End Zone: Texas Titans 2 (4 page)

“I know.” She closed her eyes, praying the
stinging behind her eyelids would subside. She couldn’t let Matt think she was
the kind of woman who slept with men indiscriminately. “It’s not true, you
know. I never—”

“I know.” He brushed his lips against her
cheek. “I know you’re not that girl. That’s why I’m still so crazy about you.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, almost
afraid to breathe.

“You’re the girl no man could ever have,
not really. You kept your distance, never letting anyone get too close. Why is
that?”

When Kristen dropped her gaze to the arm
wrapped around her, she noticed a colorful tattoo peeking out from under his
sleeve. She wondered what else he might be hiding and whether she was brave
enough to find out.

Matt had no right to pry, but he
couldn’t help himself. He’d blown up when Robert accused Kristen of sleeping
around because it was a lie. In high school, the football players had dubbed
her the ice princess because she’d never let anyone go all the way. He sensed a
part of her was still holding back, fearful of getting too close, and he wanted
to know why.

“Why don’t we get out of here?” he asked.
“My driver’s waiting. I can text him and tell him we’re ready. I’ll take you
anywhere you want to go.”

Her eyes were still closed, but her throat
moved as though she was trying to swallow tears instead of shedding them. “I
don’t care,” she said so softly he barely heard her. “I don’t care where we go.
I just want to get out of here, away from him.”

Seeing how deeply affected she was by her
fiancé’s insult made Matt even more curious about their breakup. The guy seemed
like a jerk, but did she still have feelings for him? Matt needed to know now
before he fell harder.

Taking her hand, Matt led her to the foyer.
He gestured to a gilded, cream-colored bench seat in the upscale lobby,
encouraging her to sit while he texted his driver. He was sure Lawrence was
right around the corner, waiting for him. Lawrence prided himself on
exceptional customer service, and when he was hired for the night, he made
himself available all night, until he saw his clients home.

“He’ll be here in five minutes,” Matt said,
reading Lawrence text less than a minute later. “Do you want anything before we
leave?”

“No, I’m okay.” She ran her hands up and
down her bare arms.

Matt sat beside her, settling his arm
around her shoulders. “Do you want my jacket? Are you cold?”

She shook her head, looking no less miserable
than she had when she fled from the table. “No, I’m fine.” She looked at the
black and gold carpet. “I shouldn’t have come here.”

“I’m glad you did,” he whispered, wishing
he could say or do something to take away the sting of that bastard’s insult.
“I was hoping I’d get to see you again… and again and again.” He grinned when a
smile softened her lips as she looked at him. “That’s better. I love your
smile.”

The smile blossomed as she laid her head on
his shoulder. “I have lousy taste in men. I always have the best intentions,
swearing that it’s going to be different. But it never is.”

“Never say never.” He didn’t know a lot
about Kristen’s dating history, but he didn’t have to. He had half a dozen
female friends who’d told him the same story. They were all smart and
beautiful, yet their love lives were a disaster because they always chose a man
who broke their heart.

“I wish I could just let it go.” She sighed
softly. “I have, but a part of me still wants to find my happily ever after,
you know?”

“We all want that.” He’d been blessed with
a good example of a solid marriage, and he wanted to set the same example for
his own kids. He saw how in love his friend Zach was with his new wife and son,
and he wanted the same for himself.

“It gets lonely sometimes,” she said,
barely loud enough for him to hear. “Coming home to an empty apartment every
night.” She sniffled. “I guess it doesn’t help that I hate my apartment.”

“So why don’t you find a new place, one you
like better?”

“My mother tells me if I get too comfortable,
too set in my ways, I’ll give up on the idea of ever finding someone to share
my life.” She slid a wide silver ring off her index finger. “She’s probably
right.”

“I don’t know about that,” Matt said. “I
happen to love my house, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be willing to start a
new life somewhere else if I found the love of my life and she had other ideas
about where we should live.”

Before Kristen could respond, they heard a
car pull up outside. “Sounds like your driver’s here,” she said, standing.

He rested his hands on her shoulders. He
still saw the sadness in her eyes, and more than anything, he wanted to banish
it, to make her forget about the man who’d never deserved her love. “Why don’t
we go back to my place for a nightcap?”

She tried to pull away, but he held firm.
“I don’t think so. I have to work tomorrow and—”

“Just one drink.” Spending a little time at
his home would be exactly what she needed to take her mind off her problems for
a while. “Come on, it’s still early, and you haven’t even given me a chance to
talk you into planning our anniversary party yet.”

Her mouth twitched, but she tried to remain
serious. “I thought I told you I couldn’t fit that into my schedule.”

“I know what you said.” He put his arm
around her as he led her out to the waiting limo. “But I should have warned
you, I can be persuasive when I want something.” He looked down at her face.
She was even more stunning than the image that had remained alive in his memory
for so many years.

“Is that so?”

“Give me a chance to prove it?”

She looked torn between following her head
and her heart. Matt could only hope her heart would lead her in the same
direction as his. “Okay, but I can’t make any promises.”

“I won’t ask for any.” He kissed the back
of her hand as Lawrence opened the door for them. “Yet.”

***

Kristen gasped as she stepped over the
threshold of Matt’s bungalow. It was perfect. Not because it was big and
opulent, as she’d expected, but because it was the exact opposite. The house
was small and cozy, warm and welcoming, the last place she would expect a guy
like Matt to want to call home.

The exterior was natural stone and
board-and-batten siding. It wasn’t too big or too small. The inside felt like a
sanctuary with caramel-colored walls, dark wood floors and trim, a stone
fireplace, and earth-tone furniture. She saw that most of the windows were
bare. Apparently the mature trees in the backyard provided all the privacy he
wanted or needed.

“I love it,” she whispered. Her eyes
drifted to the dining room, where she spotted a large table and six chairs she
suspected were antique. That room had rust-colored velvet drapes, simple yet
elegant, with a walnut server highlighting a stunning painting Kristen couldn’t
take her eyes off of. It was a street scene in the autumn. She didn’t recognize
the street, but it could have been the main street in any small town across the
country.

“Do you like it?” he asked, his eyes fixed
on the painting.

“It’s beautiful.” Breathtaking was the word
that came to mind. The painting made her feel something, yearn for something
she’d never had and always wanted.

“My mother painted it.”

“Really?” Kristen moved into the room to
get a closer look. “It’s incredible.”

“I have several of her pieces. I can show
them to you, if you’d like?”

Kristen didn’t just want to see them; she
wanted to own one. She wanted to hang it in a prominent place in her office to
remind herself that places like that really did exist, and if she ever found
her way out from behind her desk, she just might be lucky enough to find such a
haven. As she got closer, she saw antique shops and a store housing seasonal
decorations, handmade clothing, and jewelry. “Does your mother sell her work in
a gallery?”

Matt chuckled. “My father had to buy her a
gallery when they ran out of wall space in their house.”

“Really?” Excitement coursed through her
when she realized she could own such a piece. If she couldn’t afford an
original, perhaps his mother sold prints in her gallery. “Do you have one of
her business cards? I’d love to visit her gallery.”

“I should have.” Matt stepped into the
foyer, reached into an ornate wood desk, and pulled out a glossy postcard.
“Here’s a promo piece for an event she hosted last month. Her website, email,
and address are on there, but if you’d like to see more of her work, it would
be best to visit their house. She keeps all of her favorite pieces there.”

Kristen looked at him, trying to decide if
he was serious. He’d never even invited her on a date, yet he was asking if
she’d like to meet his parents? “Um, I’m sure she has some lovely pieces at her
gallery.” She gestured toward the piece on the wall. “If there are any like
this…” He looked at her so intently, she couldn’t find words. “Why are you
looking at me like that?”

“I knew you’d react this way. Don’t ask me
how, but I just knew you’d feel it too.”

“Feel what?” she asked, experiencing a
breathlessness she couldn’t quite explain.

“The way I do.” He stepped closer, setting
the card on the table as he reached for her hand. “When I walked into this house
the first time, it felt like the place I’d always belonged. I didn’t look at
any other houses. I didn’t have to. I knew this would be my sanctuary.”

Sanctuary.
That was a perfect word to describe his house. It didn’t feel as though it
belonged in a bustling city. It felt as though it belonged in the country, by
the sea, or with a panoramic view of the mountains.

“You feel it too, don’t you?” He searched
her face as though he was as in awe of her as she was of his home. “The history
here? The good memories, the love, the laughter, the warmth…” He smiled. “There
was a leather-bound book on the dining table when I came to look at the house.
It outlined the history, with pictures of all the families who’d lived here
since it was built in the late 1800s.”

Kristen wanted to ask what happened to the
book and if she could see it. But before she could, he brushed her hair off her
shoulder and moved in closer.

“I’ve learned to act on instinct. I felt it
in my bones that this house was supposed to be mine. This was the place I was
supposed to bring my future wife, the place we were supposed to make our
babies…”

Kristen was stunned by his candor. She’d
never known a man to be so honest and vulnerable about what he felt. “Did you
and your wife live here?” If they had, the haven would be tainted for her
somehow.

“No. I bought it after the divorce. It was
time for me to start over, to start a new chapter in my life.”

“I can understand that.”

He reached for her wrists and kissed her
pulse point before wrapping her arms around his neck. “Do you ever feel like
it’s time to start a new chapter? To leave the past behind, forget about all
the people who’ve hurt you, the disappointment and anger, and just take another
chance on life?”

It sounded as though he was making an offer
she couldn’t refuse, but Kristen had to tread carefully. She still had scars on
her heart to remind her of what happened when she fell in love.

“It feels good to let go, doesn’t it?” He
brushed his lips against the hair covering her cheek. “To forget everything and
everyone and just live for the moment?”

“I wouldn’t know.” Kristen had never been
reckless. She’d witnessed first-hand what happened when someone chose to live
fast and loose with their life. Closing her eyes and leaning her head on Matt’s
shoulder, she thought about her baby brother, Lionel.

“Maybe you just need someone to teach you
how.” He brushed her hair aside and tipped her head back. “Hey, why do you look
so sad?”

“Just thinking about something I’d rather
forget.” But she would never forget. Lionel had loved motocross racing. No
matter how often they warned him it could be dangerous, he lived for the next
race. Until the one that took his life.

“You wanna talk about it?”

Kristen shook her head. He was only trying
to help, but she couldn’t. “Maybe some other time.”

“I like the sound of that,” he said,
caressing her face. “That means there will be another time.”

How could he doubt she’d want to see him
again? As dangerous as it was to risk putting her heart on the line again, she
would make herself crazy thinking about him if she refused to see him again. “I
hope so.” He looked at her a long time, and she almost saw his internal
struggle. He wanted to say something, but he didn’t know if he should. “What?
What are you thinking?”

He smiled. “I’m thinking I could use a
glass of wine. How about you?”

Matt let his hands fall, and she missed his
skin on hers. “Sure.” She didn’t want to push too hard. Kristen had dated
enough men who wanted more than she could give, and she’d vowed she would never
be the one asking her partner to be all that she needed him to be. She wasn’t
that woman, the needy one. That had been her mother’s M.O., and it would never
be hers.

Matt led her deeper into the house and
pointed to a deep cocoa-colored sofa in front of the fireplace. “Why don’t you
have a seat while I get us that drink?”

The gourmet kitchen was combined with the
spacious great room, giving her the opportunity to watch him prepare their
drinks. “I normally call it a night after one drink.”

“I can have Lawrence drive you home.”

She’d left her car in the hotel parking
lot, knowing she could always take a taxi to pick it up. “It’s nice of you to
offer, but I can take a cab home.”