Page 34 of Putting Out
Luke knew Reilly enough to know if she did believe it, overcoming that hurdle would be the hardest thing she did. Her loyalty was a quality that ran bone deep. Bred into her by her parents, honed by her grandparents. Betrayal wasn’t in her nature. It’s why they had never been together when they’d been married to other people. Cheating wouldn’t have occurred to her.
“Aren’t I telling them the LPGA wasn’t good enough for me, not competitive enough to hold my interest? Instead, I have to go to this other place, this place where they’re not allowed just to have a real challenge. Hell, I would hate me.”
Cold enough now to be shivering, Luke moved closer to Reilly. Instinctively she opened her coat and let him bend slightly to snuggle up against her chest, and wrap his hands around her back while she rubbed his arms and shoulders. It shouldn’t have been sexual, but of course because it was them, it was.
“If you’re trying to turn me on, this isn’t going to work,” she warned him.
“Please, this would so work. But I’m just trying to get warm enough so I can say this without my lips chattering.”
It was a decent lie. He backed away after a moment and missed the contact, but he figured he could say what he needed to then go inside for some hot chocolate. The O’Reilly’s was a hot chocolate kind of house.
“You think you’re telling those women they’re not good enough for you to play with,” he repeated. “What if you’re telling them the opposite? What if you’re telling them they can be as good as you someday? They can begin to compete wherever they want on whatever stage they want. Is that practical right now? No. But you’re putting it out there, Reilly. Sending a message into the universe no one can take back.”
“What will the message say if I fail? If I embarrass myself on the field where I’ve dominated for more than ten years?”
“It will say you tried.”
Reilly scowled. “Tried. I hate tried. Tried is bullshit.”
Agitated, she walked around the porch a few times. Suddenly, she stopped.
“No, I don’t want to do this. Everything in my gut says no. There’s no point in risking everything for one golf tournament. I know it’s the American. I know it’s high, holy ground for golf, but at the end of the day we’re not talking about curing cancer or serving my country or any of those things. It’s golf. It’s a silly little game with a ball and a club and while it’s my silly game, I don’t have to let it determine everything.”
“Okay.” Luke blew out a puff of cold air and shoved his frozen hands into his jean pockets.
“I’m not doing it,” she stated.
“Got it.”
“I mean it.”
“I know you do.”
She glared at him. “I’m totally serious.”
“Iknow.”
“And you’re not going to talk me into it.”
“I didn’t think I was. I wanted you to … look at all sides. It sounds like you have and you’ve made a decision. I’m happy for you.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You’re not happy. You’re disappointed, I know. You’re probably also frustrated with me. But I don’t care. I’ve made my decision and it’s final.”
“Okay.”
He moved to walk by her and she reached out to grab his arm.
“Don’t tell them,” she said, nodding her head in the direction of the house. “I’ll deal with Kenny and Pop after it’s done.”
“Right.”
She still held onto his arm. “I know you’re all those things I said, but you’re not mad at me, are you?”
Luke studied her face in the dull moonlight. She wasn’t breathtaking. Her chin would always be a little too pronounced for that, but she was beautiful to him. He doubted there was any decision she could make that would make him mad at her.
Unless it was to get engaged… again.
“I’m not mad. You’ve made your decision. You’ll tell everyone tomorrow. Then it will be done.”
She breathed deep. “Then it will be done.”
Together they walked back inside the house to a series of questions about what they had been doing outside in the freezing cold, to which Luke promptly replied they had been making out.
Pop groaned, Grams beamed, Erica howled and Kenny didn’t believe him.
Luke and Reilly made hot chocolate for everyone and then settled back down to watch the end of the movie. Luke, to his word, said nothing about her decision and for that, Reilly was grateful. Tomorrow was going to be hard enough without the added pressure of family disapproval.
The American. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She was going to turn it down. She was either absolutely right or absolutely insane. If it was the latter, she hoped she could live with herself after it was done.
