TWENTY-THREE
GOING TO RILEY’S WAS
PROBABLY A MISTAKE, BUT ELIZABETH wanted to talk to Jenna. It
wasn’t like she had a lot of friends. She missed Shawnelle and
Haley, but she wouldn’t be hanging out with them anytime soon now
that she and Gavin were no longer a couple, and she wasn’t Gavin’s
agent. Since she didn’t represent any other Rivers players, at
least not at the moment, there would be no reason for her to attend
any of their games.
Wasn’t it just so
funny that someone who never had any female friends suddenly craved
them?
She pulled up a seat
at the bar and waited for Jenna, who spotted her, waved, and dealt
with a few of her customers before moseying down Elizabeth’s
end.
“What’s up,
girl?”
“Just got back into
town after a few days of traveling. How about you?”
Jenna held out her
arms. “Another day in Riley paradise here. What can I get you to
drink?”
“Hit me with
something strong and mighty.”
“You talking a man
or a drink?”
Elizabeth laughed.
“I’ll start with the drink and work my way up from
there.”
Jenna filled a glass
with ice and whiskey, straight up. “Hard and mighty. It’s Gavin’s
favorite.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, Mom told me
you two had a falling out and you fired him. Care to
elaborate?”
Elizabeth took a
long swallow, her eyes watering as the whiskey burned its way down
her throat and into her belly. “Whoa.”
Jenna laughed.
“Lightweight. Don’t get into a drinking contest with me,
ever.”
“Duly
noted.”
“Okay, girlfriend.
Spill. What did my dumb-ass brother do to fuck things
up?”
“I’m not sure it was
entirely his fault.”
“Oh, I’m sure it
was. Go on.”
“I pushed him to get
back to the game. It’s my job as his agent.”
“Yes, it
is.”
“Anyway, your other
brother stuck his nose in our business and accused me once again of
manipulating Gavin. I told Gavin I loved him.”
“Wow. Big step,”
Jenna said.
“Yes. But I wanted
him to understand that I cared about him and wanted only what was
best for him. I could see he was miserable.”
Jenna nodded. “We
all could see that.”
“So he asked me if I
told all my clients that in order to get what I wanted, then he
asked me how many of my clients I slept with.”
Jenna’s eyes
widened, and she pushed off the bar. “Get the fuck outta here. He
did not say that.”
Elizabeth hoisted
her glass and emptied it, then laid it back on the bar. “Afraid
so.”
Jenna refilled the
glass. “This one’s on me. What an utter fucking prick. I can’t
believe he said that to you. What was he thinking?”
“I have no idea.”
She took the shot in one swallow this time. Jenna refilled it
again.
“I’m so sorry, Liz.
I know Gavin can be a little dense and unfeeling at times, but that
was just uncalled for. I know he cares about you. Where was his
head at the time?”
She shrugged and
took the shot again, feeling warm and buzzed. “Don’t know. Don’t
care anymore. At that point I was stunned, pissed, and disappointed
as hell. I told him it was obvious we weren’t seeing eye to eye on
business or personal agendas anymore, so I fired him and walked out
on him.”
“Good for you,
sister.” Jenna refilled Elizabeth’s glass, then poured another.
“I’ll have a shot with you this time.”
Elizabeth giggled.
“Can you do that since you’re on duty?”
Jenna lifted the
glass. “Honey, I can do anything I damn well please. I’m the owner.
Or at least part owner. Cheers. And men suck.”
They clinked glasses
and Elizabeth chugged the shot. Her face was getting numb, but she
felt a hell of a lot better now. She knew coming here was a great
idea. In no time at all she’d forget all about Gavin
Riley.
GAVIN SAT IN HIS
LIVING ROOM PLAYING XBOX, TRYING to get his mind off Elizabeth.
Sometime soon she’d get home, and he’d stop stalking her
condo.
Okay, maybe tonight
he’d go back there and see if her car was there yet. He’d try
around midnight. She couldn’t stay gone forever. Eventually she’d
have to go home, and she’d have to face him.
And he’d have to
face her.
His cell buzzed. He
picked it up, saw Jenna was calling.
“Hey, baby sister,
what’s up?”
“Hey, dickhead. I
need you to come to the bar for a pickup.”
He frowned. “Pickup.
What kind of pickup?”
“Your girlfriend—or
should I say ex-girlfriend—Elizabeth, is ten sheets to the wind
here, and it’s 100 percent your fault, asshole.”
His heart thudded
against his chest. “Lizzie is there? Why?”
“Getting stinking
drunk because you’re a prick. You coming or should I call for
relief so I can take her home?”
“On my way. Don’t
let her leave.”
Jenna laughed. “Not
intending to.”
He launched out the
door, grateful he’d had an early game today. It was only eleven,
but still, he might not have been around to take Jenna’s call, and
he didn’t want to miss the chance to talk to
Elizabeth.
Fifteen minutes
later he pushed through the door of Riley’s and headed straight to
the bar, ignoring the shouts and waves from the patrons calling his
name.
“Where is
she?”
Jenna motioned with
her head. “Holding court at the pool table.”
He started to turn
but Jenna grasped his wrist.
“What?”
“You were a
jerk.”
He nodded. “I know.
I’m an asshole. I hurt her, bad. You can lecture me later, and I
deserve every word. I’m going to fix this.”
Jenna nodded. “See
that you do.”
Geez. Women and
bonding. He was so screwed. As if his mother hadn’t already read
him the riot act about what he’d done to Elizabeth. His own family
was turning against him. Not that he didn’t deserve it. He did, in
spades.
He headed over to
the crowded pool table and stopped in his tracks at the sight of
Elizabeth bent over the table with about eight sets of horny, eager
eyes focused on her ass. She wore black Capri pants and a
sleeveless stretchy top and little canvas shoes. Her hair was in a
ponytail. She looked hot and sexy, and oh, God, no wonder they were
looking at her ass—those pants cupped the globes perfectly. She did
have such a great ass, especially when she bent over like
that.
She couldn’t shoot
pool for shit when she was drunk though. He winced when her cue
scraped the cloth. She scratched—twice in a row. But he didn’t
think the guys watching her gave a crap about her pool-shooting
abilities. They were watching the woman, who laughed with them,
flirted with them, and leaned against them, probably because she
was having trouble standing.
What was her intent
in getting drunk and hanging out with all these men?
It occurred to him
he had no right to wonder, since he’d tossed her declaration of
love in her face and basically called her a slut. He cringed again
at the thought, as he had every day since he’d flung what she’d
said out the window as if it had meant nothing. She’d told him she
loved him—in front of his brother, who she knew had the capacity to
hurt her, and in front of his father.
And he’d crushed her
under his heel. He was a callous, no good son of a bitch, and he
didn’t deserve her.
He was no better
than dirt. He couldn’t blame her for never wanting to speak to him
again. And he sure as hell couldn’t blame her for dropping him as a
client.
Now it was time for
him to man up and take whatever she flung his way.
He moved into the
circle by the pool table.
“Excuse me, guys,
time for me to take my woman home.”
They all backed
away, whether it was because they knew him or whether they didn’t
want to get in the middle of a guy and his girl, he didn’t know.
Didn’t care.
Elizabeth lined up a
shot, though he knew she had it lined up wrong. He got up behind
her and pressed his body against hers. She giggled.
“I hope you don’t
think you pressing your crotch against my ass to help me with this
shot in any way means you’re coming home with me.”
She had no idea it
was him. He hadn’t said a word. He slid his arm alongside hers,
held her hand steady, lined up the shot, and hit the ball. It slid
into the corner pocket—without scratching.
“Wheee!” she said,
lifting and turning around with a wide grin.
Her smile died as
soon as she saw him. “What the hell are you doing
here?”
“Jenna called me.
I’m your ride home.”
She shot a glare at
the bar. Jenna waved.
“Traitor.”
He laid the pool cue
on the table. “Come on, honey, I’ll take you home.”
She backed away from
him. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m staying here with my
guys. Right, guys?”
Gavin scanned the
gazes of the men surrounding the table. None looked ready to jump
to her defense. Smart dudes. The last thing they wanted was to get
in the middle of what they probably thought was a domestic
dispute.
“Party’s over,
Elizabeth. Let’s go.” He reached for her hand, but she jerked it
back.
“Leave me alone. You
don’t love me. And I fired you.”
“Do we have to do
this here?”
She nodded her head
up and down like a goddamn bobblehead. “Yes. Yes we do. Right here.
Right now.”
Not a good idea. She
couldn’t even stand up by herself. She was weaving back and forth,
and looked like she was going to drop to the floor any minute. In
fact . . .
He caught her before
she fell. “Okay, here we go.” He scooped her up in his arms. Jenna
was right there with Elizabeth’s purse and a kiss to his
cheek.
“Here you go. Good
luck.”
She held the door
for him.
“Thanks,
sis.”
Elizabeth lifted her
head and glared at him. “I don’t want you to take me home. You’re
fired.”
“So you told me. I’m
taking you home anyway. You can fire me again when we get
there.”
“Okay.” Her head
dropped to his shoulder, and she was blissfully quiet on the ride
home. Only instead of taking her home, he took her to his house,
where she’d have less of a chance of making an escape when he tried
to talk to her.
She passed out on
the ride home, didn’t wake up when he carried her into his house
and up the stairs to his bedroom. He took off her shoes and covered
her, and she didn’t move.
She was out. Totally
and utterly out. Whatever he wanted to say to her was going to have
to wait until tomorrow.
Shit.
He turned out the
light and closed the door.
He went downstairs,
picked up where he’d been on his Xbox game, and figured he was
going to be up for a while tonight, figuring out what he was going
to say in the morning.
ELIZABETH WOKE WITH
A START AT THE SOUND OF A door closing, shot up in bed, and blinked
her eyes open.
Ugh. Cotton
mouth.
Whiskey.
This was all Jenna’s
fault.
Not really, but
always nicer to blame someone else for your own
stupidity.
She needed coffee,
stat. She forced her eyes open, and that’s when she realized she
was not in her own bedroom.
Even worse, this was
Gavin’s bedroom.
Double
shit.
She vaguely
remembered him showing up at Riley’s last night. Thank God Jenna
had the presence of mind not to let her drive home. Not that she
would have been foolish enough to do so, but drunks never had
common sense.
She didn’t remember
exchanging much in the way of verbiage with Gavin last night, so
maybe they hadn’t gotten into it. She’d likely been too drunk to
have any sort of intelligent conversation anyway.
Good. She had
nothing to say to him anyway.
She glanced over at
the clock on the nightstand.
Holy crap, ten
a.m.
She really should
give up alcohol. Or at least alcohol binges when you’re mad about a
man.
Good thing she
didn’t fall in love often. Or ever.
At least she never
intended to fall in love again. The wear and tear on the body,
heart, and soul was too great. She’d already invested enough years
of her life in Gavin, and for what? To be called a
whore?
She should have
listened to her mother. Love hadn’t worked for her mother, and it
sure as hell hadn’t worked for her. She was going to take up Tori’s
lifestyle in the future. Career first, men were to be thought of
only as recreation, and there was no such thing as
love.
She swung her legs
over the side of the bed and stood, checking her
status.
A little shaky,
slightly nauseated, and desperate for a cup of coffee. Other than
that, she was okay. Now she had to get out of here.
She found her shoes
and slipped them on, then opened the door.
She smelled coffee.
Oh, God. She didn’t care if she was forced to have a civil
five-minute conversation with Gavin. She was going to have a cup of
coffee. She tiptoed downstairs, hoping he was asleep or, even
better, gone.
As she rounded the
corner into the kitchen, she spotted Gavin leaning against the
counter. He lifted his gaze from the newspaper to look at her. He
wore a pair of faded jeans and a T-shirt, and oh, God, he looked so
good. His hair was messy, and she wanted to go up to him, put her
arms around him, and mess his hair up a little more with her
fingers. She wanted to kiss him and ask him why he couldn’t love
her as much as she loved him.
This was why she was
a cold-hearted bitch. Love just fucking hurt too much to risk the
attempt. She’d tried. She’d failed. It sucked.
She walked into the
room.
“You’re awake,” he
said, laying the newspaper on the counter.
“Apparently.”
“Feel
okay?”
“I’ll
live.”
“Coffee?”
“Desperate for
some.”
He grabbed a cup and
poured, held it out for her.
“Thanks.”
He didn’t try to
engage her in conversation while she drank down the sobering,
life-affirming brew. For that she was grateful. She needed to
consume an entire pot of it, but not here. Not with
him.
She laid the cup
down and fished in her purse for her phone. “I’ll just call a taxi
to take me to my car.”
“I’ll drive
you.”
“No.”
He laid his hand
over hers. “Elizabeth . . .”
She pulled her hand
away. “Gavin, save it. I don’t want to hear whatever you have to
say.”
“I’m not going to go
away until you let me say it.”
She dialed the taxi
company, gave them Gavin’s address, then hung up.
She blew out a
breath and walked around him to the coffeepot, refilled her cup,
then leaned against the counter. “Fine, then. Say it, so I can go
home. They said fifteen minutes for the taxi.”
He turned to face
her, tried for a smile. She didn’t smile back, so he raked his
hands through his hair. “You’re not going to make this easy for me,
are you?”
She had no answer
for him.
He inhaled, let it
out. “Okay. Look, I know I hurt you that day. When you told me you
loved me, I wasn’t thinking straight. All I heard was you telling
me what to do. Telling me I had to go back to work. I had already
heard my dad telling me, my mom telling me. And then on the other
side I heard from Mick saying how you were manipulating me, how all
you were interested in was the money and career aspect, that you
didn’t care about me.”
She let out a small
snort at that one but didn’t dignify it with a
response.
“I know, I know. I
should have known better than to listen to my brother. Believe me,
he’s got a lot to answer for in all this. But the blame lies on me.
All of the blame is on me. And I’m sorry. You laid your heart on
the line, and I stomped on it as if it didn’t mean anything. I
guess it kinda scared me when you said you loved me.”
She waited for more
from him. Nothing.
“That’s it? It kinda
scared you?”
“Yeah. I knew you
and I were headed for . . . something. At some point. I just don’t
know that I was ready for . . . it.”
She arched a brow.
“It?”
“Yeah. You know.
Love.”
She rolled her eyes.
“You act as if love is some kind of communicable disease,
Gavin.”
He shook his head.
“That’s not what I meant. I’m messing this up. I just wasn’t
prepared for you to tell me you loved me in the midst of
browbeating me about going back to work. I mean you’re my agent and
you were my girlfriend—or something. I didn’t really know what we
were to each other. And then all of a sudden you’re telling me you
love me in front of my brother and my dad, and I’m not sure about
anything anymore. And I knew I felt something big for you, but I
was messed up over my dad, too, and I—”
She didn’t know what
she’d expected from him, but this wasn’t it. He was stumbling over
his words, and maybe she’d expected a straight out apology and
declaration of love.
Stupid. Once again,
reality hadn’t met her expectations.
When had it
ever?
The sound of a horn
honking was a giant slice of relief. This whole thing was
mortifying. Elizabeth wasn’t sure she could put up with one more
second of Gavin’s painful explanations.
“Look, Gavin. Let me
make this easy for you. I’m not your agent anymore, and I’m not
your ‘whatever’ or your ‘something,’ either. You’re off the hook.
I’m sorry I embarrassed you in front of your brother and your
father with my inept declaration of love. Trust me, it won’t happen
again.”
He frowned. “That’s
not what I’m trying to—”
She laid down the
cup and grabbed her purse.
“We’re over. You
want to know what we were to each other? Fuck buddies. A fling.
Call it whatever you want. I mistook it for love. That’s on me, so
don’t feel responsible. I’ll get over it. You should,
too.”
“Elizabeth,
wait.”
She wasn’t going to
wait. She’d waited long enough. For five damn years she’d been in
love with a man who was never going to be able to love her back.
Not the way she needed him to.
Because he was
incapable of loving her. Possibly incapable of loving
anyone.
She walked out the
door and slid into the taxi, keeping her gaze focused straight
ahead. She wouldn’t look back.
Not
anymore.
GAVIN SAT IN THE
KITCHEN AND STARED AT ELIZABETH’S cup of coffee, now cold. He
should toss it in the dishwasher, but he couldn’t seem to
move.
How had he
colossally fucked that up? Again. Twice now he’d hurt
her.
Christ. He’d always
been so good with women, could charm them, smooth talk them,
convince them of anything he wanted.
And with the one
woman he needed to be smooth with, he was like a tongue-tied
teenager incapable of uttering a simple syllable, let alone get his
point across. He hadn’t been able to tell her how he felt. He’d
swung and missed.
What the hell was
wrong with him? How hard was it to say he was sorry? How fucking
difficult was it to tell a woman he loved her? It should have been
so simple. He had the words in his head, and he couldn’t get them
out. The most important conversation of his life and he’d struck
out.
No, he hadn’t just
struck out.
It was bottom of the
ninth, bases loaded, and he was up to bat.
Facing down
Elizabeth had been bigger than the World Series.
And he’d just lost
the game. The biggest game of his life.
He’d lost the woman
he loved.
Game
over.