It Had to Be You (Chicago Stars #1)(93)

She whirled toward the door as Reed walked in. His black wool topcoat was unbuttoned and a white cashmere scarf showed inside his collar. How much had he seen?

As the Stars had begun to pile up victories, Reed’s friendliness had developed cracks. He had never expected it to take so long for him to gain control of the team. Although he was still careful how he spoke to her when others were around, when they were alone, she caught glimpses of the young bully who had torn up her mother’s picture.

He pulled off a pair of black leather gloves. “I’m glad I caught you, Dan. I want to get together soon to talk about the draft. I have a few ideas we need to discuss.”

“It’d be real nice to chat with you, Reed,” Dan said pleasantly. “But until we lose, I’m afraid I can only listen to Phoebe’s ideas.”

She could see that Reed didn’t like being brushed off, but he was too smart to let Dan know it. Instead, he gave her that patronizing smile that made her want to claw his eyes out. “Phoebe doesn’t know anything about the draft.”

“Now you might be surprised what Phoebe knows. As a matter of fact, she was just now giving me her opinion about Rich Ferguson at Michigan State. Weren’t you, Phoebe?”

“The kid’s really something,” she replied with remarkable confidence, considering the fact that she’d never heard of Rich Ferguson.

“It’s amazing how much a smart woman can learn in just a few months. That doesn’t mean I agree with you about that Jenkins kid, though.”

“You may be right. I’ll think it over.” Lord, don’t strike me down for lying. She appreciated Dan’s defense of her, but it couldn’t compensate for the undeniable fact that she had practically thrown herself at him, and he had rejected her.

Reed sensed an alliance and didn’t like it. “You’ll have to deal with me sooner or later,” he said tightly. “And I’m afraid my management style is going to be more direct than Phoebe’s.”

“I’d expect you to do things your own way,” Dan replied, refusing to take the bait.

Gary Hewitt, who was working nearly as many hours each week as Dan, poked his head through the door. “Sorry to interrupt, Dan, but we’ve got some new film I want you to look at. I think we may have an answer to the problem with Collier.”

“Sure, Gary.” He turned to Phoebe, and by the slight lift of his eyebrow asked if she wanted him to stay to lend moral support.

She smiled. “We can finish our discussion tomorrow.”

He wrapped his towel around his neck and, with a nod to both of them, left.

Reed slapped his black leather gloves in his palm. “Let me take you out to dinner. It’ll give us a chance to catch up.”

“I’m sorry. I try to eat with Molly during the week.”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “I haven’t told you how much I admire the way you’ve taken over with her. You’re hardly the maternal type, so I know it’s been a sacrifice.”

“I enjoy Molly. It hasn’t been a sacrifice at all.”

“I’m glad. Now that Bert is gone, I can’t help but feel at least a little bit responsible for you. I guess that’s only natural since I’m your only surviving male relative.”

“Thank you for your concern, but I’m doing fine.”

“I’m just grateful that you’re a woman of the world. It’s obvious from what I saw when I walked in here tonight that the sharks are circling.”

“Sharks?”

He chuckled. “It’s all right, Phoebe. You don’t have to pretend with me. I’m sure you find Dan’s courtship as amusing as I do. Nobody expected the Stars to get this far—not even their coach. I suppose it’s natural that he’d hedge his bets, although I would have expected him to be more subtle about it.”

“Reed, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said stiffly.

His forehead knit with concern. “Oh, God, Phoebe. I’m sorry. I thought— You’re really serious about him, aren’t you? God, I feel like an ass. I didn’t mean to be so clumsy about this.”

“Why don’t you just say what’s on your mind.” Phoebe affected a calmness she didn’t feel.

He gazed at her as if he were a kindly uncle. “Football is the most important thing in Dan’s life. Both of us know that. Having even an outside chance of getting his hands on the Stars has to be driving him crazy. Now he’s using you without any risk to himself. If the Stars lose, he can ease out of the relationship with no harm done. But if they don’t lose—” His jaw tightened. “I think you can expect our head coach to hit you with a marriage proposal so fast your head will spin.”

Dan wasn’t without his faults, but he wouldn’t use her to get the Stars, and she had never liked Reed less than she did at that moment. He was slick and oily, totally unprincipled and utterly selfish. Even so, she knew he probably believed what he was saying since that was what he would have done had he been in Dan’s shoes.

“Thank you for your concern, but I think you’re taking my relationship with Dan more seriously than I am.” Liar!

“I’m glad to hear that. I probably shouldn’t have even mentioned it. This discussion will be pointless by Sunday evening anyway. The Stars are overmatched this weekend. I hope you’re prepared for the team to lose.”