finally admitted begrudgingly, his voice hoarse and more than a little tired.
Tears stung the back of her eyes and a sudden lump in her throat made it hard to swallow. “Why?” she whispered raggedly. “Why then didn’t you want to have sex with me?” Her hands waffled helplessly. “Why didn’t you want
He scrubbed both hands over his face, suddenly looking exhausted, and turned to her, his eyes bleak. “Because I choked, Leslie. I fucking choked, okay?”
“No.”
Peter frowned hotly. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”
Leslie crossed her arms again, scowled right back. “I mean that I don’t accept your explanation. Not anymore.”
He cocked his head to the side. “And why exactly is that?”
The anger she’d held at bay for three years over his rejection came flooding out. “Because it’s all horseshit, Peter!” Her heart began pounding furiously. “You saying that you choked is a complete cop-out.”
His black brows slashed dangerously low over his eyes. “It’s not a cop-out.”
She uncrossed her arms and planted her hands on her hips, her gaze locked on him. “Oh,
He gave her a level look. “The truth.”
God he was frustrating! “Stop doing that.”
“Doing what?”
He knew damn good and well what. “Stop evading! I deserve your honesty, Peter. Yeah, okay, you choked. Whatever.” She waved a hand before pointing her index finger at her chest. “
Abruptly he stood up and paced across the room. Once he reached the door to his bathroom he spun on her, his eyes filled with anguish, and shouted, “Because you acted like I meant something!”
Leslie reeled back. “Excuse me?”
Peter raked his hands through his hair. “You told me I was amazing.”
“Yeah, so?” She’d said the same thing to him at the bar an hour ago.
“Is that why you left me at the club tonight?” She was trying hard to understand. What was wrong with someone thinking he was wonderful?
“Yeah.”
She huffed, confused. “But why?”
Something indefinable flashed in his eyes, but it looked a whole lot like pain and it made her heart squeeze. “Because I’m a lot of things, princess, but amazing isn’t one of them. It would be in your best interest to accept that.”
DAYS PASSED BY in a blur while Leslie prepared for the Halloween party, dealt with the police about Seth, and generally did her best to avoid Peter. Her apartment still wasn’t ready, so she was spending a lot of quality time in her office making nice with her purple couch. It was better than being at Peter’s place.
Now, stepping out into Peter’s garage with her hands full, she thought about how they’d barely spoken since the night she’d made him come clean about Miami. Neither of them was in any particular hurry to broach the topic again, and she wasn’t willing to risk something physical happening, so they steered clear of each other. It helped a lot that Peter was away with the team while they won the League Championships and moved on to the World Series.
Everyone was super stoked. And she could feel the excitement, shared it even. It would be absolutely wonderful if the Rush took the Fall Classic. They were doing great so it was a real possibility.
Peter’s arm was recovering well and with a little luck he might even be able to play in the World Series before it was over after all. Which she thought was great and wanted to tell him, but after the way they’d parted company, she wasn’t really sure what to say.
Everything she’d thought about that night in Miami was bogus. Peter hadn’t lost interest. Knowing that had all kinds of complicated emotions coursing through her.
It changed everything.
For the past three years she’d felt so much self-doubt around the pitcher. Her confidence had suffered, her belief in her sexual appeal had been bruised and battered. That night had so much more of an impact on how she felt about herself than she wanted to admit.
And now that she knew the truth, she felt free.
Irritated that one man’s confession meant so damn much, but still free. Lighter, like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Sure there was that whole having-to-deal-with-him-now thing, but she’d get around to it when she was good and ready.
Right now her favorite holiday was just around the corner, and that meant she was only days away from reclaiming her life. There was no way she was going to cave and sleep with Peter with the end of the bet so close. No way, no how. She already had a spreadsheet on her computer full of contacts and ideas on how to promote the crap out of the Rush’s all-star pitcher playing at Hotbox. She could see exactly how to promote it, the angle to use and the people to utilize.
It was going to be spectacular.
If she’d had the idea of jumping him like a trampoline the day after the bet ended, well that was her secret. So was the fact that thoughts of
Her phone rang and she snatched it up, answering as she climbed into her Mini. She set the gift bag she was carrying on the passenger seat and said into the speaker, “Leslie Cutter.”
“Hey, sis. Lorelei wanted me to call and double-check that you had the correct directions to our place. She wasn’t sure, but she thought that she might have written it down wrong for you.” Her brother sounded happy and that made her heart smile. He and Lorelei were having a housewarming party to celebrate their new home.
“I think I remember how to get there on my own, actually. Lorelei took me there a few weeks ago right after y’all had closed on it, remember? But here, hold on a minute and I’ll read them off to you.” Leslie rifled through her oversized hobo purse and found the scrap of paper the directions were scribbled on.
She relayed the directions quickly and Mark replied, “You got it!”
One time back in high school, she and Mark had wound up lost and out of gas in Florida’s backwoods in their dad’s old Buick. All because Mark had insisted that he knew the way to Tammy Lynette’s pig farm where there was a kegger waiting and had refused to stop and ask for directions when all the gravel roads had started to look the same.
They slept in the Buick that night and woke the next morning to the greeting of a six-foot snake on the hood of their car and had two very irate parents when they got home.
Leslie shook her head, amused now at the memory. “I’m just leaving Peter’s place, so I should be there in forty-five minutes or so.”
Mark grunted. It was his non-verbal form of
She started the car and pulled on her seatbelt. “Yeah.”
About to hang up, she stopped when Mark asked, “So how is Peter treating you since you’ve been staying at his place?”
Mark’s voice took on a tone that meant he didn’t believe her. “What’s going on? Is he giving you a hard time?”
