Chapter Seven

Kaiden sat on the rowing machine, sweat pouring off him. Pull, relax. Pull, relax. Trying to get Romilly out of his head. Trying to ignore that tomorrow might be the make-or-break moment of his career. Wondering what the hell he would do if he couldn’t play football. So many thoughts jumbling around in his head that he had to give himself a mental slap. It was time to focus instead of spiraling down a rabbit hole.

After another half hour, with his muscles straining, he stopped and headed upstairs to his suite. The hot water of the shower cascaded over his aching body. He breathed in the steam and leaned back on the tiles, finally allowing his chaotic thoughts about Romilly to tumble through his mind.

Why did he give her the option of tapping out?

If she decided dating him wasn’t worth it, how was he supposed to meet another woman?

Did he want another woman?

Not really. Their dates had produced an unexpected connection, and he found her easy to talk to. She was beautiful, kind, talented, and he knew his mother would love her. Romilly was the entire package and just the catalyst he needed to reinvent himself in the public eye.

Guilt sluiced through him over using her, but he forced it away. This was his life he was talking about and it wasn’t like he’d hurt her. Once he cemented his position on the team and the season started, he wouldn’t need her. He would break it off with her so they could go their own ways, with she none the wiser. He just had to remind himself that he couldn’t sleep with her. That would be taking this charade one step too far.

****

Although she didn’t want to be one of those people who stalked Kaiden on the Internet, he had given her permission. So, she did. The first video that came up was a police cam that caught Kaiden walking down the middle of a road, gripping a bottle of alcohol, and screaming profanities at the top of his lungs. The officer detained him and placed handcuffs on him. Once he was placed in the back of the police car, the video ended.

Definitely not flattering. The man who was arrested seemed to be the total opposite of the man she had gone on dates with. The story behind this had to be haunting enough to break him, because she had the gut feeling that behavior wasn’t normal for him. He needed to explain what triggered this moment, and she didn’t want to form the wrong opinion by opening a Pandora’s box brimming with gossip and lies.

There were other videos and she played them, eventually giving up because she didn’t like the rude speculations the videos implied. Then she did a Google search for herself, and immediately discovered the picture of her and Kaiden on their dates. One article revealed her name. One article tracked their movement through the farmers market. Another made it sound like Kaiden had moved to St. Louis because of her. Then there were sports pages that broke down Kaiden’s career and all his stats, implying that he was washed up and desperate to get on any team. Including an expansion team that seemed to be shaping up with misfits of the NFL. It was the worst article yet and she hated every word. No one knew the real Kaiden, and even though she really didn’t either, her instinct told her he wasn’t the has-been they were calling him.

Social media gave his personal bio, as well as his income and all the women he’d dated. She reluctantly went down that rabbit hole. Most of the photos were of him in his football uniform playing in games, but there were many of him on dates. Each picture caused doubt to settle into her brain. There were surprisingly a lot, from actresses to models to socialites and even a European princess. With so many beautiful women, what could he possibly see in her?

To clear her confusion, she packed up her art supplies and hopped on the bus heading to the botanical gardens. Once there, she settled on a bench and flipped open her sketchbook before pausing to absorb the moment. A cool breeze ruffled her hair, sunlight bathed her in a warm embrace, and absolute peace filled her soul. She loved days like this, where she could relax and give herself over to the need to draw and paint. Setting up her watercolors, she painted the flowers, the Japanese garden, the koi pond. These were just the preliminary ideas she’d take back to her easel and use oil paints to bring her visions to life.

Kaiden stayed on the peripheral of her mind. Pushed far enough away to give her space to allow her to decide if she was ready for his life, not that she expected the media to be interested in her that much. She was a nobody and quite boring. All her previous boyfriends had assured her of that, which was why it confused her that Kaiden wanted to be around her.

When late afternoon rolled around, she decided to pack up and head home. Her watercolors were dry so she cleaned her brushes and put everything away before rising and walking to the bus stop. She was lucky to get a window seat and watched the city pass by. When she got home, she put all her supplies away and set up her canvas so she’d be able to start painting. Then she went through her orders and packaged everything up that sold. She’d head to the post office the next day to ship it all out.

Once all that was done, she picked up her phone and sat on the couch. Once more she pulled Kaiden’s name up on her phone. There were video clips of his games. Interviews. Even more of him dressed for banquets or award ceremonies where he escorted gorgeous partners. What the hell could she bring to the table of a man who obviously had his pick of beautiful women?

Romilly closed the Internet search. She thought once she had assuaged her curiosity about Kaiden, her decision to date him would be a no-brainer. But seeing him with all those beautiful women placed doubt in her mind. She was an unsophisticated nobody compared to all of them. Perhaps she needed more time to think about what it would mean to date him.

Or if she even wanted to walk away.