by Cathryn Fox
He straightened himself slightly. “Nothing wrong with that. By the way, I understand you’re a personal friend of Barry Dennis. True?”
“True.”
“Lucky guy. Should I be jealous?”
“Why stop now?” Her smile faded.
“Come on, Rox. How hooked is he?” He forced his smile, hoping she’d scoff at him for being ridiculous, but knowing already that there was something between them. He knew of Barry Dennis’s reputation with women. The man didn’t fool around. Laura hadn’t said much, but he could tell by her hesitation that Roxanne and Barry’s meeting at a party had been more than that.
“Maybe you can ask him. Want to meet him?” she asked.
He shook his head, thrown off by her unhesitating smile. But then he saw the twinkle in her eyes. He nodded his head. He may as well see for himself.
She directed the driver to arrive at last. “It’s still early enough to catch Barry at his pregame practicing shooting ritual,” Roxanne said and took a deep breath, almost a sigh, as he followed her into the building next to the Garden past a checkpoint where she showed a guard her pass.
“Something wrong?” He touched her shoulder lightly, running his fingers over the soft material of her coat. She looked up at him, pausing for a beat before lighting her face with her irresistible smile.
“No. Of course not. I’m excited about tonight. I haven’t seen you in a while.” She stopped walking. “I’ve missed you. Tonight will be fun. We can catch up.”
His heart nearly stopped and he couldn’t take his eyes from hers. Maybe he was all wrong.
“I’ve missed you too. I always miss you.” He leaned toward her and when he would have kissed her, some people passed them in the hall and she turned away.
They walked through a cavernous garage where the team parked, walked on by the locker room, and finally arrived at the basketball court.
“I’m impressed, Rox. I didn’t expect a behind the scenes Garden tour. But leave it to you.” Mark shook his head as he looked out over the floor. He felt more hopeful, at least for the moment.
“I couldn’t get courtside seats, so tonight we’ll have to settle for half-court.” Her smile bubbled as she stopped at the edge of the parquet floor and spread her arms dramatically as if introducing a masterpiece. And she was. Barry Dennis stood, what seemed like miles from the basket, and swished the ball through the hoop in time for them to see. Mark was impressed in spite of himself and his apprehension was renewed.
The rest of the court came into focus after Barry let the ball fly out of his hands and he realized he had company. They were not the usual scattered reporters and camera operators who unobtrusively sat and watched his solitary ritual. The big lights had just been turned on as if announcing Roxanne’s entrance. Barry’s mouth quirked into the half-smile upon seeing her standing there on the threshold of the court with her arms spread out, acting for all the world as if this place were hers to show off.
He stared again up at the basket, gauging the distance exactly. He set himself squarely on his feet, feeling with his fingers for the seams in the ball. It was all automatic and took a fraction of a second before he tossed the ball into the hoop where it swished through the net.
Scooping the ball up from the floor, he dribbled over to where she stood. It wasn’t until Barry stood in front of her that he noticed the man she was with. The sudden shock of panic jolted through him before he could tell himself it was nothing. His self-confidence was completely drained in an instant. There weren’t many occasions in his life when he went out and sought the attentions of a woman, but when he had it was a given that she would respond. That she would be his for the taking. Until now. The feeling that ran through him at that moment was too close to the sickening pain of failure. He fought with himself to stay rational. This woman was not his, nor did he want her to be his, he told himself. He didn’t bother trying to tell himself that there was probably nothing between her and the man that stood with her. He knew her too well already to believe that. Besides, it only took one glance at the way the man looked at her to know definitively how he felt. He couldn’t tell, of course, how the hell she felt.
But it didn’t matter. All the rationalizing in the world on his part would not justify her bringing another man on a night that was supposed to be his. Barry’s defenses were shored up, turning his uncertainty into anger. But he had to be careful. He did not want her to mistake his anger for jealousy.
“Come in early to harass me, Rox?” He tossed the ball in the air and watched it spin while he tried to avoid the interested gaze of the man with her. Laughter bubbled beneath the surface of her twinkling eyes.
“To the contrary. I came to inspire you.” She turned to Mark and introduced him as a business associate. But Barry could see clearly that he was being sized up by the man as if he were competition.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Barry. My son idolizes you. He’ll be thrilled to hear about this.”
“Married man, eh?” Barry questioned as he took the pen from Mark’s hand, but rejected the piece of paper. He didn’t care if he sounded judgmental. It was aimed at her, not him.
“Divorced,” Mark was quick to reply. Barry looked up with his game-face grin before he continued autographing the basketball that he’d been holding. He handed it over to Mark without further comment. He was boiling inside now that the lines were drawn. All that remained to be seen was which side of the line she stood on. There was no way Barry would allow her to straddle the middle as he was now sure she wanted to do. Business associate my ass.
Roxanne leveled her tight smile at him, though she spoke to Mark. “You’re lucky. I never got such a wonderful souvenir from the illustrious Barry Dennis.”
Barry decided he’d take advantage of his opponent’s vulnerability. If there was one thing he’d learned, it was never to underestimate an opponent and always to seize opportunities. The killer instinct, his father used to say, is what separates winners from losers, the great from the good.
“You can have anything you want from me, Rox. After all, I owe you.” He took enormous pleasure in the quick fade of her smile. He knew that she was used to being in control and it was a joy for him to snatch a little of it away from her. He watched the color drain from Mark’s face. Mark’s mouth opened but he said nothing. Two points.
She quickly regained her footing with a smile. “I’ll keep that in mind. We’re going to take a walk. We’ll let you go now. Don’t forget dinner later—that is, if you win.” Roxanne took Mark’s arm and led him away, winking at Barry over her shoulder.
“I haven’t forgotten,” Barry assured her and he had to chuckle as the two departed. Roxanne all decked out looked sumptuous. He scolded himself for looking forward to the conclusion of that night’s game even before it started. After all her teasing and dangling that man Mark in front of him, Barry decided she wanted him.
Besides, she was worth taking a chance for. His competitive spirit won out. Any insecurities he’d had were pushed to somewhere so far back in his mind that he now felt sorry for Mark.
He turned to see a couple of teammates emerging from the locker room area to do some warming up. Game time was approaching and it was time to clear his mind of all else but thoughts of winning. Yet heading for the locker room, he found his mind wandering. He couldn’t keep himself from thinking about what would happen after they won.
He kicked the wall.
“Damn.” He felt lit with anger and when he looked up he saw Dave.
“What the hell’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing. We just have to win that’s all.” Barry started to brush past Dave, embarrassed by his outburst. He was usually quiet and introspective. He had no time to waste in preparing.
“Wait. Ho.” Dave reached his massive hand out to Barry’s shoulder to stop him. “We are going to win.” He smiled. “We usually do.” Dave said no more, then let Barry go.
Unconsoled, but appreciative of the break, Barry headed for his qui
et corner in the locker room to tackle the seemingly impossible task of harnessing all the concentration and energy he possessed and channeling it toward winning this game. It wasn’t as automatic a process as it used to be. His usually well-disciplined mind had been on vacation lately.
He walked into the open door of the locker room, took a right, and headed for the narrow stall that bore his name. He sat in the chair and put his head in his hands, thankful for the relative emptiness of the room. Linking his hands behind his neck, he bent forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He squeezed his eyes shut. He drew in his mind the picture of a scoreboard, with Boston ahead by one at the final buzzer. He imagined the crowd screaming and his teammates jumping in the air. He imagined a championship banner being hoisted to the rafters. There were more cheers, deafening cheers. But there was the game tonight and he forced his mind to go back. Mentally positioning himself in each spot around the basket, he threw the ball over and over again in his mind. Then he conjured up the opponent and in his head he and his teammates beat each one of them with three-on-one plays, two-on-one plays, four-on-two plays, and one-on-one until he went over in his mind nearly every play combination they. In his mind he and his teammates beat their opponents, and as always, the crowd cheered. Even when they were on the road, at least in his mind. He blinked his eyes and sat up. He looked around and now the air felt different, as if it were electrically charged. He saw everything all at once. He was ready to play this game.
Chapter Five
“FOURTEEN ASSISTS in the first half—the guy is incredible,” Mark admitted. They weren’t sitting too far from the bench. Although Roxanne tried to give Mark her undivided attention throughout the game, she watched Barry as if he were the only man on the court. And when he was on the bench, she stared at him then too. His demeanor, his unselfish play, his competitive toughness and his unrelenting coolness set the tone for the game. It was impossible to say exactly how he did it, but he led the team with his iron will. It was not a close game so far. The Celtics were up by twelve points at the half and the second half looked to her like it might be a blowout. But Barry’s face did not crack that familiar smile, not even once. His intensity and concentration were unmatched by anyone on either side.
“Rox, I hate to bring this up, but something’s been bothering me,” Mark said. He took a long swallow of his beer.
“Mmm?” She couldn’t imagine what he was going to bring up. The possibilities were too numerous. She looked straight ahead at the halftime show.
“About Don. That night…”
She shot her head around to look at him squarely. Of all the possibilities that ran through her mind, this was not one of them. He’d stopped talking and returned her stare. He looked serious. And something else.
“What about that night, Mark?”
“You told me the police closed the investigation on Don’s death, didn’t you?”
“Yes. They closed it long ago. Why?”
“Nothing. I guess. Just someone asking strange questions around the office. I must be getting paranoid, but I figured it’s either someone looking into Don’s death or…”
“Or what?”
“Or looking into my relationship with you.” His eyes rested on hers and trapped them.
“No. I know what it must be. Penelope hired a private investigator to look into Don’s death.” She didn’t want to continue this discussion and couldn’t believe he’d started it. She looked back toward the entertainment on the court.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, but don’t worry. My attorney tells me it’s going nowhere.”
“What do you mean? Why would she do a thing like that? Unless…”
“That’s right. Unless she thought I murdered Don.” Roxanne turned and looked directly at him again. Mark’s brow furrowed.
“Why aren’t you worried? Why haven’t you said anything? You weren’t even going to mention it, were you?” Mark accused.
“No. It wasn’t worth mentioning. Why should I?” She gave him a hard look. She didn’t like it when anyone took her ex-mother-in-law seriously. Least of all Mark.
“Why? Because I was with you that night?” Mark’s voice lowered as if he had something to hide.
“You already signed an affidavit for the police. So did a dozen other people. They know where I was that night. So you can see how ludicrous Penelope’s investigation is. I’m sure her PI will hit a dead end and have to give up on it soon.” She turned back to the basketball court. The teams were beginning their warm-up for the second half.
Mark laughed. That surprised her and she turned back to him.
“You are a naïve one sometimes.”
“What do you suggest I do? Get all uptight and worried she’s going to get me convicted of a murder I didn’t commit? That no one committed because it wasn’t even murder? It was a God damned accident, Mark. Or… I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” She’d never been so angry at him or upset about this investigation. The only reason she’d been able to handle the situation up until now was because she really hadn’t taken it seriously. She, in fact, refused to take it seriously. And Mark wasn’t about to bully her into changing her mind.
“You’re probably right. As long as the police closed the case officially.” He didn’t sound convinced but at least his voice held a conciliatory note. She turned and smiled at him and they watched the Celtics trounce their opponents in the second half.
Sandwiched between Barry and Mark, Roxanne poured the champagne again, from a fresh bottle. The conclusion of the game hadn’t gone as she’d planned. Mark had sidestepped all her attempts to talk business. And then he very ungraciously stuck to her side as she waited for Barry in the hall near the locker rooms. In the end, in spite of her insistence that Mark take the limo back to his hotel and they meet to talk business the next day, it was Barry who suggested that Mark accompany them to dinner.
She directed the limo driver to take them to Turner Fisheries at Copley Place where a table awaited them for a late supper. The limo whisked them away from the front of the Boston Garden amidst a crowd of pleased spectators. She knew Barry was unaccustomed to this Hollywood-style exit. He usually departed quietly from the indoor garage in his own car, never hitting the streets or seeing the fans. Mark was used to limo rides, but even he seemed impressed with their exit.
“Jesus. Now I know what it must be like to be a rock star,” Barry quipped, looking back through the rear window at the retreating crowd. He then turned his sardonic smile on Roxanne and relaxed back into the plush seat as she handed over his champagne in a crystal flute.
Roxanne vibrated with nervous anxiety was barely confined beneath the surface of her smile. She still had a terrible feeling about the night and that Barry was up to no good. She wasn’t thrilled with Mark either. She had no idea how she was going to handle this crazy competitiveness between them. What was it with men anyway? She gave in to her instincts and let them take over.
“I don’t blame those fans for mobbing you. You were dazzling tonight.” She caressed Barry’s chin with her free hand, lightly brushing her fingers over his lips.
“Not you too, Roxy. All I need is another adoring fan.”
“I can’t help myself. Your performance tonight excited me,” she whispered. It wasn’t hard to send the message about where she stood. The memories of her nights with Barry coiled her insides until she felt herself melting.
The two men looked at each other. Barry’s blazing blue eyes met Mark’s glance without apology. It was settled. Her choice was clear to them.
“You’re not surprised, I hope?” Roxanne addressed Barry. “After all, you won the game and a deal is a deal.” She took a long sip of her champagne and glanced at Mark, giving him no explanation. After all, they’d been over this ground before. And it was his idea to stick around and intrude on her date with Barry.
“The game was excellent. I haven’t been to one in a while. I forgot how exciting they can get,” Mark said in a professional
voice.
When the limo pulled up to the Marriott at Copley Place, Roxanne was the last to get out. She drained the remainder of her champagne before she did. She knew she’d have to have a long talk with Mark after this night was over. In addition to business. Even if he brought it on himself, she knew he was disappointed, maybe even hurt. The twinge caused her to look at him, maybe send him some kind of message of friendship. But he was not receptive, not tonight, not now as he stood on the curb waiting for her. She only hoped Barry would have mercy on his opponent.
Getting out of the car, she dragged her coat across the seat behind her and took Barry’s hand as he helped her to the sidewalk. Barry wasted no time putting his arm around her as if staking his claim. Mark stepped in behind them. He followed the couple as they entered the restaurant. They were immediately escorted to a table ahead of the waiting crowd.
Barry spoke under his breath to Roxanne, “More adoring fans. How nice,” as a woman approached with a napkin and pen in hand before they could even sit.
“Be gracious now, Mr. Superstar,” she whispered back, enjoying the easy intimacy. Roxanne stepped aside to let the woman get the autograph and took the opportunity to give her attention to Mark.
“The price of fame, I guess.” She smiled at him and took his arm, leading him to sit.
“Small price considering he’s won you for the evening.”
They both looked up at the sound of the woman with the autograph squealing with delight when Barry gallantly kissed her on the cheek before sending her on her way. He took his seat then.
“Gracious enough for you?” He raised one brow.
“You could have simply kissed her hand. No need to go too far.” She turned to Mark. “Next thing you know he’ll be kissing women on the lips, then who knows what after that?”