Time of Possession (Seattle Lumberjacks #5) (12 page)

“How different?”

Estie squirmed and explained about Brett
moving in and Richard’s reaction. “Richard isn’t happy about Brett
moving into my basement.”

“Richard? Jealous? I didn’t know he had it
in his selfish body.”

“He’s concerned about how it’ll look to his
cronies.”

“Oh, yeah, that,” Sylvia said.

“Richard is a great guy. He just has his
quirks.”

“You don’t need to convince me, you need to
convince yourself. I already have an opinion, and I’m keeping
it.”

“It gets worse.” Estie hesitated then
plunged into the brink. “Brett kissed me, and I liked it.”

“That’s it? Just a kiss?”

“Isn’t that enough?”

“You sure you didn’t take Brett Gunnels for
a test drive or two or three?”

“Of course not.” Estie’s laugh rang hollow
like an echo in an empty football stadium. “I shouldn’t have done
it. Maybe it’d be best if I got married as soon as possible.” Like
that would stop her erotic fantasies about another man.

“Estie, you’re going to have to make that
decision. Not me. Not Richard. Not Brett. And definitely not your
family. Life is
not
something that follows a plan, no matter
how hard you try to force it. Life is chaotic and messy and has a
way of turning the best-laid plans upside down.” Sylvia paused.
“Oh, gotta go, I have to check on a patient.” She cut off the call
abruptly.

Estie sat the two cats on the floor and
walked to the window, staring into the darkness of the winter
night. Rain battered the windowpanes while the wind howled outside.
Jim wrapped his paws around her leg and hung on, demanding
attention.

With a sigh, she extracted his claws from
her leg and went back to work, pushing herself to find out why
Tyler’s accounts didn’t balance correctly and where the missing
money might be.

She’d been so heads-down into her work that
she didn’t notice how late it was until she heard a car in her
driveway. Marilyn and Dozer started barking. Spock glanced up from
his viewpoint on the back of the couch and looked out the window,
while Jim stretched lazily and went back to sleep.

Estie walked to the door, stiff from all the
time she’d spent in the chair and frustrated at her lack of
progress. Brett walked up her sidewalk with Risky slinking at his
side, and she forgot all about her frustrations with her day job.
The heaviness in her heart lifted like fog lifting off Puget Sound
on a warm summer day.

She opened the door with a huge smile she
couldn’t help. A tentative smile crossed his face, almost as if
he’d expected her to send him packing.

She should, but she wouldn’t. She couldn’t
physically force herself to say those words. Risky crawled the last
few feet on his stomach then rolled over onto his back. Focusing on
the dog, she bent down and scratched his belly.

“I’m sorry to bother you.” Brett sounded
adorably apologetic.

Estie straightened, and Risky Velcroed
himself to her leg. She kept a comforting hand on his head. “It’s
no bother.”

“I apologize for my behavior on Christmas. I
was out of line.” He stared down at his hands as he wrung them and
shifted from one foot to the other.

“I’m as responsible as you are, and I
apologize, too.” She didn’t want an apology; she really wanted a
big sloppy, deep, wet kiss. “How did you get away from my brother,
the slave driver?”

“We’re taking a dinner break. Lavender
insisted he meet her for dinner. She’s feeling neglected, and it is
Friday night.” Brett shoved his hands in his pockets. “So I thought
maybe I should take a look at your apartment.”

Estie nodded, mentally shaking herself back
to the moment. “Oh, yes, of course. It’s really pretty nice. This
place was a bank repo, and the couple was in the middle of doing a
major remodel when they ran out of money. There’s still some work
to be done downstairs, but nothing major.”

“I’m pretty handy. I can help with that.”
His nice smile warmed her heart and several other places.

“I can’t ask you to do work and pay
rent.”

“You can if you’re watching my animals
during the day. Risky loves you, and Bongo needs the company.”

Estie nodded. She wouldn’t kid herself.
Living alone in this big house surrounded by woods with no
neighbors in sight did scare her at times. No one would hear her if
she screamed, nor would they notice if something was amiss. Derek
and Rachel tried to keep an eye on her, but their house was tacked
up on the hillside and partially hidden in the trees. It’d be a
relief to have a man downstairs on those scary, dark winter
nights.

Who was she kidding? Instead of being scared
of intruders, she was more afraid of herself and her insane
attraction to this man.

Estie switched on the outside lights and
grabbed a jacket and a key hanging on a small rack by the door.
“We’ll go in from the outside entrance. It also has an entrance
from inside.” She led Brett down a set of stone stairs to a country
style door with a window in the top half. Unlocking the door, she
flicked on the lights. He followed her inside.

“Wow, this is pretty nice. And bigger than I
expected.” Brett glanced around the main living area, which
consisted of a U-shaped kitchen, dining area, and large living area
with a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace. Two sets of sliding glass
doors opened onto a patio that ran the length of the bottom floor,
while above was her deck. Of course, the place was immaculate.
Estie saw to that, even though she didn’t use the apartment.

She showed Brett the bathroom and two large
bedrooms, along with a laundry room. Circling back to the living
room, she turned to him. “What do you think? Will this work for
you?”

“It’s perfect. Really perfect.”

“That door goes upstairs. It has a lock on
it from this side, so you’ll have total privacy.”

“Sounds good. Thanks.”

“Looks like Risky approves.” Estie smiled as
the dog curled next to the fireplace as if hoping for some
heat.

“I hope this is okay with you. Tyler can be
a pushy bastard.” Their gazes met, and Estie had to smile, he was
just so damn gorgeous in a ruggedly handsome way.

“Try growing up with him.”

“No thanks.” Brett smiled at her.

“Have you eaten yet, since this is your
dinner hour?”

“No, uh, not yet.”

“I was just about to make something. Why
don’t you stick around?” Part of her wanted those words back, but
the rest of her did a cheer for the home team.

Brett hesitated then nodded. “Yeah, okay, I
can do that for a short while.”

Several minutes later they sat across the
small dining table from each other, eating stir-fried shrimp. Estie
was a pretty good cook, and judging by how Brett went back for
seconds and heaped his plate, he agreed.

“Big game this weekend, huh?”

Brett nodded slowly, a determined gleam in
his eyes, similar to the one she’d seen in Tyler’s on several
occasions. “We’ve got this. I’m feeling damn good about it.” The
intensity of his gaze made a believer out of her, not that she
hadn’t already been one.

“You win the division and get a bye if the
Rams lose.”

“Yeah, that’d be the best-case scenario, and
we’d get the first playoff game at home. We need that win.”

“You’ll get it. I have faith in you.” Estie
spoke with total confidence.

“That means a lot to me.” He ducked his head
as if embarrassed by his admission.

“Tyler’s been singing your praises. He says
you’re pretty fast on your feet, have a great football mind, and a
strong arm with a quick release.”

“Tyler told you all that?” Brett shook his
head in what appeared to be total, absolute disbelief.

“Well, some of it. The rest I’ve observed
for myself.”

“Thank you.” His slow, sexy smile curled
around her heart like a cat curled in front of a warm fire on a
cold day.

“Brett, you’re doing a great job under rough
circumstances. Those guys lost Tyler—a strong personality if there
ever was one. Tyler gave them direction, someone to believe in. He
lifted them up and carried them on his broad back. You’re that guy,
too.” Impulsively, she grabbed his hands and squeezed them tight,
loving the feel of his big hands in hers, the way his fingers
wrapped around her hands, how strong and competent they felt.

Brett nodded slowly, his gaze flicking
briefly to their entwined fingers and then back to her face.

“I believe in you. This is your time, and
you’re going to go out there and fight for that win because that’s
who you are.” She squeezed his hands, and he squeezed back.

He nodded slowly, a confident smile lifting
one corner of his mouth. “I will.”

Estie leaned forward, determination in her
voice, and she held on tighter. “I know you will.”

For a long time, he stared at their hands
and said nothing, as if absorbing her words, which to her was
unusual. Her siblings and Richard never really listened to what she
had to say. They were too busy leading her where they wanted her to
go.

Finally Brett glanced at his watch, and
gently pulled his hands from hers. “I’d better be going. Thanks for
dinner.”

Estie followed him to the door. She put her
hand on his arm, wanting to instill confidence in him, to try to
help him, and most of all, she couldn’t resist the urge to touch
him. On impulse she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll be
there rooting for you.”

Brett nodded, his pale blue eyes searching
hers, as if memorizing every contour of her face.

“Thanks.” He smiled one of those half-sad,
half-happy smiles that’d won her heart that first night. With Risky
on his heels, he walked to his car.

Estie shut the door and leaned against it,
closing her eyes for a moment. She’d fallen for this guy and fallen
so hard, she was afraid she might never quite recover. She’d
promised her future to another man, a man who adored her, a man
who’d earned her loyalty, her love, and her trust.

And she’d honor that.

She had to. It was all part of her grand
plan, and Brett was not part of that plan.

* * * * *

Game day.

The biggest game of Brett’s career to date,
and if they won this game, the next one would be the biggest.

Brett walked into the locker room and sat
down on the bench in front of his locker. He focused his gaze on
his Number Ten jersey, folded his hands in front of him, and sucked
in deep, calming breaths, only they didn’t calm. Not in the fucking
least.

His navy and gold Jacks jersey hung in the
locker, attesting to his drive and ambition to get this far despite
all the odds.

Sensing he needed time to get in the zone,
his teammates stayed away from him. Even Harris avoided him and
stood in the corner talking quietly to Derek. Brett ran his hand
through his hair and closed his eyes, trying to shut out Bruiser’s
loud music, Zach’s booming voice, and the laughter from the rookies
tossing a football around the room.

He felt eyes on him and glanced over one
shoulder. Tomcat Monroe, the Jacks’ Pro Bowl defensive end, stared
at him but didn’t say a word. Brett went back to his pre-game
routine, ignoring the big guy. Tomcat only spoke when he was good
and ready to speak. If he had something to say, he’d say it.

And he did. Eventually. Tomcat leaned in
close and kept his voice down. “You know pretty much every damn one
of us plays this game not for the money but for the ring. I don’t
have a ring. Neither does Murphy. I’m fine retiring without one.
Murphy came back this year to win one. We were on track until
Harris tore an ACL. Hell, we were in the driver’s seat to win the
division and have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. I
don’t have to tell you how fucking big a deal that is.”

“I’m fully aware of how big that is.” Brett
stiffened and dug his fingernails into his palms. “Your point?”

“Murphy wants that goddamned ring, and he
deserves it.”

“I know,” Brett answered quietly.

“How many rings do you have, Gun?”

“Two.” Brett mouthed the words, unable to
say them out loud. He’d won two rings and never stepped on the
field once during a playoff game, while Murphy had started in every
game of his career and never won a ring. Where was the justice in
that?

“Two, huh?” Tomcat stared down and him and
leaned forward. His dark eyes narrowed to slits. Brett didn’t move
a muscle, except for the one twitching in his left jaw.

“Yeah. I have two fucking rings.” Brett
stood and lifted his chin, defiance in his stance. The defensive
end was challenging him, and Brett never backed down from a
fight.

Tomcat studied him more closely then nodded.
“How would you like to add a third to that collection?” A smile
twitched at the corners of Tomcat’s mouth, and Brett got the
feeling he’d passed some kind of invisible test.

“I’m planning on it.”

“So are we. All of us.” Tomcat swept his
arms around the half-empty locker room. Tomcat’s big beefy hands
rested on equally beefy hips as he studied the team’s starting
quarterback with a critical eye.

“And no one is going to stop this team. No
one.” Brett met Tomcat’s steely gaze with one of his own.

* * * * *

An hour later, Brett ran through his pre-game
warm-ups while the butterflies in his stomach did their own
calisthenics. He glanced up into the stands where he knew Lavender
usually sat with her girlfriends and sometimes Tyler’s sisters.
They were there. All of them. His eyes met Estie’s, and his heart
did a little bump-bump in his chest. She gave him the thumbs-up and
graced him with a broad smile. Brett smiled back.

Her smile said it all. She believed in him,
and somehow that made all the difference in the world. Maybe it
shouldn’t have, but it did. She had such absolute confidence in his
abilities that it bolstered his own belief in himself.