Illegal Motion: A Loveswept Classic Romance Page 7

  “Being tall and gawky was bad enough, but people always seemed to expect me to be something special because I had a famous dad, which made me feel doubly awkward. I constantly failed to measure up to everyone’s expectations. So I concentrated on studying instead. Then, when I was a senior, I discovered my long legs were actually good for something.”

  Unbidden images of her long legs wrapped around his waist wreaked havoc with Nick’s senses and he forced his gaze to the untouched food on his plate, certain that the use she had discovered for her legs couldn’t come close to the one he’d imagined.

  “… track and field,” she finished, then glanced up when Nick let out an audible sigh of relief. “Anyway, the point is, I spent most of my school years—high school and later college—on the track, or buried in a textbook. My dream was to open my own pro training facility one day. Still is.”

  “You said you and your dad. What about your mom?”

  “My mom died when I was very young.” She put her fork back on her plate. “I don’t remember her at all.” Her voice softened as she spoke. “Dad used to tell me how much that would have bothered her, since she was the one who got up a dozen times a night with me when I was a baby.”

  “A real tyrant right from the start, huh?” Nick chuckled, hoping this time he could sustain the rapport developing between them for more than a few minutes.

  “My mom used to pretend not to hear me until my dad got so fed up with my caterwauling that he’d get up. It was his favorite ‘poor dad’ story, but I don’t think he really minded.”

  A picture of a tiny baby with soft red curls came unbidden into Nick’s mind. “I don’t think I’d mind either.” He didn’t realize he had spoken out loud until Willa cleared her throat. To cover his embarrassment he asked, “You ever think about having kids?”

  “Sure. I didn’t have any close relatives, my parents were only children, and I used to fantasize about having dozens of brothers and sisters to play with.” Her face was dreamy, but also shadowed with pain.

  She quickly concealed it, but not before Nick, who’d forgotten his food the moment she started speaking, noticed. “Why didn’t your dad remarry? Would it have bothered you?”

  “No, I don’t remember my mom. I would have welcomed the chance to have one. But Dad said he’d already found the love of his life and he was content with that.” Willa had never truly understood that, not believing that in a whole world filled with people, there could be only one perfect mate for each person. She shivered involuntarily when she looked up to find Nick intently staring at her. She realized, somewhat uncomfortably, that her dad’s feelings were becoming easier to understand all the time. “Do you have any brothers and sisters?” she asked a bit too brightly.

  “Nope, just me. Dad said I was enough of a handful and he wouldn’t subject his worst enemy, much less my mother, to dealing with two of me.”

  “They sound like smart people,” she teased, unable to resist. “Do you see them often?”

  “They’re both dead.” When she looked guilty for asking such a potentially painful question, Nick quickly reassured her. “It’s okay. It was sad, but not tragic. My parents were older when they had me. Dad had a bad heart and died a number of years ago. Mom died shortly after.”

  Nick stopped for a moment, then said, “She died in her sleep, but I always kind of thought she just wanted to be with Dad.” He felt uncomfortable, and a little shocked, that he’d revealed thoughts he’d never shared with anyone—not even Sky—and his voice turned brusque. “I’m damned glad they weren’t around to see me arrested.”

  As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he realized who he was saying them to. Both of them were startled into silence by the abrupt return to reality. Nick and Willa looked at each other for a long moment, neither knowing what to say to defuse the suddenly charged atmosphere.

  Willa escaped by rising and carrying her empty plate to the sink. She hadn’t even remembered eating during her conversation with Nick. Was the warm intimacy they had shared just an illusion?

  She braced her hands on the sink, drawing in her breath and her courage before turning to face him. He was standing right behind her and she came smack up against the hard wall of his chest. She stared at the word “Jaguars” for a long time before finding the nerve to look up at him. Her eyes widened in surprise. The hostility and accusation she’d expected to find weren’t there.

  “Willa, I know we have a lot to discuss,” he said seriously. A hint of that knee-weakening smile surfaced as he added, “I guess that would take the prize for the understatement of the year.” At her pained attempt at returning his smile, he said more soothingly, “I honestly don’t understand what role you played in all of this, but I can’t ignore that something else is happening here.”

  Willa’s eyes misted slightly, and her lower lip trembled, knowing that that “something else” would end this morning before it really had a chance to begin. “I, uh …” She cleared her throat, trying in vain to dislodge the sudden lump there. “Nick, before I explain, I want you to know that I never meant to hurt you.”

  Nick’s eyes narrowed at her choice of words, and Willa knew she’d been right when she saw the warmth in his blue irises slowly fade to an icy shade of steel. Chilled to the core, she said, “I know you believe I helped ruin your career, but give me a chance to explain.”

  Nick’s brain shouted at him to come to his senses; after all, she had just admitted her guilt. What more did he need to know to end his silly infatuation? And he knew then that he was doomed, because when he looked into those green eyes glittering with tears, guilt showing as plainly as if she had spoken the words, God help him, all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and kiss her until he could shake the crazy idea that, like their parents, he, too, had found his one and only.

  Unable to stop the thought from becoming the deed, he pulled her tightly against him, molding her body to his, exulting in the perfect fit. His kiss was both seeking and punishing; trying to find the answers to his questions while chastising her for making him feel so strongly.

  Willa responded immediately. Whatever else happened, they shared something unique that neither had the strength to deny. Even as her words had extinguished the light in his eyes, she knew the flame of desire burned too hot to stop him from kissing her—or her from responding. It was as if, by kissing her, he could use her response to him as punishment for her guilt.

  It soon became obvious to them both that if this was a form of punishment, they were sharing the same jail cell.

  Nick pulled away first, tilting his head back slightly to suck in a lungful of air. He rubbed his hand over his face, his other arm kept her molded to his body, his hips kept her pressed against the counter.

  She didn’t try to pull away, not because she thought he wouldn’t let her, but because she didn’t want it to be over so soon. Given the close proximity of their bodies, Nick’s response to their kiss was very evident. She braved a look at his stormy eyes. The confusion she saw was both encouraging and disheartening.

  “Nick, I want—no, I need—to tell you what happened last summer.” He started to say something, but she placed a finger on his lips; the texture and warmth of his soft flesh almost undid her resolve. “You have to hear me out. It’s the only way I’m going to get through it.”

  Nick seemed to consider her statement, then released her. Turning back toward the table, he picked up his coffee mug and without a word pushed through the kitchen door.

  Willa grabbed the counter behind her for support. How could he be so passionate one minute and so remote the next? Could it be possible the kiss hadn’t affected him too?

  She drew on every ounce of strength she possessed to collect her scattered emotions and form them into some semblance of resolve. Collecting her coffee mug, she pushed through the swinging door after him, determined to keep him there until he heard her side of the story. What happened after that she would have to leave to fate.

  Willa found Nick sta
ring out of the huge window in the living room. It was her favorite room, the cozy, worn furnishings attesting to the fact that the room was used frequently. Willa loved the view of her small patch of unspoiled Virginia countryside and was secretly glad Nick had chosen this room for their confrontation. And she was certain that confrontation adequately described what was about to take place.

  “Nick, I need you to listen. Really listen.” She waited for him to turn, knowing that no matter how difficult it proved to be, she had to look at him while she spoke.

  If his shuttered eyes hadn’t destroyed her confidence, his words killed her hopes completely. “Just tell me straight out. Spare me any theatrics or emotional requests for my support. I want the whole story. Don’t leave anything out.” He watched her facade of control crumble, and added a bit more gently, “This is my life, Willa. Please, tell me the truth.”

  She wanted to go to him, to hold him and soothe his wounded pride, to try to renew his faith in her innocence. But that was exactly what he’d asked her not to do. So she took a deep breath and began.

  “First, you have to understand what my life was like before I met Eric.” The scowl that engulfed Nick’s face at the mention of Eric’s name wasn’t encouraging.

  “I gather from what you’ve already told me that you were more or less ripe for the picking,” he said bluntly.

  Willa winced at his painful but accurate assessment. “When Eric showed interest in me, I was more than just flattered. I was shocked. By the time he joined the team and went on to become a star, I was in college, so I’d never met him.” Or you, she thought, then dismissed that line of thinking; it would only make her more nervous. Willa took a fortifying sip of coffee before going on. “My father had passed away several years before and I was in school getting my master’s, so my contact with the team was limited to an occasional visit to Doc Abbott. Actually I met Eric while visiting Doc at the practice field.” Willa glanced down into her mug barely noticing Nick’s increased attention at the mention of her old friend.

  “Is that where you always met Doc?”

  Startled by the question, she looked up at Nick, but his expression was still closed. “It depended on the time of the year. If it was during football season, I’d drop by the team’s practice facility. If not, I went to his office in Alexandria. Why?”

  “Just curious. Go on.” Nick wasn’t encouraged. This meant she had easy access to the team’s facilities.

  “As I said, when Eric asked me out, I was surprised.”

  “With your looks and athletic figure, I’m sure men weren’t shy around you.”

  Willa shrugged off the compliments, a bit disappointed that Nick still didn’t seem to understand—or want to. “By the time I got to college, I was so immersed in my studies, and in sports, that I didn’t have much time for romance.” When Nick snorted in disbelief, Willa responded immediately, her tone definitely defensive. “Any spare time I had at the beginning of school was spent with my dad. His death was the result of a long, ugly battle with cancer. I had more important things to worry about than whether or not I had a date Friday night.”

  “I’m sorry about your dad and what you must have gone through,” Nick said in response to her emotional outburst. “I don’t mean to sound unfeeling, but I still find it hard to believe that your father’s illness kept men from seeking you out and at least asking for a date.”

  “Well, as you’ve probably surmised, I can be a bit defensive at times.”

  “A bit,” he responded dryly.

  Willa wasn’t sure if she should be offended by the remark or relieved that he still had his sense of humor. “During my father’s illness I guess I became overly sensitive to intrusions on our private lives. Dad had always handled the media, but when he became ill, that job fell to me.” She clenched her hands tightly around the mug as she replayed the memories of that difficult time in her life.

  “The press hounded him all the time, trying to exploit his pain for the sake of what they termed a ‘human-interest story.’ I didn’t see it that way. One result was that I wasn’t the most approachable female in the world.”

  “Which brings us back to Eric,” Nick said. “I assume he was persistent enough to approach the unapproachable. His ego is certainly big enough.”

  Surprising Nick, Willa agreed. “It certainly was. I mistook his bulging ego for confidence, and was overwhelmed by it. No one had ever pursued me like that.”

  “Didn’t that make you the least bit suspicious?” Nick wanted to bite his tongue at the obvious pain his question inflicted on her already bruised pride, but he had to know.

  “It sounds hard to believe now, but I never really gave it much thought. Eric can be very convincing. And I have to admit that a part of me felt avenged.”

  “Avenged? How?”

  “I guess I got carried away with the idea that someone as famous as Eric could have the hots for Willow-tree Trask.”

  It was said so ingenuously that Nick didn’t doubt for a second that it was the truth. She wasn’t the hard, calculating ice princess he’d thought—hoped?—she’d be.

  He walked over and sat down beside her, cursing silently when she pulled away. “Can you tell me more about Doc?”

  Willa stiffened, then forcibly relaxed, but kept from touching him. “What exactly do you want to know?”

  “Well, if Eric couldn’t test clean because of his drug habit, then he’d need an inside track to either the head coach or the team doctor in order to switch the test results. I figure it’s Doc and he used you to get to him somehow.”

  Before she could answer, he fired another question at her.

  “Why, after eight months, did you suddenly think Eric had been up to something? And why did it take you so long to remember me?” Nick knew this was difficult for her and wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms, but they needed to get this over with first.

  “I, uh … overheard you and Sky the night we met.” Willa hurried on before she lost her nerve. “I don’t make a habit of listening in on conversations, but I heard my name and—”

  “You only found out two days ago?” Willa looked at him then. Her face was flaming in embarrassment, and he knew she spoke the truth. It certainly explained a lot, and it went a long way toward easing any lingering doubts about her innocence.

  “It was one of the biggest shocks of my life,” Willa said into the silence. “Things were crazy then. I was going through a lot, juggling school and my relationship with Eric. I didn’t keep up with the news, and after I broke off with Eric—I especially avoided football. I heard about the arrest and the trial, but I’d never met you and I didn’t give it much thought. Nick, I didn’t know.” Willa turned her face away, squeezing back the threat of tears, achingly aware that her blind trust and stupidity had cost him his career. “Those packages—the ones I took to Eric—I really thought they were vitamins,” she said, her voice quiet, “but I guess they must have been cocaine.”

  “What were you doing with them anyway?”

  “You know athletes consume large amounts of supplements to meet the extra demands they place on their bodies.”

  “So why didn’t he just have his dealer deliver his ‘vitamins’ to him personally? Why involve you?”

  “He told me it was more convenient. You know the Jaguars’ practice is closed to the public. But because of my dad and my friendship with Doc, I can come and go as I please. So it was easier for me to drop them off.” Her heart filled her throat as the full impact of her role in his downfall hit her. “God, I never thought twice about it.”

  Nick gave in to the need to touch her and gently tugged at her shoulders until she’d turned back to him. He wanted to kiss the tears tipping her lashes, but doggedly continued his questioning, knowing it was best for both of them to get it all out in the open now. “Who did you leave the stuff with?”

  Willa struggled to get a grip on herself, needing to finish without falling completely apart. “I’d usually pop in to see Doc and he
’d hold them for Eric until after practice.”

  Nick remained silent, and Willa was unsure of the direction of his thoughts. When he finally spoke, his voice was deep, and carried a trace of pain.

  “Why didn’t you tell me all this that first night?”

  “Because I knew you had every reason not to trust me. You didn’t exactly sound reasonable on the subject of my involvement, so I decided to get proof. That’s why I agreed to see Eric when he called that night.”

  “You only went out with him to get information?” Willa nodded and Nick sighed and pulled her into his arms, holding her long and hard before he could go on. Knowing now the shock she must have suffered, he was amazed and impressed that she was able to get it together enough to handle it as she had. His heart made another giant leap in her direction. He lifted her chin, needing to look into her so-expressive eyes when he asked her. “I pretty much know how they did it, but I still want to know why they used me. I just need proof.” His clear blue eyes drilled into hers with an intensity she’d never seen. “Will you help me prove that Eric and Doc set me up?”

  Willa hadn’t been aware she was holding her breath until it came out in a whoosh at his sincerely spoken request. But the beginnings of hope were tempered by his accusation against Doc. Carefully choosing her words, she said, “I want to help you, Nick, but I refuse to implicate Doc. He’s like a second father to me. He would never willingly be involved in this, or involve me. I’m sure of that.”

  Nick was silent for a moment and Willa braced herself for another argument. She was confused and tired. She really wanted to help Nick, but on this issue she would not back down. When the lengthening silence became intolerable, she asked, “Do you really want to chance working with me?”

  Nick didn’t miss the vulnerable tone in her voice. “I believe you, Willa. I want your help, if you’re willing to give it.”

  “Absolutely. It’s just that we obviously don’t agree on everything.” Nick raised an eyebrow, a dry smile quirking the corners of his mouth. Willa felt like she’d been given a precious gift at the return of the warmth in his eyes. Allowing a small smile herself, she added, “Well, you have to admit, every time we’re together for more than ten minutes, we either end up arguing or kiss … ing.” The last part of her sentence came out on a gulp. The flash of desire in Nick’s eyes was instant and consumed her with heat.