Playing for Keeps (Texas Scoundrels) (10 page)

Quick. Easy. No hassles.
 

Just the way he liked it.

He reached for his cell phone and hesitated. He was already paying for a kid, and she wasn’t even his. He’d seen her when she was born, then again on her first birthday. He figured the little girl was around five or six years old by now. His lawyer made certain she was provided for, but that was all. Any other involvement was too painful a reminder of his responsibility for Linc’s death.
 

No one except Steve understood why he hadn’t fought the paternity suit and offered to settle before the case went to family court. Unfortunately, the pre-trial settlement hadn’t satisfied the press. They’d crucified him, claiming his easy capitulation was merely a sign of liability. He
was
guilty, but not the kind of guilt the press had implied.
 

He turned on his cell. No sense putting off the inevitable. He didn’t need an affiliation proceeding or even a DNA test to prove Austin was his son. All he had to do was look at the kid and see the truth for himself. He and Dani had created a child together. And as far as he was concerned, that was enough for him.

On the second ring, he swore, then disconnected the call. Did he really want to reduce the child they’d brought into the world to a monthly check and a college fund? It didn’t matter that he wasn’t father material. It didn’t matter that the kid deserved better than what he had to offer. There was no question in his mind how he’d felt about Dani. Did he really want to blow off her son?
Their
son?

He’d promised the kid he’d show up at his basketball game tonight. If he kept his promise, what kind of message was he sending? That he was willing to be his father?
 

Making decisions wasn’t something he usually had to worry about. He paid others to do that for him. There were lawyers to handle legal issues, an agent to handle product endorsements and contract negotiations, and a publicist to run damage control with the media. Decisions left to him usually were made within a split second on the football field.

He stood and yanked an Ole Miss t-shirt over his head. His shoulder caught, sending sharp, searing pain through his body. He swore again, vividly, then waited for the pain to ease to a dull ache. The truth of the matter was simple—he didn’t have a clue how to handle this.
 

What if news that he had another illegitimate child was leaked to the press? The media would eat Austin and Griffen alive, and he didn’t want that to happen, either. They didn’t deserve the kind of attention his name and nefarious, if inaccurate, reputation would bring them.

He should just slip out of town as easily as he’d arrived. Last night he’d considered doing it, too—for all of the time it took him to wipe out a six pack. Dani would have expected more from him, but he wasn’t that guy any longer. He hardly resembled the same guy she’d claimed to love. The years had changed him. Hardened him.
 

He shoved his feet into his scuffed boots. What would cause the boy more pain? If he left without a word, Austin would be disappointed. But what if he stuck around for a while? What if he really wanted to become a part of the boy’s life?
 

Jed slipped his jacket off the hanger and carefully shrugged into it. He knew what would happen. His son would discover his father wasn’t the hero he believed him to be.
 

*

“We still haven’t heard from you, Griffen,” Nell Whitmore said, lifting the box with the Holly Hobby tea pot she’d just purchased. “Are you going to enter the quilting competition again this year?”

“I really haven’t had the time.” Because she was too busy treading water so she and Austin wouldn’t drown in the flood of debt. She didn’t say that to Nell, or Nosey Nell, as she was called her behind her broad back. “I’m going to have to pass this year.” She tallied a silver comb and brush set Ina Dickerson had purchased for her daughter-in-law and gave her the total.

“That’s a shame.” Ina pulled out her checkbook. “Didn’t you take third place last year?”

“Second.” Griffen placed the check in the till. “Maybe next year,” she added with a smile.

Ina and Nell continued gossiping, while Griffen excused herself to see if she could assist Hanna Richards in making a decision about the pottery bowl she’d been fingering for the past ten minutes.
 

As she explained the origins of the pottery to Hanna, the bells over the door jangled. Griffen glanced over her shoulder and her greeting smile wavered.
 

Jed.
 

She didn’t say anything, because her brain ceased to function. Instead, she stood next to the turn of the century dining room furniture, holding the pottery bowl, staring at him. He wore the same scuffed boots and a pair of jeans that fit him to perfection. A black Ole Miss t-shirt clung to his wide chest, the sleeves emphasizing tanned, corded biceps. He carried his leather jacket carelessly over one shoulder. Jed’s professional career may be over the hill, but the man definitely had a lot going for him—too much.

Awareness rippled through her when he smiled at her. Her physical reaction to him caught her off guard. This was not good.

“Hi,” he said, his deep voice warm and intimate. His gaze slid over her from head to toe, as if they’d shared some secret liaison.
 

Her cheeks heated. “I’ll be with you in a minute.” Dear God, she hoped he didn’t notice her blushing. But a guy like him was probably used to such silliness. Problem was, she wasn’t.

She handed the bowl back to Hanna and concentrated on making the sale. She didn’t have to look to know Jed had moved deeper into the shop. She heard his polite greeting to Nell and Ina at the counter, quickly followed by the elder ladies’ whispers. Great. Couldn't he have waited another twenty minutes before arriving?
 

He’d surprised her when he’d called earlier to tell her he’d pick her up for the game. At the time, she knew she was making a mistake by agreeing, but instead managed to convince herself she was making the best of a bad situation for Austin’s sake. That knowledge did nothing to alleviate the added anxiety once the potential gossip started running rampant. She’d been divorced little more than twenty-four hours. How unseemly for her to appear in public with a man, let alone one oozing sex appeal from his pores like Jed. She could just imagine how quickly the tongues would wag once the town took a good look at Jed with Austin.
 

Everyone in Hart knew she and Ross had adopted her sister’s child. Hushed whispers, and some not so hushed, had circulated regarding the paternity of Dani Hart’s illegitimate son. In less than an hour, anyone with two good eyes in their head would know what she’d learned only a week ago.
 

Hanna Richards ran her hand over the rim of the pottery bowl. “If you’ll discount this by another ten percent, I’ll take it.”
 

“Wonderful.” Griffen forced a smile and picked up a matching set of pottery candlesticks. “I’ll let you have these at the same discount.”

Hanna bit her lip. “I really shouldn’t.”
 

“You know you’ll never find another pair that matches so perfectly.”

“Okay.” Hanna nodded. “You talked me into it.”

Pleased, Griffen led Hanna to the register and wrapped up her purchases. Nosey Nell and Ina still chatted about the planning committee for the annual Fourth of July carnival, all the while sending curious looks Jed’s way. To his credit, he paid them no attention, looking as if he was considering the purchase of the curio cabinet in the corner.
 

When Hanna said her good-byes and left the shop, the pottery set under her arm, Griffen rubbed her moist palms down her black trousers then turned to Nell and Ina. “Is there something else I can show you ladies?” she asked, hoping they’d take the hint and leave.
 

“Oh, no, dear, you go right ahead,” Nell said, her eagle eyes filled with curiosity. “We’re just catching up on our gossip.”

Griffen smiled and nodded, then headed across the showroom to Jed. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t ignore him. That would only fuel Nell’s interest. “See anything you like?” she asked, coming up beside him. He smelled of spice again, and man.
 

She drew in another deep breath. Playing with fire wasn’t her style, but damn, he smelled nice.

He turned his attention to her, that killer grin tilting the corners of his mouth making him look even more devastating and hot. “Maybe.”

She frowned at him. “Don’t flirt with me, Jed,” she warned, telling herself she was merely concerned with the gossip, not because of her sudden, stupid reaction to him. Forget the fact that she wasn’t even in the market for a man, he just wasn’t her type. If and when she found herself attracted to another man, it would be with someone who shared her values. Someone who put his family’s needs before his own selfish desires. If there ever was another man in her life, she’d make damn sure he was the kind who wouldn’t run at the first sign of trouble. Someone who would be around for the long haul, someone nothing like her ex-husband.
 

Or Jed.
 

“You think about entering the quilting competition, now,” Ina called on her way out of the shop.
 

Griffen turned to see Ina dragging Nell with her. She nearly groaned when Nell craned her neck for another look at Jed.

“Who was that?” he asked with an inclination of his head toward the front door.

Griffen stepped away from him. She needed to close out the till. “Nell Whitmore, town gossip.” She punched a series of buttons on the register, then began to slip the cash and checks from their compartments while the till tallied her sales for the day. “Trust me, nothing ever gets past that woman.”

“We had one like her in my hometown,” he said, crossing the room to the counter. He leaned his elbow on the glass, bringing him down to eye level. His eyes shone with an intelligence she couldn’t help admiring.
 

She slipped a rubber band around the cash and checks, then slid them inside the cash bag. “Doesn’t every small town have at least one?” The register tape stopped running, so she tore it off and started folding, scanning the totals as she went. Not bad, but not good enough.

“The old biddy got me into more trouble,” he recalled with a deep chuckle.

She looked up and found him smiling again and returned his grin. “Somehow I doubt it was her fault you got into trouble.” After she slipped the register tape in the bag, she headed toward the back room.
 

Jed followed her. “No,” he said, a trace of humor still lacing his voice. “But it was her fault I got caught.”

She hadn’t really thought of him as a child. All she knew was the man who’d come into her life because she’d been foolish enough to invite him. Imagining him as a boy wasn’t all that difficult. She had her own replica of him in the form of her son.
His
son. “That sounds more like the Jed I know.”

He propped his shoulder against the door jamb. She could feel his eyes on her as she bent to place the cash bag in the safe. What could someone like Jed, a man who was pretty much indiscriminate in his choice of women, possibly see when he looked at her? Would he see the adopted mother of his child, or would he see a woman?
 

A woman who hadn’t gotten laid in almost a year.

“Getting to know me, Sister?”

She hated when he called her that. After closing the safe, she spun the dial with a flick of her wrist. Too bad she couldn’t snap off the uncomfortable avenue her thoughts had taken just as easily. “We need to leave.”
 

She stood, but she didn’t look at him for fear he’d see her wayward thoughts mirrored in her eyes. Mattie called her the pragmatic one. Practical Griffen. Smart Hart. She’d never been the one to inspire a man’s fantasies like Mattie. She’d never be the sweet and gentle one like Dani had been, either. She’d always done what was right, what was expected of her. She tackled problems head on, solved them, then moved on to the next crisis regardless of what she really wanted to do.
 

No. Someone like her would never inspire a man like Jed. He no doubt liked his women warm and willing. And barely legal. At thirty-two, she was practically over the hill in his eyes.

By the time she made sure the store was locked up, she’d regained her equilibrium. The truth of the matter was simple. Jed was a flirt. A gorgeous one, but a flirt nonetheless. She might find him attractive, but it was nothing more than an appreciation for a hot guy with a bad boy reputation. She’d do well to remember that when dealing with him while he was in town. Which wouldn’t be long. Once his curiosity was satisfied, he’d leave. Of that, at least, she was absolutely confident.
 

*

Jed was happy to let Griffen do the driving to the gymnasium since his shoulder had been bothering him for the better part of the day. The aspirin he’d taken before leaving his motel room had helped to ease the throbbing, leaving behind a constant ache he was getting used to feeling. Funny the things a guy noticed when sober.
 

He leaned back into the passenger seat and glanced at Griffen. She kept her attention on the road, her thumb tapping the steering wheel. A nervous habit.