Game On (23 page)

Afterward, in bed, Shane and Carly played their own games. She was grateful he had relaxed back into the teasing lover he’d been before. It was easier to handle her feelings toward him when the sex was lighter, more playful. There was a vulnerable man behind the loner’s mask he wore for the world, but she knew if she delved too deeply, he’d pull back. Just as he’d done the other night. His refusal to let her in had stung too much, sending up alarm bells of her own. She needed to be able to walk away unhurt, and she couldn’t do that if she let him too close to her heart.

Later that week, Carly returned from the farm stand in town to find the house empty. Troy had mentioned wanting to go fishing, so Carly loaded up a basket with some cookies she’d picked up while she was out and headed down toward the stream. The sound of voices, deep in conversation, reached her before she made it to the water. She smiled as she realized that, in less than a week, Shane had gone from grunting monosyllables at Troy to actually engaging him in a conversation. As far as she knew, Shane still hadn’t uttered the boy’s name, but he was slowly making progress.

“At least I don’t suck at fishing,” she heard Troy say.

“There’s not much to suck at with fishing,” Shane said as he cast his line out into the pond at the mouth of the stream. “It’s mostly luck.”

Troy grunted. “I suck at most sports.”

Carly stood still, obscured by a maple tree, and watched as the two fished. Shane waded up to his ankles in the water, his torso bare to the sun, a pair of worn Levi’s hugging his thighs. Shiny Revo sunglasses glinted against the sun. Troy stood on a flat rock, barefoot, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, with a Blaze ball cap shielding his eyes. He held his fishing pole perfectly still. Beckett snored softly from where he lounged in the sun farther downstream.

“Not everyone can be a star athlete,” Shane consoled the boy.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t get the Devlin genes.”

Shane gave a little snort before turning to look at Troy. “That’s nothing to be disappointed about.”

“Says you. You’re a professional athlete. And so was Dad. I can barely throw a ball ten feet.”

“There’s more to life than being a professional athlete, kid.”

“Now you sound just like Dad.”

Carly held her breath, unsure of how Shane would react to the comment. She watched as the muscles in his back tightened briefly before he relaxed, turning his attention back to his fishing pole and the pond.

“Maybe because your dad had a point.”

“Yeah, but both of you are really great at sports and I totally suck at every one I try. I’m an epic failure.”

Shane coughed, or chuckled, she wasn’t sure. “Look, your dad, he was a freak of nature. As far as I know, most of the Devlins sucked at sports. Your dad had a gift and he used it to get as far away from the life that was his only option. Sometimes that little bit extra—like a need to escape—can make a person’s drive that much greater. I’m pretty sure it was that way for your dad.”

“If it was a fluke, then how come you can play?”

Shane didn’t bother hiding his laugh this time. “I was too stubborn to let anyone tell me I wasn’t good enough. I had something to prove.”

They were silent for a few moments, serenaded by the cicadas and the gurgle of the stream where it met the pond. Before Carly took a step, Shane spoke again. “Look, just because you aren’t an all-star in Little League or soccer or whatever, it doesn’t mean you suck at sports or anything else. You’re a good kid. Real smart and okay to have around. You can do whatever you want in life. And as long as you’re a good person and do your best, you’ll succeed.” Reaching over, he grabbed the cap off Troy’s head, ruffling his hair. Troy beamed at him as Shane replaced the cap. “Now, shut up or the fish won’t bite.”

Carly brushed away a tear and tried to control her breathing. With shaking hands, she realized the scene she’d just witnessed solidified the gnawing feeling hovering in her belly for the past few days. She was in love with Shane Devlin.
Try as she might to prevent it, it had happened. Once again, she’d fallen in love with the wrong man. A man everyone—including himself—thought was incapable of love. As overjoyed as she was at Shane’s evolving relationship with Troy, she was frightened to death of her feelings for Shane. How had this happened? Was it possible he could change? Would she even want to stay and find out?

Later that night, wrapped in the cocoon of his slumbering body, Carly wanted to blurt out her feelings for him. She desperately wanted to know what his reaction would be. Lisa had been right; Shane just needed a little time to get to know Troy before realizing he could let the boy into his life. The budding relationship between the two brothers gave Carly hope of a future for her and Shane.

The only thing keeping her from telling Shane she loved him were thoughts of Maxim. The feelings she felt for Shane were different from those she’d once believed she felt for Max. Still, she’d poured everything she had into her relationship with him, only to have him leave her for another woman. The question keeping her awake tonight was, did she have the guts to risk being rejected again?

Twenty

Beckett carried a three-foot stick up the slope of
the hill, the kid shrieking with laughter in chase. Shane smiled as dog teased boy. He’d meant what he’d said yesterday. He was a good kid and Shane had gotten used to having him around. Sure he was a little chatty, but he was smart and some of what he said actually made sense. The red-rimmed eyes and the quivering lip had all but disappeared. Not that Shane could blame him. He’d just lost both parents, for crying out loud. But he wasn’t as much of a pain as Shane thought he would be. In fact, this week had been much more relaxed than any he could remember.

Glancing ahead, he saw the other reason this trip had been so enjoyable. Scrambling up the hillside in tight white jean shorts, Carly’s wiggling body never failed to arouse him. She laughed as Troy chased Beckett out of sight. Shane stopped beside a tree, taking in her long legs and wavy hair that felt like silk on his skin at night. As if sensing his wayward thoughts, Carly paused, peering over her shoulder to look at him questioningly.

“Come here,” he said, leaning his back against an ancient walnut tree.

She hesitated, looking ahead to where dog and boy had disappeared. With a sly grin she turned and jogged back down the hill, careening into him at the last minute. He wrapped her in his arms as her body came in contact with his.

Shane took her mouth in a hungry kiss. She responded immediately, pulling her body in closer, allowing him greater access to her mouth. Christ, did she realize how much he needed her? How often thoughts of being with her consumed his day? It was a feeling that should have burned out by now or at least cooled. Instead, his desire for Carly seemed to grow stronger each time he touched her.

Shane knew she’d stayed to make sure the kid was okay, but he also knew the other reason she’d stayed. Her body came alive beneath his hands and it seemed to trigger a corresponding urgency within him. When he was inside her, he felt something he’d never felt before. Something undefined but . . . good.
Damn good
. He loved being inside of her. In fact, he loved everything about her.

Holy crap, where had that come from?

Shane pulled out of the kiss, staring down at Carly’s face. Her breathing was labored and her eyes took a minute to focus, but when she finally looked up at him, his gut clenched.

“Shane, I . . .” she said, still breathless.

“Hey, you guys! Someone’s here!” Troy’s voice carried down the hill.

Carly bit her lip, pulling out of the embrace. Shane stared at her a moment longer, trying to harness feelings that seemed to be pulling him in a direction he’d never been before. This was getting complicated. He needed to think.

“You guys!” Troy called again, Beckett barking happily in the background.

“We’re coming,” Shane answered. He looked again at Carly, but the look he thought he’d seen was gone. “You’d better lead the way. It’s probably a Girl Scout selling cookies and I’m likely to scare the hell out of her in my current state.” Laughing, she grabbed his hand, tugging him up the hill. The position gave him an excellent view of her shorts. “On second thought, you’d better walk next to me,” he said with a groan as he pulled up beside her.

If the sounds of toddlers squealing didn’t calm his aroused state, the sight of a black Jeep Cherokee parked in the circular driveway did.

“Shit,” Shane mumbled, spying Roscoe sitting on the long wooden front steps of the cabin. Carly had obviously seen him first, quickly slipping her hand from his in response to Roscoe’s angry glare.

Beckett barked while the kid chased one of the twins across the lawn as Roscoe’s wife, Tiffany, chased the other. “Beckett won’t hurt you,” the kid said, not realizing that to the twins, having someone chase them was their favorite game. Carly stopped well short of the front steps, pretending to take in the chaos.

“I thought that at least
she’d
have more sense.” Roscoe didn’t wait for them to get inside before voicing his disapproval.

“Leave her out of it,” Shane said, stomping up to the porch steps.

“It’s a little late now. Jeez, Shane, you’ve still got to get through training camp to play this year. She’s the coach’s sister-in-law, for crying out loud. And the GM’s assistant! Did you not learn anything in San Diego?”

“It’s not what you think,” Shane said, barely keeping his voice from a yell. His hands were in fists and he was sorely tempted to leap up the steps and throw Roscoe over the railing. It wouldn’t take much more to push him to do it, either.

Roscoe had the nerve to laugh. “Give me a break, Devlin. I’ve known you too long not to know exactly what this is.” He put both hands up as Shane started toward him. “Hey, you don’t pay me to be your moral compass. Just to clean up the mess afterward. And my rates will be the same when this one needs mopping up, too.”

“Wow, Shane, your agent is as much of an egotistical ass as you are.”

Shane spun around to look at Carly standing beside him, her arms mutinously crossed beneath her breasts as storm clouds formed in her eyes. He felt a pinch of pride as she stood up to Roscoe—who
was
being an egotistical ass—but he hated that she felt she needed to defend herself. And he wasn’t that happy she’d essentially called him an egotistical ass, as well. He thought they’d progressed beyond that.

“There won’t be anything to mop up,” she said, notching her chin a bit higher. Shane stepped in front of her, essentially cutting her off from Roscoe’s glare. From now on, Shane would be the one doing the defending.

“I said leave her out of it, Roscoe.” As grand gestures went, it was pretty lame.

Roscoe arched an eyebrow at him. “Huh, that’s interesting,” he said, offering up a smirk.

Carly huffed behind Shane.

“What are you doing here anyway?” Shane asked.

“Boarding schools.” Roscoe thumped a large manila envelope that lay on the step beside him. “If you want the kid settled before camp starts, you need to do a little song and dance. The application process can be a lengthy one, but some schools are interested in waiving the procedures with the right amount of incentives. He’ll need to go on interviews next week.”

“Boarding
school?”
the kid said from where he stood on the front lawn, Beckett at his feet. “You’re sending me away?” The agony in his voice sent something flickering in Shane’s belly.

“Ahhh, for crying out loud, Shane! You didn’t tell him?” Roscoe swore. Shane looked at the kid. His lip was quivering again and tears filled his eyes. Hell. He’d royally screwed this up. Shane stepped away from the porch, but the kid wasn’t waiting around. With a sob, he took off down the hill.

“Troy!” Shane yelled, sprinting down the steps after him.

* * *

Carly shoved what she could into the gym bag
Shane had packed her clothes in the week before. In the bathroom she tossed her toiletries into a plastic grocery bag, not bothering to collect her toothbrush from Shane’s bathroom. God, she’d been a fool. Despite knowing who and what Shane Devlin was, she’d fallen in love with him. Worst of all, she’d almost blurted it out to him earlier. Well, better off ending it before she got in too deep. As if she could fall any deeper.

“What the hell are you doing?”

She turned to see Shane filling the doorway, that menacing look back on his face. Letting her eyes drink him in one last time, she zipped up the gym bag.

“I’m doing what I should have done the day Joel was arrested. I’m going home.”

“Carly,” he said, his voice softening, but not his posture. “Don’t listen to what Roscoe says. He’s an idiot.”

“No. As far as I’m concerned, the only idiots here are the ones standing in this room. And your lawyer is right.
I
should have known better.”

“Don’t do this.” He’d moved closer without her realizing, sliding his hand over the one she had tightly gripping the handle of the bag.

Gathering her courage, Carly forced a smile as she lifted her face to him. “I have to do this. This was supposed to be just about sex. But I lost sight of that. I . . . I thought that maybe there could be something more. But I was wrong.” Taking a deep breath, she licked her dry lips, trying to steady her voice. “You’re not even capable of a relationship with your own flesh and blood. It would be impossible for you to love . . . to have a relationship with me.”

He reached out to touch her, but Carly backed away. “Are you saying that you feel something for me?” he asked.

Great. Leave it to him to latch on to the love word. She hadn’t meant to say it, but maybe it would work to her advantage and drive him away. After all, it sent most men running for the hills, didn’t it?

“No. I mean, maybe. If we kept this up I might,” she said, sliding her purse to her shoulder. “But I’m a grown-up and I can control my feelings, so don’t get all hinky on me. I’m going back to Baltimore so you can concentrate on getting ready for the season. That is your main priority, isn’t it? Shuffling Troy off to boarding school and getting rid of all the
distractions
? Well, I’m saving you the trouble. Now you have no excuses not to secure your precious starting job.”

Avoiding any eye contact, Carly hefted up her gym bag and walked past Shane to the door. She tried to swallow but her mouth was like cotton, and her eyes ached from holding the tears at bay.

As she made her way to the front door, she heard the sound of the twins chortling in one of the bedrooms, their mother trying to get them down for a nap. Roscoe sat in one of the wooden rockers on the front porch, a beer in his hand. Pushing through the screen doors, Carly spied Troy dragging his huge duffel bag across the lawn to her rental car, a distressed Beckett following behind him.

“Take me with you, Carly,” Troy said, his voice wavering. “Please.” Carly’s heart broke a little more as she looked at the boy’s distraught face.

“Great.” Shane’s voice came from up on the porch. “A full-scale mutiny.” When she turned, he looked like the mutinous one. “You’re not going anywhere, Troy.”

Twice now he’d called Troy by his name. She only wondered if he realized it was too late. Troy shoved his glasses against his nose defiantly as he glared up at his brother. “I don’t need you.” Leaving his duffel beside the car, he stormed up the steps to grab the large envelope Roscoe had left on one of the tables. “How many schools did you contact?” he asked the lawyer.

“Ten or eleven,” Roscoe answered, his voice sounding amused.

“Are any of them that boarding school in Southern California? You know the one like on that TV show?”

Roscoe was grinning widely now as he slowly rocked the chair back and forth. “No, I didn’t check that far away.”

“Oh, for crying out loud!” Shane complained.

“I’ve got lots of money, though, right?” Troy didn’t bother with Shane, instead directing his questions at Roscoe.

“Tons,” Roscoe said, clearly enjoying the boy’s tactics.

“Good.” Troy flashed him a smirk. “Then I really shouldn’t need to have anything more to do with you,” he said, turning to Shane. “After all, I can do and be whatever I want, right?”

Shane’s stance hardened a bit, but he didn’t argue with Troy. Offering up a slight nod, he watched silently as Troy sauntered back down the stairs and loaded his duffel in the backseat of the car. “Good, I’ll be sure and let you know where I land,” Troy said with a cheeky grin.

Which meant Carly was obviously going to have to do something with him. Sighing, she watched as Troy gallantly loaded her bag into the car next to his. Roscoe chuckled on the porch as Shane stood on the steps, arms crossed and hands tucked under his armpits. That errant lock of hair blew in the slight breeze, but otherwise his face was expressionless.

“I’ll take him to the beach. Lisa may be able to talk some sense into him,” she said softly.

“Fine,” was all he said. Troy reached down to wrap his arms around Beckett’s big head as Carly made her way to the driver’s side of the car.

“Troy,” Shane called before they got in the car. Carly flinched at the sound of Troy’s name coming off Shane’s lips. Striding down the steps, Shane stopped beside Beckett.

“Your parents would want you to go to boarding school.” His voice was quiet as he looked at his brother. “Your mom and dad didn’t really intend for you to be left with someone like me. Hell, they didn’t even like me. I’d be a horrible influence on you. They didn’t know what they were doing.”

Troy looked at him a moment before straightening his shoulders and pushing up his glasses again. “No. They didn’t know what they were doing. They thought that all that stuff about you being the Devil of the NFL was just an act, a way to get attention. Mom always said that you just needed to be shown love before you could give it. Dad,
our
dad, always said he was so proud of you. Because you’d made something out of yourself in spite of his attempts to screw your life up.”

Tears welled up in Carly’s eyes, but Shane’s face was like granite as Troy continued. “He always used to pray that one day you’d be able to forgive him for abandoning you. That you’d learn to understand that he was just a mixed-up kid himself. We celebrated your birthday every year and Dad kept a scrapbook with every article he could find about you. So yeah, you’re right. They didn’t know what they were doing. And I’m glad they’ll never know the real you.” With a pat on Beckett’s head, he climbed into the car.

Carly stood frozen, looking over the roof of the car at Shane’s emotionless face.
Say something,
she begged him. Instead, the silence surrounding them was deafening. The ache in her heart grew more severe as the gist of Troy’s words sunk in. It took everything she had not to go to Shane and offer him comfort. Instead, with limbs so shaky she wasn’t sure she could stand, she got behind the wheel and started up the car. Beckett whined as the car started to pull away.

“Don’t forget to feed the dog,” Troy yelled from the open passenger window. When he turned to face forward again, tears were streaming down his face. “Butthead.”

* * *

Shane wasn’t sure how long he stood there. He
wasn’t even sure if his heart was still beating. He couldn’t seem to feel anything. Beckett turned his head to look at him, a sorrowful look in his big brown eyes. After a moment, he lay down in the gravel drive, plopping his head on his paws with a deep sigh. Breathing deeply himself, Shane forced his feet to move him back up the steps as the sounds of Carly’s tires on the gravel faded away. Christ, he needed a drink. Several, in fact.