Page 68 of Most Likely to Score
Jillian: That’s my favorite way to wake up.
As I stare at the phone, the problem is clear. Miami wasn’t a fling. Miami wasn’t a no-strings-attached dalliance for either one of us. That trip across the country was the start of everything, and I want to take him back and make him all mine again,with no consequences, no risk, and no fallout. I want it all, without anyone getting hurt.
The next morning, I crunch on some toast and sip some hot tea as I work on the lineup for my Fire-Breathing Dragons. After I adjust my starting pitcher rotation, I check my email.
A message from Kevin greets me. I click it open, and it’s the usual from him—an interview request.Can Cooper come on my Sunday preview show?
I’m about to reply that I’ll check with the quarterback, when I see his postscript.
P.S. See you at Sierra’s wedding this Thursday! Be sure to say hello to Shelly and me! We can toast to Sierra together!
I groan loudly. I forgot he’d be attending the wedding.
I might be over the guy, but this is precisely why he irritates me.
Because he thinks I’d want to say hello to him and the woman he cheated on me with.
“You sure know how to pick ’em, girl,” I mutter.
My spine straightens. Wait. Just because Kevin is a dickhead doesn’t mean I have bad taste in men.
Of course not. Jones is nothing like Kevin.
My taste is not an issue.
But perhaps my judgment is. I did fall for a man I can’t have.
Maybe I don’t know how to pick them at all.
27
JONES
Cletus leaps through the air, chasing a Frisbee, landing like the agile dude he is with the disc in his mouth. The camera zooms in on me and I give my one hundred percent honest assessment. “That’s why I won’t feed my little guy anything but the best.” Next shot, Cletus retrieves a ball as I finish my ode to the dog food. “When your dog is worth the very best, that’s when you give him Paleo Pet.”
Ford points the remote at the TV and hits stop theatrically. “Bam. That is a dog food commercial if I’ve ever seen one. And look at Cletus. He loves watching it.”
My agent gestures to my pooch, who I brought to Ford’s office the day after the game for the “premiere” of the television spot. Wagging his tiny tail, Cletus stretches out in a downward dog.
He’s also showing off for Jillian, pawing at her legs, but she seems distracted. She’s still staring at the screen even though the TV is off.
Cletus whimpers, and that gets her attention. She reaches down, scoops him into her lap, and strokes his soft brown and white fur.
“What can I say? He’s a ladies’ man?” I wink.
Trevor eyes me. “Something you’re not anymore.”
“Oh yeah.” Ford stretches across the desk and high-fives my brother before turning his attention to Jillian. “Liam gave the okay to tease this on social media before it runs on Lifetime in a few days,” he says. “Can you handle?”
Jillian nods crisply, back to her usual sharp-as-a-tack demeanor. “Absolutely. I have a plan for how to magnify this online.”
“Excellent. Liam is thrilled with how it’s all coming along,” Trevor chimes in, since he’s been handling a lot of the details with my sponsor.
“We all are. And don’t you forget, you have a dinner with him later this week,” Ford says, pointing at me.
“Dude. I know. You put it on my calendar.”
“My job is to remind you, too. We’ll all be there. And soon, we’ll be having a dinner with the quick-serve restaurant because that deal is coming together with Organic Eats.”
