Out of Her League (18 page)

Why should that bother him? Because he needed to be needed? Karen had never needed him, or wanted him—not after that first year. Her rejection
had hurt. More than he had ever admitted to himself or anyone else.

Evie was the same way. She needed no one, least of all Joe Scalotta. She
’
d shown him that when she
’
d coolly stopped their embrace mid-kiss.

Joe had been lost in the wonder and heat of her. She
’
d tasted so sweet, felt so soft, smelled so good. When she
’
d yanked herself away, his hands had itched to yank her right back. When she
’
d run off into the night, leaving him alone beneath the moon, his gut had clenched so hard that he ached. Was it from denied passion or the eternal loneliness that threatened him every night after Toni fell asleep?

The sight of the Vaughn station wagon still parked in the driveway made the memories of a magical kiss leave Joe
’
s body like air freed from a balloon. He was even less happy when a glance at the front windows revealed a darkened living room. At least the silver shadows of the television screen chased across the ceiling. If they hadn
’
t, he would have run inside—rather than walking very fast.

Joe slammed the door, hoping that if there was any necking going on it would stop before he walked in. He didn
’
t know what he
’
d do if he caught Adam with his hands and mouth where they did not belong. Especially since Joe
’
s hands and mouth had just been where they didn
’
t belong on Adam
’
s mother.

Joe winced. That sounded bad, even to him. But what had happened between Evie and him had not been bad—it had been one of the best things to hap-pen to him in years. He could still feel the remnants of sexual arousal deep within.

Why her? Why now?

Stepping into the doorway of the living room, Joe pushed aside philosophical questions to deal with the problem at hand. He scanned the occupants. They sat on the same couch, but not on the same side. They did not look guilty. But that didn
’
t mean they weren
’
t.

“
Hello, Mr. Scalotta.
”
Adam stood.

Joe nodded, proud when he kept the growl in his throat from coming out of his mouth.

“
Hey, Joe.
”
Toni wore shorts that covered less of her than her nig
htgown had, and a tank top with
out a bra. The growl broke free, but before he could follow up with words, Toni spoke, and Joe
’
s train of thought disappeared.

“
You and Coach Vaughn are getting to be the main source of entertainment in this town.
”

“
You heard? How?
”
The grapevine in Oak Grove worked faster than CNN.

“
News.
”
She pointed at the television.
“
You just missed it.
”

“
News?
”
He eyed his watch, which read 9:10. He
’
d been on that playground longer than he
’
d thought, but not long enough for the evening news to come on. On the East Coast they had news at eleven, so here it should be at ten. Shouldn
’
t it?
“
They interrupted for a bulletin?
”

“
You weren
’
t that important, though you were
the lead story. The news is at nine here. Farmers don
’
t stay up until ten.
”

“
Don
’
t they have any murders or robberies or kidnappings to report?
”

Adam laughed, then swallowed the sound when Joe
’
s gaze swung toward him.
“
Nothing like that in Oak Grove. The
last thing missing was Cory Rad
way
’
s mountain bike.
”

“
Jeez, Joe, what were you thinking to make a bet like that with Adam
’
s mom?
”
Toni asked.

Joe shrugged and flicked on the light. The teens blinked in the glare, and Adam inched nearer to Toni. Joe came into the room, debated squeezing between the two, and decided such a move would just be too obvious. So he sat in his recliner, close enough to grab Adam if he needed to.

“
Seemed the thing to do at the time,
”
he said.
“
Don
’
t worry, honey. I doubt my team will get too far ahead.
”

Toni started laughing.
“
She
’
s gonna smear you, Joe. We all are. It
’
ll be embarrassing.
”

Joe was speechless. His daughter was taking the other side. Then he realized—his daughter was the other side. What had he done, and how was he going to get out of this mess?

The phone rang, blaring in the momentary silence. All three of them jumped.

Toni answered, then held the phone out to Joe.
“
It
’
s for you. Steve Jameson.
”
She smirked.
“
He saw the news.
”

Joe sighed and reached for the phone, then tried
to pay attention to what his boss, the athletic director of Oak Grove Community College, was telling him, as his daughter and
that boy
went outside to say good-night on the porch.

“
Joe, what
’
s t
his I hear about you getting in
volved in a little excitement tonight?
”

“
Uh, I don
’
t know.
”
Joe got up and moved to the front window.
“
What did you hear?
”

Through amazing feats of contortion that stretched his back muscles in ways they hadn
’
t been stretched for years, Joe discovered he could see the front porch quite well. And he didn
’
t even have to twitch the curtains as his mom always had. A perfect little opening existed.

“
Joe?
”

He put his ear back to the phone and ended up tapping the glass with the earpiece. The sound seemed to echo throughout the house, and no doubt throughout the neighborhood. Wincing, Joe pulled back from his 007 position.

“
Yeah,
”
he said.
“
I
’
m here. What was that?
”

“
I said, it
’
s a pretty smart move on your part to get in with the local media. And this bet with the teacher is pure brilliance. It
’
s a human interest angle everyone will eat up like candy. Even though I had to fight to hire you, the way things are going, I
’
ll be proved the smarter guy in the end.
”

Joe had been trying to peer through the curtains again, but as Steve
’s words registered, he straight
ened and devoted his attention to the conversation.
“
What do you mean you had to fight to hire me?
”

Steve cleared his throat, uncomfortable.
“
Well, I guess it isn
’
t a secret that most folks here wanted a teacher for this job and not a professional athlete.
”

“
It was a secret to me. I do have a degree, you
’
ll recall.
”

“
Now, Joe—
”

The voice was condescending, and Joe
’
s teeth clenched.

“
—everyone knows how athletes get degrees.
”

Joe counted to ten. Just because he was big, and he
’
d played football, everyone assumed he was dumber than the ne
arest rock. He had finished col
lege, and he
’
d
earned
his degree.

“
I am qualified to
coach. I have a degree in phys
ical education, and I trained for just this job.
”

“
You did?
”

Joe
’
s lips tightened. The guy hadn
’
t even read his resume? He had done
pretty well in college, consid
ering he
’
d been on the road half the time, traveling to and from games, and practicing another quarter of the time. People always assumed college athletes were morons, but the truth was that a lot of them just couldn
’
t manage the schedule.

“
Never mind, Joe. I was right. You
’
re a media dream boy. You
’
ll bring the fans out in droves. If you can do it for a T-ball game, you can do it for football. That
’
s what we need. People. Ticket sales. Money for the program.
”

“
You hired me to be your dog-and-pony show?
”
Joe had spent most of his adult life as an exhibit of some kind. As much as he loved football, sometimes
he
’
d felt like a circus animal more than a man. It stung to find out that the job he
’
d thought he
’d got
ten on the merits of his talent and education had been given to him
so he could be another main at
traction.

“
Nothing like that!
”
Steve assured him—too fast to be telling the truth.
“
You
’
re the coach. We
’
ve got an up-and-coming team. I hired you because I thought you were the best one for the job.
”

“
I am.
”
Joe hesitated. He could quit right now. He didn
’
t
need
the money. But he
’d signed the con
tract, and he
’
d never reneged on an agreement in his life. How would such behavior look to Toni? As though he were caving in when the going got tough, that was how.

Besides, the way news traveled around here, his contract disagreement with Oak Grove Community College would be on the Channel 8 breakfast edition the next day. He doubted he and his daughter would then be as welcome in town as they had been.

Deep down Joe really, really wanted to use the degree he
’
d worked so hard for all those years ago. To back out would not only look bad, but would probably keep him from getting another job for quite a while. He and Toni would have to move. He didn
’
t want to do that to her. She seemed to like it here.

That thought made Joe lean forward and twist again—just in time to see Adam jog down the walk toward his car. Well, the kid couldn
’
t very well have ravaged her on the doorstep in that short space, but
Joe was still annoyed he
’
d allowed himself to be distracted from his parental responsibilities.

Steve continued to talk, fast and furiously.
“
Truly, Joe, we want you here. You
’
ll be great. The fact that you have a degree is only icing on the cake. I apologize. I should have told you that you
’
re our last chance to save the football program at OGCC, but I was afraid you
’
d back out if you knew how important it was.
”

“
Why would I have backed out?
”

“
Uh, well...
”
Steve stopped talking, and the line buzzed with an uncomfortable silence.

“
Just say it, Steve. I
’
m a big guy.
”

“
Your rep, Joe. A
ll that Wildman stuff in the pa
pers. Your divorce. Your daughter raised by nannies. People frown on that around here.
”