by Blobel, Iris
“I have noticed,” he replied and then paused for a moment before he added. “That’s why I asked.”
With one eyebrow raised, his coach warned him again. “She’s off limits. I told you before.”
Oliver’s frustration grew. Erik had obviously not noticed how he’d basically encouraged Oliver to ask, by reacting to his chuckle. He rubbed his hands over his face before he stood.
“I know. So she told me.”
That got him an icy glare.
Oliver met the glare with some irritation of his own. Inside, he debated whether the glare was for him because he didn’t let go of the subject or Tamara for telling Oliver about his warning.
“Look, Coach. I ran into her the other day. Twice. Both times, she was tense and jumpy. I’m not a dirty player, you know that. I won’t go near her, just give me an idea what’s wrong with her.”
Erik blew out a long breath. “I know you’re not a dirty player, but you are a player.”
“On the field out there.”
“Off as well,” his coach countered.
Oliver shook his head. It wasn’t true. He wasn’t a player. There was no doubt that he liked women and they liked him; however, it was no secret that he was never in for the long haul. He turned to look at his coach, pondering whether that was the issue. Of course, he liked having a good time, but having a relationship wasn’t on his list for the near future.
Was that it?
Erik’s long, heavy sigh hauled him back to the conversation.
“Nothing’s wrong with her,” Erik said. “She’s come to Melbourne to move on. She lost her husband a year ago during a robbery gone wrong. It’s been a rough road for her since. I don’t need you to play with her emotions by taking her to bed and dropping her when you’ve had enough of her. Understood?”
The news stunned Oliver. He’d had all kinds of scenarios going through his head, but the fact that Tamara was a widow took him by surprise. Speechless, he took a step back. A thousand questions ran through his head, but he wasn’t able to formulate any of them. The words you give yourself too much credit bounced back at him. As much as he tried to replay the rest of their conversation, he couldn’t remember any hint of her loss. He’d behaved like an idiot. Like an arrogant idiot. Heck, he’d even had a brief conversation with Tyson’s girl, Katie, who said she might just be one of the few women who was able to resist his charm. He’d laughed at that impossible idea.
He wasn’t laughing anymore.
Tamara was a widow?
Why was it that she pushed him away?
“Understood?”
The coach’s question dragged him back from his thoughts. He nodded.
“How about a little dinner?” Oliver asked.
“Out of the question.”
Oliver raked a hand through his hair. “She might enjoy a little company. It’ll do her good to settle here in Melbourne. I’m sure Katie and Tyson would love to come along.”
Erik stepped closer. “No doubt she can make her own decisions,” he said through a clenched jaw. “But if you hurt Tamara one tiny little bit, you’re off the team. Am I making myself clear? One. Little. Bit!”
Oliver gulped. “Crystal clear!”
She was off limits more than ever before.
Yet, everything inside told him how much he wanted to know her. It was like someone had switched his body, and he had no clue how to cope with the emotions that stirred in him. It wasn’t a simple matter of lust, but a yearning of touching her.
“Fuck,” he murmured as he walked over to the punching bag to clear his mind.
Erik laughed. “I hope that’s not supposed to be me.”
“Fuck off.”
***
Tamara rushed into the house and straight to the phone. She smiled. There was an advantage to assign a certain ringtone to favourite numbers—this one was announcing a call from her mother.
“Hi Mum,” she answered, nearly out of breath.
“Hello, darling. What happened?”
“Only just come home. I stopped by the shop to grab something for dinner.”
It was good to hear her mother’s voice. She still missed her, although they talked often. The truth was she probably talked more often to her parents since she moved to Melbourne than she had before. But there was a lot to share. Her new job, new house—her new life.
As she started her weekly catch-up with her mother, she placed the phone between her shoulder and head to place the shopping bags on the kitchen table.
It was a small house, located close to the city centre. She didn’t like traffic jams to or from work, which Melbourne was notorious for. It’d been a lucky find, and as soon as she’d stepped into the house, she’d fallen in love with it.
As she placed the groceries in the fridge, she told her mother about her job and how much easier it was already after just a few weeks. She gave the fridge door a slight nudge with her bum before walking towards the back of the house. Tamara liked the open plan design with the living area leading to a terrace and a small backyard. Two bedrooms as well as a bathroom were upstairs in the loft. It had a spacious, luxurious design with a contemporary flair and a strong dedication to natural light.
It was so much like the house she’d shared with Jason.
A small sigh escaped her.
Her mother didn’t miss her momentarily grief. “What’s wrong, darling?” she asked.
“I’m just tired, Mum.”
“Dad and I were thinking about coming for a visit.”
A smile tugged at her lips. “I’d love that, Mum, but how about you give me a chance first to settle and find my feet here?”
There was a brief silence before her mother replied, “I fully understand. I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to intrude on you so—”
“Oh Mum, you’re not intruding at all. It just wouldn’t make any sense for you to come if I’m at work most of the time. As much as Erik is your brother, I doubt he’d give me a week off already.”
“I thought you weren’t working with him?”
Tamara chuckled. “Technically, I don’t. He’s the coach and has nothing to do with the administration. But you know as well as I do that he got me the job, despite denying it in every conversation we have.”
Politics always played a big role in the comings and goings of the club, but it was still confusing. Although Erik was the coach, his influence in the administration was greater than he let on. Leave after only a few weeks wouldn’t look good on her work ethics, but in a domino effect, it would also reflect back on him.
“He was never good with the truth when it came to those things,” her mother said with a laugh in her voice.
They talked a little longer before they said their goodbyes. Tamara went to the bathroom and stripped out of her clothes as the bathtub filled with water. The air was thick with a misty steam when she turned off the taps. The warm water embraced her as she slid into it and rested her head on the edge of the tub. Her muscles were tense from a hectic day at work, but also from the aftermath of her first attempt at a small jog in the morning. Closing her eyes, she let the scent of coconut and vanilla calm her into a dreamy state and her aching body started to relax.
Tamara’s thoughts drifted to a man taking her into his arms, holding her tight.
Safe.
Secure.
A man, whose gentle touch on her skin caused her to shiver. A man whose body was hard against hers. He kissed her, and when she looked into his eyes she—
Saw Oliver?
Her eyes shot open as she breathed in and out a couple of times to steady herself. Rubbing her hands over her face, Tamara sat up in the bath, not believing what just happened.
Oliver?
Instinctively, she held her arms in front of her chest, although she knew he wasn’t around. Shaking her head, she laughed at her own reaction.
Why would she think of him?
The words you need to give me a chance ran through her head and played with her mind. She could still
see his mesmerising green eyes, which had held her spellbound at the beach in St. Kilda.
Then she was flooded with a sudden sadness as she thought of Jason. She tried so hard to remember the colour of his eyes. Or his smile. Tears rolled down on her cheeks when she noticed her memories of him were already fading away.
Tamara let out a long breath, grabbed her robe, and walked into her bedroom.
Suddenly her body tensed, and she stilled. Terror clutched her body.
She listened.
There was a noise coming from downstairs. Tightening the knot on her robe, she listened carefully as she stepped over to the bed and removed her baseball bat from underneath.
She jumped at the sound of a metallic click. Hardly able to breathe, images of that long ago dreadful night floated in her mind. It was impossible to steady her erratic pulse, and icy fear gripped her when she heard the sound the front door slamming closed.
“Tammy?”
Almost fainting with relief, her muscles trembled with the surge of adrenaline as she slumped into a big heap, allowing her heart to resume its natural pace. Her reaction was so powerful she didn’t have the strength to hold on to the bat and dropped it on the floor right in front of her.
“I’m upstairs,” she replied, with her voice unsteady.
A minute later, her uncle leaned against the door jamb. “You all right?”
Still breathing erratically, she did her best to hold back tears when she said, “You gave me a fright.”
He came closer and knelt in front of her, taking her into his arms. “Sorry. I rang the bell a few times and got worried.”
“I took a bath. It’s been a bit of a day with all the meetings.”
Erik nodded. “I shouldn’t have barged in like that. I’m sorry.” He met her gaze and a grin spread across his face. “I brought some pizza and a bottle of Coke.”
She wasn’t really sure why he was here. It made even less sense that he’d brought pizza along, especially with his wife always serving the best dinners. Something was up, but she was still so shaken from the fright that she didn’t care.
She took a deep breath before replying, “Sounds yum. Give me two minutes to get dressed.”
Tamara stood and walked to the bathroom when Erik suddenly said, “Oliver asked about you.”
That stopped her in her tracks, as well as got her heart racing again.
He did? She tried her hardest not show her emotions or her surprise, yet she couldn’t hide the smile that tugged at her lips.
“So?”
“I told him about Jason.”
The smile turned into a grim, thin line, and her emotions into a tangled mess.
“Why?” she whispered.
Erik sat down on her bed, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared to the ground. “I needed to tell him,” he replied, equally quiet. “Something tells me he’s hooked on you and I don’t want him to hurt you. I promised—”
“Uncle Erik. I’m in my late twenties, and as much as I appreciate your help and concern, I believe I can look after myself.”
Looking up at her, he asked, “Can you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That means that I know Oliver.”
She left it at that and went into the bathroom to get dressed. “I can handle him,” she shouted into her bedroom.
When her uncle didn’t reply, she peeked through the gap in the door. “I said—”
“I heard ya.”
Five minutes later, she grabbed the pizza and followed him downstairs.
“I’ve got a movie as well.”
She smiled. “You don’t have to play babysitter.”
“I don’t. Jenny’s out with her friends, and I needed to tell you about Oliver. You can tell me about the job and how you’re getting on.”
“I’m really fine. Hey, I even went to St. Kilda the other day.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“Holy smokes, aren’t there any secrets between you and Oliver?”
“Tammy, I have no idea why he’s so interested in you—”
“I’m his latest challenge.”
Erik stared at her with eyes wide open. “Say what?”
Shrugging, she grabbed another piece of pizza. “His words. I like a challenge.”
Her uncle shook his head. “Well, he now knows about Jason. I’m sure that crushed his challenge. Challenge, my ass.”
Tamara laughed and checked the DVD cover. “Baseball movie? Really?”
Chapter Three
As a pitcher, Oliver’s main training was to uphold the strength in his arms. He liked pushing weights on various machines. The side effect of that was it also taught him to focus. Now that his shoulder was a lot better, he was right back into the intense training. Keeping up with his throwing exercises was important as well.
What he didn’t like was base running training. It was an inevitable evil in his game, but today he couldn’t get into it at all.
He simply wasn’t able to concentrate. His coach’s words were a blur, his mind a mess. There were so many things on his mind, like saying no to the brunette the previous weekend. He’d never said no to any woman before. Not for a long time, anyway. Seriously worried about himself, he’d called it an early night. Then the picture of Tamara at the beach kept occupying his mind. He simply wasn’t able to shake it off, not even while running—and that was when he made a small mistake while rounding the first base.
A mistake which put him in agony straight away.
Pain shot through Oliver like a lightning bolt and nearly took his breath. Moving was excruciating and for a moment, he lay looking up at the sky, trying not to panic. Overcome by dizziness, he slowly breathed in and out to avoid fainting. The extent of the damage rushed through his mind, but there was no doubt in his mind that his season was over. He cursed using about every foul combination of words he knew.
The next twenty minutes were like a haze. He was taken to the medical centre for the initial treatment. Events turned even hazier after the first shot of pain reliever. Although he heard the club doctor’s initial diagnosis to be a minor meniscus tear, they were only words to him. Oliver didn’t want to know. He wanted to rewind the previous hour and re-do that run again. Run that base as he’d done so many times before.
There was movement next to him before he heard his coach’s voice. “Shit, mate. The only thing I can say, lucky we’re near the end of the season.”
“Fuck off,” Oliver whispered, not wanting to go there. He knew. He might still be in denial, but deep inside he knew the season was over. It’d been one of the best seasons for the club. He didn’t need this.
“Look, Oliver. Let’s get you to hospital and have this looked at straight away.”
With one arm across his chest, the other arm over his eyes, Oliver just nodded.
“I need to stay put, but I’ve organised someone to come with you. You’ll be in capable hands.”
Oliver heard the clicking of shoes in the background and moved his arm just the slightest bit to have a look. All he saw, though, was an evergreen coloured bag right next to him. He moved his arm back over his eyes, but when he heard the familiar voice, he looked again.
“Hi there,” Tamara said quietly. “Erik’s asked me to accompany you to the hospital.”
His head went into a further spin. He blamed the drugs and even more so, he blamed Erik.
Dammit.
Oliver could not believe that only a few days ago, he was told by his coach that his niece was off limits, and now she was the one going with him to the hospital. It was a bad joke and twice the pain.
The ache in his knee suddenly shot through his whole body as the doctor moved the leg slightly, which resulted in an oncoming headache as well.
“Don’t need help,” he said grouchily.
When he heard the clicking of shoes again, he peeked from underneath his arm, and she seemed to have left. It’d been easier than he thought. For a brief moment, he relaxed under the wav
e of relief until he heard her voice again. This time from the other side to him.
“What’s your full name, Oliver?”
“None of your business.”
Someone lifted his arm away from his face, and he looked right into her eyes. Beautiful eyes. And for crying out loud, she smiled at him. She was so close it would’ve only taken him a small move to touch her lips with his.
Off limits, he reminded himself. Not to mention the pain in his knee.
“Now look who’s got an attitude,” she said.
He rolled his eyes and tried to focus on something or someone else.
“Where’s Erik?”
“I need it for the paperwork.”
Great, now she was ignoring him.
“Where’s the ambulance?” he asked.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her checking her watch. “Should be here in a few minutes.”
Then he closed his eyes again. The drugs started to have an effect on him. The pain in his knee eased, the pounding in his head dulled, and tiredness spread through his body.
“Oliver Liam Dempsey.”
When he slid an eye open, he saw that smile again, and he blew out a sigh.
“I don’t need a babysitter,” he said, cursing himself for saying it. Having Tamara hold his hand shouldn’t have been bad. It was all his brain had told him he wanted the last few weeks.
Off limits, he reminded himself and again, he let out a litany of curses.
“Do you need more painkillers?” the medical attendant asked.
Shaking his head, he moved his arm back over his eyes. Slowly breathing in and out. In and out, but all he was able to focus on was her voice in the background. A beautiful voice. He imagined her saying his name, begging him to—
A male voice brought him back from his thoughts. “Mate, we’re just going to hook you up to the IV-drip before getting you onto the gurney. Right?”
Oliver nodded towards the paramedic, but then turned to look at Tamara, who had taken his other hand into hers and moved them to her chest.