Dani's POV:

The girls and I were sitting in the stands enjoying our beers and reminiscing about out cheering days waiting for the game to start when a hulking black man that looked slightly familiar to me took the empty seat beside me. At first, I didn't think anything of it but when I heard him say I name, I whipped my head in his direction, and leveled him with a glare that I hoped made his balls draw up. But that hope was shattered when he smiled at me.

"Boss would like a word with you." He said with a smirk.

"And just who is 'Boss'?" I asked.

"He has been waiting for you to call all day. Been pacing that garage, threatening to go to your hotel room if you didn't call." Said the man, answering my question without even uttering a name. I knew immediately why this man looked familiar; he's Brantley Gilbert's head of security.

Hearing that Brantley had been waiting for my call and had threatened to show up at the hotel since I hadn't taken the time to thank him rendered me speechless. I'm talking mouth dry, brain not working, couldn't even form a thought much less make any words come out of my mouth. "If you'll come with me, I can take you to him." Said the man as she stood from his seat at extended a hand for me to take. Beside me, the girls I could hear the girls telling me to get my ass out of my seat but like I said, my brain wasn't working. I couldn't force my body to do as my brain was instructing no matter how hard I tried.

"Dani, I'm under strict orders that if you don't come willingly, I'm to put you over my shoulder and carry you to him kicking and screaming if need be. You don't strike me as the type that wants to cause a scene so..." said the man, letting his sentence dangle.

I stared at the man, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. But the set of his jaw told me that he wasn't kidding, that he would in fact throw me over his shoulder and carry me out of her kicking and screaming. A mental image of what kind of scene that would cause and the photos that would be plastered everywhere before I could blink, I took his proffered hand and stood from my seat. Looking over my shoulder as I walked away, I waited for my friends to chime in with how it was a bad idea for me to go alone but none of them did. In fact, they waved their hands, telling me bye before Bailee stood and yelled "Don't do anything that I wouldn't do".

Mindlessly following the guy, I let him lead me to out onto the sidelines of the field where there was a group of people mingling around. As we got closer, I recognized the trademarked black hat that Brantley was famous for wearing. Seeing that hat turned backwards on his head made my heart start to pound harder than it already had been. The organ threatened to beat out of my chest as we got closer and I could see his tattoo covered, muscular arms.

As if sensing I was near, he turned, his eyes instantly locking with my pale green ones. I watched as he told the group of guys he was with that he would be right back before he strutted in my direction. Stopping in front of me, he gave PJ a look before nodding and taking my hand in his. Folling along behind him as she walked, I felt a zing of electricity shot up my arm from where our hands were connected and it made me want to jerk my hand back. When I tried to do so, his fingers only tightened their grip, the metal of his rings digging into my skin a tiny bit but not enough to cause any pain. But still, his steps didn't slow, not until we reached a door that into a small room beneath the bleachers. Brantley flipped the light switch for the room before shutting the door and locking it.

"Why didn't you call?" he said, leaning against the locked door with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I don't know." I said. Of course, it was a lie. I knew why I hadn't called. But was I about to tell him? No.

"I was worried." He said.

"Why? You made sure I got back to the hotel. That's more than anyone else would have done." I said, slipping my hands into my back pockets and rocking back on my heels. I wanted desperately to look him in the eyes when he answered -if he answered- my question, but I couldn't bring myself to do so.

"Because it's just who I am." He said. Next thing I knew, his hand was on my chin, tipping my head back so that I was forced to look into his eyes. "Plus, I wanted to see you again. Introduce myself the right way."

From this close, I could smell the woodsy scent of his cologne. I could feel the warmth radiating off him, making the small room seem even smaller. Thoughts that had been plaguing me since the massage I'd gotten earlier when I'd thought it was a good idea to pretend that he was the one giving it popped into my mind then, making my eyes drop to his lips. When his tongue darted out and wet his bottom hip, I had to sink my teeth into my bottom one to stifle the moan that was threatening. But it was pointless. The moan slipped out anyway.

"We shouldn't be here." He said, his fingers leaving my chin as he stepped back and turned, putting his broad back to me. "I shouldn't be here."

"Then I'll go." I said, taking a step towards the door.

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Brantley was spinning on his heel, his hands landing on my hips as he said "no", his tone almost desperate. Instantly, I froze in place. I could feel his eyes boring into me so I lifted my head. As I did, my eyes locked with his. We stood there like that for I don't know how long, the air around us charged. I was about to step back when he muttered "fuck it" just before one of his hands tangled in the hair on the base of my skull and pulled my mouth to his.

At first, I was too stunned to realize what was happening, but it didn't take long for my brain to catch up. Fisting my hands in the front of his t-shirt, I kissed him back, seeking dominance that I was never going to get. Brantley only deepened the kiss, delving his tongue deeper into my mouth, skinning over my teeth, as the hand on my hip dug into my skin. Needing more, I looped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me, eliminating all space.

I felt myself being moved but was too lost to care. With my back against the wall, Brantley slipped a leg between mine, as he deepened the kiss further. Rolling my hips, I grinded my sex along his thigh, moaning into the kiss at the pleasure that little movement brought me. But it wasn't enough. I needed more -so much more.

But all thoughts of more were shut down when suddenly Brantley broke the kiss, stepping away from me. With hooded eyes, I watched as the hands that had just been on me ran through his hair, tugging. The fact that he wouldn't look me in the eye told me everything that I needed to know; Brantley regretted what just happened.

"Brantley—" I managed before I was cut off.

"Dani, I'm sorry. I just cant do this." Brantley said.

"I understand." I whispered. And I did but it didn't mean that him not wanting to make out with me wasn't a blow to my self-esteem.

"No, I don't think you do." He said, his head snapping and his green eyes locking with mine. In them, I saw desire mixed with regret.

"I get it." I said softly.

"I don't think you do." He said as he stepped so close to me that I could feel his erection pressing against my hip. "I want nothing more than to strip you naked and take you against the wall. But I feel like if I do, I'm betraying my wife. For that reason alone, we can't do this."

I watched, speechless, as he opened the door and slipped out, softly shutting the door behind him without even a look back.  

Brantley's POV:

Once outside the door, I bent over with my hands on my knees breathing hard. Every bone in my body was telling me to go back into that little room and try to explain myself better but I couldn't let myself do it. Because if I went back in there, I know that I couldn't walk away from her again. And not walking away from the temptress in that room was not an option that I wanted to be presented with. Guilt so heavy that it felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest washed over me over the kiss that Dani and I shared. I could only imagine the feeling that would settle over me if I had taken it further than just a kiss. And heaven knows, I had sure as hell wanted to. The moans she made, the way she had grinded her sex against my leg, the way her nipples had felt pressed against my chest as I had deepened the kiss, all of it made me want to turn around, march back in that room, and give myself over to the one thing that I wanted: to feel connected to someone once again.

"You okay Boss?" said PJ, startling me and making me stand straight up.

"I'm good. Let's just get this shit over with so I can get out of here. I'm not really feeling being around a bunch of people right now." I said. PJ gave me a questioning look but didn't utter the words I could see right on the tip of his tongue. Good thing too because I was already hearing enough shit from Mama about how I had been living my life lately. I didn't need him telling me that I needed to get back on the proverbial horse too.

"Alright." He said.

The two of us had just taken the first step to walk away when the door behind me swung open, revealing the temptress that I had just made out with. In an instant, I noticed her kiss swollen lips, cheeks slightly pink from beard burn, and her nipples protruding through the material of her shirt. She looked like she had just had one hell of a make out session and it made the caveman inside me want to beat his chest since I had been the one to leave her with that look. But almost instantly, a vision of Amber walking towards me in her wedding dress popped into my head reminding me of the vows I'd taken. 

Before I could even think about taking her back in that room and finishing what I started, I gave her a nod that said sorry mixed with I'll-be-seeing-you-around as I forced myself to put one foot in front of the other and walk away from her. I didnt even bother to look back to see if PJ was following me or not.