Gray's Girl by Mina Carter Page A

also a total contrast to her ex. If Robby ever ordered a luxury cab after one of their dates, he’d expected a handjob or something. For a limo, he’d have wanted the works and be damned if the driver or anyone else saw them. She shuddered, but that was him all over. He thought the world revolved around him.
    I want more than a one-night stand.
    Heat and pleasure rolled through her, a delicious counterpoint to the butterflies of excitement racing around her stomach at the thought of seeing Gray again. Did he mean it, that he wanted more than one night with her? Or had it all been an act, a good act, to get her to invite him in so they could… But they hadn’t; she was fairly sure of that. She wasn’t sore. There was no…other evidence. So it didn’t make sense.
    She stopped for a moment and looked up at the impressive building. The Willesdon Wolves were an old team, founded in the 1900s, and the building reflected that. She never thought, though, that she’d be walking around to the players’ entrance and giving her name to see her brother play here, if only training at the moment. The man on the door scanned a list out of sight behind the grilled window and nodded.
    “Go right through, Ms. Cross. I’ve got you down…twice actually. Guess they really wanted to make sure you got in.”
    She stopped at that, turning back to look at him curiously. “They?”
    “Yeah. I have you down as the personal guest of Damon Cross and Leighton Gray.” He grunted slightly. “First time Gray’s ever put anyone down.”
    “What? Ever?”
    Warmth spread out from the center of her chest at that little nugget of information. She knew the wives and girlfriends often came down to watch training. Well, more the girlfriends. The wives were more settled in their relationships, happier to see their men after they were mud and sweat-free.
    “Nope. We were beginning to think he was a chutney ferret.”
    She frowned, the northern dialect lost on her for a moment. Although she’d been brought up around here, having been in London for so long some of the sayings had slipped by her.
    “Yeah, chutney. You know…” The older man blushed, waving his hand vaguely. “Inclined the other way, batting for the other team?”
    “Ah.” The penny dropped and she laughed. “Oh no, he’s not. Believe me, he’s not.” With that, and savoring the look on the old boy’s face, she swept through the training entrance with a smile on her lips.
    It didn’t take her long to make her way pitchside, even with the warren of corridors. The sheer noise from the pitch echoed through them, making her quest easier. She emerged from the darkness of the building into the sunlight. Now heading into late spring, the weather was beginning to heat up and she felt sorry for the men pounding across the turf as she found a seat in the shade and sat down to watch.
    Gray and her brother were easy to pick out, although her attention was all on the first with just a quick glance spared for the tall figure of her brother. Instead, it was Gray who captured all her attention.
    His bright mop of blond hair was like a beacon, easily visible even if he hadn’t stood head and shoulders above most of the other players as they ran through what she assumed were a series of set plays. Determined expression on his face, he had the ball tucked under his arm and led a charge against what looked like an army of coaches armed with crash pads.
    Even running at half speed, he was impressive. She couldn’t take her eyes off him as he thundered down the pitch, shoulder lowered as he bulldozed his way through every barrier the opposition tried to put in his way. Finally he broke through the last barrier, massive thighs pumping as members of the other team trailed him.
    She held her breath as a challenger came in from the side, but he’d already seen the threat. His studs dug into the turf as he abruptly changed direction, the sheer power and flexibility required to do so boggling her