His Romance Coach (A McKnight Family Romance Book 5)

by Lucy McConnell

  “What happened?” she asked quietly, as if my pathetic demeanor had finally registered in her mind. Jaxson hung on to her, though I wasn’t sure if it was for her sake or mine.

  “She, uh, prefers to keep our relationship on a professional level.” It sounded lame even in my ears. “She dumped me.” There. I said it. And it hurt every bit as much to admit that as it did to live with the results. I rubbed at the ache in my chest.

  Lottie’s face fell. She stepped out of Jaxson’s arms and hugged me. “I’m sorry.”

  I patted her back and then shrugged. “Look on the bright side: I’ll have more time to do wedding stuff.”

  She pulled away, her forehead wrinkled in concern. “Liam—”

  I waved down her worries. “I’m fine. Really.” I reached for my old self, the one that used to protect me from all of this attachment pain, and pushed it to the surface. “Go finish getting ready. I’ll get out of your hair.”

  She shook her head. “If you’re not going …”

  “You have to be there. It’s a team thing, and you’re expected.”

  “So are you.”

  “I’ll claim a stomachache.” It wouldn’t be a lie. For the first time since I’d put on a set of football pads, I wasn’t hungry and there was a bowling ball sitting in my gut.

  Lottie pecked a kiss to my cheek. “Love you.”

  “Love you too.” I patted her arm, and she headed for her room.

  Jaxson followed behind her and gently shut the door. “Bro, you’re stressing her out.”

  “I know—sorry.” I hadn’t meant to make Lottie worry over me.

  “You know you have to be there tonight. The whole reason you hired Heather was so you could show Mr. Caviel you’re a different person. What’s he going to think when you no-show?”

  I hadn’t even thought about the effect this would have on my career. That was what Heather did; she rearranged my life and priorities and put herself center stage—without even trying. I’d had plenty of women try—and fail—to do just that, but with Heather, it was different. Effortless on my part. Falling in love with her was … amazing. “I don’t know. I really don’t care what he thinks.”

  Jaxson glared. “You need to get your head in the game.” He smacked my back as hard as he would have on the field, and I had to take a step forward. It ticked me off.

  And since anger was the emotion bubbling right under my skin, I shoved him back. “It’s not a game. This is my life.”

  “Work it out,” Jaxson insisted, his nostrils flaring. “It’s not all about you.”

  “Whatever.” I stormed out of the house, not even bothering to watch for Mason and Parker to say goodbye. I got in the car and drove on autopilot. It wasn’t until I was in front of Heather’s building that I realized where I was. I laid my head on the steering wheel and moaned. What was wrong with me? I was seriously gone over this woman—that’s what. Without her, nothing else mattered.

  Jaxson accused me of being selfish, but all I could think about was Heather. I missed the way she tilted her head when deep in thought, how she got so excited over books, and the feel of her freckled skin under my fingertips. I liked that her blush was splotchy and spread from her neck up to her roots. And I loved her crazy, curly red hair, because as professional as she tried to be, her hair gave away the fact that she had a fun side.

  “I should have snatched her up in high school,” I mumbled. I went back to that time period and looked at the two of us. We’d been so young. She’d been insecure, and I’d been overconfident. What would our lives have looked like if we’d gone to prom together? My buddies had lamented the fact that Heather had won the lottery we’d done as a fundraiser and gotten the date with me, but I hadn’t minded at all. In fact, I’d been looking forward to it. If only …

  I started as I realized Heather was the only woman I’d ever apologized to. When I’d gone to pick her up—two hours late—and her dad had answered the door, I’d heard her crying. Her dad wouldn’t let me talk to her and sent me on my way. When I’d apologized to Heather, I’d gotten the feeling she hadn’t known that I’d shown up at all. But I hadn’t wanted to make waves in her family, so I’d said I was sorry and hoped we could put it behind us. We had, and I’d thought we graduated as friends. But I’d never told her what really happened that night. I should have trusted her more back then.

  I blew out a breath.

  The idea of trust rolled around in my head. There were few people on this planet who I trusted. My family and Jaxson. My agent, to an extent. Had I really trusted Heather? If I was honest—and thanks to her tutelage this week, I figured out how to be honest with myself—I didn’t. I’d never told her how I felt. I tried to guess at her feelings, and I took the safe road, keeping my heart tucked to my chest like a football.

  Dang it! I smacked the wheel. Why did I always have to learn things the hard way? If I’d just opened up and been honest with my growing attraction to her, she might have reciprocated.

  Might.

  Oh man, I could use some might right now. Any hope that things could work out with Heather would be welcome. I picked up my phone, but it wasn’t Heather I called.

  “Winnie?” I asked when she answered the phone. “It’s Liam.”

  “Hi, Liam.” I could hear typing on the other end. There was a final tap of a key, and she asked, “What can I do for my biggest fan?”

  I smiled. She’d teased that I was literally her biggest fan—coming in at just over 6’3” when I’d had her autograph my book. “I have a question, and I need you to be brutally honest with me.”

  “Ooh. I’m intrigued.”

  I’d known she would be. Now that the moment was here, my hands grew clammy and my heart raced. “See, I don’t know what Heather’s told you about the last week.”

  “Nothing,” she jumped in. “Patient confidentiality is huge for her. She doesn’t ever bend the rules.”

  “I wasn’t accusing—just trying to get a baseline. Here’s the deal. I’ve fallen in love with her.” The words were so big that it was a huge relief to get them off my chest and out there in the world, where they took on a life of their own.

  “Why are you telling me and not her?”

  Curse Winnie for being as smart as her sister. “Because I screwed up. I let her go when I should have held on to her.” I thought about flirting with Teya in front of Heather. I should have told Heather right then and there that she was the only woman I wanted. Dang it! This whole “being my real self” thing was a learning process, and I needed to accelerate the learning curve. “And I need your help.”

  “Hmm. So you broke my sister’s heart again and now you want me to help you?” She had a tone I recognized several times over—Mama Bear.

  “If this works out, I swear I’ll make it my life mission to make her happy.” It had to work. “Wait—broke her heart again?”

  Winnie sighed. “She’s crushed on you since high school, Liam McKnight.”

  I sat taller. “Really?” I’d known she was disappointed that I couldn’t take her to the prom, but that was it. I’d had no idea that it meant that much to her. Why hadn’t she said anything to me?

  “Don’t get all cocky on me. That was a long time ago, and she’s grown up since then.”

  “But if she was into me once …” I grasped for hope.

  “She still is,” she admitted, reluctantly. “Which makes me all the more angry at you for whatever you did.”

  Rather than live in the past, I jumped for the future. “I get that. But I can’t change the past or the idiot that I was back then.”

  She grunted in agreement.

  “But I can do something tonight that will hopefully make up for all of that. I want to take Heather to the gala. I want to introduce her as the woman I love to everyone there, but most of all—” I borrowed a line from the back of Winnie’s book, which was as far as I’d read. “—I want to make her mine, and I want to be hers.”

  Winnie laughed. “Using my own words to sway
me will not work.”

  I slouched.

  “But knowing you mean them—and what you mean to Heather—that will get me moving.” I heard keys jingle. “Where am I headed?”

  I pumped my fist. “Her apartment. I need her party worthy in an hour.” I glanced down at my clothes. I had to get home, shower, get dressed, text Jaxson that I was coming after all, and get back here to pick Heather up. I was running this play as if it would work—even if the defense lined up to sack me.

  I was all in, and I could only pray that Heather didn’t bench me—because I wouldn’t be half the man I was if it weren’t for her. But more importantly, I knew she was the one and I would do anything for her. Even embarrass myself in front of my whole team.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Heather

  Saturday

  I grabbed the last piece of chocolate from the box and took a bite. The sweet, chocolatey goodness coated my mouth, and I sighed. Who needed Liam McKnight anyway? Chocolate was my new boyfriend. Chocolate didn’t break my heart, and chocolate didn’t walk away from me. I was going to marry it and live happy forever.

  “I’m complete,” I lied. I glanced around my apartment and then felt like an idiot. I was complete as in completely alone, completely heartbroken, and a complete slob.

  After my conversation with Liam, I’d driven home, slipped into my pajamas, ordered takeout, and spent the last twenty-four hours lying on my couch watching Hallmark movie reruns. The dishes piled up as I wandered back and forth from the fridge to the couch. Being in the fridge was a reminder of Liam and his omelet skills, so I tried to avoid it, but a girl has to munch when she’s down or she’d just get hangry.

  I’d reached a new low.

  I brushed off my hands, and just as I moved to stand, I heard keys jingle outside. My heart picked up speed as I hurried to grab my blanket and wrap it around my body. There was no way I wanted people to know my shame. My hair was a mess of knots and the coconut smell was long gone, replaced with eau de popcorn butter.

  “Hello?” I hunched over as I made my way to the door.

  It opened, and I was face-to-face with Winnie. Shoot! She’d seen my ugly side before, but I’d dropped to a whole new level. She looked surprised at first, but then she pinched her lips closed and narrowed her eyes. “Yeesh. It’s worse than I thought.”

  I straightened and headed into the kitchen. “Har har.” I grabbed out an ice cream sandwich—the freezer didn’t trigger a Liam memory—and unwrapped it. “What are you doing here?”

  Winnie ran her gaze over me. “Have you showered today?”

  I shook my head. “I’ve given that up. What’s the point? I’m going to live in my pajamas in the living room until I die.”

  “You have chocolate on your neck.” She motioned toward me.

  My free hand felt for the place she’d indicated, only to find that she was right. Embarrassment flooded me for a moment, but then I pushed that away. After all, what did it matter? I wasn’t going to see anyone anyway. “I was saving it for later,” I retorted as I moved to turn on the faucet and stuck my hand under the water.

  “Right.” Suddenly, she was next to me. She turned off the water and pushed me toward the hallway. “You’re taking a shower,” she said.

  There was a bite to her tone that made me realize that fighting was pointless. She wasn’t going to stop until I did what she wanted me to. Besides, I wasn’t quite sure how serious her intervention was—if it involved calling our parents, there could be months of backlash in the form of daily check-in phone calls. So I sighed and allowed her to guide me into the bathroom and start the shower.

  As steam filled the bathroom, she moved back out into the hallway. “Get in. Get clean. Get out,” she said as she pointed to me and then over to the shower. Then she pointed both fingers to her eyes and then over to me.

  I snorted as I raised my hands. “All right. All right. I’ll do it.”

  She made one last motion from her toward me and then closed the door. I gave her a salute but doubted she saw it.

  I had to admit, the hot water beating on my body felt good. By the time I was clean and dry, I felt better. It was as if I had washed a small amount of the stress I’d been feeling away. I wasn’t healed by a long shot, but I felt like I could live a few more minutes. And that was all I could ask for at the moment.

  With my robe on and my hair pulled up into a towel, I wandered into my bedroom only to discover that Winnie had pulled out the dress we’d picked up at the boutique store a few days ago. My jaw dropped, and I shook my head. “Heck no, girl. Are you crazy?” I waved my hand in the direction of the painful reminder of who I was going to wear that for, as if that were all it took to make the thing disappear.

  “You’re wearing it,” Winnie said as she moved to grab the dress by the hanger and brought it closer to her. “Come on.”

  I furrowed my brow. “What? Why? Why would I wear that when I’ve got a DVR full of movies to watch?” I turned away from her so she couldn’t see how much just looking at that dress made me want to cry.

  “Sis, please?”

  Darn my sister and her pleading. She could always get whatever she wanted out of me. I turned to see that she had the puppy eyes on and her bottom lip quivered.

  “That’s unfair,” I said as I grabbed the dress from her.

  Her frown flipped to a smile as she clapped her hands. “You’ll thank me, trust me.”

  Not sure what she meant by that, I decided to ignore it as I slipped back into the bathroom. Once the dress was on, I emerged and shot daggers in Winnie’s direction. “There. Happy?” I plopped down on the bed only to have Winnie come at me with makeup and a brush.

  I tried to swat her hands away, but it was in vain. She was determined to doll me up, and I didn’t have the strength to fight her. So I sat there and let her play dress-up.

  After my hair was tamed and my makeup was on, Winnie stepped back and gave me the widest smile I’d ever seen. There was a twinkle in her eyes that I didn’t quite trust, but she was a romance author. I had a feeling that she was mentally writing a scene in her next book that mirrored what we were doing.

  “Are we done here?” I asked as I stood.

  “Shoes.”

  I sighed, loudly and in Winnie’s direction, but that didn’t stop her from disappearing into my closet only to return with a pair of my black high heels. “Really?”

  She nodded as kneeled in front of me. “Really.”

  I rolled my eyes and put them on. Then I raised my arms. “Happy?”

  She smiled.

  “Great. Can I get back into my pajamas now?”

  There was a knock on the front door, and Winnie’s eyes widened as an excited expression filled her features. “Right on time,” she said as she moved to stand behind me and gave me a shove.

  I had to wave my hands just to keep my balance. “Who’s here? And what are you doing?” I asked as I turned to catch her gaze.

  Winnie didn’t look interested in talking to me. Instead, she kept pressure on my back as she pushed me into the living room and positioned me right next to the door.

  I glared at her as I watched her open the door, have a hushed conversation with the person on the other side, and then pushed the door open to reveal …

  Liam.

  I sucked my breath in as I stared at him. His hair was styled, and he looked incredible in his tuxedo. His gaze kept slipping to mine as he extended out the bouquet of flowers he clutched in his hand.

  “What are you doing here?” I whispered as tears clung to my lids. I glanced over at Winnie, who gave me an encouraging smile and then excused herself to my room. I’d kill her later. Right now, I had to face my heartbreak—who’d brought me flowers.

  I focused on Liam. He met my gaze head-on, as if he wasn’t afraid his heart would shrivel into a raisin.

  “I’m making up for a mistake I made years ago.” He offered me a small smile. “I want to take you to the gala.”

  My heart pounded s
o loud that it competed with Liam’s words. I wasn’t sure if he was really saying those things, or if I was just imagining it. “What?” I squeaked out. I needed him to repeat all that. Just to clarify that I’d heard what I thought he’d said.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. His voice was low and husky as he extended the flowers to me.

  Needing something to do, I took them from him. My mind felt scrambled, and I wondered if I was ever going to fully understand what was going on.

  “Listen, I know that this is about fifteen years too late, but I wanted you to know why I didn’t show up for the prom.”

  I blinked. My eyes stung from the hot tears that had gathered there. I wanted to speak but didn’t know what to say. Prom? Prom! He’d kissed me like a boss two days ago, and he wanted to talk about prom? Fine. Whatever. Prom wouldn’t bring the hot, stinging tears back. I’d long since cried myself out over that one. Prom was safe.

  He cupped the back of his neck. “That night, Penny disappeared. She took Katie and ran away. My family was a wreck. My mom was crying. I couldn’t just leave my family like that. I had to help them find her. It was … scary.” He offered me a weak smile. “By the time we found her and I got to your house, your dad told me to leave.” Liam scrubbed his face with his hands. “I should have known better than to assume that your dad would explain things for me. He was pretty upset that I’d made you cry.”

  I swallowed. Liam’s words were only making me fall harder for him. This wasn’t fair. He showed up here to make up for the past, and all I could think about was how much I wanted him for my future.

  He stepped forward with his hands extended. “Can you forgive me?”

  I parted my lips to speak, but no words came out. He held my gaze, and I could feel his pain, his love, and his desperation in it.

  Liam loved me. He was going back to the first place he’d hurt me and trying to make up for it so we could build something together. The evidence was right there in his deep blue eyes, and it warmed me all over, melting away the crusty shell around my heart and breathing new life into the organ.