Mollie blinked in surprise. “Yeah. Okay.”
He nodded in thanks just as Jackson came up and smacked his hand off her arm. “No touching my girl.”
“Fair enough.” Lincoln walked away, but not before he smacked Jackson’s ass.
“What the fuck, dude?”
“I’m trying to speak football,” Lincoln said.
“We do that on the field, not in an office!”
Mollie grabbed Jackson’s arm, dragging him away from the group and toward his office, but not before she gave a thoughtful glance at Lincoln. Something was up with that guy. She wondered if anyone knew what.
Jackson slung an arm over her shoulder, bringing her in for a quick kiss, and she forgot all about Lincoln. She had all the man she needed right here.
“Tell me you’re here for a little afternoon delight,” he said as they entered his office.
“Not quite,” she said. “I wanted to show you something.”
“Is it under your shirt?” he said hopefully.
Mollie gave him a look as she pulled a thick ivory-colored envelope out of her purse and handed it to him. “I finished up work early today. Stopped home and found this in the mail.”
Mollie had already opened the envelope flap, so Jackson reached in and pulled out the stack of thick card-stock paper.
“A wedding invitation?” he said in a puzzled voice.
An RSVP card fluttered to the floor, but they both ignored it as Jackson read the name of the bride. Then his hazel eyes flicked to hers. “Is this a joke?”
Mollie shook her head. “I’ve googled her a couple of times in the last few months. She’s definitely been dating him.”
Jackson threw back his head and laughed. “Madison is marrying the guy who took my place as QB? He’s what, twenty-two?”
“Twenty-four,” Mollie said with a little smile, relieved that he didn’t seem upset.
“Man,” he said with another laugh, tossing the wedding invitation on the desk without another glance. “Good luck to him. He’s going to need it.”
“You’re not weirded out?”
“Hell no. Madison wanted to be married to a football player. Maybe this is poetic justice, or some shit like that.”
“That’s very generous of you.”
He gave her a slow grin. “I can afford to be generous. She’s getting what she wants. I get what I want.”
“Which is what?” Mollie murmured, winding her arms around his neck as he moved in closer.
“A hot girlfriend,” he said, bending down for a kiss. “A job I love. Oh, and as a bonus, I don’t have to wear a tux to Cassidy’s wedding, since I lost the best-man gig.”
“Actually, you’re a groomsman. So that’s a yes on the tux.”
“Damn,” he muttered.
Mollie slipped out of his arms, moving back toward the invitation on the desk and flipping it over. “Madison wrote us a note.”
“Great,” he said sarcastically.
Mollie found the simple white card Madison had included, holding it up so Jackson could read it: M & J, I forgive you. Please come. XOXO, Madison.
He rolled his eyes. “Well, shit, should we get some champagne? Here I’ve been losing so much sleep because my cheating ex is mad at me.”
Mollie swatted him. “Stop. This is important to me.”
His gaze softened. “I know. I know, baby. You think things will be better between you?”
Mollie ran a finger over Madison’s neat handwriting. “Yeah. I mean, our relationship will probably be like it was. I don’t know that we’ll go back to talking every day, but maybe, you know, Christmases someday.”
He groaned. “Christmas with Madison?”
“My only sister,” she said, holding up a warning finger.
“My ex-wife,” he said, holding up a finger to match.
Mollie pursed her lips. “Flip for it?”
“I’ve got a better idea,” he said, his gaze turning dark as he pulled her in again. “How about we invite Madison to Christmas if…”
“If…?” she prompted.
He reached behind him to close his office door. “Afternoon delight?”
Mollie burst out laughing. “You’re trading sex for Christmas?”
Jackson waggled his eyebrows and grinned. “You in?”
She grinned back, her heart happy. “I’m so in.”
To my assistant, Lisa Filipe, for the long, sometimes thankless hours you put into “the stuff” so that I can live in my imagination, writing the books. I’m so grateful.
Acknowledgments
For a gal who’s never watched a Super Bowl and has no idea when football season starts, I was a little surprised to find that my creative muse was dead set on telling a story about a former football player. I was even more surprised when the muse informed me that this hero fell for his horrible ex-wife’s little sister.
Tricky, much?
The end result, though, is a love story equal parts sexy and sweet, about two people who are absolutely meant for each other in spite of their tricky beginnings.