Simply Irresistible (32 page)

“What are you going to do now?”

“I have to make an appointment to talk to a lawyer.” She yawned and propped her chin on her fists. “I don’t know who yet, or where I’m going to get the money for the legal fees.”

“Maybe John won’t really go through with custody. Maybe if you talk to him, he—”

“I don’t want to talk to him,” Georgeanne interrupted, suddenly alive. She sat up straight in her chair and her eyes narrowed. “He’s a liar and a sneak, and he has no principles at all. He played on my weakness. I should have had sex years ago. I should have listened to you. You were right. I just kind of exploded and became a nymphomaniac. I guess sex isn’t the sort of thing you should put off until you explode.”

Mae felt her jaw drop. “Get out!”

“Oh, I’m out. I’m way out.”

“With the hockey player?”

Georgeanne nodded.

“Again?”

“You’d think I’d have learned the first time.”

Mae didn’t know what to say. Georgeanne was one of the most sexually repressed women she knew. “How’d that happen?”

“I don’t know. We were getting along and it just did.”

Mae didn’t consider herself promiscuous. She just didn’t always say no when she should. By contrast, Georgeanne
always
said no.

“He tricked me. He was nice and so good with Lexie and I forgot. Well, I didn’t really forget what a jerk he could be, I just sort of let myself forgive.”

Mae didn’t believe in forgiving and forgetting. She liked the Old Testament wrath-of-God stuff and believed in an eye for an eye. But she could see how a good-looking guy like John could make a woman overlook a few things—like being dumped at an airport after a one-night stand—if the woman was attracted to two-hundred pounds of solid muscle, which, of course, Mae was not.

“He didn’t have to go that far. I was giving him everything he asked for. Each time he wanted to see Lexie, I arranged it.” Anger mixed with the tears in Georgeanne’s eyes. “He didn’t have to sleep with me. I’m not a charity case.”

Even on her worst hair day, with dark circles and chipped nails, Mae really didn’t believe any man would consider Georgeanne a charity case. “Do you really believe he made love to you because he felt sorry for you?”

Georgeanne shrugged. “I don’t think it was a real hardship for him, but I know he wanted to keep me happy until he and his lawyer could get together and decide what to do about getting custody of Lexie.” She covered her cheeks with her palms. “It’s so humiliating.”

“What can I do to help?” Mae leaned forward and laid her hand on Georgeanne’s shoulder. She would take on the world for the people she loved. There were times in her life when she’d felt as if she had. Not so much anymore, but when Ray had been alive, she’d fought both their battles, especially in high school when big, athletic guys had thought it funny to beat him with wet towels. Ray had hated PE, but Mae had hated the jocks who ruled gym class. “What do you want me to do? Do you want me to talk to Lexie?”

Georgeanne shook her head. “I think Lexie needs time to sort everything out in her mind.”

“Do you want me to talk to John? I could tell him how you feel and maybe—”

“No.” She wiped her cheeks with the backs of her hands. “I don’t want him to know how badly he’s hurt me again.”

“I could hire someone to break his knees.”

Georgeanne paused before she said, “No. We don’t have enough money to hire a professional hit man, and it’s so hard to find good help without ready cash. Look what happened to Tonya Harding. Thanks for the offer, though.”

“Ahh ... what are friends for?”

“I’ve been through this heartache once before with John. Of course, Lexie wasn’t an issue then, but I’ll get through it again. I don’t know how yet, but I will.” Georgeanne pulled her robe securely around her and frowned. “And then there’s Charles. What am I going to tell him?”

Mae reached for her espresso. “Absolutely nothing,” she answered, then took a sip.

“You think I should lie?”

“No. Just don’t tell him.”

“What do I say if he asks?”

She set her coffee back on the table. “That depends on how much you like him.”

“I really like Charles. I know it doesn’t appear that way, but I do.”

“Then lie.”

Georgeanne shoulders sagged and she sighed. “I feel so guilty. I can’t believe I jumped in bed with John. I didn’t even think about Charles. Maybe I’m one of those women you read about in
Cosmo
who screw up relationships because deep down I don’t think I’m worthy. Maybe I’m destined to love men who can’t love me back.”

“Maybe you should stop reading
Cosmo
.”

Georgeanne shook her head. “I’ve made such a mess of things. What am I going to do?”

“You’ll get through it. You’re one of the strongest women I know.” Mae patted Georgeanne’s shoulder. She had a lot of faith in Georgeanne’s strength and determination. She knew that her friend didn’t always see herself as a woman with grit, but then Georgeanne didn’t always view herself in an accurate or objective light. “Hey, did I tell you that Hugh, the goalie, called me while you were in Oregon?”

“John’s friend? Why?”

“He wanted to go out on a date.”

Georgeanne stared at Mae for several incredulous moments. “I thought you made your feelings clear the day you ran into him outside the hospital.”

“I did, but he asked again.”

“Really? That beats all with a stick.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

“Well, I hope you let him down gently.”

“I did.”

“What did you say?”

“Hell, no.”

Normally Georgeanne and Mae would have debated Mae’s rude rejection. Instead Georgeanne shrugged and said, “Well, I guess you won’t have to worry that he’ll call a second time.”

“He did call a second time, but I think he just wanted to annoy me. He called to ask me if I was still wrestling pit bulls.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing. I hung up on him, and he’s only called once since then.”

“Well, I’m sure it’s best just to stay away from all hockey players. Best for the both of us.”

“That’s not a problem for me.” Mae thought of telling Georgeanne about her latest boyfriend, but she decided against it. He was married, and Georgeanne tended to moralize about stuff like that. But Mae felt no qualms about sleeping with another woman’s husband as long as he didn’t have children. She didn’t want marriage. She didn’t want to look at the guy’s face over dinner every night. She didn’t want to do his laundry or birth his babies. She just wanted sex, and married men were perfect. She got to call all the shots and controlled when, where, and how often.

She never told Georgeanne how often she dated married men. Even though Georgeanne apparently had a carnal weakness when it came to John Kowalsky, she could be such a prude sometimes.

Chapter Fifteen

After several hours of grueling drills, coaches and players jammed the ice for a two-puck scrimmage. By day three of training camp, the Chinooks were ready for a little fun. Two of the team’s goalies crouched inside the creases at opposite ends of the rink, alert, waiting for someone to fire a rubber biscuit at their heads.

Raw gutter talk and the steady
slur-slur-slur
of skates filled John’s ears as he zigzagged down ice. The sleeves of his practice jersey fluttered as he swerved through human traffic. He kept his head up, and the puck sailing close to the blade of his stick. He could feel a rookie third-line defenseman breathing down his neck, and in order to avoid getting knocked into the cheap seats, he shot a high-wrister past Hugh Miner on the short side.

“Eat that, farm boy,” he said as he put his weight on the edges of his skates and stopped abruptly in front of the goal. A fine spray of ice powered Hugh’s pads.

“Blow me, old man,” Hugh grumbled, and reached behind him for the puck. He tossed it toward the other end of the rink, then crouched again and banged his stick on the red posts and cross bar, gaining his bearing without taking his eyes from the scrum.

John laughed and skated back into the free-for-all. When the practice was over, he felt bruised from battle, but happy to be back in the war. Later in the locker room, he handed his skates to a trainer to be sharpened for the next day and took a shower.

“Hey, Kowalsky,” an assistant coach called from the doorway to the locker rooms. “Mr. Duffy wants to see you when you’re dressed. He’s with Coach Nystrom.”

“Thanks, Kenny.” John tied his shoes, then pulled a green T-shirt with a Chinooks logo over his head and tucked it inside his blue nylon sweatpants. His teammates wandered around the room in various stages of undress, talking hockey, contracts, and the new rules the NHL had instated for the coming season.

It wasn’t unusual for Virgil Duffy to ask John to meet him, especially when the team’s general manager was out of state scouting for new talent. John was the captain of the Chinooks. He was a veteran player, and no one knew hockey better than the men who had played it for thirty years. Virgil respected John’s opinion, and John had come to respect the owner’s business acumen, even if at times they didn’t agree. At the moment they were debating a second-line enforcer. Good enforcers didn’t come cheap, and Virgil didn’t always want to pay millions for a limited player.

As John made his way to the front offices, he wondered how Virgil would react when he learned of Lexie’s existence. He didn’t figure the older gentleman would be real pleased, but he didn’t fear being traded anymore. Although he wouldn’t completely rule out the possibility. Virgil tended to be a hot reactor. The longer it took for Virgil to hear of what had transpired seven years ago, the better. John wasn’t purposely keeping Lexie a secret, but he figured there was no need to rub Virgil’s nose in it either.

He thought of Lexie and frowned. Since that morning in Cannon Beach a month and a half ago, Georgeanne had kept Lexie from him. She’d hired a lipstick-wearing pit bull for a lawyer who’d insisted on a paternity test. They’d stalled the test for weeks, then on the day the court-ordered test was to be performed, she’d done an about-face and had signed a document legally acknowledging paternity. With a stroke of Georgeanne’s pen, John was legally declared Lexie’s father.

A home examiner had been appointed to interview John and inspect his houseboat. The same examiner had talked to Georgeanne and Lexie and had recommended several short introduction visitations between father and child before John would be allowed to keep Lexie for longer periods of time. At the end of the introduction period, John would receive the same custody awarded fathers in a divorce situation, only he didn’t even have to appear before a judge. Once Georgeanne had legally acknowledged John as Lexie’s father, everything began to move rapidly.

John’s frown hardened. But for now, Georgeanne still had him by the short and curlies. He wasn’t getting any pleasure out of the experience, but Georgeanne obviously liked her grip. Well, she’d better enjoy it while it lasted, because in the end, what Georgeanne wanted wasn’t going to matter very much. She didn’t want him to pay child support or his share of Lexie’s day care and medical insurance. Through his lawyer, he’d offered generous support, plus full day care and insurance. He wanted to support his child and was willing to pay for whatever she needed, but Georgeanne had refused everything. According to her attorney, she didn’t want anything from him. In the end it wasn’t going to matter. The lawyers were in the final stages of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. Georgeanne would have to take what he offered.

He hadn’t seen or talked to Georgeanne since that morning at the beach house when she’d freaked out over nothing. She’d blown everything way out of proportion, calling him a sneaky liar when he hadn’t really lied to her. Okay, maybe that first night when she’d come to his houseboat he might have lied by omission. So they’d agreed not to hire attorneys, but he’d already hired Kirk Schwartz two hours before she’d showed up on his doorstep. He’d already had a basic idea of his rights even before he’d talked to her that night. Maybe he should have told her, but he’d figured she’d just get pissed off and try to keep Lexie from him. And he’d been right. But even now, he wouldn’t change what he’d done. He’d needed to know. He had to know his legal options in case Georgeanne moved or married or refused to let him see Lexie. He’d wanted to know who was listed as Lexie’s father on her birth certificate. He’d wanted information. His future with Lexie was too important not to know his legal rights.

The image of Lexie standing in the kitchen at his house in Cannon Beach was still vivid in his mind. He remembered the confusion on her face, and the bewildered look in her eye when she’d glanced over her shoulder at him as Georgeanne had dragged her down the sidewalk. He hadn’t wanted her to hear about him that way. He’d wanted to spend more time with her first. He’d wanted her to find as much joy in the news as he had.

He didn’t know what she thought now, but he would shortly. In two days he would see her for his first short visit.

John entered the coaches’ office and shut the door behind him. Virgil Duffy sat on a Naugahyde couch, wearing a linen suit from Fifth Avenue and a tan from the Caribbean.

“Look at that,” Virgil said, pointing to a portable television screen. “That kid’s made of cement.”

Sitting behind his desk, Larry Nystrom didn’t look as enthused as the owner. “But he can’t hit the lake from the dock.”

“He can be taught how to shoot the puck. You can’t teach heart.” Virgil looked at John and pointed toward the screen. “What do you think?”

John sat on the other end of the couch from Virgil and glanced at the television just in time to see a rookie Florida Panther nail Philly Flyer Eric Lindros to the boards. The six-four Lindros took his time getting to his feet before slowly skating to the bench. “I can tell you from personal experience that he hits high, like a linebacker. And he hits hard, but I’m not sure he has seed. How much?”

“Five hundred thousand.”

John shrugged. “He’s probably worth five, but we need a guy like Grimson or Domi.”

Virgil shook his head. “Too much.”