Imaginary Lines

Page 29

  Then it sprang to the ground in an arched leap and began pacing back and forth. The sinuous wind of its leanly muscled body reminded everyone with senses that it was a predator, no matter how often it pretended to laze about. “I’ll admit, you wouldn’t make a bad leopard. ”

  His lips turned up. “Because I’m so good-looking?”

  I bit the inside of my cheek and shook my head at him. “Not exactly what I was thinking. ”

  He smiled at the ceiling. “And how many of you are there at your work?”

  He was unable to give things up. “Oh, not many. Mostly I work with these three guys. ”

  “Should I be jealous?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him and decided to let that pass for now. “Tanya has plans, I think. She wants it to be serious journalism. ”

  First the first time since he’d arrived, his face shifted toward seriousness. “What do you mean?”

  I shrugged. Maybe I should have stayed on the jealousy track. Maybe we should be talking about that kiss. “She wants to blow stories wide open. Right now the news department gets to cover the really big stuff, like rape or murder. ”

  He arched a brow and straightened his back. “How complimentary. ”

  “You know what I mean. Or even things like report on drugs and gambling. ” He didn’t stop watching me with that oddly serious look, so I couldn’t help prodding at him. “You have any drugs or gambling going on?”

  His gaze flickered slightly, that same flickering from before, where I just couldn’t quite figure out what it meant. Only it made me think about Rachael Hamilton crying over her boyfriend in their apartment.

  But then it was gone, and he grinned, even though I was positive he didn’t mean it. “I guess that means I couldn’t talk to you about it even if I did. ”

  I frowned. “Abe. You know I would never betray your confidence. ”

  He shrugged, his face still reflecting false feelings. “I know. ”

  “When did you learn to guard your emotions?”

  He lay back on my bed, which made my imagination go wild, and made it very difficult to keep on track. “I guess when I learned people were willing to take advantage of me. ”

  “What?”

  He raised a brow. “What do you mean, ‘what’? You remember what I do for a living, right?”

  My stomach twisted. “I’m not used to you sounding cynical. I don’t like it. ”

  “That’s what happens when you’re a millionaire. ”

  “But people—no one’s tried to take advantage of you, have they?”

  Now he propped himself on one elbow—on my pillows!—and grinned at me, and I was sure it was genuine. “‘Taken advantage’?”

  I waved a hand. “You know. They say football players often struggle with people who want to get to their money, but—I don’t know, I didn’t think that applied to you. You family never would, right?”

  He relented. “Not my parents or anyone close, no. My aunt Claire, some—”

  “Oh, well, Claire,” I said, unsurprised. “No shocker there. ”

  “She wanted me to send Aviv to private school. ”

  “I hope you said no!”

  He shrugged. “I wouldn’t pay for him to go to a private high school, but college’s so expensive. So I set up a fund. ”

  I placed my head in my hands.

  “And then,” Abe continued, “I figured, ‘I can’t just do this for Aviv,’ so I set up a fund for all my cousins. ”

  I groaned. Abe had twelve cousins.

  “And then,” he said, sitting up, “I realized it was ridiculous to set up funds for my cousins, who are already well-enough off, and ignore kids who can’t afford any education, so I ended up sending most of my money to children’s educational charities and setting up scholarship funds. ”

  “You set up scholarship funds? How come I didn’t know about this?”

  He looked slightly embarrassed. “I didn’t tell my parents. I didn’t want them to go around bragging, which they kind of tend to. ”

  I shook my head, astonished. “They’d be proud of you. I’m proud of you. ”

  He smiled, his best kind of smile, and it warmed me all over. “Thanks. ” He paused. “I’m proud of you too, you know. That you moved out here on your own. That you landed your job at Sports Today. ”

  Now I was embarrassed, so I returned to the conversation from before. “But no one else is hounding you, are they?”

  He shrugged. “Occasionally. College friends who aren’t as successful. It’s hard for them, but after the first year I figured out how to set boundaries. Ryan was good at helping—he often mentors the rookies. ” He glanced up. “And then there are girls. ”

  Affront that I had no right to filled me, and I didn’t even bother trying to squash it, knowing it would simply have to run its course. “Well, I hope you haven’t fallen for any of that. ” My tone came out overly prim.

  Which caused him to grin overtly. “Once or twice. ”

  I sat on my hands so I couldn’t cross my arms and look annoyed. “What did you do—buy them dresses and jewelry and whisk them away to private islands?”

  He laughed, low and husky. “That didn’t even come close to sounding airy and uninterested. ”

  I watched him but said nothing.

  He scooted forward so that his long legs reached out and his knees came close to touching mine. “And what would you ask for?”

  My heart clenched and unclenched, heat and wind washing through my body, all the elements alive and pulsing. “There’s nothing I want. ”

  His dark eyes brightened. “Nothing?”

  I raised my chin defiantly. “Nothing you have. ”

  “And what else is there?”

  Our voices were soft, but we were so close we didn’t have to strain to hear each other. I could feel my pulse pounding, my blood rushing as my heart tumbled over at an impossible speed. “Things I can find myself. ”

  “Like?”

  My eyes involuntarily flickered over to the list, still sitting on the top of my dresser, close to Ellie. Abe caught the motion. “You have a list?”

  “Something like. ”

  “Let me see. ”

  I smiled. “Oh, you don’t need to know about all of it. ”

  “I think I do. ” He stood and plucked the piece of paper off my dresser.

  And at that moment I remembered my late night addition a week ago. “No!” I jumped up and threw myself at him without a second’s thought.

  Eyes bright with laughter, he lifted the list above his head. I tried to snatch at it but all of my limbs were too short—Abe had a full head on me and even with my arm fully outstretched I couldn’t reach his. But the image of Abe reading Get over Abraham kept me leaping, determined to keep him from reading my desires.

  He didn’t relent, instead dancing backward with the grace he usually reserved for the field, until he stood with his back against the wall. I swatted him, my light fists glancing off his warm arms. He grinned down at me a moment more, and I figured I could at least distract him even if I couldn’t win physically—and then he tilted his head back and angled the paper down.