Page 45 of Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort)
“Wow.”
“And my father’s favorite song was ‘Eye of the Tiger,’” he admitted, letting the words tumble out of his mouth quickly, as if he hoped they would evaporate as soon as they were spoken.
“It was not!” Leona hit him playfully on the leg.
“It was. He taught himself English watching Rocky before moving to London,” he replied, laughing.
Leona loved the sound of his laugh. Every time he let it loose, she got butterflies in her tummy. The smile on his face was highlighted by the laugh, making it that much more dangerous.
“I think it’s wonderful that it has a dual meaning for you. Especially since part of it is honoring your dad.” She drew her fingertips up and down his thigh lightly.
“If you’re a good girl today, maybe I’ll let you play with him tonight,” he said, his voice turning husky again.
“The tiger?”
“Him, or my python,” he winked.
Leona’s cheeks flushed with excitement. If this is how he was starting out, maybe she really wouldn’t be able to keep her hands to herself.
All talk of tigers, pythons, and being on one’s “best” behavior promptly ceased as soon as they reached the park. They had been expecting to find Josef there already, since Anna had told Leona that she had an early shift and would just drop him off on her way to work, however today he wasn’t alone. There were a handful of others already there with him, all of them standing in a circle stretching.
Josef was smaller than all of the teenagers who were circled up with him, although if Leona had to guess most were not much older than he was. Regardless of his small stature, he fit in with the group perfectly, laughing and joking around as they stretched. Holding back a moment to let Cullen walk in front of her, she took in the whole scene.
The kids all lit up when they saw Cullen approaching. Some yelled out “Hi Coach!” while others simply waved. He greeted each one by name, giving them a high five before asking collectively if they were ready for their last day. They all excitedly answered at once and Leona just laughed, shaking her head.
As more and more kids arrived, each one still greeted by name and given a high five, it was easy for Leona to see why they adored him so much. He very obviously cared about them and their time at this camp. If she hadn’t known better, she never would have guessed he was anything but a youth football coach, much less a celebrity athlete.
Once it seemed that everyone had arrived for the day, Cullen called her over with a wave of his hand. The smile on his face lit up her sides again, making those damn butterflies from this morning reappear. Slowly making her way over to the crowd, careful to keep what she felt was a safe distance from Josef, trying not to embarrass him, she joined the group. Cullen grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him.
“All, this is Miss Leona. She’s going to be helping me out for the day. I expect you to show her the same respect you show me. Understood?”
The group nodded, but Leona couldn’t help but notice some of the looks exchanged between kids. A few of them whispered to each other, no doubt wondering who exactly she was and where she came from. Suddenly a hand shot up. It belonged to an older girl, probably somewhere around fifteen or so. Leona could tell by the look in her eyes that she idolized Cullen for more than just his soccer skills.
“Yes, Cammie?” he asked.
“Coach, is she, like, your girlfriend?”
The question caught Cullen off guard, causing him to freeze in the spot he was standing in. He wasn’t prepared to answer that. Not just because it was asked by a camper, but because he didn’t know what she was to him, or what he was to her. Only adding to the pressure was the fact that she was standing right next to him and he didn’t want to risk upsetting her by answering incorrectly.
“I’m a girl, who is a friend. Does that count?” she asked, thankfully picking up the slack since he seemed to lose the ability to form words.
The girl shrugged, seemingly accepting of the non-answer that Leona had provided.
“Any more questions? Or are we ready to play football?”
The group cheered loudly, the potentially awkward moment having passed relatively quickly. Or maybe none of them thought of it as awkward, and it was just him who was stuck in his own head wondering what to say.
As he had last week, he split the kids up into two teams, trying to divide them so each team was an even talent match. Once again, he had a hard time knowing where to put Josef, but in the end figured it didn’t matter since he’d end up running circles around everyone anyway. He figured that at least if he put him on the team that had a couple extra of the younger kids that maybe that would give them a little bit more of a chance.
“So, where do you want me?” Leona asked him as the kids spread out on the field.
A smile spread across Cullen’s face. The question itself was innocent enough, and given that they were standing in a public park surrounded by children, it was a bit of a stretch to twist it into something dirty, but he couldn’t help himself. All he could picture as the words left her perfectly pink lips was her standing there naked, uttering that exact phrase before he had his way with her.
As if she could see the slideshow of images projecting through his thoughts, Leona shook her head, rolling her eyes and laughing. She walked the couple of steps over to him, so they were close enough to be able to hold a private conversation without the prying ears of his participants.
“Mind out of the gutter…Coach…” she said, emphasizing the last word. He knew she meant it to remind him to behave, but the only thing it accomplished was sending all the blood in his body straight to his dick.
“Why does that sound so fucking sexy coming out of your mouth?” he said in a low growl, his teeth gritted together.
