Page 79 of Nobodys Baby But Mine (Chicago Stars 3)

He snorted as he took his seat. “The whole town’s brainwashed.”

“Grow up, Kevin.”

“I should have known you’d be on his side.”

She laughed at the injured expression on his face. “I’m his wife! What did you expect?”

“So? You’re supposed to be this genius or something, aren’t you? Can’t you be fair-minded?”

She was saved from replying by the arrival of the waitress, who regarded Kevin with rapacious eyes, but he was absorbed in the menu and didn’t seem to notice. “We’ll have a couple of burgers, fries, and beer. Make it Red Dog.”

“Will do.”

“And two side orders of coleslaw.”

Jane could barely resist rolling her eyes at his high-handedness. “Make that a cobb salad for me, no bacon, light with the cheese, dressing on the side, and a glass of skimmed milk.”

Kevin grimaced. “You serious?”

“Brain food.”

“Whatever.”

The waitress left. While they waited for their orders to arrive, Jane listened to a monologue whose central subject seemed to be Kevin Tucker. She bided her time until their food arrived, then she got down to business. “Exactly what are you up to?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you come to Salvation?”

“It’s a nice place.”

“There are a lot of nice places.” She drilled him with her schoolmarm eyes. “Kevin, put down those fries and tell me exactly what you’re doing here.” She realized she felt protective of Cal. How strange, especially considering how upset she was with him.

“Nothing.” He shrugged and returned a handful of fries to their blue plastic basket. “Just having a little fun, that’s all.”

“What do you want from him, other than his job?”

“Why would I want anything from him?”

“You wouldn’t be here otherwise.” She rubbed her thumb along her milk glass. “Sooner or later he’ll have to retire, and then the job’ll be yours. Why can’t you just wait?”

“Because I should have it now!”

“Apparently the coaches don’t agree.”

“They’re fools!”

“You seem to go out of your way to give him a hard time. Why is that? Just because you’re rivals doesn’t mean you have to be enemies.”

His expression grew sullen, making him look younger than his years. “Because I hate his guts.”

“If I hated someone as much as you seem to hate Cal, I’d do my best to stay away from him.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Explain it.”

“I— He’s a real prick, that’s all.”

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