Straddling the Line(43)

"My cleaning staff is coming tomorrow. They can take care of that."

She looked up at him. "So can I. This will only take a few minutes to put away."

He walked over to her and took her hand. "You've done enough work  tonight. Let's go outside. You should put your feet up and relax. I feel  like all you did was work during the party."

She laughed. "It was hardly work. I mostly sat and had wine while the  rest of you ran off and did the scavenger hunt thing. And I got to visit  with Luisa Wilson."

"Oh, Mowery's wife?"

"Yes. She's like eight months pregnant. She said her ankles were swollen  and she wasn't up to dashing around doing the scavenger hunt, so she  stayed behind while her husband went off and did the hunt. She and I  talked. She's very nice."

"Yeah, she is. Do you want more wine?"

"Sure."

"What are you having?"

"I can get it."

He gave her a look. "What are you having?"

"The sauvignon blanc."

He went to the refrigerator, studied the bottles for a minute, then pulled one out. "This one?"

"Yes."         

     



 

He uncorked it and poured her a glass, then motioned for her to join him  as he headed out the back door. She'd long ago kicked off her sandals,  so she padded out to the deck barefoot.

He liked her feet, liked her painted pink toenails. And when she went  and sat by the pool and slid her legs in the water, he kicked off his  tennis shoes, pulled off his socks, and sat next to her, handing her the  glass of wine.

She took a sip, then sighed. "Mmm. This is good." She turned her head to look at him. "How did it go with Warrell?"

"Good. He loosened up some."

"I'm glad."

"Me, too. I think it might help him at practice and in game situations to realize we're all not the enemy."

"I hope so."

"Thank you again for organizing all this tonight."

"You're welcome. It was fun for me."

"It was work."

"Work can sometimes be fun."

He liked hearing her say that. It was the attitude he was trying to  cultivate. Though tonight hadn't been part of her job. "Did you get to  talk to any of the players-actual work-type stuff?"

"No. I didn't want to break up what was a relaxing, fun night with  reporter questions. I'll leave that for another time, when I'm working  in my official capacity."

He shifted so he could look directly at her. "No one would have minded, you know."

"Maybe. Maybe not. But you can lose trust if you start pummeling people  with questions while they're trying to kick back and have a good time.  This just wasn't the right venue for me to go after people with  questions about you or the team."

"Okay. You know what's best." He paused for a minute, then smiled. "So  does this mean if I'm kicking back and having a good time, you won't ask  me questions?"

She laughed. "Nice try. And no. It doesn't work that way, since you're the reason I'm here."

"Well, it is all about me."

Now she rolled her eyes. "Modest as always."

"You know me so well."

"Actually, there's a lot more I need to know about you."

"For the story."

She wanted to know more about his past. Yes, for the interview, but also  because she was curious about him-about his past, and how he came to  be. "What if I said my reasons were personal?"

He laughed. "I wouldn't believe you."

She cocked her head to the side. "Why not? Is it so hard to believe I  want to know more about you because I care about you?" He didn't answer  her for a few seconds, then he turned to look at her. "We're just having  fun here, Haven, right?"

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You and me. Nothing serious, right?"

His words stung. They shouldn't have, but they did. She should have  known better than to open herself up to getting hurt. But a simple  question and she'd done that.

She hid that sting behind a casual smile. "Of course. You have two  careers that keep you more than busy. I have a new career that will have  me traveling everywhere. Neither one of us is looking for a romantic  relationship. Like you said, we're just having fun here, Trevor. And  when this interview is over, I'm walking away."

He looked at her, and for the life of her she couldn't fathom what she  saw behind his eyes. She wished it weren't so dark outside.

"Right. That's exactly what I want, too."

She got up and grabbed a towel to dry her feet and legs. "I'm glad we  both want the same thing. I'd hate for there to be anything awkward-you  know-when this is over."

He looked over his shoulder. "Where are you going?"

"It was a super busy day and I'm kind of tired tonight. I'm going to head up to bed."

His lips curved. "My bed, I hope."

She paused. "Actually, I have a few hours of writing to do on the  interview. I could use some quiet time, so I can get through this as  quickly as possible. I think I'm going to close myself up in the guest  room tonight. I hope you don't mind."

He gave her a curious look. "Sure. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay." In her best this-is-all-just-casual-between-us voice, she said, "See you tomorrow, Trevor."

She hurried upstairs, closed the door, and leaned against it, trying to calm her rapid pulse.

Stupid. She was so stupid.

She had fallen in love with him.

Again.

And it was totally, utterly one-sided.

Again.

When will you ever get smart, Haven?

He will never love you.

TREVOR HAD NO IDEA WHY HE'D SAID WHAT HE'D SAID to Haven.         

     



 

Correction. He knew exactly why he'd pushed her away.

She'd said she cared.

He couldn't afford to let a woman-to let Haven-get close enough to care about him.

Because she wanted to know more about him, which meant exploring his  past. And that meant exposing secrets-secrets he wasn't ready to trust  anyone with.

Or was he ready?

No. He couldn't. Just the thought of it . . . what she might think if he told her . . .

She wouldn't understand. She'd think less of him. Or even worse, she'd  try to help, and no one could help him, because no one could know.

He took a long swallow of his beer and rolled the bottle around in his hands.

The problem was, she wasn't the only one who cared. He'd gotten used to  having her in his life. In his house. He missed her when she wasn't  around. He loved having her body next to his at night. He enjoyed her  laugh, her sense of humor, her counsel. He'd grown closer to Haven than  any other woman in his life before.

Was that love? He didn't know.

Maybe it was, because when he thought about her, everything inside him  tightened with lust, with emotion, with a sense that if he didn't have  her next to him all the time, something was missing.

But still, he kept a part of himself removed from her.

He couldn't tell her about that part. It would change her feelings for him.

And that meant there could be no relationship, which was why he'd spent all these years alone.

With no answers to his dilemma in sight, he stared out into the darkness.





THIRTY




HAVEN DIDN'T QUITE KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF SOME of the other players  offering themselves up for interviews about Trevor. But as she sat there  and watched the team practice, she noticed Trevor would talk to one of  the players, who would nod, and then later on make his way over to her.

She rolled her eyes, feeling manipulated and irritated. Who was in  charge of this interview, anyway? So whenever one of the guys came over  and offered himself up, she politely turned him down, telling him she'd  look him up later if she had any questions about Trevor.

Damn the man for always wanting to control things. Maybe she'd put that in her bio piece about him.

God forbid he should hand over the reins of control to a woman, letting her be in charge.

Though he hadn't minded whenever she'd wanted to climb on top of him during sex. She'd been in charge then, hadn't she?

As she saw him dash down the field, the ball sailing in the air and  landing in Trevor's arms, goose bumps pricked her skin. She vividly  recalled herself naked, riding Trevor's lean hips while he dug his  fingers into her flesh, urging her to take them both right to the edge,  then over. Her nipples tightened, her pussy quivering with the need to-

Dammit. Shaking herself out of her self-induced sex dream, she forced  her attention on Trevor's confident jaunt back to the huddle. She caught  him taking a quick glance up at her sitting on the sidelines. He gave  her a knowing smile, almost as if he'd been aware of what she'd been  thinking.

No way. It wasn't like her body was giving off sexual pheromones or she  was holding up an I Need to Get Laid sign or anything. He had just  smiled at her. That was all it had been. Like a Hi, how's it going? kind  of thing.

Right?

It had just been one night apart. And maybe she hadn't slept much and  she'd stared out at the dark water outside her window instead of  sleeping, lost in her own thoughts. She could have been cuddled up next  to Trevor's warm body, or mixed in a tangle of arms and legs, her body  moving under-or over-his, wildly crying out in orgasm, instead of  sleeping in a cold bed all by herself.