Page 76 of Raging Fires

“I’m not going to mess up my career. I promise.”

“I’m not talking about your career; I’m talking about you. I think you’re in a lot deeper than you realize.”

“Nah, I’m fine. I’m not into Kelli. We just—you know, it’s convenient, and we have fun together.”

“Not into Kelli? Jake, do you realize how many times you’ve looked over at her while we’ve been sitting here?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged.

“I’ve counted six times, Jake. And that’s just since I started noticing it. You can’t keep your eyes off her. And the way you look at her—it’s not like she’s a convenient hook-up or even just a friend. I think you’re right back in love with her, and I’m afraid you’re going to get hurt again when it’s over.”

“Please.” Jake rolled his eyes. “Em, you’re getting all female on me here. Seeing romance everywhere.”

“Well, excuse me for being female. I’ll speak to you like an agent now: are you going to fall off a cliff when it’s over? Are you going to set out to trash your career again?”

“Maybe it won’t be over,” Jake snapped. He sat back, startled by his own words, then looked down at his hands. “I mean, um, we’ll still have the bar and all, and I’ll drop in to talk about that even if I do go to another team. My grandmother lives here, and I need to check in on her. I mean, it’s not like I’m going to Siberia. This is where I’m from, and, you know, I might come back here after I retire.” He wound down. The blood was rushing in his head, and his chest tightened. What was he saying?

“Jake…” Emma said again in that same sympathetic tone. He looked up at her. She was still frowning, her eyes glistening a little.

“Come on, Em, you’re not going to start crying now, are you?”

“No,” she said crisply, straightening up and pulling her face back into its usual unemotional expression. “Don’t be stupid. I’m an agent.”

“You really think I’m going to crash and burn, don’t you? You think there’s no way Kelli could want…” He shrugged.

“No, I’m not saying that. I don’t know if she’s in love with you or not. She certainly seemed like she had your back.” The corner of Emma’s mouth curled up. “And there was definitely jealousy there when I asked to talk to you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know exactly what happened before or how you felt about each other then or now. I just don’t want to see you get hurt. Take a good look at what’s going on, Jake. Just… be careful.”

Jake stood, giving her a lopsided grin. “Hell, Emma, you know I don’t do careful.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Stephanie and Neil Moran invited Kelli and Jake to their house for dinner one evening after OTAs ended. They ate on the back patio, where a misting fan kept the area cool, aided by the drop in temperature that always came with evening in the desert. The view from the patio was beautiful, the red and gold sunset fading into a night sky.

They lingered at the table for a while, but then Jake and Neil began to discuss football plays, and Stephanie stood up, saying to Kelli, “Want to go inside and talk? It’ll just get more boring from here.”

“Sure.” Kelli grinned and followed her into the house.

Stephanie led her through the large living area. “Why don’t we go back to my office? It’s cozier.”

Her office turned out to be about three times the size of Kelli’s little office in the Blue, but it did have a cozy feel to it. The walls were lined with bookshelves, and in addition to Stephanie’s desk, there was a conversational grouping of an armchair and love seat. Books and papers were scattered all over the room, and the desk was literally covered with them.

“Sorry for the mess,” Stephanie said as she picked up a stack of books from the armchair and set them next to another stack on the end table. “It’s always like this when I’m working. I can’t seem to get anything done unless I’ve got stuff spread out all over.”

“What are you working on?”

“It’s a book about Gabrielle Willoughby’s kidnapping. Have you heard of it?”

“No.” Kelli shook her head. “Sorry.”

“Most people haven’t. It happened about fifteen years ago. But it was a big deal at the time.” Stephanie’s eyes shone as she began to talk about her book. “The family got her back, and a man was convicted for it, but it turned out to be the wrong man. Gabrielle’s father built a fortress, really, outside Tucson. A huge amount of security—and they wouldn’t even let me see the most secure rooms. And Gabrielle has lived in that house ever since she was a kid, rarely leaving it and always with a guard.”

“That sounds like a weird life.”

“Doesn’t it?” Stephanie agreed. “She’s twenty-one now, and she was engaged to a man that sounded like about the only person her age she’d been around.”