If The Shoe Fits (27 page)

***

“
What do you mean, you don’t want
to see me anymore?” Luke stared at Staci. They’d spent every night
since dinner together—though not in the way he’d wanted to. Staci
had said they’d had to talk. To get to know each other. It’d
shocked the shit out of him that he’d actually enjoyed it. “What’s
going on, Stace?”

Staci’s eyes flickered to a spot somewhere on
the wall to his left.

Luke grabbed her chin and forced her to face
him. Oh, no, she did not get to do this. Not when he’d finally
found someone who wanted more from him than his celebrity and a
roll in the hay. Or, at least, he thought she had. Now, he wasn’t
so certain.

But, dammit! He was a man with more than a
little experience with women. He knew when one was interested. She
had been—and if the pulse fluttering in her throat was any
indication, she still was. Her announcement just didn’t make
sense.

“
Tell me what’s going
on.”

She looked up at him and he groaned. Somewhere
along the line in her makeover, she’d gone from hard and tacky to
luscious and desirable. And those eyes, swirls of smokey gray/green
with gold flecks near the pupils, did him in. “Tell me where I
screwed up.”

“
You didn’t do anything, Luke.”
She smiled, but there was no happiness in it. “It’s something I
have to do. I can’t tell you why, but you need to trust me and let
it go. I can’t see you anymore. It’s over.”

He yanked his hand from her skin and raked it
through his hair. “Just like that? You’re willing to walk away from
whatever it is that’s kept us from pulling each other’s clothes off
and rolling around like a pair of horny teenagers to spend time
talking and getting to know each other? Staci, we both know there’s
nothing either of us would rather do than get naked together, but
we’ve taken our time here. We’ve had hours of conversation and
really gotten to know each other. There’s something more than just
physical attraction between us. I know it and I know you know it.
How can you let it go?”

To his utter surprise, tears filled her eyes.
Why was she crying? She was the one breaking up with him. He would
expect tears if he were doing the breaking up. God knows, he was
the authority on women’s break-up tears.

“
What is it?” For once in his life
he was actually concerned about a woman’s thoughts, her feelings. A
totally foreign concept.

“
I have to or someone’s going to
get hurt.”

Ah…
That
, he was familiar
with.

He slid his hands up her arms. “Staci, I’ll
try not to hurt you, I promise. I realize I don’t have the best
track record, but I’ll try not to hurt you.”

He could fix this. She just wanted out before
her heart got battered. It was a good strategy on her part, ‘cause
like he’d said, he didn’t have the best rep with women. But then,
he’d never met one he liked as much as Staci. He’d even thought
about introducing her to Jared.

“
It’s not me, Luc,” she explained.
“It’s a little girl. You need to trust me and let it go. Maybe
later, in a few months perhaps, we can try this again, but, for
now, you just need to let go.”

“
What little girl? Who are you
talking about? I don’t even know a little girl.”

Staci pulled away from his grip then touching
his cheek and gently stroked through his hair, her smile
bittersweet. “I know you don’t. But I do. And I can’t hurt her more
than I already have. So we have to let it go.” Then she twisted his
heart. “Please.”

He knew the value of that word. Knew, too, the
strength of love one could feel for a child. Hadn’t he uttered that
very same word for the very same reason to Reese not that long
ago?

He’d have to do as she asked. But he didn’t
have to like it.

Chapter
Twenty-Seven

Reese hung up the phone and kneaded the back
of his neck as Jake entered his office. It’d been one thing after
another during the last meeting and it hadn’t stopped since he’d
gotten back.

“
Trouble?” Jake asked, dropping
into the chain in front of his desk.

“
I hope not.” Yeah, he had
troubles, but not the kind Jake was asking about. He was still
trying to come to terms with Bella quitting on him. It’d been an
intrusion he hadn’t needed on his trip and he had yet to come up
with a solution. She’d said she had someone for him; he hoped to
God whoever it was was good. And that it wasn’t Staci.

“
What does that mean?”

He’d save the new caterer discussion for
later. “I got Coach Meade to agree to participate in the
auction.”

“
You’re shitting me.”

It wasn’t often Reese could surprise Jake and
if it weren’t for the other little “bomb” he had to drop on him,
he’d enjoy the moment. “I played up the charity angle. The goodwill
for the team.”

Jake’s eyes narrowed. “Shrewd. But why? You
want that pressure? Everyone’s going to be watching the two of you.
Especially after what happened at Connie’s.”

Reese shrugged, the knot still tight in his
neck. He was living with pressure these days. Of all kinds. “I’m a
professional and so’s Coach. Speculation has died down.”

He hoped. But it was time to fix the
relationship, if at least publicly. Reese hoped it would be
privately, too. He’d moved on; Devin had, too. Now Coach needed to
as well. They’d had a lot of great times before he’d dated Devin,
made a lot of memories, great highlights-reel-type stuff. Their
names and careers were forever linked and it’d be nice to hear that
collaboration mentioned without the inevitable “before things
soured between them” rhetoric every single damn time. Plus, it was
for a good cause.

“
Okay, so since you’re in a
fence-mending mood,” said Jake, “what about asking our caterer’s
husband to participate? He
is
a local-boy-made-good after
all, and a hell of a draw. Whatever your personal feelings, it’d be
a great coup for the hospital and sure to bring in more
money.”

“
Actually,” Reese stepped around
his desk, “he’s not her husband.”

“
What?”

That made it twice today he’d shocked Jake.
One for the history books. “He’s her uncle.”

“
So why did you think he was her
husband?”

“
Long story. Full of
misunderstandings.”

“
Not her husband…” Jake stroked
his jaw. “Please tell me you’re not thinking of hitting on
her.”

Reese checked the fist he’d unconsciously
formed before it connected with Jake’s jaw. “
Hit on
? What
are we, sixteen?” He didn’t want to
hit on
Bella; he wanted
to spend time with her, get to know her. Take it to a new level.
One he hadn’t with Devin.

She, however, didn’t.

“
You can’t fault me for asking,
Reese. I’ve got a lot invested in this business.”

Reese took his time with his answer because he
wanted to punch the shit out of Jake.

After spending years being an
investment
by the team’s owner, Reese hated being reminded
that he was where he was due to someone else’s backing. Sure, he’d
performed for the team, but when the Devin situation had erupted on
the PR end, he’d gotten hauled into the front office and called for
it.

Jake’s argument wasn’t the same, but the fact
that he’d felt the need to go there pissed Reese off. He had just
as invested as Jake. More, with his name splashed all over the
place, a conscious marketing decision the two of them had decided
together.

And then there was the matter of the other
part of him that was invested. Bella had touched his heart—and
squeezed.

Kelly buzzed him on the intercom. “Bella
Casteleoni to see you, Reese.”

And there went the squeezing all over again.
What the hell was she doing here?

Reese exhaled, getting his emotions under
control; he’d need them to be to talk with Bella. “Send her in,
Kelly.”

Jake arched an eyebrow.

“
You can stay and watch your
investment
in action if you’d like.”

Jake stood and headed for the door. “Not
necessary. I trust you to do the right thing.”

That was the problem. What was right for Reese
might not be right for their company. It wouldn’t have been a
problem given that she’d quit on him, but now that she was
here…

When this auction was over, they were going to
have a nice long talk.

Then she walked in, casual in jeans and a
t-shirt that hugged her body like he wanted to, and talking was the
last thing he wanted to do.

Reese cleared his throat, pushed off the desk,
and stuck out his hand at an attempt at normalcy.
“Bella.”

In that attempt, however, he’d made no
preparation for the feel of her skin on his and her touch sparked a
fire that made him burn.

“
Hi, Reese.” She gnawed on her
bottom lip and that action alone made him burn even
more.

“
What are you doing here? I
thought you quit.”

She winced. “I deserve that.”

He didn’t answer. She did.

“
I wanted to
apologize.”

“
An apology isn’t going to fix it.
You said you had someone in mind? She’s good, I take
it?”

“
She is, but she’s…”

Great. Something else to stress him out.
“She’s what?”

“
She’s me.”

“
Come again?”

Bella nibbled her bottom lip again and this
time it had no effect on Reese whatsoever. The woman had him so
tied up he couldn’t react because every reaction he had seemed to
be the wrong one.

“
I’d like to come back. Do the
auction.”

Music to his ears, but suspicious nonetheless.
“Why?”

“
Because I said I’d do the
job.”

“
What about your
conflict?”

“
It’s not the conflict I thought
it was.”

She’d turned him inside out for
not a
conflict
? Hell, he was right: stay away from people he worked
with. Period.

But then she tilted her head and a sheaf of
corn silk hair slid over her shoulder and down her arm, caressing
her skin like he wanted to—

Mind on the job, Charmant.
“There’s a
little over a week left. Am I going to have to worry about you
doing this again? Right now I might be able to find someone. Three
days out, I’ll be stuck.”

She winced again. “I deserve that, I know. But
no, I promise I will not back out on you. And I’m sorry for doing
it in the first place.” She held out her hand. “Okay?”

He shouldn’t take it. He shouldn’t touch her.
Hell, he shouldn’t even be in the same room with her.

But he took her hand and shook it.

And then he went and made matters
worse.

It was just supposed to be a little kiss. Just
a nibble, really.

Her hand had slid into his, he’d felt the
sizzle rocket through his veins, and he’d tugged her against
him.

In his defense, she’d gone
willingly.

She’d even tilted her head up
willingly.

And when he’d covered her lips with his, she’d
clenched his side
very
willingly.

After that, he’d been lost.

It didn’t matter that this wasn’t a good idea.
It didn’t matter that she’d quit on him. It didn’t matter that they
had a tenuous working relationship and both of them had their
reasons for keeping their distance.

Right now, none of that mattered because she
tasted even better than she looked. And she felt… There were no
words for the feeling of her curves plastered against him, soft
where he was hard—so very hard—her body yielding against his, the
sound of her groan almost undoing him.

He absorbed it as he tried to absorb every
part of her, as unable to stop kissing her as he was to stop
breathing.

And when she parted her lips to let him in, he
couldn’t
not
sweep in and taste her. Reality would come
later; right now, this was a dream. A moment out of
time.

He cupped her head with one hand, held her
against him with the other. Met her tongue when it stroked his and
danced with it. She tasted of mint and buttery croissants and
something solely her own.

He tilted her jaw with his thumb then, his
fingers spanning her neck. Her pulse jumped against it in rhythm
with his. Her hair skimmed the back of his hand, as soft and silky
as he’d imagined, and he ran his fingers through the strands,
imagining it streaming over his chest, his stomach…

Desire, fierce and hot, slammed through him,
and he wrapped his arms around her, turning to back her up against
his desk.

But then Kelly buzzed him on the intercom.
“Reese, Coach is on line three.”

Coach. Devin. The mess he’d made of
things…

Sanity wiggled its way into their kiss and
Reese ended it. Reluctantly.