Straddling the Line

FOUR

WHEN TREVOR GOT UP THE NEXT MORNING, HE FOUND Haven in the sunroom, the smell of coffee drawing him there. He grabbed the pot and poured himself a cup.

“Hey, you’re up already.”

“Yes.” She sat at the table, her laptop and notepad sitting next to her. “Hammond was here early, cleaning up in the kitchen. He makes great coffee, too.” She looked around. “Where are your . . . friends?”

“They left not long after you went up to bed.”

“All of them?”

He crooked a smile. “Yeah. All of them. Petra isn’t my girlfriend. Or even a one-night stand, Haven.”

She diverted her attention to her laptop. “It’s not any of my business who you sleep with.”

Yeah, right. Except she’d looked irritated last night. And he had to admit that made him curious. Was she jealous? Why would she be? Was she interested in him? He looked over at her, so focused on whatever it was she was doing on her laptop.

“Ready to work so soon?”

“Whenever you are.”

“Coffee first. And then breakfast. Have you eaten yet?”

“I had some yogurt.”

He poured a cup of coffee. “Yogurt? That’s it?”

“It’s enough for me.”

He laughed. “No, it’s not. How about some bacon and eggs and pancakes? Maybe some biscuits and gravy?”

She finally drew her attention away from her laptop and looked at him. “Hammond’s not here. He said he had errands to run.”

“I told you I know how to cook.”

She gave him the once-over. “Maybe I should cook.”

He laughed. “I think you’ll just have to trust me.”

“Really. I’m good. The yogurt was fine.”

“It’s not fine. And I need to eat anyway. I need fuel for the day, and breakfast should be your biggest meal.”

“Uh, no thanks, really. I’m good.”

“Come with me. You can sit with me and drink your coffee while I’m cooking.”

She seemed to agree with that, following him into the kitchen and taking a seat at the island.

He pulled out several skillets. “I’ll make extra, just in case you change your mind.” She looked like she could use some calories, like she’d lost some weight since the last time he’d seen her.

“What are you working on over there?” he asked as he put bacon in the pan, then cracked eggs in a bowl.

“Just the outline for our program together.”

Deciding against pancakes, he took out bread and popped some in the toaster. “Okay. So what’s the plan?”

“It can wait until after breakfast.”

“Do you like orange juice?”

“What?”

“Orange juice. Do you like it?”

“Oh. Yes, I do. Why?”

He opened the refrigerator and scanned the contents. “I also have carrot juice, apple juice, and cranberry juice. What would you prefer?”

“Um . . . orange juice is fine.”

He poured two glasses, then flipped the bacon over and got out two plates.

“Really, Trevor, I’m not hungry.”

He slid a smile her way. “No one said you had to eat.”

He finished the bacon, then put the eggs in the pan. In a couple of minutes, they were scrambled perfectly. He split them onto two plates and slid one in her direction. Not paying attention to her, he pulled up a chair at the breakfast bar and started eating.

It didn’t take her long to push her laptop to the side, grab the fork he’d laid on the plate, and dive into the food.

Never underestimate the power of the smell of bacon. She ate at least half of what he’d put on her plate, which he’d call a success.

When she finished, she pushed the plate to the side. “That was really good. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“You’re a good cook, Trevor.”

He leaned back in his chair. “This surprises you?”

“I don’t know why it should. You’re good at so many things.”

He shot her a grin. “Darlin’, you don’t know the half of it.”

She rolled her eyes and slid off the bar stool. “I’ll do the dishes.”

“You don’t have to do that. You’re a guest.” He got up and took her plate, and his, to the sink, rinsed them, and loaded them in the dishwasher. Then he washed the skillet.

“You’re just on your best behavior because I’m here, right?” she asked as she once again took her seat at the breakfast bar.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“First you cook, then you do dishes, too?”

He stacked the skillet on the dish rack, then grabbed the towel to dry his hands. “Well, yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”

“This isn’t the Trevor I know.”

“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”

She studied him. “Maybe I don’t.”

“Good. Then you’ll have a lot of questions to ask for your super feature story on me, won’t you?”

She laughed. “I guess I will. Which, now that breakfast is over, we should get started on.”

“Sure. Let’s spread out a little. The breakfast bar isn’t comfortable. Where would you like to go?”

Haven looked around, trying to decide where to set up. “Uh, living room.” Trevor would likely be more at ease, more at home there, and more amenable to answering her initial questions. Plus it seemed a little more formal than the sunroom.

“That’ll work.”

He took a seat in one of the leather chairs, while Haven spread out on the sofa, her notes and laptop in front of her.

“So how’s this going to work?” he asked.

“I’m going to start by asking some background questions, just a few things we’ll fill in on the narrative side of the equation. After we’re through with all the background story, we’ll start filming.”

“Which will consist of?”

“You at work. And at home. Where you grew up, where you went to high school and college, plus some of you at leisure activities. People want to know about you—who Trevor Shay the person is, as well as the athlete. I’ve looked into some of the charities you sponsor. I’d like to showcase those.”

“I’d like that, too.”

“Then we’re set.”

“Do I get to interview you, too?” he asked.

“Ha-ha. And no. You already know all there is to know about me.”

“Do I?”

“Sure. We’ve known each other since college.”

“We’ve been around each other, Haven. But do we know each other all that well?”

She frowned. “I don’t understand the question.”

“Look. If you knew everything there was to know about me, you could write the background without needing to interview me, right? But you can’t, because while we went to college together, we didn’t really hang out, did we?”

“No, we definitely didn’t.”

“And it’s not like we’ve spent a lot of time around each other. We know each other because of your mom and dad. We’ve hung out some, but you don’t really know me all that well. And I don’t know you, either.”

“Do you know everyone who interviews you?”

“No. But you’re the daughter of someone I greatly admired. Someone I thought of as a mentor. You’re not just a random interviewer. You’re someone I’d like to get to know better.”

She didn’t understand why he was interested. Or why it even mattered. “You’re certainly playing a different tune now than you did in college. You couldn’t wait to get away from me then.”

He dipped his head, then gave her a very sexy smile. “In college it was different. I wasn’t much for learning back then. The only thing I was interested in was the ball—either football or baseball. I wanted to be out on the field playing. Academics got in my way. And you represented academics.”

“I see.” Not exactly the same way she’d seen it back then. “So you saw me as a way to help you pass your classes so you could stay in school.”

“Something like that. Why? Was I mean to you?”

“No. Not at all. You just did everything in your power to avoid studying.”

He laughed. “Yeah. That really wasn’t my thing.”

“So I noticed. Unfortunately, charm could only take you so far, Trevor. At some point you had to get a passing grade.”

“And you helped with that. So thanks again.”

“You’re welcome. Though I don’t know that I really helped, since you managed to elude most of our study sessions, or rarely paid attention to what I was trying to say.”

“Hey, I passed, so it sank in. Trust me, you helped.”

The earnest way he looked at her, the easy smile on his face, and, oh, God, she could get so lost in the sea green of his eyes, how dark and long his lashes were, and his mouth—

“So . . . where do we start?”

Haven blinked, and realized she’d been staring at him. He’d done this to her in college, too, making her lose her focus.

Damn the man anyway. And now he was smiling at her, as if he knew exactly the kind of effect he had on her.

“Let’s start with your childhood.” At his wary look, she said, “We’ll walk gently through here, and if anything makes you uncomfortable, we’ll stop.”

She turned on her recorder. Trevor looked down at it. “No.”

She switched it off. “No?”

“Not for this part.”

She didn’t know why, but she wouldn’t ask, at least not yet. “Okay. I’ll just make notes on my laptop. Anything you’re uncomfortable with, we’ll discuss.”

“Fine.”

She might be new at this, but she was still a journalist. Her job was to dig and dig deep, even into uncomfortable territory, to make the subject at ease enough with her that he’d divulge secrets he might not otherwise want to delve into.

She’d do it with Trevor if she had to, but she hoped he’d feel comfortable enough with her that he wouldn’t even notice the probing questions.

“What was the first organized sport you remember playing, and how old were you?”

“That’s easy. Soccer. I was five. Though I don’t know if you could call it organized.”

She laughed. “Yes, I remember. I played, too. My parents referred to it as bunch ball, because we gathered around the ball in a bunch and chased after it.”

“Yeah, T-ball was a little better. I played that, too. Then Pee Wee league football.”

She’d started typing in notes. “You liked sports a lot as a kid.”

“I was a hellion with excess energy. My mom had to keep me busy, so I played sports year round.”

“Is that what you wanted to do?”

“I loved playing. And my mom was right. I didn’t like to sit and be quiet. I wasn’t much for quiet time, watching a movie or reading a book. I wanted to be outside running around and doing things.”

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“I have a brother. He’s younger than me.” When she didn’t say anything, he added, “His name is Zane. He’s still in college.”

“So quite a bit younger than you.”

“Yeah. He’s my half brother, actually. My parents divorced when I was seven years old. My mom remarried and had Zane.”

She hadn’t known his parents divorced. So much she didn’t know. She was making copious notes.

“Are you and Zane close?”

Trevor grinned. “Yeah. He’s great. So smart. He’s premed, so he’s going to be a doctor. He graduates next spring and then he’ll start medical school. My mom and stepdad are so proud of him. Hell, we all are.”

“I’m sure she is. Just like she’s very proud of you.”

“Oh, yeah, sure she is. But you know, sports isn’t medicine. I’m not gonna save someone’s life catching a football or hitting a home run.”

“I don’t think it’s very fair to compare yourself to your brother’s career choice, though. You’re doing what you love, following where your talents lie. So is your brother.”

He shrugged. “True enough. Next question.”

And he glossed over the fact that it obviously bothered him that his brother had chosen an important career path and he for some reason felt his wasn’t.

“How often do you see your brother?”

“As often as we can get together.”

“Where does he go to school?”

“He’s getting his premed degree at Washington University here in St. Louis, where he’d also like to go to med school. I think, given his grades, it’s a given he’ll stay there.”

Haven smiled. “How wonderful for him.”

“Yeah. Like I said, he’s really smart.”

“I’d like to meet him and interview him.”

“I’ll see what his schedule looks like and maybe arrange that.”

“Thanks.”

She looked over her notes. “Tell me about your dad. What happened after the divorce?”

“No.”

“No, what?”

“I don’t want to talk about my dad.”

“You and your father aren’t close?”

“I love my mom. My stepdad is an awesome guy and stepped in when my father wasn’t around, which was most of my childhood. He’s the real dad in my life. Let’s just leave my father out of this whole process.”

She put the laptop to the side. “Okay. Off the record, tell me about your dad.”

He stood. “Not now. Let’s take a break. How about a swim before it gets too hot and before I have to leave for the ballpark?”

She looked up at him. “Trevor, we’ve just started and there’s a lot of material to go over.”

He came over to her and grabbed her hand and tugged her up. “And plenty of time to get there. Come on, a quick swim and we’ll get back to work. Life is meant to be lived, Haven. Let’s have some fun.”

She hesitated, then finally nodded, figuring if she kept him happy, he’d be more amenable to answering her questions—even the tough ones. “Okay, but only a short break.”

AN HOUR LATER, TREVOR TREADED WATER IN THE DEEP end while he watched Haven sitting on the pool steps in the shallows. Her elbows rested on the edge of the pool and her face was tilted up toward the sun. She looked . . . relaxed, which was exactly how he wanted her.

This morning was going well. She’d dived into the questions, seemingly into her work, which had been the goal. Unfortunately, it had been him who’d put a stop to everything when she’d brought up his dad.

He couldn’t go there. Not right now, and never on the record. This break was just what he’d needed to get Haven’s mind on a different track. Plus, she seemed to be having a good time. Or at least, she didn’t seem down.

“How can you ever go to work when you have a backyard like this?” she asked, tilting her face up to meet the sun. “If I lived here, I think I’d live in the pool. Plus, it’s heated, so you can swim in here until at least the end of October, depending on the weather.”

“Yeah, it’s really nice. That’s why I bought the place. It’ll see me through to the championship, provided we make it that far.”

“And what do you think of the Rivers’ chances this year?” she asked.

“Pretty damn good. After all, they have me.”

She laughed. He swam toward her and pulled up a spot on the ledge next to her. “So you think you could get used to a decadent lifestyle, huh?”

She slid her sunglasses on top of her head. “What can I say? I’m easily swayed.”

“I don’t believe that. You were always so driven in college. You of the dual degrees and all.”

The look of surprise on her face made him smile.

“How did you know that? You barely paid attention to me.”

“Maybe I do know more about you than you know about me.”

“Seriously. How did you know that?”

“Your dad and I had some conversations. He was very proud of you. He said you could have done anything with your life that you wanted—you got your degree in special education and in journalism.”

“And I chose journalism.” She looked out over the water. “I don’t know if that’s very noble.”

“It’s what you wanted to do, isn’t it?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose at the time. It seemed more exciting to me. I had the opportunity to travel and I so wanted to get out of Oklahoma. Plus, I love sports. That’s why I chose journalism over teaching.”

“Sports is exciting to me. I couldn’t dream of ever doing anything else. You think what I do is noble?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it.

“Okay, then. So neither of us is noble. Get over yourself, Haven.”

She shook her head. “You don’t understand. At first I wanted to teach. I loved tutoring, loved the classes, but the lure of journalism was there, too. Hence the dual degrees. I couldn’t decide what I wanted more. And that’s why it took me longer to graduate, too.”

“So you’re beating yourself up because you’re doing what makes you happy?”

“Who says I’m beating myself up?”

And he wondered if she was really happy. “I do. Journalism is an exciting career.”

“Teaching can be, too.”

“Teaching is a grueling, thankless career and you know it. I’m sure it was a tough career choice to make.”

“But I loved it. I loved the classes, loved my students when I was tutoring, and student teaching. Why didn’t I choose that instead?”

“Because you didn’t love it enough?”

She sighed. “Maybe. I don’t know. It’s not that I don’t like this—” She looked at him. “This used to fuel me. And the opportunity I had to do sportscasting for a network. God, a year ago I would have killed for a spot like that.”

“But?”

“But then, you know, the stuff with my dad happened.”

“And it threw you off. It banked the fire some.”

“I guess so. Lately I’ve been in some kind of funk and I can’t seem to drag myself out of it.”

“Because you miss your dad, and that’s okay.”

“It’s been long enough. I shouldn’t still feel this way.”

“I don’t think you can put a timeline on grief. You feel it and it consumes you until it doesn’t anymore.”

She looked over at him. “You speak like you know about it.”

“I’ve lost some people I care about, so yeah. I do know how it feels. And I cared about your dad, too. Losing him was hard on me. I still feel like there’s a hole, like something’s missing in my life.”

She laid her hand on his arm. “I know you cared deeply for my dad. He loved you, too. He loved all you guys like you were his kids.”

“Not as much as he loved you. He talked about you all the time. He was so damn proud of you, Haven. And no matter what choices you make, he’d still be proud of you.”

She nodded, and he saw the tears fill her eyes.

“Yeah.”

She stood and started up the steps. “I think that’s enough playtime. How about we get back to work?”

He’d started this with his conversation about her dad. She’d been relaxed and having fun, and now she was hurting again. Time to change the mood.

“I don’t know. You look like you might need to get dunked.”

Before she could object, he stood, swooped her up into his arms, and dunked them both underwater.

She came up sputtering, parting her hair that had fallen in front of her face.

“Goddammit, Trevor. Talk about a blindside.”

He laughed and shook his head back and forth to clear the water from his eyes and his hair from his face.

Haven pushed away, shoving her palm over the surface of the water to splash at him. She swam to the stairs and climbed out.

“Oh, come on, Haven.”

“Whatever. You need to find my sunglasses, which are no doubt at the bottom of the pool somewhere, thanks to you dunking me.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He dove down and searched, finding her glasses resting on the bottom of the pool. When he came up, he only had a second to blink before Haven cannonballed into the pool next to him. Water catapulted over his head like a tsunami. Now it was his turn to sputter.

He swiped his face and turned to see her grinning at him. She took her sunglasses from him and slid them on. “Just a little payback,” she said, before swimming away.

“Oh, I don’t think so.” He took off after her.

She laughed, then shrieked when he grasped her ankle and pulled her back. He tugged her against him, cradling her in his arms so she couldn’t escape, though she tried.

“Hey, you started it,” she said.

“And you volleyed back. That means we’re at war.”

Her body felt good against his. He liked holding her, liked seeing her breasts up close. And okay, so he was a little voyeuristic. Who could blame him, since Haven was beautiful, had a great body, and he liked to hear her laugh.

“War, huh? I do like a challenge.”

“Not much you can do about it in your current position.”

“You wouldn’t think so, would you?” Until she tugged at a few of his chest hairs, causing him to yelp and let go of her. Then she dove under the water and did the unthinkable. She jerked his board shorts down, then swam away in a hurry. By the time he’d tugged them back up, she was already out of the pool, offering up a smug smile as she reached for her towel.

“Oh, now it’s on,” he said, climbing out of the pool and coming out after her with deliberate intent.

She backed away. “Hey. It was a means to an end, Trevor. I was trying to get free.”

He came closer, and she ran.

But he was a lot faster, and caught up to her, pulling her against him and flinging them both into the deep end. He heard her shriek of laughter as they both went under, and this time, he untied the top of her bikini, keeping hold of her as they came up. Treading water, he caught the back of her strapless top and pulled it away, holding it above the water like a trophy.

“Trevor,” she said, her eyes widening as she looked at her top in his hands. “I’ll take that back.”

“Hey, I told you it was on. And I always win.” He couldn’t see anything because she was under the water, but at least she wasn’t mad.

In fact, she shrugged. “Have it your way.” She swam to the shallow end and calmly walked up the steps, her lush, ample bare breasts visible. She went to the chaise and grabbed her towel. “Enjoy your trophy. I’m going to take a shower, then it’s back to work for both of us.”

He couldn’t help but admire the sleek line of her back as she walked away.

She had amazing breasts, too. Her dark nipples had puckered from the chill in the air, making him want to put his mouth on them and warm them. She made him hard watching the way her hips swayed as she walked away.

Haven was a revelation, a really nice surprise he hadn’t been expecting.

She wasn’t here so he could seduce her, though. Too bad, because he’d like to put his hands on her again, this time to do more than play in the pool.

But he’d made a promise, and he intended to stick to it.

And as he climbed out of the pool, he looked down at her bikini top clutched in his hand and smiled.

Nothing said there couldn’t be some fun in it for both of them, though, right?