Authors: Donna Gallagher
Rook had never met his father. His mum had raised him single-handedly. When he was younger he’d hated the stigma of being from a single-parent family—not that Rook had really missed out on much. His mum had put his needs before hers every time. Rook knew she had made many sacrifices on his behalf. Laura Harris had worked hard cleaning other people’s homes to feed and clothe him. The work had also meant she had not needed childcare or babysitting expenses. As a youngster, Mitch—as he had been known before his footy nickname had taken hold—had accompanied her to work.
As a teen, he had been embarrassed by the fact that his mum had cleaned the homes of some of his fellow students. He had been forced to weather the storm of teasing comments about her, but he had really hated being taunted by the words from the song
Sadie the Cleaning Lady
, which had come from the mouths of the more vicious students when his mum had been around.
It had been playing rugby league that had changed all that for Mitchell Harris—he had quickly risen from the ranks of the bullied to those of the most popular when he’d been signed, while still in high school, to the Jets team. He had become ‘the Rookie’
and everyone had wanted to be his mate or his girl. Everyone had, all of a sudden, loved him. Best of all, Rook had been able to help his Mum set up a cleaning business—she now only took the bookings, did the bookwork and organised her small staff to do the physical aspects that were involved in cleaning a house, and she had blossomed in her new career as a small business owner.
The fact that the Jets team was once again, en masse, at Jetstream celebrating another team win was grating on Rook’s nerves, as well. If one more person came over and commiserated on his injury and mentioned the fact that the Jets were still winning, despite his absence, he would rip their head off and shove it up their backside. The imagery of doing just that soothed Rook’s dark mood for a few glorious moments.
Of course, watching Gareth dancing with Pippa to just about every song put an end to any fleeting glimpse of happiness Rook might be able to conjure.
He hated that feeling of jealousy when he saw the couple together. It wasn’t as if they looked all that romantic—more comfortable in each other’s arms—but just the fact that Gareth could touch Pippa was enough to make Rook see red. He wanted to drag her away from the man, carry her upstairs to his bed and fuck her till Pippa screamed his name and promised to be his. Which, considering he was still half a cripple, would be hard to achieve.
Having done nothing but think over the last few weeks, Rook had come to the sad conclusion that he had spent his whole adult life searching for Pippa. All the blondes that he had thought he was attracted to had been just poor imitations of the young girl of his dreams. How ironic that she now had dark hair, and he was now more attracted to her than ever. He was still lamenting the fact to himself when a familiar voice broke into his thoughts.
“Why don’t you just tell her how you feel, Rookie?”
Brodie and JT stood at the bar next to Rook. Both men patiently waited for him to answer the question.
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about, JT. Tell who how I feel?” Rook finally answered, shocked that his coach was aware of his feelings towards the team’s physio—the same girl Brodie had warned him away from back in the early days of his professional footy career. Rook had understood the threat and the fact it would have been the end of his contract if he went near her.
“Take it from men who have worn that same expression on their faces—there is no point in trying to fight it. Once a woman has gotten under your skin, it’s fatal. There is no cure.” JT laughed, punching Rook in the arm so hard he nearly fell off his stool.
“C’mon, Rookie, you’ve had the hots for Pip Rodgers for years. You don’t think I know, all those years ago when you were warned off her, how much it took for you to walk away? You were a hell of a man back then, and you still are. Take it from me, Rookie, finding Caitlin was the best thing to ever happen to me. After all the shit with my ex, I had given up on the idea of marriage and kids. Now I have a beautiful new baby girl, a feisty little son and a gorgeous wife. That’s what it’s really all about!”
Rook was trying to comprehend what Brodie was saying to him. They knew how he felt about Pippa, and had for some time. What was more, they were giving him the go-ahead to try to start something with her.
“What about your ‘no fraternisation’
rule?” Rook asked his coach.
“I think this relationship was well on its way before Pippa started working for the Jets team, so it doesn’t really count. What do you reckon, JT?”
“Yep, don’t think it has any bearing in this instance. These two have been destined to be together since way back. I remember my Mandy telling me just that, years ago,” JT answered.
“So what are you waiting for, Rook? You’re not a
Rookie
anymore—step up, stop wasting time and go get your woman, before Gareth cowboys up and drags her back to some outback country town and turns her into his cowgirl. Actually, they make a nice couple, don’t you think, JT?” It was Brodie’s turn to give Rook a good-natured slap on the shoulder as he finished his teasing pep-talk with a laugh. Again, the slap—this time from Brodie—nearly knocked Rook right off his stool.
“I really wish you apes would stop whacking me. I just about fall off this stool every time. If I’m to fall on my face, it might as well be trying to woo my woman, rather than my coaches beating me up,” Rook said, his spirits lifting at the thought of him and Pippa together, finally.
Chapter Nineteen
Pippa was glad that Gareth was acting normally around her again. They had not discussed his admission, that first game day, of wanting more than just her friendship. She had worried later, as she had reviewed her eventful day, that he might pull away from her, embarrassed by his admission. Pippa valued Gareth’s friendship a great deal, and she really held great affection for him. She couldn’t help but think of how much easier her life would be if it was Gareth’s body she desired.
As they danced, Pippa tried to imagine Gareth’s lips on hers or his hands cupping her breasts, tugging at her nipples or teasing her clit, but to no avail. She could not feel any sexual heat at all towards her friend. As much as it frustrated her—she knew that the man holding her in his arms was one of the good guys in life, someone a girl could really lose her heart to and depend on—it was Rook who sent her pulse rate racing and stole her breath from her lungs with just a glance.
“Stop thinking, Pip.” Gareth gave her a little shake as he held her in his arms while they danced. “I guess it’s time we talked about my big mouth.”
Pippa shook her head.
“No, Gareth, let’s not. I’d just as soon forget about that whole day. I really love having you around—you’re becoming one of my dearest friends.”
“It’s okay, Pip, I understand. Really, I do. I don’t know what got into me, blurting out my feelings like that. I think it was watching Rook leave you looking hurt again that did me in. I’m not blind—I can see I’m not the cowboy for you. But it doesn’t hurt a guy to imagine what it could be like. I’ll always be here for ya, Pip, and if it is as just friends than I can deal. I’d rather have you as part of my life in the big city than not at all. Who else would protect me from all those bold city girls, eh?”
“Oh, Gareth, it would be so easy for me if I could feel more for you, you know, in that way, but I can’t. You’re one of the good guys, Cowboy, and I’ll tell you a little secret—I’ve tried to imagine you and me like that, have even thought about kissing you just to see if I could spark up some attraction, but it just doesn’t work. I love you, Gareth, I really do…”
Pippa dropped her head on Gareth’s chest as she whispered to him the words she knew he didn’t want to hear.
“Just not in that way.”
“C’mon now, Pip, don’t get all weepy on me. We’ll be right. I’ll live—hey, I’ve taken a few hits in my time, on the footy field and in the paddock. I’ll survive. But let’s make a deal, you and me. If we don’t get our love lives sorted by the time we are old and grey we’ll marry each other. We can rock away in wicker chairs on my front porch back at the farm and reminisce over chances missed. Whaddaya say, Pip? Will you marry me then, ’cause I already know there will always be a place in my heart for you. Love you too, Pip.”
“Yep, sounds like a good idea to me, Cowboy. It’s a deal. It’ll be our secret.”
Rook could not believe his ears. He had hobbled out onto the dance-floor—sans crutches—to cut in on Gareth. He had rehearsed what he was going to say to her. It was time Pippa knew how long he had cared for her, perhaps even loved her. He could finally come clean and tell her how weak he had been, letting her think he wasn’t interested in her.
God, if she only knew how hard it had been to turn away from her back then—how many frustrating times he had imagined that the younger Rookie hadn’t fled. Hell, he still had dreams about her and that night. He’d always imagined the feel of touching her youthful, inexperienced body, caressing and kissing those pale breasts, making her writhe and moan beneath him as he took her innocence. Rookie was convinced she had still been a virgin when she had approached him that night, so long ago.
But then he had overheard them, out there on the dance-floor, as they’d whispered their words of love while wrapped in each other’s arms. He’d managed to catch snippets of their conversation as they’d moved around him, unaware of his presence.
Could Rook trust his hearing over the loud music? It sounded pretty much like Gareth had proposed to Pippa. Not all that eloquently, in Rook’s opinion, but he couldn’t dismiss the fact that Pippa had said yes—or more precisely, “It’s a deal,” adding her personal endearment, ‘Cowboy’, to the acceptance.
But it was a secret for the moment, apparently.
“Bit late to be worried about breaking the rules now, princess—you’re making a habit of it,” Rook mumbled bitterly as he backtracked quickly to the bar—as quickly as he could manage, anyway, given the brace on his injured knee.
“What happened, Rook?” JT laughed. “Did ya get cold feet? Thought you were going out to claim your woman?”
“Fuck off, JT. Just ‘cause you’re happy with your picture-perfect life—wife ’n’ kids and picket fuckin’ fences—doesn’t mean I have to want it. Came to my senses. See you later, Brodes… I’ve got a business to run here.”
Rook grabbed his crutches, leaving his long-term friends, now his coaches, behind. He could almost feel the burn from their eyes on his back as he stormed off towards his office—well, hobbled with angry purpose, that was, as he was too angry to make use of the walking aids that were tucked under one arm. On the way, he noticed a busty blonde giving him the eye.
“Why the hell shouldn’t I have some fun? It’s not like I’ve got to get up for training in the morning. A hot, willing babe is just what I need to cheer me up.” It sounded, even to his own ears, as if he was trying too hard to convince himself.
Rook changed his path and headed in the direction of the blonde, catching a waitress on the way past.
“Hey, Jem, bring us a couple of beers, honey. I’m just heading over to that blonde over there.”
Rook nodded his head in the direction he was going as Jemima, the waitress, scooted towards the bar.
Chapter Twenty
She really was becoming quite the actress, what with having to pretend, day after day, as she manhandled Rook’s tempting body, that he did not make her quiver with desire. But Pippa could not hide her despair as she watched Rook chatting up his latest blonde bombshell.
She’d managed to perform her duties as a professional member of the Jets medical team, never letting her hunger for Rook show through. Being careful not to broadcast her unrelenting desire for Rook to once again touch her, make her nerves sing and pleasure her body like no other man ever had. And it had been the most torturous of tasks. After having worked so hard to become a sports physio, thinking that that was what she wanted to do more than anything else with her life, Pippa was now having major second thoughts.
It wasn’t that everyone she came into contact with wasn’t pleasant. On the contrary, Pippa had been surprised that she had found absolutely no resistance to her working with the team of rugged sportsmen. Well, that was as long as she didn’t include Rook. But even her dealings with the frustratingly handsome fantasy-on-legs recently had been nothing short of polite. Yep—polite to the point of Pippa wanting to pull the hair from her head in frustration.
Every day she had to see Rook up close and personal, monitor his recovery, work with and massage his muscles to keep them from growing stiff. Yes, she had her hands all over him repeatedly, but all she got from him in return were monosyllabic responses. He was always polite, but never met her eye, never got even slightly chatty, never asked her about her day, her life, and definitely never worried about the fact he was slowly driving her crazy.
And now, as if the day’s torture had not been enough, she had subjected herself to an extra dose of Rook-related misery as she watched him sidling up to a big-busted blonde bimbo.
“They can’t be real—so big and perky. If he’s not careful, one of those nipples will poke out his eye,” she said to no one in particular. Pippa just couldn’t manage to hold her tongue any longer.
“Why don’t you just tell Rook how you feel, Pip? Maybe you should explain about that night, maybe apologise.” Cassie shook her head, a sad smile forming. “It sure as hell can’t make it any worse. I’m really worried about you, Pip. I really wish I hadn’t encouraged you into getting it on with Rook—shit! I thought it would help you get over him, get him out of your system, but you are worse now than ever. You are throwing away your life… You’ve wanted this job for so long and yet you aren’t enjoying it at all. And it’s all because of Rook. God, why can’t you fall for someone like Gareth? You never see him leeching onto any of the groupies. He wouldn’t break your heart the way Rook has, and still does.”