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She smiled "Yes"

They went into the kitchen While he put boxes of Chinese onto the table, she collected plates, flatware and napkins He opened the bottle of wine she handed him, then they sat down to eat

"Your point about Brittany is a good one," he said, which she hadn’t expected "Maybe I did make the past sound better than it was Serena and I didn’t set out to do that on purpose, we just didn’t want Brittany to feel she wasn’t special or that she’d gotten in the way"

Nicole was i to discuss this and see her side "Maybe there’s soround A casual story about hoasn’t all easy and wonderful Unless it was"

He shook his head "We were too young We got lucky I had a lot of offers from universities to play football I’d already picked Oklahonant Not only did they have a great coach, but the alu?" she asked, knowing life was different for football gods in a football town

"Just about The rules weren’t as strict then We weren’t handed money, but we had a lot of perks There was always soot to coames Even the away ones Different fareat doctors and soroceries or cooked food"

"Sounds nice"

"The guys were great, but it was the wives who kept us going They were real nice to Serena But it was still hard We were away froave or understood ere doing They turned their backs on their only daughter She was sad about that until the day she died"

Nicole thought about Jesse Would her sister say she had turned her back on her? Nicole wasn’t sure She also didn’t kno she would describe the situation herself

"The worst part for her was the loneliness," he continued "The worst part forso da hurt, mostly We were on a free ride because I could catch a football better than anyone and then run like the wind But if I got busted up, it all ended And then what? I don’t think I took a deep breath and relaxed until the day the check forbonus cleared the bank"

In soer than life, but in truth, he was just like everyone else

"You h," she said

"We did, but I’ll ad that I wished she’d never gotten pregnant That’s what I don’t want Brittany to know About the bad times" He sipped his wine "But I do see your point about lad" She leaned toward hi to butt in"

"I know"

"I think you’re a great dad"

"Thanks" He reached across the table and took her hand "I’m sorry about what I said about Jesse That was out of line"

She suess Brittany is a sensitive topic"

"She’s your daughter You feel a real sense of responsibility toward her Believe rew up the queen of responsibility"

His hand arm on her forearm He rubbed her skin

"Your parents put too et a job done, he gets a bigger job Parents don’t realize that it can go too far"

She appreciated the understanding "Soh school there were so et up early to help in the bakery Mornings are busy So I couldn’t stay out late I wanted to go out for theater, but I had to be home after school to look after Jesse"

She stabbed her chow mein with her fork "It hen ry with her, because I knew she wanted to be with my sisterall around the world andfamous people I think if she hadn’t had Jesse, she would have been gone froed to my father’s family, not hers I don’t think she ever liked the day-to-day responsibility of the place It was a constant drain of ti to make her rich But Claire had potential"

She pressed her lips together "I’ her sound awful I don’tot stuck with too entle, as was his tone She found herself wanting to crawl into his arms so he could hold her and make her feel safe

Wait a minute Since when did she need a man to feel safe?

"Nicole?"

"What?"

"Where did you just go?"

"It doesn’t , and I’ood if it’s about o to the bad place Not tonight Not when she had Hawk alone in the house "At least it could be nothing if you distracted me"

Hawk’s slow, sexy s will Raoul be gone?"

"He said he’d be back late"

"Good to know"

He stood and pulled her to her feet Their half-eaten dinner still sat on the table, but she didn’t care Not only did Chinese warry…at least not for food

He pulled her close, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her His mouth claimed hers with a heated desire that stole her breath His handshers It was erotic and fa

"I’ve missed this," he murmured as he kissed her cheek, then her forehead and finally along her jaw "I’vetouched by you"

"Me, too"

He licked the sensitive spot below her ear, then sucked on her earlobe He trailed kisses down her neck, ed much lower

His an to spin

"I want you," he breathed in her ear, oose bumps "In a bed, this ti that, too "Who knew?"

He chuckled

She took his hand in hers and led the way upstairs Once they were in her bedroo her hair off her face He stared into her eyes for a long ti to see past the emotional barriers she always kept in place

"You’re so beautiful," he whispered

Nicole knew that on her best day, she was pretty While she was sure HawkStill, it was nice to hear So nice she suddenly felt vulnerable in a way she hadn’t expected or experienced before She wanted to look away, to hide…what? Not her body She wasto expose that Then what? Her heart? Was her heart in danger?

She didn’t want to think about that so she closed the distance between them, put her hands on his shoulders and raised herself on tiptoe to kiss hiue to his lower lip

"Trying to have your ith

"Uh-huh It’s part of my sex-kitten duties"