Last Play: Book 1 The Last Play Series (4 page)

“What?” She stopped moving and looked defensive.

Had he been staring? Clearing his throat, he turned to the paint. “Nothing. Nothing.” Suddenly, he noticed the Christmas music humming in the background. “What’s with the music?”

Instantly, she frowned and shook her finger at him. “You just keep quiet about the music.” There was a sudden edge to her tone. “Henry has enough problems to think about with Mrs. K’s health and everything else right now. The music is the least of his concerns,” she snapped.

That was not the reason he had expected. “What are you talking about—Mrs. K’s health?” The fact that he didn’t know who Henry was didn’t seem to matter at the moment. “The Mrs. K that fed me pancakes today?”

Her face softened. “Yes.” Moisture filled her eyes. Her green eyes shined even brighter. “Mrs. K has cancer.” She shook her head. “And she told me the other day that after seeing your uncle die, she just can’t believe that she can get a miracle.”

The center of his chest clutched with emotion. He thought of his uncle and for some insane reason he felt his own eyes get waterywhich took him aback. He turned away from her and swallowed. Not her, too.

He heard Katie let out a soft sigh. “I’m sorry. I guess … I guess this all rings close to home with your uncle and everything.” A hand touched his shoulder. “I didn’t tell you how sorry I am about Jim. He was a good man.”

Turning back around, his eyes locked with hers and he felt a shiver of warmth move through him. Here was something that the people in his life recently had lacked—sincerity. All he could do was nod again. Jim was probably the only person he did care about, at least at this point in his life, and he was gone. “Thank you, that means a lot.”

Pulling her hand back, she turned to the shelves. She took two cans of primer and plunked them into the cart, immediately reaching for two more cans of paint. “Grey is the big color right now.” She cleared her throat again and flashed him a tentative smile. “I was thinking that we could accent with red pillows and white trim. Maybe some rugs that thread some deep blue into it and have some decorative shabby chic lamps and chandeliers. I think it would add a modern feeling to the cabin.” She pulled the cart behind her, turning into a new aisle. She took some cabinet hardware off of the shelf. “The rustic cupboards in the kitchen can stay. I haven’t decided if we should paint them white. You know, to brighten up the kitchen. I watched a YouTube video on how to actually make them look kind of antiquey by using a permanent black marker to trace the lines.” She cocked her head to the side, studying an array of handles. She took a clump of them out and dropped them into the cart. “But, we will need to put hardware on either way, so let’s go ahead and get these.” She turned for confirmation. “Is that okay?”

All Roman knew at this moment was that he didn’t want to disappoint this woman that had touched his shoulder and shown a more kind-hearted response to his uncle’s death than anyone else in his life. Spending a couple of days rehabbing the cabin might not be a bad way to spend his time. Especially if he got to spend it with her. Annoyance washed over him.
Married
. He had to remember. She was married.

Her green eyes narrowed, making her look more like a ‘Kat’ than a ‘Katie.’ “What?”

“Nothing,” he spit out. “What?”

Putting a hand on her hip, she moved closer to him, searching his eyes. “What I’m really asking for is budget approval.”

His pulse raced, and he stepped back, trying to get as far as he could from the lemon fragrance that wafted off of her. “Sure. Absolutely. Whatever you want.”

Lifting her eyebrows, she grinned. “Really? Anything I want?”

It wasn’t just that his mind felt scrambled. Did the manager keep the heat up in here? He tugged off his coat. “Get all the supplies you need.” He folded his coat and put it in the front part of the cart.

The way she spun on her heel and flashed a wide smile told him he was going to vehemently regret giving her that kind of a license.

She rattled on about different people they saw in the store. There was Mrs. Harper, the old school teacher. When Katie introduced him as Jim’s nephew, Mrs. Harper hugged him and said how sorry she was. She proceeded to make a point of introducing her daughter who happened to be trapped in town for the weekend and suggested he might take her out. The idea that Mrs. Harper would blatantly throw her quiet daughter at him was just a bit much. Her daughter wasn’t bad looking, but she seemed painfully shy in his presence so her mother’s suggestion was just weird. But he’d definitely had weirder encounters with mothers wanting him to date their daughters, so he just nodded politely.

At this, Katie had promptly covered her face and pushed the cart away from them, leaving him to make excuses and describe the projects that they were knee deep in. Of course he left out the fact that he’d only really committed to doing them this morning. He walked away from the whole thing and endured more laughter and soft punches to the shoulder from Katie.

“Big quarterback’s in town, ladies. It’s
The Bachelor
comes to Wolfe Creek. Who will get a rose?”

Not really amused, he pretended to play along anyway. “Right, maybe instead of handing out roses, we’ll give power tools to the girls that know how to overhaul the most projects around the inn.”

She snapped her fingers with delight. “Exactly, and you could strut around with a tool belt on and show them how to do stuff.”

He snickered. “Problem is I don’t know how to do much
stuff
.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s okay, QB. Throwing a ball is all you need to know how to do, right?”

Although it shouldn’t really be an insult, it kind of did sound like an insult. “What does that mean?”

She kept strolling down the aisles, adding things to the cart. “Nothing.” She focused on a drill. “I need a drill. Are you okay with buying this?”

The drill was not on his radar. “Yeah, whatever. What did you mean quarterbacks only have to throw a ball?”

She forced him to a stop by cutting him off as she moved to the other side of the aisle and added something else to the cart. She was frowning when she replied, “You sound offended.”

“I’m not.” It came out a little too quickly.

She studied him for a second then turned their cart to the check out lane. “Chill out, QB, lots of women want a man that can throw a ball.” She lifted an eyebrow. “And I admit, you do that well.”

Once again, the compliment sounded like an insult. “I do lots of other things well.” He threw out at her.

She began unloading all the things in the check out lane. “I didn’t say you don’t.”

Memories of his mother teaching him things flashed into his mind. “I can cook.”

The side of her lip tugged up. “I’m happy for you.” She pushed the cart through and nodded to the cashier.

Angrily, without knowing why he should feel angry, he tugged his card out of his wallet and didn’t even look at the total, his eyes riveted on her. “Have you ever watched spring training or a football documentary on all the things we have to do to maintain ourselves?”

He signed a slip, and she was already taking some of the bungee cords out of the cart along with a tarp, moving them out into the snow.

He zipped up and trudged faster, trying to keep up with her. She smashed her pom pom hat on her head and went to the task of organizing everything on the trailer of the snow mobile. For a few seconds he wondered if she’d heard his question. “Do you know what football players go through?”

She got everything situated and gave him half of the tarp, ignoring the angst in his voice. “Actually, I’ve been too busy the last couple years to honestly care.” She finished fastening the last strap and then held his gaze.

Roman stared back at her. For some reason, he kind of liked the way Katie treated him. Normal. She was mean to him, but he could tell this was her being normal. It probably just felt like she was being mean because most people fell all over themselves around him, he reasoned. But, he didn’t think she respected him and that wasn’t okay with him. Roman swiftly took the snow mobile keys out of Katie’s hand. He got on first.

“Hey!” she protested, trying to reach across him and swipe the keys out of his hand.

He laughed, liking the feeling of keeping something away from her. “Oh, no!” A thought occurred to him. “Whose snow mobile is this anyway?”

A sheepish grin peeked across her face. She pointed at him. “Your uncle’s.”

Slipping the key into the starter, he grinned. “Exactly.”

After hesitating and then crossing her arms, she lifted her brows. “Well, Quarterback, you don’t always get your way.” She shook her head back and forth and stomped away from him, heading toward the Lunch Lizard Diner. “I’m hungry.”

Roman’s heart was racing, and he wanted to take off. Fast. Just fly out of the parking lot and away from this incredibly RUDE woman, but he didn’t. It had nothing to do with the fact he really didn’t know what he would do with all these supplies. The snow was still flying, but they had used a tarp to cover them from it. He was torn between wanting to leave and wanting to confront her. Finally, he decided this female—married or not—needed a piece of his mind. You don’t leave somebody that’s new to town sitting on a snow mobile all by himself with supplies you wanted to purchase. It was just rude!

He got off the snowmobile and stalked toward Leaping Lizard Diner. Swinging the door back, he found her at a booth next to the window. An older lady in a red dress and big, black boots stood in front of her, putting down two glasses of water. He put on his severe face. The one he saved for coaches that told him his knee wasn’t ready for play time. The one he saved for ex-wives who sat across from him with her attorney and demanded half of everything.

Katie saw him and gave him a huge, innocent smile and waved him over. “Lee Ann, meet Roman—Jim’s nephew. The one he always talked about.”

Immediately, the big boot lady, who had to be a foot and a half shorter than him, hugged him, putting her head against his side. “I loved your uncle Jim.”

Once again, Roman was taken by surprise. The only thing that could have shaken him down, besides being slammed by a three hundred pound line backer, was this kind of open affection and concern. Unwanted emotion choked up his throat. He patted her softly on the back. It was completely strange for him to be in a town where people knew anything real about him. Anything more than the media spin that his people worked so hard to produce.

Lee Ann pulled away and patted the part of the table across from Katie. “You sit now with our Katie, we’ll get you two the special and some of Marv’s fries.”

It didn’t seem like Roman had a choice. He slid into the booth, unzipping his coat and took off his beanie, completely mystified by this town.

Lee Ann frowned, studying him. “But you probably don’t eat fried food, do ya?” She tapped her chin and then, without warning, reached out her hand to touch the stubble on his chin. Then she let out a yip laugh and yanked her hand back. “Oh, dear.” A blush appeared on her face. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. It’s just, you’ve always been my favorite, and I’ve been hoping all these years to finally meet you.” She yip laughed again. She sucked in a breath and then patted her hair against the top of her forehead. “Oh, dear. What you young men and your charms can do to us older women.”

Roman had no idea what to say. So he simply smiled. “Nice to meet you Lee Ann, thanks for all your support.”

She sighed. “Ahh, maybe you get some time off being so strict with your diet because you guys just won the big game!” She put her hand up to give him a high five. “So do you want fries?”

He blinked and returned the high five. “Bring me Lizard fries.”

Another yip laugh and she bustled away, before halfway turning back. “But I’m not even going to ask you if you want a soda ‘cause you definitely don’t need all that carbonation.” She gave a stern nod and kept walking.

He watched her go and then turned to look at Katie.

The mischievous look on her face told him that she thought the whole exchange hilarious. She started to bust up. “Wolfe Creek Bachelor. I’m going to start filming.”

The strange thing was that he’d come into this place completely ready to give this red-haired devil a piece of his mind. This girl who thought she could get him to buy all this stuff and then insist that she drive the snow mobile. And then, stalk off like she knew he would follow her. But he couldn’t stop himself. He cracked up, too, and rubbed his cheek, feeling the red creep up his neck. “Was it weird she touched my face? ‘Cause that felt weird.”

Her green eyes sparkled, and she reached for her water. “Wow.” She took a sip.

He took a sip of his water and grinned back at her. “What?”

Closing her eyes for a second, she kept her glass between her hands. “Is that what it’s like for you all the time?”

He knew what she meant, but he didn’t know how to respond. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” She leveled him with a serious look.

Uncomfortable, without really having a reason to be, he shrugged. “It’s …” thoughts of his ex-wife and the other women that constantly threw themselves at him flooded his thoughts. The past few months it had gotten real old. He averted his eyes. “It’s complicated.”

She chug laughed, took a spoon, fished an ice cube out of her water and popped it into her mouth. “I’m sure,” she said with her mouth full of ice cube.

He watched her try to bite on the too big piece of ice in her mouth and couldn’t stop himself from grinning. “Is that a good piece of ice?”

For a second she paused, and then her cheeks flamed red. She took a piece of ice out of her glass and tossed it at him. “Be quiet.” She finally crunched the ice, gulping back a laugh.

This naturally led him to act like a junior high kid, and he took a piece of ice out of his glass, tossing it back at her.

While crunching her ice and dodging the ice being thrown at her, she kept laughing. Then the laughing turned to choking.

He thought she was faking at first. Then he realized her eyes were slightly bulging and all the pounding she was doing on her chest wasn’t a joke.