The Rookie: Book 2 The Last Play Series by Taylor Hart Page A

confused, she frowned. “Oh.”
    “Ya know, so I can send you pictures and stuff.”
    “Right.” She nodded before giving her number to him.
    “And I’m going to call the Times right now.”
    Pausing, her smile seemed to get sad and she blushed. “Legend, I’m sorry about the first article.”
    It was stupid, just stupid, how much he didn’t know how to take her apology. He scoffed. “Ya know, Rook, I gotta say, you’re not a bad first date.”
    She rolled her eyes and slammed the door. He heard, “Oh, the ego!”
    He roared with laughter and rolled down his window. “You might even get a famous second date!” he hollered out after her.
    She glanced back. “Please, don’t give me three because then I’d have to go to jail.”
    He laughed harder and hated the way he wanted to follow her into that hospital.

Chapter 15
    H e went to the hotel and took a hot shower. Then he answered some texts from Jason and Brad. He told them about his plane jumping.
    He leaned back on the bed and thought about the fact that in less then two weeks he would be signing a contract with the Dallas Destroyers. It was bizarre how long and hard he’d worked for it, and it was almost here.
    His mind flashed to Charity. To the way they’d yelled and laughed on the way out of the plane. It had been incredible. Then he thought of Paul. Or at least what he thought Paul would be like. He wanted to take the guy and slam him into the ground—hard. How could he do that to her? Take her all the way to Africa and then kiss someone else? Legend was sure Paul was most likely doing more than just kissing other women.
    He called his agent and asked him to call The New York Times and tell them that he’d be giving Charity Saint a real exclusive, one that he endorsed and to do whatever it took to get her job back.
    “Whatever it takes?” his agent asked. “Why don’t you wait and give your first real exclusive to the one that pays the most?”
    “No, it’s important that Charity gets her job back.”
    His agent had sounded frustrated. “Well, I hope this girl’s worth it.”
    “She is,” he said, answering too quickly. He got off the phone and couldn’t stop a stupid grin as he thought about her hair flying untamed around her when she jumped out of the plane.
    He quickly got ready, shoving all the new stuff he’d bought into one of the laundry bags. He paused in front of the hotel mirror as he was walking out of his room. He’d never been arrogant about his looks. He’d always been told how handsome he was. Girls had always been there, especially with his success in football, but with Charity, he never felt like she was looking at only his physical appearance. Or just the fact he could play football.
    He had to quit thinking this way. He rushed out and took the stairs down to the lobby, checking out efficiently. He didn’t know what he’d do today, maybe he could take another ski lift up the mountain, but after sharing the skydiving with Charity, nothing felt like it could compete. A nice surprise was finding a place on Main Street that was still serving breakfast. He allowed himself an omelet and pancakes. Then he ordered an omelet and pancakes to go.
    No, he didn’t think it was a big deal he was buying her something to eat. He’d made her go jump out of a plane, so he knew she’d missed breakfast. Happy flutters surged through his stomach at the prospect of seeing her again.
    Passing by a vintage record store, he had an idea and swerved back. She was gonna love this. The store smelled like incense and the guy next to the cash register looked like something out of a seventies show. He wore a blue paisley headband, a matching blue shirt, polyester black pants, and clog shoes. He also had a dangling necklace with a peace sign on it. “What can I do ya for?”
    “I’m looking for a Beatles album, the one with A Hard Day’s Night .”
    Mr. Seventies went straight to a bin of albums and pulled it out. “It’s used, but it’s