He stopped at the store, then went home and jumped in the shower, scrubbing off the sweat of the day. He felt a lot better after he changed clothes and downed a couple bottles of water.
Savannah arrived about thirty minutes later. She’d changed into a tank top and very sexy shorts, her hair down and loose around her shoulders. That peach smell made him hard. He wanted to bury his face in her neck and lick the scent from her skin. All her skin.
He took a step back. “How about a beer?”
“Sure.”
He pulled two beers from the fridge and popped the tops off, handed her one and took a couple long swallows from the other. The icy cold brew tasted like heaven after the hellish day. “Now that’s good.”
“I thought you didn’t drink once the season started.”
He set the beer on the counter. “It’s beer. It doesn’t count, and I’m only going to have one or two.” He frowned. “Are you going to monitor my drinking now?”
She laughed. “Not in the least. I was just curious.”
“Good. I’ll go grill the burgers.”
“What would you like me to do?”
“Uh…nothing.”
She frowned and pursed her lips. “I can’t do nothing. How about a salad?”
“Sure. I think there’re salad fixings. See what you can scrounge up out of the fridge.”
He took the burgers out and tossed them on the grill, taking a long swallow of his beer after he’d flipped the meat. He could see Savannah working in his kitchen, mixing up the salad and slicing tomatoes.
He was getting used to having her around, seeing her in his kitchen. Kinda weird considering he usually didn’t like people at his house.
And okay, he wanted to get in her pants again, so there was that objective. One night wasn’t enough with Savannah. But he liked what she had to say, and she didn’t take any of his bullshit. He pushed, she pushed back. He didn’t always agree with her or her methods, but that didn’t really matter. She wasn’t one of those pleaser people who kissed his ass. Mostly she kicked his ass. He liked that about her, too.
He finished the burgers and brought them inside. Savannah had the table set and was leaning against the counter, staring off into his living room.
He set the burgers on the counter. “What are you doing?”
“You have such a nice, open place here. You should have a party.”
“Huh?”
She turned to him. “You should invite your offense over. Have a party.”
He frowned. “I don’t do parties.”
“You should. You’re the new guy. It would be a chance for you to bond with the players.”
He took the burgers into the dining room. “I don’t think so.”
They fixed their burgers and he piled salad on his plate. She’d poured iced tea for them, too, so he pushed his near-empty beer bottle to the side and took a swallow of tea.
Savannah ate without saying much, until she was halfway through her burger.
“Why don’t you like to have people over here?”
He knew she wouldn’t drop the subject. “This is my private getaway. No media, no team players, no girlfriends.”
“So it’s your man cave.”
“I didn’t say that. I just don’t do parties over here.”
“It would be great for your image. Show your guys you really want to be part of the team.”
“No.” He finished off his meal and pushed his plate to the side, following up by emptying his glass of tea.
“I’ll do all the heavy lifting. We can even hire a caterer. No cooking, they do all the cleanup, too. All you have to do is be here to hang out with the guys.”
She was like a dog with a meaty bone. She refused to leave it alone. “Why is this necessary?”
“Team building is necessary for your image rehab. Not once have you been actually part of a team you’ve played for.”
“Sure I have.”
“Did you ever do things with your team members? Go out with them? Do activities with them off the football field? Charitable or personal?”
She had him there. “No.”
“It’s time we change that. If you don’t want to do the party here, we can do it at my place. I don’t mind.”
“That kind of defeats the purpose of it being all about me, doesn’t it?”
He saw the corners of her mouth lift. “Kind of.”
He looked around at his place, imagined it filled with a bunch of linebackers and receivers. The thought both excited him and filled him with dread. “I don’t know, Peaches. I’m not much for entertaining people.”
“Look. You don’t have to strip naked and dance on top of your coffee table. Just some food and drinks, music, and you already have the fun video games. A little conversation and you invite wives and girlfriends. Trust me, this will go a long way to cementing your position within the team.”
He leaned back in his chair. “You think so.”
“I know it.”
He already knew he was going to cave, so he might as well get it over with. Savannah wasn’t going to let this go. “All right. When?”
“How about Wednesday night after practice? That’ll give me several days to put everything together.”
“You don’t have to do all the work.”
“I told you I would. I’m a Southern girl. This is what we do.”