The Player Next Door (19 page)

He flashed a quick smile. “Yeah.”

So he loved it, too. He had to, she supposed, otherwise he wouldn’t be so good at it. “And every time I ask you about your ten-year plan, you think about what will end your basketball career. What will happen that makes it impossible to play anymore?” She leaned forward. “So your anxiety has nothing to do with whether or not you can run a charity.”

“Yeah, it does. Damn it, Tori, I was a nutrition major in college. And not a very good one.”

She blinked. She had no idea that had been his field of study. Everything she’d read had been about his amazing basketball ability. “Now there’s a field that needs people.”

He snorted. “Not why I studied it. It was all about peak performance
—
mine. And that in no way prepared me to run a charity.”

She waved that away with her fork. “Compared to what you’ve been doing
—
are still doing
—
that’s nothing. Hell, if you can learn whether to balance fish protein with vegetable fats, then—”

“Okay, so that’s clearly not your field of study.”

“—managing a charitable trust will be a breeze.” She sobered as she looked at him. “You know I don’t care about your money one way or the other.”

He frowned at his plate and then nodded slowly. “It’s a rare woman who doesn’t like the idea of hanging out with a rich guy.”

“I make my own money, thank you very much, Mr. Millionaire. But you’re right, I’m a rare woman,” she said with a grin.

He looked up at her. “It’s one of the reasons I like you, but…” He snapped his mouth shut, clearly regretting what he was about to say.

“But what?”

“But this is my vacation. How are you going to handle the media circus that is my life later?”

That was a question, all right. One that she had no idea how to answer. Except that… “The circus is in New York.”

He nodded. “And you’re here.”

“So are you…for now.”

“For now,” he echoed.

That was it. The certain understanding that their lives were very different. And at the end of the summer, they would go their separate ways.

“When it’s time,” she said, “when you want to go back to school, give me a call. I know some people who might be able to help you.”

“That’s a long way off, Tori.”

“I know. At least a decade, right?” Unless he got injured.

“At least.”

She looked away, hating herself for wishing he had a career-ending injury just so they could stay in this summer forever. So to counteract her negative thoughts, she voiced her wish out loud. “I hope you shock everyone and play well into your fifties.”

He barked out a laugh. “Pie-in-the-sky planning.”

“My favorite kind.”

He grinned and she felt a little better. He was smiling now which meant it was time to head back to their perfect summer.

“So what should we do today? I’m thinking of designing a labyrinth for my backyard.”

“What, no Minotaur?”

“Of course I’d have a Minotaur. He’d be a really ugly statue in the middle.”

“Wouldn’t the treasure be in the middle? He’s the defense so he should be lurking around the corner somewhere.”

She pursed her lips. “I suppose you’re right. Come on, let’s go search for garden statues.”

He chuckled as he gathered up the bill. “So long as it’s not a gnome, I’m game.”

“Then we have a problem, Mike,” she said in mock seriousness. “Because the scariest Minotaurs are ugly gnomes.”

He was still laughing as they made it to the car. She kept him chuckling all through the garden store and the rock store and the high-end liquor store—she was running low on specialty beer. But every time she got him to laugh, part of her wondered what it would be like to never hear that again. To look back in just two months and realize that they would never be like this again.

Answer: It sucked. Big time.

She was still mulling that depressing thought over when they made it to home.

“Who’s that?” Mike asked. It was the tone of his voice that pulled her out of her reverie. A little tight and a lot wary.

“Where?”

Mike gestured and she saw a lanky man stretched out on her front porch with his arm over his eyes. He was wearing ripped cutoffs that exposed his knobby knees and big feet where one of his flip-flops had fallen off. And he looked like he was sleeping.

“Don’t worry. He’s got a Northwestern tee on. See the purple?”

“Because undergrads can’t be crazy,” Mike muttered as he pushed open the car door.

She followed, grabbing a bag of groceries before she started for her front door. Mike grabbed the other three. “He’s not a Northwestern student. Just wears it to be nice to me.”

“Only thing that’s clean ’cause I’m too ashamed to wear it,” the man muttered without moving his arm.

“So that smell is you?” she asked as she stepped over him.

“Har, har.”

“Mike, meet my brother Duncan. He’s come to check up on me.” Even though he was her favorite sibling, she couldn’t keep the irritation out of her tone.

Meanwhile, her brother lifted his arm off his face then scowled at Mike. “Am I still drunk?”

“Are you breathing?” she quipped.

“Har har,” he repeated as he pulled together his sprawled limbs and struggled to sit up.

Tori ignored him and pushed through her front door. Mike on the other hand remained right where he was, scowling down at her brother.

“Are you usual
ly drunk on a Saturday afternoon?” he challenged.

“It’s my first thought when looking face to face with a celebrity NY Knick. Jesus, does Jess know that you’re the friendly neighbor? And if not, can I please be the one to tell her?”

Tori didn’t answer. She didn’t care what her sister knew or who told her. Instead she busied herself putting away the beer, then her eyes caught on her backyard and she lost herself to thoughts of the labyrinth she might create back there. It was all a way to distract herself from the end of the summer which was still a long way away. And yet, standing there, she couldn’t seem to think of anything else.

“Earth to Tori,” came her brother’s voice.

“I’m alive. Now go away,” she returned, her voice harder than it would normally be, but her thoughts had turned sour and it came out in her words.

Then Mike was beside her, his hand large and warm as he trailed it down her arm. “You know,” he said, “you’d think a woman’s family would respect her accomplishments.”

“It’s okay, Mike,” Tori murmured. She was well used to her family’s condescension where she was concerned.

“It’s not okay. Family coming to say, ‘Hey, how ya doing?’ is one thing. Drunk on your front step and talking crap is another.”

He was defending her. She didn’t need it, but she couldn’t deny the warm joy that washed through her that he would stand up to her family for her. Unfortunately, it was wasted on the wrong family member.

“Duncan’s not drunk.”

“Yeah,” her brother said as he swiped a beer from her fridge. “At least not yet.”

Mike grabbed it out of his hand and set it on the counter. “A guest asks.”

Tori smiled. He was becoming a regular papa bear on her behalf and she thought it wonderful. Meanwhile, Duncan smiled too sweetly at her.

“Mother, may I?”

“You driving?”

“Yes.”

“Then no.”

He scowled at her but she decided to gesture at the now finished living room floor. “I’m not dead, the house is coming along, and you can report back to everyone that I’m doing fine.”

“I’m going to tell everyone about your neighbor.” He plopped down on her kitchen stool and grabbed a yogurt, asking for permission with a raised eyebrow. She nodded, and as he popped open the lid, he scanned the flooring behind her. “Nice job. And I’m only here because Jess promised to help with my tuition if I did.”

Tori spun around, startled out of her relationship thoughts. “You need money for tuition? What happened?”

Her brother grinned at her. “Nothing. Doesn’t mean I won’t take money from Jess.”

It took a moment for her to understand what was going on. Her brother had his own unique sense of humor, but when she did, she started chuckling. And a moment later, she took the time to explain it to Mike.

“Duncan just finished his second tour in the Navy. He’s now in law school at the University of Chicago, and contrary to what everyone in the family seems to think, he squirrels away his money like it’s gold.”

“My needs are simple.”

“He’s cheap,” Tori corrected. “But it works for him. The more he looks like he’s on his last dime, the more the relatives throw money at him.”

“Same with your helpless act,” Duncan shot back. Then he turned to Mike. “All her life, she’s pretended to be clueless so people would stop trying to bring her into their drama. It works. No one ever bothers her.”

“You’re bothering me.”

He shrugged. “’Cause I wanted to know why you suddenly need to stand on your own.” He knocked the yogurt cup back, draining it like a thick smoothie. Then when he was done, he dropped it onto the counter and looked hard at her. “What’s going on, sis?”

She sighed, not knowing how to answer in words. The thoughts were too vague in her own mind to answer her brother. Especially since he was the one who could most see through her bullshit.

But then her eyes connected with Mike’s. He had stayed by her side, silently witnessing the byplay between her and Duncan, but at her pleading look, he tucked her tighter to his side. “Sometimes you just gotta throw out everything and start over,” he said.

Mike understood. She hadn’t thought he’d had enough time with her to see the truth, but apparently, she’d been wrong. He understood her all too well.

Duncan appeared to think about that. “Scorched Earth maneuver, huh? Problem is, you can’t ever go back. You prove to everyone that you’re extremely capable and they’ll expect you to remember lunch dates and the like.” He let his voice trail off suggestively, but she just shook her head. She hadn’t a clue what he was trying to say.

Fortunately, Mike was there to translate. “Did you forget a lunch date, maybe? Other than the one with your father?”

“No,” she murmured, thinking about her schedule. “That’s not until… Oh shit. Duncan I’m sorry.”

“And there’s the Tori we all know.”

“Why didn’t you email me?”

Her brother didn’t answer. Just arched a brow at her.

Right. She hadn’t checked her email. Not for a few days. “I’ve been busy,” she said, gesturing again at the floor even though she knew it was a lame excuse.

“I can see that,” her brother answered, his gaze on Mike.

Well, yes, that too. Meanwhile, her brother straightened off the kitchen stool, adjusted his flip-flops with a casual flick of his toes, and then tossed the empty yogurt carton into the trash. “I know how you can make it up to me.”

“Yeah? How?”

“I’ve got a bet with Jess. I told her you’d have this house renovated by the end of the summer. That it’d be perfectly habitable and you’d do it without a single emergency trip visit.”

She blinked, startled. “Even I won’t bet on that.” Not given the fall off the roof, the disaster with the electrical system, and that didn’t begin to count what she intended to do with the kitchen.

“I would,” Mike said, his voice calm. “What’re the terms?”

Duncan’s face broke out into a wide grin. “That’s the best part. She loses, she goes out on a blind date with one of my friends.”

Tori didn’t stop her snort of laughter. “Isn’t that kind of cruel?”

“Hey!” he protested. “I’ve got lots of nice friends.”

Mike slanted a look at her. “I think she meant cruel to your friend.” God, it was great when someone got her sense of humor.

“Oh right.” Duncan waggled his eyebrows. “Well that’s fair, I suppose. I’ve got some friends I’d like to torture, too.”

Tori laughed, but her gaze was looking about her house. There were so many things she’d like to do. “If I focus on the house, I’d never get the labyrinth done in time.”

Her brother made a choking sound. “Labyrinth? In your postage stamp of a backyard?”

“But on the other hand,” offered Mike, “you could pull down the chicken wallpaper and paint while it’s still breezy enough to open up your house to air it out.”

“Very true,” she said, though in her mind she substituted other words. It wasn’t that it would be warm enough to air out the paint smells. It’s that she would have another place to sleep—with him—while it dried. “But I’ve grown fond of the chickens.”

“It does make a statement,” Mike agreed.

“But it clashes with the Bast motifs.”

Mike grinned. “Chickens and cats never do well together.”

She sighed. “All right, Duncan. Go ahead and find an enemy you wish to torture on a blind date with Jess.”

“Ooh,” he said, rubbing his hands together, “the possibilities are endless.” Then he flashed her a smile. “I’ll tell them to come here for a barbecue in a month. That should be plenty of time, right?”

“A month?” she cried. She couldn’t possibly have her new furniture by then. She hadn’t decided if she wanted to go lounge comfortable to make the place inviting or stay away minimalist to deliver a clear message to her relations.

“It’ll be great. Can’t wait,” her brother said as he pushed through the front door. The screen door banged behind him.

Meanwhile, she looked at Mike, doubt crowding her mind. “There’s a lot to do in a month.”

“I’ll help, if you want.”

“Of course I want. It’s lots more fun with you.” Assuming they didn’t get distracted into more fun activities.

“Good, because I think you should plan on cooking for the party.”

She frowned. “Whatever for?”

He grinned. “What about sushi?”

Oh! “Great idea.” She loved it that he understood her so well.

Especially since a month of house renovations, sushi practice, and great sex would keep her mind off how quickly the summer would fly by.

Chapter Sixteen

The end came sooner than either of them expected. A month of hot sex, weird beer, and home repair had put Mike in such a good frame of mind that he hadn’t stressed about his shoulder. And that meant he didn’t overtrain it during recovery, which meant it healed fast.