of him, that he could be revered for all time as the best player ever, but he didn’t want to do it.”
She snorted again and cut a big bite out of her omelet. “Not a chance. Joey loves football. If he were that good, he’d be picking his pro team and what multimillion-dollar car he wanted to buy.”
“But what if he didn’t understand?” Nathan pressed. “What if he didn’t know what being a great football player meant, and he didn’t even want to explore it? Maybe he was happy doing whatever he’d been doing before he started to play.”
“You mean like being a handyman? He used to love tooling around with Dad doing household repairs and stuff. Male bonding and all that, but boy, did he love it.”
Nathan smiled. “Exactly!”
She shrugged. “Where are you going with this?”
“Wouldn’t you encourage him to explore football? To see what the possibility was before he decided?”
“Of course, I would.” Her eyes softened as she gazed at the photo of her brother. “It’s not that I like watching my brother get flattened by a dozen other guys, but he should know his options before he decides on his future. That’s why I want him to go to college….” She frowned as she turned back to Nathan. “Where are you going with this?”
He bit his lip, forcing himself to explain though everything inside him urged to keep silent. He was happy teaching her about her energies. But that would be like keeping her in high school when she could be so much, much more.
“You have that capability, Tracy, as a tigress. You could be revered by millions, heaven at your feet. You can—”
“In a cult that no one’s ever heard of? Yippee.”
He abruptly leaned forward, gripping her hand. Didn’t she understand? “You have to go to the temple, Tracy,” he said. “You have to know what you’re giving up.”
She set down her fork, her expression tightening as she spoke. “Is that why you keep pressuring me to go to Hong Kong? To meet with this guy Stephen?” She shook her head. “No way.”
His hand tightened painfully then abruptly released. “I want nothing of the kind, Tracy. But that’s not my place, is it?”
She frowned. “Of course, it is. I mean, if you want to, you know, date me.”
His gaze snapped to hers. Didn’t she understand how hard this was for him? “So as your boyfriend, I can tell you what to do and where to go? I can keep you from your potential, all because I want you to myself?”
She caught his gaze and held it, her expression intense. “Is that what you want?”
He abruptly possessed her mouth. He took her as if he were staking a claim. He pushed himself into her; he arched her back and would have had her on the table in a moment, if he had his way. She had to understand that. So he kissed her without compromise, without give and take, only possession. And then he let her go.
“Is that what you want? I will own you if you like.” Then he looked at her. “But first tell me that you do not long for heaven. That you do not wish to return there again.”
“You took me there before—”
Nathan shook his head, forced to admit the truth. “Luck. A fluke. But to learn to go there on purpose, you must go to the temple. And Stephen. I can’t lead where I’ve never been.”
She stared at him, and he saw the yearning in her eyes. He didn’t want to see it, but her longing was undeniable and she knew it. “This is ridiculous!” she snapped. “I’m not NFL material.”
He towered over her. “Fine. Deny your potential. Deny what you have experienced and known from the very beginning. But at least admit the truth—you want to return to heaven.”
“Yes!” She snapped the word, but then abruptly deflated and her gaze canted away. “Of course, I want to go back there.”
He let her words hang in silence. He let her absorb the truth of her desire. And then he delivered the final blow and the real reason he had shown up here this morning. “I leave tomorrow for Hong Kong.”
Her eyes leaped back to him. “You’re leaving? Now?”
He stepped away from her. If he stood much longer beside her, he would give in and make love to her, but that would ruin everything for her. “You may come with me, if you want. You can visit the temple, talk with my mother, learn what is possible for you.” He had no doubt that she would choose to remain in Hong Kong. The tigress in her was too strong to be denied.
“You’re going to Hong Kong. Tomorrow. And you want me to go with you.” Her voice was flat with shock.
“The situation at home has grown very bad very quickly. My mother is spending recklessly. If she is not stopped now, there will be nothing left for anybody.”
She frowned. “But I thought you didn’t have anything.”
He shook his head. “We have only one thing—the temple. For a hundred years, it is all that we have ever owned.” He lifted his gaze to meet her. “I intend to sell it.”
“Sell the temple?” She gasped. “But…how? What?”
He shrugged, feeling the weight of his decision. “I can’t let my mother continue as she is. She will beggar us in a year. Then we will lose the land anyway.”
“So you’re going to sell?”
“The temple will remain the same. That is a condition of the sale. Then all the money will be held in trust for my mother, aunt and siblings.”
Tracy nodded, her agile mind already understanding more of the financial details than his family ever would. “Is your mother okay with this?”
He tightened his jaw. “She has no choice. She gave me power of attorney long ago.” He lifted his chin, embarrassment and pride at war inside him. “Even as a child, I feared this day would come.”
“Nathan, I’m so sorry.” She reached out to touch his hand. Without thinking, he flipped his hand over so he could grip her palm to palm.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “The temple will survive. My family will have enough to do what they want, and…” He forced his next words out. “I am available as your guide to introduce you to Hong Kong. I can ease your way into the temple.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I can’t possibly afford a trip to Hong Kong. And neither can you. So where—”
“Stephen has loaned me the money. And he has paid for your ticket—round trip, first class, open-ended return.”
She laughed—a short burst of air that filled the room. “Are you nuts? You think I can go to Hong Kong tomorrow morning?”
He nodded. “I don’t think you can resist it.”
Tracy studied him, her gaze silent and hard. And the longer she remained quiet, the more his hopes rose. Maybe she did have the strength to resist the siren call of priesthood. Spirit would not influence her, and her scruples would not allow her to accept a free ticket from a man she didn’t know. Maybe…
“All right,” she said.
His hopes plummeted, but still a tiny sliver of his heart held on. “All right what? You will refuse to go?”
She pushed up from her chair so that she faced him eye to eye. “All right, Nathan, I’ll go to Hong Kong with you. My brother can cover for me here. I’ll meet this Stephen. I’ll see what my big possibilities are for divinity or priestesshood or whatever. But you know what I’ll really be doing when I’m there looking at your secret tigress rites?”
Nathan didn’t answer. He already knew she would be walking the path of the divine tigresses. He knew that within a week, he would be nothing more than a fond memory, stepping stone along her road.
“I’m going to find out what happened to you, Nathan. I’m going to find out how you can claim to love me, kiss me with such passion, even send me to heaven, and yet still want to throw me to another man. I’m going to learn about the secret life and times of Nathan Gao.”
He stared at her, shocked to see that she really did mean exactly what she said. “But I have no secrets. There is nothing for you to find except your own potential.”
“Yeah,” she drawled. “And I’m Joe Namath reborn.”
