Underneath It All (Storm Series) (18 page)

When Sarah returned, Alaina waded out from the crowd
then joined her at the side of the room. “They can be a bit much,” Sarah said, as if she could see inside Alaina’s head.

“Do I look like a deer caught in
the headlights? That’s how I feel.”

“No, not at all. But
I was new here last year and remember what it felt like—a bug being examined under a magnifying glass. Thank God Rob and Sebastian and Doug were around.”

“Okay, I have to ask. How did Rob help?
”
Yet another example of how Rob looks out for others.
He really was a good guy.

“
Have you noticed how…what’s the word I’m looking for? Easy, I guess, he is with other people? He makes everybody around him more comfortable.”

Alaina nodded slowly. “
You know, you’re right. He sets people at ease, seemingly with little effort.”

“Don’t tell him this, because his ego is already healthy enough, but I’m really grateful for his friendship, and even moreso
, his friendship with Sebastian. That kind of loyalty is in short supply in today’s world. Some…,” Sarah swallowed hard then continued, “difficult things happened back in the spring and Rob was great throughout it all. Like a rock for Sebastian.”

Had
that been what Rob was talking about when he said his friends had been in trouble? What had happened to Sebastian? Before she could think on it further, a commotion caught their attention. Rob had stood and was in the face of a teammate.

“What the hell?”
Alaina stammered.

Sarah cleared her thr
oat. “Let’s go wait in the hall.”

Sebastian had shown up as if summoned and, along with a few other guys,
was working his way between Rob and the other man. As they left, the man gave her a slow perusal and Rob made an almost inhuman sound.

After being dragged out of
the room by Sarah’s firm grip on her elbow, Alaina asked, “What was that about?”

L
ooking like she was debating what to say, Sarah rubbed her forehead. “That guy is a jerk. The team picked him up as a free agent over the summer. Let’s just say he’s not real popular in the locker room. He does things just to cause trouble. I have no idea what management saw in him. I mean, he’s a very good player, but a guy like that can poison an entire team.”

“But why was Rob so mad?”

“If I had to guess, the guy made some off-color comment about you.”

“Me?”

“I can’t see any other reason for Rob to get upset.” Sarah glanced back into the room.

Alaina moved until she could see as well.
His hand on Rob’s good shoulder, Sebastian was talking in low tones to Rob, whose face had gone red. The other guy was being escorted none-too-gently back in the direction of the locker room by a couple of teammates.

Alaina bit her lip.
“I don’t want to cause trouble between Rob and the other guys.”

“Oh, hon,
none of this is your fault. That man is a class-A jerk, I’m telling you. He was probably trying to get a rise out of Rob.”

“
But Rob’s injured! Why would the guy do something like that?” Alaina heard the righteous indignation in her tone then noticed her nails were biting into her palms. How dare that man go after someone who was hurt seriously? He reminded her of the schoolyard bullies she and her fellow teachers were always on the lookout for.

Rob approached and caress
ed the side of her face as if he couldn’t help himself. “Are you okay?”

“Me?
” She hadn’t been the target of a bully. “I’m fine. How about you?”

“The guys had my back.
That dude is a dick. Ben’s gonna talk to Jon and Keith—the general manager—about him. He needs to be on the next plane outta here before one of us kicks his ass to another state.” He glanced at Sarah. “Thanks.”

A look passed between the two and Alaina understood what Sarah had been talking about
earlier. The three of them—Rob, Sebastian and Sarah—shared a special bond. It would’ve been hard to swallow, if it wasn’t so obvious they all loved each other so much.

Sebastian
walked out, pulling a fleece over his head and holding his jacket. “Let’s go.” He glared back at the now-emptying room, but then took a deep breath, and his usual calm, happy demeanor returned like a cloud lifting. He must’ve noticed her gaping because he smiled, giving her a quick once-over like Rob had done just a moment before. When that jerk had done a similar thing a short time ago, Alaina had felt dirty, but her reaction to Sebastian was completely different. The way he looked at her made her feel safe.

Rob drew her to him. “Sorry about that.
” He paused then said, “Yeah, I have to.” Swooping in, his lips sought hers before his tongue ran over the seam of her mouth.

Alaina
was so surprised she opened immediately. Clutching her at the small of her back, Rob pushed even closer, kissing her thoroughly. By the time he let her up for air, she was dazed. “What was that for?”

“
Wanted to. Needed to,” he said, his voice gruff.

Sarah and Sebastian had snuck away and Alaina’s face flamed as she considered
it was probably to give her and Rob some privacy.

Rob must’ve seen the look on her face, because as the
y went to catch up, he leaned over and said, “You have no idea how many times I had to deal with Sarah and Seb last year. They owe me.”

As
the four of them walked back to their cars and settled on a lunch place, two things kept going through her mind. What had that man said to make Rob respond so strongly? And why had the incident upset her so much?

Lunch was fun, but Alaina was happy to be home finally. She’d been gone much of the weekend. The time with Rob had certainly been enlightening, and she felt closer to him than ever, but by the same token, she was more confused than she could remember being about a man.

In her mind, Alaina was aware of the dangers of falling for someone so fast. They’d only known each other
a couple of months and been dating for about six weeks, but she’d already slept with the man. Despite everything her head said, her heart couldn’t let go of how right she and Rob felt. How right
he
felt.

But
could this be called love? As she scrubbed her kitchen, Alaina kept asking herself that question. Or was it just infatuation?

She couldn’t
tell at this point. Her heartbeat kicked up whenever she spoke with or saw him, but that could be lust. What had happened today freaked her out, though. Alaina had hated seeing Rob upset and hated that guy for being the cause. She was still surprised by how strongly she’d reacted.

When her kitchen was frighteningly clean
and she’d burned up the excess energy caused by her consternation, she sat down to go over the week’s lesson plans; but she found her attention wandering back to the events of the weekend time and time again. She hadn’t been planning to spend the night at Rob’s place, and hadn’t really considered sex with him, but when the opportunities arose, she certainly hadn’t shied away from either.

Monday was a busy day; and though it kept her from further twisting herself in knots over the thing with Rob, Alaina was exhausted by the time the last child was out the door. She turned and surveyed the classroom, heaving a sigh. She did
not
want to clean up. The mess wasn’t unusual—though her kids helped tidy the room every day, there was no possible way to get the place put back to rights while they were around. And normally she didn’t mind the task, as it gave her time to reflect on the day and look forward to the next, but today, all she wanted to do was curl up on one of the brand-new rest mats piled in a corner and take a nice, long nap.

W
hile she was setting up for Tuesday, Rob texted,
Went to doctor. Got clearance for light lower-body stuff and to start PT. Oh, joy.

Alaina chewed her lip. Wasn’t that good news?

She typed,
So soon? Wow! When do you start? Can you drive?
Then she put down her phone and went to grab a bunch of pipe cleaners she needed to twist into cat whiskers later for Tuesday’s craft. As she stuffed them in her messenger bag, her phone chirped once more.

Rob:
Yeah, just have to take things easy. Going to the arena first and then some PT place out in the suburbs.

It must be tremendously frustrating to be an energetic guy like Rob and
yet forced to severely limit or stop physical activity altogether. Alaina didn’t envy the uphill battle Rob was facing.

Alaina:
You’ll do great. I have faith in you.

After p
icking up her bag, she took one final look around the room then locked the door. She’d just gotten into her car when her phone signaled another text message.

Rob:
You have no idea what that means to me. Can I take you to dinner tonight? Strip you naked and have
you
for dinner? ;-)

Not sure how to answer, she let the text go as she drove home. She really did have a lot to do
this afternoon, especially since Rob had taken up a lot of her weekend; but on the other hand, Alaina had a feeling Rob needed her, and that was pretty hard to say no to. After pulling into her parking spot, she picked up the phone and responded,
Okay, but I have a bunch of things to do first, including twisting twenty sets of pipe cleaners into cat whiskers for craft tomorrow.

She picked up her mail
then proceeded to her apartment. The phone beeped on her way upstairs, but she ignored it for the time being, choosing instead to get everything inside and on the couch before looking at the text.

Rob:
I’d offer to help, but I doubt that’s something you can do with only one hand.

Alaina laughed. At least Rob hadn’t lost his sense of humor. From what she could see
, the trait was a huge part of him.

Alaina:
Probably not.

Dumping all the things she needed to take care of on the coffee table, she
then brought her bag to the front door so she could easily grab it on her way out.

Rob sent another text.
I’ll leave you alone now. Call me when you’re done. If you don’t mind driving, that would be great. I’m supposed to limit mine to essential things.

She could understand that. There was no way driving
could be good for his shoulder even if he was careful.
She typed,
Sounds good.

A couple of hours later, she picked up Rob and was surprised to find him in a pair of black dress pants and a button-down shirt. Opened at the neck, the shirt’s rich maroon color complimented the olive tone of his skin well.

In contrast, she’d worn jeans and a sweater and felt severely underdressed.
“Was I supposed to dress up?”

“No, no
. You’re fine,” he said as he struggled with the seat belt.

She
grabbed the unresponsive piece of equipment and belted him in. Rob took the opportunity to pull her close and plant a kiss that left her breathless.

Releasing her, he said,
“Hey, I want to show you something.”

“What?”
she asked, and he lifted his good hand to show the cuff of his shirt. “Oh my God,” she fingered the gold square with “DON” emblazoned on it, “are these the cufflinks you got for Christmas that Sarah told me about at lunch yesterday?”

“Yep.”

“That’s hilarious.”

“I figured I might as well use them since I won’t be dressing in suits for quite a while.
They were a bitch to get on, though.”

“You should’ve waited
‘til I picked you up. I would’ve helped.”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

After a dubious glance, Alaina put the car in reverse to back out of the parking space then stopped. “Um, do we have any idea where we’re going?”

“I made a reservation at
Mike A’s,” he said, naming one of the most expensive and exclusive restaurants in Buffalo.

She stared at him. “Really?”
Now she felt
really
underdressed.

He
looked embarrassed, his smile self-deprecating. “I wanted to have a nice dinner with you.”

“I’
m sooooo not dressed for a place like that. Isn’t it super fancy?”

“
The food is fancy, and really good. But eh, don’t worry about your clothes.” He lifted his good shoulder. “You’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” She chewed her lip, not wanting to embarrass him.
“I could go home and change, though we’d be late for the reservation.” Though it wasn’t as if she had anything super fancy in her closet.

“Of course
I’m sure. You look hot, and as long as I think so, that’s all that matters.” He grinned. “One of the benefits of being a professional athlete is that people rarely rag on you about stuff like that.”