Love's Freedom

by Misty Wright

  She started shaking her head.

  "Honey." He reached over and took her hand. "Before you say no, take the next few days and think about it while I'm out of town. You'll be 20 years old."

  "I have the shop."

  "Julie said she'd cover."

  Her mouth fell. "You told Julie!"

  "She swore on your mother's grave she wouldn't tell your family until either you or I spoke to them." Mark knew she wouldn't because she was half in love with him.

  Evangeline felt her face get hot with her anger, but before she could say anything, he started talking and she felt her anger subside.

  "I know you don't like to be surprised by this, but you are a beautiful young woman who needs to enjoy herself more. I have the means to provide it, and I want to. I've never seen anyone work as hard as you do. I want to show you what It's like to be treated like a lady. Let me," he added softly.

  "It's not right." She couldn't ask about the room arrangement, because from the look he carried all afternoon and the incident in the change room, she already knew the answer.

  "It's perfectly right."

  "I'm not one of those women you are used to, Mark."

  "Of course you aren't," he agreed adamantly. "But you are my girlfriend, and I want to take you somewhere special for your birthday. I have that right."

  "Am I?" she asked, surprised at his confession.

  He gave her a look of shock. "Jesus, Evangeline, I didn't just spend several months chasing you the way I did if I didn't think that way about you."

  She threw up her hands in exasperation. "I told you, I don't know anything."

  He considered that for a moment before answering. Of course she didn't. "I don't chase women. Also, I haven't had a girlfriend since I was 17," he explained.

  Her eyes widened. "Really?"

  "I never had to chase a woman in my life," he admitted honestly. "When I saw you, though, that changed." He had to keep reminding himself that she didn't know him or who he was, so she didn't know his history.

  Her whole body had a warm, flushing feeling go through it. It was hard to believe that someone as rich and famous as he was admitted to chasing her when he could have anyone and probably had.

  "You may not think so, but I've humbled myself around you. So much so, that Janine can't stop laughing his head off whenever he sees me run around after you."

  "You don't!"

  "Oh baby, do I ever," he said, dropping his gaze to her mouth.

  She was speechless again.

  "I know you don't see it, but it's true."

  She still didn't say anything.

  "Think about it, okay?" he said. "Vegas."

  Her eyes studied his. How she would love to go with him and his friends. It sounded like so much fun and Mark was right, she never really did have much of that in her life and she'd never really been out of the city. He'd been giving her tastes of what she was missing and she was really enjoying herself. Only, she knew her brothers and her father wouldn't let her go.

  "I will," she said.

  "That's my girl." He smiled slowly. "I'll see you next week."

  "All right," she said, hoping he'd kiss her goodnight, but he didn't. At least he gave a reason why.

  His eyes went down the front of her. "You'd better go, because if I touch you again, you won't be getting out of the car."

  She took a deep breath and stared at him a moment before she broke into a grin and did as he asked. He waited until she was safe inside, the whole time he kept thinking about how soft she was under him, what she felt like and what she tasted like. He started the car and cast a glance back at the house again. Not long now and she'd be his.

  *

  "What the hell is this?" Tito took the newspaper away from Evangeline, who was sitting at the table, circling items in it.

  She shot her head up as he shook it to straighten it out and read what she was circling. She knew her family wouldn't let her go to Vegas with Mark and she really wanted to go, badly. All day at work she had thought about how she could make this possible, and had finally decided what to do. On the way home, she bought a newspaper and started looking for apartments. She was old enough to move out on her own and could afford it easily. As far as she was concerned, she was mature enough to make her own decisions.

  Slowly, his dark eyes ran over the print before setting them on her. They were hard and accusing. "No way."

  She stood up and snatched the paper from him. "I'm 19. I'll be 20 next month, and you and Glen allow me no freedom," she said, glaring up at him.

  "That's not true," he said, taking the newspaper back. "You are not moving out."

  "No? It's almost midnight and where is Julie? If I was out this late, you guys would call the cops."

  "She's 25."

  "And I'm 19," she said in exasperation. "Soon to be 20."

  He gritted his teeth and stared down at her. "Evangeline, you know why."

  "Yes: neither you, Glen nor Papa trust me to look after myself."

  He took a deep breath and released it slowly to try and control his temper. "Julie is a different person."

  "Julie is not a virgin, you mean," she shot at him. "She didn't have the strict upbringing I had, she didn't go to Catholic school, she wasn't made to deal with all the rules you guys lay out for me."

  Surprisingly, Tito looked uncomfortable, but she had never really discussed anything like that with her brother before.

  At that point, Glen came into the kitchen to see what the raised voices were about. Tito told him that Evangeline was looking for an apartment. His eyes went to her and he said, "Tito, give me a minute."

  Tito released a breath of frustration, slapping the newspaper back on the table. He gave a stern look to Evangeline before he turned and left the kitchen. Glen was better equipped to handle this than he was. Most likely Tito would say something offensive and hurt her, thought Glen.

  "Sit down, Evangeline," Glen said while nodding toward the chair.

  She did after a huff of frustration. Why did these two have to constantly interfere in her life?

  He sat in the chair next to her and asked, "Why the sudden urge to move out?"

  She looked away.

  "Evangeline," he said.

  She turned her head back to him. "Mark wants to take me to Vegas on my birthday. I know you guys won't let him, so I was going to get my own apartment. I'm done with being treated like a child. I want the freedom that Julie has."

  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly while keeping eye contact with her. "I don't like to compare you two because you're different people, Evangeline, but we're protective of you because you're special."

  "Julie is, too," she protested.

  "That's not what I'm saying. Julie was always independent and when it came to men, she knew how to handle them and she did what she wanted no matter how much we protested. You don't remember that because you're younger."

  She really didn't.

  "You respect your family's wishes and have always acted accordingly," Glen explained.

  "You haven't given me much choice," said Evangeline.

  "Honey, I know we're protective, but you have this sweetness about you that would bring any man to their knees. We just don't want to see you get used."

  She flushed a little. "That's not true, Glen."

  "No? So the fact that a star athlete spots you from a drive-by and has since fallen all over himself around you, means nothing?"

  "I don't know, Glen. I don't know anything about attraction between men and women. And he doesn't fall all over himself around me." She brought her eyes to his, showing her embarrassment. She never had anyone to talk about those things with and Julie always made it sound crude. Yet, what she experienced with Mark wasn't anything near that.

  Glen studied her expression. "If you saw the way that man looked at you, you wouldn't doubt it."

  She shook her head.

  "How do you feel about him?"

  She shrugged. "I'm really scared about
what I feel," she admitted. "I think about him all the time and there are butterflies in my stomach whenever I see him."

  He nodded and his eyes were serious. "You love him."

  "I'm sure I love him," she conceded reluctantly, "but I tried not to."

  He smiled. "I'm sure you did, but he's pretty charming." It wasn't just his looks, money or fame, either. Glen knew that. Evangeline's feelings ran deep. Mark treated his baby sister like a princess and made her feel beautiful. Her family could have told her that a thousand times, but it wouldn't have near the effect that it did if Mark said it to her.

  "I just think I'm another woman in a long line of women for him."

  Glen didn't want to tell her, but he didn't think that was near the truth. It was true that Mark had a reputation, because he'd followed his career since he started playing there several years ago. Every time you saw a picture of him in the paper, he was with some stunning woman. Yet, he'd been the perfect gentleman around Evangeline and was careful not to disrespect her. He'd been patient, attentive and respectful of her family's wishes, despite what he was used to with women. Glen suspected that Mark was pretty crazy about his sister, too, because he wasn't the least bit deterred by the subtle threats. Who could blame him? Evangeline was stunning. From the day she was born, he and Tito had been fiercely protective of her. They'd actually tuned in a few of their friends who had mentioned anything indicating that they found her attractive. Evangeline had no idea of the lengths they'd gone through to protect her.

  "I'm sorry for your sheltered life, honey, but your family does not want to see you end up some man's flavor of the night. You're too special for that. You're smart, beautiful and we know you can go farther than all of us. That's why were so protective."

  She narrowed her eyes. "I'm not stupid, Glen. I want to go with him."

  He tilted his head. "That's obvious." He smiled slightly and said, "I'll talk to Papa."

  She grinned suddenly and threw her arms around him. "Thanks, Glen!"

  "Tell Papa that Mark asked Julie to mind the shop and that she said she would. Besides, we hired that new girl last week, so hopefully it won't be too hard on her. Business picked up in the last few weeks."

  Glen shook his head and smiled wider. "Honey, why do you think that is?"

  She shrugged.

  "Remember that your face was cast in front of millions of viewers, I'm sure some of them figured out where you work."

  "You think it's because of Mark?"

  "I know it is," he said as her face fell. "I have no problem with you dating Mark, but don't put your life in his hands. Figure out what you want with yours."

  CHAPTER 6 - One Dark, One Blond.

  "Jennifer wants you to call Evangeline," Janine said after he picked Mark up from his building. They had a practice this afternoon and a game tomorrow.

  Mark looked at him but didn't say anything.

  "Man, it's been over two weeks."

  "Leave it alone, Janine." Mark said.

  Janine cast him a glance as he pulled out into traffic. "Have you met my wife?"

  Mark shrugged, "Tell Jennifer it's fine. I just have some things to work out."

  "Jennifer thinks that you are being complete bastard."

  "She's right," Mark agreed. He really needed some time to clear his head. Whenever Evangeline was around, he just couldn't think straight, and he had some things to figure out.

  "Are we still on for Vegas?"

  "As far as I know," said Mark.

  This didn't make any sense. Mark wasn't giving anything up. "Did something happen?"

  "Yes, and no," he answered.

  Janine clenched his jaw. Mark wasn't telling him a damn thing and he had Jennifer on his case about Evangeline. She'd ran into her a few days ago downtown and she looked as though she'd been run over by a truck, so his wife said.

  "Jennifer said it looked as though she'd been crying," said Janine.

  "Janine, shut the fuck up," Mark said with restrained anger as turned his attention to the scenery outside the passenger window.

  His tone or blunt statement didn't affect Janine, but he knew when to stop pushing. They had had harsher words with one another before and sometimes they'd come to blows. With how close they were growing up together, it wasn't a surprise to anyone to know that. It wasn't his business and he shouldn't have started with him, but he was worried about Evangeline, too.

  If he thought he was the only one, he was wrong. When they pulled into the parking lot of the arena, Glen was there leaning against his truck with his arms crossed across his chest.

  "Ah, hell," Mark said. "This is all I need."

  "Do you want me to go to the underground parking?" Janine asked, knowing there was security guarding it.

  "No. Drop me off. I'll talk to him."

  "Evangeline sent her brother?"

  "Chances are, she doesn't know he's even here," Mark said while Janine pulled up alongside of the truck. He got out. "I'll see you in a few minutes," he said to Janine as he shut the door.

  Janine pulled away, watching Mark walk up to Glen in the rearview mirror. Glen straightened and dropped his arms while talking to Mark.

  Half an hour later, he came in the dressing room.

  "Everything all right?" asked Janine.

  "Yeah," Mark said, starting to get undressed.

  Janine finished changing and didn't say another word. He didn't have anything to tell Jennifer, and chances were she was going to get fed up and talk to Mark herself. He'd already told her to leave him alone, but chances were she wasn't going to listen.

  Janine somehow sensed that something serious was going on inside Mark's head and he decided to give him some time before he started bugging him again. At that moment, his father walked into the dressing room. His dad had this air about him that commanded respect even though he didn't act like it. His eyes searched the crowd before they settled on Mark.

  "Hartley," he said quietly. "A word."

  "Christ," he mumbled and turned away from Janine, walking toward the room Dutch indicated.

  Once inside, he told him to sit down. Mark did.

  "I need to know," Dutch said, once Mark seated himself on a bench.

  Mark didn't have to ask what he meant because he already knew. Dutch was aware that something was bothering him. He'd actually given him time to come clean, but he hadn't. Obviously he'd noticed his inconsistencies even though he hadn't let on.

  "Jesus, can't a man have some bloody privacy?" Mark grumbled. His teammates razzed him about her, too, and he really didn't want to talk about this relationship. Maybe he had screwed up by bragging about other women he'd had. Still, he wanted privacy with Evangeline. He needed to figure out exactly what he wanted to do with her now. He expected a tongue lashing for that statement, but Dutch only sat down next to him and took a deep, patient breath. He was surprised that when he finally did speak, he was firm but not angry.

  "Not with your status, Hartley. You of all people should know that. I'll pull you from the first line if you don't start acting like the athlete you are. You have an image to uphold. I never tolerated this bullshit from my son, so don't expect better treatment."

  Mark raised his eyes to his mentor. "I met someone."

  "I figured," Dutch said if it were no surprise.

  "Really? Is there anything you don't know?"

  "Yeah, you and Janine are different in a lot of ways, but you're also a lot alike," Dutch admitted. Then he gave him one of his rare smiles. "So tell me about her."

  *

  Two weeks. Evangeline paced the floor of her room holding the cordless phone in her hand. She'd dialed it at least a dozen times, but hung up before it rang.

  He'd gone a week without phoning her before, but at least Jennifer had phoned and let her know what was going on. This time there wasn't one call. When she ran into Jennifer a couple of days ago, she seemed surprised when Evangeline asked about Mark. Obviously she wasn't in on why he hadn't called. All along she thought that maybe they were b
eing detained by Dutch again, but apparently not. If Jennifer didn't know anything, neither did Janine. She couldn't help but have her eyes tear up. She quickly excused herself, feeling terrible that she had put Jennifer on the spot like that.

  Chances were Janine would have heard about it from Jennifer when she went home. Now she was worried. Why wouldn't he call her? He'd invited her to Vegas and they were to leave that following weekend. He hadn't even called to see how it went with her family. Did he change his mind and grow bored with her? If he did, she would tear a strip off of him for not telling her. She at least deserved that much respect.

  She looked at her bedside clock. It was nine in the evening. With shaking fingers, she dialed his number again and let it ring this time, resisting the urge to hang up. He'd given his number to her after their first date at Janine's, but she had never wanted to use it. She didn't want to seem desperate.

  It was answered at the other end. "Mark?" she said.

  To her surprise, it was a woman whose voice answered her. "No, he's out, but I expect him home soon. May I take a message?"

  She bit her bottom lip. "No, thank you," she said, and hung up.

  She tossed the phone on her bed and sat down, burying her face in her hands and fighting tears. How could he? She had thought they had something. He had called her his girlfriend. He had asked her to go to Vegas with him. It served her right for handing her heart to him on a platter, she thought.

  For an hour, she brooded and then she got angry. Well, he wasn't going to get away with hurting her. She stood up and left her room to get her coat. Her siblings were out with friends or girlfriends and her father was sleeping in front of the television. She slipped out unnoticed.

  "What are you doing answering the door like that?" Evangeline said with wide eyes. Mark opened the door bare-chested with just a pair of pajama bottoms on. It took her less than an hour to reach his place.

  "You're lucky I went that far. I sleep naked," he said, rubbing his eyes with his fingers.

  Her eyes popped wide.

  Whatever irritation he felt at being woken up Evangeline prorated at that look. She was too damn pretty. He sighed, reached over and took her hand pulling her into his condo and shut the door. "What are you doing here?"