Page 1 of Her Athlete's Wedding Secret

Chapter 1

Guests at Alexis and Owen’s high-profile wedding milled about in the ballroom of the Whitmore House. Cameras flashed as the media covered the event. Benson saw the newlyweds happily greeting their guests. Celebrities and locals from Maple Creek mingled together. Benson would have thought they would mix like oil and water, but the people of Maple Creek were welcoming to all. They weren’t the type to be suspicious of big-city folk. They had enough celebrities from their town to be used to outsiders by now.

Tessa Randall sat with Carrington Dalton at one of the round tables set up on the outer rim of the room. The middle was cleared for the dance floor. A few couples were dancing. He scanned the room for any prospects. He was always looking for beautiful women to approach. It had become a habit of his over the past few years. It helped numb the pain. Tessa and Carrington were both gorgeous women, but he’d grown up with them. They knew what he was like in high school. They’d sized him up as a player years ago. He could tell by the way they looked down their noses at him. It was like they thought he was tainted.

He was looking for someone new who didn’t know anything about him or his past. Or someone who didn’t care. There were plenty of beautiful women at the wedding. And as the quarterback of the New York Giants, he could get whatever girl he wanted. He’d gotten cocky about it, too. It was only a matter of time before something happened to knock him off his high horse. That was how life went. Lucky streaks only lasted so long before reality hit. He was long overdue for a healthy dose of reality.

Benson’s phone rang, and he pulled it from the inside pocket of his tux jacket. He made a face. It was Cameron, his agent. He had been trying to get a hold of him all night. He hoped he wasn’t still mad about his little stunt in Central Park last weekend.

“Cameron,” he said when he answered the phone. “I’m at Owen Hadley’s wedding reception right now. Can this wait?”

“Not if you want to play football this fall.”

Benson’s stomach twisted into knots. “What’s going on?”

“Look, Bill heard about your incident in Central Park, and he says you’re off the team unless you can settle down.”

“He can’t just kick me off. I still have three years left in my contract.”

“You realize that your contract states any misconduct that is detrimental to the team or makes the team look bad could result in the termination of the contract. But it’s up to the discretion of the coaches, owners, and management. Keep in mind that if you’re kicked off the team, no other team will touch you. Your career would be over.”

“Okay,” Benson said slowly, his heart pounding at the news. It was worse than he thought. Maybe spinning donuts in the grass in Central Park in Ol’ Bessie hadn’t been the best idea. But he couldn’t shrink away from a challenge. He’d never backed down from a dare. And he knew he’d had too much to drink. “What does he mean by settle down?”

“Find a wife.”

“Awife? No way. That’s completely out of the question.” Benson crossed his beefy arms, and the back of his tuxedo pulled tight across his shoulders.

“You don’t have a choice. What you did was completely illegal, you’re aware of that, right?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“You’re lucky you’re not spending time behind bars. That’s where you’d be if it weren’t for the Giants’ top-notch legal team. Your attorney was able to get your charge dropped to a hefty fine and some community service.”

“Do we have to talk about this now?” Benson complained. “I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

“Listen, I’m serious about you finding a wife. Marry someone who will help clean up your image. Not one of those sleazy girls you keep showing up with in the tabloids. You’re in Maple Creek right now, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s a great place to look. Marry a girl from your hometown. The sooner, the better.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me! I can’t marry a girl from back home.”

“Why not? I don’t see what the problem is.” Cameron sounded irritated, like he was about to snap.

“They all hate me.”

“Why do you think they hate you?”

“Well, I haven’t exactly been a model citizen of Maple Creek,” he said with a sheepish smile.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I used to go down to the lake and drink beers with my friends. But they weren’t our beers. They belonged to some campers, and we stole all their coolers. The only time the mayor’s daughter was with us, we got her drunk, and the cops showed up. We were all sober enough to get away, but she could hardly stand. She tried to get away too, but she could only crawl so fast on her hands and knees. Let’s just say, it ruined her cheerleading career, and we all got away with it. But everyone in town knew I was involved, so now all the girls hate me, and the rumors the mayor spread didn’t help. Admittedly, they were mostly true. Now, I’m not exactly the most eligible bachelor in Maple Creek. You would think that being a New York Giants quarterback would be to my benefit with the girls in Maple Creek, but unfortunately, they’re not superficial.”

“What do you mean ‘unfortunatelythey’re not superficial’?” Cameron snapped. “That’s a good thing.”

“Well, yeah. In most situations. But I’ve got to find a woman to agree to marry me. I’m going to have to find someone who’s a bit superficial to go along with this nonsense. I need a girl who can get a little starry-eyed with me, and the girls of Maple Creek know me all too well.”

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