Line of Scrimmage (7 page)

The thought of Trace McKay called up way too much pain. Deliberately she banished any trace of him from her mind. She’d spent too much time letting him live there after the big disaster. Now she tended to look at all football players through the same lens. The fact that Jake was Ivy’s brother didn’t mean his scruples were any different than any of the other jocks she knew. She’d done what she had to, protecting herself…and her heart. She’d just been looking out for her welfare. Since then, she’d managed to stay out of his way.

Damn Ivy! She’d maneuvered this whole thing in her cute little way. Erin could not stay here. Not even for one more minute. This was an impossible situation.

“What are—what do you—” Her brain wouldn’t form sentences. “What are you doing in bed?” Now there was a stupid question. Ivy had told her he was injured. She just hadn’t expected—what? What had she expected?

“What the hell does it look like? I fucking broke my leg.”

“But what—but how—” God, she was turning into a blithering idiot. She couldn’t reconcile the big, formidable athlete with this man wearing a cast on his leg and his wrist. “I thought you were playing football?” Oh, there was a brilliant statement.

“In case you aren’t aware of it, they don’t let you on the field with a full leg cast.” His tone was laced with bitterness.

“Of course, of course,” she said quickly. And still she stared, somehow unable to take it in.

“Well?” Jake’s angry voice broke into her thoughts. “Are you going to stand there all day or can you come and help me? As long as you’re still here, how about making yourself useful?”

“Help you?” She frowned. “Make myself useful? Doing what, for God’s sake?” The situation was getting worse by the minute. “I have to leave. I can’t stay here with you. This can’t possibly work.”

“You can’t leave now,” he snapped. “I need to get up.”

Without thinking, Erin moved closer and her eyes widened. She hadn’t realized just how much damage had been done to his leg. The cast covered the area to well over his knee. Another little detail Ivy had left out.

He wore only the gym shorts he’d slept in, leaving the rest of his mouthwatering body naked. The slatted blinds on his windows were partially opened, letting shafts of sunlight into the room. It highlighted his rumpled hair and the golden scruff decorating his strong jawline.

Jake’s voice was morning gruff. “When you’re through gawking, do you think you could help me to the bathroom?”

Her jaw dropped. “Help you? To the bathroom?”

“Yes, damn it, unless you want me to embarrass myself. Oh, wait, maybe that’s your plan, right? And can you please stop repeating everything I say?”

Erin would have liked to jab at him more, but it was obvious he was in great discomfort. She really wanted to grab her things from her room and hightail it out of there, but her conscience wouldn’t let her do that. Sighing inwardly, she moved farther into the bedroom.

“Can you walk at all?”

How on earth was she going to do this? Damn Ivy for getting her into this, anyway. Then she noticed a walker lying on the floor. She guessed he’d tried to set it up to help him out of bed, but it had fallen over and banged against the nightstand. Obviously the cause of the sound she’d heard.

“Yes.” He nodded at the contraption. “With a little bit of help. But it’s very awkward because of the cast on my left wrist. That’s why I don’t have crutches. At least not yet.” He glared at her. “Believe me, asking you to do this is not my first choice.”

Erin swallowed the immediate reply that sprang to her lips and righted the walker. “Okay. Let’s try to do this.”

Jake pulled the walker over in front of him, flipped it open, and used it to pull himself upright. He had a lot of trouble balancing himself, so Erin took pity on him and put his arm over her shoulders, wrapping her arm around his waist.

Zing!

Electric tingles shot through her system and an unwelcome flutter set up in her pussy. Holy crap! Not good, not good, not good.

“Hey! We just gonna stand here?”

Until Jake spoke, she hadn’t realized that the electric contact had made her stop in her tracks.

“Sorry. Just getting a better balance here.”

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself against the contact with his warm skin and navigated him the rest of the way. It wasn’t pretty, especially since he couldn’t put any weight on his broken leg and had to hop, but somehow they made it to the bathroom. Erin wasn’t sure who was more uncomfortable, her or Jake.

At the bathroom door, she stepped back and frowned at him. “You don’t need me to come in with you, do you?” She was sure that wasn’t included in her list of duties, although with Ivy pulling this stunt she supposed anything was possible.

“Fuck, no,” he growled. “I can’t do much for myself but I can still do this.” Cursing under his breath, he edged himself into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Okay, Erin, deep breath.

She knew football season had opened the day after she left on her trip. It was impossible to live in Austin and not be aware of it as every television and radio station pumped it and newspapers shouted it. At the time, she’d been grateful she’d have two weeks away from that insanity. And now—

Erin took a moment to look around the room. This, too, was well done, in pale orange, tan, and ivory, with solid furniture. Masculine without being overbearing. She wondered idly whose taste this was—Jake’s, Ivy’s, or some anonymous decorator. Or maybe not so anonymous. Maybe one of his many playmates, of which she was sure he had many.

What did she care, anyway? That zippy little tingle she’d felt when their bodies connected was probably just some kind of static in the air. Right? She’d prove it to herself when she helped him back to bed. Because no way could she allow herself to be attracted to this man.

While she waited, she might as well do something useful. She turned back to the bed, smoothing the sheets and plumping the pillows, even as she cursed Ivy under her breath for getting her a job as a damned maid. She had just finished folding back the covers when she heard the sound of the toilet flushing, then water running. She didn’t figure he was doing much more than brushing his teeth. The home care person Ivy had arranged for—at least she’d said she had—would take care of his shower and shave, thank the Lord. The door flew open and there was Jake, gripping the walker with one hand. His forehead was creased with a scowl as he stood there, glaring at her.

“Well?” he snarled. “Are you through staring?”

She sighed and swallowed her immediate retort. “Sorry. I’m very happy to assist you back to bed.”

“Ha!” He spat the word out and ungraciously accepted her assistance. “I’ll just fucking bet.”

“Listen, sport.” She had to bite back what she really wanted to say. “This wasn’t my idea any more than it was yours, so can you clean up the language and at least act halfway decent?”

“You’re right. It wasn’t my idea, either,” he told her, resentment sparking from him like electrical current. “So can I just ask you to help me back to bed, and then you can go on your merry way?”

Erin knew that wasn’t going to happen, at least not in the next couple of hours. Not until she got hold of Ivy, read her the riot act, and had her get someone else to take her place. So she just walked over to where he waited and moved into place beside him. The damn tingle zapped her again, but she clenched her teeth against it and helped him back to the bed with the same awkward, halting progress as before. He was obviously in distress, so she took pity on him and helped him get his legs up onto the mattress and tucked the sheet over him. She couldn’t ignore the fact that his face was white with pain, and there were deep grooves bracketing his mouth.

Yet even with all that, when her hands touched his bare skin, she saw something like hunger flare in his eyes. Their gazes locked and for a moment time stood absolutely still. She broke away first, looking for a distraction. Glancing at his nightstand, she spotted an array of pharmacy prescription containers and a bottle of water that had probably been there all night.

“Let me replace this drink with a cold one,” she told him, determined at least for the time she was here, to do what she was supposed to. “I know some of those pills are for pain. You look like you could use a couple of them.”

When he didn’t object, she hurried into the kitchen and grabbed fresh water from the fridge. Taking a few extra seconds, she filled a mug and carried both of them back to the bedroom.

“Here.” She twisted off the cap on the water and handed him the bottle, then picked up the prescription containers. The directions on the label said one or two caplets as needed and he sure looked like he could use two right now. She shook them out into her palm and held them out to him, surprised when he only took one.

“One will do. I need to wean myself off these as soon as I can. I’ve seen too many guys get addicted to them.”

“You should take them if you’re in pain,” she pointed out.

“They won’t help me heal or rehab,” he snapped, “and that’s what I need to focus on. In fact, why don’t you just take these out of here?” He practically threw the little bottle at her. “Stick them in the bathroom. I can do without them.”

“Are you sure?”

“I said I don’t need them.”

“But—”

“They only gave them to me in case of an emergency,” he told her, a muscle twitching in his cheek. “Getting to the bathroom and back was worse than I expected, but now I’ll be prepared for it. There’s some acetaminophen in the bathroom. I’ll take that from now on.”

Erin just shrugged, silently took the bottle, and stuck it in her pocket. She waited while he swallowed the pill, then pointed to the mug. “I didn’t know how you take it so I just guessed at black.”

“Good. Fine. That’s how I take it, but anything will do. I’d hate to put you out any.” His voice was tight. “Just leave it there. I’ll get it in a minute.” Then, as if making a supreme effort to call up some vestige of courtesy, he ground out, “Thanks.”

He lay back against the pillows and closed his eyes. Erin wasn’t sure exactly what to do, so she busied herself reading the prescription labels, the name and the dosage. Antibiotics to prevent infection, pills for pain and sleep if needed, although she got the feeling Jake wouldn’t take the last one, either. She made a mental note to double check what was written on the sheet Ivy had handed her.

The sheet. The instructions. Elevate his leg.

Well, hell. That meant she’d have to touch him. Bend over him. Telling herself it was just a job and she really needed the money, she dragged some of his many extra pillows—how many did he need to sleep with, anyway?—and worked them as gently as possible under the cast from ankle to thigh. She was acutely aware of Jake watching her, even though she couldn’t see his face. She felt as if two hot pokers were boring into her and when she straightened up and looked at him, sure enough, his gaze was fixed on her.

“You’re supposed to keep it elevated,” she said, aware she was just stating the obvious.

“I got the memo.” He closed his eyes, obviously waiting for the pain meds to kick in.

Erin got the bottle of acetaminophen and stuck it on his nightstand. Then she stood there, analyzing this impossible situation and cursing Ivy under her breath. She hated to leave him until the meds kicked in, in case she needed to do something else, although she didn’t know what. Finally, after what seemed an interminable amount of time, he opened his eyes and looked at her.

“You’re still here.”

“Well, I didn’t evaporate.” She shoved her hands into the pockets of her slacks. “This is probably not the best time to bring this up again, but I can’t stay here. You have to know that. The situation is just impossible. I don’t know what Ivy was thinking.”

He let his gaze roam over her from head to toe, faint heat blooming in his eyes despite his obvious pain. Erin shivered under the impact of his stare and closed her hands into fists, digging her fingernails into her palms. Shit, shit, shit. That unwanted thread of sexual attraction was still pulling her toward him, no matter how bad he was for her. Her nipples tightened, her pulse ratcheted up, and between her thighs the throb in her pussy ramped up in force. Yes, she definitely had to get out of here.

“Jake?” she prompted. “Did you hear me?”

“I heard you.” He scowled. “So you’re gonna run scared the first time I tell you to scram? You’re really planning to leave me here like this? Helpless?”

“What’s the matter with you?” she demanded, her anger boiling over. “First you tell me to go away, and then you get mad because I said fine. You know as well as I do this is an impossible situation. Damn it.” She clenched her fists tighter. “Your home care person will be here in two hours. I’ll stay until I get hold of Ivy and get her back here. She’s just going to have to make other arrangements. I’ll tell her that and make sure she understands.”

“Yes, tell her.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “What the fuck was she thinking, anyway? Do you think I want a woman taking care of me who practically threw me out of her place? Or maybe you just can’t put your personal feelings aside to do the job you were hired for.”

“I was
hired
to take care of Russ Jacobs.” She did her best to keep her tone even. “That’s not you, so I’m out of here. Ivy can just get you someone else.”

She turned to walk out of the room, fighting to keep herself under control.

“Chicken,” he called after her.

Erin stopped.
Chicken?

“What did you just say?”

“I called you chicken,” he repeated. “Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!”

She turned around, anger seething through her. “I am a lot of things, but chicken is not one of them. How dare you?”

“How dare I?” He made a sound that was part laugh, part grunt of pain. “What else would you call a woman who’s so afraid of a relationship she pushes the other person away before it even gets started?”

“Pushes away? Relationship? Are you referring to the little sexual fandango we engaged it?”

“Wow! Sexual fandango? Fancy words for someone who’s a chicken.”

“Stop saying that.” She had the irrational urge to stamp her foot. “I just let you out of a situation you would have walked away from anyway.”