Last Play: Book 1 The Last Play Series (6 page)

H
e couldn’t have even guessed
how long they’d both stood there, holding hands, staring into each other’s eyes. All he knew was that it was too soon when Katie carefully took back her hand and turned for the snowmobile. “I have to get back to work.”

It might be too soon for him to expect her to acknowledge what had just happened between them. In fact, if truth be told, he had no idea what had just happened, but c’mon, something had. He caught up to her and tried not to feel like a teenager. “Why don’t we go get breakfast?”

She slipped onto the snowmobile, all business. “I have things that need to get done today.” She started the engine.

This abrupt attitude was more than he could handle. He reached across her and shut off the snowmobile. “I’m your boss, and I say what gets done today.” There. See? He could be bossy, too.

Titling her chin up, she gave him her signature defiant look. A somewhat sexydefiant look, but he wasn’t noticing that he told himself. Yes, it mattered that she wasn’t…attached…but for heaven’s sake, now wasn’t the time to start something. Guilt tugged inside of him for even thinking about it. He wouldn’t even be here longer than it took for the roads to clear and Mr. Burcher to get back here to do paperwork with him.

Pinching her lips together, she shrugged. “Fine.”

Her resignation was not what he expected. “What?”

“Command me, oh bossiness.”

He rolled his eyes. “I am not the bossy one! Pshaa, no way. Did you see yourself bossing me here and there yesterday?”

She threw her hands into the air, totally exasperated. “Quit talking, QB, and get on the snowmobile.” She gestured behind her. “We’ll come back for the other one later.”

Waiting a beat, he stared at her, confused that he could feel this mixture of anger and attraction to her.

After starting the snowmobile, she grinned at him. “I guess you can just buy breakfast instead of lunch.”

When he finally complied and got on behind her, she took off, taking their speed up fast.

This forced him to hold her tighter, and he could help inhaling her light lemony smell.

She laughed as she brought their speed down and turned onto Main Street.

The snow was still coming down in a blanket. But it had calmed down a bit. He couldn’t imagine that the weather would clear enough to get the plows through. Secretly, he didn’t mind spending another day with Katie.

They passed the hardware store, and he thought she would pull into the Leaping Lizard, but she took a sharp right turn and kicked up their speed a notch as she headed toward what looked to be a huge ski resort.

Roman studied the monstrous development that he hadn’t realized was nestled at the base of this mountain. Granted, there weren’t that many cars in the giant parking lot, but he was sure there would be during the peak ski times. He’d never been a skier. Never lived in a place that afforded that opportunity and never really cared to take it up. His ex-wife had told him it would be good for his image, but he’d never understood why it would matter. She’d said it would make him look daring.

He wondered if Katie would take them to the resort. There looked to be a lot of shops and places to eat. Some appeared open and others looked empty, but she took a turn away from the resort side and went up a small road, a road that had an old sign hanging on a large tree over the road.

The Wolfe’s Haven.

She parked in front of a somewhat older looking home that had a bunch of snowmobiles in front of it, and the smell of coffee filled the air.

Roman’s stomach rumbled. As they walked up, he took note of the quaint wrap around deck that had tables covered in snow and chairs stacked on top of each other in rows.

The door chimed as they walked in. The place had the feel of an old mom and pop shop, with a soda fountain bar and back splash mirror. The whole place was faded reds and blacks with large posters of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and some others he didn’t recognize, but knew his mother would have recognized them. Country music played out of the juke box to the side of the door and Roman stared at the men sitting at the counter talking and holding newspapers. He imagined that the coffee never ran out here.

Katie smiled and said hello to some people. She stopped when a man with a kitchen towel wrapped around his waist appeared from behind the revolving door and came out with his hands full of plates. “Lou, this is Jim’s nephew.”

The man paused for a second. Roman surmised that he was probably around his own age—late twenties. Roman measured him the way he would any player on the field. The man was fit, six footish. Probably played ball in high school. He would be fast. He looked Italian and had a mustache and brown eyes. He glared at Roman for a second then nodded. “Be right with you guys.”

Katie led them through the restaurant that opened up to a huge glass window on the other side that faced up the mountain. He could see one of the lifts right next to the building, with an operator helping skiers go up.

Katie took a seat next to the window and Roman sat across from her.

He was captivated by the snow. By the way the town kept going even though it felt like nothing should be going. In Texas, this kind of snow would cripple them.

Katie shrugged off her Carhartt. Her lean limbs were revealed in her tank top and yoga pants. She tugged a blue scarf out of her pocket and wrapped it around her neck and smoothed back her hair. Even though it seemed funny to Roman that she would do that, he jerked open his menu

“Hmm.” Katie opened her menu. “The waffles are the best here, and they’ll even sub them for pancakes when you get an omelet.”

Roman pretended to read the menu, slightly annoyed at himself that he felt a twinge of jealousy at the way Lou had looked at her.

She flipped the pages. “This restaurant has been in Lou’s family for generations. This land is actually owned by his family. They just lease it to the ski resort. That was back when resorts would do that kind of thing—share with families. Now most of them just want to own the land and open their own corporate things.”

Trying not to dwell on how much she was talking about Lou, he decided on a ham and cheese omelet with waffles. His nutritionist could ream him later. “That’s nice.”

A server came and introduced herself. “Well, hello there.” She stopped as she studied Roman. “Can I just say that television makes you look exactly as good as I’d always pictured you would?”

Roman could feel the red creeping up his cheeks. He blinked. “Well, you look good, too.” It came out woodenly, but, Roman realized the girl with the nametag that said ‘Tiffany’—who was blond and probably in her early twenties with a lean figure—did look good.

At his compliment, Tiffany’s grin widened. She lightly smacked Roman’s shoulder. “Heaven’s, Roman Young, you do know how to give a girl a compliment.”

He grinned back at her, suddenly feeling comfortable.

“Hmm.” Katie cleared her throat. “I’m at the table too, Tiffany.”

Immediately, Tiffany jerked her gaze away from Roman. A frown touched her lips. “Katie Winters, how come I’m not surprised that you’re sitting here—with the man I claimed a long time ago.” She cocked a hand on her hip. “A long, long time ago.” She shook her finger at Katie. “His uncle used to come in here and tell me all about Roman, and I told his uncle that if he ever came to town, he had to hook me up. I’ve been the first in line since the divorce.”

If Roman could have known this would happen, he definitely would have avoided coming here and this little soap opera he’d just been made some kind of star in.

Katie pinched her lips and narrowed her eyes. “I’m. Not. Interested. In Roman.”

The words ricocheted inside Roman’s head.

Tiffany eased a smile back into place and put a pen to a pad of paper. “Good.” She gave her a meaningful look, and Roman knew that whatever small town rivalry had gone on between them would probably be an interesting story. “Well,” Tiffany said, recovering, “now that all the unpleasantness is out of the way, what will you have for breakfast?”

T
hey’d spent
the next few minutes ignoring Tiffany’s little outburst. Katie seemed bugged and Roman didn’t know what to say.

Roman watched people get on the lift. Most of them looked like locals or seasoned skiers. He could tell this by the wear and tear of their equipment. It felt like he could spot a newbie a mile away. He let out a sigh, unable to keep up with the silence. “I guess getting trapped at a ski resort for a couple of days could only improve skiing for people, right?”

Katie pretended that she didn’t hear him. Or, if she had, she didn’t acknowledge him.

If there was anything that Roman didn’t like, it was being ignored. “Look, if you’d rather not talk to me because you fear angering your high school nemesis, then that’s fine—say that. But don’t just ignore me. It’s rude.”

Her eyes flashed anger as she flicked her head, and their eyes met. The emotion made her eyes an intense green. The kind of green that looked almost blue. Ocean green. The kind he’d seen on several trips to Hawaii when he’d gone snorkeling and scuba diving with Sheena. At the memory, he yanked his gaze away.

She still didn’t say anything.

He turned back to her. “And, by the way, I don’t appreciate you announcing to the whole town that I’m Jim’s nephew everywhere we go.” He didn’t turn to look at her. It
did
bother him that she felt like she had to tell everyone, to explain the only reason she would be seen with him or something.

“But you are Jim’s nephew.” Her voice was low.

His leg bounced with nervous energy. He put his hand on it to stop it. “Well, they’ll find out soon enough, you don’t need to tell everyone like…like that’s the only reason you’re with me…because you’re stuck with me.” It was exactly how he felt, but it sounded ridiculous, the vulnerability tripping out of his lips.

For a second she didn’t say anything. Then she let out a dramatic sigh. “You don’t think this whole town will immediately recognize you? Wait, they might be confused you’re not with your wife. Sara, Sheila—?

“Sheena,” he finished for her.

She turned to face him. “You mean the super model.” Sarcasm washed over her face.

She was jealous? He frowned. “Look, you don’t need to compare yourself to her.”

From the look on her face, he could tell the words meant that he’d meant to soothe her, had only served to tick her off. She leaned forward. “Don’t flatter yourself, QB. There’s only one thing you can bet on in a small town, that people talk. And, well, I have had enough of being talked about for a long, long time. And my son doesn’t need that, either. So, yes, I’m up front and honest with people about stuff because I figure they’ll find out anyway. I may as well be truthful.”

The way her fierce pride filled every word made him grin.

She faltered. “Why are you smiling?”

He didn’t want to admit that he found her pride and fierceness attractive, so he asked about her son. “How did Josh’s report go for science yesterday?”

Obviously, she hadn’t been expecting this turn in conversation. “Fine,” she answered quickly.

“Good.” He turned as Tiffany came back to the table and put down their drinks. She winked at Roman before moving away. “Your food will be out in a sec.”

He took a sip of water and kept his face innocent, even though he felt guilty for some reason.

Katie relaxed, leaning back. The side of her lip turned up. “The frogs somehow jumped out and took off down the hall. It took them twenty minutes to round them all up.”

Roman let out a laugh. “No.”

A grin spread across her lips, and all Roman could think about was how pretty she was. She reached for her glass. “His poor teacher sent a note home for me that asked to please not send science projects to school that could jump.”

More laughter came out of Roman, and he envisioned a bunch of second graders chasing twenty frogs around the school. Thinking of the chaos that would have ensued brought on more laughter.

Shaking her head, she grinned. “Ahh, teachers should be sainted.” She took her spoon and scooped out a piece of ice.

His hand shot out and intercepted the ice. “Can you be trusted not to kill yourself today?”

Leveling him with a glare, she wrinkled her nose and took the ice off her spoon, popping it into her mouth. “Poor Mr. Hansen, he’s a good teacher.”

Happy for neutral ground, Roman nodded. “Sounds like it.”

They both held each other’s eyes and Roman could have sworn that Katie blushed. Feeling a rush of heat on his own face, he turned away.

Tiffany came with their food, piling the table with the extra plates of waffles. She went to a side table and got a pitcher of water, filling up the glasses. She focused on Roman. “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

He nodded to Katie. “Katie, is there anything else you need?”

Katie met his gaze and then gave a mock smile to Tiffany. “No.”

Tiffany returned the mock grin and then put a light hand on Roman. “So, have you had anyone show you the sights since you’ve been here? I know it’s been snowy, but the view from the top of this mountain is breathtaking. If you haven’t been, I could show you after work?”

Uncomfortable, but not taken off guard, Roman let out a sigh. “Darn, I wish I could,” he said, lifting a fork to point at Katie, “but Katie has me busy for the next couple of days.”

Tiffany gave Katie an accusing glare.

Katie took the cue from Roman. “We’re finishing a few things around the inn, but maybe you kids could play next week.”

Tiffany held her stare and then shrugged and turned away. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”

Digging into his food, Roman let out a heavenly sigh. “You were right. These waffles are pretty good.”

Katie took a bite of waffle and flashed a smile. “I told you.”

When they were done, Roman sipped his water and looked out the window. He imagined the view from the top of the mountain was glorious.

“You want to know what the deal is with Tiffany, don’t you?”

The fact that she’d brought it up told him that she wanted to talk about it. “Nope.”