‘I think you know I’m not afraid of fast.’ She shot him a look over the boring rule book.
‘Everything comes back to sex with you, doesn’t it?’
‘Are youcomplaining?’ she mocked, tossing the road code aside. ‘Wearesex, Gabe. We’re a shag team.’ But she wasn’t being completely honest—not even to herself. She got up from the table quickly. ‘I’ve got the most awesome dance flick ever for tonight.’
‘Oh, I can’t wait.’ Gabe didn’t sound any less sarcastic than he had a moment before.
But the opening theme had barely started when his phone beeped. He glanced at the message and groaned.
‘What’s wrong?’ She pressed pause on the remote, the opening number wasn’t one to be missed.
He was studying the screen intently, scrolling through some lengthy missive. ‘One of the boys has gotten into trouble. Cheating while on summer tour. Pretty sordid too, going to be all over the front pages tomorrow.’ He shook his head and tossed his phone to the floor. ‘This is why they shouldn’t get married. Commitment doesn’t work with this lifestyle.’
Roxie giggled. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Absolutely.’ He met her smile with censure in his dark eyes. ‘The pressure these guys are under? They’re away so often. There’s all that adrenalin—they need a release. Distance relationships never work and in this business there are even more factors to make marriages fail.’
Roxie gaped at his earnest expression. ‘You call this lifestyle working with adistancerelationship?’ she mocked. ‘Gabe, you’re not talking being away months or even weeks at a time. You’re talkingdays.’
‘You don’t understand the temptation they face.’
‘Oh, please. Temptation passes on the street every day. The number of women who give you thatlook.’ She shook her head. She’d seen it so many times at the stadium. ‘The guys who give into temptation on a short trip like that would give into it athome just as quick if the opportunity arose,’ she said bluntly. ‘It’s not the lifestyle that’s the problem, it’s that the guy doesn’t know how to keep his zipper up.’ She chuckled again. ‘I mean, really, Gabe, you’re away for what, a week at most?’
‘When we go on tours it’s weeks at a time,’ he said defensively.
‘Oh, come on, it’s a big fat excuse and you know it.’ She leaned closer, getting into the stride of her argument now. ‘Youdon’t want to give up your freedom in case something better swings along. That’s okay, you don’t have to. Just don’t try to hide behind your job as some lame excuse for being unable to make a commitment. If you wanted to, you would. But you don’t want to.’
That was right. He didn’t. Gabe was stunned with how she had him pegged. And that she’d just shot him down with a couple of snappy sentences. Yes, he liked the convenience of the short-term fling—and the out-of- town bender was even better. No mess in his backyard. ‘Okay, you’re right. It took a lot to get my freedom and, no, I won’t give that up for anyone. I’m not willing to compromise on the most important things in my life.’ That was still his view, right?
She nodded, apparently all understanding now. ‘I know exactly how you feel. I don’t regret any of the time in the last few years. I’d still be doing it if I could. But now? I want my time. I wantmyfreedom. I don’t want anybody holding me back.’ She grinned impishly.
Strangely, even though she was now agreeing with him, Gabe didn’t feel any better. ‘So you’re really serious about the no-marriage-and-kids thing?’
‘I think I take after my mother,’ she said, settling more comfortably on the sofa. ‘She didn’t want me despite goingahead to have me. I’m not doing that to anyone. I’m never having any in the first place.’
‘No permanent man either?’ He had no idea why his pulse had just picked up.
She shook her head. ‘Playmate every now and then. That’s the way forward.’
She was quoting his own philosophy but it sounded so wrong coming from her mouth. He didn’t like her turning her back on the idea of being with someone for good. She should be cherished and treasured and adored—the prize, the heart, of some guy’s life. And any guy who even thought of straying from Roxie would need his head read. Who’d ever want to give her up?
Gabe really needed to bury this line of thought—it was weird. He pressed the pause button on the remote she still held so the movie started running again. But a dance flick was hardly the kind of movie to completely absorb him, so those damn thoughts kept circling. Had he been hanging back from doing anything more with any of his exes in case someone better came along? Surely not, he’d just thought he had it sussed. Even after the Diana debacle he’d merely figured all he had to do was fling it with the right kind of woman. But Roxie wasn’t that kind. In fact he now wondered whether that kind of woman even existed.
Yet here Roxie was basically trying to walk in his foolish footsteps. That just didn’t sit right with him.
Damn it, none of this was right.
TEN
As Roxie drovetowards home she saw Gabe jogging through the park. He signaled and she pulled over. He raised a brow at the P-plate on the rear window. She’d known he’d spot it straight away.
‘I didn’t just do the theory, I passed my practical. First time,’ she said smugly.
‘I should hope so,’ he answered drily as he got in the passenger seat. ‘You’ve been driving on the roads long enough.’
Roxie giggled and drove the final few meters to the garage. It had been a brilliant day: she’d taken the afternoon off work and done her test, gone to practice with the Blades, they’d asked her to do some freestyle—to help work out a new routine. Now she’d come home and foundhim.And he’d just gotten out and opened the heavy old garage door for her to park the car and was waiting to close it once she was in. First time ever anyone had done it for her. Life just couldn’t get better. Her smile widening, she stepped out to meet him. And her foot sank into a puddle. Several inches deep and lapping—water was flowing in from somewhere. She headed straight for the boxes sitting in the new lake.
‘Maybe we left a hose on.’ Gabe disappeared out of the side door. He was back in a nanosecond but the sound of running water hadn’t ceased. ‘Probably a burst pipe, won’t take anything to fix,’ he said, pulling his phone from his shorts pocket.
