It Had to Be You (Chicago Stars #1)(52)

Dan saw that Valerie was regarding him suspiciously as he entered the office she kept in one of Oak Brook’s granite and glass commercial buildings. She gestured toward the nubby, rose-colored chairs that sat around the small conference table.

“Do you want coffee?”

“No, thanks.”

He sat down, pushing the chair back on its wheels so he could stretch his legs out. As she rose from behind her desk and walked over to him, he took in her conservative navy business suit and white silk blouse buttoned to the neck. Knowing Valerie, she probably had on a G-string underneath.

“I heard you lost again on Sunday,” she said, as she sat next to him. “I’m sorry.”

“Stuff happens.” He’d wanted to do this right, so he’d told her they needed to talk and asked her to meet him downtown for dinner at Gordon, which was her favorite restaurant. When she’d refused and told him to come to her office instead, he’d figured she knew what was on his mind and just wanted to get it over with.

She snatched a pack of cigarettes from the middle of the conference table. “That incident at your house last night was appalling. I hope she keeps her mouth shut.”

“She prob’ly will.”

Valerie gave a cynical laugh. “My entire life flashed in front of me when I realized what had happened.”

“I imagine hers flashed in front of her, too, when I was draggin’ her into the woods. Unlike you, she didn’t know I wasn’t really going to hurt her.”

“You did manage to calm her down?”

“We talked some.”

She inhaled deeply on the cigarette she had just lit and made her first not-so-delicate probe. “It’s going to put a damper on any seduction plans you have for her.”

“Believe me, Val, the only plans I have for Phoebe are to stay as far away from her as I can.”

He meant it, too. He was furious with himself for letting things go so far with Phoebe. He should never have kissed her, and he promised himself he wouldn’t ever get carried away like that again. Finally, he had his priorities straight.

Val regarded him warily. “Then what’s this about?”

He knew she wasn’t going to like what he had to say, and he spoke softly. “I’ve met someone.”

She was cool, he’d give her that, and if he hadn’t known her better, he would have believed she was unaffected by his news. “Anyone I know?”

“No. She’s a nursery school teacher.” Val wouldn’t understand if he told her he hadn’t yet asked Sharon out for a formal date, but after last night’s incident, he knew he couldn’t indulge in any more sex games with his ex-wife, not when he was getting ready to launch a serious courtship.

“How long have you and this nursery school teacher been seeing each other?” She took a quick, angry drag.

“Not long.”

“And she, of course, is everything I wasn’t.” Her mouth tightened as she stabbed out her cigarette in the ashtray.

Valerie had a good-sized ego and she didn’t usually give in to petulance, but he understood that he was hurting her. “I’m sure she’s not as smart as you, Valerie. Not as sexy, either. But the thing of it is, she’s real good with kids.”

“I see. She’s passed your Mother Goose audition.” She gave him a bright, hard smile. “Actually, Dan, I’m glad this came up because I’ve been wanting to talk to you about the same thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Our arrangement isn’t working for me.”

He feigned surprise. “You want to break it off?”

“I’m sorry, but, yes. I just didn’t know how to bring it up without hurting you.”

He jumped up from his chair and gave her a little of the outrage he knew she needed to hear. “Who is he? Have you got another man, Val?”

“It was inevitable, Dan. So let’s not have any scenes.”

He looked down. Shoved his foot around in the carpet pile for a little bit. “Damn, Valerie, you sure know how to cut a man down to size. I don’t know why I even try to have the last word with you. Here I came over to break it off with you, and all the time you were getting ready to dump me.”

She regarded him suspiciously, trying to see if he was putting her on, but he kept the same sincere expression on his face he’d used in Sunday’s postgame interviews when he talked about how well the Broncos had played and how friggin’ much they’d deserved to win.

She gave the conference table a brisk thump with her fingertips and stood. “Well, then, I guess there isn’t anything more to say.”

“I guess not.”

As he looked down at her, the good times came back instead of the bad. Most of them had taken place in bed, but he supposed that was more than a lot of divorced couples could say. He wasn’t sure who moved first, but the next thing he knew they had their arms around each other.

“Take care of yourself, y’hear?” he said.

“Have a good life,” she whispered back.

Twenty minutes later as he pulled into the parking lot at the Sunny Days Nursery School, he was no longer thinking about Valerie. Instead, he was frowning into his rear-view mirror. The gray van that had been following him looked like the same one he’d seen behind him a couple of times last week. It had a crumpled right fender. If he had a reporter on his tail, why the cloak-and-dagger stuff? He tried to see the driver as the van passed by the nursery school entrance, but the windows were tinted.