Author: Jaci Burton

It was mid-week, so a quiet night. She found Jenna at the bar tending to a few customers who seemed to be regulars. Jenna, dressed in a black tank top and jeans, was talking up her customers, so Elizabeth took a seat at the end of the bar. Jenna made her way over.

“Someone kick your puppy?”

“Your brothers suck.”

She snorted. “Tell me something I don’t know. What would you like?”

“A decent glass of wine. You choose.”

“You got it.”

Jenna poured a glass of red and set it down in front of Elizabeth. “Okay, I can give you a long list of why I think my brothers are assholes, but this isn’t my party. You tell my why you think so.”

She took a sip of the wine. “This is excellent.”

“Of course it is. It’s what I do. Now spill.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to take their side?”

Jenna leaned against the bar and cocked a grin. “Rarely.”

“Gavin’s been restless since your dad’s surgery. Watching the game today, I could tell seeing that first baseman they brought up bothered him. The kid is talented, and I know Gavin feels threatened. Since your dad is recovering so well, I told him maybe he should go back to work. And Mick jumped all over me saying I had ulterior motives.”

Jenna rolled her eyes. “Isn’t he over that yet?”

“Apparently not. The worst part was that Gavin stood by and didn’t say a word while Mick was reading me the riot act about how I was only interested in lining my own pockets at Gavin’s expense.”

Jenna looked livid. “What a dick. You’re right. They both suck.”

Elizabeth laughed, raised her glass, and tilted it toward Jenna before taking another sip. “And here I thought I might be making a mistake by coming here and venting to you, since you’re their sister.”

“Hey, I’ll defend my brothers to the death when they’re right. Problem is, they rarely are. They’re men; therefore, they have the testosterone disadvantage. Screws them every time.”

“I hope that’s not a mark against everyone in my gender.”

Elizabeth swiveled on her barstool and grinned at Ty Anderson. “Hey, Ty. What brings you here?”

“Stopping in for a drink and spotted you right off. Can I sit down or is this a male-bashing party?”

Elizabeth looked at Jenna, who shrugged. “It’s your male-bashing party, Liz. They’re just my brothers, and I’m always happy to play along.”

Elizabeth laughed. “Ty, this is Jenna Riley, Gavin’s sister. Jenna, this is Tyler Anderson. He plays hockey for the Ice.”

“Ah. Nice to meet you, Jenna.”

Jenna studied Ty, then sighed. “Another sports jock. My heart goes pitter-patter.”

He grinned. “A fan, huh?”

“Yeah, you know it.”

Elizabeth laughed and turned to Ty. “I think she gets bombarded with all the players here because of Mick and Gavin.”

“Uh-huh. So I’m damned before I even start, huh?”

“Afraid so, cowboy. What’ll it be?”

“I’ll have a beer. Bottled. Not light.”

“Careful there, Ty,” Jenna said as she popped the top off and slid the bottle to him. “Don’t want to put on too much weight, or you’ll have trouble holding your stick.”

He grabbed the bottle and held it to his lips. “Never had any complaints about my abilities with my stick so far.”

Jenna arched a brow. “And you’re here alone? With that charm? Shocking.”

While Jenna went off to tend to one of her customers, Ty turned to Elizabeth. “Who pissed in her corn flakes?”

“She’s always tough on the guys in here. It comes from having famous brothers and fending off all the jocks, plus coming from a family that lives for sports. I don’t think guys like you are her type.”

Ty took a long pull from the bottle, his gaze trained on Jenna as she worked the bar. “Fine with me since she isn’t my type, either.”

“Is that right?” Elizabeth studied Jenna’s short dark hair, slender body, tattoos, and multiple ear piercings. She thought Jenna was sexy and adorable. “What about her isn’t your type?”

“I like them with big tits.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. From the way Ty hadn’t once taken his eyes off Jenna, she figured Ty was full of shit and just hadn’t enjoyed getting shot down.

“I think I’ll go try my luck with darts. See you later, Elizabeth.”

“Later, Ty.”

Elizabeth emptied her wineglass, and Jenna was there to refill.

“Another egocentric jock. Just what Riley’s needs.”

“Huh? Oh, you mean Ty?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s actually a pretty nice guy once you give him a chance.”

“One of yours?”

“Yes.”

“Not my type.”

Grateful to be discussing something other than herself and her miserable relationship with Gavin, Elizabeth asked, “Oh, really. And what is your type, Jenna?”

She laid her palms against the bar. “I like them cerebral. Poetic. Book smart. Lyrical. Musical. And interested in anything other than sports. Growing up with sports and being surrounded by them in this bar, I prefer to be with a man whose focus is on anything but.”

“I can understand that. So you go for the office types or the teacher types. Or maybe a lawyer.”

“I don’t care what he does for a living as long as we don’t have to talk about sports when we’re together.”

But Jenna’s gaze strayed to Ty while she wiped down the surface of the bar. Elizabeth turned and watched Ty, now involved in a game of pool with a few other guys. His jeans stretched across his mighty fine ass as he leaned across the table to take a shot. His tight T-shirt showed off his bulging biceps, and Jenna would have to be dead not to notice.

As Elizabeth turned to face the bar, it was clear Jenna was noticing.

“Ty’s not your type, huh?”

Jenna shrugged. “He has a great ass and that bad boy look that gets my panties wet. It’s been a dry spell. I’m human. But I still don’t date jocks. Too bad, because I could definitely take someone like him for a spin.”

“I’m sure he’d take you up on your offer, too. He was giving you the eye when you weren’t looking.”

Jenna gave him another quick glance, then sighed. “Why does this place attract so many guys like him? Maybe we should do some kind of promotion to attract the men I want to date, instead of the ones I don’t.”

“That’s a good idea. You should come up with something.”

“Yeah,” Jenna said, her lips curving. “In my spare time.”

“I could help you. I’m kind of good with promotional stuff.”

Jenna leaned over the bar. “That’s true. It is your area. But you’re probably busy.”

“Not that busy. I’d love to help.”

“You’re just trying to avoid everything Gavin.”

“You’re right. I am.” She lifted her glass and took a drink.

“So how are you going to solve that particular problem?”

“I have no idea what to do. I don’t think he trusts me. And I don’t honestly know how he feels about me. Being his agent and being in love with him is screwing everything up, both professionally and personally.”

“How so?”

“As his agent, I should be kicking his ass back to the game. He’s been gone way too long. As the woman who loves him, I understand how he feels. I’m empathetic to his concern about your dad and his need to be here.”

“My dad is recovering just fine, getting stronger every day. This whole thing scared the shit out of all of us, so we’re naturally hovering.”

“That’s to be expected, I think. It scared me, too. I love your parents.”

Jenna smiled and reached for her hand. “I know you do. You’ve been family for a long time.”

“But he is recovering well, and you all take such good care of him. And Gavin’s restless. I can see it, can feel the tension in him. He watches the game and he knows he needs to get back to it, but something’s holding him back. A sense of responsibility coupled with the fear that if he’s gone, something bad will happen.”

“So go put your agent hat on and kick his ass back to work. You’re just going to have to realize that sometimes you can’t be both girlfriend and agent. Sometimes you just have to be his agent and make him see that it’s time to do his job.”

She sighed. “Or I might find out that I can’t be both at all, that I’m going to have to choose one. Or he’ll choose one for me.”

Jenna gave her a straight look. “Yeah, that might happen. If he loves you, it won’t matter.”

“And if he doesn’t love me at all, it might matter a lot.”

“Are you afraid to find out?”

“I think that’s the million-dollar question.”

TWENTY-TWO

GAVIN AND MICK WERE CLEANING OUT THE GUTTERS when Gavin saw Elizabeth’s car pull up in the driveway. A twinge of guilt and something else pulled at his gut. His dad was sitting out on the back patio, watching them. It was a perfect day. The sun was out, a nice breeze blowing. Mom and Tara were out shopping.

“You know why she’s here.”

“Leave it alone, Mick.”

His dad stood when Elizabeth came through the back door.

“Front door was open.”

“Hi, Lizzie.”

She gave his dad a hug and sat down with him, not even acknowledging Gavin and Mick.

“She’s playing you, man. Just like she manipulated me. And Tara and Nathan.”

Gavin glared at Mick. “This isn’t about you. Not everything is about you.”

Mick shrugged and directed the hose into the gutter while Gavin grabbed a pile of dead leaves out of another section. Mick climbed down off the ladder to move it, and Gavin inched his way across the roof, trying not to focus on Elizabeth and his dad, who were engaged in conversation and laughing together.

“Hey, boys, Lizzie’s going to take me for a little walk. Be back soon.”

“I can do that, Dad,” Gavin said.

“I think she can handle it. Just clear out the gutters. We’ll be fine.”

Gavin looked at Mick, who frowned, but they finished up the gutter, and by the time Gavin climbed down the ladder and went in search of his dad, he was in the living room with a glass of water, his feet propped up on the ottoman. Elizabeth was in one of the chairs next to him.

Damn, she looked good in her cream-colored suit with a pale blue silk blouse underneath. Her heels showed off her killer legs, and he wanted to eat her up from top to bottom. He suddenly wanted to be alone with her, to talk to her, to get past this distance between them, to figure out what had gone wrong. But he just . . . couldn’t. There were things she just didn’t understand.

She looked up at him and offered up a smile, but it wasn’t the kind of smile he wanted to see from her. She was holding back, just like he was. “Your dad is doing so well. He walked all the way down to the corner and back.”

His father grinned. “Going to be kicking your ass in a game of hoops in no time, especially with that horrible diet of chicken, turkey, and fish your mother is making me eat.”

Gavin smiled. “It’s good for you, Dad.”

“Yeah, whatever. I miss French fries.”

“You’ll get over it,” Gavin said. “And you’ll lose that beer belly.”

“I miss beer, too.”

“You’ll get over that, too,” Mick said. “I did.”

“Get those gutters done?”