Family & Promises Page 5

  Phaedra lifted her fork, thinking that sweets never solved anything. Her hand was stopped though. Her eyes darted to Rand, who had captured her hand. He moved her hand with the fork and leaned over to take the bite of pie. Her eyes watched as his mouth closed around the food. Suddenly, in her mind she saw his mouth taking her nipple inside his heated mouth. Her breath quickened as she saw his tongue dart out to lick away a stray crumb. It seemed so erotic to her that she felt a stirring of arousal chase through her body.

  Rand grinned. "What are your plans today?"

  Phaedra felt confused at his behavior towards her. He seemed to be treating this as if they were two normal people who were now living together, and had known each other for some time. He was relaxed and casual around her. She shook her head in reply, but was unaware that confusion was apparent on her face. "I have nothing planned. I usually do laundry and grocery shopping on Saturday and Sunday."

  "Great!" Rand's grin got even bigger. "We have a regular football game in the park. It's usually on Saturday, but we had to get some work done yesterday. And everyone still wanted to play, so we moved it to this afternoon. I thought we could pack some lunch and head over around eleven. That would give us time to eat before the game starts. If you want to scrounge around and see if you can find anything edible, I'll go ahead and shower. I'd have Carlita do it, but I gave them the day off." He leaned down and kissed her surprised mouth.

  When Rand returned about twenty minutes later, dressed casually in old jeans and T-shirt, Phaedra had found the bread, cold meat and cheese and put together a few sandwiches. She had also set out a couple pieces of fruit and some bottled water on the counter as well.

  "This looks delicious!" Rand complimented her, but she just laughed.

  "I really don't cook. I'm not very good at it at all. I took a class, but they kicked me out when I almost burned down their kitchen twice. Once was forgivable I guess, but twice showed an alarming trend?" She shrugged apologetically.

  Rand laughed, gathered everything together into the basket he'd brought into the kitchen with him and added two cold beers and two chocolate bars. When he saw Phaedra watching him, he grinned guiltily. "Beer for after the game, and chocolate always goes well on a picnic." Rand picked up the basket, and then added. "I've got several blankets in the car that we can use to sit on. Do you need to get anything else before we take off?"

  Phaedra shook her head. "No. I guess there isn't anything else. I don't need a purse since you are driving." Rand nodded and a few minutes later they were driving towards the park in the center of the city. She was a little surprised at the car Rand drove. It was a low-slung dark green sports car. From the deep-throated purr of the engine, she guessed it was expensive. The top was off, and the wind felt good.

  Rand parked a short distance from the open field. He carried the picnic basket and she had the blanket. As they reached the area where he said they usually played, several people were already there. Almost immediately, people began waving to Rand, calling out greetings and offers to join them. Rand greeted everyone warmly, but appeared to have a particular destination in mind.

  A few moments later they approached a small family. Phaedra noticed the two children who were dressed alike, and crawling around their parents, and all over the blankets. The blond-haired man with the family called out as soon as he had seen them to come over and join them. Rand paused, a short distance away. "Do you mind joining Mark and his family? You met him at dinner yesterday."

  Phaedra shook her head. "No, that would be fine." She didn't say anything but knew that she would enjoy playing with the children. Quietly, they walked over to the family.

  The man stood and helped spread the blanket out with Rand. Rand introduced him again as Mark Phelps. Mark grinned at Phaedra. "It's nice to meet you again. This is my wife Naomi and these wild boys are Chad and Chet."

  Phaedra smiled and greeted Naomi. She watched the pretty blonde woman manage to rescue a dandelion from one of the boy's hands just in time. Naomi grinned when she met Phaedra's eyes. "Chet knows no fear, I'm afraid."

  Rand was already spreading out their food when Phaedra moved to sit at the far edge of the blanket. She accepted a sandwich and a bottle of water. Naomi offered each baby his bottle while Rand and Mark started talking.

  Phaedra listened and watched Rand's face as he talked. At first, they talked business and she soon learned that Mark not only worked for Rand, he was Rand's right hand man. She also couldn't help but think that the two men were probably good friends. They then started talking about the game for the day. She nibbled her sandwich until she felt a touch on her knee. She looked down and saw that one of the babies had crossed the grass and reached their blanket. He was grinning up at her, quite pleased with himself.

  "I'm sorry," Naomi said, seeing where her explorer had gone. "If he's bothering you, just say so. I know not everyone is as 'into' kids as I've become lately."

  Phaedra shook her head. "No, he's fine. Actually, I like children. I work with them." She set her food aside and picked up the young man. "Hi there, handsome. Which one are you?"

  Mark answered, the men having stopped talking. "That one is Chad who's always going places he shouldn't be."

  Naomi nodded. "What do you do, if you don't mind my asking?"

  Phaedra flushed, suddenly aware that Rand was listening as well. "I work at the hospital several days a week, in the children's unit."

  Rand frowned. "I thought your uncle told me you didn't have a job?"

  Phaedra glanced at Rand and then at the gurgling baby. "I guess it isn't an official job. I don't get paid, but I go in almost everyday, at least for a few hours."

  "You volunteer then, at the hospital?" Naomi asked.

  Phaedra nodded. "Sort of. The hospital's had a lot of cutbacks recently and they lost funding for their child life therapist. I have a degree in childhood education and have taken a lot of additional classes in working with ill and recovering children. I met their department head through a committee I was serving on with my aunt, and we started talking. Next thing I knew I was working steadily to help out."

  Naomi gaped at her. "Wow! That sounds like fun. How long have you been doing it?"

  Phaedra picked up the bottle Chad had dropped and offered it to him. He settled into her arms and started taking it eagerly. "A year or so. If something else comes up, I don't go in. But I tend to arrange everything around my time there, so I go in at least four times a week."

  "Isn't it hard though, working with sick kids?" Naomi continued, passing Phaedra a burp rag.

  "Everyone always thinks that, but I love it. It's hard when we lose one, of course. But the joy you see in their faces when something special happens is worth the heartache." She paused and put the baby to her shoulder to burp him.

  As she did so, she saw Rand was staring at her intently and realized that he had probably been assuming she would stay at his house all day while he was at work. Well, she didn't plan on altering her schedule unless she absolutely had to.

  She opened her mouth to tell Rand she would be going in on Monday when a shout caught their attention. It looked like the game was starting. She surprised herself by asking if it was men only.

  "Do you let the ladies play, or is this a boys only club?"

  Mark grinned and then laughed at the surprised look on Rand's face. "Please join us, Phaedra. A couple of wives play every now and then. Naomi used to play, before the boys came along."

  Naomi laughed. "I'm tempted to bring a sitter with us to the game. That way I could play and get a rest!"

  Phaedra met Naomi's gaze and the two shared a knowing look. They both laughed when they saw the confused look on the men's faces. Mark tried to look affronted as he added, "There are also a few women from the office who play, and a couple of the guys' girlfriends play once in a while."

  Naomi smiled. "The only problem is that they change it from tackle to touch only, when the women are playing. "

  Phaedra stood and handed the baby back to his m
other. "It sounds like fun," and started over to where the other players were gathering missing the frown on Rand's face.

  A few minutes later, they were going over the rules. It appeared that Rand was one team captain, and the other was a young man whose name was Joe. There were about 4 women playing today, and Joe won the first pick for team members. Phaedra didn't see the flash of impatient anger that appeared momentarily on Rand's face as Joe picked her first for his team. But Mark did, and hastily covered his laugh with a cough. Joe worked for Rand, as did all the men playing, as well as two of the women.

  Phaedra joined in happily, feeling quite relaxed for the first time since Friday night. She clapped her hands to welcome each of the other team members. Before they started, Rand pointed out again that it would be touch football only, no tackling. There were a few good-hearted laughs and Joe spoke just loud enough for a few people to hear.

  "Damn! I should have let the other team have you Phaedra. Then I could have enjoyed 'touching' you."

  Lots of people laughed as the two teams separated. Mark realized that his boss quite possibly had a "new girlfriend" and no one knew it yet. He was sure no one suspected because Rand had never brought a woman to the game before. He didn't doubt that pretty soon Rand would let it be known that Phaedra was "with" him in more ways than just riding to the park with him.

  Phaedra was good at sports. She had been a natural athlete in school, and had often played football with her friends. It soon became obvious she had a talent for the game, and whenever possible, Joe would pass or hand off the ball to her. He started having her hike the ball to him, so he could rest his hands on her hips and casually adjust her position. And it was impossible to miss the huge grin on Joe's face, each time he reached between Phaedra's thighs farther than necessary to grab the ball from her.

  Finally, she got a break and was running for the invisible goal line. Just as she crossed it, she was tackled from behind. She managed to hang onto the ball though, and they still scored. She rolled over angrily, and saw that Rand was the offender. Somehow, from the look on his face, she knew it had not been an accident.

  Rand stood and helped her to her feet. He leaned down to whisper to her. "Forget what I said about you not wearing a bra. From now on, any football games, wear one!"

  Phaedra stared at him in amazement. She didn't know what she had expected him to say, but that wasn't it. When she had dressed that morning in the cotton shorts and shirt that came only to her waist, she had not anticipated going out. She should have changed once she found out about the football game, but maybe she was just being stubborn. Obviously, Rand had noticed the bouncing going on as she ran with the ball. She shrugged it off to his just being possessive. He probably considered her "his property" for the next six months.

  Joe reached them and asked if she was okay. He reached out to begin brushing some of the grass off her clothes. His hands whisked over her rounded bottom a few times on the pretense of helping, but when he reached towards her heaving breasts, Phaedra quickly stepped away. She laughed and said she was just fine and it would take more than one little tackle to take her out of the game. She added with a smile.

  "When I used to play in high school and college, we played tackle, no matter who was playing." Several of the women laughed. Phaedra shrugged, letting her gaze wander to Rand. "You'd be surprised fellas, if you knew how much we women enjoy a good tackle!"

  Joe grabbed the ball and announced unnecessarily that it was six to zero. The game restarted.

  Phaedra saw the looks Rand kept shooting her way. She wasn't completely sure why, but she assumed he was either angry because she chose to play instead of just watch. Or, Rand could be pissed over the "casual" touches she'd been receiving from Joe. What Rand didn't know was that she couldn't have cared less about the attention Joe was giving her. Phaedra had found herself watching Rand. She noticed how supple his muscles in his thighs were. And every time his hair flopped forward onto his forehead, Phaedra's fingers ached to push the errant locks back. As they took a half time break, Carol, the other woman playing on her side, grabbed her arm and waited until everyone else had gone ahead to get something to drink and rest for a bit.

  Carol smiled at her as she spoke. "I think someone should warn you about Joe."

  "Why?" She asked casually, already liking everyone she had met so far. Perhaps she'd be proven wrong later, but she had a feeling that these weekend outings could easily become something she would miss once Rand dismissed her.

  Carol shrugged. "Well, he can't seem to keep his eyes off you. He's quite the 'ladies man' if you know what I mean. He can also get pretty touchy-feely too. At work, we're all aware of how he is and take everything he says and does with a grain of salt. Whenever there's a new girl around, he always zeroes right in. I'm sure he's already looked to see if you had a ring on."

  Phaedra smiled and patted the other woman's arm. "Thanks for warning me, but I am pretty immune. I've had all my shots."

  Carol laughed with Phaedra. "Would you like something to drink? I brought extra. My fiancé, Mike, can drink like a horse."

  Phaedra laughed and the two started walking towards the others. She noticed that while a few were stretched out on their blankets, a small group had gathered around Rand and Mark's blankets. The babies were gathering a lot of attention, but most of the adults were sprawled on the blankets and talking.

  As they neared the group, Carol's fiancé saw them first. He walked to them and handed Carol a cold soda.

  "Have you been giving Carol some lessons on how to play football?"

  Carol lightly punched his upper arm. "Hey!" she protested.

  Mike kissed her cheek. "You're one hell of an accountant, honey. But your talent doesn't lie with football."

  Both women laughed. Before either could reply though, Naomi was calling out to Phaedra. "I'm afraid you've made a conquest Phaedra. The minute Chad heard your voice he's been trying to crawl over to you."

  Phaedra blushed, as everyone seemed to have stopped talking. She walked over and held out her arms. The baby truly did seem to recognize her for he reached up to her and wiggled his hands to indicate his urgency. As she cuddled him to her breasts, she smiled down at Naomi. "So long as they're this age I can handle them."

  Everyone laughed and she noticed that Rand's blanket had as many bodies as possible already crammed onto it. The picnic basket had been shoved to the side, so she walked over and leaned down for a bottle of water. She was surprised to find they were all gone. She stood and moved back towards Naomi.

  "Do you have anything extra to drink? It looks like all the water's gone from our basket."

  "Sure," Naomi told her and offered her a choice of beverages. "I learned the hard way to pack extra."

  Phaedra accepted a glass of lemonade and was considering sitting on the grass. Before she could decide, she heard Joe's voice. "Allow me to assist you, fair maiden." Joe gallantly spread an extra blanket on the grass. He held her glass while she sat down.

  Naomi turned and smiled. "You have to watch out for that one, Phaedra. He's a hopeless flirt."

  Joe tried to look wounded and pressed his palm to his chest. "Naomi! You wound me with such cruel words."

  Several people heard the interchange and laughed. Carol added that she had already warned Phaedra about the company wolf.

  "I'm crushed, ladies!" Joe protested loudly, pressing his palm to his chest.

  Phaedra laughed. "Not to worry. I've been vaccinated against attractive sweet-tongued men."

  All the women laughed and Phaedra lifted her glass for a drink. She saw Rand was now standing and staring directly at her. Their eyes held for what seemed like a long time to her. Only when Chad squealed for more attention, did she look away. She lifted him to face her.

  "And just what's your opinion, little man?" The baby jabbered right back to her. Before she could reply, an attractive woman who was on Rand's team, sat down on the blanket, and she introduced herself as Kelly.

  "I need to get that vaccin
e, Phaedra. Who is your doctor?"

  Everyone laughed loudly and good-naturedly. Joe groaned out loud. "Have mercy people! You are crushing my ego."

  Kelly laughed. "It would take the rock of Gibraltar to crush your ego."

  Before anyone else could reply, Rand announced their halftime was over and it was time to get started.

  After a few moans and groans, everyone started back to the field. Joe offered his hand, but Phaedra told him to go on, as she needed to finish her drink real quick and see where Naomi wanted her to put Chad. She caught the look of longing and hurt that crossed Kelly's face at Joe's offer. When she was alone with Naomi and the babies, she handed Chad to his mother.

  "Naomi, this is none of my business, but is Kelly interested in Joe?"

  Naomi looked at her in surprise. "Wow! How did you manage to pick up on that?"

  "I can't say for sure, but there was something in her words and body language." Phaedra shrugged. "I better get over there before Rand declares a forfeit or something. Thanks for the drink." She paused a few steps away and looked back. "And thanks for letting me play with the baby."

  Phaedra made the winning touchdown, which broke the tie that had persisted the entire second half. Rand almost caught her, but something gave her an extra burst of speed and she just missed his reaching hands. Of course, everyone was quite gracious, but it was also obvious that this was the first time, ever, that Rand's team had not been the winners.

  In the car on the ride home, Phaedra was silent and she stared out her side window. It was only as he pulled into the driveway, and switched off the car, that he turned to look at Phaedra. Slowly, she met his gaze and finally burst out laughing. She could tell instantly by the look on his face he was still perturbed.

  "Never lost a game before, huh champ?" She couldn't resist the dig.

  Rand stared at her, seeing for the first time the artless animation that had so attracted him to her when they had first met, before she knew who he was. He had been aware of her stilted behavior and reactions to him since Friday night. Her grin found its way into his heart. He was no longer perturbed about her not having a bra on and every man who had been at the game today ogling her bouncing tits all day. He couldn't have cared less any more that Joe had spent all of his time, when he wasn't calling plays, flirting and hitting on her. He lifted one eyebrow, and fought the grin trying to answer her back.