Pleasure Rush Read online

  “Thanks for meeting me,” Ambria greeted. “Sorry about having to cancel earlier. The delays out of LAX were atrocious. I hope I didn’t disrupt your dinner.”

  “It was a welcome interruption,” he said.

  “Can I buy you a drink?”

  “Bud Light from the tap,” Theo told the bartender.

  Ambria took a sip of the blue concoction she was drinking before saying, “I heard Clyde and Dan nearly came to blows in today’s production meeting.”

  “A minor disagreement. Both guys think their former teams got screwed by bad officiating during the season.”

  She shook her head. “How many times do I have to say it? Team loyalty has no place in sports broadcasting.”

  Theo shrugged. “When you’ve been a part of an organization for years, it’s hard not to be partial. It goes the same way with long-time rivals. I get nauseous every time I have to say anything nice about Baltimore.”

  Ambria laughed as she covered his hand. “But you do it, because you’re a professional who takes his job seriously.”

  “Yeah,” Theo said. He slipped his hand from under hers and wrapped it around the beer the bartender had just placed in front of him. Ambria’s lips dipped in a chastised smile, but she didn’t comment. “What was so important that we needed to meet tonight?” Theo asked.

  “Actually, there are several things.” She flipped open the leather portfolio with the Sports Talk TV logo embossed on the front. “Judd Wright is leaving the network. He just accepted the head coaching position in Seattle.”

  “Wow.” Theo’s eyes widened at the unexpected announcement. “I guess the Seahawks’ upper management doesn’t mind that he’s been away from the game for nearly a decade. Good for Judd.”

  “And good for you,” Ambria said. “You do know what this means, don’t you, Theo?”

  He just stared at her, not sure where she was going with this.

  “The Sunday Morning Kickoff was designed as a four-person platform. Now that Judd is leaving, they will have to fill his spot.”

  As he took in the meaningful glint in Ambria’s eyes, the significance of the news she’d just shared sunk in. The Sunday Morning Kickoff was Sports Talk TV’s flagship program. Airing in the two hours before the slate of Sunday afternoon NFL games began, its ratings far surpassed any of the other shows on the network’s programming schedule. Becoming a member of the foursome that made up The Sunday Morning Kickoff panel was the goal of any analyst who took his career seriously.

  This was what he’d been waiting for. After years of being hailed as the league’s top middle linebacker, being considered just another retired player in a sideline reporting gig was hard to swallow. He had never been just average. Theo wanted—no, he needed to be the best, and landing a desk job was the pinnacle of success in this business.

  “Am I seriously being considered as a replacement for Judd, or is this just speculation on your part?” Theo asked.

  “A little of both,” Ambria answered. “It is definitely not guaranteed, but neither is it out of the realm of possibility. In fact, your name was one of the first mentioned after Judd told us of his decision to leave. Saul Davies was impressed with how you handled the situation in New England when their quarterback walked away in the middle of his interview.”

  “I dealt with him on the field for years,” Theo said. “I wasn’t surprised by his behavior.”

  “You were quick on your feet, and you didn’t get rattled. Good qualities in an analyst. I think you can handle any story we throw your way.”

  Theo sat up a bit straighter at the unexpected praise.

  “Speaking of which,” Ambria continued. “I know we initially talked about you doing a special segment on the middle linebackers selected for this year’s Pro Bowl, but while I was on the plane I came up with something more intriguing. I’ve already mentioned it to Saul, and he’s fully on board.”

  “And I’m the one who gets to cover this great story? That’s pretty flattering,” Theo said as he reached for his beer.

  “You’re perfect for it,” she said. That sparkle was back in her eye as the corner of her mouth curled up in a self-satisfied grin. “You are going to do a special feature on the New York Sabers, asking the question ‘Why has the team missed out on going to the Super Bowl for the past four years in a row?’”

  Theo lowered his glass, and cast a disbelieving look toward Ambria. “You’re joking, right?”

  “No. Of course not,” she said. “This is the question on everyone’s mind, Theo. The Sabers have been picked as favorites to get to the Super Bowl for the past four years, and have come up short every single season. What better time to ask the question than now, when their coaching staff is here in Hawaii to coach the NFC team? And who better to ask it than you, one of their star players who retired without ever winning a Super Bowl ring? It’s obvious someone is not getting the job done. The fans of New York deserve an answer.”

  “Let someone else ask the question,” Theo said. “Some of these men are like family to me. How am I supposed to—”

  “No.” Ambria wiggled her finger at him. “That’s where you’ve made your mistake. These men are not your family. They are members of the National Football League, and as an analyst for Sports Talk TV, it is your job to get to the meat of every story. You need to treat this time in Hawaii as a job interview. Impress the bosses with your work here, and your chances of landing Judd’s job skyrocket. You cannot let some misguided sense of allegiance to old teammates stand in your way.”

  Misguided? What the hell did she know about his relationship with his teammates?

  “Look, Ambria…”

  She held up a hand, cutting him off again.

  “Before you come up with some excuse about why you can’t do this story, let me make some things clear to you, Theo. If you want to stand out in this business, you’re going to have to weigh what’s more important: your friendships or your career. Players retire from the league all the time, and there are a dozen guys just hoping you’ll fail so they can take your spot at the network.”

  She wasn’t telling Theo anything he didn’t already know. His agent had fought harder for his contract with Sports Talk TV than any of his contract extensions with the Sabers. Theo knew if he played his cards right, he could make this career last even longer than the dozen years he’d spent playing football.

  He just had to face the possibility of losing all of his friends in the process.

  He picked up his beer and drained the glass. Then he gestured to the leather portfolio lying open on the bar.

  “Tell me what you have in mind.”

  * * *

  Deirdre tossed the plastic key card on the nightstand and fell back on the bed with a sigh. Call her unappreciative, but so far, she wasn’t all that impressed with paradise.

  Dinner had been nothing short of disastrous, thanks in no small part to her. How could she have known a simple congratulatory wish would be akin to splashing gasoline on a campfire? Maybe if her brother and sister-in-law had clued her in beforehand to the issue going on between Cedric and Theo she would have known better than to open her mouth.

  She looked over at the alarm clock. It wasn’t even 9 p.m.—too early even for her to call it a night. She refused to turn on the TV. One thing she’d promised herself before leaving New York was that she would not spend her entire time in Hawaii holed up in her hotel room watching television.

  Maybe she should go to that karaoke bar Paige had mentioned. She wasn’t about to embarrass herself by singing in public, but she could enjoy watching other people do it.

  Deirdre ran a brush through her shoulder-length hair and swiped on some lip gloss. Giving herself the once-over in the mirror, she headed out the door and walked up to the elevator just as it was opening.

 
As soon as it dinged her arrival to the lobby floor, Deirdre realized she had no idea where to find the karaoke bar. She wandered around the ground floor, passing a casual glance over the people hanging out in the lounge area. Her footsteps halted at the sight of Theo sitting at the bar in deep conversation with a woman who could be described as nothing short of gorgeous.

  Deirdre’s heart constricted.

  She told herself to continue walking. Just put one foot in front of the other and find the karaoke bar. But of their own volition, her feet headed for an empty table in a far corner of the bar. She slid onto the chair, her back to the wall.

  Almost immediately, a member of the hotel’s attentive wait staff was there to take her order. She ordered a Sprite, and then shrank as far into the shadows as possible.

  Deirdre couldn’t believe she had become that woman. The woman who sat in a dark, secluded corner of a bar and spied on a man who had not expressed a bit of romantic interest in her in months. In fact, the man hardly spoke to her anymore. What was she doing?

  Despite the long list she mentally recited of reasons why she should get up and walk right out of this bar, Deirdre could not leave. For the next ten minutes, she sat at that table and stared as the young, beautiful woman leaned her head in close to Theo’s as they talked. She watched them order another round of drinks. Watched them both laugh at something Theo said.

  And her heart broke a little with each second that passed.

  So caught up was she in her morose musings that Deirdre hardly registered when the couple slid off their bar stools. The woman started for the lobby, but Theo turned and headed straight for her table.

  Deirdre froze, unable to move a muscle as he stalked purposefully toward her.

  “Theo!” she blurted with feigned surprise. “I didn’t realize you were here.”

  “You’ve been staring at me and Ambria for the past ten minutes. I could see you out of the corner of my eye.”

  Floor, please just swallow me up right now.

  Her shoulders sagging in embarrassed defeat, Deirdre said, “I’m sorry. You’re right, I was watching you.” She bit her bottom lip, then abruptly let it go. She hated reverting to the insecure habit. “I just wanted to apologize about what happened at dinner tonight. I had no idea you and Cedric were having problems. I didn’t mean to make the situation worse.”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” he said. “Forget it.”

  He turned to leave, but before he could take a step, Deirdre reached out and grabbed his wrist. The heat of his skin singed her fingers, warming her entire body as awareness raced through her. Her breathing ratcheted up, escaping in ridiculously obvious shallow pants.

  Theo looked down at where she held him, then back up at her.

  She withdrew her hand, and then rose from her seat. “I’m sorry,” she said again.

  Theo said nothing; he just continued to impale her with his heated stare. After several intense moments, he asked, “What exactly are you apologizing for, Deirdre?”

  The inquiry was uttered so softly Deirdre barely heard it over the muted voices in the bar.

  “I…” She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry about whatever it is going on between you and Cedric. There’s obvious tension between you two.”

  “Why do you even care?”

  “Because,” she started. “I know how close you are. You all are practically brothers. I don’t like to see any of you hurt.”

  He huffed out a humorless laugh. “It’s a little too late for that.”

  Deirdre told herself there was no double meaning behind his words. She would be foolish to think that she had the power to hurt Theo Stokes, not when she’d just watched him sharing drinks with a Barbie doll look-alike—a prototype of the women she’d seen draped on his arm for years.

  But as he started walking away, she couldn’t stomach the thought of leaving things as they were.

  “Theo,” she called.

  He stopped, pausing for several seconds before turning to face her.

  Taking a deep, unsteady breath, Deirdre looked up into his face. “I understand that things are… That things are not the same between us. And that they probably never will be.” She shook her head, not sure what to say. “I just don’t want my being here to ruin your time in Hawaii. I’ll try to stay out of your way.”

  His eyes sharpened, his nostrils flaring with annoyance. “I don’t need you making offers to stay out of my way,” he bit out. “I’m not the one who started this avoidance thing. You’re the one who pushed me away.”

  “I know—”

  “Three times, Deirdre. You turned me down three times.”

  “I know,” she said. “But…” She sucked in another deep breath, debating the wisdom of what she was about to say. “What if I decided I was done pushing you away?” she asked softly.

  His intense eyes grew darker. “Are you?” he asked.

  “I…I don’t know. I might be,” Deirdre said. “I at least want us to go back to being friends.”

  Theo shook his head. “That’s not good enough. You know what I want from you, and it’s a lot more than just being your friend. Can you handle that?”

  Deirdre didn’t answer. How could she?

  He barked out another derisive laugh. “I’m not going through this with you again. When you’re done hiding in corners and can handle what I’m offering, you know where to find me.”

  He left her standing there, staring at his broad back as he stalked out of the bar. For several long moments Deirdre could not move, so overwhelmed was she by what had transpired over the past few minutes.

  Why had she hesitated when he’d asked if she could handle what he was offering? Why didn’t she walk boldly up to him and tell him in no uncertain terms that she could handle anything he wanted to dish out? She was a grown woman. What was she so afraid of?

  Unable to stomach the thought of going back to her room and ruminating over Theo’s challenge, Deirdre climbed onto a barstool and motioned for the bartender.

  “What can I get you?” he asked in a thick Hawaiian accent, placing a napkin in front of her.

  “A fruit—” She stopped, recalling the look Paige had given her earlier at dinner. “What kind of cocktails do you have that taste like fruit punch?” she asked.

  “I can make you a mai tai. It has orange, pineapple and cranberry juices.”

  “That sounds perfect,” Deirdre said. She was about to ask for extra ice, but thought better of it. If she was going to let her hair down, she didn’t want the experience to be watered down.

  The bartender placed a glass shaped like a hurricane lamp in front of her. Chunks of ice swirled around in the reddish-orange liquid. Deirdre removed the pineapple and maraschino cherry garnish before taking a huge gulp.

  “Oh, God,” she choked. It may look like an innocent glass of fruit punch, but the punch it packed was definitely not innocent. The drink was tasty, though.

  She spun her seat around and dispassionately observed the bar’s patrons. A few minutes later, Deirdre looked into the bottom of her empty glass and frowned. She was tempted to order another, but she couldn’t.

  Wait. Why not? Other than a rare glass of wine with dinner or a sip of champagne on special occasions, this was her first real drink. Why not have another if she wanted one?

  What was the worst that could happen? She’d get a little tipsy? Maybe she should get down right drunk. She had never once even considered getting drunk. How could she when she always had her brother and son relying on her?

  Well, she didn’t have to worry about Torrian or Dante right now. If she thought hard enough, Deirdre figured she could come up with a bunch of things she’d never even considered doing before because of her responsibility to the men in her life. Things that other women took for gra
nted.

  She rapped her knuckle on the bar. “Do you have a pen?” she asked the bartender.

  He reached under the bar and pulled out a pen with the hotel’s logo.

  “Thank you.” She held up her glass. “And can I get another?”

  “Another mai tai? No problem.”

  That’s right. She would have another mai tai. And once she was done with it, she’d have a third if she wanted it.

  She snatched a napkin from the stack on the bar and wrote Things I Must Do to Prove I Can Enjoy Life Bucket List on it, drawing a line under the words.

  “Number one: Do something completely unexpected,” her list began.

  “Girl, you have lost your mind,” Deirdre murmured to herself, but she continued to write.

  “Number two: Dance like no one is watching.” She scratched out no one, and wrote everyone in the space above it.

  Yeah, she would dance like everyone was watching her, and wouldn’t let it bother her in the least.

  “Number three: Swim without a swim cap.”

  “Really, Deirdre,” she sighed. She was boring. Deirdre drew a squiggly line through everything after Swim and replaced it with with stingrays.

  “Now I need something dangerous,” she said. Tapping the pen against her cheek, she tried to recall some of the suggestions from the website she’d browsed about things to do in Hawaii.

  Skydiving?

  Wait. This was a bucket list, not a death wish.

  Parasailing? Those little chairs that hooked up to the sail didn’t look comfortable at all.

  Maybe a helicopter ride. It wasn’t the height of danger, but it was something she could never picture herself doing before. She wrote helicopter ride beside number four.

  She needed one more thing to round out her list.

  Deirdre stared at the inventory of outrageous ideas, thinking how completely out of character they all were. She knew what she wanted to write down as her final item. She just wasn’t sure she was brave enough to sketch it in ink. If she actually wrote it, she’d feel compelled to do it.