Back on Track: Strangers on a Train

by Donna Cummings

  “So she told you right off the bat she was going to lie to you.” Troy nodded slowly, considering that. “I might have to steal that one for the future. Sounds like a good strategy.”

  “Would you listen for a minute?”

  “I am listening. So she said she was going to lie, and then apparently she did. Wait. She lied and said she’d dated you.”

  “Well, not me exactly. Matt Kearns.”

  Troy shook his head. “You know you’re Matt Kearns, right?”

  Matt laughed again. The whole thing was absurd. And the more he tried to explain it, the more outlandish it got. It would probably make more sense if he had another glass of wine. Or a whole damn bottle.

  “I told her I was Matt Kearns, and that’s when she said she had dated me. Him. You know what I mean.”

  “Hell, she sounds like fun. Did you get her number? I’d love to give her a call.”

  Matt’s blood pressure doubled. “Don’t even think about it. I told you I like her. A lot. I’m trying to sort my thoughts out here.”

  “What’s to sort out? She knew who you were—”

  “Because she’s the one who’s been trying to get me to pose for that calendar!”

  “Okay. Well, it shows she’s smart too. She knows who you are, but she keeps it to herself, instead of busting your balls about refusing to do the calendar.”

  “True.”

  He hadn’t considered that. The minute he’d mentioned his name, Allie could have started promoting her calendar, but she hadn’t said a word about it.

  “And she knows how to have fun,” Troy continued with a boisterous laugh, “because damn, she must have gotten a kick out of telling you what it was like to date you.”

  “Actually, she wouldn’t give details. She doesn’t kiss and tell. I was starting to get jealous of myself.”

  “Which makes her perfect for you. You know she won’t be running to the tabloids.”

  Matt’s heart lurched. Troy was right. Allie had done everything possible to keep the fans away, convincing them he wasn’t the baseball superstar they’d been following all day long.

  When he’d confronted her about why she hadn’t let on that she knew who he was, she hadn’t tried to deny it. She’d explained why the calendar was so important to her. He knew what it was like to make work paramount. But instead of commiserating with her, he had blasted her for doing the exact same thing he did all the time.

  Matt slumped down in his chair. “I’m such an ass.”

  Troy raised his fists in the air. “Finally! Somebody believes me.”

  “How do I make this right?” Matt frowned. “I haven’t messed this up, have I?”

  “You can’t be serious. This is when you’re at your best, when the pressure is on and nobody thinks you can pull out a win.”

  Matt gave him a look.

  “Except for me,” Troy rushed to add. “You know I always bet on you to win.” He grinned. “Because you always do.”

  “I can’t believe I messed this up.”

  Allie took another sip of wine, although she’d had way too much already. She’d never consumed so much wine in a three-hour period before. Of course, she’d never had reason to. Today, she’d had excellent reasons. First, she’d been hanging out with the sexy hunk Matt. Now she was recovering from the sexy hunk Matt.

  After this fiasco, she might swear off wine forever.

  “You didn’t mess up anything,” Sandra said. “You actually achieved what you set out to do.”

  “I was trying to get out of a dating slump. I didn’t set out to derail my business and smash headlong into heartbreak.”

  Sandra rolled her eyes. “Stop being such a drama queen. Although you’re doing a great job of it.”

  Allie laid her forehead on the table. “Great. I’ve tried to end my dating losing streak and in the process I acquired skills for my next career.”

  “Look at me.”

  Allie shook her head, although it felt funny with the tablecloth rubbing against her forehead. She finally lifted her head, and Sandra reached over to smooth down her bangs.

  “Your goal was to end your dating slump, remember?”

  “True. Although it feels like I ended it by starting another one.” She sighed. “That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

  “Did you have fun?”

  “Yes. I haven’t laughed that much, or kissed that much, in so long. Only now I’m going to miss it. And—” She held up a hand to hold off a protest so she could finish the thought before it escaped her. “And now I’m going to hold everyone up to the Matt Kearns standard.”

  “The real one or the fake one?”

  Allie frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, is the Matt you spent the afternoon with the one you’re going to compare everyone to? Or is it going to be the one you think did everything wrong?”

  She had to think about that for a while. “He didn’t really do anything wrong,” Allie admitted. “Not that I did either. I started that lie thing before I realized who he was, and when I did realize, I didn’t want things to get uncomfortable. I mean, I would have been tongue-tied if I’d thought he knew I knew who he was.”

  “So you liked the real Matt.”

  “I think that was the fake Matt.”

  “Now I’m confused. Who’s the real Matt?”

  “Both of them,” she said. “I liked the one I made up, and the one I told about the fake one. I’m going to miss both Matts.”

  There was so much to miss. The sexy smile, the irresistible kisses, the way he playfully went along with all of her crazy comments about the man he supposedly was impersonating. Until he’d accused her of lying for the wrong reason.

  “You don’t have to,” Sandra said.

  Allie blinked. “I don’t have to what?”

  “You don’t have to miss them. You could tell them—him—how you feel.”

  Her stomach clenched, remembering the look on Matt’s face before he’d left. It had been a mixture of hurt and disillusionment, and she was sorry she’d put it there. “I know what you’re saying, but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t listen. He thinks I only wanted to get him to pose for the calendar. And I did, at first, but then I was having so much fun, I completely forgot about the damn thing.”

  Sandra’s shocked expression was priceless.

  “I know! Me, not thinking about work. But he has no reason to believe me. Why would he, when I lied about everything else that involved him?” She felt like moaning or crying or leaping off the speeding train. Any of those would feel better than the ache in her chest.

  “It’s possible he won’t believe you,” Sandra agreed. “But you don’t know for sure. Why did you keep calling his manager about the calendar when you kept hearing ‘no’?”

  “Because I’m stubborn?”

  Sandra laughed. “Or because you’re willing to pursue something you believe in.”

  Allie stopped, the wineglass halfway to her mouth. Her heart thudded painfully while she thought about explaining her feelings to Matt. But she couldn’t do it. It had been tough enough when he’d stalked away the first time. She wasn’t ready to experience rejection again, not this soon. The prospect made a dating slump seem downright comfortable.

  But deep down, she knew Sandra was right. Even if she failed with Matt, she had to try at least once more. She had to let him know how she felt, how he’d helped her see she needed to realign her priorities in life. It might not matter to him, but she could go home knowing she’d done her best to make things right.

  Most importantly, she had to let Matt know she wouldn’t be bothering him anymore about the calendar. After spending one afternoon with him, she understood why he wouldn’t want all the extra attention it would bring. She couldn’t bear for him to deal with that on her account. And she was pretty sure the rescued greyhounds would understand too.

  There were lots of other ways to get her fledgling business off the ground, but there was only one man her heart wanted. All
she had to do was catch him before he left the train.

  She stood and grinned at Sandra. “Cancel those stripper-pole lessons. We won’t be needing them.”

  Matt strode toward the car where he’d last seen Allie. He was in a hurry, but unfortunately so was everyone else. The train was slowing down as it got closer to the station, and the passengers had started to mill around, standing in the aisle during the last minutes of the excursion.

  Matt shifted impatiently, trying not to bump into anyone. He had to reach Allie before she left the train. He’d overreacted, too willing to believe she had spent their time together just to get him to do her calendar. It had been a knee-jerk response, one based on years of experience, and he hoped she’d understand when he explained why he’d reacted so harshly.

  He also hoped she’d accept his apology—as well as his offer to take her to dinner that evening. The thought of seeing her again made him impatient, and he almost plowed into a crowd of people trying to get past him.

  “Excuse me.” He stepped aside, smiling, but the delay nearly killed him. He couldn’t wait to get to know more about Allie. Hell, he couldn’t wait to have her in his arms again, kissing her, listening to any sweet lie she wanted to tell him.

  He was so wrapped up in his thoughts of her, he didn’t hear the buzz of excited whispers until it was too late.

  “Oh, hell,” he muttered, tugging at the bill of his cap. He wished Allie was there to deflect the attention, like she had with the last bunch of fans.

  “You’re Matt Kearns, aren’t you?” The young woman’s eyes struggled to focus, but her attention was trained squarely on him.

  “I get that a lot,” he said automatically.

  He almost laughed at how easily the lie came to his lips. And he had the audacity to give Allie a hard time for lying? He was a natural at it too.

  “It’s him,” the woman’s friend said, her voice rising with excitement. “I’m pretty sure it is.”

  He ducked his head and tried to slide past them, needing to get to Allie, but the train stopped abruptly. The first woman’s arms flailed as she tried to catch her balance, which she finally did—by throwing herself against Matt. His arms wrapped around her instinctively to keep them both from falling and knocking the rest of the passengers down like dominoes.

  The woman was busty, and attractive in an overly made-up way, but she wasn’t Allie. And Allie was the only woman on his mind right then. The only woman he wanted wrapped around him like a second skin.

  He grinned with genuine pleasure at that thought.

  “Are you okay?” he asked the woman. She nodded but didn’t take her arms away from him. Matt glanced up, looking for a way out of the tangle he was in. A sharp whistle blast announced their arrival at the station, and he knew he didn’t have much time left before everyone left the train.

  He had to find Allie.

  He finally saw her—as well as her dismayed expression—right before she turned and fled.

  Chapter Eight

  Allie deleted another message from Matt’s manager. She felt bad about ignoring his calls for the past month, but she wanted to tell Matt in person that she had changed direction on the calendar. First, though, she’d had to wait to hear from her client that they approved the change. Thankfully, they had, that very morning.

  She picked up the tickets to the exhibition game—great seats, right behind home plate—and wondered if Matt wanted her to be there tonight when he showed the world that his arm was in perfect shape. Or maybe he’d meant for her to raffle them off to help out her business. Either way, sending them to her had been a thoughtful gesture. She would be sure to thank him when she finally talked to him.

  Her heart skipped at that thought, but she reminded herself why it was important to keep things between them on a professional level.

  For a few fleeting minutes at the end of the train ride, it had seemed like a good idea to tell Matt how she felt about him—until she saw the woman flinging herself at him, professing her adoration. Luckily, Allie had escaped the train before doing something similar, mortally embarrassing herself and Matt.

  The way he had smiled with that woman in his arms—it had been exactly how he’d smiled at her. That’s what it had taken to make Allie understand she’d read too much into their time together.

  As much as she’d loved being with Matt, they’d been talking past each other the entire time on the train. It wasn’t possible to build a relationship on a foundation of so many lies.

  Still, the afternoon had served its intended purpose. It had been a fun diversion, as well as a much-needed reminder of why business shouldn’t always be given top priority. In time, she would quit thinking about Matt and his kisses. Her feelings for him would eventually fade.

  And one day she might even believe all the lies she had just told herself.

  Allie picked up her phone, dialing Matt’s manager to see if he could arrange a meeting with Matt. She hadn’t gotten past the first three numbers when she heard a commotion outside her office door. There was a definite buzz of excited chatter, along with the sound of other office doors in the hallway opening. While her business was improving every day, it still wasn’t well-known enough to have that kind of activity.

  The knock at the door was determined. She walked calmly to open it, telling herself it was probably the UPS man, or the mailman, or any man except the one she really wanted to see.

  She gripped the knob and swung the door open.

  Matt stood there, smiling, looking sexier and more delicious than he should have. Allie wanted to throw her arms around him and kiss him, but she managed to refrain. He’d probably had to fend off several women on his short walk from the parking lot.

  “Matt, it’s so good to see you.” She held out her hand, doing her best to stay professional, though it nearly killed her.

  A flash of confusion crossed his features, but it was quickly replaced by something that looked like resolve. He took her hand. Instead of giving it a brisk shake, he held it, smoothing his thumb over her skin. The same way he’d done on the train. She kept from shivering only through sheer force of will.

  “It’s great to see you, Allie.”

  “I’m so glad you’re back from Triple A. And better than ever, according to the papers.”

  His eyes widened. She shouldn’t have let him know she’d been following the news reports about him. But how could she resist? Despite her best intentions—and her earlier self-deception—she couldn’t think about anything but him. She’d tried to end her dating slump, and instead she was in a Matt slump. There was no simple recovery from that one. Not that he needed to know that.

  “Yeah, I’m doing great,” he said.

  “I’m glad to hear it. Oh, and thanks for the tickets. That was so generous of you.”

  “I was hoping you would be at the game, but I decided it might be a good idea to ask you in person.” He winked, a simple gesture that nearly melted Allie on the spot. “Your phone doesn’t seem to be working.”

  “Oh, that. Well.” She couldn’t think of a suitable lie. In fact, she might never be able to tell a good whopper again, thanks to the wine-train debacle. “That’s because—”

  “I miss you, Allie. I think about you all the time.”

  Her heart lodged in her throat. Maybe she hadn’t been wrong on the train—maybe they did have something real between them, something special. Before she could explore that, or hope for a future between them, she had to let him know a few truths, including what she’d been too afraid to admit on the train.

  A cough in the hallway snapped her back to the present.

  Each time she’d fantasized about this moment, she had been glib and eloquent, and it was only her and Matt standing there.

  In reality, she was speechless, and every neighboring business owner was leaning forward to get a better look at them.

  Allie wasn’t about to let the public in on this private moment. She gave a breezy wave of her fingers to the onlookers and pulled Ma
tt into her office, closing the door behind him. He leaned against it, smiling in the same sexy way he had in the train restroom. She shook that image off before it could derail her.

  “Matt, I need to be perfectly honest with you.” She inhaled, gathering her courage before it could skitter away. “I don’t want you to do the calendar.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “I think I liked it better when you were lying.”

  She laughed, nervously. “I thought you’d be glad to know I won’t be hounding you anymore.”

  To her surprise, he didn’t seem all that happy with her announcement. “So how will this affect your business? Not doing the calendar, I mean. I want to help you make it a success, any way I can.”

  She gnawed on her lip, debating how to tell him of her new plans.

  “Do you have somebody else?” He gave her a mock glare and pushed away from the door. “It’s not that Matt Kearns guy, is it? I’ll rip this shirt off right now and audition if I need to. I’ve been practicing all kinds of sexy poses.”

  Talk about a tempting offer. It made her remember those incredible moments with his bare chest, and his kisses, and—she had to get her thoughts back on track, and soon.

  Matt took her hands in his. “Allie, I needed to see you. So I could tell you how much I missed you.” He lifted her fingers to his lips. “And how crazy I am about you.”

  Allie’s heart nearly stopped. So much for trying to think clearly after the curveball he’d just thrown her way.

  “I hated how we left things,” he added. “I’d just figured out what a complete ass I’d been, but I couldn’t get back to tell you before you left.”

  “When I saw you with that woman—”

  He sagged. “I was afraid you’d seen that, and I wanted to explain.”

  Allie shook her head. “You don’t have to.”

  “Yes, I do. I want to. That happens to me all the time. I’ve kind of gotten used to it. But after spending that day with you, it made me realize how much you tried to keep all of it away from me. First, by pretending you didn’t know me. And later, when you made sure the college boys thought I was an imposter. I accused you of using me for your own ends, but you weren’t.”