Jaci Burton - Straddling the Line

But not now. There were still questions she had, and since today was a free day, she intended to grill him while they still had one-on-one time together.

You’re avoiding how you feel, Haven, just like always.

She listened to her inner voice, and agreed, but decided to ignore it.

For the time being, anyway.

“I’m totally fine with our living arrangements. And if it feels like I’m avoiding you, I’m sorry. I know how important your workouts are. I was only trying to stay out of your way.”

He relaxed, and let go of her wrist. “What if I like you in my way?”

He wasn’t making this easier on her.

“I’m going to go take a shower. How about we meet up for the rest of our Q-and-A after you’re finished with your workout?”

He paused, his body still so close to her she could feel the waves of tension coming off him. If she leaned in, she’d touch him. And oh, she’d really like to touch him.

But then he took a step back. “Sure. I should be done here in about an hour, and then I’ll take a quick shower and we’ll finish what we started.”

“Great.”

She turned and hightailed it out of there, feeling very much like a coward for not taking Trevor up on what he was so obviously offering.

She wasn’t ready.

Not yet.

As she made her way to her wing and her room, she thought about what he’d said.

Yeah, she’d like to finish what they started. Though they hadn’t even started yet, had they? So really, what she’d like would be to start something with Trevor.

She took a deep breath, closed the door to her room, and headed into the bathroom to take a shower, deciding it wasn’t just men who needed cold showers to keep sexual frustration at bay.

AFTER TAKING A SHOWER, HAVEN CONTACTED HER producer, filling him in on what she’d been doing. Camera crews would be at the next Rivers game, where she’d do some feed on Trevor and give a rundown on his background while at the game. They’d try to do an interview before the game. Haven had talked to a few of his teammates, who had agreed to give some sound bites as well.

Her producer seemed satisfied with the status, which relieved her. She was nervous about the direction she was taking with this feature, since she’d never done one as detailed as Trevor’s was going to be. She’d interviewed athletes postgame before, but those were one-or two-minute pieces, not an entire bio. She was out of her element here, but grateful to have Trevor as her subject. He relaxed her.

Well, sort of. At least professionally, he was making this easy on her. Personally? He made her tense. Nervous. A little breathless whenever she got close to him.

She was going to have to either learn to get a handle on her feelings for him, or figure out a way to have that conversation.

She found him downstairs in the office, so she set up her laptop and organized her notes.

“Ready to get started again?”

He nodded. “Sure.”

“I’d like to know about anyone you feel was a mentor to you on your way up the ladder to success. High school coaches, anyone in college.”

“Your dad.”

She stopped and stared at him. “You don’t have to say that just because it’s me.”

“I’m not saying it just because it’s you, Haven. Bill Briscoe saved my ass—more than once—and made it possible for me to have a pro sports career.”

She felt the twinge in the vicinity of her heart, but pushed it aside and typed the quote into her laptop. “Okay. Tell me about . . . Bill.”

“He took everyone under his wing. He was more than just our dorm parent. He genuinely cared about all of us guys. It made a difference to him that we were educated and also excelled at the sports we played. You know how hard college was for me. I wasn’t much into the academic part of it. But Bill pushed me to always do better. He said I wasn’t going to play sports the rest of my life, so it mattered that I graduated.”

She looked up from her laptop. “And you did.”

He laughed. “Yeah. Barely. Thanks to you. And to your—to Bill. Education was always important to him. He always wanted the guys to see a future beyond just a sports career. We talked a lot about what I saw myself doing after I was done with football and baseball.”

“Really. And what did you see in your future?”

“Nothing. Sports was always it for me. I don’t want to own some car dealership or do sportscasting. It’s always been and always will be sports for me. Bill suggested coaching.”

“At the pro level?”

“I don’t think so. Maybe working with kids somewhere down the road. I want to mold them when they’re younger.”

She leaned back in the chair and studied him. “I could see that. Kids would look up to you. You could become a teacher, then do coaching.”

He laughed. “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

“Why not?”

“It’s just not gonna happen. I’m not teacher material.”

“Why would you even think that? You totally could be. All you have to do is go back to school and get the right degree, then you could teach and coach.”

“No.” He stood and left the room.

Haven looked at the empty doorway, sensing she’d just said something terribly wrong. Trevor had been upset. Or angry. Or something.

But she had no idea what she’d said.

She set her laptop aside and went to find him.

TREVOR LOOKED OUT OVER THE POOL, TRYING TO GET his emotions under control.

It had been stupid to walk out on Haven like that. She’d made a simple suggestion. She didn’t know about him, so he could have just nodded and said maybe and left it at that.

Instead, the old insecurities had rushed to the surface. The impatience, the frustration at all the things he couldn’t do—would never be able to do—had gotten a stranglehold on him and had taken over, blotting out all his common sense.

He closed his eyes and focused on the things he could do well.

Like play baseball and football.

He was going to have to be very careful in this interview. Haven had a knack for opening him up, bringing out the past, making him answer questions about things he hadn’t thought about in a long time. Like hopes and ambitions he thought he’d buried deep.

She was good at her job, probably better than she gave herself credit for. Or maybe it was because the two of them had a natural ability to get into each other’s heads. He enjoyed talking to her about anything, and not just himself and his career. He wanted to know what she thought about a lot of things. He wanted to get to know her better. She was so smart.

The exact opposite of him.

He shook his head and stared into the water of the pool, sucking in a deep breath.

Forget it. Let it go.

He heard the back door open and straightened, forcing those thoughts out of his head. It was time to put the mask on again, so Haven wouldn’t see, wouldn’t know what he was thinking about.

She came up beside him and laid her hand on his arm. “Something I said upset you.”

He turned to face her, planting a smile on his face. “No, you didn’t. I’m sorry I got up and left. I just needed a break.”

He knew from the look on her face that she didn’t believe him, but she nodded.

“Okay.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling closed in spending the day at the house. Let’s take a trip out.”

“Sure. Where would you like to go?”

“I’ll take you around St. Louis. Show you some of my favorite places.”

“That sounds like a plan. I’ll bring my camera and we can take some stills.”

“Okay.”

Their first stop was at the zoo. When they went inside, Haven grinned. “I haven’t been to a zoo in years.”

“You’re missing out. I love the zoo. Though I don’t like that the animals are caged.” As they walked along, he said, “I took a trip to Africa a few years ago, went on safari. Seeing animals free like that, living in their natural habitats, was amazing.”

“I can only imagine how spectacular that must have been,” she said as they stopped at the elephant area.

“The zoo here has excellent conservation programs, though. But there’s nothing like seeing a herd of elephants in the wild.”

She loved listening to him talk, and wished the camera crew were on board today to film the excitement on his face. She took a few still photos, and she’d make some notes later about their discussion, but the joy on his face as he discussed his trip to Africa was something that couldn’t be repeated. She made a mental note to bring it up again during the on-camera interview.

“I had no idea you had such an interest in wildlife conservation.”

“Yeah, it’s a big deal to me. So many species are endangered. Rhinos are on the brink of extinction because poachers kill them for their horns. Elephants are the same. Humans need to do a better job of protecting animals in the wild. We think zoos are cruel, but in many instances, we’re protecting a lot of endangered species that are being threatened. It’d be great if all animals could live free. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.”

His knowledge of many animal species was fascinating. As they walked along, he talked to her about reptiles and amphibians. She didn’t think she’d ever enjoyed a trip to the zoo as much as she had today.

After the zoo, they went over to the Science Center. She really got to geek out there, since they had everything a science nerd would love, from exhibits on math to the human body, fossils, and mummies. She enjoyed the life science exhibits, examining every ecosystem imaginable. She loved that Trevor took his time exploring and seemed to have as much fun as she did. He pored over all the exhibits, the two of them like kids as they stopped and played with everything that was hands-on.

It was wonderful.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” she said as, after several hours, they finally left and headed toward the car.

“I’m glad you had fun. It’s been a while since I’ve visited, so it was like a refresher course. Zane and I have come here before, too. He geeks out over it more than I do.”

She laughed. “I can imagine. I’m just happy you enjoyed it as much as I did. I felt like a kid again.”

He gave her a look, then smiled one of those toe-curling, devastating smiles. “Good. Now, are you hungry?”

“Starving.” They’d had a hot dog lunch at the zoo, but she was ready for something more substantial now.

“I know an awesome seafood restaurant.”

They got in his car and he drove them just a few miles down the road. When he pulled up out front, the valet opened her door.

“Trevor,” the young guy said. “Nice to see you again.”

“Hey, Chad.” Trevor gave him the keys and led Haven inside, where, once again, everyone seemed to know him well. They were seated right away at a table near the back of the restaurant. Very dark, very private.

“Thanks, Shelly,” Trevor said.

“No problem.” She laid their menus down. “Lauren just came on duty and she’ll be with you shortly.”

“Do you know everyone who works here?” she asked him.

He turned to her and shot her a grin. “Pretty much. I come here a lot. I told you, they have great seafood. Oh, and amazing pasta, too.”

A petite young woman with short blond hair made her way over to their table. “Hi, Trevor. Great to see you.” She turned to Haven. “Hi, I’m Lauren, and I’ll be your server tonight.”

“Hi, Lauren. I’m Haven.”

“Nice to meet you. What can I get you all to drink?”

“I’ll have iced tea,” Trevor said.

“Same for me.”

“Great. I’ll bring those right out.”

She also told them the specials of the evening before she hurried away to get them their drinks.

Haven opened the menu, but Trevor put his to the side.

“I suppose you have the menu memorized.”

He laughed. “Pretty much.”

She scanned the menu. There were several items that piqued her interested. “Any recommendations?”

“The salmon is good. So is the lobster risotto. And you can never mess up by going with the scallops.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

When Lauren came back with their tea, Haven ordered the salmon, and Trevor ordered scallops.

“We need oysters, too,” Trevor said.

“Of course you do. I’ve already ordered them,” Lauren said with a grin.

“Thanks.”

“They do know you well here, don’t they?” Haven asked after Lauren left.