My eyes hovered back over to Jesse, who was now on his second glass of wine, his long legs stretched out in front of him.
He was looking at me, his dark eyes an eddy of mysteries.
“I’m sorry about what happened today.” I needed to get it out there before we were left on our own. My stomach churned like I was a fifteen-year-old girl speaking to her crush.
Jesse looked away down the garden. “Well, it could’ve been worse. I could’ve had a suspended sentence or…” He shrugged. “It’s six months. Then I just need to make sure I don’t go speeding.”
“What made you think it was a good idea to drive that fast down that road?” Amber topped up her glass of fruit punch.
She’d only glared at the bottle of wine twice since I’d brought it out. I was staring at it now because it beat looking at Jesse while he tried to answer this question without lying.
“Sheer stupidity.”
It wasn’t a lie, only we weren’t talking about his stupidity, not until he got behind the wheel. It had been all mine before that.
Jesse put his glass of wine down on the table. “I’m going to have to deal with it, because it ain’t going to change in the next six months.”
“The club will provide a driver.” Nate glanced up at Zara and Libbie, who were sitting together on the lawn, making daisy chains now. “That might be your best bet.”
Jesse nodded. “Genny sent me a message to say they could sort that.”
“You’re not thrilled with the idea.” Amber stood up, stretching out her back, Nate’s attention automatically going to her to check she was okay.
I loved seeing my brother like this. After Chan had died, he’d been a mess, not knowing what to do with himself or how to look after himself. I hadn’t had a great relationship with Chan, although it wasn’t that we didn’t get along. She just preferred to have more to do with her side of the family than Nate’s, so I hadn’t spent a ton of time here — not until Chan was sick and I started to stay to help with Zara, who’d only been six months old when Chan died.
Jesse shook his head. “I don’t like being treated like a princess.”
“So what’re you going to do? Get a bike and pedal everywhere?” Nate raised a brow. “Getting to training every day won’t be a problem, but getting back from training will, ‘cause everyone’s got different things on. Don’t make life hard for yourself, Jesse.”
Jesse shrugged. “I’ll probably end up hiring someone directly.” He laughed. “Anyone know anybody’s who’s looking for a short-term job being at a ‘baller’s beck and call?”
My heart hammered in my chest, and my stomach did that little thing where it flipped into somersault. I was well aware that this could be the glass of wine talking, but I needed some income for the next few months while I saw how things went with my book sales, and I needed flexibility to write and market — which was a job in itself.
“I am.”
Three heads turned to me, confusion and surprise on all of them.
“I need some sort of income short term while I work out what I’m going to do longer term.” I paused, thinking carefully as I wasn’t fully open with everyone yet about what I was writing about. “But I need flexibility. If you don’t mind me waiting around with my laptop, I can drive for you.”
I wasn’t sure how to read Jesse’s expression. He was always guarded, unless he was smiling, and he wasn’t smiling now.
Maybe I should’ve offered when my brother wasn’t there with us so Jesse could turn me down without looking mean, because there was a flaw in my offer.
The night Jesse had been caught speeding for the second time, he’d been speeding away from me.
That was the effect the kiss I’d given him had had.
CHAPTER3
Jesse
“That works.”
I looked at Nate and wondered what his reaction would be if he knew the reason why I’d been speeding.
We’d played together on the same team for four seasons, but I’d known him longer than that because of England's international set-up. Nate was a couple of years older than me, but we’d been on the under twenty-ones side at the same time, and both around the full squad after that.
He was a good friend.
