Page 25 of This Heart Of Mine (Chicago Stars 5)

“I’m glad.” She buried her lips in his hair, then gave him a nudge toward the kitchen. “Get your snack. The cider’s hot, so let Tess pour it for you.”

As Andrew ran off, Dan decided Phoebe looked particularly delectable in a pair of gold jeans with a soft brown sweater. He was just starting to reach for her when she held out a yellow credit card receipt. “I found this upstairs.”

He glanced at it and saw Molly’s name.

“It’s a receipt from the little drugstore in town,” Phoebe said. “Look at the date at the top.”

He found it, but he still didn’t understand why she seemed upset. “So what?”

She sagged against the washer. “Dan, that’s when Kevin stayed here.”

Kevin left the sidewalk cafe and began walking along the Cairns Esplanade toward his hotel. Palm trees swayed in the sunny February breeze, and boats bobbed in the harbor. After spending five days diving in the Coral Sea with the sharks that swam near the North Horn site of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, it was nice being back in civilization.

The city of Cairns on the northeastern coast of Queensland was the diving expedition’s home port. Since the town had good restaurants and a couple of five-star hotels, Kevin had decided to stay around for a while. The city was far enough from Chicago that he wasn’t in much danger of running into a Stars fan who wanted to know why he threw into double coverage late in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship. Instead of giving the Stars the victory that would have taken them to the Super Bowl, he’d let his teammates down, and even swimming with a school of hammerheads wasn’t making him forget that.

An Aussie hottie in a halter top and tight white shorts gave him the twice-over, followed by an inviting smile. “Need a tour guide, Yank?”

“Thanks, not today.”

She looked disappointed. He probably should take her up on her invitation, but he couldn’t work up enough interest. He’d also ignored the seductive overtures of the sexy blond doctoral candidate who’d cooked on the dive boat, but that had been more understandable. She was one of the smart, high-maintenance women.

This was the heart of Queensland’s monsoon season, and a splatter of raindrops hit him. He decided to work out at the hotel health club for a while, then head over to the casino for a few games of blackjack.

He’d just changed into his gym clothes when a sharp knock sounded at the door. He walked over and opened it. “Dan? What are you doing—”

That was as far as he got before Dan Calebow’s fist came up to meet him.

Kevin staggered backward, caught the corner of the couch, and fell.

Adrenaline rushed through him, hot and fast. He shot back up, ready to take Dan apart. Then he hesitated, not because Dan was his boss but because the raw fury in his expression indicated that something was drastically wrong. Since Dan had been more understanding than Kevin had deserved about the game, Kevin knew it didn’t have anything to do with that ill-advised pass.

It went against his grain not to fight back, but he forced himself to lower his fists. “You’d better have a good reason for that.”

“You son of a bitch. Did you really think you were going to walk away?”

Seeing such contempt on the face of a man he respected made his gut clench. “Walk away from what?”

“It didn’t mean anything to you, did it?” Dan sneered.

Kevin waited him out.

Dan came forward, his lip curled. “Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t alone when you stayed at my house in December?”

The hair on the back of Kevin’s neck prickled. He chose his words carefully. “I didn’t think it was up to me. I thought it was Daphne’s business to tell you she’d been there.”

“Daphne?”

Enough was enough, and Kevin’s own temper snapped. “It wasn’t my fault your nutcase of a sister-in-law showed up!”

“You don’t even know her fucking name?”

Dan looked as if he was getting ready to spring again, and Kevin was angry enough to hope he would. “Stop right there! She told me her name was Daphne.”

“Yeah, right,” Dan scoffed. “Well, her name is Molly, you son of a bitch, and she’s pregnant with your baby!”

Kevin felt as if he’d taken the sack of his life. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that I’ve had a stomachful of high-priced athletes who think they have a God-given right to scatter illegitimate kids around like so much trash.”

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