Page 18 of Game On

“Let’s forget it happened,” Carly said quickly standing up straight.

“It was a mistake.” Shane said at the same time.

A mistake? She hugged her arms to her chest and willed the tears not to come. His words stung. For a moment, she was back in Italy. The press labeling her as pathetic, unable to hold on to a man. Why was it always her fault? Hadn’t Shane initiated the kiss in her office?

“Whoa,” Shane said taking a step closer. “I wouldn’t say it never happened, Dorothy. I’m pretty sure that was your tongue down my throat.”

Seriously? He could call it a mistake, but she was supposed to be pining for more? No freakin’ way. Carly rolled her shoulders back. She was not that gullible girl the Italian paparazzi had created. It had taken her months to get over Maxim’s betrayal, but she was over him. She could easily handle Shane Devlin.

“It’s not like I’m awake nights dreaming of it,” she said smugly.

She dared to look into his eyes. What she saw reflected in them surprised her. She expected to see arrogance. Instead, she saw hunger. And heat. That same look she’d seen in Cabo. With a little bit of loneliness mixed in. She turned away so he wouldn’t see the tears that still threatened. Ripping off several sheets of paper towel, she threw them on the floor, stepping on them with her sneaker to wipe up the water the dog had slobbered. Shane sighed behind her.

“I’m sorry, Carly.” It sounded as if he were speaking through his hands. “I’m not good at this.”

She turned to see him run his fingers through his hair.

“What I want—what I think we both want—is to keep this professional. I don’t have a very good track record when it comes to relationships. If I’m going to screw something up, I’d rather it not be with the GM’s assistant. Especially if she happens to also be the coach’s sister-in-law. As much as I’d like to explore whatever this is between us, it’s just not a very good idea.”

Honesty. That was not what she was expecting from Shane Devlin. She bit her lip to keep it from trembling.

“Even if she is hot,” he finished softly.

The grin he added nearly took her breath away. She knew she needed to say something. Something mature. But she couldn’t trust her voice.

“So, we’ll just be friendly to one another around the office,” he forged on, repeating her words to Joel from earlier.

“Yeah.” She let a slow smile escape. “That would be best.”

He held out his right hand for her to shake. She went to take it, but pulled back at the last instant.

“I . . . don’t think we should . . . ” She stumbled over the words.

“Yeah, no touching,” he finished for her. “I don’t seem to know how to stop once I start touching you,” he whispered.

They stood there, not touching, for a moment more. The only sounds in the room were the hum of the refrigerator and the deep breathing of the dog dozing on the floor.

“I’d better go,” he said finally. “Donny will be looking for me.”

Shane headed for the door, whistling for the dog as he went. Scrambling to its feet, its tongue still hanging out, the retriever happily followed him out of the house. Carly remained rooted to the kitchen floor. Being friendly coworkers was what she wanted. Wasn’t it?

SIX

The next two weeks went by quickly for Carly. Her usual duties assisting Hank in the Blaze front office had been fairly light, it being the off-season. Still, between monitoring Shane’s media blitz and dealing with Gabe Harrelson’s crazy new wife, Carly had very little extra time to help Lisa plan for her gala—which the team was cohosting—now only a week away.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor of Asia’s office, Carly carefully stuffed engraved tickets into envelopes that she then neatly stacked in assigned piles beside her.

“I can’t belief Gabe is giving the team such a hard time about his signing bonus,” Asia said from her perch on the sofa behind Carly where she was monitoring media reports about the team on her iPad. “He’s out for the season, if not for good, and it was his own fault. He’s an idiot for going hang-gliding.”

“Actually,” Carly said, “Gabe hasn’t been in contact with the team at all. Neither has his agent. It’s just crazy Chloe. Between emails and phone calls, she’s averaging fifteen rants a day.”

“She’s been very effective using the media, too. What do either of them need the money for? Gabe must be set for life and Chloe should be making a mint on the residuals from her days on that sitcom. According to Daily Variety, her show is broadcast every day on hundreds stations around the world.”

Carly brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Don’t believe everything you read.” It was an axiom she lived by. The matter of Gabe’s signing bonus was beginning to annoy Carly, however. Chloe demanding money from the team just didn’t make sense. Asia was correct; Gabe didn’t need it. Most likely, the situation was a case of the young actress trying to kick-start her career through her marriage to a sports icon. Carly wondered if Gabe even knew of his wife’s efforts.

Several times these past weeks, Carly tried to contact the injured quarterback, but he wasn’t returning her phone calls, texts, or emails. She thought they’d been friends. Gabe’s sudden reluctance to talk was a mystery. Video of him rehabbing his injured hip in Southern California appeared on TMZ a few days ago, but there was no sign of his young bridezilla accompanying him. Carly thought back to the times Maxim had been injured, when she’d become invisible to the soccer star as he rehabbed his body to get back to the one thing he loved most. She almost felt sorry for Chloe. Almost.

“Well, at least our new quarterback is behaving himself. His interviews seem to be going well,” Asia said. “You’ve done a great job running him through the media circus, Carly. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” Asia let out a hiss as she tried to maneuver her leg to a more comfortable position.

---