First Star I See Tonight (Chicago Stars #8) - Susan Elizabeth Phillips Page 0,57
with her. Winning was in his blood, and he hated feeling like a loser. Hated even more knowing she had to be seeing him that way. He couldn’t pull off to the side of the road and throw her in the backseat like he wanted, but the silence in the car was getting to him. Somehow he had to show her he was still the quarterback of their team.
“I’ve been thinking about our conversation last night,” he said, “and you might have a point.”
“I usually do.”
She’d loosened her seat belt enough to tuck a leg under her. If she’d been wearing shorts instead of jeans, he’d have had a clear view of the inside of her thigh. A thigh, he now knew, that was firm, smooth, and fine. He hurried on. “What if I’m missing out by not taking a little more time in the sack with my lady friends?”
She pulled a face. “It’s so sad. All those traumatized women believing your problem is their fault. I should open a counseling office.”
He would not laugh. “Yep. The more I think about it, the more I think you’re right. I might have a sex problem.”
“Fortunately, there are a lot of books on the subject.”
“Hell, I’m not much of a reader. Too many words to sound out.”
“Interesting. I’ve found all kinds of books in the apartment.”
“Cleaning people musta left ’em.” He kept dishing out the bull, exactly the way it had to be between them. “Since you’re the one who pointed out my problem, it’s only fair that you help me work through it. Only as a sex partner, you understand. This has nothing to do with our professional relationship.”
She glanced over at him, all full of fake regret. “Don’t take this wrong, but I’ve kind of lost interest.”
No way a woman who’d responded the way she had last night wasn’t still interested, but he only nodded. “I understand.”
***
They were quiet for a while. To relieve the tension, Piper called Jada to find out how her killing spree was progressing. Very well, as it turned out. She’d offed five more of her classmates. Eventually, they made a stop for fast food, and Piper took over the driving. By the time they reached the Illinois border, the effort to appear relaxed had left her shoulders screaming. She struggled to find a topic of conversation that would take them through the last leg of this unending trip. “I happen to know you’re a real softy. And I mean that in a nonsexual way. Although . . .”
He choked on his Coke.
She smiled to herself. “These hospital visits you make to Lurie . . .”
“No idea what you’re talking about.”
He knew, all right. Even though he managed to sneak in and out of Lurie Children’s Hospital without attracting the attention of the press, she’d uncovered the interesting fact that he spent a lot of time visiting sick children. “I can’t picture you around kids.” Another lie. From what she’d seen, he was as relaxed with children as he was around beautiful women. “You can tell me. It’s the hot nurses, right?”
“Now you’re embarrassin’ me.”
“But there’s one mystery I can’t figure out. Not even with my amazing detecting skills.”
“Shocker.”
“When I was following you, you’d sometimes hang out on the mean streets with various scurvy-looking characters. What’s that about?”
He polished off his Coke. “Shootin’ the bull, that’s all.”
“I don’t believe you. Tell me. I’m like a priest.”
“You’re not anything like a priest. You’re—”
“Stop stalling.”
He shifted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable. “I don’t know. It’s . . . I’m not going to do anything about it, so there’s no point discussing it.”
But something told her he wanted to talk, and she welcomed any topic that didn’t lead back to the bedroom. She waited.
He gazed out the passenger window. “I had this idea . . . But it takes too much time and too much effort, with no guarantee of a payoff.” He turned back to her. “All those empty city lots are a waste. Nothing but weeds and trash.”
She was starting to get the picture. “You’d like to do something more about that than throw seed bombs.”
He shrugged. “There are too many people with no jobs and no prospects. All those empty plots of land. Seems like an opportunity for somebody.”
“But not for you.”
“Hell, no. All I’m interested in now is business.” He pulled out his cell and called Tony.
She listened to them talk about the new bouncer Tony had hired to replace Dell, who’d been fired four