"The dinner and this entire...charade we're putting on at the moment. It's bogus, and you know it." She propped her folded arms on the edge of the table, her gaze narrowed. "Let's cut a deal. I have no idea what you want from me, but you know exactly what I want from you, and I'm willing to do just about anything I can to get my hands on that building."

He c.o.c.ked a brow. "Anything?"

"No s.e.xual favors, if that's what you're hinting at. G.o.d, you haven't changed a bit, have you? Do you ever not think with that thing between your legs?"

Well, h.e.l.l, now she'd offended him. "Baby, I can think clearly most of the d.a.m.n time. It's only when I'm around you that my d.i.c.k decides to tell me what I should do. I can't help it if I'm still s.e.xually attracted to you."

"You could try and tone it down." Her voice softened, her lids lowered.

If he wasn't mistaken, she looked aroused.

"Tone what down? The s.e.xual innuendo? I think it's sorta fun. I thought you felt the same way."

"No," she said too quickly. "It's not fun. Not at all. Especially because I'm trying to be serious here, Nick. I want the building. I can't necessarily afford it but I'm hoping you're willing to listen to my proposal deal."

"I'll listen to whatever you have to say." Definitely, since he could just sit there and watch those beautiful lips move as she spoke. All glossy and pink and full and delicious-which he knew, because he'd tasted them quite a few times. Not enough for his liking, and never taking it as far as he'd prefer, but d.a.m.n. Those lips of hers were utter perfection.

"...and so I was hoping you could knock five hundred dollars off per month. Only for the first year, though. By then business should be rocking, and I'll be able to afford the full monthly lease amount."

He blinked her into focus. s.h.i.t. He'd missed half of what she said. "Five hundred off a month?"

She nodded, her expression prim, her gaze hopeful. "I think that's a fair deal, considering the building has sat empty pretty much since you owned it."

Sounded like someone had done her research. "All righty then. Done."

"What?" She shook her head, her gaze narrowed. "Really?" she breathed.

d.a.m.n, he'd given in too easily. Now he could only hope she'd do the same. "I need something in return, though."

"Sure. Fine." She nodded. He could tell she was trying to restrain her grin but it burst forth anyway, the sight of it momentarily stealing his breath. She was so gorgeous, even more so when she wasn't scowling at him and threatening to stomp on his b.a.l.l.s with the spiked heel of her shoe. "Oh my G.o.d, Nick. You don't know how excited I am."

"That's amazing, darlin'. I'm glad I could excite you so much." He took a deep breath, steeling himself for the eruption that was surely to follow at his suggestion. "Hopefully you'll still be excited after you hear my proposal for you."

"Oookay." She chewed on her lower lip, looking nervous. "Lay it on me. Don't keep me in suspense."

"Well, I was hoping for a trade."

"A trade?"

"I give you that most excellent lease amount you just mentioned." Of which he couldn't even recall, since he'd been too d.a.m.n busy staring at her lips. "And I get ten dates with you."

Her jaw dropped open. "Ten dates?"

Nick nodded, reaching for his water gla.s.s-wishing like h.e.l.l it was a beer-and taking a big gulp. Thank G.o.d he wasn't drinking tonight. He needed to keep his head semi-clear when dealing with Willow. "I told you yesterday I was going to take you out properly and show you what a real gentleman does when he wines and dines a lady."

"And you're calling yourself a real gentleman while trying to blackmail me with dates?" She grabbed her gla.s.s and drained half the wine in one swallow. "I should refuse."

"Then I rescind my half of the deal." He leaned across the table, mimicking exactly what she did only moments ago. "You deny my request, I deny yours."

She glared at him, her excitement long gone. "I really hate you sometimes," she whispered.

His heart clenched. He hoped she didn't mean that. "The last thing I feel for you is hate, Will. Come on; this won't be so bad. You can handle it. And anyway, I won't be around much. I gotta head back to San Jose first thing tomorrow morning for practice. Playoffs are coming up. I need to be on top of my game."

"Fine. Let's negotiate. Five dates." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, plumping up her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, distracting him completely.

"Nine," he countered, his mouth going dry at the sight of all that ample flesh-remembering that lacy black bra.

"Jerk," she murmured. "h.e.l.lo, eyes up here. And make it six dates."

He lifted his gaze, saw the anger blazing in her eyes. "No way."

"Seven."

Nick shook his head, his gaze dropping to her cleavage yet again. d.a.m.n, he wanted to lick her right there. Taste all that soft, fragrant flesh, make her go wild with just a few strokes of his tongue...

"Eight." She clamped her lips shut. "That's as high as I'll go, Nick. I won't do ten. Ten is too many."

"Eight it is, then." He leaned across the table, reaching his hand toward her. "Shake on it. I won't sign the deal if we don't shake. It's the least you can do for me."

She extended her hand carefully, almost as if his were a snake and she was afraid he might bite her. He clasped her hand in his, smoothed his thumb across her palm and felt her shiver. "I feel like I've just made a deal with the devil."

"Trust me, this devil is more than happy to make the deal with you." He grinned and slowly withdrew his hand, his fingers skimming hers. "I have a lot of planning in my future. These dates are going to rock your world, darlin'."

Willow leaned back in her chair with her shoulders slumped. She looked downright defeated. "Tonight counts as our first one, right?"

"No sir-ee. Nice try, though. I'll give you points for that." He nodded toward her. "This is a meeting. Not a date."

"A meeting." She rolled her eyes. "Feels like a date to me."

"Maybe it's because all those old yearnings you have for me keep bubbling up whenever we're together?" She looked ready to tear him apart. Maybe that was the wrong thing to say.

"You think you can woo me or something with a bunch of prearranged dates? Trust me, you can do whatever you want. Take me wherever you want. I won't fall for you. I am so over you, it's not even funny."

The girl threw down a challenge as if she knew he wouldn't be able to resist. "I can guarantee I will have you in a melted puddle at my feet by the end of date three. You will be begging for it. Begging. For. It." He arched a brow. "I've never met a challenge I haven't been able to conquer."

"I'm not some football team you can strategize to beat, you know," she said just before she finished off the rest of her wine.

No, but she was the woman he wanted in his life on a permanent basis. He would have her. The eight dates deal would make it easier for him to convince her they truly belonged together.

He could do this. He'd faced far tougher challenges before, hadn't he?

Willow studied him, a sultry smile curling her lips as she wound a thick, glossy brown lock of hair around her finger. Just watching her do such a simple thing like touch her hair made him break out into a sweat. d.a.m.n, he had it bad.

There was no doubt in his mind that he would conquer her. Make her his once and for all.

Game motherf.u.c.king on.

Chapter Three.

"I need your help," Nick said grimly the moment he sat at the table across from Sheridan.

She blinked at him, all baby blue-eyed, golden-haired angel of innocence. "Help with what?"

"Your best friend. What does she like to do when she goes out on dates with...other guys?" The last two words pained him to say. But d.a.m.n, he needed a clue, a hint, something to help him figure out what the h.e.l.l he was going to do on his first date with Willow, which was tomorrow.

He didn't need the distraction. A Friday night date right before a most important game was stupid. Coach Walsh would have his a.s.s if he came to practice Sat.u.r.day worn out from too much fun.

Not that they'd have any fun like he wanted. Willow would put him off, he knew it. And if he didn't play his cards right with this first date, well...

Nerves ate at his gut just thinking about her possible rejection. The lease papers were in negotiation. She was eager to push it through, but his lawyer had balked at the terms, and Nick went ahead and let him balk all over the place. She wouldn't walk, not with the fine details still hanging in the balance. It was manipulation in its purest form, but he was a desperate man.

More than anything, he had a feeling she wanted him as badly as he wanted her. She just wasn't ready to admit it yet.

This blackmail scheme had felt like the right thing at the time, but being away from her made him second-guess himself constantly. Being out of their att.i.tude-riddled rhythm was throwing him off, too. He'd been practicing intensely for the last three days. He hadn't spoken to Willow the entire time beyond a text message letting her know she needed to prepare for tomorrow's date.

She'd replied with a simple: looking forward to it.

Funny how those four words still dripped with sarcasm despite his not hearing her actually say them.

"Dates?" Sheridan frowned, wrinkled her nose. d.a.m.n, she was cute. Not nearly as gorgeous as Willow in his eyes, but he could see why Jared was so crazy about her. "Willow doesn't really go on dates."

"What do you mean? All single women as beautiful as Will go on dates. There must be twenty dozen jerkoffs standing in line who would kill to go out with her," Nick muttered, shaking his head.

If he had his choice, he'd already be at his little condo, pa.s.sed out in bed. After a long afternoon of practice filled with drill exercises that had quite frankly kicked his a.s.s, he was beat.

But here he sat at some place close to the stadium, Jared having asked Nick to join him and Sheridan for dinner. He'd been outside the restaurant on his cell with his agent when Jared had come out to join him, also yakking away on his phone to G.o.d knows who.

Seeing his opportunity, Nick went for it, ending the call and hurrying back into the restaurant to drill Sheridan for information.

"You like her, don't you, Nick? It's okay, you can tell me. Jared isn't around." Sheridan flashed a knowing smile, one that made him want to confess all of his feelings for the woman who twisted him in knots.

"I do. I like her. I ain't gonna lie." His accent got thicker when he was nervous, and he cleared his throat, trying to get a grip. "She hates me, though. I did her wrong years ago, and I hate that."

The knowing smile grew. "I think she likes you more than you know."

"You know something I don't?" He peered at her, wishing he could see inside Sheridan's brain.

Women. They were sneaky creatures most of the time, and he rarely could figure them out.

Sheridan shrugged. "As if I'd tell you all of Willow's deep, dark secrets. I could never do that."

"I'm not asking for deep, dark secrets." Though he was intrigued. "I'm asking what your friend likes to do on a date."

"I don't know. The usual date-type stuff? But like I said, she's not one who goes on lots of dates. She...hangs out with guys. They go to dinner, she goes to his house, he goes to hers..."

"Whew, for a minute there I thought you were saying Willow goes out with multiple guys." He slumped in his chair with relief. He remembered she'd been a hot little number in bed-who could forget?-but hanging out with guys made him think she might like being with multiple guys.

And he just couldn't wrap his head around that idea. The mere thought of sharing Willow with anyone else literally made his skin crawl.

Well, look at that. He just turned into a caveman.

Sheridan laughed. "You have an overactive imagination now, don't you?"

"More like I'm a jump-to-conclusions sort of idiot, if you know what I mean." Nick sc.r.a.ped his hand over his stubble-covered cheek. "I want to do something different. Not get all dressed up and take her out to some fancy dinner where I drop a couple hundred on food and drink and watch her scowl at me while she pushes food around her plate. No thank you."

That had happened during their dinner meeting, and he didn't want a repeat. Talk about a bust. He wanted to dazzle her. Talk to her. Make her fall head over heels for him again.

"Take her somewhere simple. She was raised surrounded by money, you know, so most grand gestures do nothing for her." Sheridan frowned. "When we were kids, I was always jealous of that. Her big fancy house, her rich lawyer daddy, her mom who traveled all over the world. I thought it was so glamorous, especially since I was on an inter-district transfer using my grandma's address so I could go to the Carmel schools versus the c.r.a.ppy Seaside ones. Everything Willow had, I didn't."

"Then what?" Nick wanted to hear what she had to say. He appreciated this glimpse into Willow's past. He hadn't been nearly as interested in the particulars that made her who she was when he was twenty-one.

"Then I realized that Willow envied me and what I had. She was lonely. Tired of the trappings that so much wealth can afford a person. I know it sounds crazy, but she really was a poor little rich girl. Still is. That's why she's working so hard to prove herself with her business."

"Uh huh." Sheridan was chock full of insight. Just what he needed. "So I should keep this first date simple."

"Yeah, you definitely should." She rested her elbow on the table and propped her chin on her fist. "She told me all about your deal, you know."

"She did?" His cheeks grew hot. Why he was surprised and embarra.s.sed he didn't know. These girls shared pretty much all their secrets between them.

"I think it's kind of cute. In a lewd and slightly perverted way." Sheridan grinned. "I get the sense you're trying very hard to get back into her pants."

"Extremely hard." He laughed. Well, that could be taken in a variety of ways. "I messed up the first time around. I want another shot."

"Another shot to do what?" Her smile faded. "If you break her heart again, you'll have to answer to me."

"I understand. And I don't just want to get into her pants. I want back in her life in a permanent way." He sat up straighter, knowing she meant it. Sheridan was a fighter. She fought hard for her man, she fought for her career; the girl did not mess around.

Which meant he wouldn't mess with her-besides the fact his best friend would murder him without thought if he so much as p.i.s.sed Sheridan off.

"What are you two conspiring about?" Jared appeared as if he knew Nick was thinking about him and sat in the chair next to Sheridan. He leaned over and brushed a soft kiss to his wife's lips, earning a smile from Sheridan for his efforts.

Nick had grown up with a nice, normal family. His parents were still married, his older sister lived down the dusty road from the old homestead with her cute little family, and he was the golden boy of his tiny town. His parents were proud, as was his sister and her husband.

He had simple wants, simpler needs. Yeah, he'd been dazzled when he first got the contract with the Hawks and everything that came with it-including the fans, the groupies who threw themselves at him. But he was so over that scene. Had been for a couple of years. A meaningful relationship was what he sought. With the bonus of having extremely hot s.e.x...and of course he knew he could have all of that and more with Willow.

"Nick wants advice on how to show Willow a good time." Sheridan burst out laughing when both he and Jared looked at her like she was nuts. "It's true, right? You want to know how to impress her on a date."

"Willow needs to get laid," Jared mumbled, earning a jab in the ribs from Sheridan. "What? I speak the truth, and you know it. Maybe a night of hot s.e.x would take that stick out of her a.s.s. She's been uptight since the moment I met her."

Sounded good to Nick. He could have her a million ways before their eight dates were up. She'd be nice and relaxed by then.

"She's been consumed by work. Worried she was sabotaging her own business by not having a big enough location. Not enough employees to get the job done," Sheridan said, glaring at her husband, who didn't seem fazed in the least. "She's had to turn clients away, you know."