Page 91 of Rookie Move
Good question. “This job is really important to me. For two years it’s been my whole life.” That sounded a bit pathetic when said out loud, but again it was true. “I need to concentrate on keeping it.”
“I get that you’re afraid...”
“I’m neverafraid,” she argued before she could think better of it. Maybe it sounded petulant, but she really did hate that word.
“Right.” Leo’s voice was frosty. “So you’re saying I’m a distraction, then.”
“True.”
He switched lanes and passed two tractor trailers. A few miles later he spared a glance in her direction. “Distractions are good things. They’re supposed to be, anyway.”
Of course they were. He wasn’t going to buy the bullshit she was selling. But there was no way out of this hole that she’d dug for herself. She couldn’t tell him about the trade. And she couldn’t pretend that it wasn’t going to happen.After the game tonight, Leo would want to see her. He’d want to peel off her clothes and make love and make plans for the future. She’d have to nod and smile and pretend that it wasn’t all for nothing.
Georgia wasn’t that good of an actress. And faking things with him was the very last thing she wanted to do.
More miles slid by. The lights of Brooklyn were in view when Leo spoke again. “The thing is, Georgia, I love you. A lot. I don’t know what the hell is bothering you, or why you won’t level with me. But if you ask me to leave you alone for a while, I’ll have to abide by that. Under one condition.”
“What?” It came out as a scrape.
“You’re honest about why. The way I see it, there’s only two reasons you’re pushing me away. Either you’re scared...”
“I’mnotscared,” she argued reflexively.
Leo surprised her by pulling over into a parking lot. They were a few minutes from home. He put the car in park and turned to face her. Reluctantly she met his big brown eyes. “I loved you when I was sixteen, and I told you when I was seventeen. When I was eighteen, you cut me loose. But I never stopped. If you’re not scared, then maybe you don’t feel the same way. Tell me right now. I can take it.”
Ohhhhh shit. Do not cry. Georgia took a deep breath in through her nose. He was waiting, patient as ever. The one thing Georgia knew for sure in that moment was that Leo was going to go far in hockey. Never was a player so fierce or fearless as he was right in that moment, calling her bluff like the competitive genius that he really was.
They weren’t eighteen anymore, though. The uncomplicated love they’d enjoyed at eighteen couldn’t last anyway. He should know that by now.
“Yes or no, Gigi,” he said softly. “It’s a yes or no question. Do you love me like I love you?”
Georgia’s heart held a gun on itself. Then it pulled the trigger. She shook her head.
For a few seconds nothing happened. His laser gaze stayed trained on her face, as if expecting her to crack and admit she was a lying liar who had just lied.
She didn’t crack, though.
Finally, he turned toward the steering wheel, put the car in drive and maneuvered out of the parking lot. Five minutes later they arrived in front of her apartment building. She unclipped the seatbelt with shaking hands. What did a girl say after she’d just stabbed a good man in the heart?Thanks for dinner. The lasagna was killer.
“I just have one more thing to say,” Leo rasped from the driver’s seat.
“What?” she whispered, afraid to look at him again. So she was startled when his big hand cupped the back of her head and tugged her toward him. The world’s softest kiss landed on her lips, and she returned it on instinct. For one beautiful moment, everything went silent inside her. As his lips caressed her own, she stopped hearing the echoes of a hundred worries. All she heard instead was her own sigh, and the soft sound Leo made from deep inside his chest.
Then it was over. He pulled away, leaving Georgia bereft in the passenger seat.
“That will have to hold me,” he said under his breath as he turned away.
Georgia got out of the car on shaky knees and grabbed the door. It took all her willpower to close the door and turn away.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Leo’s head was not in a good place as he hung his suit in the locker and pulled on his Bruisers workout kit. Something was wrong, and it pissed Leo off not to be told what. It didn’t seem fair.
But Georgia had always been fair. That was one of the things he loved about her. Whether it was tennis, gin rummy, or love, she’d always been honest and true. She always gave it to him straight.
So why not now? What could be so scary that it could not be discussed?
She wasn’t afraid of sex. Commitment? That didn’t sound like her. Was she afraid that he wasn’t committed? Hell. He’d get down on a knee and pop the question if he thought it wouldn’t scare her off. Her dad would have a coronary.
