Hard & Deep: A Football Romance

“Yes, of course,” Elsie replied, putting the hood of her coat on and stepping into the snow. She stopped after just a few steps and turned around. “Ollie?”

“Yeah?” he said, squinting against the blizzard outside.

“Thanks for hanging out tonight,” she said. “Seriously. It made my evening.”

“You made mine too,” he agreed with a smile. “My knee feels better and you didn't even have to do anything but eat pizza with me.”

She smiled and paused, looking Oliver in the eyes. The attraction was still there and as potent as ever. Oliver could feel it and he knew she could too. Both of them knew it wasn't a good idea to pursue it, though. Nothing more needed to be said.

“Goodnight,” she said, then turned and walked toward her car.

“Goodnight.” Ollie closed the door and hobbled back to the couch.

His emotions were in turmoil. The most amazing woman he knew was slowly stealing his heart. It was absolutely the last thing he'd expected when he moved to Iowa for his recovery. He wasn't sure how to handle it.

I want that girl, he thought. I really, really want her. But I don't want to hurt her. God, she's something special, though. I've never met anyone like her. Nobody has ever made me feel the way she does. What am I supposed to do?

Chapter 11

Elsie

Elsie had managed to get home through the blizzard, but it was scary. Her car slipped around every corner and she'd almost gotten stuck a half a dozen times. She parked and went upstairs to her apartment to slip into her pajamas and snuggle into bed. As she crawled underneath the covers, she couldn't stop thinking about how she'd almost kissed Oliver. She'd almost crossed a line that she knew she shouldn't and the idea of that scared her.

What if that had happened? She thought. I could get in so much trouble.

Still, though, she couldn't deny the fact that tasting those lips of his did sound nice. She wondered what kind of kisser he was, whether he was slow and sensual, or firm and aggressive.

No, Elsie, no, she told herself. Stop thinking about that right now.

She shook her head, trying to rid the naughty thoughts that were infiltrating it without her permission.

“I need to just go to sleep,” she whispered. “But maybe I should text him and tell him thank you for getting together.”

Elsie reached for her phone, then quickly changed her mind.

That's exactly the opposite of what I should do, she thought, setting the cell back onto her night stand. She was falling for him, hard and deep.

She pressed her head back into the pillow and stared at the ceiling. Outside, the wind continued to howl and she pulled her blanket tightly around her to help fight the cold drafts that haunted the old building. Then she closed her eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep.

But Elsie's slumber didn't last long. The sound of a rumbling engine on the street out front woke her up. When she opened her eyes, she glanced at the clock to find that she'd only been asleep for about an hour. The sound of the motor faded off, and immediately after, she heard a knocking coming from the front door of the clinic downstairs.

“Who the hell?” she whispered, throwing the blankets off and getting out of bed.

It was past midnight and nobody in that town would have been awake at that time and certainly not roaming the streets in the middle of a snow storm. Her adrenaline spiked as the knocking got louder and more frantic.

Elsie wiped the sleep from her eyes and slipped on her fuzzy blue robe. With no idea who could be at the door, she decided to play it safe and grab her baseball bat from the coat closet. Then she walked down the interior stairs that went straight to her office below.

Whoever is there better not be trying to rob the place, she thought, turning the corner with her bat in hand. I'm in good shape and I'm not afraid to use this bat.

But when she turned the corner and looked out the front glass windows of the clinic, she didn't see a stranger or a burglar. She saw Oliver, standing on the sidewalk and shivering, as snow blustered around him. He was wrapped in an orange parka with the hood pulled up over his head.

“Let me in, Elsie,” he said, knocking a few more times. “It's freezing out here.”

“Hold on a second, Oliver,” she called out, as she dug through the drawers of the front desk to find the key to the front door.

The lights were off, which made things difficult, but she finally found the key. She quickly went and unlocked the door. When she pulled it open, an icy wind followed Oliver inside.

“Ollie, what are you doing here?” she asked. “Is everything okay?”