NICOLE DROVE HOME trying to ignore the knot in her stomach. She felt so much anger at Jesse but, despite everything, she missed having her around. Nothing about the situation was fair.
She pulled into her driveway and saw an unfamiliar car parked in front of the house. Brittany climbed out and waved.
“I have a really big favor to ask,” the teenager said as she walked over. “It’s Raoul’s birthday. He’s turning eighteen. I want to cook him something special, but I’m not sure I can pull it all together. Would it be okay if I cooked it here and you helped? Then I’ll take it over to him.”
Nicole didn’t know what to say. While Brittany seemed like an okay kid, Nicole didn’t know her. They’d only spoken a few times. So why would she…
The fake dating. Hawk had obviously told his daughter they were going out.
“I’m happy to help,” Nicole told her. “But doesn’t your dad cook?” He’d been a single parent for a while and he seemed the type to learn that sort of thing.
“He does, but this is different. It’s for a guy.” Brittany wrinkled her nose. “He understands that I date, but I don’t think he likes it.”
“Typical father,” Nicole murmured, remembering how her dad had lacked any interest in her life. Someone being attentive would have been nice.
“I know. But he loves me.” Brittany smiled as she spoke, as if she were very sure of the fact. And why wouldn’t she be? “So is it okay? Helping me with dinner? I know you have a date with my dad tonight. I won’t make you late.”
“Sure. Come on in.”
After her talk with Jesse, Nicole welcomed the distraction.
Brittany ran back to her car, then returned with a couple of grocery bags. “I wanted something special, you know. Raoul’s been in foster care for a long time. Ever since his brother went to jail. Not that his home life was all that great before. He’s been moving around a lot. I don’t know if anyone else even remembers it’s his birthday.”
Brittany pulled items out of the bag as she spoke. Nicole looked over the contents.
There was beef, noodles, carrots, a small package of beef Stroganoff mix, sour cream and premade cookie dough that just had to be heated in the oven.
“Looks easy enough,” Nicole said.
“Good. I brought casserole dishes and one of those insulated carriers to keep everything hot while I drive over to Raoul’s.”
Nicole organized Brittany’s supplies, then turned on the oven to preheat and got the teenager set up with a cutting board and a knife.
“I trim the meat, right?” Brittany asked.
“Yes. Try to keep the pieces about the same size so they’ll cook at the same rate.”
“Okay.”
Brittany cut away. “Thanks for helping with this. I didn’t know where else to go. My friends’ moms would probably help, but I felt weird about that.”
Nicole wasn’t sure why. “Have you two been going out a while?”
“Five months. Raoul is so great. He’s really responsible and he loves me a lot.”
An interesting combination. Nicole thought about the stolen doughnuts, then reminded herself that he’d more than made up for his actions. She was happy to have him working in the bakery.
“Do you know where my dad is taking you?” Brittany asked.
“No.”
“I’m sure it will be really nice. He likes to take his girlfriends to nice places. A good quality in a boyfriend.”
Nicole nodded because she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t actually think of Hawk as her boyfriend.
“He dates a lot,” Brittany added. “Just so you know, he doesn’t get serious. Not that I mean anything bad by that. I’m sure he likes you a lot.”
Nicole sensed that she was being sent a message-she just wasn’t sure what it was. Did Brittany want to warn her off or help her out?
Rather than deal with the question, she dug out a big pot. “This,” she said, “we’ll use for boiling the pasta.”
AFTER BRITTANY LEFT, Nicole headed upstairs to get ready for her date with Hawk. She was more nervous than she would have expected, even reminding herself it wasn’t a real date. This was him keeping his half of the bargain, nothing more.
Still, she flipped through the contents of her closet, groaning when she realized she had nothing to wear. She decided to start at the beginning and try to figure out what was appropriate for a high-profile non-date possibly taking place somewhere nice.
As it was still pretty warm, she settled on a sleeveless floral print dress with a narrow skirt. She’d been fake tanning for the past couple of days, so her legs looked decent. With dangly earrings and low-heeled sandals, she decided she wouldn’t look half-bad.
Before dressing, she rolled her hair in hot curlers and put on makeup. She finished dressing, then got out the jumbo can of hairspray and prepared to spray her hair into submission.
The curlers came out, she finger-combed her curls, then sprayed until she coughed. The dangly earrings completed the outfit.
As she made her way downstairs, she found herself nervous about seeing Hawk again. The last time he’d been in this house, they’d been having hot monkey sex. She barely knew the man, but she’d already seen him naked. How strange was that?
There was a knock at the front door. Her stomach immediately plunged to her feet. She felt like she was going to throw up. This was a bad idea. What on earth had she been thinking?
Forcing herself to keep breathing, she opened the door.
“Hi,” she said, trying to keep her voice from coming out in a squeak.
“Hi yourself.”
The message to her brain, telling her to step back, was automatic. Which was a good thing, because she was incapable of thought.
Hawk looked amazing. He wore slacks and a long-sleeved shirt, a tie and sport coat. He looked like one of those sexy sportscasters. Or a male cover model.
He filled out his clothes perfectly-as if they’d been custom-made for him. Maybe they had. She managed to raise her gaze to his face. He smiled at her and the nerves got worse. An entire parade of butterflies began practicing their marching-band routine.
She felt weak and oddly aroused at the sight of him. Would he consider blowing off dinner and doing her instead?
“I made reservations,” Hawk told her. “The Yarrow Bay Grill. Have you been there?”
“No, but I’ve heard about it.” That it had a stunning view, an excellent wine list and incredible food.
“I don’t usually make reservations,” he grumbled. “You’d better be impressed.”
He could do her later, she thought as she smiled. “I am impressed. I’m all quivery. I’ll barely be able to walk to the car. Of course I have a stiff knee so that could be part of the reason.”
“You’re being snarky.”
“You picked up the phone and dialed and now you want a plaque?”
“It’s a guy thing.”
“Apparently.”
“You look great.”
“Thank you. You look very nice, as well.”
“I did the tie especially for you. I thought you’d like it.”
“I do.”
She told herself not to read too much into his words. They weren’t on a real date. They were partners in a bargain that would make most people who knew her shake their heads.
Forty minutes later they were seated in a booth overlooking the small marina at Yarrow Bay. Lake Washington glimmered with sunlight.
Hawk flipped through the novel-length wine list, then ordered. When their server had left, he leaned forward.
“Brittany called me on her way to Raoul’s house. She told me you helped her with his special birthday dinner. Thanks for that.”
“It was fun. I was a little surprised she came to me, though.”
“I would have done it, but she knows I would have given her a hard time. Teasing daughters is a father’s prerogative.”
“Mine was never much into that.” He’d always been a distant man, more interested in what was on TV than the lives of his daughters. “Brittany is a lovely girl. She thinks the world of you. You two have a very special relationship.”
He shrugged. “We do okay. I want to take all the credit, but it was mostly Serena. By the time she died, all the basics were in place.”
Nicole didn’t know what to make of the information. Should she ask more about Serena or change the subject? Honestly, she wasn’t sure how much she wanted to know.
“Have you lived here all your life?” he asked.
She nodded. “Even during college. I went to University of Washington and lived at home. With the bakery, there wasn’t much chance of doing anything else.”
“Why?”
She picked up her water glass, then put it down. “My family has owned the Keyes bakery forever. I grew up knowing I would always be a part of that heritage. That I would one day take it over.”
“You have sisters, don’t you? Why do I think you have sisters?”
“I have two. Claire is my fraternal twin. You might have heard of her.”
The server appeared with a bottle of red wine. After opening it, he poured some into a glass for Hawk to taste. Hawk sipped, then nodded. The server poured them both wine and left.
“Why would I have heard of your sister?” Hawk asked.
“Claire Keyes?”
He shook his head, then stopped. “She plays piano?”
Nicole smiled. “Concert pianist. Famous soloist. She’s played all over the world, made top-selling CDs. When we were three years old, we went to a friend’s house. Claire walked up to the piano and started playing. We’d never even seen one before, so everyone went crazy. Life changed. Claire started taking lessons. When she was six, she and my grandmother left so she could study in New York and Europe. Jesse, my youngest sister, was born that year. A lot of things changed.”
“She was just gone? You must have missed her.”
“I did. It was like someone had cut off my arm. When I was twelve, my grandmother decided Claire’s schedule was too grueling for her. She came home and my mother left to travel with her.”
What Nicole didn’t mention, what still made her angry, was how happy her mother had been to go. She’d been excited by the opportunity to travel and see the world, live in five-star hotels and hang out with the rich and famous. Never once had she even hinted she would miss what, and who, she was leaving behind.
“The bakery was my dad’s but he was never much into it,” Nicole continued. “I had to handle things at home with Jesse and I started helping out in the bakery. When Claire and I were sixteen, our mom was killed in a car crash. I sort of took over after that.”
She stopped talking. Was she saying too much?
“You studied business at college?” he asked.
She nodded. “So I could take over the bakery.”
“What would you have done if you’d had the choice?”
No one had ever asked her that before. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I have no idea. It was never an option. I knew I would inherit the bakery.”
She’d accepted her fate, had never considered there might be other paths.
“You, not your baby sister?”
Nicole didn’t want to think about Jesse or the fact that both her sisters were pregnant. “She never had a lot of interest.”
“Do you like what you do?”
She thought about an average day, the people she worked with, the rhythm. “Most of the time. I mean hey, I’m surrounded by cupcakes. Where’s the bad?”
He grinned. “Good point. I always knew I wanted to play football. I grew up north of Seattle, outside of Marysville. Small town, small high school. Football was going to be my way out.”
“What about your family?”
“It was just my mom and me. My dad died when I was little. What I remember about him isn’t good. Money was tight, but that was okay. My mom was so damn proud of me. She really believed in me. When things got hard, I thought about my mom.” Hawk picked up his wine but didn’t take a drink. “She lived to see me get to college on a scholarship, but not much longer after that. I wish she could have seen me go pro.”
“Maybe she did.”
He looked at her. “I like to think so. She was great when I found out Serena was pregnant. We were seniors in high school. I thought she was going to kill me, but she just said we’d handle it.”
Nicole wasn’t sure what her father would have said if she’d shown up pregnant. Not that it ever would have happened. Between school and working in the bakery and raising Jesse, there hadn’t been a lot of time for dating. Or fun.
“How did Serena’s parents take it?” she asked.
“They were angry. They told her if she didn’t give up the baby for adoption and never see me again, they would have nothing to do with her.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No. She was devastated. But I told her we’d get married and be a family. It took a hell of a leap of faith for her to believe me.”
“She was in love.”
“We both were. It was terrifying at first. We got married right after graduation and moved in with my mom. The coach at Oklahoma University put us in touch with some folks down in Norman and they really helped out.”
Nicole didn’t know much about football but she knew he’d picked the right kind of school.
“Living in a place where college football is king made a difference,” she teased.
“I know. We were taken care of. We lived off campus in a great little house. I was supposed to do maintenance to pay rent, but there wasn’t much to do. Serena got a job with flexible hours and decent pay. Everyone there made it easy for us. There were always babysitters so Serena could come to the games.”
Nicole couldn’t imagine that life. It was like hearing the plot of a movie. “You were lucky.”
“We were. Even with all the help we were still a couple of teenagers raising a baby. Nights Brittany had a fever terrified me. I could take a hit with no problem, but every time she fell down, I thought I was going to lose it.”
“An involved dad,” she said lightly, feeling the steady ticking of her biological clock. Why was having a family such a challenge?
“I loved her and Serena. A lot of the guys on the team never understood why I was so happy being with one woman. They were out getting as much as they could and when you play ball you get a lot. But that wasn’t important to me. It was the same when I went pro. For us, it was a chance to be financially secure. We wanted to go back to Seattle, so we bought the house I live in now. It’s pretty ordinary. We wanted a regular life.”
“An unusual dream for a pro football player.”
“I don’t need a lot of expensive crap to tell me who I am.”
Which said a lot about him. Nicole was beginning to wonder if this dinner was a good idea. She didn’t want to start to actually like Hawk. That would create a complication she didn’t need.
“Why did you retire?”
“Serena got cancer. We knew she was dying. Brittany was only twelve, so it hit her hard. Serena and I talked about what was best for Brittany. Me traveling and training six or eight months out of the year wasn’t it. Serena’s parents finally came around, but they’re in Florida now so they only see Brittany every couple of years. There wasn’t anyone to take care of her but me. Retiring was the right thing to do.”
He’d quit playing professional football-an occupation that practically gave him deity status-to stay home and take care of his daughter?
“I got bored in three days,” he said with a grin. “That’s when I thought about coaching.”
“You mean you’re not in it for the money?” she teased, not wanting him to be as good as he sounded.
“I don’t need the paycheck, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Speaking of paychecks, are you going to see Raoul tomorrow?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“I have his paycheck. He didn’t work yesterday and I forgot to pay him a day early.” She thought about how tight money was for him. “Maybe I’ll drop it off at his house tomorrow.”
“I can do that.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m his boss.”
“How’s he working out for you?”
“He’s great. A hard worker. I’m glad to have him.”
“Aren’t you happy you didn’t throw him in jail?”
“I’m not going to talk about that.”
“Because you don’t want to admit you were wrong?”
“Something like that.”
THEY TALKED all through dinner. Nicole found her entrée getting cold as she and Hawk debated everything from the Mariners’ chance at making the play-offs to the best place to get coffee. As it was Seattle, there were hundreds of choices.
“You’re talking flavored lattes,” he grumbled. “Girl drinks.”
“Oh, right. And you’re just too manly.”
“I am.”
He looked at her and she stared back. Heat flared, making her squirm. When he reached across the table and grabbed her hand, she had the sudden wish they were somewhere else. Somewhere alone and quiet, where getting naked wouldn’t upset the management.
“If you’re done here,” he began, “I’m thinking it’s time for a little sex-kitten action.”
Her stomach clenched. “I’m yours for the asking.”
“One of your best qualities.”
She thought about saying it was part of their deal, but after their lone sexual encounter, she found herself anticipating getting naked with Hawk again. Even without the bargain she would have been more than willing.
He released her hand and glanced at his watch, then groaned.
“What?”
“I told Brittany she had to be home by eleven, which means I have to be there to make sure that happens. It’s after ten now.”
Math had never been Nicole’s thing, but even she could figure this out. “We don’t have time to go back to my place, get busy and have you home by eleven.”
Hawk looked at her. “It’s your fault. I don’t usually sit and talk to a woman for three hours without noticing the time. Especially when there are other ways to spend an evening.”
Meaning they could have been in bed. She smiled. “Typical guy. Blaming someone else.” But his words made her oddly happy. She liked knowing he’d had a good time, too. Not that she liked him or anything. Well, she liked him, but it was in a “we have a bargain to get through” sense. Not liked him as in any romantic way.
“We’ll reschedule,” she said. “After all, I’m yours to command, so to speak.”
“Good.” He motioned to their server and asked for the bill. “I’ll call you tomorrow and we can set up a time.”
To have sex. She felt her insides quiver. “Just say the word and I’m ready to purr.”
HAWK SET UP THE CHAIRS in the room. It was Sunday and there would be the usual postgame film meeting in an hour.
Despite the less than satisfying ending to his date the previous evening, he was in a damn good mood. Everything was going right. The team was winning, Brittany had picked six different colleges to apply to, and he had a hot woman he not only liked to talk to but make love with at his beck and call. Oh, yeah. It was good to be him.
He heard footsteps in the hall and walked to the doorway. Nicole hurried toward him, looking intense about something. He grinned. While they wouldn’t be able to do anything significant, they could probably manage some hot kisses in his office. That would-
She stopped in front of him, waving a piece of paper. “You just think you know everything, don’t you?”
That didn’t sound happy. “What’s wrong?”
“Gee, what an interesting question. What’s wrong? Hmm, how about the fact that your key player is lying to you about where he lives?”
“Raoul? What are you talking about?” He grabbed the paper from her. “What’s this?”
“His paycheck. I know money’s tight for him, so I decided to deliver his check. I went by his house. The address he gave me is an abandoned building. I couldn’t believe it. So I went inside and someone is living there. I saw clothes and a sleeping bag, a couple of flashlights and this.”
She fished a Pacific High School T-shirt out of her bag. “Does this look familiar?”
Hawk couldn’t believe it. Raoul, living like that? How could he not know? Raoul told him everything. “He never said a word. How long has this been going on?”
“That would be my question to you, Coach. Knowing about this sort of thing would be your job, not mine.”