Page 60 of Full Coverage (Boys of Fall)

Then Mike had gotten caught up in the story Randi was telling their little group about how the football mamas in Quinn had suited up and played a game of flag football to raise money for the youth league—and howflagfootball had somehow resulted in a bloody nose, a sprained wrist and a lot of muddy uniforms. Everyone had laughed, including Randi, the sound light and happy, her face glowing and absolutely gorgeous.

Mike had turned to Nolan with an eyebrow up and said, “Oh, I see what got into you.”

Nolan felt his arm tense under Randi. Shehadgotten into him. He’d gone to her for help with the book and she’d given him exactly what he’d asked for—an appreciation for the game. He hadn’t even realized he was looking forward to that first game in the fall until Mike had said that. But yeah, she’d gotten into him.

So now…

Brad wanted the original book back. He wanted to go back to those first chapters and for Nolan to keep going. And he had one month. That was the last of the deadline extensions Brad was willing to give.

Mike’s advice had been, “Fucking write the book.”

Nolan didn’t want to write that book. He liked the new chapters. Hell, he liked all of the new chapters. But he recognized what was happening. His love for the new book was about his love for Randi. She was in every word, on every page. When he read over what he’d written, he could hear and see her in all of the stories.

So, he needed to leave her in Quinn tomorrow—and head back to San Antonio and his apartment and his computer and block everything about her and Quinn out and finish the fucking book.

* * *

Their wake-up call came at seven a.m. Randi rolled and stretched as Nolan grabbed the bedside phone, lifted the receiver and set it back down to stop the ringing.

He groaned.

She smiled.

It had been a late night, but it had been worth every milligram of caffeine she was going to need to mainline today. New York City was amazing. She was happy she’d gotten to see it. She’d been amazed by the buildings and lights andpeople. She’d watched a half dozen street performers, given nearly fifty dollars away to homeless people, and been propositioned by two prostitutes, at the same time.

It was a fun, crazy, exciting place to be.

And she couldn’t wait to get home. She loved seeing the city, dressing up, trying new things. But she was already ready to be home where nighttime was fully dark, where you could see farther than a city block at a time and where there was such a thing as quiet.

In fact, tonight she intended to sit on her back deck with a cold beer and look at the stars and listen to…absolutely nothing.

In her bare feet.

That was another thing she wasn’t going to miss—it was damned cold in New York in February.

“You going to join me?” she asked Nolan from the doorway to the bathroom. She needed to take a shower, but it didn’t have to be a fast shower.

He glanced at her and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Uh, no. You go ahead.”

She frowned. He seemed distracted, and very tired. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” He stood. “I’ll order breakfast from room service.”

“Okay, great.” Randi couldn’t explain it, but she felt cold all of a sudden.

But that was ridiculous. Everything was fine. He was tired and they’d had a big night last night. She knew he’d had a quick meeting with his editor when they’d first arrived. He probably just had a lot on his mind.

Randi showered and dressed and joined Nolan for breakfast at the little table in their room. But she’d just picked up a piece of bacon when he got to his feet and headed for the bathroom.

“Gonna shower.”

She nodded and watched him go. Trepidation made the bacon not taste as good. Which was serious.

Nolan was quiet on the way to the airport and pulled out his laptop as soon as they were settled in the gate area.

Finally, she couldn’t take it any longer. “What’s going on?”

He looked up. “What?”

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