Page 41 of Playing Mr. Perfect

My cheeks heat. “I need to message my team. I can’t believe I’m staying in Paris. I can’t believe I’m staying in Paris with an athlete, of all people.” An athlete who just had his face and hands all up in my naughty business.

“I’m just a regular guy, remember?”

“Right. Regular guys don’t hire private planes. I don’t even know who I am anymore.”

“It’s a good thing I do.” He kisses me and takes me down to the mattress beneath him. “Pepper Montgomery, meet Reckless, my sexy European fling.”

Chapter Eleven

Clay

“Those were the best crepes I’ve ever had,” Pepper says as we walk out of the quaint café after breakfast Monday morning. “How did you find that place?” The blond streaks in her hair appear even lighter against her navy peacoat as she puts on the scarf I gave her.

A taunting reminder of our incredible night together.

“A gentleman never reveals his sources.”

I feel like I’m on a first date and want to impress her. That’s a new feeling for me, and it poses a challenge. Other than on the football field, I haven’t tried to impress anyone in so long, I’m not sure I remember how. Especially when I know she doesn’t give a damn that I’m one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL or that I’ve got more money than I could ever spend. But I know how big a decision it was for her to take off work, and I’m determined to give her the best day of her life. I made good use of my time this morning, doing research and making calls while she dealt with emails, and I’ve got a few more things besides the five-star café planned for us that I think she’ll enjoy.

“Okay, Mr. Mysterious.” She looks up and down the busy sidewalk. “Which way should we go?”

I nod to our right, and as we head in that direction, my phone chimes with a text. I pull it out and open the text from my grandfather. It’s a picture of a gorgeous sunrise, with the message Can’t get that on a football field.

“Someone just made you happy,” Pepper says with a curious lilt in her voice.

“It’s from my grandfather.” I show her the picture.

“That’s beautiful. Almost as pretty as ours was.”

“Almost.” After we made love in the wee hours of the morning, I convinced her to watch the sunrise with me on the balcony. I don’t know where the urge came from, but it was the most spectacular sunrise I’d ever seen.

“Where is he?”

“In Alaska on an archaeological expedition. He discovered an impression of dinosaur skin and several fossilized footprints last year. The expedition is ongoing.”

“I think I heard something about that on the news.”

“I’m sure you did. He’s a renowned archaeologist and paleontologist, and he’s made some big discoveries over the years. He’s supposed to be retired, but he’s always planning his next adventure. It drives my grandmother crazy.”

“He sounds fun, unless she doesn’t like it.”

“She adores him. Back in the day, she was his assistant. That’s how they got together. Anyway, that picture I just showed you? That’s kind of our thing. He’s been sending me pictures of sunrises forever. He likes to remind me there’s a big beautiful world out there beyond football, with hopes that one day I’ll slow down enough to enjoy it.”

“You should send him a picture of the sunset from the Eiffel Tower and the one you took of the sunrise this morning to show him that you’re not missing out.”

“I sent him the sunset picture,” I say as we cross a street. “And I sent him a picture of you sleeping and said you were more beautiful than any sunrise.”

“Clay. Tell me you did not send him that.”

I laugh. “I didn’t, but it would’ve been funny.”

She swats my arm. “I still can’t believe I stayed.”

That’s about the fifth time she’s said it this morning. I can’t believe she stayed, either, but I’m damn happy she did. Even after our intimate night, I wasn’t sure what this morning would hold. But I got to wake up with this incredible woman in my arms, and I get to spend an entire day with her. I can’t remember the last time I was this excited to spend time with a woman. Wait. Yes, I can. It was yesterday.

“In your defense, I am hard to resist,” I tease.

She gives me a coy glance. “You do make it impossible to say no.”