by Desiree Holt
“I’ll get her.” Oh, yes, she would definitely get hold of Ivy. “Not to worry.”
“In the meantime, could you see your way to bringing me a fresh mug?”
She swallowed a sigh. “Yes. Just don’t move until I get back.”
His laugh held little humor. “I’ll do my best.”
“I’m not staying,” she told him again when she brought him fresh coffee.
“Then you’d better get hold of Ivy. And soon.”
No, she wouldn’t stay; this needed to get fixed right away. Damn Ivy, anyway. She retreated to the kitchen again, trying to figure out what to do. After pulling out her cell phone, she tried the woman yet again.
Chapter 5
Jake muted the sound on the flat screen television and closed his eyes. He was fucking sick of watching anything. Besides, despite the lineup of six hundred channels, there didn’t seem to be much of a choice.
How the hell had he landed in this situation with Erin hired to take care of him? He was going to kill his sister the minute he got his hands on her. If he ever did. She’d made herself suspiciously unavailable. Oh, he had her number. He saw her fine evil hand behind this. She was up to her old matchmaking tricks again. Why couldn’t he make her understand that he wasn’t interested in a damn relationship right now? If his leg didn’t heal, what did he have to offer anyone? He had to concentrate on that, and Erin was definitely a distraction.
Then the memory of his night with Erin flashed in his brain and caused sensible reason to flee. He could still remember the shape of her curvy, sexy body, the feel of her satin-smooth skin, the lush silk of her dark red hair that swung easily just below her shoulders. And those eyes. Hazel, with intriguing flecks of gold. They hadn’t done a whole lot of talking, but what conversation they’d had at the party let him know she was a smart, savvy woman. Five-foot-five of sex and smarts. A dangerous combination.
And one apparently out of his reach, for whatever fucking reason.
Ivy had been all up in his shit, asking about that night and talking Erin up, as if she was her press agent. Somehow he didn’t think Erin knew about it or would be all that thrilled if she did find out. His sister, for whatever reason, was determined to get him coupled up before he retired, as if he couldn’t find someone himself.
It was just, well, he was convinced he had nothing to give to a real relationship. When he looked in the mirror, he still saw the scared fourteen-year-old determined to stand up for his mother and sister. Football had given him a life. A new life. But behind that, he’d never gotten past believing he was worthless. Less than nothing. Who would want him?
For a brief few hours, he had believed it would be different with Erin. In one night his emotions had gotten involved. Then her words had knocked him on his ass, words that hurt even more than the ones he’d used to reduce Jake to nothing.
Now here he was, a goddamn cripple, at the mercy of the one woman who wished herself any place but here. He wondered what she thought every time she had to help him to the bathroom. Did she see just a useless piece of flesh, the way he had?
Maybe not. Despite her attitude she certainly had looked her fill of his dick every time she walked into his room, her eyes fastened to the outline of it beneath the thin gym shorts. Was it possible she still had residual feelings from their night together? That something was brewing between them? Did he dare even hope?
He wished he could figure out a way to get past the steel wall she erected around herself. It was like an imaginary line of scrimmage was drawn between them, the line players could not cross until the ball was snapped. He was on one side, Erin on the other, and no one was calling the plays. This just damn sucked. What did she have against football players, anyway? Something had to have happened for her to have such an aversion to them, such a low opinion. And did he really want to know? Maybe he should just take football out of the equation and see if she’d get to know him as plain old Jake.
He’d have to think of something, because in spite of everything, the attraction he’d felt for her from the very first moment he laid eyes on her seemed to grow stronger every minute. And it was a lot more than sexual. He, the man who’d insisted on no relationships in his life, who could not allow himself to be distracted from football for reasons that had roots in his childhood, was having his life turned upside down by a woman who had told him point blank she didn’t like or trust football players. Well, shit. Now what? Maybe while he was lying here like a lump of clay he could think of something. At least it could give him something to do besides feeling sorry for himself.
He found a channel with an old movie, lowered the volume, and set the timer. Then he closed his eyes and prayed for inspiration and relief.
* * * *
Erin opened a bottle of white wine she found in the fridge, searched for a wine glass, and poured a generous drink. Then she carried it out to the patio off the family room. After the day she’d had, she was sure she deserved that and a lot more. Ivy had yet to return her phone calls, which only raised her blood pressure to the danger level. She’d tried calling her office several times, only to be told her friend was out, in a meeting, or with a client.
Uh-huh. It seemed Ivy had this avoidance thing down to a science. Well, tomorrow that would come to an end.
Jake had been Mr. Grouch personified all day, including when the home care man came to help him shower and shave. He had given her no idea what he wanted to eat, and being unable to get a hold of Ivy, she’d made an educated guess for both lunch and dinner. Jake had bitched up a storm but then eaten every bite of his food.
When she brought his dinner, he’d asked in his grumpy way if she thought she was too good to eat with him. She’d told him she had no appetite, which wasn’t all that far from the truth. She’d helped him get ready for bed before escaping with her wine to the patio. It was so pleasant out here, the roof a shield from the elements, the screening a protection from insects. Massive plants in colorful pots created a tropical ambience, and with the sun just setting, the magnificent oak trees in the backyard were bathed in the golden glow. It was a scene that under normal circumstances would have been so peaceful and soothing. Tonight she wasn’t sure if even every drop of wine would do that.
The damn chemistry between them just threw her out of whack even more than everything else. That kind of electricity had gotten her in trouble with him before, and she didn’t intend for it to happen again. Absolutely not. Uh-uh. No way. If she didn’t hear from that rat Ivy by the time the home health care person came tomorrow, she’d get in her car, storm her friend’s office, and make her take care of business. Getting involved with Jake in any way could only end in disaster.
But wait. That meant she’d be spending the night under the same roof. In one of his bedrooms. In his house. The thought of being in such close proximity to him sent little tremors to her sex and made her breasts ache for the touch of his hands. Her nipples longed for the hot wetness of his mouth.
Holy shit!
What a hot mess she was turning into. She gulped down the rest of her wine and rose to get a refill. Maybe ice water would be a better idea. She might think that Jake and all the men like him were dangerous to her emotional health, but she had been totally unable to wipe the memories of that one night from her mind.
Wine. More wine.
She carried the glass to the room where she’d put her things and decided she’d at least unpack what she needed for the night. She had just picked up her cosmetics bag to carry it into the bathroom when the intercom on her nightstand squawked.
“Erin?” The word blasted out at full volume.
She jumped, nearly dropping the bag in her hands, and hurried back to the nightstand. Turning the volume button down first, she pressed Talk.
“Yes?” She worked to keep her voice low and well modulated. “Did you need something?”
“Yes.” This came out much lower. “I need you to come in here.” He paused. “I mean please.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“How many minutes is a few?” he asked.
“More than you’d like if you don’t shut up and let me finish what I’m doing.”
She waited a few seconds but the intercom remained silent. Dampening her irritation, she took a few things out of one of her suitcases and put them on the little side chair for the next day. She had no intention of unpacking everything. Tomorrow she was out of here if she had to have Ivy arrested and brought to her in handcuffs.
After taking one last fortifying swallow of wine, she headed toward the master suite, detouring on the way to get fresh water for Jake for the night.
He was lying in the same place she’d left him when she picked up his dinner tray, back against the pillows, leg elevated. The big television was on but the sound was muted. The covers on the bed were partially thrown back, but thank goodness they covered him from the waist down.
“I thought as long as I was coming into the room I’d make sure you took these.” She used the most neutral tone she could manage.
“Yeah, okay,” he growled.
She dropped his sleeping pill into his hand plus the antibiotic, uncapped the water, and handed it to him. He drank almost half of the bottle before recapping it, and she wondered what she’d do if he had to get up in the middle of the night.
“Do you need a pain pill? You look pretty uncomfortable.”
He shook his head. “I told you, I want off of them as soon as possible. I can handle pain.”
“Just make sure you aren’t being foolish about it. Sometimes when your body is trying to fight off pain it can’t heal as well.” She put her hands on her hips. “Okay, Mr. Russell. What was it you wanted?”
His eyes widened. “Mr. Russell? How about Jake?”
“We have a formal relationship,” she said in her primmest voice. “We should maintain it.”
He scowled. “Well, aren’t you just the prissiest thing. Okay, Miss Bass. I hate to disturb you but I wondered if you had any luck getting hold of my suspiciously absent sister?”
“You could have asked me that over the intercom,” she pointed out.
“But I wanted to ask you in person.” He used his elbows to hitch himself up a little higher. “Well?”
For a moment she couldn’t speak, mesmerized again by that strong muscular body, the dusting of golden curls on the planes of his chest, his sexily rumpled hair. And oh, hell. There it was again, that very obvious woody, his swollen cock highlighted by the soft fabric covering it. Her mouth actually watered.
“Well what?” she finally managed to say, hoping the drumbeat in the walls of her pussy didn’t sound as loud as it felt.
“Have you managed to get in touch with Ivy?” He shoved the sentence out through gritted teeth.
Okay, that shocked her back to common sense. Ivy. Damn Ivy. She was going to wring her neck.
“If I had,” she snapped, “she’d be standing right here explaining this situation to both of us and fixing it. So, no. I have yet to talk to her.”
“Me either.” He watched her through slightly hooded eyes, his gaze so penetrating it stabbed clear through her, making her feel almost naked.
She wet her lips. “Was there anything else?”
He just kept staring at her. Was she just imagining it or was the sexual tension in the room so intense it was like a living thing she could almost reach out and touch? Her palms were sweating, and she rubbed them on her slacks.
“Jake?” she prompted. “Did you want anything else?”
“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “I want to talk to you.”
“Talk?” She cocked an eyebrow. “About what? I’m really tired. Besides…” She waved at the giant flat screen on the wall opposite the bed. “You’ve got plenty of entertainment available.”
“I don’t want to be entertained.” His features were set in a fierce look. “I want to talk to you.”
“Oh, so I’m not entertaining?” Holy crap! What was with this guy? He was just as insufferable as she’d figured. “Is that what you’re saying?”
“No. Jesus.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “That didn’t come out right.” He reached for the half-filled bottle of water she’d left him and knocked it onto the floor.
Sighing, something she suddenly seemed to be doing a lot of, she picked up the water, uncapped it again, and handed it to him.
“Can you drink it by yourself or shall I hold it for you?”
He pinched his eyebrows together and got ready to make what she was sure was some smart remark, but when he shifted his body on the bed she saw pain cut lines into his face like the ones she’d seen earlier. When Erin was ten, she’d fallen and broken a finger and she still remembered how much it had hurt. She was sure Jake’s pain was magnified a thousand times more than that, although he was well past surgery. She’d have to work at toning down the snark in acknowledgment of his situation. At least until tomorrow when she was sure as hell out of here. She forced a smile.
“Sorry. That was uncalled for.”
“An apology?” He snorted a laugh. “I might need those pain pills after all to counteract the shock.”
Bite your tongue, Erin. Just bite your tongue.
“I’ve been known to give one now and then,” she told him.
He patted the bed next to him. “How about if you sit down and talk to me for a minute.”
Really? “Damn. Are you that bored?”
“Maybe I just want to get to know you better.” He watched her, obviously gauging her reaction.
Everything in her stilled. “I think we went over this the last time we were together,” she reminded him.
“The only time.” His eyes burned into hers. “If I remember correctly, you were the one who killed it. Right?”
“For very good reasons.”
“Yeah? Well, I still don’t know the real reason, but I’m damn sure it isn’t me.”
Her stomach knotted. He was right. He hadn’t been the underlying reason, but she didn’t want to go into that.
“Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
“So I’ve been told.”
“If that’s what you want to talk about, I’m going back to my room. My temporary room.”
“Fine. Then just talk to me for a few minutes about anything at all. You pick the topic.” He gave her the same penetrating stare. “Maybe I just want to know more about you. About who you are as a person.”
And that way lies its own dangerous path.
She shoved her hands into her pockets. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Besides, you need to get your sleep. To heal.”
“Twenty-four hours a day isn’t going to help me heal any faster.” He spat the words out, each one edged with bitterness. “I feel like a damn cripple. Half a game and my damn season is over. I can’t wait to get this fucking cast off and get back on the field. It’s killing me lying here like this.”
Lord. The man changed with the wind. One minute he was trying to be charming, the next he was grumpy, and the next angry and resentful as hell. Erin was glad she would only be here until tomorrow. She wasn’t sure how she’d deal with all his personality changes on a daily basis.
“Jake,” she began slowly, “other football players have had serious injuries and survived. You will, too.”
“Other players have been injured and it killed their damn careers. Look at me. I’m thirty-two years old. I’m a key player, but I’ve got maybe two or three more years left before my speed begins to diminish and I get cut back to second string. Coach sends me in for fewer plays. Some games maybe I’m only in for one or two snaps. Then I’m cut altogether. But fuck. I want those last few years.”
He picked up the empty water bottle and threw it across the room.
“Temper tantrum much?” She picked up the container. Easy enou
gh to toss it in the kitchen on the way back to her room.
“My broken leg, my house, my right to a tantrum.” His tone of voice was far from pleasant.
“Are you always this pleasant?” She shook her head. “Did you ever think this was a sign that you needed to expand your world beyond football?”
“No.” He nearly shouted the word, then scraped his hand over the stubble on his face. “This is my life and I’m not apologizing for it.”
She tried to weigh her words carefully. As irritated, angry, and frustrated as he was, anything could set him off, as it just had. “I can’t begin to know how you feel, and I’m not going to try and argue with you about this—”
“Good,” he interrupted. “Because it is what it is. Go back to your room. I was delusional to think we could have a decent conversation here. I just thought as long as you were stuck here, maybe we could clear the air about a few things.”
As if this was really the best time to do that. Not with his frustration level so high.
“I think you’re right. I should go back to my room. Tomorrow I’ll be out of your hair, and you can yell at the person who takes my place.”
She turned and walked out of the room as pulled together as she could be, then closed the door firmly behind her. She stopped in the kitchen to toss the empty water bottle before reaching her room and throwing herself on the bed. Holy mother. Just being in the same house with Jake had her mind imagining forbidden things. What was up with that? It wasn’t as if she were fulfilling a crush or something. And besides, she’d had plenty of sex before she met him.
But not as good as it was with him.
That was a thought she needed to wipe from her mind. Tomorrow she’d find Ivy if she had to get the cops to track her down. She’d get out of here, back to her own life, and concentrate again on finding a job. She allowed herself one moment of regret. On the surface, this job should have been a real plum. High dollar salary, a beautiful house to camp out in, nobody but one grumpy patient to bother her. If only that patient hadn’t turned out to be Jake.
Finally she pushed herself off the bed, washed off her makeup, brushed her teeth, and pulled on her favorite sleep shirt. She lugged in her cell phone charger, hooked up the phone, and sent one last message to Ivy.
