Page 67 of Ruff and Tumble

He let his voice trail off, uncertain whether or not this was the right time to reveal his deepest, darkest secret.Sometimes, I pretend that life can always be like that. Sometimes, I imagine a world where story time with Mia is enough.

“Sometimes…?” she prodded.

He bit back a sigh. Although he liked to think that Hailey saw him as more than Cole Bennett, quarterback extraordinaire, they probably weren’t there yet. In this oasis of her bedroom, where there was nothing related to football on the walls and they were just two naked and sated people sharing a bed, it was easy to ignore the rest of the world. But as soon as he opened that door, he’d be surrounded by reality once again.

Lumberjacks. Regina. His parents. Football.

“Sometimes, I even whisk beautiful women away on vacation against their will,” he said, planting a kiss on her lips. “Consider yourself warned.”

Although Hailey accepted the kiss readily enough, her mouth as soft and willing as it always was, there was a wariness in her expression that indicated how little she believed him.

“I’ll send Reggie to pick you up on Sunday,” he promised. “She was planning on coming to the game with the team, but she thinks it’ll be better if she stays home. Between the two of you, you should be able to keep my dad calm. And, Hailey?”

The wariness in her expression traveled over the rest of her body, transforming her from warm, postcoital pliability to a woman leery of being asked for yet another favor.

So he didn’t ask one.

“Thank you.”

* * *

“Um, this isyourhouse.”

Regina pulled her car—a luxury hybrid as expensive and decadent as Cole’s—into the driveway of her Queen Anne home. “Yes, it is,” she agreed. She pointed over her left shoulder. “And that one belongs to my parents. Don’t say it… I know. A grown woman living next door to her mom and dad is pathetic on so many levels.”

Hailey paused in the act of exiting the car, but not for long. The soft-eyed beagle she held on her lap tumbled out and began tugging excitedly on the end of her leash. Unlike Philip, who cowered in fear at everything that moved, and Cleopatra, who was on a mission to cover as much ground as possible at all times, Nala had no personality quirks that made her ill-suited for life in an animal shelter.

She was, however, one more mouth to feed and one more kennel to clean. The man who ran the shelter where Nala had been housed was sad to see her go but also grateful. There were already twelve more dogs on the waiting list ready to take her spot.

“That’s so nice for Mia,” Hailey said as she tugged Nala toward the house in question. It was just as large and just as expensive as Regina’s, but there were fewer kids’ toys and more carefully tended rosebushes in the backyard. “And for you. It must be wonderful to be able to pop over and see them anytime.”

Regina glanced at her over the top of the vehicle, amusement pulling her bright-red lips into a pursed half smile. “‘Wonderful’ is one word for it.”

Wonderfulwas theonlyword for it, but Hailey knew better than to attempt an explanation. She’d tried with Cole the other day and had failed miserably. If there was an easy way to tell a gorgeous, naked man that she was in danger not just of falling in love with him but with his whole family, she hadn’t yet come across it.

The smart thing to do would have been to dig her heels in, refuse to watch the game with them, partition her life and her heart to keep them safe.

Yet here she was, her heart fully exposed.Again.

“Cole and I didn’t grow up here, if that makes a difference,” Regina added. “He bought our parents this house with his signing bonus. He bought my house when Mia was born. I’m terrified of what will happen if anything else goes up for sale on the block. It’ll be a full Bennett takeover.”

Hailey’s chest clenched at the image this conjured up. Not of all those millions of dollars invested in real estate but of a family so tied together in affection that their lives were completely entwined.

“I know… Talk about champagne problems,” Regina said. “I’m well aware of how it sounds, but I don’t know how else to explain our family. From the moment Cole was born, everything my parents have and are has been tied up in him. His practices and his games, his training and his career… We used to go on vacation every year to whatever football camp he got accepted into. One of them was a stone’s throw from Disneyland. I could practically see the castle from the field.”

“You didn’t get to go?”

“Oh, I went. One of the other moms took a bunch of the siblings one day.” Regina sighed. “Want to guess how many of them grew up to become managers, agents, coaches, and football support staff? Actually…no. Don’t. It’ll just depress you.”

Hailey cast a sharp sideways glance at Regina, but the other woman’s concentration was fixed on her house. “You don’t like being Cole’s manager?”

“Of course I like it. He’s my brother. I wouldn’t have anything if it weren’t for him. None of us would.”

Regina didn’t sound sad or upset; her voice carried more resignation than anything else.

“Come on in,” she added with a gesture toward her parents’ house. “It’ll just be the two of them this time, I promise. No extended family bombarding you with boring stories and nosy questions.”

Hailey knew that was supposed to reassure her, but there was something a lot more personal about her descent upon the Bennetts this time.