Going Deep

A Chicago Cobras Novel
by Rowan Black

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Pairing: M/F
Heat: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Inferno
Tropes: Forbidden Romance, Secret Relationship, Boss/Employee, He Falls First, Forced Proximity, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Praise Kink, Touch Her and Die

The machine and the man who made her human.

Sloane Sterling inherited the Chicago Cobras at twenty-nine—the youngest female GM in NFL history and the daughter of a legend who loved the franchise more than he loved her. She’s spent three years proving she belongs, building walls so high that the press calls her “The Machine.” She doesn’t date. She doesn’t crack. And she absolutely does not bail players out of jail at 2 AM.

Until Jax Ryker.

Jax Ryker is the wide receiver everyone wants—thirty years old, a potential Hall of Famer, and fresh off a bar fight that’s about to destroy his career. When the Cobras offer him a second chance under Sloane’s “personal supervision,” he expects cold professionalism. What he gets is a woman who matches him wit for wit, a glass wall between them that feels more like a mirror, and a coffee ritual that becomes the most honest conversation of his life.

The rules are simple: No relationship. No scandal. The Ironclad Clause in her father’s trust will strip her of the team if she’s caught in any “conduct unbecoming.” One photograph. One whisper. One moment of weakness—and everything she’s built disappears.

But Jax doesn’t play by rules. And Sloane is discovering that the machine has a heart—one that beats faster every time he sets a coffee mug on her counter with the logo facing exactly twelve o’clock.

When a boardroom enemy threatens to expose them both, they’ll have to choose: protect the franchise, or fight for a love that was forbidden from the first cup of coffee.

Going Deep is a high-heat MF sports romance featuring a control-freak GM who’s never let anyone in, a reformed bad boy who makes coffee like a love letter, forced proximity, forbidden romance, a morality clause that could destroy them both, and a happily ever after worth fighting for. Contains explicit content, emotional intensity, and a man who will burn down the world to protect the woman he loves.

⚠️ Content Notes

This book contains explicit M/F sexual content including: praise kink, D/s undertones, desk scenes, shower scenes, and detailed intimate encounters. Also includes: parental death (off-page, prior to story), corporate betrayal, workplace power dynamics, public scrutiny, and intense emotional vulnerability. All content is between consenting adults. Guaranteed HEA.

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Chapter One: The Arrest

The call came at 2:07 AM.

I was still awake—not because I was working, though the laptop on my nightstand suggested otherwise, but because I’d been staring at the ceiling for three hours, running scenarios. Playoff permutations. Cap implications. The seventeen different ways Marcus Thorne might try to torpedo the coaching search I’d been running without his knowledge or consent.

My phone buzzed. Unknown number. Chicago area code.

I answered anyway. GMs don’t get to ignore calls at 2 AM. Not during the season. Not when you’re 3-7 and the vultures are circling and your Chief of Staff has been sending you articles about “organizational dysfunction” with increasing frequency.

“Ms. Sterling?” A man’s voice. Tired. Official.

“Speaking.”

“This is Sergeant Morrison, Chicago PD. We have a situation involving one of your players.”

I was already out of bed, pulling on the charcoal slacks I kept draped over the chair. The charcoal suit was my armor. Had been since I took over the team three years ago. Dark enough to disappear, sharp enough to cut.

“Which player?”

“Jax Ryker.”

I stopped with one arm in my blazer.

Jax Ryker. Thirty years old. Wide receiver. Three-time Pro Bowler before the Achilles tear. We’d signed him in the offseason for exactly the kind of veteran presence our young receiving corps needed—leadership, route-running expertise, someone who’d seen playoff football and could teach the others what it felt like to play games that mattered.

We had not signed him for 2 AM phone calls from the police.

“What happened?”

“Bar fight at Emmett’s on Division. He broke a man’s nose. Possibly his jaw—we’re waiting on the hospital to confirm.”

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Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the forbidden romance element?
Sloane’s father left a morality clause in the trust that controls the team—one scandal and she loses everything. Dating a player under her supervision isn’t just unprofessional, it’s career suicide. Every touch is a risk. Every stolen moment could be the photograph that destroys them.

What’s the coffee mug thing about?
Jax makes Sloane coffee every morning and positions the mug with the logo facing exactly twelve o’clock. It’s never explained. It doesn’t need to be. It’s a love language made of small, perfect gestures—and it will wreck you.

How steamy is it?
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (5/5 flames). This book contains explicit content including: desk scenes, shower scenes, reunion sex, praise kink, and emotional intimacy that might actually be hotter than the physical stuff.

Is there a happy ending?
Always. This is a romance novel—the HEA is guaranteed. Super Bowl win, proposal, public declaration, and a lifetime of coffee at twelve o’clock.

Do I need to know about football?
Nope! The football provides the backdrop and the stakes, but this is a love story first. Everything you need to know is explained naturally through the characters.

Who is Rowan Black?
Rowan Black writes high-heat MF romance featuring strong heroines, swoony heroes, and guaranteed happy endings. Check out more titles here.