39. One Last Scare

THIRTY-NINE

ONE LAST SCARE

Garrett

Coming home to Dessa in my bed and waking up with her next to me is my new favorite thing in the world. I don't know how I survived the last ten years without her. Looking back, I was living, but wasn't truly experiencing life. Not until Dessa entered my world again. She's my home. I press a kiss to her bare shoulder.

She stirs awake and rolls to face me. "Good morning."

"It certainly is." I lift my chin and stretch to press my lips to hers.

A low moan sounds from her throat as she snuggles closer to me.

"Can this become a permanent thing? Waking up next to you in my bed? If I can have one thing, it would be this."

"It is pretty amazing." Her fingertips brush across my temple, swiping a strand of hair away. "But I do have a confession." Her hand falls and rests on my chest. Her gaze follows suit. "I snooped in your nightstand."

My heart lodges in my throat, and I freeze while trying to keep my expression neutral.

"I didn't dig around or anything. My finger just accidentally pulled the drawer open." She giggles.

I roll over and take her with me, so her back is against the mattress. Her dark hair fans over the pillow as my palms rest on either side of her, caging her in. "Oh, is that so? Accidentally pulled it open. You know what happens to bad girls who like to snoop around?"

She shakes her head, a sultry smile on her lips. "But I bet you're going to show me."

I nudge her leg open with my knee. "Someone has to teach you a lesson." I lower myself until I'm inches away from her mouth. Before my lips touch hers, I move to the right and graze her cheek until I'm placing open mouth kisses on her neck. Slowly, I move down her body, kissing every inch of her until I reach the apex of her thighs.

Several hours and even more orgasms later, we're still lying in bed enjoying each other's company. A deep growl rumbles through her belly. "I guess I can't continue feeding you only orgasms. I'll order us some real food."

"Can I have both?" She giggles.

"Always greedy." I press my lips to hers.

After the food is delivered, she meets me in the kitchen. She sits at the island looking smokin' hot in nothing but my jersey, and I'm standing on the opposite side. I stab my fork into my chicken teriyaki, scooping up some brown rice along with it.

"Have I told you Dawson is a good look on you? "

She smiles around a mouth full of tofu teriyaki and peers over her shoulder, even though she can't see the words. "It's growing on me."

"We can always make that a permanent change." I test the waters to gauge her reaction. If I had it my way, I would have put a ring on her finger months ago. I don't need all that get-to-know-each-other crap. I've known her for over half my life. She's the only person I see a future with. The sun rises and sets with her. All the stars were individually placed in the sky just for her. Before she seemed a little apprehensive, but now, not a single flinch.

"Dessa Dawson does have a nice ring to it." She smiles as she scoops up another bite.

"It sure does." I shove another fork full of chicken in my mouth to stop myself from grabbing the ring from my nightstand and asking her to be my wife right now.

"I never would have imagined Seattle as a place to eat good teriyaki, but this is delicious." Dessa moans around a fork full of tofu.

"Not only is it good, but it's also the best. Philadelphia has cheese steaks. New York and Chicago have pizza. And Seattle has teriyaki."

We continue eating and making small talk. Dessa tells me about some new drinks she's been working on while I tell her about the season so far. After we finish our lunch, I clean up our dishes. "There's somewhere I want to take you tonight."

"Where are we going?"

"If I tell you, I'll have to kill you… with orgasms."

She dramatically presses the back of her hand to her forehead. "Oh no! That sounds terrible." Her voice is high-pitched. "I'd be willing to take the chance for that punishment. "

I bark out a laugh. "I bet you would." I lean in so my lips are next to her ear. "But you won't get it that easy."

She throws her head back in laughter.

My phone buzzes from the living room. Dessa turns her head. "Are you going to get that?"

"Nah. The only person I want to talk to is sitting next to me." I shove another fork full of rice into my mouth. The buzzing stops, but soon starts up again.

Dessa rises from her stool and strolls into the living room, picking up my phone from the couch. "It says Skip. Isn't that your manager?"

I swallow down my last bite of food. In a few short steps I'm meeting her next to the couch. Why the hell is Skip calling me on an off day? She passes me my phone and I pull up his number. It rings a couple times before he answers. "Hey. What's up?"

"Sorry to bother you, but there's something important I need to go over with you. Can you come to my office at the stadium?" Skip's tone is flat.

I can't decipher if I've fucked up or if there's another problem. Either way, it's a little unnerving. "This can't be said over the phone? I have company at the moment."

"It's best this is done in person. I promise it won't take long."

Something with his tone is off. Skip is either yelling at you because you fucked up or because he's proud of you. There's never an in between. Whatever this is, it must be serious. "Okay." I spin on my heel and walk toward my bedroom. "I can be there in twenty minutes." I end the call and toss my phone on the bed.

Dessa leans on the door frame. "Is everything alright?"

"I don't know." I yank a t-shirt from a hanger in the closet and pull it over my head. "I have to go the stadium for a brief meeting with Skip. "

She strolls into the room and takes a seat on the edge of the bed. "For what?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but he wouldn't call if it wasn't serious." I grab a pair of jeans from the shelf and pull them on. "I'll be back in an hour or so. Will you be alright?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about me."

Bending down, I place a kiss on her lips. In the foyer, I pluck my hoodie from the bench, slide my feet into my shoes, and I'm out the door.

When I reach Skip's office, I knock on the door frame before poking my head through the doorway. "You wanted to see me?"

He lifts his head. "Garrett. Come in. Close the door behind you."

My palms sweat as I shut the door with a click. He motions for me to take a seat in the leather armchair in front of his desk. Once I'm seated, he clasps his hands in front of him. His hard steely gaze meets mine. "I'm going to cut to the chase. You know it's against club policy for any players or staff members to be associated with any gambling involving the sport?"

I'm clueless as to why he's asking me this. My heart is one beat away from busting through my chest. "Yes."

"There are rumors along with an anonymous tip that crossed my desk involving a G. Dawson placing bets against the Seattle Warblers. With the possibility of you throwing last year's game."

"That's bullshit!" What the fuck? Bets? "I didn't place any bets! And I certainly didn't purposely sabotage the game." I shove the chair away and rise to my feet. "It wasn't me! You're just going to believe some fucking rumors? "

"Garrett." His voice is stern. He nods at the chair. "Take a seat."

"Then tell me what's happening." I hook my foot around the chair leg, pulling it closer before I sit.

"The club investigated these rumors because players can't place bets on baseball."

"I know." I can't keep the bite out of my tone. My irritation grows stronger every second he doesn't tell me what this is about.

His hard gaze meets mine. "After the investigation, the name was traced back to a Georgia Dawson. Is that name familiar to you?"

My blood boils. Fucking Tony. This has his name plastered all over it. I pinch my lips together. "Yeah. That's my brother's wife—or ex-wife."

"It seems like he has some animosity toward you. At this time, he hasn't done anything illegal against the club, so there isn't anything for us to do, but if you need anything, let me know."

I nod before dropping my head in my hands. I'm done with Tony and his shit. This needs to stop. I rake my fingers through my hair, then meet his gaze. "Thanks, Skip."

On the drive back to my condo, I white-knuckle the steering wheel wishing it was Tony's neck instead. He's gone too far this time. Trying to jeopardize my career and involving innocent people while he does it. He has zero regard for anyone but himself.

I shift my SUV into park in the underground parking garage at my condo. Before stepping out, I unlock my phone and pull up Tony's number. I don't know if he got my previous message because he never responded, but I hope he gets this one. And that it's loud and fucking clear. My jaw clenches as the phone rings several times. His voicemail picks up. I steady my breathing before it beeps. "I don't know what the fuck your agenda is, but it's not going to fucking work. Leave me alone. For good. I'm done putting up with your shit. As for Dessa, you better not touch her. Better yet, don't even go near her," I seethe. "It won't end like you want it to. It's time to move on." I end the call. I'm not sure if he'll stop, but I hope so.

When I push open the door to my condo, Dessa, who's now fully dressed with her hair pulled into a ponytail, races to meet me in the foyer.

"What happened?" Concern laces her voice.

"Tony. Tony happened."

"What do you mean?"

I intertwine our fingers and lead her into the living room, taking a seat on the couch. She sits cross-legged next to me as I fill her in on the whole story. For the rest of the afternoon we shove anything to do with Tony behind us. Dessa assures me we're strong together, and he can never break what we have. Never again.

Later in the evening, we exit my condo and head to the parking garage. Buildings zoom past us as we make our way across the city. Her face is glued to the window taking in all the sights, especially when the Puget Sound comes into view. I pull into an alleyway that opens to a small parking lot behind a large steel building.

She turns to me. "What is this place? Some sort of indoor batting practice to embarrass me?"

I laugh. "No, but we can do that next time. This is something more for your benefit than mine." Her legs press together as she squirms in her seat. "Are you okay over there? You're doing a lot of wiggling."

"When you said it would be more for my benefit, I imagined you taking me to a sex club and offering me multiple orgasms over and over again. "

The corners of my lips tip up into a smile. "I can offer you the orgasms, but I don't need a sex club to do it." A pink blush covers her cheeks. "All the orgasms will have to wait because we're here."

I park the SUV and push my door open. I round the hood and meet her at hers. With her hand in mine, I help her out, and we stroll to the entrance. As we reach the awning-covered doorway, a small sign with Northwest Distillery on it catches her attention.

Dessa halts in her tracks. "Wait. I've heard of this place. They were voted the number one vodka distillery in the United States."

"And I got you a meeting with the owner."

Her eyes bulge with terror, and her face pales as she slowly turns her gaze to meet mine. Then she peers down at her outfit. "We're meeting Rebecca Langley, and I look like I just rolled out of bed."

I lift her hand up and place a kiss on her knuckles. "First off, you look absolutely beautiful and second, she's not here to judge you on your outfit." Her hand trembles in mine as her eyes flit back and forth as if she's on the verge of a panic attack. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to, but I thought it would be a great opportunity for you."

She blows out a deep breath and nods. "I really wish you would've given me a heads-up so I could prepare."

"So you could over analyze every detail, including your outfit?" I raise an eyebrow.

Her shoulders sag. "No. So then I would know what questions to ask instead of gawking at her like an obsessed fan."

"Be yourself. She'll love you. Just as much as I do."

A small smile spreads over her lips. Dessa is the most amazing, fearless woman I know. There isn't anything she can't do when she puts her mind to it. Including this. She shines the brightest when she's herself. I want her to move out here with me, and since she doesn't want to lose a part of herself, I'm hoping this meeting will help make that decision a little easier.