Long Blonde Hair, Sky Blue Eyes Ch. 9
The section between the next set of **** was the last part of Chapter 8 that I confessed in comments I failed to include in the version submitted. Sorry about that, but you get a longer Chapter 9 because of it.
From the end of Chapter 8:
"Turn and look over your shoulder at him," Cassie told her with a wink, "you know the pose I mean." Annika looked at Erik, who grinned and nodded. She turned away, assumed the pose that SI memorialized, and gave him that smoldering look that sold so many magazines.
"Well, hell! Of course! Why didn't I see it right away? Your posters are hanging in locker rooms across the country, and dog-eared copies of the magazine are in lockers and suitcases!" Annika turned, gave them her wide-eyed-innocent look, and said, "I'm not sure I wanted to know that!"
****
The others laughed; KJ smirked, "What you don't want to know is what those perverts are doing to your body in their fantasies!" That turned Annika red and brought a crescendo of laughter.
"Oh, Annika, Baby, wrap those long legs around me!" Johnny exclaimed in a high voice, mimicking a teenage boy.
KJ chuckled and repeated the same words in the deep basso profundo voice you associate with pro football linemen.
Cassie said it again, in the lilting voice of a young woman in heat, and it might have continued but for the distinctive sound of the Notre Dame fight song playing on KJ's phone. He scrambled out of the hot tub and answered, "Hey, Brother, what's up?"
Erik was watching Annika's mouth fly open when he emerged from the water and Johnny was watching Hanna's. The girls looked at each other, then at Cassie, who was smirking at their reaction to her 6'5" 248-pound Norse god wearing only a shorty swimsuit with a large bulge.
"Oh my god!" Hanna murmured to her, "how in the world do you deal with THAT in bed?"
"Why do you think I work out daily and do Pilates? He is definitely a bed full!" Cassie replied with a chuckle.
Annika noticed Erik watching her and knew his ego was getting dinged. She waggled her finger at him and said, "Come here, Honey! You too, Johnny."
Erik stepped on a seat, then onto the patio tiles surrounding the hot tub and pool. Johnny followed, and Annika watched Cassie's mouth drop open. She recovered, looked at Annika and Hanna, and said, "Their clothes don't do them justice. I had an inkling, but - wow!"
Annika turned her back to KJ, wrapped her arm around Erik, and said, "I work out, run, and do Yoga for the same reason. Otherwise, he'd hurt me!"
Erik disagreed. "Ha! You run, work out, and do Yoga so you can eat something besides celery! All I hear is how the camera adds ten pounds!"
"Honey, the Krewe decided we should start the party tonight, in our pool. They're bringing drinks and snacks. I hope that's all right. I told them it must end by one," KJ said hopefully.
"Why not? The more the merrier, but no Everclear in the rum punch!"
"Yes, Dear," KJ replied meekly, "but you have to help keep an eye on Zach and Nancy."
Cassie turned to her guests. "You'll enjoy our friends, but they do like to party during the offseason, so be prepared!"
They must have called from just outside the house or just before they arrived, because KJ opened the gate into the back yard, and they came streaming in moments later. Erik was a decent college athlete, having been named Honorable Mention all-conference on a team that made the baseball College World Series, and he had continued to work out, as had Johnny, an all-state high school tight end.
But these guys were pro football players, and their wives were college and pro cheerleaders, models, movie actresses, and beauty contest winners. Even Annika felt intimidated for a moment, but the easy greetings, the compliments, and the camaraderie of the fourteen newcomers immediately put them at ease.
There was a mix of white, black, mixed-race, and Polynesian pro football players, including two running backs, three offensive and two defensive linemen, two wide receivers, a tight end, two linebackers, a defensive back, and another quarterback. All lived within an hour drive of Katy, and all were native Texans except the other quarterback, Dave Parsons, who claimed he got here as soon as he could.
The women were even more of a rainbow, because two were Asian and two were Latina, in addition to white, black, mixed race, and Pacific Islanders. The women were as gorgeous as the men were hunky, and everyone accepted Johnny, Hanna, Erik, and Annika as peers. The two men knew they didn't hold up physically against the elite athletes as well as their women held up against the other females, with everyone parading about in skimpy swimsuits.
They weren't cowed, but there was a degree of intimidation; not many 'civilians' experience hobnobbing with such a crowd. That lasted for about an hour, until a tipsy Cassie wrapped her arms around their waists and loudly announced they were "the best bosses on God's green earth!"
Most people just turned and smiled at them, but Abbie crooked her neck and said, "These are the dudes behind Greenlight? The company you work for now?"
Cassie replied affirmatively, and Abbie said, "Okay, I'm impressed. I pictured scrawny nerds with horn rim glasses!"
She was standing across the pool from them, so she was speaking loudly. "So, hot shots - I'm an investment advisor and I have questions! First, is the government going to finance the expansion for the logistics program? If not, I can take care of that for you, in a heartbeat.
"Second, when will you debut the safety, efficiency, analysis and maintenance module that many believe will change the world as we know it?
"And most importantly, when are you going public? That's an IPO my firm would LOVE to help you with!"
Erik looked at Cassie and then Johnny. "SEAMM is more accurate and better than EAMM, don't you think? Don't tell her and we'll just run with it," he said quietly. Cassie squeezed him and giggled in reply, Johnny mumbled his support, and then Cassie asked, "You going to answer her? She's as smart as she is beautiful, and very well connected."
As soon as she finished her questions, Abbie started around the pool to hear the answers up close. Annika and Hanna were in a group of men and women on the far end of the pool; they had heard Abbie's original inquiry, and then the questions. They were interested in the answers, but Trey, the 6'6" 260-pound tight end whose pro beach volleyball champion wife was flirting with one of the wide receivers a few feet away, was lightly flirting with them, and he had been joined by Roquan, a linebacker whose flirting was more blatant. His mixed-race wife was talking animatedly to the monstrous Pacific Islander, whose pretty Korean wife was standing close to KJ, listening to him with a come fuck me look on her upturned face.
Hanna didn't know a lot about partying with rich athletes and their spouses, but this reminded her of a swing party a date had taken her to when she was 19. She didn't like it then, and hard bodies or not, she wasn't getting involved now, only months before her wedding! She smiled at the compliments but didn't return the flirtation.
Annika, used to parties full of beautiful people in cities across the world, thought little of it. Flirting was normal and expected there, and, especially in some European countries, married people often left with someone other than their spouse. She wasn't concerned, because she was engaged and had no intention of letting it get past flirting. This was just a natural part of getting to know new people in the world of celebrity, and, in her experience, successful athletes were the most confident and aggressive form of celebrity.
Up close, the combination of Abbie's olive complexion, dark hair, and eyes was even more striking, and her voluptuous body even more impressive. Erik and Johnny soon learned, though, that Cassie was right - her most impressive attribute was her mind, and they began to see how she could be helpful as they ventured outside their comfort zone in building Greenlight.
She was disappointed that SEAM was months away, at best, and that no IPO would be offered in the foreseeable future, but enthusiastic about providing other people's money for their reorganization and expansion needs. They didn't tell her about Appleseed because they might need more seed money than they had, and they wanted to hear what she had to offer.
She and Cassie pulled out their phones, set a date and time for a meeting, and Abbie sashayed off, making sure they noticed her world-class ass and body. Cassie looked up and asked, "So what do you think?"
"She's a bit shy and retiring," Erik said with tongue in cheek, "but once you get past that, she seems to know what she's talking about."
"Ha! Shy isn't in her vocabulary, nor is retiring, but, yes, she is well-respected in the worlds of finance and investments. And I want to compliment you guys - even when confronted with that outrageous Kardashian-like body, neither of you drooled or sprang an embarrassment in your shorties."