Game Changer: Seattle Steelheads Football (Game On in Seattle Book 7) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter 1—Long Shot

  Chapter 2—Off the Pace

  Chapter 3—At the Post

  Chapter 4—Out of the Gate

  Chapter 5—Odds-On Favorite

  Chapter 6—Post Parade

  Chapter 7—Breaking Slow

  Chapter 8—Running Away

  Chapter 9—In the Running

  Chapter 10—Setback

  Chapter 11—Swift of Foot

  Chapter 12—Next Start

  Chapter 13—Muddy Track

  Chapter 14—On the Rail

  Chapter 15—In the Dust

  Chapter 16—Dark Horse

  Chapter 17—Neck and Neck

  Chapter 18—Feeling Their Oats

  Chapter 19—Fast Track

  Chapter 20—Sloppy Race

  Chapter 21—Scratched

  Chapter 22—Warm-Up Race

  Chapter 23—Derby Week

  Chapter 24—Around the Far Turn

  Chapter 25—Down the Homestretch

  Chapter 26—Winner’s Circle

  COMPLETE BOOKLIST

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  GAME CHANGER (SEATTLE STEELHEADS)

  GAME ON IN SEATTLE #7

  By Jami Davenport

  Copyright © 2017 by Cedrona Enterprises

  All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this book ONLY. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from Jami Davenport. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to others. If you would like to share this book with others, please purchase an additional copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

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  This book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning

  This book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. This book is for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-age readers.

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  When horse racing and football collide, Hunter McCoy, star tight end of the Seattle Steelheads and neophyte horse owner, finds himself in a battle of wills with a sexy horsewoman and a stubborn, opinionated race horse.

  Kate Vanderhof-Carrigan's family has raised champion Thoroughbreds on their Kentucky bluegrass farm for over a century. Lately the farm has fallen on hard times, but Kate is determined to return Oak Brook to its former glory. First, she must satisfy an odd clause in her grandfather's will. She's been given five years to produce a winner of horse racing's biggest prize of all, the Derby, or lose the farm to her siblings and their development plans. Time has run out, and Hunter's talented horse stands between Kate and her last shot at the Derby. Only Kate never counted on her heart entering the race.

  Hunter is juggling his responsibilities to his two-dozen investors, his blind sister, his football career, and his commitment to his tribe. The last thing he needs is an unwanted attraction to a spoiled rich girl who doesn't fit into his carefully crafted plans. Not only are they rivals on the race track, but she doesn't understand or appreciate his dedication to his Native American heritage. Yet despite the odds, all bets are off when Hunter and Kate find themselves in a relationship they can't resist.

  With the stakes much higher than the Derby purse, can these two longshots win the biggest race of their lifetime or will their hearts finish out of the money?

  DEDICATION

  Many years ago, I took a graduate-level American history class taught by a Native American history professor. Listening to US history from the point of view of a Native American forever changed my outlook regarding American history. While I do not remember this man’s name, I will never forget his message, his dignity, and his pride for his people. This book is dedicated to him with my heartfelt thanks for helping me experience history as it really was.

  Every part of this soil is sacred in the estimation of my people. Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove has been hallowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished. Even the rocks, which seem to be dumb and dead as they swelter in the sun along the silent shore, thrill with memories of stirring events connected with the lives of my people, and the very dust upon which you now stand responds more lovingly to their footsteps than yours, because it is rich with the blood of our ancestors, and our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch.

  Chief Sealth (Seattle)—1854

  Chapter 1—Long Shot

  Purple hair looked good on Hunter McCoy.

  He glanced at himself in the rearview mirror and smiled. Lilli would love his new look—even though she couldn’t exactly see him.

  He put his truck in gear and zipped out of the parking lot, anxious to get home. Several minutes later, thanks to less-than-average Seattle area traffic, he drove down the gravel driveway to the country home he lived in with his sister, Lilli.

  Last summer, he’d purchased two acres next to the horse barn where Lilli kept her horse and spent the majority of her time when she wasn’t working. He’d bought the house when Lilli finally came to her senses, dumped her dickhead boyfriend, Steve, and moved back to the Seattle area.

  The property had the added advantage of being close to his longtime friend and teammate, Tanner Wolfe, and his wife, Emma, along with Tanner’s brother Isaac and his wife, Avery, who taught and trained at the same barn Lilli rode at. Emma and Avery were also twin sisters, which only added to the family feeling of the property. Hunter appreciated family more than most. Lilli and he benefited from the closeness of the people surrounding them, since their own family resided two hours southwest of Seattle on the opposite side of Puget Sound.

  Hunter had the sixties ranch house remodeled completely, not only to modernize it but to optimize it with the latest technology for the blind. They’d debated tearing it down, but Lilli hated waste, while Hunter appreciated the funkiness of the older home as opposed to the cookie-cutter appearance of the newer homes.

  He walked into the spacious entry, which led to a large living/dining/kitchen area with a wall of windows and a glass door opening onto a deck. A patch of green lawn ended in a wild tangle of native plants and trees. A water feature with a koi pond blended into the landscape, trickling like a babbling brook.

  Lilli met him at the entrance to the great room, having heard him pull in. The woman could hear her scruffy cat purring from three rooms away. Her guide dog, off duty and not wearing his harness, stood nearby, tail wagging. Hunter gave the golden retriever a pat on the head. Charlie responded by licking his hand.

  Lilli was beaming, which always put a smile on his face. “So, what d
id you do, Hunter?” She could barely contain her excitement. He waited a few moments, prolonging the suspense. She tapped her foot impatiently and propped her hands on her hips, a sure sign he was about to be given a good-natured ass-chewing if he didn’t answer her question.

  “Hunter…” she warned with a voice as strong as steel and as sweet as honey, so much like their nana. His heart swelled with love and pride for his sister.

  “It’s purple—a deep, dark purple—and I had her put waves in it.” He subjected himself to shit like this because Lilli loved it, and he’d do anything for her.

  “I can smell the dye.” She laughed and clapped her hands. “Let me feel. She moved forward and held out her hands, reaching for him. He stood still as she ran her hands over his long, now-curly hair. “I love it. Describe the color.”

  “It’s the color of those violets that Nana had in a big clay pot on her porch in the summer.”

  She nodded enthusiastically. “I remember.”

  So did he. He remembered all too well that summer when he was seven and she was ten. The summer everything changed, and Lilli lost her eyesight in a freak accident. But true to form, Lilli never complained. She soldiered onward, dealing with her blindness as if it were an opportunity to meet a challenge rather than be a victim of a disability.

  At thirty, she had bachelor’s degrees in both business and political science and an MBA from the University of Washington. She never let anything stop her and never would. Three years ago, she self-published her first thriller novel and never looked back. Lilli raked in the cash, each book’s sales growing exponentially.

  Despite her success, Hunter worried about her. She dwelled in the darkness of her books too much, and he constantly worked to pull her into the light. He wished she wrote romantic comedy or something.

  He knew he shouldn’t be concerned. Lilli McCoy had the most positive attitude of anyone he knew. She was also fiercely independent despite her disability. Lilli took risks, which scared the shit out of him, like going out for walks alone with Charlie, who was no protection at all, unless licking someone to death counted as protection.

  Hunter glanced down at what Lilli was wearing and frowned. She had on one of those swimsuit cover-ups. “Did you go swimming while I was gone?” He’d put in a small covered pool across from the garage this summer. They’d both gotten a lot of use out of it.

  Lilli nodded, the set of her jaw defiant. She stood up straighter, her back rigid.

  “I told you not to swim when no one’s here. What if something happened?”

  “You’re never here during the football season, and Emma’s busy today. Besides, nothing happened, little brother, and nothing will.” She shrugged. “And if it does, well, it does.”

  “I’m sorry. I—” Hunter shook his head. The thought of losing her was unbearable to him.

  “I’m not laying a guilt trip on you. In fact, I love football season because you aren’t constantly smothering me. Someday, you’re going to have to let go, find someone, and start a family of your own. I need nieces and nephews.”

  “You’ll always have a place in my home.”

  Her knowing smile denied his words, but she didn’t say anything further. Regardless, he had the distinct feeling he’d lost the battle—again.

  Lilli was as stubborn and independent as he was, and he loved his sister fiercely. She’d always been wise beyond her years, and losing her sight made her all the wiser.

  The year she’d moved back East with Steve had killed him. Love was truly blind. He’d seen through the asshole, but she never had until—

  Lilli touched his arm. Something she did often since she couldn’t see a person’s expression. “You’re tense. What’s wrong?”

  Hunter was nothing if not brutally honest. “Thinking about that dickhead, Steve.”

  She laughed. “He wasn’t a dickhead, not exactly. He was what I needed at the time to learn the lessons I needed to learn.”

  Hunter rolled his eyes, glad she couldn’t see him. “He was a dickhead. I never liked him.”

  “And you made your opinions abundantly clear. Besides, you’ve never liked any man I’ve been interested in.”

  “None of them have been good enough for you. They haven’t recognized your special gifts or cherished what a unique and exceptional woman you are.”

  “I could say the same of your women.” She laughed again, and he had to smile. Her sunny outlook on life was contagious.

  “You could,” he admitted with a chuckle.

  “Hunter, leave the overprotective fathering to our father. He does a good enough job on his own.”

  “That he does.” Hunter conceded that point, but Dad wasn’t here to protect her right now.

  “I need to change. I’m meeting the girls for dinner.”

  “Do you need a ride?”

  “No, Avery’s picking me up.”

  “Okay.” She headed for her bedroom, Charlie on her heels despite being off duty. The golden retriever took his job seriously, just as Hunter did.

  She paused and turned. “Hunter, get a girlfriend. You need a distraction, and I need you to have one.” With a pleasant laugh, she headed back down the hallway.

  * * * *

  Beatrice Kathleen Vanderhof-Carrigan, known as Kate, lived in a horse barn. Not literally, but in every other way. She lived and breathed horses, from the show horses she rode daily to the racehorses her family had bred for generations in the Kentucky bluegrass.

  Kate preferred horses over people most days of the week, if not all days. The youngest of three children, she’d spent her childhood in boarding schools. Her busy father was descended from “The Carrigans,” whose old money dated back practically to the Mayflower, while her mother chose to live on her family’s Kentucky horse farm where Kate spent her summers.

  Kate arrived early at the Thoroughbred training and rehab facility to watch her horse work out on the all-weather track. Mist clung close to the ground, causing dampness to seep into her bones, so different from the dry heat of California. She’d brought her best Thoroughbred to Seattle to rehab at one of the top facilities in the country. Dr. Wilson was a pioneer in racehorse rehabilitation, and she could afford the best. Even if the best happened to be in Seattle.

  She could’ve sent Fighter Jet here and stayed in her Malibu beach house, but Kate was hands-on when it came to her racehorses. A week ago, she’d moved her favorite show horse to a dressage barn down the road so she’d have something to do while Jet rehabbed a minor injury.

  Kate leaned on the rail next to Mitch “The Wizard” Mitchell, Jet’s new trainer and one of the up-and-coming trainers in the business. She’d tried to hire him exclusively, but she hadn’t managed to convince him and probably never would. He’d gotten his start on the West Coast. Working for her full-time would require moving back East during the summer months. Mitch didn’t appear to be interested. Go figure. He’d rather hang out on the West Coast than be in the thick of things at some of the bigger East Coast tracks.

  Her bay colt cantered by easily, showing no signs of the injury that’d sidelined him for the past month. His rider stood balanced in the short stirrups, slowing the colt as they neared the turn to canter around the track as per Mitch’s instructions.

  A fiery red blur flew past her, almost airborne, as if gravity couldn’t hold him down and speed was his life’s joy. She leaned on the rail, and her eyes widened as she watched this incredible animal eat up the ground with huge strides of pure grace and barely leashed power.

  At the turn, the exercise boy rose in the stirrups and attempted to rein in lightning under saddle. The colt shook his head and kicked out, communicating his displeasure at being slowed.

  This horse loved to run, and damn could he ever run.

  Kate’s greedy eyes ate him up.

  She wanted that colt in her stables. She needed that colt in her stables. He could be the answer to her prayers, and she desperately needed that answer.

  She turned to Mitch.

&n
bsp; He grinned at her and read her mind. “He’s inconsistent at best. One day he’s brilliant, the next he’s surly and refuses to run. On his good days, he’s unbeatable. On his bad ones, he’s in last place.”

  “What’s the name?”

  “SeaStrong. As a two-year-old, he’s won two and lost two.”

  Kate nodded, making a mental note to look up his racing record and his breeding as soon as she got home. “I want him.”

  “You can’t buy them all, Kate, and he’s not for sale.”

  “They’re all for sale for a price,” she said, echoing her late grandfather.

  Mitch shook his head. “Not this one.”

  “Who owns him?”

  Mitch turned and pointed to a man about fifty feet down the rail from where they stood. She hadn’t noticed him before. How she could’ve missed such a magnificent male specimen was beyond her.

  He was tall. Really, really tall, with long curly hair dyed a deep purple and held back from his face in a ponytail. His worn T-shirt hugged his incredibly muscled body. His profile was proud and his bearing full of confidence. He reminded her of one of the Western paintings her grandfather collected, the one of a lone brave standing on a bluff looking out over the prairie with an all-knowing expression indicating he saw things the average person couldn’t see. Kate’s dormant female parts woke up and paid attention to the hot man with the even hotter body. His proud bearing radiated quiet strength and deep wisdom, a combination she found alluring.

  “Who is he?” She hoped her voice didn’t sound as shaky to him as it did to her.

  “A tight end for the Seattle Steelheads.” He slanted a knowing glance in her direction.

  “A football player?”

  Mitch snorted. “Did you think I was talking about another kind of tight end?”