Line of Scrimmage (19 page)

“I’m sorry to interrupt your meeting.”

“It’s fine. We were done. What brings you into town so early?”

With a deep breath she said, “We need to talk.”

His smile faded. “That doesn’t sound good.”

Susannah reached for his hand. “I’m sorry, Henry, but I’ve decided to give my marriage another chance.”

He smiled but there was no warmth in it. “You didn’t decide that. You had it decided for you.”

“That’s not true.” Susannah took back her hand and told herself to stay calm. “I make my own decisions, and this is what I
want.”

“You must be out of your mind if you think you’ll ever be happy with him.”

“I
am
happy with him. I
was
happy with him for a long time.”

He stood up. “Were you happy with him when he left you to go play football after you lost the baby? Were you happy when the
whole town was talking about him having an affair with Betsy James? Were you happy then, Susannah?”

“No,” Susannah said quietly. “I wasn’t happy during any of those painful periods you love to remind me about every chance
you get.” She stood to face him. “Not that it’s any of your business, but Ryan left me to play football after we lost Justin
because I pushed him away by refusing to share my grief with him, and he did
not
have an affair with Betsy James or anyone else.”

“He’s really got you snowed, doesn’t he?”

“I’m sorry if my decision causes you or your parents embarrassment. I’ll pay for any costs incurred by canceling the wedding.”

“You mean
he’ll
pay, don’t you?”

“Does it really matter?”

“I can’t believe you would do this to me, Susannah!

After I gave up my job in New York and moved out here to be with you . . . ”

“I never asked you to do that!”

“You needed me, and I was here for you! I was right here for you,
always.

”

“Yes, you were. You were right there telling me what a good-for-nothing my husband was while pretending to be my friend.”

“
Is that what he’s been telling you?
And you’re
buying
that? We’ve been friends since we were fifteen years old!

Are you not allowed to have friends who are men?”

“Of course I am. I have many of them. But none of them has spent the last decade trying to get me to leave my husband so he
could have me for himself. That’s not love, Henry.” She put the ring on the coffee table. “That’s something else entirely.”

“
Susannah!
” he cried as she moved to the door.

“Wait.” He put his hand on the door to stop her from leaving. “Please, honey, don’t do this. I love you so much. There’s nothing
I wouldn’t do for you.”

“I’m sorry, but my mind’s made up. I’d like to leave now, please.”

“Tell me we can still be friends,” he pleaded, grabbing her arm and pulling her to him.

Pain shot through her left arm when he twisted her wrist to keep her from escaping his tight embrace.

“Henry! You’re hurting me! Let go!”

“I can’t lose you, Susannah. Please. Tell me we’re still friends.”

“We’re not friends.” The pain radiating from her arm brought tears to her eyes. “My friends want what’s best for me. You want
what’s best for you. Now let go of me, and open that door before I start screaming.”

“You know what?” he said as he abruptly let go and turned the doorknob. His genial hazel eyes had turned to ice. “The two
of you deserve each other. He did me a big favor by coming back when he did. Be sure to thank him for me.”

“I’ll do that.” Her stride as she left his office was quick and confident, but once she was inside the elevator her legs turned
to mush and her hands began to shake.

As the elevator doors closed, Henry turned to find his assistant staring at him with her mouth hanging open.

“Mind your own business,” he snapped, slamming his office door closed.

He went over to the window and looked down to the street where Ryan Sanderson leaned against the black Escalade. Wearing a
long leather coat and that goddamned Stetson he never left home without, Sanderson glanced up.

The two men locked eyes.

Sanderson didn’t look away until Susannah emerged from the bank and threw herself into his arms. He held her for a long time
while Henry watched them from above. After Sanderson helped her into the car, he looked up again, but this time his face was
twisted into what could only be called a smirk.

He’s gloating! That motherfucker is gloating!
They drove away, but Henry stood there staring out at the busy street for a long time before he went over to his desk and
picked up the phone.

“Betsy? Hey, it’s Henry Merrill. I was wondering if you might be free for lunch today.”

Chapter 19

AFTER A DAY FILLED WITH EMOTION AND NONSTOP INTERviews with local and national media, Ryan and Susannah returned home to Cherry
Hills just after nine. A light snow fell as they walked into the dark house. Ryan hung up their coats in the front hall closet
and turned to her.

“How about a fire?”

“I’d love it,” she said, wincing when he rubbed his hands over hers to warm them.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

He tilted his head to study her. “Something.”

“I hurt my arm earlier. It’s no big deal.”

“How did you hurt your arm?” He nudged her into the kitchen so he could look at it under the light. “And why didn’t you tell
me?”

“I banged it, and I never had the chance.”

He sat her down on a stool at the counter and rolled up her sleeve to find her wrist bruised and swollen.

“Susannah! Baby, why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?”

She shrugged. “You were busy with the press. I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Bother me? You must’ve been in pain all day! We need to get you to a doctor.”

“I have an appointment tomorrow for a routine checkup. I’ll have Pam take a look at it then.”

He gently turned her arm so he could see the other side of her wrist where there were four smaller bruises.

“Those are fingerprints!” His eyes narrowed with fury.

“Henry did this, didn’t he?”

“He didn’t mean to. Honest, he didn’t. He was upset I was leaving, and he tried to stop me. He wasn’t trying to hurt me.”

Ryan released a deep breath in an effort to contain his rage. “I’m going to kill him.”

“No, you’re not.” She rested her good hand on his chest. “How about getting me some ice to put on it?”

With his mouth tight with anger, he stared at the bruises for a long moment before he went to get an ice pack.

She took it from him with a calming smile. “Now, you said something about a fire. Why don’t you get changed first?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. The ice feels good. Go ahead, Ry.”

He kissed her cheek and went upstairs, but what he really wanted to do was find Henry Merrill and kick the shit out of him.
Just the thought of that guy putting his
hands on Susie
. . . Tomorrow he would pay that little worm a visit to give him an idea of what would happen if he ever touched her again.
Ryan hung up his suit and changed into jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. With his hands on the countertop in the bathroom,
he hung his head and took a minute to get himself together.

Susannah came into the bathroom and sighed when she saw him struggling with his emotions. She put her arms around him and
rested her head on his back. “Don’t be upset, Ry. I’m okay.”

“I
knew
I shouldn’t have let you go in there alone.”

He slapped the countertop in frustration. “I
knew
it! This is exactly what I was trying to warn you about yesterday.”

She turned him around so she could see his face.

“Baby, I’m fine. It’s no big deal. Please don’t let it ruin what’s been such an important day for you.”

He put his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

“I want to sit by the fire and listen to you play your guitar. Will you do that for me?”

He kissed her forehead. “Anything you want. But I still want to kill him. I swear to God if he ever comes near you again I
won’t be responsible for my actions.”

“Don’t talk like that. He’s not going to bother us. I told you, I made it very clear to him that it’s over between us—completely.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Go get the fire going while I get changed.”

“Do you need help?”

“No, I can do it. Thanks.”

“All right. Don’t be long.”

“I won’t.”

The moment she was alone, Susannah reached for the bottle of Advil in her medicine cabinet. Her wrist hurt a lot more than
she had let on to Ryan, and she suspected it might be sprained or worse. She shuddered when she imagined his reaction if it
was in fact broken. She’d only defended Henry because she was afraid Ryan might actually kill him if he knew Henry
had
been trying to hurt her when he twisted her arm so violently. For a brief moment she had been frightened by the intensity
of Henry’s reaction. She’d known him for half her life and had never seen him lose control the way he had today.

With a shudder, she pushed those unpleasant thoughts aside and changed into a pale pink silk nightgown and matching robe.
The simple tasks took much longer than usual because of her sore wrist. By the time she joined Ryan in the den, he had built
up a big fire and was sitting in front of it lost in thought.

“Hey,” he said when she sat on the sofa behind him.

“I thought you forgot about me.”

“Never. What were you thinking about?”

Rising to his knees he turned to face her. “You.”

“What about me?” she asked with a smile.

He ran a hand over the silk that covered her thighs.

“Actually I was thinking about the conversation I had with your father before I asked you to marry me.”

Her eyes widened with surprise. “You talked to Daddy first?”

“Of course I did. The weekend before I proposed, I drove out to your folks’ place. Your dad was fishing in the lake. He offered
me one of the beers he had in his cooler and baited a pole for me. And then for the longest time he didn’t say a word.”

Susannah chuckled at the scene he described.

“I was starting to sweat when he finally said, ‘You’ve come to tell me you’re taking my Susannah away from me, haven’t you?’”
He mimicked her father’s deep Southern drawl to perfection.

“Why haven’t you ever told me this before?” she asked, her eyes filling.

He shrugged. “It was kind of between me and him, you know?”

She nodded. “So what did you say?”

“I said, ‘I’ve come to ask for her hand, sir. I love her, and I’ll take care of her always.’ He said, ‘You’re a good boy,
Ryan, but I’m worried about the life you’ve chosen and how my little girl is going to fit into it.’ He said he had always
pictured you married to a nice Southern gentleman—a doctor or a lawyer, perhaps. Someone more like Henry. He even used him
as an example.”

Susannah wiped away the tears that rolled down her cheeks, and her heart swelled with love as she imagined Ryan courageously
approaching her father, a man who would appreciate such old-fashioned courtesy. Ryan had done it despite the fact that her
father had been quite vocal in his disapproval of the career Ryan planned to pursue after graduation.

“We talked for a long time. I tried to convince him that while football wasn’t as noble a profession as medicine or law, I’d
be able to provide a comfortable life for you, and you’d never have to work unless you wanted to. As you can imagine, he wasn’t
much swayed by my description of the perks that would come with marriage to a professional athlete. He finally gave in when
I told him quite simply that you’d be safe with me. He couldn’t very well argue with that, I suppose.”

“I can’t believe neither of you ever said a word about this.”

“I haven’t thought about it in years, to be honest, until today when there was a very brief time when you weren’t safe.” He
touched his lips to the bruise on her wrist. “Now all I can think about is I promised your daddy I’d take care of you, and
I didn’t do that today.

I didn’t trust the nagging feeling I had in my gut that Henry might hurt you.”

Susannah put her arms around him and cushioned his head against her chest. “I love you so much.”

His sigh was both contented and conflicted.

“You know that Southern gentleman Daddy hoped I’d find?”

He nodded.

“I married him. I married the best guy I’ve ever known, and if I had it to do over again, even after all that’s happened,
I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

Looking up at her, he asked, “Will you?” In the palm of his hand were the engagement and wedding rings he had given her more
than a decade ago. “Will you marry me all over again?”

“Yes,” she said, her hands on his face. “Yes, I will.”

He reached for her left hand and slipped the rings onto her finger. “I want us to renew our vows so we can put the brief period
of insanity behind us and make a fresh start.”

“I’d like that.” She gazed at the familiar rings and was overcome with relief to see them back where they belonged. “I guess
this means you haven’t forgotten the combo to the safe.”

“I was glad you hadn’t changed it, but these are just placeholders until I can get you new ones.”

“I don’t want new ones. These are the ones I love. I cried all day when I finally worked up the nerve to take them off after
you moved out.”

He brushed at the dampness on her cheeks. “No more tears. Those days are over. We have the best of everything ahead of us.”

She kissed him and urged him onto the sofa with her.

He took her in his arms and stretched out next to her.

“I thought you wanted me to play for you.”

“I’d rather have you hold me.”

“Happy to oblige, darlin’.”

“Aren’t you at all curious as to what’s being said about you on T.V. tonight?”

“Not in the least. I’m sure it’ll be front-page news in tomorrow’s sport section. We’ll find out what they have to say soon
enough. How does your wrist feel?”

“Okay. I took some Advil.”

Ryan took a deep, rattling breath. “I sure wish you’d let me kill him. It would give me such pleasure . . . ”

“What good would you be to me in jail?” she asked with a teasing smile.

“That’s true,” he conceded. “We took care of some major business today, didn’t we?”

“We sure did. It feels good to have nothing standing in our way. We’re free to do whatever we want.”

He turned onto his good side so he could see her. “I just wish we could think of something to do with this newfound freedom
of ours.”

She pretended to give that some significant thought.

“We could play a game.”

“Or watch a movie,” he said, his hand coasting over her silk robe.

“Uh-huh.” She choked on a gasp when his roving hand found her breast. “I hope we aren’t going to be bored as retirees. We
might have to take up bridge or shuffleboard to fill our time.”

He snorted with laughter. “From football to shuffleboard. Can you picture the headlines?”

She giggled but it quickly became a moan when he dragged his tongue over her bottom lip. “Ry,” she sighed, burying her fingers
in his hair to pull him closer.

But rather than give in to her need for urgency, he gave her top lip the same slow treatment.

Her heart fluttered when she looked up to find him watching her with brown eyes gone soft with tenderness.

“I want you,” she whispered.

“You have me. I’m all yours.”

With her hands on his face, she brought his mouth back to hers.

The kiss was undemanding. He rimmed her mouth with his tongue and then delved deeper in quick fleeting strokes that made her
desperate for more.

Susannah had to remind herself to breathe as he focused all his attention on the kiss. His hands never moved as he kissed
her like a man who had all the time in the world to give her, all the time in the world to love her.

“Let me up so I can go get the paper,” she said the next morning as sunlight streamed into the bedroom. In their haste the
night before, they had forgotten to close the blinds. “I’m dying to know what they’re saying about my man.”

“In a minute,” he murmured, his lips trailing over her neck.

When he caressed her belly, Susannah squirmed and then jolted as his hand dipped between her legs. “Ry!”

He pressed his erection against her back. “Hmm?”

“We can’t.”

“Why not?”

“This is nuts,” she said, breathless from what he was doing to her.
How is it possible that I want him again?

He eased her onto her belly and raised her arms up over her head.

She turned so she could see him. “Ry? What’re you doing?”

“Kissing your back.”

She wiggled under him. “That’s not kissing! That’s
biting!

”

“Details, baby.” With a combination of lips, teeth, and tongue, he worked his way down her spine. Filling his hands with soft
buttocks, he said, “I love your ass. Have I ever told you that?”

“Um, no.” He was making her nervous. “Not in so many words.”

“Too bad,” he said, nibbling one cheek and then the other. “I should’ve told you, because I’ve thought it so many times.”
He slipped a finger in between to discover his efforts were having the desired result.

Susannah almost levitated off the bed.

“Easy, baby. Take it easy.”

“How am I supposed to take it easy when you’re doing that?”

He slid his finger into her wetness and tempted her with small, teasing movements. “Doing what?”

“
That!
” She thrust her hips back to try to capture his teasing finger. “Oh my
God!
Ryan . . . ”

“Spread your legs a little.”

“No! Stop. Come
on.
”

With his knees, he urged her legs apart and raised her hips. He entered her from behind and gave her a minute to adjust before
he withdrew almost completely.

“Ryan!”

“Do you want more?”

“
Yes,
” she moaned. “
Please.
”

He kissed the back of her neck and whispered in her ear, “I love it when my little debutante is polite in bed.”

“
Damn it!
Do it!”

“Oh, Christ, I like that even more,” he said with a groan as he filled her again.

Careful to protect her sore wrist, he kept her on her elbows and knees as his teasing strokes drove her mad.

When he reached for her breasts, her legs gave out, and she landed face down on the bed with him on top of her.

“Am I crushing you?”

“No,” she panted, pushing back to urge him on.

“Don’t stop.”

As he ground himself into her, his sweat mingled with hers. He covered her, surrounded her, possessed her. And when he whispered
in her ear that he loved her, she replied with a scream of release that took him right over with her.