“Awesome!” She grins. “Beach or mountains?”
Like I even remember. Vacations are for other people. “Beach,” I say, because Jamie likes the beach, and I want to take him to one. Of course, I want a lot of things I can’t have.
“Dogs or cats?”
“Eh, neither? I’ve never had a pet.”
“Wow,” she says, as if I’ve confessed to something scandalous.If you only knew, little lady. “Last one—do you go for the blond-haired, blue-eyed girl next door? Or do you like ’em dark and mysterious?”
“Uh, blond hair and brown eyes,” I say quickly, happy to be rid of her.
She nods slowly, as if I’ve just said something fascinating. “Interesting choice. There can’t be many women with that coloring.”
“Well, Becky, maybe that’s why I’m a bachelor.”
She giggles, and the interview is finally over.
But when she turns away, I see Blake watching me, one eyebrow raised. So I do the closeted man’s instant replay—running through everything I just said, searching for any incriminating nuggets. And I kick myself for telling the world that I like blondes with brown eyes.
Eh. There’s no way Blake made that connection. He’s probably over there wondering whether he’d be more likely to encounter a seventeen-foot velociraptor on a beach or in the mountains.
I finally hit the showers. By the time the team is on the bus and ready to head back to the airport, our manager makes an announcement from the front. “Guys? We’re headed for the Marriott Marquis. Can’t get out of La Guardia tonight.”
At the same time I groan, Blake lets out a happy bellow. “Party in my room!” He reaches across the aisle to shove my shoulder. “Late flights suck, anyway. Let’s order some food and some brewskis. It’ll be great.”
It won’t, though. Because I need to see Jamie. I can’t stand the distance between us and it needs to end. I thought getting rid of the death chair would be the perfect opening for us to hash everything out, but the only response I got from him was a grunted “Thanks for doing that.” I’d answered with a teasing quip about how our condo was now ghost-free, since he’s convinced someone died on that chair, but he’d barely cracked a smile.
Now I’m five hundred miles away from him, once again unable to fix a damn thing between us.
The hotel is only a mile from Madison Square Garden, but that’s about a half hour in snowy traffic. And then we’re delayed while they find rooms for all of us and pass out keys. Blake’s food delivery shows up immediately, though, because he started working on it before we even got off the bus. (“Is this Brother Jimmy’s BBQ? I have an emergency. It’s bad, man. Only you can save me…”)
He’s ordered enough for everyone. No wonder the place was willing to deliver in the snow. So I perch on the radiator in his room and put away a pulled-pork sandwich. When I try to kick in some money, he waves me off. “You guys feed me sometimes, right? Your money’s no good here. I got someone from room service bringing up a couple cases of beer. Stick around.”
That’s nice and all, but I need to talk to my man. And holy shit—my man wants to talk tome. Even though it’s past midnight, I discover that Jamie has tried me on Skype three times in the past hour, which makes me giddy. Maybe I didn’t strike out with the new chair, after all.
I sneak out when everyone’s attention turns to the television and let myself into my room to find that my duffel bag has been delivered. I toss it onto the luggage rack and hang up my suit. The second I’m in sweats and a T-shirt, I return Jamie’s call. “Hey!” I say when he answers. “Sorry it’s so late. We’re not getting home tonight.”
“I figured, babe. Just wanted to see you so bad.” He gives me a smile, and I’m so happy it’s aimed at me I could cry.
My mouth works open and closed again. I have no idea what to say to get us past the rough week we just had. “I miss you so much,” I tell him. Maybe that’s lame, because we woke up in the same bed together this morning. But at least it’s honest. “I mean, this past week…”
Jamie nods. His brown eyes crease around the edges as his brow furrows. I know that look. He has something on his mind, and I feel a pang of apprehension. Jesus. He wouldn’t break up with me over Skype, would he?
Break up with me?
Oh dear God. Did that thought actually cross my mind? Did I really just fucking go from “rough patch” to “the love of my life is dumping me”?
“Babe?” I say in a timid voice that I’ve never heard leave my mouth before. My heart is pounding faster than ever. “You okay?”
He opens his mouth. “Yeah. I am. But I…” That sexy mouth closes, and then he sighs softly and offers another smile. This one looks a tad forced. “Just tell me about your game, because it was really fun to watch. Honestly, it reminded me why we’re in this mess in the first place.”
“Okay,” I say, trying to wrap my head around the change in temperature between us. “Tonight I just unleashed myself out there. I’m not even sure what happened. It’s like the net had a magnet under it just for me.”
“Glad I wasn’t the goalkeeper.” Jamie lifts his sexy arms overhead, and I notice that he’s in our bed. That’s the wooden headboard I chose and the flannel sheets I bought when winter hit and Jamie began objecting to the cold.
A wave of homesickness hits hard. “I would kill to be there right now.” Can’t believe I messed up our time together last week. “I’d show you exactly how hot you look.”
Jamie grins, and I practically smack myself in the head when realization strikes. “The beard! Where’d it go?” His face is now perfectly clean-shaven.
