by Jaci Burton
"I'd rather have a gas stove. With six burners. And double ovens. If my mom comes to visit, she's going to want to do some serious cooking. I want to make sure she has the kitchen to do it in."
"Or that you might get lucky some day and have a woman come cook for you in your fancy new kitchen?"
"I would never insist a woman cook for me. My mom just loves to cook. And if a woman I was dating came to my place, I'd share in the cooking duties."
She gave him a dubious look. "Sure you would."
He looked exasperated with her. "I told you I can cook."
"Many a man has uttered those words and failed me, Barrett."
"I'm not that guy."
Again that look. "Now you're challenging me."
She waved her hand at him in dismissal and walked away.
He followed. "Fine. I'll cook for you. But if you're going to gut my kitchen, it won't be here."
She enjoyed the fact he was pissed off about the whole cooking thing when it had been nothing more than a throwaway comment.
"I'll invite you to my place, Barrett. You can cook for me there."
"Wait. What? How did this conversation turn into a me cooking for you at your place event?"
She turned around. "I don't know. How did it?" Deciding to let him think on that one for a while, she asked, "Tell me what you like in terms of countertop surfaces. Granite? Quartz? Marble? Concrete, or something else?"
"Granite. Dark. Solid wood cabinets. Also dark."
She made notes, then motioned to the wall separating the kitchen from the other rooms. "We'll also take down this wall to open the space into the living room."
"You know best," he said.
With a smirk, she nodded and made a note as they made their way into the family room.
Mirrored walls in the family room. And carpet. Yuck. With two sliders--and drapes.
Who decorated this thing? It was awful.
"It's so dark in here," she said, grimacing. "We need to bring some of that fantastic outside light in here."
"Any thoughts on how to do that?"
"Yes." She made a note on her tablet. "You have tall ceilings in here. We'll knock out some of the walls and add more windows, top to bottom. We'll do a bi-fold door near the pool to bring in even more light. And all of this carpet has got to go. I'd suggest marble or tile in here because of the pool. The last thing you want is people traipsing inside with their wet feet onto carpet."
"Agree with you there."
She opened the sliding glass door and walked outside. It was super spacious, with a pool, a hot tub and a fantastic view of the water, but she had an idea.
She turned to him. "Another option to think about is a sunroom off the formal living area to the side. You have the space, and you could entertain, even when it rains." She walked over to the slider leading into the other side of the house. Barrett followed.
"Right here," she said. "I could see a bar over there, lots of tables and chairs and we could mount a TV. You're on the water and you want to extend your outdoor area as much as possible."
He could envision what she said, could already see the bar, could see his friends there watching sports or playing poker. "I like the idea."
"Of course you do. I have great ideas, Barrett." She headed back outside, past the pool, making notes along the way.
"Landscaping needs a little cleanup and refreshing. Some taller bushes here, a few extra trees there. You don't want to obliterate your awesome views of the water, but you also need your privacy. You're well-known in the area. You don't want every gawker on a speedboat snapping pictures of you partying with your friends."
"I hadn't thought about that."
She lifted her gaze to his, confidence evident in her smile. "That's why you have me. Trust me. I'll think of everything for you. All you have to do is play ball."
He cocked a brow. "Really."
She tipped her finger under his chin. "Absolutely. I'll take care of everything and when I'm done, this place will be the house of your dreams, Barrett. All you have to do is tell me what you want, and I'll make it happen for you. I'll even give you things you never dreamed of."
Barrett sucked in a deep breath of humid summer air. Harmony was going to have to stop putting those ideas in his head. Thoughts of her giving him everything he ever dreamed of went well beyond just this house.
She'd shown up in that little red sundress that clung to her curves and showed off her spectacular legs and made him think of her as a woman, not a girl.
He didn't want to think of her as a woman.
He didn't want to think about her at all.
He didn't know why the hell he'd agreed to this. It was painful.
She pulled her gaze away from his and looked down at her tablet as if she hadn't just wrapped his balls in a tight sling and cut off his circulation.
"Let's go look at the bedrooms."
He wasn't sure his dick could handle being in the bedroom with her. Any bedroom.
Especially following her up the stairs, watching the way her hips swayed back and forth as he followed behind her. And that ass. She had the most perfect ass and getting his hands on it suddenly seemed like the best idea ever.
No.
Worst idea ever, and he had better self-control than this.
To avoid any more mental temptation, he moved up beside her.
"There are three bedrooms to the right, master is to the left."
She nodded. "Okay. Let's check out the extra bedrooms first."
The three bedrooms were spacious, which was another of the things he liked.
"Do you want the bedrooms carpeted?" she asked as they walked into one.
"No. I hate carpet."
She smiled. "Me, too. We can discuss tile or wood floors up here. With the humidity, I'd suggest tile. There are lovely porcelain tiles that look like wood flooring."
"Sure. Whatever. As long as it isn't carpet."
"Done." She made a note and stepped into the upstairs bathroom, her nose wrinkling.
"Ew. This will need a redo."
"Most everything in the house does." He already knew going in that the entire house was going to need renovations. He just wasn't a decorating kind of guy, so he had no idea where to start. He had to admit that, so far, he liked everything Harmony suggested.
"We'll retile the bath, put in a new tub and shower, double vanity and repaint. Who thought purple in the bathroom was a good idea for paint?"
"No idea. Maybe kids did it."
She made a note while shaking her head. "At least it's a spacious bathroom."
She walked out and made her way down the hall. His lips quirked. He had to admit, he agreed with all her ideas. More than that, he liked them. And he had no idea why that surprised him.
Maybe because he hadn't known this was her job. Or that she was so knowledgeable about what she did.
When she opened the door to the master, she nodded. "Great-sized room. Horrible carpet. And floral wallpaper--yikes. That definitely has to go. You need more light in here, so I say we widen the windows to bring in more of that killer water view." She walked out onto the deck.
"This is fantastic, Barrett."
He stepped out onto the oversized deck with her. "What? You actually like something?"
She laughed, and the sound of her throaty laugh shot straight to his balls, making them quiver.
"I'm only rough on the house as it is now because the more critical I am on the front end, the more kick-ass it'll be when it's finished."
"I'll have to trust you on that."
She laid her hand on his biceps. "I told you to trust me, didn't I?"
He liked the feel of her hand on him. He didn't want to like it. "Yeah, you did."
She squeezed his arm. "I'll make this place amazing. But this deck? Other than needing to be refinished, I wouldn't touch a thing about it. It's incredible."
"Yeah, it's what finally sold me about the place. Being able to come out here at night and look out over the
water is my perfect idea of 'end of the day.' "
"Maybe you need a mini fridge in your bedroom so you can grab a cold one to take with you to sit out on the deck."
He grinned. "Can you do that?"
She laughed. "I could, but I'm not putting a mini fridge in your bedroom."
"Damn."
"Come on, let's look at the master bath."
He followed her into the bathroom, another place that was a total wreck, but he liked the size of it.
She stared at it without saying a word for the longest time, then wrinkled her nose.
"What?" he finally asked.
She looked up at him. "Do you take baths?"
"No."
She leaned against the counter. "I thought all athletes did that. You know, to soak their sore muscles."
"I can do an ice bath at the locker room after a game. And there's a hot tub outside if I need a hot soak. So no, I don't need a bathtub."
"Someday you're going to get married and some woman's going to want to take a hot bath."
"Future Mrs. Cassidy can get naked in the hot tub if she wants a hot soak. That's why you'll make it all nice and private in that area, right?"
She pondered the thought. "I suppose."
"Look at it this way. Let's say it was you moving in here and you were creating this bathroom for yourself. What would you do?"
She looked over the bathroom again.
"What I really want to give you is an oversized shower against the wall there. You're a big guy and you need that. But if I do that, it means eliminating the tub. I could push the wall out to the north and put in a soaker tub, but that would eat into your closet space, and I don't want to do that, because a master bedroom needs a big closet. You'll still have a tub in the other upstairs bathroom, so for purposes of resale I think you're fine. You just won't have a bathtub in here, which I think is okay, because you'll have a monster shower. And I'll put in a steam shower for you."
"That'd be cool."
"I thought so."
"And if it were you buying this house and the master didn't have a tub?"
She pondered again, staring at the existing tub/shower combination.
"I think I'd look at the obscenely large shower that was also a steam shower and fall madly in love. Because if I wanted a bath, I could either use the tub down the hall, or soak in the hot tub. And I'd rather have a super large closet, which I'm going to give you."
He pondered the options she'd given him, realizing the decision was his to make. "Let's do the steam shower."
"Okay."
They went back downstairs and she pulled up a seat at the existing peninsula in the kitchen. Barrett sat next to her, sitting quietly while she made notes.
Finally, she pivoted on the barstool and looked up at him. He was struck by the gut punch connection he felt when his gaze met hers, the liquid warmth in her eyes when she gave him a direct look.
It was damned uncomfortable, super hot and made him want to pull her out of that chair and onto his lap so he could touch her and put his mouth on her. But he couldn't look away from her.
"I regularly work with several very good contractors. However, if there's someone else you'd rather use, that's fine."
Her knees bumped against his leg. He swore she was doing it on purpose.
"I don't have anybody in mind. I'm fine with whoever you recommend."
"Great. I'd like to have Jeff Golan come over and do a walk-through, going through everything you and I discussed to make sure he can do everything I want done. I can do that without you being here, unless you want to be."
He shook his head. "Not necessary. You know what I want."
Her lips ticked up. "Yes, I do."
That knowing smile again. She was killing him.
"Jeff will come up with an estimate of the costs. Since I'm the designer, Jeff and I will work closely together during the renovation and I'll make sure the design elements stay on track. If anything comes up, I'll stay in touch with you."
He nodded. "That works."
"Obviously you won't be able to live here during the renovation, since we're essentially changing every room."
"That's fine. I hadn't planned on moving in until after renovating."
"Good. I'll talk to Jeff tomorrow and we'll get things started."
He stood. "Thanks for doing this, Harmony. You made it all easy."
"Oh, it won't be easy, trust me. You'll have to make a lot of design choices and I'm going to be honest here. I think you'll find a lot of them a frustrating and boring pain in the ass. Renovating is often exasperating as hell. But I'll try to make the process go as smoothly as possible."
"Thanks for that. Training camp and preseason will be coming up soon, so the last thing I want to focus on is paint color."
She laughed. "I can imagine. I'll be here every step of the way to shoulder much of that burden for you. But remember, Barrett. This is your house. Not mine. So you will have to make most of those decisions."
"Yeah, I know."
"Okay, then. I'll have a contract drawn up and get that over to you tomorrow. Now, there's only one decision you have to make right now."
"What's that?"
She gave him a wickedly sexy smile. "When are you coming over to my place to cook dinner for me?"
"You were serious about that?" He was hoping she'd forgotten.
"Of course I was. You didn't think I'd lay down a challenge and not expect you to back it up, did you?"
She waved one of her sexy legs back and forth, forcing him to look at them, and at her feet.
Hell, she even had pretty toes.
He should say no. He definitely should say no. To hell with her challenge. He knew better.
The code.
But it wasn't like he'd be dating her or anything. He just had to prove he could cook. Then he could get the hell out of there and away from her. And they'd be working together on this project, so, like it or not, he was going to have to get used to the idea of being close to her. It might as well start over dinner.
"I have practices and then some meetings. How about Saturday?"
She offered up a benign, innocent smile that didn't fool him for a minute. "Saturday sounds fine."
He walked her out to her car and opened the driver's door for her. She turned to him. "Text me a list of items and I'll shop, since you won't have time."
"I'll have time."
She sighed. "Text me a list of items, Barrett. I'll take care of it."
He liked that fire in her eyes when he irritated her, hated to admit that he wouldn't mind stoking it with passion.
And when his thoughts went down that road, he knew it was time to get far, far away from Harmony.
He leaned in, for some reason needing to poke her a little. "Hey. I've got it covered."
She inhaled, then let it out in a heavy sigh. "Fine."
She slid into her car, her dress riding up her thighs and giving him a glimpse of her smooth silky legs as she climbed in.
Dammit. He was sure she'd done that on purpose.
He shut the door and she drove off.
He walked back inside the house, deciding he needed a minute or two to cool down before he left. He walked outside and stood staring out over the Intracoastal Waterway.
This was going to be rough. He was attracted to Harmony in ways he hadn't expected. Normally he could fight an attraction, but she was smart and beautiful and hot and sexy and every time he was around her the chemistry between them grew more explosive.
She was also Drake's little sister, and like it or not, that fact was going to have to stay front and center in his mind.
Six
Barrett was happy to be working out with his teammates. They weren't officially at camp, but working out together to get in shape for training camp next month. He breathed in the energy of his teammates while he stretched and got down to business.
Barrett and Drake and most of the guys on the defense often got together at the gym during the off-seaso
n to work out together. Now it was summer and OTAs were over, so they brought in some of the rookies and free agents to join their daily workout routines. The team facility was always the best place to get a hard workout in and run drills on their own.
They generated a tough sweat as they pushed one another hard for the better part of three hours. Barrett and Drake worked with a few of the defensive rookies, putting them through their paces to see what they had.
It was going to be a good team this year.
"You up for going out tonight?" Drake asked as they made their way back to the lockers.
"What did you have in mind?"
"I know a couple of ladies."
Barrett laughed and shook his head. His best friend always knew a couple of ladies. He knew more than a couple of ladies. Drake was popular with women. At six foot four and with his dark good looks and the way he smiled, for some reason women were attracted to him.
That man always had a woman on his arm.
A flash of a dark-skinned, dark-haired beauty entered Barrett's head.
No. Absolutely not. He wouldn't even entertain the idea of Harmony.
"Sure. Let's do it."
"All right," Drake said, flashing his signature grin. "Let's meet at Skye at nine."
"You got it."
Barrett went home and did some work on his computer, then took a short nap. It had been a long workout day, and he knew going out with Drake meant it would be a long night of partying. If he got lucky, maybe he'd be up all night with a smoking-hot woman.
After he grabbed something to eat, he got dressed and headed over to Club Skye, one of the hottest clubs in Ybor City. The parking lot was jam full of cars, but he and Drake often frequented the club and had VIP status, so he left his keys with the valet and since he knew the folks at the door, he didn't have to wait in the lines. Drake had texted him that he was already inside at a VIP table, so he found his best friend, unsurprisingly having already accumulated about five women at the table, along with Steve Mittman and Mean Man Taylor.
"What took you so long?" Taylor asked. "You have to stop and get a pedicure?"
Barrett laughed. "Yeah. Make sure I'm all pretty for the ladies."
One of the women, a cool redhead, slid up and put her hands on his shoulders. "You look pretty enough to me."
The women here were always forward, anxious to be seen with a football player. Most of the time it suited him just fine. These women knew what they were after, and there were no games involved.
"What's your name?" Barrett asked.
"Raquel. And you're Barrett Cassidy. I'm a big fan of the Hawks."