Power Play (Crimson Romance) by Nan Comargue Read Free Book Online Page B

home.
    “And Victoria described herself as my girlfriend?”
    Lila nodded. “She was very convincing and didn’t seem at all dangerous.”
    “I didn’t say she was dangerous,” he said. “Only determined.”
    “That kind of determination can be dangerous.”
    He stood up with a movement that reminded her vividly of his profession. It amazed her that she could have forgotten. For seven years, she’d unsuccessfully tried to ignore what her husband did at work, trying to pretend that he went to an office instead of a hockey arena, that he rubbed elbows with middle managers instead of admiring reporters and fervent fans.
    “I’m not threatened by Victoria, just annoyed.” Cahal’s eyes touched her but didn’t remain. “This is not the first time I’ve been in this kind of situation. Every athlete goes through the same kind of thing. This time it’s different.”
    He would know; he’d had every kind of stalker over the years, since he was just a young man coming up in the junior leagues. They ranged from crazed super-fans, usually male and middle-aged, to obsessed teenaged girls who treated him like a rock star and who were willing to offer anything for a moment of his time. Alone on the road, some athletes succumbed to the lure of relentless adoration and their spouses were forced to be understanding or seek divorces. Lila had sought revenge.
    “How is Victoria different? She seemed quite ordinary to me.” Beautiful and far from mentally unsound. The other woman wasn’t a teenager to fall for a celebrity who also happened to be close at hand nor did she seem to be a rabid fan of the sport.
    Cahal ran his hands through his fair hair, a sign of distress in a man who always followed the team’s rules about public appearances and was well-dressed and well-groomed at all times.
    “For one thing, Victoria has a background in public relations. She used to plan parties and host charity events for a living. She volunteered for a young senator’s campaign last year and was cited as a major influence in his election.”
    “So she’s multi-talented. You should be flattered.”
    Cahal narrowed his gray eyes. “I am flattered. And if Victoria had left things as they were, perhaps we would be dating by now. She didn’t.”
    Drumming her fingers over the tabletop, Lila asked, “What was it she did, exactly? Boil your bunny? Write you love letters in her own blood?”
    His swift frown told her he didn’t find the questions funny.
    “I told you, she’s not dangerous, just determined.” He looked past her. “What she did was launch a publicity campaign. Using pictures of our few public appearances together, she put out a story that we were involved and spread it throughout the Chicago tabloids. Within a month, I was being asked when the wedding was everywhere I went. I tried talking to her. She wouldn’t listen. I tried avoiding her. It didn’t work. Her father got the owners to give me a lecture about my attitude. They told me that I was starting to act like a superstar instead of playing like one.”
    “Oh, Cahal.”
    Lila knew how much that must have hurt when Cahal prided himself on his leadership role on whatever team he played for. His teammates respected and admired him and he never acted like a prima donna. The accusation must have stung and, coming from the owners of his team, there would have been little he could say in return.
    She asked, “Is that why you came to Toronto?”
    His large frame stiffened. “I didn’t ask to be traded, if that’s what you’re insinuating.”
    Lila spread her hands out wide. “I wasn’t insinuating anything. I know how disruptive disputes between management and players can be and they often end in staffing changes.”
    “I didn’t ask to be traded,” he repeated in a voice that was only slightly less disgruntled. “The opportunity presented itself and according to my agent, I would have been a fool to pass up the chance to play in a city more attuned to the