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It worked, too And looked aether to raise the fraside the other volunteers The media took pictures, which Savannah kneould rinned, put down her own haht sandwiches and drinks to everyone as they stopped for lunch She stayed out of Cole’s way because he was hanging out with Grant, Kenny, Jamarcus, and Lon as well as several members of the Traders’ offensive line She wanted hi time, so she ate her lunch with a few of the players’ wives who’d coed in conversation with Missy Sandell, one of the linebackers’ wives, when she saw a couple reporters bearing down on Cole

"Excuseback her chair tointerviewed as they ate lunch

"We never saw you doing any charity hile you ith Green Bay," one of the reporters asked

"Maybe that’s because you’re a St Louis reporter," Cole answered

Savannah winced

"It would have made the national wire," the reporter shot back "You’re in the news a lot"

"Only the negative stuff"

One of the reporters laughed "Well, face it, Riley You do give us plenty to report on"

Cole took a long sater, then caught Savannah’s sharp frown "But I’ on this house today The Traders are an aanization who put a lot of time, effort, and money into charitable efforts I’m honored to be a part of this one"

She exhaled Good answer

"Does thisover a new leaf?" one of the national news outlets asked

Cole stood, wadded up his trash, and tossed it into the nearby bin "Watch me and find out In the meantime, we’re all headed back to work Why don’t all of you drop those microphones, ca out this family?"

He walked aith the rest of the players Savannah grinned The interview started out shaky, but it ended perfectly

There ht be hope for Cole after all

COLE LOVED WORKING WITH HIS HANDS

Even in this brutal heat and hu in his eyes, he was focused on seeing this house take shape

Besides hanging out with his teammates off the field today, which ot to spend tiers, the soon-to-be owners of this house they were building They were great people Enthusiastic, dedicated, and willing to give back to their own coe football fans, so they were ecstatic the Traders had showed up today to help work on their house When the guys signed a football for theames, Selena was touched and Thomas was as excited as their two boys

It ht He hadn’t spent a lot of--okay, any--time in the co Other than writing checks to a few charities here and there, he hadn’t taken the tiet to know any of the people ere his fans

That sucked And needed to change

He was beginning to see a lot of things needed to change

"Feel good?"

He turned toward Savannah, who’d come up to stand next to him She’d worn jeans and a Traders T-shirt today and had pulled her hair up in a ponytail With her tennis shoes on and very little eous And she had dirt on her nose He used his thuh I’m hot and sweaty and I probably stink"

"I hadn’t noticed Everyone probably stinks"

She still sed that

"I need a shower and a beer Want to coers?" he asked

"Sure But I need to take a shower, too I’ll do that and ood"

He stopped at the store, then went ho off the sweat of the day He felt a lot better after he changed clothes and downed a couple bottles of water

Savannah arrived about thirty ed into a tank top and very sexy shorts, her hair down and loose around her shoulders That peach smell made him hard He wanted to bury his face in her neck and lick the scent from her skin All her skin

He took a step back "How about a beer?"

"Sure"

He pulled two beers froe and popped the tops off, handed her one and took a couple long ss from the other The icy cold brew tasted like heaven after the hellish day "Now that’s good"

"I thought you didn’t drink once the season started"

He set the beer on the counter "It’s beer It doesn’t count, and I’ to hed "Not in the least I was just curious"

"Good I’ll go grill the burgers"

"What would you like "

She frowned and pursed her lips "I can’t do nothing How about a salad?"

"Sure I think there’re salad fixings See what you can scrounge up out of the fridge"

He took the burgers out and tossed the s of his beer after he’d flipped theup the salad and slicing to her in his kitchen Kinda weird considering he usually didn’t like people at his house

And okay, he wanted to get in her pants again, so there was that objective One night wasn’t enough with Savannah But he liked what she had to say, and she didn’t take any of his bullshit He pushed, she pushed back He didn’t always agree with her or her methods, but that didn’t really matter She wasn’t one of those pleaser people who kissed his ass Mostly she kicked his ass He liked that about her, too

He finished the burgers and brought theainst the counter, staring off into his living roo?"

"You have such a nice, open place here You should have a party"