Out of Bounds
This book is currently out of print but will soon return to stores.
When the stakes are this high, sometimes you have to throw out the rulebook…
When San Francisco Outlaws tight end Malcolm Hughes comes home for his twin brother's funeral, he doesn't expect to pick up a runaway bride on the side of the road.
Sabrina Miller thought she was gaining a husband, but the ceremony went south when she discovered her fiancé was already married. Now, with a storm bearing down and nowhere to go, she reluctantly accepts a ride from a brooding stranger.
Forced to wait out the storm, Mal and Sabrina are drawn together by forces neither of them can explain. When Mal offers to let Sabrina spend what would have been her honeymoon in his beach house, he isn't thinking of seduction.
But the chemistry between them is combustible—and impossible to deny. It's only for a few days and they're positive they can handle it. So when reality returns and they have to walk away, why does it feel wrong to let each other go?
In the game of love, some of the best plays are out of bounds…
Note: This story is part of Bella Andre's Game For Love series, but it can be read and enjoyed as a stand alone story.
Read an Excerpt
Malcolm Hughes had seen a lot of crazy things before, but he wasn’t quite prepared for the sight of a bride trudging along the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. He’d just driven around a bend, lost in thoughts of the funeral he’d barely made it through, when he spotted the slight figure in white tugging a small, wheeled suitcase.
Common sense said to keep on driving. Except the sky was darkening ominously and the wind had whipped up, blowing sand and leaves in little cyclones across the pavement. Soon the clouds would open and soak her to the bone.
And then there was the lightning, which was always pretty intense in a Florida thunderstorm. She could be killed if he didn’t stop and offer her a way out of the weather.
She didn’t turn at the sound of his approach, quite possibly because she couldn’t hear it over the howling of the wind.
One hand clenched the fabric of her skirts as the breeze lashed them about her legs. Mal swore as he slowed the big Tahoe. His heart and soul ached right now, and he wanted to be alone—but he couldn’t leave her. It wasn’t the way he’d been raised.
She turned at the crunch of wheels on gravel as he pulled to the side of the road. Her cheeks were streaked with black eyeliner, making her look like a cross between a zombie and a drunkard. Her hair stirred about her face, the blond strands messy, though he suspected they’d been piled elaborately on her head when she’d started this journey. Her dress was strapless, emphasizing the generous proportions of her breasts and her small waist.
She was small and too vulnerable out here alone. Oddly enough, considering the streakiness of her makeup—which he assumed was caused from crying—she appeared angry rather than sad.
Mal pressed the button to let the window down. “You need help, miss?”
The bride sucked in a breath before answering him in a voice that sounded far too young for the ample figure that proclaimed her a woman. “Only if you know a good hit man I can hire cheap.”
He would have laughed, but her lip trembled and Mal’s protective instincts flared. His inner voice cautioned him that he knew nothing about this woman. Since joining the NFL, he’d encountered plenty of scheming women—and a few men—who wanted a piece of him.
Not that he thought for a second this was a setup. How could it be? He hadn’t known himself that he’d be driving this stretch of road after escaping his twin brother’s funeral an hour ago. Though it was on the way to his house, it wasn’t the most direct route.
Besides, Bridle Beach was a tourist town, known for its white sand beaches and perfect coral-and-peach sunsets. Lots of couples came here to get married on the beach.
Apparently, some of them didn’t work out.
“Where are you headed?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care.”
“You can’t stay out here. There’s a storm coming.”
She approached the Tahoe and put one hand on the windowsill. Her hair blew into her face and she pushed it back, tucking it behind an ear. “I… I don’t have anywhere to go. My—Brian rented a cottage for us, and I’m not going back.”
“I can take you to a hotel in town.”
She seemed to hesitate before shaking her head. “I can’t. I want to go somewhere where I won’t run into him.”
A tear slid down her cheek, and his heart clenched.
“Are you sure you can’t patch it up with him?” Mal asked softly. He’d never been married, but he had teammates and friends who were. Sometimes things got said in anger that seemed unforgivable at the time. Then people cooled off and calmer heads prevailed.
She stiffened. “No, I can’t patch it up with him. We flew down here to get married—and his wife crashed the ceremony right before I said I do.”
“Ouch.”
Her chin quivered. “Exactly.”
Mal punched the button to unlock the door. Maybe he shouldn’t get caught up in this, but there was no way he could leave her with a storm coming. “Get in.”