Legend (Arizona Vengeance #3)(6)

“Take her with you,” I reply with a shrug. “I’m sure you can afford that too.”

Legend rolls his eyes at me. “You have an answer for everything.”

“That’s because there is an answer for everything.” I give him an understanding smile and take a tiny sip of my bourbon. It burns going down, but I welcome the bit of calm it will bring to me because having Legend Bay in my house is a bit disconcerting. “You just have to figure out some things, that’s all.”

His body goes still as he stares at me. I think my words might sound trite and perhaps a bit offensive, as if I’m downplaying the magnitude of what he’s facing.

    He surprises me when his lips curl up and his eyes flash with amusement. “How is it just but a few short hours ago I was cursing you when I pulled into my driveway, looking at your Griswold decorations and now I’m sitting in your living room getting sage advice from you?”

“Technically, you’re standing,” I point out with a grin. “And I’m convenient, I guess.”

“You’re not convenient,” he growls low.

“Why do I irritate you so much?” I ask curiously.

“You don’t,” he asserts confidently.

“I did,” I retort with a laugh.

Legend stares at me, seemingly trying to figure out what to say. He certainly can’t deny I used to piss him off a lot.

It’s with a bit of disappointment that he just shrugs. “I don’t know. You’re just so…out there. Ostentatious. It grated on me, I guess.”

“You are kind of a stickin-the-mud,” I tell him sagely.

He shakes his head and glares at me. “I just happen to like order. And rules. It’s the way I was raised.”

“Military?” I guess.

I get a slow blink of surprise in return, and he admits, “Navy. My dad was a pilot and now he flies commercially since he retired.”

“Now it’s all making sense,” I drawl. “I guess a fun-loving, bohemian-type woman like me must put you on edge.”

“I’ve dated fun-loving women,” he mutters.

“Yes, but we’re not dating. Just neighbors. I get it. I must offend your notions of order when I so flagrantly violate all the HOA rules.”

Legend smirks at me. “Now you’re just mocking me.”

    “Pretty much,” I say with a laugh and take another miniscule sip of the liquor. “But seriously…you need to loosen up just a bit.”

His smile slides from his face. “Just how am I supposed to do that? Especially if I have a newborn to starting caring for?”

It’s a valid question. The most important one of the night.

I don’t have a long-term solution, but I think I can ease his mind if but for only a moment.

Uncurling myself from the couch, I place my cup on the coffee table. I move around it slowly, gliding toward Legend who watches me with dark eyes.

When I reach him, I put my hands on his chest…feel the hard thump of his heart there and go to my tiptoes.

“Like this.” I instruct him on the fine mechanics of “loosening up” and press my mouth to his.





Chapter 4


    Legend


I toss my game duffel on the floor of the hotel room and loosen my tie as I walk over to the minibar. I didn’t feel like going out with my teammates to celebrate because even though we beat Detroit tonight 5–4, I played like shit. Our win was only thanks to our superior offensive play and the overwhelming shots on goal they threw at the opposing goalie.

Granted, I’ve got a few things on my mind but letting outside shit interfere with my concentration out on the ice is unacceptable to me. I was trained by my father well before I ever became a professional player to lock out extraneous bullshit. It was his own military training that he passed on to me to keep my senses sharp and my nerves like steel, so I could always perform at my best. He’d be disappointed to know my focus was off because of my internal worries, but that’s a secret I’ll never tell him. I doubt he even saw the game because he flies the roundtrip Boston to Atlanta route Monday through Friday. He will look up the stats tomorrow, though, and I’m sure he’ll be wondering what threw me off, because he knows his son well. I don’t falter under pressure.

Not normally.

But since I’m having the best season of my life—so far—he’ll ponder what’s going on. He might even ask about it, and I’m not prepared to tell him that I’m a little bit weighted with the fact I could be a father soon.

    I most sure as shit wouldn’t tell him that there’s also an incredibly sexy neighbor who has been driving me crazy since I moved in next door to her, and that when she kissed me last Friday night, she rocked my world more than any other woman has ever done.

A fucking kiss.

It almost brought me to my knees.

I wasn’t expecting it but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want it. I’d been fantasizing about her mouth and all the things it might be capable of for months now.

I remember clear as a bell the day I met her. I’d only been in my new house for a few days, and was outside washing my Tahoe. She pulled into her driveway and I grimaced as I watched her unload bags and boxes from her car, knowing one of them probably contained some type of garish yard ornament.