It Had to Be You (Chicago Stars #1)(63)

It was after one in the morning when they landed at O’Hare, and she was exhausted. Ron was taking her home since she hadn’t driven to the airport. As she slid into the deep front seat of his Lincoln Town Car, she heard a brisk set of footsteps approaching.

“We need to talk, Phoebe. Let me drive you home.”

She looked up to see Dan standing next to the car, his hand resting on the door as he leaned down to peer inside. He was wearing his wire-rimmed glasses, and he looked more like a stern-faced high school principal who was about to reach for his paddle than one of the gridiron’s legendary hell-raisers.

She fumbled with her seat belt buckle as she snapped it together. “We can talk tomorrow. I’m going with Ron.”

Ron, who was standing on the driver’s side, had just finished placing their carry-on bags in the rear seat. He looked up as Dan came around the front of the car.

“I have some business I need to discuss with Phoebe, Ronald. I’ll drive her home. We can trade cars at work tomorrow.” He tossed over a set of keys and, ignoring her exclamation of protest, slid behind the wheel. While Dan adjusted the seat to accommodate his taller framer, Ron stared down at the keys in his hand.

“You’re letting me drive your Ferrari?”

“Don’t put any drool marks on the leather.”

Ron snatched his carry-on bag from the back and handed over his own keys, so pleased at the prospect of driving “ICE 11” that he dashed off without telling Phoebe good-bye.

She sat in stony silence as Dan pulled out of the parking lot. Within minutes, they were heading south on the Tri State. In the gaudy lights of billboards advertising radio stations and beer, she could see that he was doing a slow burn, as if he were the wronged party instead of her. She made up her mind that she wasn’t going to let him realize how much he’d hurt her.

“I suppose you know you disgraced yourself at the game today by showing up in that snake charmer outfit.”

“1 disgraced myself? Unless my memory’s faulty, you were the one who got evicted.”

“I got ejected, not evicted. That was a football game, not a damn landlords’ convention.” He glanced over at her. “What were you trying to prove, anyway? Don’t you know that when you wear clothes like that, you might as well have a For Sale sign plastered on your chest.”

“Of course I know it,” she cooed. “Why do you think I do it?”

His hands tightened on the wheel. “You’re really pushing me, aren’t you?”

“My clothing isn’t any of your concern.”

“It is when it reflects on the team.”

“Don’t you think those infantile temper tantrums you throw on the sidelines reflect on the team?”

“That’s different. It’s part of the game.”

She hoped her refusal to respond told him exactly what she thought of his logic.

They drove for several miles in silence. Phoebe’s misery settled in deeper. She was so tired of playing a part all the time, but she didn’t know any other way to behave. Maybe if they’d met under different circumstances, they would have had a chance.

Dan’s belligerence had faded when he finally spoke again. “Look, Phoebe. I feel bad about last night, and I want to apologize. I liked being with you and all, and I didn’t mean to be so abrupt. It was just gettin’ kind of late . . .” His apology trailed lamely into silence.

She could feel her throat closing, and she fought against it. Pulling the fragments of her willpower together, she spoke with the bored lockjaw drawl of a South Hampton socialite. “Really, Dan, if I’d known you would react in such an immature fashion, I would never have gone to bed with you.”

His eyes narrowed. “Is that so?”

“You reminded me of a teenager who’d just done it in the backseat of the family car and was having an attack of guilty conscience. Frankly, I’m accustomed to a bit more sophistication on the part of my lovers. At the very least, I expected another round. It’s hardly worth all that effort if you’re only going to do it once, is it?”

He made a strange, choking sound and drifted into the right lane. She kept at him, prodded on by the pain of knowing he couldn’t see through her, that this was the way he expected her to behave. “I don’t think I’m terribly demanding, but I do have three requirements of my lovers: courtesy, endurance, and quick recovery for a repeat performance. I’m afraid you failed all three.”

His voice grew dangerously low. “Aren’t you going to criticize my technique, too?”

“Well, as to that I found your technique to be quite . . . adequate.”

“Adequate?”

“You’ve obviously read all the books, but . . .” She forced an exaggerated sigh. “Oh, I’m probably too picky.”

“No. Go on. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

“I guess I hadn’t imagined you’d have so many— Well, so many hang-ups. You’re a very uptight lover, Daniel. You should relax more and not take sex so seriously. Of course you were operating at a disadvantage.” She paused, then went in for the kill. “In all fairness, what man could be at his best having sex with the woman who signs his paychecks?”

She was dismayed to hear a soft chuckle. “Phoebe, darlin’, you’re takin’ my breath away.”