Play Me

Hunter led the horse into the barn. Before bringing her in, he’d changed out her leather bridle for a soft bridle and hooked her up to a lead rope. I petted her neck. “Hey, beautiful girl.”

The horse I’d had from childhood had passed away two years earlier. My parents had given him to me for my fifth birthday. I’d loved Pete, and had named him after the character in Pete’s Dragon.

The mare whinnied as I unbuckled the girth and removed the saddle. In business clothes it proved to be difficult, but I managed. With the right mindset, anything was possible. “Where do you put your tack?”

He tipped his head to the left. “In the tack room right over there.”

I followed the direction Hunter had indicated. On my way there, I sensed him watching me. My plan was to let him ask me about the job first. I grabbed a brush and proceeded with the mare’s mane. “Hey, sweet girl. I’m just going to comb out the tangles.”

For a few minutes, we worked in silence.

I was on the tail when Hunter asked, “You going to tell me about this job I’m going to turn down?”

His arrogance was beginning to irritate me. But from experience with men just like him, I figured he was probably trying to rile me. Well, I play with the big boys. I can be unfazed.

I set the brush down. “Well, you were correct. And I know when I first tell you, your reaction is going to be no.”

“Go on.”

“It’s head coach of a minor league football team in Bowling Green, Kentucky. We’re the Mustangs.”

He laughed out loud, and I knew what was coming next. “A minor league football team? Are you joking with me? You realize I was an NFL coach, right? That would be a demotion. And considering I turned down the Packers last week, I don’t think there’s a chance in hell I’ll entertain a minor league team.”

“Yes, I realize that. Hear me out. The program is being revamped. The goal is to get it as respectable as the minor league baseball teams. I can guarantee you it would be more challenging. And you would be a pioneer in this venture.”

He shook his head. “Whoever put you up to this is wasting their time. I’ll give them credit sending out a pretty little lady who knows her way around a horse. But my answer is no to whoever sent you.”

Anger surged through me, and I turned back to the horse and finished without another word. Hunter finished the stall, and I led the horse in and closed the door.

Whipping around, I narrowed my eyes at him. “Mr. Owens, no one sent me. I am the general manager. It’s part of Wales Enterprises.”

“Damien Wales owns a minor league team? You’ve got to be fucking with me. That man has a damn good head on him; I can’t believe he’d waste his time on that nonsense.” He paused and gave me a hard stare. “What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t. But it’s Kendall.”

“Kendall what?” he asked with a raised brow.

“Kendall Wales.”

He groaned. “Oh, well that makes sense.”

The sarcasm in his voice spoke volumes. Well, Hunter Owens could take his chaps and his sexy tattoos and just… just… well, I wasn’t sure exactly what, but he could do something with all that manly stuff he had going on for him.

I took a step forward. “And before you think Daddy handed me something I haven’t earned, think again.”

That sexy grin reappeared on his face, only now I wanted to slap it off. “I didn’t say anything, sweetheart. That was you. But just out of curiosity, why do you want me?”

I wasn’t sure why I was even trying, but maybe I could break through to him. “I’ve seen your coaching videos. You have a passion that’s inspiring. You care about your team. You clearly want them to succeed. It’s not a job, it’s something that runs through you. It’s incredible.” I wanted to slap my hands over my mouth to make myself stop talking. Why did I just say those things? Oh well, they were out there now. I might as well keep going. “It’s obvious that you care about your players. And from the interviews I saw after you left, they cared about you, too. That kind of passion and heart is what I need to turn this team around.”

Some unidentifiable emotion flitted across Hunter’s face before he shut it down. His onyx eyes grew darker. They were beautiful like a stormy sea. “There’s a reason I don’t coach anymore. The answer’s no. I think it’s time for you to go.”

“Hunter… just hear me out.”

A vein popped in his neck and his eyes narrowed. Hunter was pissed. “Go get back in your car and leave. You can find someone else to play with Daddy’s team.”

Unbelievable. He was saying anything to get me to leave. I had to give this one last shot, so I took another step back. “I’m aware of the accident. It was terrible. But I’ve seen the reports, and it was an accident.” He grew stiff, and I pointed to the file folder. Before he could say anything, I continued. “The offer is in there. Burn it, trash it, or maybe live by your words… get back on the horse. Sounds to me like you’ve let this one buck you off and you’re afraid to get back on. If you don’t show up Monday morning, I’ll have your answer.”

“You have my answer now.”

What was I thinking?

I took a step out of the barn and turned his way. “Maybe I was wrong about you. I don’t need a coward coaching. I need someone who’s willing to take a risk and shake up this entire industry.”

Fuming, I left the barn and headed to my car.

Damn it. Now, I was stuck in Bumfuck Nowhere without a coach.

3

Kendall

Monday morning, there was no Hunter. No response. Nothing.

I was currently without two players and a coach. My middle linebacker had quit. Well, he’d threatened to quit if I refused to rehire Coach Bailey. So I’d called security and had him removed. Of course, he’d been bluffing and was currently asking for his job back. Unfortunately, it wasn’t available. At least to him.

Team members were dropping like flies.

And each time I thought about Hunter Owens, I wanted to scream. To make matters worse, he’d starred in my dreams more times than I would ever admit to anyone. The moment he’d jumped over the fence played on repeat in my head. In my dreams, he jumped over the fence, walked up to me, grabbed my face, and kissed me senseless.

I cradled my face and groaned. My head was a mess. And I blamed a certain asshole ex-NFL coach for that. Focus, Kendall. Handle your business.

Before coming out to Kentucky, I’d cut ties with the man I’d been seeing casually for the last few years. We were both career-driven but needed to let off steam from time to time. I had never once dreamed about Weston. We would text, meet up, and then go our separate ways. The sex had been good, and we’d been exclusive, but there hadn’t been any feelings. He’d had an empire to build, and I’d had to build my experience to run an empire.

It had worked.

It wasn’t personal.

And now I had nothing except sexual frustrations because of that stupid fence-jump move. And the chaps. And the tattoos. And the stormy eyes.

GAH!

I closed my eyes and thought of anything except the tattoos. To make matters worse, he hadn’t sent my heels back. When I’d gotten to the stadium, I’d realized I was still wearing his muck boots and had left my heels on his porch step. I’d overnighted the muck boots with a return label for my Louboutin shoes and a note that had been to the point—nice, even.

I checked the tracking again this morning, but they hadn’t been sent. Asshole. If he wanted to keep the shoes, he could have them. Maybe he had a high-heeled shoe fetish. I chuckled at the thought.

A knock on my door pulled me from my inappropriate thoughts.

“Come in.”

Joseph, the new controller, came into my office. “Ms. Wales, I wanted to drop off these reports. I’ve identified approximately a million dollars that’s been misappropriated over the last six months. I have proposed a budget for the next two quarters and upcoming fiscal year. If it’s approved, we should be in the black within six months. Things will be tight, but even with the new salaries, we should be good.”

A million dollars.

“Perfect. Thank you, Joseph. I’ll review and get back to you with any questions.”

“Sounds good. I have interviews this afternoon to replace the vacant accounting positions. I’ve audited the expenses of those you’ve kept on, and I agree with your assessment. I found no evidence of inappropriate spending with these associates.”

“Was everything reported correctly to the IRS?”

“Everything was categorized correctly for taxes, yes, just manipulated for the reports sent to the managers. I’ve sent my report to the corporate office of Wales Enterprises to verify my findings. I’ll keep you posted.”

That was good news, but the cover-up in reporting bothered me. If the expenses had been valid, why would they have needed to hide it? That would go on my to-do list to continue digging. “Thank you, Joseph. Let me know if you discover anything else.”