Page 11 of Forbidden Dunk

Chapter 7

Shawn

Marketa had warned me that her dad was leaving for the weekend, some getaway or meeting the owners were having him, and the whole coaching staff, do. Personally, I didn’t care. That means I had over forty-eight hours to see her, and that’s all that mattered to me.

Sure, we were texting every night. And the late night facetimes were awesome. Being able to see her period had made me happy all week, and the guys picked up on it. So did my coach. He told me whatever was making me play better to keep it up.

Wasn’t sure he would have the same sentiments if he knew it was his daughter making me happy. Well, her and the grandbaby that Marketa was carrying.

We hadn’t discussed how we would tell our parents about this new adventure. I, for one, knew my mom was going to be thrilled. She had long wanted a grandbaby to spoil.

Marketa swore her dad would be happy too. Just couldn’t mention who the father was. Which was going to cause a problem since I really didn’t see myself stepping away. Which led to everything we were doing happening behind his back.

Not something I liked to do. But I could easily tell Coach was a man of his word and I knew my ass would be in trouble the moment he found out about me and his daughter. So, for the time being, I went along and kept things away from him.

It was nice to know that Marketa didn’t want to either, but she wanted to explore whatever budding feeling we both seemed to be having.

I checked the time, glad to see that it was past time for her dad to have left and made my way to her house, unable to stop the butterflies from going crazy in my stomach.

Sure, the woman was gorgeous and our one night rocked my world and I was ready for another. But she was also so much more than that. She made me think and made me feel; something that I found honest and unique.

“Planned that just right, didn’t you?” she questioned as she flung open the door, smiling at me.

“I had to make sure every moment counted. Are you ready?”

“You know, I’ve been on a few dates, but I can’t recall ever having one when a man told me to dress casually and make sure I have a pair of sneakers.”

“That’s probably because most men don’t know how to plan something you would like. Let’s go.”

Her brows wrinkled in confusion, but she followed me to my car and allowed me to help her in. I grinned at her before jogging around to my side.

“Believe it or not, Shorty, where we’re going, it’s not too far away.”

“Huh.” It was her only response, and I had to say, I liked it. I loved surprising people. It was something I certainly didn’t get to do often enough.

Fifteen minutes later, I pulled up to a park at the base of a hill and killed the engine. The desert around us was gorgeous and serene, with the sun out but certainly not hot. Our summer was gone, and the slight breeze gave us desert dwellers the hint of fall we longed for.

“Nature?”

“Why not? You like it.” With that, I reached behind her seat and grabbed the picnic basket, smirking as her eyes lit up. “I like thinking outside the box.”

“You sure do.” We climbed out of the car and made our way to a table where I laid everything out, enjoying the smile she kept tossing my way.

“Tell me Shorty, do you want a girl or a boy?”

She sipped on her juice, thinking over the question for a moment but shrugged.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve gone back and forth on that. Really, I just want a healthy baby. But I love each for a different reason. I just don’t want any twins.”

“Well, good thing twins don’t run in my family.”

“Good think they don’t run in my either,” she teased back, and I was transported back to our first night. The simplicity of her captured my interest all over again. I can’t say I was used to high maintenance ladies because my dating was slim, but that’s what was always around us. So, for me, Marketa was really a breath of fresh air that I didn’t know I needed, or even wanted.

But now that she was here, I was letting go. Even if she wanted me to let her go.

However, the look she was giving me, the small smile that played on her lips, the way her eyes still held that glow of happiness, told me that she might not want to let me go either.And that was saying something given the brief time we’ve spent together.

“What’s after this?” she questioned as we cleaned up our stuff.

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