“It’s my last chance, and I appreciate your help.” Mac played it cool, just like he did, even though her heart cracked open a little.
“Did you and your dad find out anything on your weekend away?”
Smart man for the swift change of subject. “No. A dead end, a rumor, nothing substantial. Pretty much a waste of time.”
“Have you ever considered telling him that you can’t keep living your life like this?”
Had she ever? Hell yes, but Bruiser pointing out the obvious irritated her because the statement struck too close to home. She didn’t like being reminded of how much time she’d spent searching for her brother, how much of her life she’d given up, and how it netted them nothing but pain. “I can’t desert my dad. He needs me.”
“I’m not telling you to do that. Just start living your life for you, not for someone else.”
“Who says I’m not living my life exactly how I want to?” Defensiveness snuck into Mac’s tone. The nerve of the man telling her how to live. He should talk.
“Are you? I don’t think so. For example, this new look of yours isn’t really you.”
“How do you know it isn’t me? Maybe it is, and I just figured that out.” Now he’d really pissed her off. She liked looking more like a woman than a tomboy. Did he really think so little of her that he couldn’t fathom she had a woman’s wants and needs?
“Believe me, I know. I’ve spent the better part of my life being someone I’m not.” He spoke softly, almost like he didn’t want her to hear. He twined his fingers with hers, staring at her hand as if it held the answers to life’s questions.
Mac stared at him until he looked up and their gazes held. “You? You seem to be exactly who you want to be—the league pretty boy who exploits his good looks for money any way he can.”
Disappointment crossed his strong features, “Things are not always as they seem. What do you think I do with all that money?”
“Spend it on designer clothes and exotic vacations,” Mac quipped, in a lame attempt to be funny.
“Yeah, that’s me. Superficial right down to my bone marrow.” Bruiser pressed his lips together in a flat line. “Maybe I should go.” He stood, his body tense and rigid.
Mac’s pride didn’t allow her to beg him to stay. “Maybe you should. I have to get up early.”
Bruiser’s scowl said he knew why she was getting up early. Tomorrow was Saturday. Another pointless chasing of tips or hashing over the same clues.
A few minutes later the door shut behind him, and she heard his car drive off, once more leaving her alone with her doubts.
Chapter 14—Out of the Huddle
Saturday night, Bruiser straightened his bow tie, smoothed out his tux jacket, and eyed himself with a critical eye in the hallway mirror. He’d avoided Mac for an entire week and been as cranky as a caged grizzly bear, opening himself up for all sorts of ribbing from his teammates in the workout room, which pissed him off all the more. Now he was feeling a rare combination of annoyance and excitement over seeing Mac again.
His cell rang, and he picked it up, half expecting Mac to back out on their date, and hell, it’d been her idea. His idea would’ve involved never stepping outside her house. He held the phone up to his ear without looking at the number. “Yeah?”
“It’s Elliot.” The kid sounded tentative, almost scared.
“Hey, bud, how’s it going?” Bruiser softened his voice, his irritation melting away.
“I know it’s late.”
“Nah, it’s actually pretty early, but you can call anytime. How are things at your foster parents’?” Elliot had been released from the hospital recently and put in a foster home until his aunt and uncle came back from their mission in South America.
“It’s okay, but that’s not why I called.” The foster parents meant well, but they were too busy, had too many kids and too little time, leaving Elliot lonely and scared.
“Okay, then what’s up?”
“I need to do this. I need to go.” Elliot’s voice wobbled as if he might cry.
“Go where?” Bruiser felt as if he’d walked into the middle of a conversation he knew nothing about.
“Tonight. To that fancy ball.”
Bruiser’s mind raced to catch up to this conversation. He’d only mentioned the ball in passing, but Elliot knew some of the burn victims would be attending with parents and staff. “Are you sure you’re ready?”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be ready unless I just do it.”
“True.” He’d preached that very same mantra to countless kids over the years.
“Could I go with you?”
“Your foster mom isn’t going?” Bruiser scratched his head, not sure what the hell was really going on here.
“She’s busy. If I think about it much longer, I’ll chicken out.” Elliot’s earnest voice struck Bruiser right in the gut. Mac wouldn’t mind, and Elliot needed him. He’d let down too many people in his life. He couldn’t let down this kid when he needed him most.
“Sure, I’ll pick you up. I have to pick up my date first then I’ll swing by.”
“Oh, you have a date? I’m not causing any issues, am I?”
Bruiser smiled. What kid his age talked like that? “Not unless you hustle my girl.” Bruiser choked on the words that slipped out of his mouth. My girl? Girlfriend? He’d been hit too many times in the head over the years. He didn’t keep a woman around long enough to call her a girlfriend. And he definitely didn’t keep them around long enough to be considering the most painful four-letter word in the English language.
“Hey, if she falls for me over you, what can I say? It’s the old Elliot charm.”
Bruiser had to laugh, thrilled to give Elliot something to be happy about. “I’ll be there in about forty-five minutes.”
“Great, I’ll be waiting.”
Several minutes later, Mac’s front door opened, and a vision of hot, sexy loveliness swam before his eyes. He grabbed the
