Love So Perfect.

by Marquita Valentine.

Star quarterback Austin Lawson's dating life is fair game to the countless gossip bloggers. Thanks to his most recent screw up with a social media savvy supermodel, he's forced to return home so that his PR team can do damage control. To help speed things along, he volunteers at Jessamine Elementary School, never dreaming he'd find the perfect solution to his image problem in Harper Bell. Sweet as anything, she's starstruck by him and agrees to date after date, never suspecting the real reason he wants to be with her. But as things begin to heat up between them, Austin realizes he wants Harper for more than just a quick fix.

Harper Bell is perfectly content as a second grade teacher in the small town of Jessamine-until she meets the one man who makes her question her lack of social life. She never dreamed that s.e.xy, hometown hero Austin Lawson would ever notice a Plain-Jane like herself. And with one hot kiss, she begins to fall head over heels for him... until she learns the truth. Austin's been using her.

Now Austin has to execute the perfect play to win back the girl of his dreams. Or will Harper bench him permanently?.

Chapter One.

Austin Lawson was a born charmer. His mother claimed that when he was a child, everyone fell in love with him at first sight. They loved his deep blue eyes, long lashes, and adorable smile.

As he grew into a man, a specific group of people started to fall in love with him-women. He enjoyed the attention, the adoration, and most of all, the privilege of sleeping with them.

But he had never fallen in love.

He supposed he could blame it on his first love, the one who captured him heart and soul... the smell, the sight of her on a crisp, blue day. The roar of the crowd as they cheered for him to throw harder, longer, and to go all the way was permanently etched in his mind.

The first time he held a football was d.a.m.n near a religious experience-although his brother, the preacher, wouldn't like that comparison. Most likely Adam would pray for him.

Right now, Austin needed all the prayers he could get.

"Look, son. We understand that Bianca secretly taped you, but it's still out there." His coach slid his gaze to the team's PR guru, Finley Owens. "What's the number of views now?"

Finley's brows furrowed. "Two million an hour ago."

Scrubbing a hand across his face, Austin groaned. "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. Which is why we need you to take a breather from all of this. Go see your family for a month or two." Her phone vibrated. "Better make that three."

"But the team needs me," Austin countered. He was the quarterback and the captain of the Charlotte Avengers. "I know we lost the playoffs against New York, but we can still-"

"We're not asking." Coach steepled his fingers together, his dark brown gaze sharp.

Son of a gun. This was as almost embarra.s.sing as getting caught with the coach's daughter riding him on the bench in the locker room back in high school. But he had reformed since then.

Mostly.

Bianca was the only woman he'd dated for the past year, and he'd been faithful. Before her, he'd mostly kept it in his pants, occasionally sleeping with women who'd been vetted by trusted friends. He loved s.e.x as much as the next guy, but s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up his career with poor decisions wasn't what he wanted to be known for.

People could a.s.sume what they wanted about him, as long as that was all they did. They could presume until they were black and blue in the face, but with Bianca's video of their break up going viral... no one had to imagine anything. His private life had been made public.

"Let's listen one more time, so you can let me know what you did and didn't say," Finley said as she hit play on the YouTube video.

"Just say you love me," Bianca said in a pleading voice that sounded like she was on the edge of tears, but the look in her eyes was full-on murderous.

Only the public couldn't see that because Bianca was the one holding the camera, not him. They also didn't know she had put him on the spot, had made demands, and had not listened to reason.

"I don't love you," he softly said.

Of course, Bianca had edited out the rest. The part where he had apologized and felt guilty as h.e.l.l for telling her the truth.

"You're such an a.s.shole."

"Takes an a.s.shole to put up with an opportunistic b.i.t.c.h for so long."

Austin winced.

After she hit pause, Finley glared at him. "Is that edited, too?" Usually, he liked Finley and respected the h.e.l.l out of her. She'd done a lot to turn around the team's image over the past six months. But he didn't like being raked over the coals for something he had no control over.

"No," he slowly said. "I said that." He only sort of felt guilty about it. His ex shouldn't get a free pa.s.s simply because she had a v.a.g.i.n.a. She'd called him more than an a.s.shole, which was why he'd responded in kind. It may have been childish, but at the time, he hadn't given a d.a.m.n.

"And you're not going to apologize?" she asked.

"I already did," he said.

"Too bad that's not viral," Finley muttered darkly.

Leaning forward in his chair, he said, "No video."

"Again, too bad. That would have helped us." Finley blew out a pent-up breath. "We've worked really hard to change the public's perception of the team, and I thought you were a solid poster boy to head that."

Yeah, he knew that. Knew everyone expected a lot out of him since he'd gotten traded to the Avengers. And, until now, he'd been more than happy to take on the role of leader. His parents hadn't raised him to be a jerk. Only that video showed him acting like nothing but a jerk. Wouldn't his momma be proud?

Coach exhaled. "Go home, son. In two months, the Super Bowl will be over and no one will care what you said to a supermodel."

"You're benching me?" He'd broken up with Bianca five months ago, and now it was coming back to bite him in the a.s.s.

"For now."

If they'd still been in the playoffs, no way Coach or Finley would be sending him home. "Fine." Rising to his feet, he sliced his gaze to Finley. "I know you think athletes are little more than Cro-Magnon men with an extra dose of testosterone who like to d.i.c.k-slap the compet.i.tion, but I'm not that bad of a guy."

Finley blushed, her gaze skittering away. "I never said that."

"Actually, you did. You were on a panel, and the topic was Misogynistic Themes in College Sports Culture." Finley had been very concise and thoughtful until a fellow panelist had suddenly challenged her. The frisk had been brutal and the panelist, Aiden McHugh, had been a c.o.c.ky b.a.s.t.a.r.d the entire time.

h.e.l.l, McHugh was still a c.o.c.ky b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

On the field, he dominated, and off the field, he conquered. Or so he liked to boast. How someone like Finley could have ever fallen for a douche like McHugh was beyond reason.

"B-but that was five years ago, and that's not what I meant," she protested. "I wasn't myself." Her gaze swung to Coach's. "It was in the heat of the moment. McHugh and I had... broken up that morning, and he already knew my talking points, so he had time to prepare. I had no idea he would go after me. I got blindsided."

Austin crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to let the empathy he felt for her guard his words. He wanted her to understand. Maybe then, she would tell Coach to bring him back early.

"Sucks, doesn't it? You blew your top while you were being recorded."

"Austin, Finley is not the one who screwed up. You are." Coach's voice held a note of warning.

He held up his hands in surrender even as irritation filled his veins. "I'm only pointing out that s.h.i.t happens. Until everyone and their brother stops carrying around phones, no one is safe to let off steam. But I'll play the game until I'm given permission to come back."

With that, he grabbed his jacket and left the conference room.

Harper Bell sat in a small rocking chair at the front of her cla.s.sroom, her fingers firmly pressed against the front and spine of the book she was reading to her second grade cla.s.s.

It was almost the end of the school day and, like always, the student of the day picked out the book to be read. Usually, that boy or girl would read for her, but some days, especially when it was a rainy afternoon, they liked for her to take over.

They sat crisscross-applesauce style on the carpet, their upturned faces filled with eager eyes and sweet smiles. This age still loved school. They still loved to learn, help, and do as she asked.

Just as Harper turned the page, the cla.s.sroom door opened. Reggie Phelps, Jessamine Elementary School's princ.i.p.al, stuck his head inside.

"May I speak with you a moment, Ms. Bell?" he asked.

Harper nodded, and then motioned for Jacie Mae to take her place. "I'll be right outside this door," she said, rising to her feet and moving to the hallway. Anxiety filled her. Reggie never came by unannounced this late in the day.

"Is there something wrong?" As she worried her bottom lip, she waited for him to deliver the bad news.

Reggie smiled. "Not at all. I need your help. Well, to be exact, this gentleman behind me would like to volunteer at Jessamine Elementary, and I thought your cla.s.sroom would be perfect."

She glanced at the man standing behind him. A thrill of something zinged through her. Maybe recognition. The stranger certainly looked familiar with his broad shoulders, dark hair, and blue eyes.

He extended his hand. "Hi, I'm Austin Lawson."

"Oh!" She smacked herself in the forehead with the heel of her hand and then shook his. "That's why you look like someone I know. You're a Lawson. Except for Tristan, Mason, and Preston, y'all all favor each other."

His head tilted to one side, giving him a rakish appearance. Lord, the man was handsome. "You only know me by my last name?"

Confused, her gaze bounced from Austin to Reggie, and then back to Austin. "How else should I know you?"

A charming smile pushed up his lips in the corners as he slowly shook his head. "No other way."

Reggie cleared his throat. "In any case, Austin will be coming on Tuesdays and Thursdays to help out in the cla.s.sroom."

"Oh, do you have kids who go here?"

His smile grew wider. "Not yet."

She blushed, which was downright silly because she'd just met him. "Of course not, because if you did, you'd volunteer in their cla.s.sroom and not mine."

Calm down, Harper. He's only a man.

He certainly is a man. A s.e.xy man. A man- "This is why I knew she would be perfect to supervise. Harper has no idea who you are," Reggie told him.

"But I do know him. He's a Lawson."

"He's also the star quarterback for the Charlotte Avengers." Reggie smiled again, opening the cla.s.sroom door. "I'll take care of your students while you and Austin chat about what your expectations are. You can use my office for as long as you like."

Harper didn't know a lot about sports, but what she did know-men like Austin didn't volunteer unless they'd done something wrong. Or had a camera crew following them around.

Craning her head around, she searched the hallway. There wasn't anything there except Mr. Huggins, the school janitor. He certainly wasn't with the press.

She frowned.

"If you'd like for me to find another teacher to work with, I will," he said, his voice rumbling from his chest.

"No, it's not that. It's... uh..." she said, hedging a little. "Most men in your position don't volunteer at schools unless they've done something really bad."

He leaned into her a little, but instead of feeling intimidated by his size, she felt... desire. "I promise I haven't committed any crimes. Otherwise, Mr. Phelps wouldn't have let me in the front. I had to go through a background check like everyone else."

Well, that made her feel marginally better. It also made her feel a bit foolish. "Right. Sorry." She indicated that they should start walking.

"Don't be. You should be protective of your school. It's a good position to play." He walked with her down the hallway, obviously keeping his stride short so she wouldn't end up running after him.

She appreciated the consideration. "What position do you play again?"

"Quarterback."

Her cla.s.sroom was near the office, so it took them no time at all to walk the distance between the two rooms.

"That's the guy who throws the ball after saying hut, right?" she asked, opening the door to the main office. Ugh. That sounded so wrong and trivial, but she didn't know all that much about sports. Hopefully, she hadn't insulted him. "I'm sure there's more to it than that, but-"

"You summed it up pretty good." He grabbed the door near the top with his free hand. "Ladies first."

A man holding the door open for a lady was commonplace in Jessamine, but a famous quarterback holding open her door-not so much. Plus, he hadn't taken her description wrong and he hadn't made her feel bad about it either.

"Thank you." The heat of him touched her as she scooted past. Acutely aware of all the eyes of parents waiting to check out their kids, Harper smiled brightly and made her way to Reggie's office.

"It must be hard having everyone stare at you," she said, closing the door behind him.

"Price of willingly being in the public eye," he said.

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ears. His eyes followed the movement before returning to her face and lingering on her mouth.

"We have to be here at 7:45, but the school day starts at eight, sharp," she said, nervously licking her top lip. "School's over at 2:45. You don't have to stay later than that since you're a volunteer."

"Not a problem."

"What kind of experience do you have?" she asked, earning a raised eyebrow from him. "With kids, I mean."