The Rookie: Book 2 The Last Play Series

by Hart, Taylor

  Legend was already engaged in conversation with some of the Hernandez brothers and Rosie’s husband Marco. They were laughing and hitting him on the back.

  Out of the corner of her eye she watched him, and he looked like he was having a wonderful time. She’d never really thought of how he would act socially. Okay, truthfully, she’d just thought he would be arrogant and cocky. In reality, she noticed he was complimenting the food a hundred times. He asked about all the boys and the sports they liked to play, admitting good-naturedly that he was no good with a soccer ball.

  Something warm went through her. He was actually nice. Well,sometimes. Tonight, she reasoned, when he wasn’t full of himself with his football cronies.

  But no matter what she did or what story she tried to tell herself about Legend, the fact was she had been wrong. She was beginning to understand that, even after all the months of research she’d done on him, she might not really know Legend James at all.

  Several people from town stopped next to her and asked about her grandfather or simply put their hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. She wasn’t as emotional today, which she was very grateful for. Crying was not her norm, and she hadn’t had a roller coaster day like yesterday in as long as she could remember.

  Before too long the volume of the music increased, and it felt like all of the Hernandez family and their cousins were out on the small dance floor doing the cha cha and rumba.

  Without warning, Victor’s younger sister, who had recently graduated from high school and was around five seven with gorgeous hair down to her waist and a smile a mile long, insisted Legend dance with her.

  He tried to refuse, but she took his hand and led him out.

  She noticed that Legend could dance quite well, Charity nursed her lemon water and was surprised by Victor pulling her up and insisting she dance with him.

  Because she’d grown up with the Hernandez family, she and Victor had been dance partners a lot. As they reached the dance floor, a tango came on. She and Victor danced just like they had when they were both twelve and Rosie had entered them into a competition.

  Whirling around the dance floor, she laughed and felt free for the first time in a long time. Victor added flair to their patterned moves and improvised some dips. By the time the song ended, both of them were laughing so hard they had to hold onto one of the tables for support.

  Victor stared into her eyes, and Charity knew what he was thinking. Her mind flashed to Paul. To the fact that she’d recently lost so much. She knew Victor would willingly step in to fill that gap, but that wouldn’t be fair to him. Or her. She didn’t care about him that way. She didn’t think she would ever care for anyone that way again.

  The music changed to a slow song, but before Victor could pull her back out, she gently took his hand off the lower part of her back. “I should get going.”

  “No,” he insisted, resisting and pulling her tighter.

  “Yes.” She quit resisting, but she didn’t dance. “Victor, that dance was amazing, but I don’t want to hurt you. I never meant—”

  “Could I have the next dance?”

  Charity knew who was standing behind her.

  The wooden way Victor tensed and the stilted smile that formed on his mouth said he was not happy about Legend’s request. He lifted his eyebrows. “I think the senorita is tired and wants to go home.” He held his ground, dropping the hand on her back but still holding onto her other hand. “I’ll walk her home.”

  At this moment, Charity was left with two options. She could dance with Legend, not her first choice, or she could go with Victor and break his heart again. She opted for the less lethal option for Victor, protecting him even though she knew he didn’t see it that way.

  “It would be rude not to dance with the rookie.” Flashing Legend a smile, she gently tugged her hand free and, without looking back at Victor, turned to Legend.

  Chapter 9

  The only reason Legend could explain why he’d felt compelled to ask Charity to dance was because he saw the way Victor looked at her. It was quite clear that he wanted more than Charity wanted to give. He saw the way she tried to take his hand off her waist and the way Victor pulled her closer. To be honest, he wondered where the Irish temper from yesterday had gone. He was pretty sure if Victor had been around yesterday, he’d have gotten a slap across his face.

  Before they began dancing, Victor stepped between them, hissing at Legend, “Let me be clear. If you hurt her, you’ll have me to deal with.”

  Respectfully, Legend nodded. As if the guy would have a chance in a real fight against him, but he wouldn’t disrespect Rosie by causing a scene. “Of course.”

  He and Charity fell into an easy two-step.

  Charity whispered, “Sorry, he’s a bit protective.”

  “I can see that.”

  She let out a soft chuckle. “The last time he saw Paul he told him I would never marry him.”

  This intrigued him. “I guess Paul must be your boyfriend.”

  A frown fell across her face. “Not anymore.”

  “That bad, huh?”

  Not focusing on him, she grunted. “The whole point of this conversation is that Victor can be like a protective brother.”

  He swung her out and then back into him. “I’m pretty sure he’s in line for more than the role of brother if you want him.”

  She made no comment.

  Legend had realized she was an amazing dancer after he watched the way she and Victor had tangoed. Even his heartbeat had sped up watching their complicated footwork. Admittedly, he wasn’t as good as her. Them. But he wasn’t bad either. He’d taken four semesters of ballroom. His teacher had fawned over him, and he’d loved every minute of it. She’d even asked him to be in a competition one semester, but unsurprisingly, it had interfered with some game or something. Everything in his life had interfered with football. That’s why he’d decided early on to never let it be a competition. Football always took precedence.

  As he and Charity spun around the floor staring in each other’s eyes, he wondered what he would have done if she would have been the one to ask him to compete. He grinned. “I do have to admit you and Vic looked good out there.”

  Breaking eye contact, she scanned the room. “We did some competitions together.”

  He let out a light chuckle. “It shows.”

  Trying to ignore the coconut scent that seemed to magnify whenever he turned her in or out, he did what he shouldn’t have done. He asked how she was feeling, “How are you holding up?”

  A wall the size of East Germany instantly shut out her emotions. “I’m fine.”

  He knew the opposite was true. He also knew she wouldn’t admit it. After yesterday, he had thought he would probably never get to see that vulnerable mess of a woman again. He’d kind of liked her. He pulled her in a little tighter. He noticed how even though she was only wearing a little make up, the mascara made her eyes look bigger and her lashes seemed to go on forever. He’d never liked women that made too much of a fuss and wore layers of make up. He could tell she wasn’t one of those women.

  “What?” Her eyes flashed to his.

  “Nothing,” he answered too quickly, spinning her out and back in. He tried to think of more dance moves to impress her.

  Holding his gaze, she squinted. A confused look crossed her face. “You seem like you’re having fun tonight.”

  Unsure if it was a question or a statement, he mimicked her confused look and leaned closer, whispering, “It’s confusing, isn’t it, that Legend James could actually…drumroll, please…have a heart?”

  Rolling her eyes, she smiled. “Okay, maybe I was a bit too harsh to call you a cold-hearted snake.”

  He gave her hand a light squeeze and laughed. “You’re wondering how come, after all the months of research, I’m not that arrogant, cocky jerk of a guy,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows, “At least, not all of the time.”

  She watched his eyebrows and then laughed. “Wow, I thi
nk this is the part of you that the public is missing, your talented eyebrows. I have never seen anyone lift them separately like that.”

  A laugh jerked out of him. He felt completely silly and like he was back in junior high trying to impress a girl.

  After he laughed, she laughed and his heart nearly burst. It sounded amazing.

  The song ended, and he stood there, holding her in his arms. His heart was pounding and his mouth was turning dry.

  Carefully, she extricated herself out of his grasp. “I better get going before…” she looked around and then back to him.

  “Before Victor asks you for another dance,” he stated.

  Her cheeks flushed red, and she rolled her eyes. He realized how much he loved watching her get embarrassed. She backed up and then flashed him a smile. “I will say this about you Legend James, you’re a better dancer than I thought you’d be.”

  He watched her find Rosie and give her a quick hug. Then she quietly moved for the door.

  There was no way to stop himself he discovered as he did the exact thing she’d done. He pulled a fifty out of his pocket and handed it to Rosie, wanting to be known as a good tipper, too. Then he let her kiss both of his cheeks. “Thank you. This was the best party I’ve been to all year.”

  Clearly delighted, she laughed. “You come back and see us.”

  “I will.” He rushed out of the restaurant and moved up Main Street in the direction of Charity’s grandfather’s house. It was dark, and he had to rush up the stairs that led to the other street and search for her. He couldn’t remember exactly where the house was in relation to the Mexican restaurant.

  “You know, your behavior is more than a little stalkerish at the moment, Mr. James.”

  He jumped a little and grabbed his heart. She was coming from behind him, and he whirled back. “You scared me.”

  Moving next to him, she kept walking. “C’mon, you have a lot tougher guys coming at you most of the time.”

  He fell into step beside her. “True, but I’m used to knowing when someone is coming for me, that’s all.”

  At this, she smiled, and he felt another flip flop inside of his chest. Strangely enough, he was finding that he liked making her smile.

  Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, she shook her head. “You know Victor might fight you if he realizes you’re walking me home. He’s done it since we were twelve.”

  “I’m not worried.” Legend saw her grandpa’s house coming into view.

  A light chuckle escaped her. “You should be worried about Victor. He’s a whole lot tougher than he looks.”

  “Naw.” Legend let out a long breath.

  “Wow, there’s that ego, the one the whole world knows and loves.” They got to the house, and she started up the steps.

  “It’s not about my ego.”

  Abruptly, she stopped climbing and turned back to him. “It’s not?”

  He relaxed and smiled up at her. “It’s about the fact that you’re not interested in him.”

  She scoffed. “And how, pray tell, do you know that?”

  He took one step. “Because.” He took another step. “You can always tell when a woman is interested in a man.” He took two more steps and stopped right next to her. She was about eye level with him because she was up one step. All he wanted to do at this moment was reach out and touch her hair. It looked soft. He’d always had a soft spot for redheads, but he sure as heck would never tell a girl like this that fact.

  She shook her head and let out a breath. “Okay, I’ll bite. How can you tell when a woman likes a man?”

  His whole body seemed to still as he stared into her eyes. “I have this old picture of my mom. She’s sitting on my dad’s lap, and they’re laughing. He’s not even looking at her. It looks like he’d just told some joke, ya know, but she was looking at him. It was the kind of look that shows this…this joy. The kind of look that showed even though he may have been being crazy, she liked it. She found him hilarious. It was like this synergy between them.” He stared into her deep blue eyes. “Have you ever felt that way about someone?”

  The air felt thick between them. She looked thoughtful and then slightly out of sorts. “I don’t know, Legend. Maybe.”

  Every part of him wanted to put his lips on hers at that moment, to pull her closer to him. He hadn’t felt that way about a woman for so long. But wouldn’t that only prove to her that he was some sort of snake?

  As if awakened from a dream, she took a step back, but held his gaze. “I know I’ll regret asking you this. I guess I’m finally getting an interview that I no longer need, but my reporter mind won’t let me not ask it.”

  His heart rate kicked up a notch. He felt like he was being interviewed for more than some article. “Go ahead.”

  Putting a hand on one hip, she frowned. “The thing I didn’t understand when I was interviewing the girls that dated you…”

  Embarrassment instantly filled him. “Right, you’re research,” he said the word with blatant distaste.

  She put a finger into the air and fluttered her eyes in a way that he thought would melt his heart. “Yes, my research, which was reported accurately,” she insisted. “Anyway…”

  A hint of past anger stirred through him, and he purposely let it go and cleared his throat. “Anyway…” He was willing to get past it.

  “None of them reported just hating you. In fact, most of them told me they thought they would get a second date, and they were disappointed when you hadn’t asked. So…” She took a step forward, back into his personal space, her eyes focused on him. “So what happened? Why didn’t you give nineteen of the twenty-two girls second dates?”

  He’d been squeamish about it ever since he’d read the article, not realizing he’d even gone out that many times. Quickly he shrugged. “Like you said, I’m a jerk. I’m so full of myself that I can’t get close to anyone.”

  She stepped even closer, cutting the space between them. Putting herself within kissing distance. “Hmm, I might have believed that before, but now I think there’s more to Legend James than meets the eye.”

  He let out a big sigh then frowned. “Look, Rook, I guess it will all have to remain a mystery. One of those things that will come out in my memoirs after I’m dead.” He grinned, liking the idea of having someone care to read a memoir about him. “It’ll be studied in the football hall of fame.”

  She blanched. “Ha. Ha. Well, you don’t have to worry that I’ll uncover any secrets. You’ve seen to it that I’ll be relegated to fluff articles the rest of my life.”

  Guilt tugged at him. “I do feel badly about that.”

  She moved up the steps. “Whatever.”

  He followed. “What will you do now?”

  She stopped again. “Not be a reporter for The New York Times.”

  He almost ran into her and muttered, “There are a lot of steps up to his house.”

  “That’s Park City. It started as a mining town, and that’s how these kinds of towns were built back then, on both sides of the mountain and close to the mine.”

  “It’s crazy.”

  “Look, don’t worry about me. I’ll find another job.”

  “What about Dallas?” He knew he sounded more desperate than curious, and he sucked in a breath, not knowing why he had asked that.

  Humor licked at the edges of her smile. “Better watch out, people might think you feel bad for the reporter whose head you were demanding only a day ago.”

  He realized he did feel bad. He hadn’t remembered that she had asked for an interview or that he’d really dated that many girls. It all sounded ridiculous now. “I really am sorry. I could put in a good word somewhere in Dallas. I’m sure they’d hire you.”

  She clicked her tongue. “And have to agree to follow you around for exclusives every second, talk about what kind of whey protein you drink after a work-out? Or how many speed dates you go on your first year out? Pshaa, I don’t think so.”

  It sounded good to him. “
C’mon, I’d actually talk to you this time.”

  She laughed, and a sad smile spread across her face. “Thanks, but no.”

  A strange feeling went through him. One that he usually only felt if Coach was bringing in a new player that was vying for his position. “Is this about Paul?”

  A half smile crossed her lips. “You act like you’ve just uncovered something.”

  She pushed over a large ceramic frog that was perched against the front door, bent and picked up a key. Then she opened the door and put the key back.

  Legend suddenly understood what it might feel like to be a reporter, searching for the truth through the muck in people’s lives, because he needed to find out more about this boyfriend. “Fine, Ms. Saint, I’ll ask the blunt question. Are you still in love with Paul?”

  She took a step into her house, not inviting him to come in. “How dare you!”

  “How come I didn’t hear you talk to him on your cell phone yesterday?” he grilled.

  She frowned. “My love life isn’t any of your business.”

  “Ha!” he pushed out, not finding this tidbit of information very helpful or likeable in the least bit. “Well!” He pushed out another breath. “You won’t even answer the question. What is a reporter supposed to do now?”

  “You’re kinda talking loudly,” she whispered and leaned back into the house, suddenly giggling.

  He felt ridiculous, but he smiled. “Well, maybe I’m writing an article on your love life. I mean, c’mon. It’s not fair you know everything about me.”

  The side of her lip quirked up. “Really?”