The way she looked at him. As if it were that simple. As if she had more faith in him to make the right choices than he had in himself. As if he weren’t the selfish bastard that he knew he was. He slid his hand beneath her pants leg and encountered a sock. He slid it to her calf and touched her soft skin. The night before, he’d kissed the backs of her knees as he’d worked his way to her thighs. Her legs had been wet from his Jacuzzi, and even now the memory stirred his groin.
“I’m gone a lot,” he said and brushed her shin with his thumb. “And if you ask Marie, she’ll probably tell you that I’m not a very good brother.”
She pushed her short hair behind one ear and gazed at him a moment before she said, “When I see you and Marie together, you make me wish I had a brother.”
His thumb stilled. Through the space that separated them, he looked into her green eyes, all thoughts of kissing her came to an abrupt halt, and he felt as if she’d just puck-shot his chest. A hard smack to the sternum that left him stunned. From the tunnel came male voices, but inside the janitor’s closet, silence hung between them. Suspended and drawn out until he forced a strained laugh past the knot in his chest. “Don’t tell me you want a brother just like me.”
“No, not just like you.” The corners of her mouth tilted and his world tilted with it. “If I had a brother just like you, I would be arrested for indecent thoughts.”
He felt as if he were sliding toward her smile, and his grasp on her leg tightened as if she were the anchor instead of the cause. She didn’t seem to notice and he forced himself to let go. He pushed with his feet and slid back up the door. “You better go. You have that column to write.”
A frown appeared between her brows and she blinked. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I just remembered I have to talk to Marie before she goes to bed.”
“Do you think the tunnel is clear?” she asked as she picked up her briefcase and jacket and rose.
“I don’t know.” He unlocked the door and opened it a crack. Hammer walked past talking to the equipment manager. Luc held up one finger until the two men walked out the exit doors, then he stuck out his head and discovered the tunnel was blessedly empty. He and Jane stepped from the closet, and she shoved her arms into her jacket. Normally he would have helped her.
“I have to talk to Nystrom,” he lied and began to walk backward. With each step, he seemed to breathe a little easier.
“I thought you had to talk to Marie.”
Had he said that? “Later. I have to talk to the coach first.”
“Oh.” She looked at him a moment longer. “Good-bye.” She held up her hand and turned to go. Luc stared at the back of Jane’s retreating head and brushed the edges of his jacket aside. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his trousers and stopped to watch her disappear.
What in the hell just happened? he asked himself as the exit door shut. He wondered if he was coming down with something or maybe inhaled too much ammonia in that closet. One minute he’d been thinking about kissing the backs of her knees, and in the next he couldn’t breathe. She thought he was a good brother. So? He didn’t think he was, but even if he was the best brother ever, why should Jane’s opinion of him matter diddly squat? For some unfathomable reason it obviously did, but he didn’t want to think about what that meant. He had too much going on in his life to fall for a short woman reporter with a cute butt and tight pink nipples.
Last night, Jane had blown-among other things-every assumption he’d had of her. She wasn’t uptight, and she certainly wasn’t a prude. The longer he’d been with her, the longer he’d wanted to be with her. Even when he’d been deep inside her tight body, feeling every ripple of pleasure, he’d wanted her again. When he’d awoken that morning, he’d been seriously bummed that she wasn’t there.
But Jane was one complication he didn’t need. When she’d told him that last night was a mistake and it couldn’t happen again, he should have listened to her instead of pulling her into the closet just to prove her wrong.
“Lucky.” Jack Lynch slapped him on the back as he came to stand beside him. “Some of us are grabbing a bite and a beer. Come along.”
Luc looked across his shoulder at the defender. “Where?”
“Hooters.”
Maybe that was what he needed. To go someplace where women wore tiny shorts and tight little tank tops. Where they had big breasts and leaned into him when they served him dinner. Where they flirted and slipped him their phone number. Where the women didn’t expect anything from him. Where if he chose to be with them, it didn’t mean anything. When it was over, he didn’t dwell on it, replay it over and over in his head, like he did with Jane.
He looked at his watch. He had a little time yet. “Save me a chair.”
“I will,” Jack said, then continued on his way.
Yeah, he should go to Hooters. Be a guy. Do guys things. He didn’t have a girlfriend who’d get all bent out of shape if he went.
When I see you and Marie together, you make me wish I had a brother.
Damn. Jane was a dangerous woman. Not only did he think about her too much, but if he wasn’t careful, she’d become his conscience. He didn’t want a conscience, and he didn’t care what that said about him. He was fine just the way he was.
Luc removed his hands from his pockets and pulled out his car keys. He’d have to revert to his original plan and ignore Jane. Of course, that had never worked for him before.
This time he’d just have to try harder.
Chapter 15
Mucking It Up: Fighting