Once I was out of the stadium though and in my car, I called my assistant. I had my phone connected to the car’s speaker so I was hands-free.
“Congratulations,” he said. “It’s great to start a season with a win.”
“It is. Listen, I have a problem.”
“What’s that?”
“I fucked a cheerleader,” I said. What kind of a coincidence was that anyway? Insane. Though she was a dancer. Maybe not as insane as you would think.
“Excuse me?” Carson sounded bewildered.
“Remember when we went out on Valentine’s Day?”
“Yes, and you left with someone ten minutes after we got there.”
“I just saw her today. On the sideline. She’s a cheerleader.” I pulled out of the parking lot. “I fucked a cheerleader.”
“Can you please stop saying that? It’s freaking me out.”
“It’s freaking me out. I can’t let anyone catch wind of this. I need you to research her and figure out some reason to call her into my office so I can talk to her. I need to make sure she’s not going to trash me publicly.”
“Did you ghost her?”
“No! She ghosted me.”
“Then why would she trash you?”
“I have no idea. I just need to make sure everything is cool between us. This would look bad, right? I mean, the coach shouldn’t be having sex with a cheerleader.” And damn, that sex. That repeated, dirty, hotter-than-hell sex.
“Please tell me she’s not like nineteen or twenty. That would raise a few eyebrows.”
Carson was my liaison to the media. He knew protocol and was there to guide and give me advice.
“No, I would say she’s more like twenty-seven or twenty-eight. I didn’t ask, but she mentioned that she moved to New York ten years ago, plus she said something about having to compete with eighteen-year-olds auditioning for the same jobs she does.” I didn’t think for one minute we would have had anything to talk about if she had only been nineteen. Then again, we hadn’t done much talking. “Oh, and she dated Dante Marksman about a year ago. She left him at the altar.” In a manner of speaking. “I was the guy who helped her get out of there when she ran.”
“Oh, dear God,” Carson said.
“To be fair, I didn’t know who she was at the time. I had no idea she was Marksman’s girlfriend.”
“You mean when you had sex with her? That’s a whole new layer.”
“No, they broke up the night of the wedding. We didn’t do anything that night other than go ice-skating.” We had kissed, but that was none of Carson’s business. “I ran into her on Valentine’s Day like I said and, well, I went home with her.”
I got on the highway, heading toward Manhattan. I knew people thought I was insane living in Manhattan when the team played in New Jersey, but I had wanted the whole New York City experience. Living in New Jersey wouldn’t have been much different than living in suburban Washington. But Willow’s social issues had me questioning my decision.
“Okay. Got it. I’m on it. What’s her name?”
“Dakota.”
“Last name?”
“I have no idea. She’s tall and blonde. She’s probably six foot. She has really, really long legs.” That had wrapped around me while I had been inside her. I cleared my throat.
“If there’s more than one Dakota I’ll make sure to focus on the one with really, really long legs.”
I couldn’t even get mad at his tone. I was being ridiculous. “Sarcasm looks good on you, buddy. Keep it up.”
“I’m sorry. I just couldn't help myself. You sound kind of into this woman.”
“Oh, I was into her alright,” I said. “Eight inches into her.”
Carson laughed. “I didn’t need that visual, thanks. Is there anything else you need?”
Film of her performing so I could replay her leg kick over and over again. The very thought of it made my mouth water. “No, I’m good.”
“I got that information you wanted.” Carson gave me a look and side-eyed my secretary, Pam.
That wasn’t obvious or anything. We were in my office on Wednesday going over my schedule. “Great, thanks. Pam, that’s all I need right now. Can you order me my lunch?”
“Of course, Mr. Macnamara.” She stood up, holding her phone. She gave Carson a look of disapproval.
For whatever reason they didn’t like each other. Pam had a mom-ish quality to her. She was around fifty-five and seemed to resent that Carson thought he was her boss. It was something I needed to sort out. Later. First I had to deal with the fact that Dakota was a very hot, very tempting cheerleader.
When Pam left, I sat back in my chair. “What did you find out about her?”
“Her last name is Tanner, in case you were wondering.”
I rolled my eyes at Carson. “Got it, thanks.” Maybe it wasn’t such a shocker that Pam didn’t like him. He could be a dick.
“She’s twenty-eight years old, originally from Cleveland.”
“Ha, I knew that!” I said, feeling triumphant about the fact. “She told me she was from Cleveland.” I swiveled my chair, taking in the view of the playing field from my office window. It was a killer view, one that I didn’t want to lose. I swiveled back.
“One point for you.” Carson adjusted his tie and read his notes off of his phone. “She has quite a few dance credits, four music videos, one candy bar commercial with a flash mob scene, she auditioned for a dance reality show but got cut at the last minute. She quit the cheerleading team last season but then jumped back on this year when one girl got injured and the alternate was arrested for DWI. She lives in Harlem at fifteen—”
I interrupted him. “I know where she lives.”
Carson lifted his hand and drew me another point with his finger on an imaginary chalkboard. “Two points.”
“You’re a bitch,” I told him.
He looked unconcerned with my opinion. Carson was probably all of twenty-six, and wound tight. He also dressed like he was due to have brunch in the Hamptons at any given second. Or at least what I pictured you’d wear to brunch in the Hamptons. I had never been, personally. Today he was wearing a slim fitting lilac-colored suit, pant legs landing north of his ankles. He had on sneakers with no socks.
“She’s working with the cheer coach and our social media team here to have the cheerleaders visit a children’s hospital. It looks like she has been involved in organizing several events during her time on the team. She also volunteers with several children’s charities on her own time.” He looked at me. “She loves kids, apparently. And hey, don’t you happen to have two kids?”
Wow, he was just fucking hilarious today. I put up with him because he was great at his job, was a steel trap, and normally I found him amusing. Today, he was grinding on my nerves. “You’re really starting to annoy me.” I was also annoying myself because I was starting to think I could really like Dakota. Except she hadn’t called me, so obviously the feeling wasn’t mutual. “The charity thing gives me a reason to talk to her. Have her brought in for a meeting on Thursday afternoon.”