He supposed life could be worse than having someone look after his every need. Especially because he’d be doing her a favor….

  He grinned. A favor—to take on so much extra work. Poor Hannah. Some people just couldn’t do things the easy way.

  * * *

  “SO…WHAT DO YOU THINK?” Ashleigh twisted in her seat to face Hannah as they drove the windy road that led down the mountain and back to town. “That seemed to go okay, didn’t it? I mean, at least he agreed to go out with us on Saturday.”

  The sun was sinking behind the trees, casting long shadows across the pavement. Hannah flipped on her headlights in preparation for the darkness that would soon follow and pictured the challenge in Gabe’s eyes when he’d pressed her to join them on Saturday. Although well-meaning, Ashleigh had botched everything. Hannah just didn’t want to say so. He’d agreed to go, but something behind his acceptance made Hannah nervous. Surely when he’d mentioned setting her up, he’d been joking….

  “It went great. Thanks for coming with me,” she said. Then she glanced at Ashleigh’s chest and wanted to groan. She was going to look like a donkey amid racehorses. She’d probably be ten years older than anyone else in the group and the only woman with no medical enhancements. She worked hard and sometimes she didn’t pause to eat, so she was a little too thin. She didn’t even have tips on her nails. They got in her way when she tried to frame her photographs and, in the months that Russ didn’t pay his child support, she couldn’t afford the maintenance.

  Had she done enough to keep herself up?

  She imagined herself naked and wondered what a man, someone besides Russ, might think of her. She exercised every day, but she had a stretch mark low on her stomach from her last pregnancy, and her tan came from working in her small garden. As a single mother, she had different priorities than Ashleigh and her single friends. Hannah wasn’t concerned with buying lingerie and bringing a man home on a Saturday night. She was happy with a terry-cloth robe, a good book and hearing Kenny come in before his curfew.

  She feared that made her frumpy, boring…

  “What’s wrong?” Ashleigh asked, her forehead rumpling.

  Hannah realized she was going too slow and sped up. “Nothing, why?”

  “You had a funny expression on your face.”

  “Oh…I was just thinking.”

  “About what?”

  Hannah considered telling Ashleigh the truth. She could’ve used a second opinion. But she didn’t want Ashleigh to think she had designs on Gabe. And anyway, voicing her insecurities would probably be a waste of breath, since Ashleigh would be too nice to be honest with her. “Nothing.”

  “What are you going to wear on Saturday night?”

  Hannah frowned. That was another problem. The past few years, she hadn’t spent much money on her own wardrobe. The boys and her business had needed too many things. “I’m not sure. How dressy is Asiago’s?”

  “You’ve never been?”

  Hannah shook her head.

  “It’s nice. You’ll want to go sort of…classy and chic.”

  “We live in Dundee, remember?”

  “You don’t have anything dressy?”

  “I have current casual and dated casual. Unless you want me to wear my old prom dress.”

  Ashleigh laughed. “At least it says something that you can still fit into your old prom dress.”

  “Stress has a way of taking its toll.”

  Ashleigh eyed Hannah carefully. “You know, you’re about the same size as my little sister. I bet she’d have something you could borrow.”

  “Tell me she’s over twelve.”

  “She’s twenty-four, and until a few weeks ago, she was living in California.”

  “And that’s significant, why?”

  “The people in California have taste, style.”

  “That depends. From what I’ve heard, Bakersfield isn’t much of a fashion center,” she said, navigating another tight turn.

  “She’s been living in L.A., silly. And she’s got some beautiful clothes. Why don’t you leave what you’re going to wear Saturday night up to me?”

  Hannah glanced skeptically at Ashleigh’s miniskirt and tight-fitting blouse. Considering the fact that Ashleigh hadn’t wanted anyone else around when she went out with Gabe, she was being a pretty good sport about the whole thing. “You’ll be conservative, though, right? I mean, I don’t have the boobs for a shirt like that.” Or the guts.

  Ashleigh made a noise of irritation. “Would you quit worrying? You’re going to look great. Trust me.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  TRUST ME…

  Ashleigh’s words rang through Hannah’s mind as she stared in the mirror at six o’clock Saturday evening. Ashleigh had been running late, so she’d finally sent her brother to deliver the outfit Hannah was supposed to wear. But, if Hannah hadn’t known better, she might’ve believed there’d been some sort of mix-up. She’d asked for something conservative—and gotten this?

  She couldn’t wear these clothes in public. The coral-colored blouse was definitely pretty, but it was almost sheer, revealing a lace-covered push-up bra of the same color that went underneath. And the narrow black skirt, which hit her at midcalf, had a slit that went all the way up to her thigh. A matching necklace, bracelet and earrings completed the ensemble.

  Taken as a whole, she looked stylish, daring and impulsive. The thought of going out on the town like this made her blood race with an excitement she hadn’t felt in years. But she didn’t recognize herself and she wasn’t sure she could trust the stranger in the mirror to remember that she was a mother of two, a woman with Responsibilities.

  The doorbell rang. Kenny was with Tuck, and Brent was spending the night with Patti and his cousins. Hannah was the only one around. But she needed to change before she let Gabe in.

  “Just a minute,” she called and began digging through her closet. She had plenty of shorts and denim skirts and khaki capris, but nothing as elegant as what she was wearing.

  The bell rang again.

  “Not very patient, are you,” she muttered, and pulled out a plain white blouse, some black slacks and a pair of sandals. This was the best she could do, she decided. Maybe she’d be mistaken for one of the waitresses, but—

  “Hannah? Are you hoping I’ll give up and go away?” Gabe had opened the door.

  She froze with her blouse halfway unbuttoned and one spiky heel tossed aside. “No, of course not. I’m looking forward to tonight,” she called down the hall.

  “I’m hungry. Are you almost ready?”

  She fingered the soft fabric of her blouse. She would never let her boys see her wearing such a thing. But they weren’t here. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to climb out on a limb for one night. Ashleigh and her friends would probably be dressed much more provocatively….

  In any case, Gabe was in her living room, anxious to leave. It was too late to change.

  Buttoning her blouse, she slipped on her shoes and headed down the hallway. Better to stop quibbling over clothes and get the evening over with, she decided. Hopefully, Gabe would connect with Ashleigh or one of Ashleigh’s friends and be whisked into the social scene for good.

  * * *

  GABE WASN’T SURE WHAT he’d been expecting, but he knew it wasn’t what he saw. When Hannah emerged from the back of the house dressed in a sheer blouse that revealed a lacy bra, he couldn’t look away. She wasn’t as big-busted as Ashleigh, but there was something stimulating about the way the soft fabric revealed more than it concealed. He could see the slight, feminine indentations below her collarbone, the muscle tone in her upper arms, the small swell of her breasts above her bra—and felt a sudden jolt of testosterone.

  This was the second time Hannah had affected him on such a basic level, he realized. Ashleigh had thrust her breasts right in his face when she’d cut his hair the other night. He’d noticed, even taken a moment to admire what he’d seen, but the sight hadn’t hit him nearly as hard as Hannah standing there in that sexy blouse.

  Maybe it was her manner that appealed to him. She didn’t act as blatantly sexual or as experienced as Ashleigh. Despite what she was wearing, she appeared soft and reserved, almost innocent—peaches and cream instead of sugar and spice.

  “Hello.” Her voice was open and friendly, but she immediately folded her arms across her chest as if she wanted to shield herself from his view.

  He let his gaze sweep over her anyway. “You look nice.”

  He could tell by the tone of her response that she thought he was only being polite. “Thanks. So do you. Royal blue brings out the color of your eyes.” She cleared her throat. “I mean, I’m sure Ashleigh will like it.”

  Ashleigh? Evidently, she was still trying to play Cupid. But he had something to teach her about meddling…. “What do you think?” he asked.

  She hesitated only briefly. “I like it,” she said, but her words didn’t reveal how much. He found it interesting that she’d obviously excluded herself from whatever group of women she’d selected to catch his eye.

  “Are you going to cover up like that all night?” he asked.

  “Like what?”

  He indicated the arms that guarded her chest.

  “No…”

  “Then, put your arms down.”

  She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and blinked several times.

  “Well?” he prompted. “If you can’t wear that in front of me, how do you expect to wear it in front of the friend I’ve invited to meet us tonight?”

  “You invited someone?”

  He grinned. “Don’t worry. He’s young and good-looking. And this is a group activity, remember? That should bring you some comfort.”

  Her face fell. “You’re not joking.”

  “Of course not. What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying.”

  He could tell she didn’t know quite what to think about this turn of events, and immediately decided he’d been right to accept her invitation for tonight. This was going to be fun. “I met him at a photo shoot I did for Sports Illustrated a few years ago. He lives in Boise. When I called, he said he’d love to hook up with us.”

  “Great,” she grumbled.

  “Come on, show a little more enthusiasm. He’s blond, after all.” He waved to her defensive posture. “So, if you don’t mind….”

  She didn’t move. “What does the color of his hair have to do with anything?”

  “You’re the one who’s fixated on hair color. You tell me.” He winked at her.

  “Fine,” she said. “I do prefer blondes,” and studied his dark hair with a glint in her eyes before slowly lowering her arms.

  Since she was willing to meet his challenge, Gabe took several seconds to absorb the details of what he’d already glimpsed. He could tell she was self-conscious, but keeping her off-balance was part of the fun. He loved the blush creeping up her neck, the way her tongue darted out to nervously wet her lips.

  “Where’re the boys?” he asked, finally meeting her gaze.

  She cleared her throat and started to cross her arms again—then seemed to catch herself. “Brent’s with his father’s family, and Kenny’s running around with Tuck.”

  They were alone. For some reason, Gabe remembered all the times he’d gone to pick up a woman for dinner or some other event, and ended up in bed with her before they ever left the house. The NFL had been a real eye-opener for a country boy like him, who’d been a virgin until halfway through college. His father had always been ferociously protective of women, had drilled it into him that a real man never broke a woman’s heart.

  Gabe could still remember being grounded for two whole weeks because he’d been rude to a girl who’d called him. It hadn’t mattered that she’d called him every day for weeks and he was tired of her unwanted overtures. Whether the concept was old-fashioned or not, his father demanded he be a gentleman, and Gabe had taken that to heart. Because he’d never fallen in love deeply enough to make any promises, he’d mostly kept his hands to himself.

  But then he’d entered the NFL and his first brush with fame and too much money had tumbled him like wet cement in a mixer. The women seemed to come from everywhere. They were aggressive beyond anything he’d ever experienced and frankly admitted that they didn’t care if he offered them anything more than a one-night stand—they just wanted him between their legs. They’d tuck notes in his pocket, send him nude pictures, whisper lewd promises in his ear, follow him back to wherever he was staying, appear at all hours of the night with an offering of wine, or even drugs. He ended up sleeping with so many women during those first few years, he wasn’t sure he could count them all. There’d seemed no point in saying no. They didn’t care if he was sensitive, generous or kind. They cared only for peeling off his clothes so they could brag about it later.

  But it didn’t take long for the influence of his upbringing to finally reassert itself. Gabe began to long for a deeper, more stable relationship. Eventually he hoped to find a wife and settle down. But he never met the right woman. He suspected he’d gone from one extreme to the other and become too adept at avoiding the hands that were always clutching at him. In any case, he’d accumulated enough experience through those early years in the NFL to know what it felt like to forego a date and head straight to bed.

  I prefer blondes. He was tempted to throw that taunt right back in Hannah’s face, show her that the color of his hair had nothing to do with what he could or couldn’t do for her. He suspected it had been a long time since she’d entertained a man in her bed and wondered if she missed it.

  But he hadn’t made love to anyone since the accident and knew it would never be the same.

  Thinking about the changes helped him rein in his libido—that and the fact that this was Hannah, the woman who’d caused the accident. Getting involved with her would be far too complicated, especially now that he was Kenny’s coach.

  Forcing his mind to the mundane and practical, he shook off the first real excitement he’d known in almost three years. He had no business thinking about sex until he was back on his feet. He had enough challenges ahead without bringing a woman into his life.

  “I’m returning your dishes from the past couple nights,” he said.

  She crossed to the basket he’d put inside the door. “Thanks. I’ll take them into the kitchen and grab my house keys so we can go.”

  When she didn’t come back right away, he wondered where she’d gone. Then she appeared in a plain white shirt instead of that semisheer blouse and the mystery was solved.

  “Lost your nerve?” he teased.

  She knew immediately what he was talking about. “I decided it might get too chilly.”

  He laughed softly. “I think you’re afraid it’ll get too hot.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yes, you do. You’re nervous about my friend.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “You expect me to take the risk of opening myself up to new relationships, but you’re not willing to do the same.”

  “This isn’t what you seem to think,” she argued. “It’s just a night out with friends.”

  “Right.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s venturing into the singles scene, and if I’m going, you’re coming with me.”

  Her forehead gathered into a V. “Why?”

  “Why not? Don’t you want to date, have fun…maybe even make love again?”

  She turned a deeper shade of red than before. “I have kids.”

  The way she said it told Gabe more than she probably wanted him to know. It had been a long time since she’d felt a man’s hands on her body—and, yes, she missed it.

  He fought off a fresh wave of desire. “Some people don’t think having kids and an active social life are mutually exclusive.”

  “In Dundee they are. There’s no way to have a relationship without word spreading all over town. I’m beginning to think the bigger gossips actually troll the neighborhoods at night, hoping to find someone’s car in the wrong drive.”

  “The gossips are still that hungry after all I’ve offered them over the years?”

  She propped a hand on her hip. “You haven’t been doing your part lately.”

  He chuckled. “Okay, I’ll give you that. But you have to meet men somehow. Don’t you plan to remarry someday?”

  “No.”

  She didn’t qualify her response, which surprised him. He rolled back several feet. “It was that bad with Russ?”

  “It was that bad.”

  He felt a flicker of sympathy for her, but he knew he couldn’t give in to it. He had to push her the same way she was pushing him or she’d spend the next six years like the last. Maybe, because she didn’t live in a remote cabin, no one else noticed, but she was isolating herself almost as much as he was. “Not every guy is like Russ.”

  She didn’t respond, so he went for his ace in the hole. “And the way I figure it, you owe it to me to do pretty much whatever I ask.”

  She folded her arms—which wasn’t too lamentable in that white shirt—and leaned against the wall. “I owe you?”

  He struggled against a smile and indicated his wheelchair. “Look what you’ve done to me. It’s tragic.”

  She pursed her lips together. “Somehow it’s more tragic when you’re not trying to capitalize on it.”

  He couldn’t help laughing. “Can you really begrudge me a little fun?”

  “Fun? At my expense? You told me I should forget you and move on with my life. You told me to forgive myself. What happened to that?”

  “You didn’t do it,” he said with a shrug. “You decided to stick your nose in my business instead. Now I’m doing you the same favor.”

  She stared at her feet for a few seconds before looking up at him again. “So this…revenge of yours. It’s essentially a blind date?”

  “More or less,” he said brightly. “Now go put that blouse back on so we can leave.”

  She shoved off the wall. “You don’t think your friend will like me in this?”