Page 8 of Under the Lights
What he did mind, though, was sitting across from the man he respected more than any other in the world, thinking increasingly inappropriate thoughts about that man’s only child.
Coach’s daughter was so off-limits for a rebound fling she might as well get a roll of police tape out of her trunk and wrap herself in it. And a rebound fling was all he had to offeranywoman. Even though he hadn’t been ready to put a ring on Rina’s finger, Chase had been with her a long time, and it still stung pretty badly that she’d left him for another guy when the going got a little rough. Whether it stung his heart or his pride more, Chase couldn’t quite say, but he knew one thing—he had to clean up his own life before he even thought about another relationship. He had to at least have something to offer.
If Coach caught a whiff of Chase’s attraction to Kelly and asked what his intentions were, the only answer would benothing honorable. Chase had to stop looking at Kelly McDonnell like a smoking-hot police officer with the sexy voice and the really sexy handcuffs, and start looking at her as Coach’s daughter.
That fruity scent of hers was the smell of forbidden fruit, and Chase Sanders wasn’t going to bite. No matter how strong the temptation.
—
Organized chaos Kelly could deal with, but the Eagles Fest meeting was the chaos without the organization. The teens, who were supposed to be doing the bulk of the work, were huddled in the back of the high school art room, giggling and talking and in general trying to look cool.
At least they’d shown up. Half the adults on her list either weren’t going to show up, or they were going to be late and claim they were stuck in the first random traffic jam in Stewart Mills history. Now, mere days before the festival kickoff, wasn’t the time for volunteers to run out of steam.
When she nodded at Coach, he put two fingers in his mouth and gave a whistle that put the silver kind hanging around his neck at practices to shame. The teenage boys in the room snapped to attention, with the others at least falling silent. “Let’s get started.”
They’d all finally settled in the metal chairs they had permission to use in the music room, and she was opening her mouth to start the meeting, when the door opened and Chase walked in. It was a good thing everybody turned to look at him because her train of thought ran right off the rails.
In the weeks between her phone call to Chase and his running the stop sign, she’d thought a little bit about what it might be like to see him, but in her mind, he’d looked like the teen she’d daydreamed about, with maybe a little of that computer-generated aging process applied. Her imagination had underestimated him.
Whether it was the years, the construction or both, something had definitely made the boy a man. A ruggedly handsome man in jeans and a T-shirt that drew attention to his tanned, leanly muscled arms, with that smile hinting he could still get up to no good from time to time.
She’d felt like getting up to no good herself when they kept accidentally touching at breakfast. It was a sign she’d been neglecting certain needs when a man’s leg bumping hers or his hand almost brushing hers was enough to trigger a tingly hot flash.
Coach’s voice boomed over the murmuring crowd, breaking into her thoughts. “Everybody, this is Chase Sanders, one of the greatest running backs to ever play for the Eagles and a member of our first championship team!”
As they all clapped and Chase waved, Kelly didn’t miss the way Hunter Cass’s mouth twisted into what was more grimace than smile. The current Eagles running back didn’t look thrilled to see one of the school’s legends in the flesh. Whether Hunter didn’t like sharing the limelight or Coach’s attention, she couldn’t tell, but she’d be keeping an eye on the boy. He needed to grasp the fact that Chase and the other guys were there to help save the football program.
“Kelly?”
She realized Coach had been prompting her and shoved the two running backs out of her mind so she could focus on the business at hand. “Thank you for coming, everybody. We have a lot to cover, so let’s get started.”
Chase couldn’t sit off to the side somewhere where she could ignore him. No, he had to find a seat toward the back, directly in her line of sight, and every time she looked up, he was watching her. They were all watching her, of course, since she was doing the talking, but there was something about the way he was doing it that made her wonder ifhismind was on the agenda at hand.
“Saturday and Sunday we’re kicking things off with the town yard sale,” she said, keeping her gaze on the paper in front of her. “Gretchen Walker and her grandmother have been accepting donations at the farm for the last month, and some of Mrs. Walker’s friends have been helping them sort and tag the items. I still need volunteers to get up at the butt-crack of dawn Saturday morning and move the boxes to the town square. We decided to have it there instead of at the farm because it’s on the main road, and we’re hoping to nab some tourists on their way home Sunday.”
Chase raised his hand and she nodded at him. “Chase?”
“I have a truck, so if you tell the boys on the team what time to show up, I’ll handle getting everything moved.”
Everybody heard Hunter’s snort. “Butt-crack of dawn? No thanks.”
Before Coach could say anything, Chase pinned the boy with a hard stare. “Then turn your jersey in and whichever guy who shows up at the Walker farm and runs the fastest gets to be running back come August.”
Kelly wasn’t surprised when Hunter sneered. “Screw you, man. Just because you won a few games like forever ago don’t make you shit now.”
“Hunter,” Jen, who was sitting close to the boy, snapped.
“Sorry, Ms. Cooper,” Hunter told his guidance counselor. Then he looked back at Chase. “Doesn’tmake you shit now.”
His teen cohorts snickered, but they quit when Coach crossed the room to stand in front of Hunter. “You want to keep playing ball for me, son, you’ll watch your language. And you’ll be at the Walker farm at the butt-crack of dawn on Saturday morning.”
“I can’t be there that early, Coach.”
“If the folks putting themselves out to help raise money for the team can be there, so can you.”
A red flush spread over Hunter’s face, and Kelly stepped out from behind the podium just in case he was about to lose his temper. She hadn’t had time to change out of her uniform before the meeting, so hopefully being reminded there was a police officer in the room would be enough to keep him in line. But he didn’t raise his voice. Instead, it was so low she could barely hear him. “Since my dad isn’t working, my parents don’t get up early and we only have the one car. I have to walk and it’s a dangerous road to walk in the dark.”
Kelly knew Tony Cass had been drowning his unemployment sorrows in cheap beer, and she guessed he wouldn’t react well to his son’s trying to drag him out of bed at dawn. Not that it excused Hunter’s behavior, but she tried to keep in mind every day that the attitude and hostility they were seeing more and more of in the kids were coping mechanisms.
