Shut Out(56)

I readjusted my posture, ran my hands down my skirt, and took a quiet breath before strutting over to him.

“Hey,” I said, leaning against a shelf full of Newsweek issues.

Cash jumped.

“Oh, finally. I caught you off guard.”

He turned and grinned at me. “Score one for Lissa.”

“Yeah, well… You didn’t almost fall off a ladder or crack your skull on a wooden shelf, so we aren’t quite even yet.”

Cash laughed and turned back to the magazines. “What’s up?”

This was the curse of Cash and me. We were doomed to never, ever acknowledge the fact that we’d kissed. I was sensing a pattern here.

“I, um, have a favor to ask,” I said. I could feel the heat rising into my face and neck, but I fought to keep calm. I’d rehearsed this, after all. This was part of the plan.

“Okay. What is it?”

“I’m supposed to write a thesis for English.” I said it just like I’d practiced in the bathroom mirror that morning. “I’m working on this paper about how participating in sports affects, um, grades and stuff… for teenagers, you know? And, uh, Mrs. Perkins says I need firsthand accounts or something to validate my arguments. Would it be okay if I interviewed you?”

Cash looked at me again. “You want to interview me? Why don’t you just interview your brother? He played football in high school, didn’t he?”

“Um, yeah…. But that’s only one sport,” I pointed out. “I need people in different types. So I’d love your point of view on soccer and how it affects your health.”

“You mean my grades?”

Crap. I was already screwing up the story.

“Right. Grades. So can you do an interview for me?” I batted my eyelashes in an attempt to appear seductive, but I was pretty sure I just came off looking ridiculous. “Please?”

Cash smiled at me as he put away the most recent copy of National Geographic, the last that needed to be shelved. “You sure you want to talk to me?” he asked. “Won’t it be weird with this whole strike thing? We are kind of enemies at the moment, aren’t we?”

“Enemies?” I forced a laugh. “No, of course not. It’ll be fine. As long as you don’t try any of your battle tactics on me, I’ll be good.” I winked at him, and he grinned.

I kind of reveled in my own hypocrisy for a minute. He had no idea what was coming.

“I guess it’s cool,” he said. “But we can’t do it here; Jenna will be on us in a heartbeat. When do you need it by? You could just e-mail me the questions.”

“I was thinking in person,” I said a little too fast. God, I needed to calm down. Focus. “And, um, what about tonight? After work? We could do the interview at your place if it’s all right.”

He thought about it for a second, then nodded. “Okay. That’ll work. I’ll give you a ride home afterward. Sound good?”

“Perfect,” I said with a grin. “I’ll see you after work.”

When I walked out of the room, I made sure to move my hips in a sexy sort of sway, causing my skirt to swish around my thighs in just the right way to show more leg, but not too much more. I hoped Cash was watching me leave. I didn’t look back to check.


Cash drove me to his house that night after work. It was the first time I’d ever been there, and I was eager to see where he lived. The answer surprised me.

The Sterlings lived in a trailer on the east side of town, only a few blocks from the cramped apartment complex where Chloe lived with her mom. Somehow, I expected a guy as handsome and popular as Cash to live in a picket-fence type of house, only nicer and bigger than my home. Not that I was judging or anything. It was just unexpected.

Cash seemed a little embarrassed about letting me see his home. He smiled and opened the car door for me and walked me up to the small porch, but I could tell by the way he didn’t meet my eyes that he was uncomfortable. Did he think I was the type to think less of him for where he lived? I really wasn’t, and the fact that he obviously felt that way stung.

“Sorry, the place is kind of a mess,” he said, unlocking the front door. “I don’t bring friends over very often.”

“Oh.”

Or maybe I should just be honored that he’d agreed to bring me here at all. He could have said no, but instead he’d let me see his home. Maybe that made me special.

Not special enough for him to date, but special in some sort of distant way.

“My parents aren’t here,” he said, letting me walk in ahead of him. “Mom’s at the hospital—she’s a nurse, and she’s got a long shift tonight. And Dad’s staying overnight in Chicago, interviewing for a new job. So it’s just us. Are you okay with that?”

“Yes, of course.” I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I was alone with him. No Jenna. No one to break us apart if things got heated. “I’m okay with that.”

Cash gave me a small grin before gesturing for me to follow him toward the kitchen. It really wasn’t as messy as he’d claimed. The dishes were all washed, just sitting in the drainer, waiting to be put away. Actually, his place seemed almost as clean as mine.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” he asked.

“Oh, no, I’m… I’m fine.” I could feel myself bouncing, my heel tapping an anxious rhythm on the linoleum. I needed to get this over with before my insides exploded. “So can I see your room?”