It Had to Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips Read Free Book Online Page B

He’s a damned fine looking sonavabitch.”
    They all laughed. Dan liked Bobby Tom off the field, but he liked him even better on. One of the best wide receivers Dan had seen in years, he had guts, brains, and hands so soft you couldn’t even hear the ball hit when he caught it. What he didn’t have was his new contract signed, and that fact was driving Dan to contemplate murdering a certain blond bimbo.
    Bert had died just as he’d been finishing the complex negotiations with Bobby Tom’s shark of an agent. Now there was no one in the Stars’ organization with authorization to sign the final contract except Phoebe Somerville, whose answering service reported that she was on vacation and couldn’t be reached.
    Bobby Tom wasn’t Dan’s only unsigned player, either. He had an offensive tackle named Darnell Pruitt, who was so good he was scary, and a young safety who had led the Stars in forced fumbles last season. None of them would be traveling to the Meadowlands that weekend for the Stars’ fourth preseason game against the Jets. And if something didn’t happen soon, none of them would be in uniform for the season opener in two weeks.
    Thanks to the disappearing bimbo, Dan Calebow was in danger of losing three of the most promising players in the league. He understood the way the NFL worked, and it didn’t take a crystal ball to know there were a dozen team owners waiting in the wings with open checkbooks and saliva dripping from their jaws just hoping those three players were going to lose patience with a team that was rapidly becoming a joke.
    At an early age the sting of his daddy’s belt had taught Dan that winning was what counted in life. He’d always been an aggressive competitor, mowing down anyone who got in his way, and right then he made a promise to himself. If he ever got his hands on a certain brainless bimbo, he’d teach her a lesson she wouldn’t soon forget.
    “Hi, Coach, I’m Melanie.”
    Bobby Tom’s gaze roamed over the shapely young beauty who had eyes only for Dan. The young wide receiver shook his head. “Damn, Coach. You got more women than I do.”
    “I’ve got a head start on you, Bobby Tom. You’ll catch up.” He put his arm around the girl. “Now what did you say your name was again, honey?”
     
    Dan heard the siren just as he reached the point on the Eisenhower Expressway where the East West Tollway split off to the left. He had abandoned Melanie at the reception an hour ago, and as he glanced in the rearview mirror he was glad his heavy drinking days were behind him.
    He pulled his red Ferrari 512 TR over. The car was too small for him, but he put up with the lack of legroom because the Testarossa was the most beautiful driving machine in the world. Still, two hundred thousand dollars was an obscene amount of money to pay for a car when people were sleeping on the streets, and after he bought it, he’d written a matching check to one of his favorite charities. Most years he gave away more money than he spent, which he figured was only right considering how much he was worth.
    By the time the trooper approached the driver’s side of the car, Dan had his window lowered. The cop had already taken in the Testarossa’s distinctive “ICE 11” vanity plates.
    He braced his elbow on the hood of the car and leaned down. “Evening, Coach.”
    Dan nodded.
    “I guess you’re in a hurry.”
    “What d’you get me at?”
    “You were doing eighty-seven when you passed Mannheim.”
    Dan grinned and slapped the steering wheel. “Damn, I love this car. I was holding it down, too. There are a lot of fools on the road tonight.”
    “You can say that again.” The cop took a few moments to admire the car before he returned his attention to Dan. “How do you think you’ll do against the Jets this weekend?”
    “We’ll give it our best.”
    “Bobby Tom signed yet?”
    “Afraid not.”
    “That’s too bad.” He took his arm away. “Well, good luck, anyway. And ease up on