by Jaci Burton
To prove her point, Mia shouted, "Is that the best you all have? I'm getting bored over here."
Flynn glared at his little sister. "You're welcome to join in, princess."
She laughed. "Not on your life. But try and make it a little more interesting, will ya?"
The game went on for another half hour and ended in what Easton called a tie, much to the grumbling and complaining of his sons. They were dirty and sweaty and Easton said his knee hurt, so he called it quits.
"Good game, boys. Now everyone shake hands," he said.
They all did, surprising Katrina, because it had gotten rough out there. Though they'd gone easy on Leo, but not too easy. He was banged up, and still grinning from ear to ear as he followed the guys to the backyard, where everyone rinsed off under the outdoor shower, then changed into swim trunks and cooled their hot bodies by diving into the pool.
All the women changed as well. They might not have played football, but sitting in that hot sun had been grueling. Katrina had no idea how the guys had played for an hour in that intense heat. She supposed they were used to the extreme temperature, and they had taken frequent water breaks.
Now, though, they all played in the pool like kids. Grant swam his way over to her.
"Did you enjoy the game?" he asked, hanging on to her raft.
"It was brutal. Do you and your brothers always play like that?"
"Like that? No. That game was mild by comparison, and only because Mom and Dad were around. There wasn't even any major bloodletting. You should have seen us when we were kids."
"This is true," Mia said. "When I was old enough to get involved in watching them play, someone was always needing stitches after a fight broke out. All those trips to the emergency room were tedious."
Katrina laughed. "The drawback of having injury-prone older brothers, I suppose."
"Indeed. Though the nurses all thought I was cute and I got lollipops."
"Suck up," Flynn said, tossing Mia off her raft. She retaliated by hopping on his shoulders. Then they decided a game of chicken was in order. Katrina ended up on Grant's shoulders, Anya on Leo's, and there was a free-for-all. By the end of it, Katrina had gotten dunked several times.
She couldn't recall ever having more fun. That was the one thing she'd discovered quickly about the Cassidys. They knew how to have fun, no matter what they were doing.
Lydia announced it was time for everyone to get out. They had to wash down the back patio and clean up to get ready for tonight's party. She and Grant headed back to their house to shower so they could be back to help with the party preparations.
Katrina followed Grant into the bathroom.
"You have a few cuts and scrapes on your back," she said as he pulled off his shirt.
"Do I? I didn't even feel those."
She'd noticed the scars on his body when they got naked the first time. But now, after seeing him play close-up, she ran her fingertips over each one of them. There was one on his right shoulder blade, one on his left arm--a pretty long one.
"What's this from?"
"I fell off a set of rocks when I was nine. Broke my arm and cut myself pretty good. Had to get fifteen stitches."
He was smiling.
"Ouch."
He shrugged. "It was a clean break and healed good. My friends thought I was a badass."
She shook her head. "I wonder how many times your mother had to visit the emergency room with you and your brothers."
"Too many times for me to remember. One of us was always leaping off something, falling off something, or running into something. One time during Halloween, some girl whacked Barrett on the back of the head on the way home from trick-or-treating for making some smartass comment to her. He ended up with four stitches just for that. Pretty embarrassing for him to get the shit beat out of him by a girl."
Katrina's lips lifted. "I can only imagine the hellions you all were."
He cocked a brow. "Were?"
She laughed. "Come on. Let's get in the shower."
They took quick showers. Katrina insisted on cleaning up Grant's scrapes, even though he told her they were minor in comparison to what he usually got playing football games every week.
"Yes, but you don't play games in the dirt every week, do you?"
"You don't need to baby me," he said, watching her in the mirror as she cleaned his wounds. "I'm tougher than you think."
"I know that. Humor me, anyway."
He did. Then she dried her hair, put on makeup, and changed into a sundress and sandals.
"Do I look okay?" she asked as Grant put on a pair of shorts and a sleeveless top.
He came over to her and put his hands around her waist. "You're beautiful. I don't know if I tell you that enough, but every time I look into your eyes I'm mesmerized by you. I always want to stop whatever I'm doing so I can kiss you and lose myself in you."
The way he spoke to her made her heart squeeze. What kind of man talked like that? None that she'd ever known. "Thank you. And you know what? The feeling is mutual." She smoothed her hands up his arms, wishing they had a spare hour or so to take off all these clothes and explore each other.
"If you keep looking at me like that, we're going to be late. Then Mom is going to call asking me what we're doing. And I'd have to lie to her and tell her you're taking a nap or something." He pulled her closer, letting her feel his erection.
She took a deep breath, desire wrapping around her like the heat of the day. "We can't have you lying to your mother, so we should stop this now."
He let his hands slide down her back to cup her butt. "Yeah. One of us should have enough willpower to walk away."
She arched into him. "Okay. You go first."
His gaze narrowed. "Katrina."
"Grant." Her nails dug into his arms.
"I can make you come in less than five minutes."
"I want you so much, I'm pretty sure I could come in less than two minutes."
"You're on."
He scooped her up and stalked the few steps to the bed, then laid her down on the edge. He had her panties off in record time. When he spread her legs and put his mouth on her, she was already throbbing, lifting to get closer to his lips and tongue and the magic he did with them. Watching him today, but not being able to have access to him, to touch him at will, had been an exercise in torture.
That had been her foreplay.
Now was her reward, and she was so ready for this release that when it happened, she cried out with the pure, unadulterated joy of feeling his tongue lap over her sex. She quivered as her climax raced through her, and barely had time to come down from the high before Grant had his cock out, a condom on, and was thrusting inside of her.
She gasped at the delicious sensation of still feeling the aftereffects of her orgasm, his cock driving inside her over and over again, building that sensation to a fevered pitch. And when she felt herself getting close again, she wrapped her legs around him and urged him to go with her.
It didn't take much urging, because when she came, he was right there with her, arching his back as he let go. It was the most beautiful thing to see his muscles tighten as he came, to see his body shudder along with hers as they rode out their orgasms together.
He bent and took her mouth in a sweet, gentling kiss before nuzzling at her neck.
"I forgot to time us," he said.
She let out a soft laugh. "Trust me. The clock was the last thing I was focused on."
They did a quick cleanup. She brushed her hair again, then they were on their way back to the main house. Grant held her hand in the car the entire way, and she couldn't resist the more than satisfied smile on her face.
"You keep smiling like that, my entire family is going to know what we did back at the house."
"Do you care?" she asked.
His lips curved in a wicked grin. "Not at all."
TWENTY-EIGHT
IT WAS GOING TO BE ONE HELL OF A GREAT PARTY tonight. Grant hadn't seen his uncles and aunt
s in a while, and his parents had a lot of friends. Not everyone would make it, since the party was on a weeknight, but Easton Cassidy was a popular guy, and if there was a celebration, Grant would guarantee that a lot of people would be here.
Uncle Elijah had made it back just in time for the get-together. Grant saw him as they came through the front door.
"Hey, kid," his uncle said. "I heard you were here."
His uncle pulled him into a hug.
"Uncle Elijah. You look good."
"Eh. I look older all the time. And this pretty woman must be Katrina. I'm Elijah Cassidy. The good-looking Cassidy."
Katrina smiled. "Very nice to meet you."
"I already met your brother and sister. Everyone's in the kitchen, bugging Lydia."
Grant knew no one bugged his mother. The bigger the crowd, the happier she was.
Lydia was in the kitchen directing traffic.
"I need those wineglasses put on the bar in the dining room. And those cases of wine set out."
"Where've you been?" Grant asked his uncle as they carried the wine out and set it up behind the bar.
"Had a line on some horses we were interested in picking up, so I took a trip into Oklahoma for an auction."
"And?"
"Picked up about four of them."
"I'd like to see them."
"Sure. Soon as we're finished here, we'll head on out to the horse barn and take a look."
"Are Uncle Eddie and Uncle Elgin coming?"
"Eddie will be here," his dad said. "Elgin and Patsy are in Italy on vacation, so they won't be able to make it."
"I'm supremely jealous of their vacation, too," his mom said, eyeing his dad.
"Europe's not really my thing, honey, but if you wanna go, just make the plans and I'll tag along."
His mom pointed her finger at his dad. "I'm holding you to that, Easton."
Once the glasses and wine setup was finished, they were all shuffled into the living room.
"It's time for everyone to relax." His mom turned to head back into the kitchen.
"No, Mom," Mia said. "It's time for you to relax. No fixing food or spending your evening in the kitchen."
Mom laughed. "Please. I have a ton of food to prepare for tonight."
"Actually, you don't," Mia said. "All of us got together and arranged for tonight's dinner to be catered. The caterers will be arriving shortly."
Grant couldn't help but smile when his mom teared up and laid her hand over her heart. "Really?"
"Really. So we're going to open some wine and you're going to let someone else work tonight. Tonight's the night you get to have time with Dad. Happy anniversary."
She hugged them all individually, and when she got to him, whispered, "Thank you for this."
He gave her a little squeeze, and said, "You deserve it. Now have some fun and enjoy your guests."
He liked seeing his mom so happy, especially with a glass of wine in her hand, leaning into his dad.
He'd been lucky--damn lucky--to have grown up with a family he could always count on. As they all raised their glasses and toasted not only Dad's birthday, but his parents' anniversary, he glanced over at Katrina. She looked genuinely happy for his parents, but he wondered if she was thinking about her own parents.
A mother who was gone too soon, and a father who'd abandoned her and her siblings. That had to eat away at her. He went over to her and put his arm around her.
"I hope you're having fun."
Her lips tilted in a smile. "I'm having a great time. You have a wonderful family, Grant. You're very lucky."
"I know I am. And I'm glad you, Leo, and Anya decided to come down here with me. Thanks for that."
She gave him an enigmatic smile, but then guests started to arrive, so he didn't have a chance to talk to her, because he had to introduce her to his other uncle, Eddie, and his Aunt Cecile, and soon the door was open and the house filled with guests.
His dad's old coach from Green Bay, now retired, made the trip. Grant hadn't seen Fred Arendale in years, so he spent some time getting caught up with him. Fred talked to Grant about his team this year and how proud he was of Grant's career. Then they were surrounded by Grant's brothers, all of them having a great amount of respect for Fred.
He'd lost sight of Katrina because he was swallowed up by all the guests. Fortunately, he knew she could hold her own.
He'd just have to catch up with her later.
KATRINA WAS IN AWE OF THE FAMILY AND FRIENDS who'd showed up for Easton and Lydia's party. She knew Grant was busy greeting people, and she was fine on her own.
Not that she spent a lot of time on her own. Neither did Leo or Anya. The one thing she'd learned quickly about the Cassidys was that they didn't let their guests stand alone. One of Grant's brothers would introduce her to someone, and she noticed Mia had stuck close to Anya all evening, making sure she didn't feel like a wallflower.
Her brother had met a new friend in Easton, and when he'd taken a moment to go get a soda, he'd stopped by and told her he'd met Easton's former coach and some of his old teammates from Green Bay as well.
Her brother was going to have stars in his eyes for a while, she could tell. She didn't have to worry about the kids feeling left out.
Or herself. Right now she was sitting with Lydia and talking to a few of the women who were a part of the charity foundation she and Easton had founded. Some of these women were wives of Easton's former teammates. She found them to be highly intelligent, most of them career women who had either retired or were still actively working. They were all formidable, and she sat with rapt attention listening to them talk about items on the agenda for their next meeting.
"We have a few scholarships to go through," Lydia said. "I have the paperwork that we'll need to review, but I believe there should be about ten we'll give out this year."
Lydia turned to her. "The foundation gives full-ride scholarships to underprivileged children in high risk areas. These are kids who might not qualify financially otherwise, but we believe stand a great chance at making a good life for themselves and their families. They just need someone to believe in them and give them the opportunity."
"What a wonderful idea," Katrina said, remembering what it was like to be seventeen, poor, and alone. If she hadn't gotten that big break that had sent her career soaring, who knows what would have happened to her--and to Leo and Anya?
"Is this something every football player does?" she asked.
"Not everyone, but players who want to give back," Varella, one of the women, said. "Everyone who wants to make a difference. Some of these men make a lot of money during the course of their careers. It's a chance to pay it forward."
Katrina liked the idea, and not just for athletes. She'd spent so much of her career hoarding her money, concerned about Leo's and Anya's future, that she hadn't taken the time--or the money--to give back as much as she should have.
It was time she changed that.
She made a mental note to speak to her lawyer about that when she got back to New York.
In the meantime, she was learning a lot listening to these women.
The caterers came to Lydia to announce dinner was ready.
Lydia smiled at her friends. "Wow, how nice is that? I didn't have to do any cooking tonight."
"You should have a night off more often." Mary, one of Lydia's friends, laid her hand on her arm.
Lydia laughed. "Trust me. I have Easton take me into the city for dinner at least once a week. It's not like I'm trapped in the kitchen."
Everyone assembled and filled their plates, buffet style. She finally caught up with Grant, who got in line behind her.
"I'm sorry I kind of left you to yourself tonight," he said.
"Are you kidding? I've been having a wonderful conversation with your mother and a few of her friends. I've been learning about the Cassidy Foundation."
"Oh yeah?"
They found a seat together near the fireplace. "Yes. It's quite the charity, an
d the causes they give to are incredible."
"Yeah. My dad taught me all about it when I was in college. We all got to take part in some of the decision making as soon as we became adults. It made us hyperaware of how lucky we all were, and how important it is to give back. All of us have formed our own foundations, while continuing to participate in the main Cassidy Foundation."
She had no idea. "As I was listening to your mother talk about scholarships and benefits, I thought about all the money I've made. I've done nothing charitable. I mean, I make charitable donations, of course. But nothing like your foundation."
"You have a family to support."
She shook her head. "I can still give back. I need to do something about that."
He nodded. "Even the smallest thing can make a big difference. Building a playground in your neighborhood, or setting up an annual scholarship. One thing. You'd be surprised."
She lifted her gaze to his. "I had no idea you thought about things like this."
"See how we're learning things about each other? Stick with me, Kat. Maybe we'll build a foundation together."
He winked at her, but she wondered about that. She felt a little thrill at his words. The things they could do together could be tremendous.
But they weren't together. They'd never be together.
And that thought kind of ...
Sucked.
She was getting way too involved. But what was she supposed to do about that? She knew it, just now as she thought it, that her heart was getting tied up in Grant. In his family.
She decided the best way to cope with that was simply not to think about it. At least not tonight.
After dinner, she poured another glass of wine. Oblivion was an awesome solution.
She checked on the kids. Anya had met a few of Mia's friends, who were in town for the party and staying to visit. Some exposure to college kids was good for her.
"They all go to the University of Texas," Anya said. "Did you know I could get an amazing business degree at the university? And Mia is thinking of getting her master's degree there, which means she'd be there when I would be. Plus Suz and Della are sophomores, so they'd be there when I attended."
"That's so interesting." Katrina let it all flow through her, deciding that tonight she wasn't going to freak out about anything, the least of which was Anya's college choice. By next week, Anya might decide on something else entirely.
Like going to college in Poland or something. She knew how her sister's mind worked.