Calling All the Shots (2 page)

“It’s cold outside,” she said.

“I have those patio heaters. You’ll be comfortable,” he
said.

She nodded and turned away from him. He watched her walk slowly
across his apartment before he started toward the kitchen. She was on edge and
didn’t seem to be in the mood to enjoy this evening with him. If he was a
different kind of man he’d give up but he was used to overcoming odds and coming
out the winner. After all everyone said after his career-ending football injury
that he was going to have to go back to Frisco, Texas. But he hadn’t.

He poured them both a glass of wine and headed out to the
balcony. It was quiet, thanks to the glass walls that surrounded the patio area,
and warm, thanks to his heaters.

“Thanks,” she said. “Sorry I was so snippy earlier.”

“No problem,” he said. He lifted his glass to hers. “To new
beginnings.”

“New beginnings,” she said. “For tonight or since we met?”

Something about what she said made him realize that the past
might hold the key to whatever the problem was between them. “For everything. I
know I’ve changed since I left Frisco and I’m sure you have, too.”

“Not as much as you’d think,” she said, taking a sip of her
wine. “I still love football and feel guilty if I don’t go to church on Sunday.
Though the Baptist church I attend here is nothing like Prestonwood back
home.”

He chuckled. No state did religion like Texas. “I know what you
mean. My mom is praying for my soul since I’m usually working and don’t get to
church as often as I should.”

“Sinner. You’re such a bad boy,” she said, but there was a grin
on her face when she said it.

“Haven’t I always been?”

“Yes, you have. Tell me about the new Jack Crown. What haven’t
I seen?” she asked.

He started to talk about himself but stopped. He wasn’t sure
why but he knew that going on and on about his TV shows and his lifestyle wasn’t
the right tack with Willow. “I’m not interested in that. Tell me about you. I
remember in high school you wanted to be a writer.”

He saw the momentary surprise in her eyes before she masked it.
She turned away from him, took another sip of her wine and then cleared her
throat. “That’s right, I did, but once I got to school I realized that I’m more
into telling people what to do.”

He grinned as he suspected she wanted him to. But he’d been a
star athlete and had lost the ability to play his game so he knew that
dreams—especially those that were held since childhood—were hard to let go of.
“I’m glad it was easy for you to transition. It wasn’t for me.”

“From football?” she asked. “I saw the game where you were
injured and despite everything I felt bad about what happened.”

“What do you mean despite everything?” he asked.

“Just that I wasn’t a Giants fan,” she said.

Again he sensed there was more she wasn’t saying but this was a
first date so that made sense. He’d find out what she was hiding from him as
time went on.

The timer on his iPod beeped and he stood up. “Dinner’s
ready.”

“I think I’ll go wash up,” she said. “Can you direct me to the
restroom?”

“To the left of the TV wall,” he said. “I’ll give you a tour
after dinner.”

She arched one eyebrow at him. “What else would you show me
except your bedroom…the entire apartment is visible?”

“I’ll show you my bedroom,” he said. “But I’ll wait until you
ask to see it.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” she said.

“Over dinner I want you to explain why you’re so prickly,” he
said.

“Just because I’m not swooning at the thought of seeing your
bedroom?” she asked.

“Sort of. But you also seem to be almost angry at me and I
don’t know why,” he said.

“Oh, I…”

“Not now. Go wash up and while we’re eating you can tell me.
I’m very good at fixing things,” he said.

She shook her head. “Not this.”

He watched her walk away again and this time he was just as
puzzled by her as the first time. He wanted her, which was why he’d been trying
so hard to convince her to go out with him. But now that she was here and he
realized how much of herself she kept hidden from the world…well, it just
intrigued him more.

He wanted to get to know the whole Willow not just seduce her
into his bed. But both objectives were looking harder than he’d thought they’d
be.

There was definitely something from their mutual past that he’d
done to upset her. But for the life of him he couldn’t put his finger on what it
was. He rarely thought of those old days now.

He got the dinner his housekeeper had prepared out of the oven
and set the table for two. Willow still hadn’t emerged from the bathroom and he
wondered why.

He was about to go knock on the door when she was back with a
fake bright smile on her face. “Dinner smells good. I had no idea you could
cook.”

“I can’t,” he said.

“Another illusion shattered,” she said.

“I never said I could cook,” he said.

“I know. It’s just that you seem like you can do everything,”
she said. “All the shows and the easy charm. Life just looks really good for
you.”

“It is, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. I have struggles like
everyone else.”

He held her chair out and she sat down at the table. “Jack
Crown isn’t like everyone else.”

“I was hoping you’d see that. I’m not like any other man you
know,” he said. “But I think you meant that in a negative way. So tell me—what
did I do to make you so angry?”

She swallowed hard and looked up at him with those big, dark
brown eyes of hers. “Nothing. I’ve just been burned in the past by men who
seemed too good to be true.”

“Get to know me so you can see that I’m exactly what you think
I am.”

“That might not work in your favor,” she said. “I don’t have a
positive impression of you.”

“I can work with it,” he said. He always had the feeling that
she was judging him, and if there was one thing he knew about Willow it was that
she didn’t pull her punches or her words. “How would you describe me?”

“Too charming for your own good,” she said.

“I can work with charming,” he said.

Two

“N
ot charming.
Too
charming,” she reminded him.

Willow hadn’t meant to reveal how she felt about Jack but she
realized that she couldn’t help herself. Yes, she wanted some kind of revenge on
him but she also wanted him to know how she felt. She wanted him to have a clue
about her distrust of him. She almost would have said she disliked him but she
knew that was a lie.

“Too charming…that can mean a myriad of things,” he said. “Do
you find me irresistible?”

“Never,” she said. “You do have moments when I think I could
like you but then your ego comes shining through.”

“It’s hard to be humble when I’ve got so much going for me,” he
said.

It took a minute for her to get that he was teasing her. She
really didn’t want to like him. It was okay to see flashes of it but she didn’t
want to see that there was a real man behind the toothy grin and perfectly
styled hair.

“Yeah, you got it all,” she said. “I know you’re being silly
but to someone on the outside it looks like you do live a charmed life. Why
would you be interested in me?” she asked. No sense in beating around the bush.
It was the one thing that seemed illogical to her. He could have any woman he
wanted so why her? Why now?

“Maybe because you’re a challenge,” he said.

It was the answer she was expecting but disappointing all the
same. “So it’s just a game to you then?”

“Not a game. Life is too short to not go after what you want. I
like you. You can be funny on the set and I see the way you really connect with
the couples and with your friends and crew. I want to be a part of that.”

She didn’t know what he meant. Sure she made the time to listen
to people but only because she’d learned that if she didn’t then the results
they got when filming weren’t that great. “That’s just the way I work.”

“It’s more than that. I saw you holding Bella McCaw when Fiona
needed someone to take care of her. And there was a look on your face....”

Fiona was a fashion designer and single mom who’d come on the
show with her darling daughter, Bella Ann. She’d been matched to Alex Cannon, a
games developer. They were an interesting couple who were now happily
engaged.

“What look?” she asked. She always liked to believe she had a
poker face that didn’t reveal what she was thinking. Wasn’t that true?

He shrugged. “It just got me to thinking that I wanted to get
to know you better.”

“Are you looking to settle down with me?” she asked. If he said
yes, it would really give her the ammunition she needed to bring him to his
knees. But on the other hand…he wasn’t the boy she knew in high school. Maybe he
didn’t deserve her vengeance.

“No,” he said. “Just want to get to know you better. For a few
moments I want to be like every other man in America who has an attractive
coworker and invites her out for dinner.”

“You’re never going to be like every other man in America. You
know that, right?” How could he look at his life and think he could be like
everyone else? He’d won a Heisman Trophy. They only gave out one a year, so that
put him in an elite sportsman category. He’d been named Associated Press Athlete
of the Year and played professional football before going on to be the host of
some of the most popular shows on TV. He was never going to be an average
Joe.

“Yes, I do, but with you I feel like I am. All the trappings of
the celebrity lifestyle aren’t important to you,” he said.

“That’s true. I’ve seen the other side of celebrity,” she
said.

“Me, too. We are uniquely suited for each other,” he said,
waggling his eyebrows and smiling over at her.

“I don’t know.” She did know. If she played this right she
could get him thinking that maybe he could have something with her. Then she’d
walk away.

“Come on, how many people do you meet in this business from
Frisco, Texas?” he said with that half smile of his that reminded her a little
too much of the boy who’d first stolen her heart.

She put down her fork and took a sip of her wine. Revenge, she
thought. She had to stay focused on what she really wanted or she was going to
lose her way.

He reached over and touched her hand. A little zing shot up her
arm. His touch unnerved her as much now as it had when he’d hugged her earlier.
He ran his finger over her knuckles and then turned her hand over in his and
traced the lines on her palm.

“I’m only asking for a chance here,” he said.

A chance. To do what? He’d said he wanted a regular
relationship but had never had a chance to have that because of his
celebrity.

And she wanted what Nichole had suggested. A chance to find
some happiness for herself down the line. So she had to do something with Jack.
Had to find a way to make peace with her past so she could trust again. And she
knew now that unless he was hiding cloven hooves and the devil’s tail she wasn’t
going to be able to be as coldly calculating as she’d thought she could be.
She’d thought that focusing on getting back at him would be enough to protect
her but maybe it wasn’t.

“A chance, eh? Just dating?” she asked. She didn’t want to
admit it—even to herself—but the thought of walking away from him was beginning
to fade.

“Yes, dating. It’s not going to be easy since I have to fly
back and forth between the coasts all the time but I do want a chance to get to
know you better. A chance to prove that there is more to me than Prince
Charming.”

“I’ve never called you Prince Charming,” she said.

“Everyone knows I am,” he said with that stupid arrogant grin
of his. “Let’s face it, you even said I was charming.”

Suddenly she thought it might not be too hard to hurt him if he
was going to act like this. Was this the real Jack Crown? She had no idea, and
she never would unless she took a chance on him.

“Fine, we can date,” she said. But as she looked into those
very blue eyes of his, she couldn’t help a niggling sensation that this was a
bad idea. She was susceptible to Jack. She always had been. And she knew how
easy it was to fall for him.

Wanting revenge was one thing, but messing up her life at
work—the one place where she was truly at home and happy—didn’t seem smart. If
she was going to fool around with Jack and walk away, she had to be careful how
she timed it and that she never let it interfere with work.

“Golly gee, Willow, don’t sound so excited about it,” he
said.

She nodded over at him. “I’m sorry. I’d be happy to go on dates
with you when the time allows.”

“That’s all I ask,” he said, tracing a random pattern on her
palm before closing his fingers over it.

She knew he wanted something more from her and only if she kept
her wits about her would she be able to protect herself from being hurt once
again by Jack Crown.

* * *

Jack felt like he was playing a part for Willow. If he
had a hope in hell of making this real, he had to stop. The problem was he no
longer knew who he was. It had been his problem for a while now and while it was
easy to admit to himself that he was coasting through life, it was hard to
figure out how to change.

Willow was the key, he thought. Watching her on the set of
Sexy & Single
had been the catalyst. He did
want something more from her. He wanted to feel like he was alive again. He was
tired from working all the time and taking silly risks on
Extreme Careers
to make himself remember he was alive.

They had finished dinner and he’d cleared the table with
Willow’s help. He liked having her in the kitchen because it strongly reminded
him of happy days from his youth. Not one of the women he’d dated in the past
year had come into his kitchen when he’d had them over for dinner.

Another thing that had set Willow apart was that she hadn’t
pulled out her smartphone one time during their meal. Despite her initial
reluctance to join him for dinner, she hadn’t been distracted by the outside
world once she did.

He put the last of the dishes on the counter and turned,
leaning back against it to watch her. She glanced over at him and he could see
he’d startled her.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

He felt like he had to constantly be on his guard around her.
She didn’t just relax and let herself enjoy the night. She was waiting for
something to happen. Something he was supposed to do, he suspected, but he had
no idea what it was.

“I’m trying to figure out why you were so jumpy when I hugged
you,” he said.

She shrugged. “I…I just was. No need to dig deeper.”

It was almost too easy to find out what made her tick. She gave
away things he knew she didn’t mean to with her defensive attitude. She was cool
and casual when he was talking about things like work but anything the slightest
bit personal and she got her back up.

“There is always a reason to dig deeper with you. You are
hiding so much of the real Willow beneath a facade of calmness. You never show
more than a hint of what’s going on below the surface.”

“That’s because in our business only divas can get away with
throwing a temper tantrum,” she said, then arched her eyebrow at him. “Isn’t
that right?”

“Are you trying to say I’m a diva?”

“Not trying—I did. I wasn’t the only one who heard the
dressing-down you gave Kat last week when you didn’t have an exotic fruit basket
in your dressing room.”

He almost flushed at the way she said it. “I was jet-lagged and
I apologized later.”

“I know. Kat’s used to dealing with those types of situations
so it didn’t even faze her.”

“Some days it’s harder than others,” he said. He wasn’t proud
of the way he’d behaved. It was difficult sometimes—when everyone wanted a piece
of you—to remember he wasn’t entitled to any of the fame he’d gotten. He tried
to remind himself that his mom would have tanned his hide if she’d been alive to
witness his ogreish behavior.

“What is? Being America’s second most popular TV host?” she
asked.

“You’re being flip, but my management people and network bosses
look at my Q rating every day. There is a lot of pressure to stay on top,” he
said. “Plus every time I step outside someone wants an autograph or to talk
about my latest exploits…and I’m not complaining. I know without those people
I’d be just another washed-up ball player. Still, as I said, some days it’s
harder than others.”

She tipped her head to the side and studied him. “I know.
That’s why so many people in our business are so messed up. I bet you never
thought you’d have these types of problems.”

“Definitely not. I figured I’d play football until I was thirty
and then retire with my trophy wife to a large ranch in Texas Hill Country,
teaching my boys how to play,” he said with a sardonic laugh. “This definitely
wasn’t part of my plans.”

“Trophy wife? Why are you trying to date me then?” she asked,
crossing her arms under her breasts and giving him the same hard look she gave
the cameramen when they didn’t get a shot she wanted.

“I said that was my original idea of what my life would be.
Things changed—I’m over thirty now,” he said. Willow sort of did fit his idea of
a trophy wife, though—she was sexy as hell, successful in her own right and she
knew how to make things happen.

“Yes, you are, old man.”

He liked it when she teased him. It was as if she forgot who he
was outside of this apartment and she let herself relax.

“I’m not that ancient.”

“Nope, but you’ll always be older than me,” she said with a
smile. Her phone twittered in her pocket and she gave him a wry smile. “I’ve got
to check that. It keeps going off, which makes me think it might be urgent.”

“Go ahead,” he said. “Would you like coffee or maybe an after
dinner drink?”

“Coffee would be great,” she said.

“You can go into the living room,” he said. “I’ll bring it
in.”

She nodded distractedly as she pulled her phone from her pocket
and read the message she’d received. He noticed that she chewed on her lower lip
and her brow furrowed as she read.

He watched as she settled herself on the overstuffed leather
sofa he’d ordered from Italy last year before turning to make them both a cup of
coffee. He carried the cups over and placed them on the coffee table, then sat
down next to her on the couch. She was still tapping out a message on her
phone.

The scent of her perfume was light and floral and reminded him
of spring. He stretched his arm along the back of the couch and felt the cool
fall of her straight hair against his hand. He wanted to reach out and touch it,
to bury his fingers in her hair, but he didn’t want to distract her. He liked
being able to sit here and just watch her.

She sighed and then put her phone on the table. “Deidre is
getting cold feet. She doesn’t think that Peter is right for her and has asked
for another match,” Willow said.

“Can she do that?” he asked.

“I guess so. I’ve sent Mona a message to see what she can do,”
Willow said.

Mona was the matchmaker at Matchmakers, Inc. who was providing
all the couples at the show. Jack was surprised that this couple was having such
a hard time since Mona’s instincts had been right for the other three couples
that had gone before them.

Deidre Adamson was a very popular advice columnist and
television talk show host who rose to fame by turning her brutal honesty on the
people who came on her show. Jack liked that kind of straight shooting. She’d
been matched with the famous Peter Mullen. He was wild and a bit outrageous.

“Peter must have done something that shook her,” Jack said.
“I’ve been chatting with him a bit on the set. Do you want me to see if I can
step in and fix this?”

* * *

Willow just stared at him for a minute. This was her
headache and she was used to fixing problems on her own. “How could you
help?”