Settling The Score (BBW Romantic Suspense Contemporary Romance)

by Diane Blake

  "You want to get to the truth, right?"

  Jasinda agreed. The two women entered The End Zone.

  Jasinda immediately noticed the super-sized framed pictures of the Tigers players over the bar. Of course, Craig's picture occupied the center spot. Despite how upset she felt at him, she couldn't help but notice how tight those football uniform pants were on his perfect body. She blinked her eyes and turned her head in the opposite direction to get the lustful thoughts out of her mind.

  In one corner, a band set up its equipment. A rough looking man hoisted a large speaker over one shoulder. "Good thing we made it before the band started playing. We'd never be able to hear ourselves think over the live music."

  Trudy agreed. "Yeah, the sound from the electronic jukebox is loud enough as it is."

  Kandi led the way as she and the other cheerleader wove through the crowd towards the bar. Trudy easily pulled Missy aside without Kandi even noticing.

  "Excuse me, Missy?" Trudy said politely, as she lightly tapped the cheerleader on the arm.

  Missy turned towards her. She repeated her reply like an automated voice mail recording. "I'm sorry, no autographs here. You can purchase autographed material on the Tigers website or come to one of our meet-the-fans events."

  "I'm not looking for an autograph," Trudy told her.

  "Oh," Missy's expression portrayed a combination of surprise and disappointment. "Is it just a free selfie you want?"

  Trudy already had her cover story prepared. "I'm Holly Evans," she lied. "From Modern Celebrity Magazine."

  "Oh, I see." Missy noticeably perked up.

  "I was wondering if I could get a quote from you."

  "Well, we're really supposed to run all press interactions through the publicity office."

  "Yikes, I have such a tight deadline. We can talk now and I can run it by your office first thing tomorrow. I'm sure just a quick quote won't be a problem. Especially accompanied by a full page picture of you."

  "Full page? Just of me?" Her face lit up like a little girl seeing a baby bunny in her Easter basket.

  "Mmm-hmm," Trudy agreed.

  "Well, okay." She cleared her throat dramatically. "The other team played hard, but the Tigers pulled off a win for the fans. They knew they couldn't let down the fans as we get so close to the Big Game." She paused and added, "Was that good?"

  Trudy smiled. "Yeah, fine. But I was hoping for a little inside scoop." She leaned in to make it seem conspiratorial. "Can you confirm the rumors that quarterback Craig Wilder is dating your fellow cheerleader Kandi Chambers?"

  Missy scrunched up her face. "Where did you hear a silly thing like that?"

  "Confidential sources," Trudy said as if she were discussing a major political scandal.

  Missy's genuine reaction overtook her previously cautious demeanor. "You need some new sources. Craig is soooo not Kandi's type. Those two have never dated! She likes bikers with beards and tats, not clean-cut jocks." Realizing that she'd said too much, Missy clammed up. "So you're going to make sure that the publicity office approves all this, right?"

  "Yeah, sure, thanks," Trudy replied, already scanning the crowd, trying to find Jasinda.

  As Trudy walked away, Missy called out, "What about my picture? For the full page?"

  "We'll use a file photo," Trudy yelled over her shoulder and disappeared into the crowd.

  Meanwhile, Jasinda approached Kandi from behind. Jasinda grabbed a salt shaker from a table. She called out, "Gretchen, catch!"

  Of course, Kandi turned around with her arms poised to catch something. Jasinda tossed the salt shaker to her. Kandi snatched it out of the air with one hand.

  "Impressive," Jasinda said indicating the catch.

  "You too," Kandi smirked, indicating Jasinda's discovery of her real name. "So you really are stalking me, huh? Maybe I should call the cops and get a restraining order. You wouldn't be the first crazed fan one of us players or cheerleaders had to deal with."

  "I'm not stalking you. I just want to talk to you about what happened at the college, about what you said."

  "I have nothing else to say to you," Kandi informed her.

  "I can always go to one of the Tigers fan forums and post about trying to track down an old friend... named Gretchen Blinderstrom..."

  Kandi shook her head in disgust. "Fine. Three minutes. What?"

  "I just want to make sure that you guys are together. I mean, you're kind of public people, especially Craig. And there's nothing online anywhere about you guys being a couple or even going on a single date."

  "If you must know, the team asked us to keep it quiet for a while. They want to make a big announcement and get a whole lot of publicity about it right before the Big Game." Kandi looked Jasinda up and down dismissively. "That's how it works with us, 'public people,' as you put it."

  "Look, there's no reason for us to be enemies."

  Kandi arched her eyebrow and scoffed.

  "When I met him and agreed to a date, Craig didn't say anything about having a girlfriend," Jasinda explained.

  Kandi shrugged. "Is that how you're playing it? My boyfriend asked you out? Really? Craig told me what happened. How you set the whole thing up."

  Jasinda tried to interject, but Kandi kept going. "I get that it's probably difficult for you to find a date and get any attention from a man. Lord knows I have to watch what I eat so I can, well, look like I do in this uniform. But, come on, have some self-respect. Running up to a famous football player in the mall...grabbing him..and getting a friend to snap a pic? All so you can feel good about yourself and get your fifteen minutes of fame? That's pretty sad."

  "That's not what happened at all!" Jasinda shrieked. Outraged on so many levels, she could barely get any sensible thoughts to come out of her mouth. "But that's not the way...I mean, the night before, the robbery, the police..."

  Jasinda didn't need a mirror to know what she looked like at that moment. The look on Kandi's face provided all the information she needed. Jasinda was coming across as a raving lunatic, or at least the obsessed fan that Kandi had accused her of being.

  Jasinda took a deep breath. She wasn't sure if she wanted to scream, cry, or perhaps both at once. She had to gather her thoughts. I know, I can show her the news story on my phone about the robbery at the mall and then she'll understand that I met Craig the night before.

  A look of defeat washed across Jasinda's face. That's right. Craig's name didn't get mentioned in the media reports. He'd explained how the team lawyer made sure the Tigers players didn't get embroiled in negative publicity.

  Kandi flipped her hair back. She looked Jasinda over again.

  Jasinda couldn't believe the difference in the look in Kandi's eyes. Oh, my God. She's gone from anger to pity!

  Kandi asked in a softer, more sympathetic voice. "So, are we done here?"

  Jasinda swallowed spit, but it didn't help her dry throat. She shook her head affirmatively.

  Kandi's final question came out in a tone that a mother would use on a little kid who got caught for the tenth time with his hand in a cookie jar. "And you promise not to bother me or my boyfriend again, right?"

  "Yes," Jasinda mouthed. There might have been an audible sound there. If so, it didn't make it all the way to Kandi's ears.

  "OK, then. Good luck with life, I guess." Kandi turned on her heels and disappeared into the crowd.

  Just then, Trudy grabbed Jasinda's arm and spun her around. "Come on, let's get out of here. You won't believe what I learned from that other cheerleader."

  "And you won't believe what I learned from Kandi," Jasinda replied.

  Chapter 16

  On the way back to Jasinda's apartment, she and Trudy swapped what turned out to be contradictory stories about the truth of the relationship (or lack thereof) between Kandi Chambers and Craig Wilder.

  "This is maddening!" Jasinda commented as they walked through the door.

  "I know. It's like every answer leads to another question. I know you didn't want
to do this..."

  Jasinda shook her head negatively in anticipation of the coming suggestion.

  Trudy finished her thought anyway. "You're going to have to confront Craig directly and demand an explanation."

  "But how can I trust him?"

  "I don't know what the deal is with you, but you're going to have to learn to trust a man someday..."

  "Why start out with one that's already throwing up all these red flags after one date?"

  Trudy sighed. She didn't have a good response to that ready. After a moment to think, she tossed out the idea, "And a well-timed rescue."

  Jasinda's phone vibrated before she had a chance to respond. She looked down at the screen. "It's him. Craig."

  "Good. That's a sign from the universe. Answer it."

  "Too late," Jasinda announced as she sent the call to voice mail. "That's the second call from him tonight. I missed one when we were at The End Zone."

  "At least he's motivated."

  "Yeah, maybe Kandi told him she wasn't available because she was at a girl's night out so he thought he'd have a good chance with the desperate and dateless girl home alone."

  "Hey, none of that talk. You may be dateless, but you're not desperate!"

  "Much..." Jasinda added with no sense of satisfaction in describing herself that way.

  Her phone vibrated again. She checked it and reported, "It's Craig again. Now he's texting me, asking if I'm OK. And Kandi accused me of being a stalker!"

  "I think it's sweet that he's checking in with you assuming he's not...'

  "Not already involved with someone else."

  "Yeah," Trudy agreed. "Why are relationships so complicated?"

  "That was going to be my next question. Let's talk about something else. How about work? How do you think they got along without either of us on shift for one night? Especially after a game?"

  "I'm just glad we don't have to open tomorrow morning," Trudy replied.

  The two young ladies spent the next half hour in idle chatter trying to take Jasinda's mind off the Craig situation.

  A knock on the apartment door interrupted their conversation.

  "Who could that be at this time?" Trudy asked.

  Jasinda shrugged. "I don't know. Once some guy who lives on another floor came home drunk and tried to get into my apartment. He thought he was at his own door and couldn't figure out why the key wouldn't work." She crossed to the door and closed one eye. She peered through the peephole. "It's him," she whispered.

  "Tell him to take his drunk ass upstairs or downstairs or wherever the hell he lives."

  "Not the stupid neighbor. Craig!"

  "Oh!"

  The knuckles rapped on the door again.

  "What should I do?" Jasinda mouthed.

  "Let him in and get some answers."

  Jasinda opened the door, but didn't move out of the doorway.

  Craig's warm smile greeted her. "Hi!"

  "Hello," she returned with much less enthusiasm than he used.

  "I know my showing up here is a surprise, especially this late, but may I come in?"

  "It's not the first time you've surprised me recently," Jasinda said coldly.

  "OK, so is that a yes to entering?" he asked tentatively.

  Jasinda stepped out of the way just enough to give him access to the room.

  "Nice place..." Craig said. He saw Trudy stand up from the couch. "Oh, I'm sorry I'm interrupting your company, Jasinda. Trudy, right? From the ice cream shop incident..."

  "That's me," she said with a wave.

  "How are you?"

  "Leaving!" Trudy announced as she headed for the door.

  "Don't let me chase you away," Craig called out.

  "Really. Stay," Jasinda ordered under her breath.

  "I think you two have a lot to talk about without my help. Text me later. See ya." Trudy closed the door behind her.

  "I have to admit that I'm glad we're alone," Craig told Jasinda as he took a seat on the couch.

  Jasinda made a point to sit in the chair opposite him. "You wouldn't rather be alone with anyone else?"

  "OK, Jasinda, what's going on here? You seem different than the other day at lunch."

  "Gee, I wonder why that-" Jasinda began. Then she stopped the sentence in mid-thought. She looked at Craig suspiciously. At that moment Jasinda really wished Trudy hadn't left. Jasinda felt her heart beating faster. "Wait a minute, Craig. I know I didn't give you my address and I'm not listed in any phone books or online databases because I don't have a landline."

  Craig developed a sheepish grin. "I can explain that."

  Jasinda's eyes swept the room for anything she could use as a makeshift weapon if necessary. Her best bet? The letter opener on the side table. But Craig sat closer to it than she did.

  "I kind of pinged your cell phone," Craig admitted.

  Jasinda stood up. Her voice rose involuntarily. "You put tracking software on my phone?" She tried to figure it out mentally. How could he have done that? I must have left the phone on the table when I went to the restroom during our lunch. She inched closer to the letter opener.

  "No!" Craig responded forcefully when he saw how upset she was getting.

  The tall football player stood up too, which only made Jasinda more nervous. He seemed even bigger in the confines of her small apartment than he did in the openness of the mall food court or the park. Jasinda wondered how loud she would have to scream for any of her neighbors to hear or care.

  Craig said, "It comes in handy to have a super computer geek for a brother. He knows a way to locate a cell phone by hacking the network to see where the signal is being received when you call that number. He uses all kinds of big words when he explains it and my eyes kind of glaze over, but that's the general idea. The important thing is that it works. Here I am."

  Craig took a step towards her. Jasinda felt herself trembling, but she had to keep her wits about her. She had to face the idea that had been at the back of her mind since the moment the robbery at Biggie Scoops had begun.

  What if it wasn't random? What if Craig showing up to rescue her from the thief wasn't just an arbitrary bit of good luck? What if it had all been an elaborate trick to get her to trust him?

  Chapter 17

  Craig continued, "After what happened the other night..." He reached out towards her.

  Jasinda dove for the letter opener. She snatched it off the side table. She held it threateningly. "Stay away from me!"

  Craig jumped back. "What the hell? Are you crazy?"

  "Get back!" she screeched.

  He looked into her eyes. He knew she wasn't insane after all. She was scared...scared to death. Of him? It didn't make any sense. "Oh, my God. You're shaking. Why would you ever think I would hurt you, Jasinda? What's wrong?"

  Jasinda saw the concern and compassion in his eyes. She looked at the puny letter opener in her hand. Craig, the virtual wall of muscle that he was, could have overpowered and disarmed her in half a second. If he wanted her dead, she'd already be dead. He wouldn't have given her a chance to scream or defend herself.

  Her fingers opened. She dropped the letter opener. It clanged against the side table and fell to the carpet.

  Craig rushed at her. He wrapped his huge arms around her shoulders. Afraid she would faint, he supported her entire weight.

  Jasinda gladly leaned against him for support. Her face pressed into his chest. His embrace kept away the rest of the world, especially anyone who wanted to do her harm. The warm tears welled in her eyes. She couldn't hold them back. In fact, she didn't want to hold them back.

  As the tears streamed down her face, Craig rocked her back and forth. "It'll be all right. I'm here. You don't have to worry," he promised. He gently smoothed her hair and kissed her forehead.

  She clung to him as he led her to the couch. They sat side by side. Craig kept his arm around her, patiently waiting until she was ready to talk again.

  When Jasinda regained her composure, she felt foolish. She tho
ught I can't believe he hasn't taken off already. If he doesn't think I'm certifiable, he'll at least think I'm an emotional wreck. Probably a "psycho chick" as his buddies in the locker room will declare if he tells them this story. He's just being a good person by staying with me when I'm so upset. He'll never want to date me again, that's for sure.

  "I'm sorry for the scene," Jasinda told him when she finally sat up.