Illegal Procedure (Fair Catch Series, Book One)

by Christine Kersey

  “That looks great,” he said as he walked over to where she knelt on the ground.

  Looking up at him, she smiled. “Thanks.”

  “It actually looks kind of fun,” he said, then he chuckled. “I liked playing in the dirt when I was a kid.”

  With a smile on her lips, she stood and faced him, then held out the trowel. “Give it a try.”

  He gazed at her, making her heart do an unexpected flip. He was sweaty from his run, but still oh so attractive. The man was super-fit—not an ounce of fat on him. More than that, his rugged good looks and confident demeanor drew Shay in. Hating the idea that he was lying to her, she consoled herself with the thought that she would find out the truth. Soon.

  Josh couldn’t tear his gaze away from Shay’s face. Her emerald-green eyes sparkled and her rosy cheeks glowed.

  He was glad she had found his cabin and had taken refuge with him, glad that she would stay right there with him.

  Guilt crashed over him at the thought. He was being selfish. It would be better for her if she had a home, a place where she felt safe. It would be better if this man named Will wasn’t trying to find her.

  There was a reason he was having those selfish thoughts—because his attraction to her was becoming more and more powerful, almost too powerful to deny any longer.

  “Sure,” he said. “I’ll give it a try.”

  Wiping his hands on his shorts, he looked over the garden, then took the trowel from her outstretched hand. “Where do you want me to start?”

  She pointed to the end of a row. “Plant the carrots over there.”

  He nodded. “Okay, boss.”

  One side of her mouth lifted in a smirk. “And when you’re done you can start on the radishes.”

  He laughed. “We’ll see.”

  Laughing, she said, “Okay.” She paused a beat. “Hey, do you want me to make you a smoothie?”

  Liking her thoughtful nature, he smiled. “That would be great. Thanks.” He watched her turn and walk toward the kitchen, her slender hips gently swaying, her hair in a high ponytail, her smile on his mind.

  As she made Josh’s smoothie, Shay kept glancing out the kitchen window to watch him. Seeing him work so hard on the garden made her smile. Maybe he wasn’t really hiding anything at all. Maybe he was telling her the truth about what he did.

  She hoped so, because she really, really didn’t want him to be a dangerous criminal.

  Later that morning, after Josh had planted the carrots, Shay stood outside with him as he told her he was going to shower then go into his office to work.

  “If you need anything,” he said with a smile, “there’s a doorbell by the barn’s main entrance.”

  Knowing her chance to get a peek inside would be coming soon, her heart began to race. She didn’t want to give him any hints that she would be using that doorbell, so she played it cool. “Okay, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

  His lips lifted into a confident smile, his gaze steady on hers. “I’m sure you will.”

  The way he looked at her made her heart race harder, but for a different reason, and as she watched him walk away from her and into the house, she tried to push away the image of Josh as a bad guy. She really needed him to be one of the good guys, and she was counting on having her fears allayed that day.

  Josh ran his fingers through his hair as he leaned back in his desk chair. He loved football, he always had, but at that moment he wanted nothing more than to go outside and work with Shay in their garden.

  Wait. Their garden? It was his house and his yard, so really it was his garden. Then again, if it wasn’t for Shay there would be no garden at all.

  He pictured her beautiful face, the way her eyes sparkled, her smile, and wondered why that man was angry at her, why he’d said he was done being reasonable. What did that mean anyway?

  With a shake of his head, he forced aside those thoughts as he stood and went to the couch that faced a large screen TV mounted to the wall. Grabbing the remote, he plopped onto the couch and pulled up the recording of the game that he’d been planning on studying.

  Much to his chagrin, after only twenty minutes Josh found his focus wandering back to Shay, and as hard as he tried to push the image of her out of his mind, she refused to go away.

  Grabbing the remote from the table beside him, Josh gave up, jabbing the power button with his thumb. The screen went black and he leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling.

  What was going on with him? Never before had a woman captured his attention the way that Shay had. It had been less than a week since he’d found her in his bed, but already he was finding it hard to imagine being at the cabin without her.

  But that was ridiculous. Soon enough she would go on with her life and he would head to training camp. That’s how it had to be. That’s how it was supposed to be.

  The doorbell rang. His head jerked up. It had to be her. No one else was supposed to come over, and he’d specifically told her that if she needed anything, to ring the bell.

  His lips lifted in a smile as he made his way to the door.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Shay had waited as long as she could to come to the barn, but now that she was standing in front of the wooden door, waiting for Josh to open it, her heart pounded harder than ever. Would he be angry at her for interrupting? Would he invite her in with a smile? Would he…

  The door opened part way.

  “Hey,” Josh said with a smile, his eyes lasered in on her face.

  Okay, Shay thought. So far, so good. He doesn’t seem mad.

  Whenever she interrupted Will, he would scowl at her, making her wish she hadn’t bothered. In fact, she avoided interrupting him for just that reason.

  “Hi,” she said, making her voice bright and friendly. Wanting to get a glimpse of the inside of the barn, she tried to peer around him, but he stood right in the way, completely blocking her view. Plus his gaze never wavered from her face.

  “Did you need something?” he asked.

  “I, uh, I was wondering if you have Internet access in there. I need to, uh, get in touch with my mother. Let her know I’m okay.” In reality, she was fairly certain her mother hadn’t realized she was missing, and she certainly didn’t want to get any more messages from Will. But she hadn’t been able to come up with any other reason to request entrance into Josh’s barn.

  Josh considered her request. It wasn’t unreasonable. Not at all. But knowing what he knew—that some guy named Will was searching for her—he had to consider that this had nothing to do with her mother and everything to do with Will. When he’d read her texts, there hadn’t been any replies. Maybe she’d needed time to think things over. Maybe she was going to tell him where to find her.

  That would be a huge mistake. He couldn’t let her do it.

  But what if she really did want to contact her mother? He couldn’t stand in the way of that.

  “Sure,” he said. “Okay.”

  Her face lit up with obvious relief. “Can I come in?”

  He hadn’t thought that one through.

  “It’s kind of a mess in there,” he said, thinking quickly. “Let’s sit on the porch and I’ll give you my wifi password.”

  The relief on her face faded away. What was up with that?

  Darn! So close.

  Shay had no choice but to agree, but his reluctance to let her come in gave weight to her suspicions.

  He stepped out of the door, closing it behind him, not giving her a chance to take a peek, then led the way to the porch.

  “How’s the planting coming along?” he asked as they sat side by side on the porch swing.

  “Okay. There’s lots more to do though.” It had been more fun when he’d been helping. “Maybe when you’re done working you can join me.”

  One side of his mouth lifted in a smile. “I can help you after you talk to your mother.”

  “You’re done working?” That hadn’t taken him long. It had been less than an hour since he’d
gone to his office.

  “I have more to do, but I’d rather play in the dirt.”

  That was fine with her.

  “Are you ready for that password?”

  There was no point getting onto his wifi any longer, but she had to see this through. “Yeah.” She typed the information into her cell phone, and moments later her phone was connected to his wifi.

  Had Will sent more texts? It had been twenty-four hours since he’d sent the last one she’d read, the one where he said he would find her. Almost holding her breath, she listened for her phone to chime a notification, but it was silent.

  Pretending like everything was fine, she pulled up the phone app and called her mother.

  “Do you want privacy?” Josh asked.

  She shook her head. If her mother even answered, the call would be brief. Plus, she liked having Josh sitting beside her.

  The phone rang on her mother’s end, but she didn’t answer. Instead it went to voice mail. After the beep, Shay said, “Hey, Mom. It’s me. I don’t know if you’ve tried to get in touch with me, but I wanted to let you know I’m okay. I’m staying with a friend.” She glanced at Josh and saw him smile. “I don’t have cell service here, but if you leave a message, I’ll hear it eventually. Love you. Bye.”

  She disconnected the call and stole a glance at the screen. There were no new text messages from Will. That almost scared her more than if he’d reached out to her again, because it meant he was too angry to bother trying to persuade her to talk to him.

  She powered down her phone and tucked it in her pocket.

  From what Josh could tell, Shay hadn’t received any new texts. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? And should he admit that he knew her secret?

  Searching her face, he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. She’d turned her phone off and put it away, and she’d had no qualms about him listening to her call. All good signs. Still, she seemed downcast. Was it because she hadn’t been able to talk to her mother? Or was she worried about Will finding her?

  Maybe he could get her to admit that Will was looking for her. He preferred that over having to confess that he’d read her texts.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she said without hesitation. “Everything’s fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Her eyebrows bunched. “Yeah. Why?”

  “You just seem…I don’t know, like something’s bothering you.”

  Her smile grew, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Everything’s fine. I promise.”

  Not much else he could do to get her to admit the truth. “Okay.” He gazed at her steadily. “You know you can tell me stuff, right?” Was that going too far? Would that make her suspicious?

  She didn’t look away. “All right.” She paused a beat. “That goes both ways, you know. You can tell me stuff.”

  Like what? That he was actually an NFL quarterback that everyone in the sports world knew about? That wasn’t going to happen. The more time he spent with her, the more of a connection he felt with her. A real connection, between a man and a woman, not between a football star and a groupie. He liked that feeling. A lot. Too much to divulge his secret.

  “Okay,” he said. “Good to know.”

  She stood. “Time to get back to work.”

  He stood as well. “You’re kind of a slave driver.” Not that he wasn’t used to hard physical labor. That’s what he did day in and day out during football season and while training. But working in the garden was a different kind of work. Work that he liked. Although if he didn’t have Shay with him, leading the way, he knew his interest would plummet.

  Shay walked with Josh to the garden, pleased beyond measure that he was coming with her. Working side by side with him was much more fun than doing it on her own.

  “What’s next, boss?” he asked as they stopped on the porch and looked over the flats of orange, yellow, and red marigolds waiting to be planted.

  “The vegetables are all planted, so now we need to plant the marigolds around the edge of the porch.” She’d been looking forward to this part. The vegetable garden was fun, but the riot of color from the flowers were what really pleased her eye.

  “First though,” she said, “we need to add compost to the soil.”

  Josh groaned, making Shay laugh.

  “Not more compost,” he said.

  Grinning, she said, “Afraid so.”

  “Maybe I should go back to work.”

  The mention of him working reminded her of the way he’d deflected her attempt to get into the barn and she decided it was time to deal with her concerns.

  She turned and faced Josh. “What do you really have in that barn?”

  His eyes widened like she’d caught him at something. Startled by his reaction—she must be on the right track—her heart skipped a beat.

  “I told you before,” he said, his eyes back to normal. “My office is in there.”

  Ready to push for more, she said, “Either you have a really big office, or there’s more than that in there.” Then she remembered how he’d come back from the barn freshly showered two days earlier. “Do you have a shower in there?”

  He hesitated, which made her suspicions grow.

  “Yeah,” he finally said. “I do. Sometimes I go to the office straight from a run so it’s easier to shower in there.”

  That made sense.

  Should she press him for more? She still believed he was hiding something from her, but she couldn’t figure out why or what it was.

  Why was she interrogating him? She obviously suspected something, but he wasn’t about to tell her the truth. Let her wonder. She was keeping something important from him, so he only felt a little guilty about not telling her his true identity.

  Ready to end the inquiry, he said, “Let’s get started.”

  She stared at him a moment longer, then she nodded. “Okay.”

  They spent the next hour working compost into the flowerbed, and then they planted the flats of marigolds. When they were done, they stood back and admired their work.

  “I have to admit,” he said, “the flowers really improve the yard.”

  She smiled. “Yes they do.”

  He turned and looked at the vegetable garden. “I’ve never had vegetables fresh from my own garden before.” He shifted to look at her and saw the happiness in her face.

  “You’ll love it,” she said. “Nothing is better than tomatoes fresh from the vine.”

  But would she be around to eat them too?

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  At dinner that night—a Mexican casserole that had come out just right, much to Shay’s relief—they chatted about the different vegetables they’d planted and what they would make with them.

  “Spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes,” Josh said.

  Shay nodded as she swallowed the bite she’d been chewing. “And a salad made completely from your own garden.”

  As they talked, she almost forgot that Josh’s cabin was just a brief way station on the path to her new life. It had almost come to feel like home, but she quickly dismissed that idea. It was Josh’s home, not hers, and since she’d already decided that she needed to leave at a time of her choosing, she needed to choose that time.

  Now that the garden was planted there was really no reason to stick around. Plus, Josh’s evasiveness about what he had in that barn made her want to leave sooner rather than later. She’d had enough of hiding the truth with Will. In the beginning of their relationship he’d charmed her, and by the time his true nature had come out, she had already gotten caught in his web to the point where it wasn’t easy to leave. She had no intention of letting herself get caught in Josh’s web, whatever that web entailed, even though he was super hot and had been nothing but kind to her. Except for when he’d kicked her out that first morning.

  Speaking of, now that they’d become more friendly, maybe she could get him to tell her why he’d come for her that day. When he’d kicked her out s
he’d thought she would never see him again. What had changed his mind?

  “So, Josh,” she began.

  He looked up from his plate, his eyes narrowed at the tone of her voice. “Yeah?”

  Grinning, because she’d asked this question before, she said, “Now will you tell me why you came for me? That day you made me leave? And why did you make me leave in the first place?”

  Sighing audibly, he frowned. “I thought we’d gotten past that.”

  What was the big deal? Why wouldn’t he tell her? Then it hit her. Maybe he’d had to hide the evidence of his criminal activity. Maybe once he’d decided to let her stay he’d had to give himself time to hide…whatever it was he had to hide.

  Not ready to settle for his refusal to answer, she said, “You never answered the question.”

  Scowling, he said, “Maybe I should make you leave now so that I don’t have to keep hearing the question.”

  Her mouth slammed shut as her smile vanished. The reminder that he had the power to push her out the door on a whim, coupled with his evasiveness, solidified something that had been brewing in her mind—the knowledge that she couldn’t keep putting it off, that it was time to move on.

  Once they’d finished planting the last flower that afternoon she’d known she could leave without feeling like she’d stuck him with an unfinished project, but the moment that thought had entered her mind, she’d pushed it away. She didn’t want to leave. Not with how much she’d grown to care for him. But now the fear that had seemed to hang around the edges of her mind, the fear that she had no control over her future, burst forth once again.

  The decision had been made. She would leave. First thing in the morning.

  Of course Josh hadn’t meant it. He would never kick her out. Not as long as that man was searching for her. But dang it, why did she have to keep asking him the same question? Telling her that he’d thought she was a groupie would force him to admit who he really was. Something he wasn’t willing to do. Not yet.