Chapter 4

FOUR

Carly reviewed and signed off on the league policy changes and faxed them to the commissioner's office, crossing off one task from the pile of work waiting for her in the morning. Afterward, she and Emma went through the girl's closet to select the perfect outfit for the eighth grade dance the following week; Emma persuaded Carly to loan her a Vera Wang shawl and matching shoes. Now, Carly stood at the breakfast bar slicing two loaves of crusty bread as Lisa carefully mixed the olive oil and the spices on a plate to dredge the bread in. She'd managed to satisfy her half sister's curiosity about her trip without giving her any details about meeting Shane there. Not that he deserved her silence, but she had played a part as well, and the less her family, knew the better.

"So it was fun spending time with Julianne again?" Lisa asked.

"Things are always crazy with Julianne." Carly tossed the bread into a basket.

"Do you miss working with her?"

She and Julianne had been roommates at boarding school. They were like sisters. For seven years, Carly had worked as Julianne's publicist, working to get her designs noticed. She'd been living in Italy with Julianne when she learned Lisa had cancer and needed a life-saving bone-marrow transfer. It was the only time her father had ever initiated a phone call to Carly.

Carly didn't hesitate. She moved to Baltimore—and away from the media circus that was her life—to help care for Lisa's kids during the busy football season. While Lisa endured several rounds of chemotherapy to get her body ready for the transplant, Carly worked for the Blaze.

"Why? Are you trying to get rid of me?" Carly asked a little defensively. It was the second time today she'd been asked if she missed her old life. She didn't. She liked having a family to care for. Friends who cared for her. A job where she actually felt useful. But if she'd worn out her welcome . . .

"No, I am not trying to get rid of you," Lisa said, taking Carly's hand in hers. "I just want you to be happy. I don't want you to feel you have to stay here in Baltimore if you don't want to."

"I'm where I want to be," Carly said. "Besides, we both know Italy is not the best place for me right now."

"Carly . . ." Lisa started.

"No, Lisa. I get you have a PhD in psychology and you want to get in my head, but I'm fine. My life is fine." At least, Carly would be fine if a certain sexy, quarterback wasn't looming somewhere in the house, but she didn't need her sister probing her right now. She just wanted to get through dinner and get this crazy day over with.

"Okay." Lisa looked away as she began to toss the salad. "So I hear you'll be taking over for Asia while she's recovering. Will that be difficult for you?"

Carly studied her sister. Did she already know about her encounter—er, encounters—with Shane? How could she?

Lisa looked up to stare at Carly. When she didn't immediately answer, Lisa asked: "Dealing with the press? Will it be difficult given what they've put you through?"

"No." Carly mentally breathed a sigh of relief. "It'll be mostly mainstream media, and besides, my celebrity, such as it is, is pretty much confined to Europe." Dealing with Shane Devlin, on the other hand, might be a problem. But she didn't dare tell her sister that. She no longer intended to apologize for her behavior in Cabo, given the accusations he'd made earlier. Both incidents should be something two adults could laugh off, but her reaction to Shane wasn't humorous. Even now, she could feel the hum of the attraction between them. She'd never felt such a pull toward a man—not even the man she'd intended to marry. She just hoped she could get through the next few weeks without making a fool of herself.

"Okay, change the subject. Tell me what I want to know. Has Julianne finished with my gown for the gala next month?" Lisa asked as she carried the dipping sauce into the dining room.

Following Lisa, Carly placed the salad and the bread on the large, oval table. She spied Shane standing against the wall looking like he'd rather have a root canal than sit down to dinner. After his outburst this morning, she wasn't exactly overjoyed to have to sit with him around the dinner table, either.

"She's making one for me, too, right?" Emma asked as she carefully set a pitcher of water on the table. "You said we all get to go to the gala for your new charity."

"Yes, Emma, I did say that, but I don't think we all need to be wearing designer gowns." Lisa caressed the top of her daughter's head in consolation. She looked up at Shane. "I've started a foundation for children whose parents are severely or terminally ill. After spending years as a couples' therapist, cancer has served as a little mid-course correction for my life," she explained.

Shane still had that deer-in-headlights look about him, but he managed a gracious nod.

"You lost your mother to cancer, did you not?" Lisa was no shrinking violet when it came to fund-raising. Smiling at her sister's tenacity, Carly glanced back at Shane. If possible, his face had gone even more ashen.

"Yes, ma'am," he said softly.

"Perhaps you'd be interested in hearing about our little endeavor sometime?" Lisa made it sound like a question when everyone in the room knew it wasn't.

"Go easy on him, honey," Matt said as he carried a steaming pan of lasagna into the room. "Let's just see if he makes it through dinner."

Hah! Matt's prophetic statement brought a smile to Carly's face.

"Shane, you sit here next to me." Lisa pointed to the chair beside her as her children clamored into the room, plopping into their chairs. The chairs filled quickly forcing Carly to sit between Shane and C.J.

C.J. eyed her warily, still obviously holding a grudge about their earlier argument. When she'd picked him up after practice, she'd walked in on him shoving a package of condoms in his gym bag. Typical of a sixteen-year-old boy, he declared they were for someone else. Carly knew she walked a fine line with her nephew over the matter. The sweet little boy who'd played Thomas the Tank Engine trains with her had morphed into a hormonal teenager practically overnight. She didn't want to destroy the trust between them, but she figured that Matt would be better able to handle the situation. She'd figure out whether or not to speak with Matt later.

Right now, Carly had bigger problems. Like the solid muscle of Shane's thigh that kept brushing against hers. If the heat building inside her was any indication, she'd need a long run in the drenching rain after dinner .

Matt blessed the meal and everyone began to talk at once while Penny served the lasagna. Shane was tense beside Carly. Carly snuck a glance at him from beneath her lashes. For a guy who defined arrogant, he sure seemed apprehensive about having dinner with Matt's family. Carly thought back to the things that she'd read about him. Every article she'd unearthed depicted Shane as a loner. His childhood had been almost as dysfunctional as hers. Obviously, he wasn't used to breaking bread with a bunch of rowdy tweens and teens. Carly almost felt sorry for his discomfort. Almost.

After his behavior this morning, she should be stabbing his hot thigh with her fork. She smothered a chuckle at the thought and dug into Penny's lasagna. Shane shot her a look out of the corner of his eye. She smiled and enjoyed her dinner. The males on either side of her would just have to sweat it out wondering whether or not she'd be telling tales to Matt.

"I hear Gabe Harrelson is protesting the forfeit of his signing bonus," Matt threw out from his end of the table.

"Actually, he's having his Bridezilla do his begging," Carly joked. The kids at the table snickered along with her.

"Serves the Valley Boy right," Penny said between bites of pasta. She'd been with the family for more than ten years and they were immune to her lack of political correctness. "What'd he need a television crew following him around on his honeymoon for anyway? That's supposed to be a private time between a man and his wife. You'd think they'd have better things to do."

Shane managed a chuckle beside Carly. She thought she heard C.J. mumble an amen under his breath.

"I think Gabe can't decide whether he wants to be a movie star or a quarterback," Lisa chimed in.

"I'd want to be a movie star," Molly said from her seat beside her father, a dreamy look passing over her face.

"Really, princess? Why's that?" Matt asked her with a grin .

"Because movie stars rock." Molly had spent her life around jocks. She was definitely jaded.

"Hey, Shane, you've dated a bunch of movie stars. What's that like?" C.J. leaned in front of Carly to peer at Shane.

Shane's fork stopped just short of his mouth. The look on his face was so comical, Carly nearly laughed.

"Well . . ." Shane stalled.

"Oooh, have you ever dated Elise Wages?" Molly interrupted. "She's my favorite."

"Gross, Mol, she's barely sixteen," her brother said. Carly gaped at the boy, but he ignored her and tucked into his salad.

"Yeah, but if he dated her, it would be like he'd dated Carly." Molly nearly flung her lasagna at her brother in an effort to make her point.

Shane choked on his bread as the rest of the table admonished Molly. Carly watched as he took a gulp of his water before staring blankly around the table.

"Elise Wages played Carly in the movie about her mother." Emma—ever the diplomat—offered an explanation to Shane.

Shane looked even more confused as everyone else stopped eating to stare at him.

"You know, Death in a Sandstorm ." Emma leaned forward in her chair, enunciating each word as if he were hard of hearing. "It's always on one of the cable movie channels."

When he turned to Carly, both eyebrows raised in question, Emma continued in exasperation, obviously thinking Shane had spent too much time on the turf.

"It's about Veronica March, Carly's mother, who gets beheaded by terrorists. Elise Wages plays Aunt Carly when she was a kid."

"Emma, you know how I feel about everyone trivializing Carly's mother's death," Lisa softly chided her daughter .

Carly always admired the way her sister defended Carly's mom, a woman she'd never met.

"I'm sorry Aunt Carly." Emma sank back in her chair.

"No offense taken, sweetie." Carly sent her a reassuring smile across the table.

Shane was still gaping at Carly. He really was starting to resemble a concussed idiot.

"Wait!" He put his fork down and gestured for quiet. "You mean your mother was that famous war reporter? The heiress to the World Media? That means your dad"—he turned to look at Lisa—"is Hugh Delaney, the news anchor."

"The one and only." Lisa grimaced.

"That means you're . . ." Shane turned his head back to look at Carly. Could he really be that slow? Carly waited for the pity to show up in his eyes. "You're Darling Carly." She cringed. The moniker the media had dubbed her with as a young child always had the same effect on her.

"Wow," he said. "You were a child celebrity. Everyone's favorite orphan. The press used to follow you everywhere when you were young." His voice was almost reverent, as if Carly had enjoyed those long, lonely months when the media couldn't get enough of her pathetic story. She knew what was coming next. Twenty years later she'd once again been in the eye of the media storm, but not in a positive way. Somehow, she was no longer the darling, but the spineless woman who couldn't hold on to her sports star fiancé. Carly set down her fork, her appetite gone.

Fortunately, her nephew spoke up before Shane could even go there. "You know, that sleazy reporter who's always following you around the training center and leaving stuff in your office has the hots for Elise Wages," C.J. said, startling nearly everyone at the table.

Matt's fork stilled in mid-air as his gaze shot from his son to Carly. "Some reporter is hounding you at the complex?" he asked, his tone lethal.

"Yeah," C.J. answered before Carly could. "He probably thinks if he hangs around Carly, he'll meet Elise or something."

"Is this true?" Lisa asked, exchanging a worried glance with her husband.

"Donovan's got it handled," Carly assured them both. "Besides, the guy's pretty harmless." I think.

"Anyway, Elise Wages is pregnant," C.J. mumbled as he reached for a second helping of lasagna. Okay, Carly was grateful for the subject change, but she was definitely mentioning the condoms to Matt.

"Well, at least we know her baby's not yours, Shane," Molly blurted before her father could shove a piece of bread in her mouth.

Now it was Carly's turn to choke.

They managed to navigate the dinner conversation to safer subjects so that everyone finished their meal without necessity of the Heimlich maneuver. Carly slipped out before dessert, claiming that she had over indulged in Mexico and she needed to cut some calories. What she really wanted was to get away from the menacing presence seated next to her at the table. Despite all the embarrassing dinner conversation, Shane had eventually managed to relax and join in the banter. Not Carly. She'd had enough verbal confrontation for one day.

Shane took the stairs two at a time. It was Saturday and the Blaze corporate offices were empty. His flight back to San Diego was in two hours, but he needed to take care of something first. He hadn't signed off on the team's plan for his "image makeover." Mini-camp had kept him busy the past three days, giving him a convenient excuse to avoid Carly at the same time. Since Carly was a big part of carrying out the plan, he'd pushed thoughts of it—and her—off until the last possible moment. He needed to apologize for the dumbass assumptions he'd made the other day, but that meant he'd have to actually be face-to-face with her and he wasn't sure his body could handle it. The sexual tension between the two of them definitely interfered with his common sense. He needed to be focused and rational to get his job done. So, his plan was to sign the plan—provided he could find a pen on one of the secretary's desks—and slip it under Carly's door before his flight left.

What he hadn't counted on was Carly being in her office. As he rounded the corner, he came to an abrupt stop. The object of his obsession was pacing before a picture window, the spring sunshine streaming in behind her. A pair of running shorts showed off lean, muscular legs; her T-shirt strained against firm breasts. Damn, she was cute and his body was doing crazy things just watching her. Her ponytail bobbed as she paced about, having a conversation with someone on speakerphone.

"I can't believe you told Matt you saw condoms in C.J.'s bag." The woman on the phone had trouble containing a laugh.

Whoa. So that's what C.J.'s temper tantrum was about the other night.

"What was I supposed to do, Jules?" Carly plopped down in her chair, resting her sneaker-clad feet on the desk. She twirled a red rose in her fingers as she spoke. "Wouldn't you tell your brother if your nephew had condoms in his gym bag?"

"Jeez, Carly, my nephew is only ten! If he had condoms it would probably be for some locker-room prank!"

Carly laughed. Shane sat down at one of the reception desks and tried to tell himself he was looking for a pen, not eavesdropping .

"Seriously, Carly, you're getting way too wrapped up in these people."

" These people are my family, Julianne." Carly stood and began pacing again, slapping the rose against her thigh. "And you of all people should know they are important to me. They're all I've got and I like that they need me."

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"I appreciate that you care, though, Jules." Carly moved out his range of vision, but from the sound of it, she'd stopped her pacing.

"I just wish you wouldn't equate personal happiness with feeling needed, that's all," Julianne finally answered. "And I wish you'd come to Italy with me!"

"I can't go back to Italy, Julianne. The paparazzi are too intense. Besides, I really don't want to have Max's happiness thrown at me day in and day out. It still hurts too much." The last statement came out as a whisper.

"So you're hanging around with American football players, now?" Julianne sounded appalled. "Like one of them won't propose to you and leave you for his Baby Mama."

Huh? Shane was having trouble keeping up with the conversation. He really needed to do some Internet research to figure out who this asshole, Max, is.

"Jules, I'm not hanging out with the players. I'm working for the team. For the first time in my life, I actually feel useful. I know Hank hired me as a favor to Matt, but Lisa is doing better and Hank has all but said the job is permanent if I want it," Carly said. She moved into view again and he watched as she dropped the rose in the trash and picked up a picture frame from the credenza behind her desk. "Besides, jocks are off-limits, remember? I'm not hanging out with anyone who lives their life in the public eye. I want quiet and ordinary."

"You want boring! "

"Hey, accountants or podiatrists aren't always boring." Carly's voice was laced with humor. "Now, can we get back to the business at hand, and talk about you finding me a dress for Lisa's black-tie fund-raiser? This is really important to her. She wants to raise enough money to start a counseling center for kids here in Baltimore by year's end. Wouldn't it have been nice to have a place to go when you lost your mom? A place where other kids could relate to what you were going through?"

Julianne paused before answering. "Boarding school took care of that for both of us."

Carly released an exasperated sigh. "Julianne, are you going to find me a dress or not?"

"Yeah, sure. But I don't know why I even bother. You won't wear any of the ones that I think you should wear."

"Then pick something out you know I'll wear, not something skimpy that belongs on the cover of Cosmo ." She put the picture back down on the credenza a little too roughly.

Shane bumped his knee against the metal desk at the thought of her wearing one of those sexy dresses that always taunted him in the checkout lines. Unable to stifle a grunt, the sound alerted her to his presence. Snatching up the receiver, she quickly ended her phone conversation and came to stand in the doorway of her office. Crossing her arms beneath her breasts—a move that further tortured him—she leaned against the door frame. Shane cleared his throat and jauntily leaned on the two back legs of the desk chair.

"I was looking for a pen." He flicked through some papers on the desk, unsuccessfully trying to keep his eyes off her very pert breasts perfectly displayed in a T-shirt proclaiming Smart is the new skinny. Shane tried not to think about how sexy it looked on her.

"I guess the Pen Fairy took 'em all because there aren't any out here," he joked, gesturing to the desks in the reception area .

Mumbling something sounding awfully close to smart-ass, she pushed away from the door frame. He stood and followed her into her office. Probably not a good idea on his part, seeing as how he was already in the beginning stages of arousal. Being in the close confines of her office would only make it worse.

He took his chances anyway.

Her office was warm and welcoming, adorned with pictures of her nieces and nephew. A large spider plant crawled from its container down to the floor. Soft jazz music played over her computer speakers. She rounded her desk and picked up a Montblanc pen, then turned and nearly speared him with it, he was following her so closely.

"I didn't want to leave town without signing this." He held up the media plan between them.

"Of course not." She backed up a little to put some space between them. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten."

"Nope." His voice took on a husky timbre as he took a step forward. She moved farther back to the wall. "You didn't rat me out to your brother-in-law the other night. Why not?"

"Oh, well . . . now I have something to hold over you. You know, when you start telling everyone how I attacked you in Cabo," she quipped.

"Touché," he said, a smile breaking out across his face. "Smart, pretty, and devious. Who would have thought?"

She tried to stifle a laugh, but one escaped anyway. Soft and breathy. Somehow, she'd backed herself against the wall. He stood inches in front of her. She wasn't a psycho chic, he'd finally decided. Just a woman. A woman who he continued to be incredibly attracted to for reasons he couldn't quite understand. If Shane was smart, he'd leave her alone. Except his brain and his body weren't working from the same playbook.

"About that night in Cabo . . ." he started off.

"Let's not go there." She shook her head from side to side.

He breathed in her scent—she smelled like Florida sunshine—as he moved his body closer. "You know, Dorothy, if your friend hadn't interrupted us, what do you think would have happened?"

She stared at him, her clear blue eyes wide as saucers, something between panic and passion beginning to build in them. Her breath was coming faster, fanning the skin at the base of his neck.

"Nothing." The waver in her voice—almost a whisper now—betrayed the firmness of the statement.

"You sure?" he asked softly as he tossed the document and pen onto the desk behind him. "Not even just a kiss?"

He knew he shouldn't be pursuing this. She was not only the GM's assistant but the coach's sister-in-law. If Coach found out, he'd probably string Shane up by his balls. But he couldn't seem to deny his body. Not now. Not after waiting a week to finally kiss her. Something about her pushed Shane over the edge. He had to know if it had been a fluke in Mexico. Maybe they'd both had too much to drink that night. Maybe he was the one who was a bit psycho. Either way, he wasn't leaving until he found out. He leaned his body closer, pinning her to the wall.

Again, she shook her head. The tight T-shirt showcased her aroused nipples. While her mouth was saying nothing, her body was definitely giving him the green light.

Lifting both hands from his sides, he carefully placed each one against the wall on either side of her head. Slowly, he leaned in further, his lips a breath away from her mouth. Never before had he used his body to intimidate a woman. He'd stop now if she put up any resistance, but her body was pliant against his.

Her tongue darted out to lick her lips. Definitely a green light.

"This isn't a good idea," she started to say.

He took advantage of her open mouth and swooped in. Sealing his lips over hers, he let his tongue plunder her luscious mouth, stroking it along hers, making her body quiver. Any resistance she might have offered disappeared within seconds as she returned his kiss with a hot, eager one of her own. The way she kissed him back surprised him, spurred him on. He angled his head to the side to deepen the kiss and she responded by gently sucking on his tongue. A slow burn began in his gut, and he knew one thing for certain: the attraction that started on a beach in Mexico was no fluke.

He also knew he might not get enough of this woman.

With a soft gasp, she leaned in to deepen the kiss. It was nearly his undoing. Reluctantly, he broke it off, lifting his lips away from hers by a fraction. Leaning his forehead against hers, he tried to catch a breath. Her lips were puffy and damp, her eyes wild with passion.

"Damn," Shane muttered, taking his hands off the wall. Repositioning them to caress the sides of her face, he pulled her in closer so his mouth could take possession of hers again.

Carly's brain had ceased to function. She really should be telling him to stop, pushing him away. And she would. In a minute. Instead, the hands braced on his chest to do the pushing away slowly snaked up the black T-shirt that covered a finely sculpted torso before ending up wrapped around his neck. His skin was soft underneath her fingertips. She reached farther up to run her fingers through his hair, pulling his head deeper into the kiss. Their tongues were doing a passionate dance that had her stomach ready to fall out. She swayed against him as his hands reached down to cup her bottom, lifting her to sit on the credenza. He stepped between her thighs, allowing his erection to grind against her most sensitive area. The feeling was so overwhelming, she threw her head back and moaned. He took advantage of her exposed neck, nuzzling his way across her collarbone. When she wrapped her legs around him, he returned the groan before taking her mouth in a hard, demanding kiss. She nearly melted from the heat of it.

She had been intimate with a few men. But never like this. Never in her own office. On her desk. She'd never been so deeply aroused by another man—not even the passionate Italian she'd been engaged to—that she could lose control so easily. She'd definitely never been one to experience the toe-curling orgasms that she'd read about in magazines.

Until now.

Carly was on the verge of coming, and she was still fully dressed with just Shane's tongue in her mouth as his hard body rubbed against her. She wanted him naked and inside of her. Now.

"Yo, Devlin. You up here?"

The sound of Donovan Carter's voice was like ice water being dumped on her. With strength she didn't know she possessed, she pushed Shane off her and jumped to her feet. They both struggled to catch their breath. She forced her eyes to meet his. The heat and passion she saw reflected there made her shiver. With his hair tousled, his lips swollen and red, and his erection straining his already tight jeans, it was impossible to mistake his intentions.

"Oh God," Carly whispered. What had she almost done?

"Shane!" Donovan called again, his voice drawing nearer.

Shane continued to stare at her. Donovan was about to walk through the door. One look at Shane, and he'd know exactly what they'd been up to. Carly quickly turned to the window, her back to the door.

"In here," Shane called out, his voice a low growl .

She said a silent prayer he would at least sit down before Donovan arrived.

"Hey you two . . ." Donovan's voice trailed off as he entered her office.

Neither one of them replied. Carly didn't dare turn around, sure that her neck and her nipples still showed the effects of their encounter.

"Everything okay in here?" Donovan's tone had an edge to it now. He was no fool. The man had been a criminal investigator. Carly felt her face redden at the thought.

"Everything's fine." Shane's voice held a challenge in it. Just what she needed: two alpha males ready to duke it out over her honor.

"Ohh-kay," Donovan said slowly. "I'll just wait out here. We need to leave right away if you want to make that flight, Shane."

All she could manage was a wave over her shoulder as Donovan left the office. Mentally, she braced herself for Shane to say something, do something. Instead, she heard the scratch of the pen on paper and then it being flung back on the desk. He left without saying a word.

Leaning her forehead against the glass window, she took a deep breath. She debated with herself which was more mortifying: the fact that she had almost given it all to Shane Devlin, or that they had nearly been caught by the head of Blaze security. Shane didn't seem like the type to kiss and tell. She only hoped he could keep Donovan from spreading gossip. Two things she knew for sure: Shane Devlin had the power to overwhelm all her sensibilities, and she needed to avoid being alone with him at all costs.