She obviously realized he was serious because she headed for the stack of folders on the table and sifted through them.

Coming up with the one she wanted, she opened it and glanced down only briefly before speaking. "Football players-anyone in training for prolonged periods of time-live a very regimented life. From what and when they eat to their exercise routine to when to practice and attend team meetings, everything is laid out for them. One injury and everything changes." She eyed him warily from beneath her lashes.

He was surprised she'd still worry about his feelings after how he'd treated her. "Go on. I can take it."

She nodded. "Suddenly they can eat what they want, when they want, and they gain unhealthy amounts of weight that isn't balanced out by the exercise they used to do. Lack of education and preparation result in poor financial choices. Most athletes run through any good money they might have made in a short amount of time. Marriages crumble from the strain. Not to mention, they get bored, and depression sets in. I have statistics, but for now, you can just take my word for it."

He didn't have to. He'd begun experiencing some of it himself.

"What's your solution?" he asked, impressed with the knowledge she already had regarding the problem they faced.

"Education." She tapped the folder on the table. "All football colleges and universities need to have programs geared to post-career options. It's not enough to offer a finance or business major. They need to target post-professional life. From our perspective, that means we start from the ground up. We contact schools and propose just such an approach. We hire ex-players willing to speak to the kids about the importance of thinking beyond football. And at a team level, we begin to provide all sorts of counseling and training. Nutrition, business cla.s.ses, psychological counseling. Another goal is to eliminate the stigma of retirement, and to do that, we need to prepare our players for the future." She finished her speech, her cheeks flushed pink and her eyes wide, her pa.s.sion for the subject evident.

f.u.c.k, she was gorgeous.

He'd seen a similar look on her face before, right before he'd slid his fingers inside her and teased her to climax. He closed his eyes, dragging in a controlled breath.

Wrong time, wrong place. Wrong everything.

He might want to return to where they'd been before he'd opened his big mouth and thrown her out of his hospital room, but she wanted nothing to do with him. She didn't trust him, and he didn't blame her. He needed to win her over before he could let himself even think about sinking back into her body. She needed to see he'd changed, grown up.

And maybe he needed to prove the same thing to himself.

"I'm in," he told her.

"Excuse me?"

"I'll take the job."

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Didn't Ian tell you it's up to me who to hire?"

Alex shook his head, silently cursing his manipulative brother. "No, I think the plan was to throw us in here like gladiators and see who survived."

To his surprise, she let out an amused laugh.

The desire to kiss the dimples on either side of her mouth was strong. Beneath the table, he curled his fingers into fists, curbing his desire. His frustration wasn't as easily controlled.

"I really don't think we can work together," she said, sobering.

"Then I'll just have to convince you otherwise."

TWO.

Two weeks had pa.s.sed since Alex had come on board. He'd shown up at the stadium daily, ready to dig in and work. To Madison's surprise and disappointment, they shared an office-due to lack of available s.p.a.ce, according to Ian. Madison called bulls.h.i.t, but only to Riley. She wasn't about to start trouble with her boss.

Alex had stepped out a couple of minutes ago. Alone for the first time, she grabbed complete concentration time and stared at the list of speakers she'd begun lining up for workshops. She wanted to run programs dedicated to everything from health and nutrition to finances and taxes. There was one well-known lecturer in particular she wanted to secure, but she had the feeling nailing him down would entail a trip to Manhattan to convince him. He was on the pricier side, but luckily Ian had given them a generous budget to work with, indicating how important this issue had become to him. She wondered if his newfound relationship with Alex was the root of his support or if he just sensed the need in the sport. A combination of both, she a.s.sumed.

She pulled up the calendar on her computer, knowing the seminars had to take place during the off-season so as not to overwhelm the players, and she would need to confer with Ian on scheduling.

She was so intent on her work she didn't hear anyone come up behind her, but she knew, the second she breathed in the s.e.xy, musk-laden cologne, who had joined her. Her body responded as if she knew him intimately, which, of course, she did. She didn't appreciate the reminder, her nipples now erect beneath her sheer silk blouse and a pulsing awareness awakened between her thighs.

"Good meeting?" she managed to ask, knowing Alex had come from a sit-down with the head coach and his team to fill him in on their progress so far and what would be expected of the players.

"Yes with some coaches, no with others. They don't want to think about having to pull players for mild concussions, which is part of what we're advocating. It's not just about getting the players educated, it's about getting those in charge to treat injuries with more caution. Not easy when, in their minds, it's all about the win." A hint of frustration edged his tone.

"It'll take time for them to come around," she said.

"Well, it didn't help that some of them behaved like I was their enemy instead of being on the same team."

She winced, knowing how wide the football division was in the state of Florida. She could only imagine the locker room. "That must have been difficult."

"I can handle it. I'm a big boy."

He might not mean anything by his words. In fact, there was no innuendo in his tone. But Madison's mind immediately went to exactly how big the man actually was, and the memory had her squirming in her seat once more. The friction of her slacks against her sensitized body parts was driving her insane.

He settled on the edge of her desk, too close for her peace of mind.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Saying h.e.l.lo." His breath ruffled her hair, and she shivered. "And catching up."

This friendly Alex was new. Up until now, he'd perfected being completely professional, but since they shared an office, the underlying s.e.xual tension was ever present. She couldn't inhale without smelling Alex's familiar scent, reminding her of hot, pa.s.sionate nights in his bed.

She couldn't look up without catching a glimpse of his dark head bent over notes or his computer, bringing up memories of how she'd tangle her fingers in the long strands of his hair as her o.r.g.a.s.m washed over her. The low timbre of his voice echoed through her, causing every nerve ending in her body to tingle with awareness. And they worked really well together, as it turned out, reminding her that their camaraderie had extended outside the bedroom as well.

On day one, when she'd accused him of not having staying power, it had been a subtle dig at his revolving door of women, not his work ethic. So she wasn't at all surprised he'd thrown himself into this job with the same dedication he'd shown in his football career. She didn't need anything to soften her toward him, but had to admit, she admired his enthusiasm for their project and the ideas he'd brought to the table so far.

Still, she'd expected him to leave at five. Instead, he'd stay until seven or eight, always walking her to the parking lot at the end of the day. What had happened to the parties at his house? The constant rotation of friends and teammates who came through his front door for poker, beer, and pizza? The bars with the groupies?

She frowned at the reminder. Maybe he went there afterwards, but he didn't seem like he was partying. At all.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "You're looking at me funny."

She frowned at how well he read her. "It's just that you're surprising me," she grudgingly admitted.

"In a good way? Or bad?" He leaned in closer.

"Sit back," she muttered. "I need breathing room."

He shot her a knowing grin. "I don't mind being so close to you." His brown eyes sparkled with mischief. "You smell good." He deliberately inhaled, his nose close to the sensitive spot behind her ear.

"Stop!" She slid her chair back from her desk.

Chuckling, he raised both hands in the air. "Fine. Then spend time with me away from work, and I won't push any agenda here."

She raised her eyebrows high. "So you admit you have an agenda?"

A dimple formed in his cheek. "I admit I want to spend time with you. Anything else I say can only get me in trouble." He grinned, surely intending to disarm her. "Let's go for dinner tonight."

"I can't."

"You mean you won't."

"I mean I can't. I have a date." With her foster brother, Eric, but she wasn't about to give Alex any information on her family issues.

His smile turned into a deadly scowl she'd only seen on the football field. Did her after-work plans really bother him so much?

"Who's the guy? Is it serious?" he asked, suddenly back in her personal s.p.a.ce.

She felt lightheaded at his nearness, and the desire to throw herself against his hard body was strong. "I'm meeting my foster brother," she said, only realizing she'd buried herself with the truth.

A shimmer of light returned to his gaze. "Okay, eat light with him, and we'll go out after."

She wrinkled her nose in confusion. "What's with the persistence? I mean, if you were anyone else, I'd think you don't want to go home and eat alone." But Alex Dare was never alone.

He looked away and awareness dawned. Could he be lonely? "Alex, what's going on? Where are all the guys who came in and out of your house at all hours when I was there?" He was the most popular guy she'd ever met, never at a loss for company, male or female, whether in Miami or in Tampa.

"Things changed." He didn't turn to meet her gaze.

This wasn't the c.o.c.ky Alex she remembered. But she wasn't letting him off the hook. "Changed how?"

He was silent for so long she didn't think he'd answer. When he did, he spoke so low she had to strain to hear.

"After the hit, I wasn't exactly in a good place."

She knew that firsthand. She bit her lip, refusing to snap back a retort because it just might give him insight into how much he'd hurt her.

He glanced up at her, the knowledge already in his eyes. "I was nasty to my family, my friends. I didn't want company."

"You weren't at your best," she agreed.

"True." He grinned, the c.o.c.kiness back.

For some reason, that rea.s.sured her. "And let me guess, not only didn't you want their help, you didn't want their pity."

"Bingo. And after a while, the guys stopped coming by." He shrugged like it didn't matter.

Without looking at his expression, she knew better. Knew him better. Scary, considering a few minutes ago she'd thought she didn't know him that well at all.

She cleared her throat. "What about your siblings? I'm sure they were there for you."

"They were. They are. But if they think I need them, they'll smother me."

She shook her head at how easily he dismissed something so precious. "You're lucky you have a brother and sister who care." Speaking of siblings reminded her of her meeting with her foster brother, and she glanced at her watch.

"I don't want to keep you," he said, picking up on her cue. He slid off the desk and walked to his own corner of the room, looking more isolated than she liked.

She was torn over what to do. Being with him outside of work was so dangerous to her peace of mind. Most people she found easy to keep out. Not Alex.

"Walk you out?" he asked.

She bit the inside of her cheek, knowing she was going to regret this and unable to not ask it anyway. "Why don't you come with me? I'm meeting Eric for a quick talk. You and I can go to dinner after."

A grin spread across his handsome face. "Lying to avoid me?" he asked, amused and confident once more.

Ignoring the question, she bent down and grabbed her purse from her bottom desk drawer.

"This sudden invite, it's not pity-based right? Just because I confided in you doesn't mean I-"

"Alex? Shut up and let's go," she said, slinging her purse over her shoulder and walking out ahead of him.

They agreed that she would drive and she'd take him back to the stadium later to get his car. He'd been overly agreeable, as if sensing she just needed any little reason to change her mind. He was right. She wanted to run as much as she wanted to go with him. She was too susceptible to him in general when he was the full-of-himself athlete he showed to the world. The more vulnerable man she'd seen glimpses of tonight? He was even more of a risk.

She consoled herself with the notion that she could consider this a business dinner. They could discuss the idea of consulting a public relations firm for their campaign. Alex had been been in meetings most of the day and away from the office, so tonight would be the first chance she had to broach the notion.

"Where are we going?" he asked a while later as she drove to a part of town she normally avoided. But her brother had insisted this was where he wanted to meet.

"A place called Dom's," she said as she pulled into the parking lot Eric had mentioned.

"Well, I'm glad I'm with you. Who the h.e.l.l sends a woman around here alone?" Alex asked, outraged.

She swallowed hard. From the gang of kids on the corner in matching colors and jackets to the homeless man who'd camped out across the street, it was no place for her to be wandering around. Suddenly she was glad Alex was here too.

They stepped out of the car, and he strode over to her, hand outstretched. "Keys. I'm driving us out of here."

Deciding not to argue, she handed him the set. He pulled her against him, his arm wrapped snuggly around her waist as they strode toward the entrance.

Memories of another time, another place a.s.saulted her, forcing her to recall the times he'd held her tight for far different reasons, when they were a involved. And how much she'd enjoyed it. His strength represented a security she'd never known, his scent and touch aroused her, and d.a.m.n him, once again she found herself wishing for more than he was willing to give. She stiffened, holding herself apart from him as much as she could.

They paused beneath a ratty awning that hung awkwardly and broken above them, and Alex opened the door for her to step inside, his hand still strong and rea.s.suring against her back.

As she walked farther inside, a mildew-like stale smell a.s.saulted her, and she regretted this meeting even more.

"Can I help you?" a bored-looking woman asked.

"Yes, I'm looking for-"

"Oh my G.o.d, you're him!" she said, now bouncing in her platform heels, her large b.r.e.a.s.t.s bobbing along with her. "You're the hot football player, Alex something." She batted her heavily made-up eyes at him.

"Oh, for G.o.d's sake," Madison muttered.