED TAKING A SHOWER WHEN HE heard the doorbell.

“Shit.” He grabbed a pair of pants and shrugged into them, throwing the zipper up while flying down the stairs. He’d ordered the pizza, figuring it would be at least an hour before it arrived.

He grabbed his wallet and pulled the door open.

It wasn’t the pizza guy. It was Tara.

“Oh. I thought you were pizza delivery.”

She swallowed, her throat working as she did it again. “No pizza here. Sorry. Can I come in?”

“Sure.” He stepped out of the way and closed the door behind her. “I was in the shower.”

“I can see that.” Her gaze raked over his chest and lower, and damn his dick for noticing her lingering where he hadn’t bothered buttoning his pants. “Want something to drink?”

“Water would be good.”

He went to the kitchen and filled up glasses with water for both of them, dragging his fingers through his still-wet hair before carrying the water out.

“Thanks.”

“Sit down.”

She did, took a couple swallows of water, and set the glass on the coffee table. “You were at Nathan’s game tonight.”

“He invited me. I tried to stay out of your line of sight, figured you wouldn’t be happy if you knew I was there.”

“About that ...”

“Look, I stayed hidden. There was no media. I fired Liz, so she won’t be getting in your way.”

Her gaze snapped to his. “You fired Elizabeth?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“You know why.”

“Mick. I hope you didn’t do that because of me.”

He took a seat in the chair. “Partly because of you. Partly because of me and what I want from my career. And what I don’t want anymore.”

“What don’t you want?”

“I don’t want all the media attention, all the models and actresses and movie premieres and the other stuff.”

“What do you want?”

“I want to play football for as long as my body will let me, and for as long as I can do a good job at it. And I want a wife. A son. Maybe another kid.”

She swallowed. “Ready-made family, huh?”

Her voice had gone hoarse. There were tears in her eyes. He moved to the couch. “I’ve known what I wanted since that night several months ago when I met this beautiful woman in a ballroom. She was perfect for me.”

She blinked, and her eyes went soft and dark. “Is that right?”

“Yes. I knew then there was something special about her. I didn’t exactly know then that I wanted to marry her, but I know that now. I love you, Tara.”

Tara lifted her gaze to his. “I knew that night there was something special about you, too. But I was scared. I’ve never been lucky in love.”

He tipped her chin with his fingers. “Time for your luck to change.”

He brushed his lips against hers, and she sighed. He gathered her against him, so damn happy she’d come to him that his heart felt like it was swelling inside his chest.

He wasn’t a guy who was used to emotion, but he felt tears pricking his eyes. He shut them out and concentrated on the way Tara made him feel. Happy. Perfect.

And when her body touched his, all he felt was heat. Her hair brushed against his arm, and he lifted his hand to sweep along its length, tangle his fingers in it, and tug on it a little. She moaned against him and pulled her lips from his.

“I love you. I’ve missed you. I’ve been so stupid.”

He put his finger against her lips. “That’s over now. The past is always over. You only have to think about the future.” He pulled her onto his lap. “I’m going to make love to you, then we’re going to talk about that future. I’ve missed being inside you.”

She held on to his arms. “God, I’ve missed that, too.”

He pulled her sweater off and dragged her T-shirt over her head, laid her on the couch, and licked over the swell of her breasts. The taste of her set him on fire, the need to feel her hard ni**les against his tongue overruling his desire to take things slow. He unclasped her bra and pulled it away, then took her ni**les in his mouth, rolling his tongue over the hard buds until she arched and fed them to him. He sucked and licked her, and she writhed against him until his c**k was about to bust the zipper on his pants.

He drew her jeans off, already inhaling the sweet smell of her desire.

“You wet for me?”

She looked up at him. “All I’ve been doing is thinking about you, dreaming about you. All I want is for you to f**k me until I come.”

He left her only long enough to get a condom, tossed it onto the table, but first he needed to taste her. He drew her panties off, her moisture glistening in the overhead lights. He used his thumb to trace the seam of her pu**y lips, loving that she shuddered at his touch. When he slid his finger inside her and bent down to capture her cl*tbetween his lips, she cried out, bucking against him.

“Oh, God, Mick, I won’t last long.”

He didn’t want her to wait. He wanted her to come, wanted to taste her as she let go and came against his mouth and tongue. He pressed down with his tongue against her cl*tand dragged it across her soft lips, keeping his finger inside her pumping away, then brought his lips over her cl*tand sucked.

“Oh, God, oh, God, Mick.” She rocked against his mouth while he lapped up her come, removing his fingers to suck up all her juices while she shuddered against him. Then he pulled away only long enough to drop his pants and put on the condom. He spread her legs apart and inched inside her, needing to f**k her hard but needing to savor this moment, because he loved her now, and it was like the very first time.

With Tara, it would always be like the first time.

It was perfect.

TARA WATCHED THE PLAY OF EMOTIONS ON MICK’S FACE, from passion to near pain as he entered her. She was so filled with love for this man she could barely contain her joy. The pleasure he brought her held no bounds. She lifted against him, still pulsing inside from the orgasm he’d given her. Her pu**y tightened around him, gripping him as he swelled inside her and dragged impossible sensations from her with every thrust.

She held on to his arms as he moved slow and easy at first, then quickened the pace, rolling his h*ps over her cl*tand grinding against her until she climbed that precipice again. He took her right to the edge, then pulled back, giving her that wicked smile that told her he knew exactly where she’d been, but wouldn’t let her go just yet.

“Bastard.”

“You love me.”

“Yes, I do. Now let me come.”

He dropped down on top of her and kissed her, a bone-melting kiss, his tongue sliding over hers, his fingers buried in her hair, his body connected to hers in the most intimate way. There wasn’t a part of him that wasn’t touching her, from his c**k to his mouth to his heart.

It was perfect.

And when she came, she cried out against his lips, and he groaned against hers, and it was the sweetest sound of love that left her laughing and crying and thinking life was just so damn good, and she’d almost thrown it all away.

After, they ate pizza and curled up together on the sofa.

“You want a big wedding?”

She turned to look at him. “I have no idea. I’ve never thought about it.”

He arched a brow. “You’re a woman. All women think about stuff like this. And besides, you’re an event planner.”