"You advertising what we just did?"
"Tsk tsk, Risk." She shook her head. "Screws need to be tightened in the retro stool with the aqua vinyl cushion."
"I'm your fix-it man?"
"You give good screw."
He smiled at her retreating back, then sought the men's room. After cleaning up, he stepped into the hallway. Sated and relaxed, he leaned against the wall, let his mind momentarily wander. His thoughts drifted over the years, clear back to high school. To his senior year. To a day that began with Sherry Sherman and ended with Jacy Grayson. To the time that set them up as lovers. When he'd become her rebound man…
After-school detention sucked. To his disgust, Risk Kincaid would be reporting to detention for an entire week. All because Sherry Sherman had made him late for school. She was such a girly-girl. Damn, she could primp. He'd parked his Cougar at the curb in front of her house at seven-fifteen, then waited and waited for her to get her makeup just right.
Just right was the natural look. So why the hell was she even wearing mascara and blush? At five minutes before the bell was due to ring, Sherry of the blond hair, brown eyes, and the biggest breasts of any girl in the senior class strolled down the sidewalk and slid into his car, all flashing teeth and hot lips.
Their kisses had turned deep, their breathing heavy, and after thirty minutes of feeling her up be-
neath her skimpy tank top, first period class was half over.
Sherry's English teacher didn't give a rat's ass if she was late. Unfortunately for Risk, his physical education teacher was also his baseball coach. Coach Donahue believed in punctuality. He cut Risk little slack, sending him to the office for an admittance slip. Each tardy cost him time after school.
Risk broke up with Sherry following his third detention. He had more important things to do after school than sit in a classroom with sixty other students tapping their pencils and feet as they counted down the longest hour of their lives.
Sherry had begged him not to dump her. When he'd refused to take her back, she'd spread the rumor she'd dumped him. Whatever.
Now, hitting a jog, he cut across the baseball field and headed toward his Cougar, the last car in the student parking lot. The black car looked damn fine on the asphalt, the sun's own reflection in its polish.
As he kicked dust past home plate, he caught a flash of violet and red, and snatches of turquoise from the top bleacher behind the right field dugout. He slowed and squinted against the sun. Seated, slumped over, her fists balled at her eyes, sat Jacy Grayson, second cousin to his best friend, Aaron.
He slowed and caught her soft sob on the breeze. Damn, this couldn't be good. Changing direction, he bounded up the bleachers. "Jacy?" he called to the girl who was one year behind him in school. And in his opinion, the prettiest girl in the junior class.
She didn't look up when he dropped down beside her. "Get lost, Kincaid," she sniffed.
"Fine, I'm gone." He stood and took a step to leave.
"Leave and die."
Her words made him smile. Through Aaron, he'd known Jacy all his life. She often said one thing, but meant another. His gut told him Jacy needed to talk. She looked vulnerable and broken.
Seated once again, his hip bumped hers as he wrapped his arm about her shoulders and pulled her close. "Who do I need to kill?" he asked, the feeling to protect foreign, yet strong.
She sank against him. "He's a teammate of yours."
Great. The members of his baseball team were close as brothers. "Give me a name."
"Danny Rhodes."
The Road Runner. "I can do upper body damage, but can't break his legs. State tournament starts next week. No one steals bases better than Danny."
"You need him."
He looked at her closely. Sadness misted her eyes; her mouth turned down. "Apparently so do you."
"I really liked him, Risk," she confessed on a sigh. "I thought we'd make it through the year together. We just broke up. And he doesn't want to take me to the prom anymore."
Asshole. "Did he give a reason?"
She sniffed. "He thinks 1 draw too much attention to myself."
Risk understood. Danny was brown-and-tan
bland. A good student and star athlete, he flew under everyone's radar. While most people knew his name, few could pick him out of a crowd.
In comparison, Jacy was jarringly visible. Totally unforgettable. She was pure sparkle and pizzazz.
"I'm not color blind as Danny accused," she said between sniffs. "I like mixing plaids and stripes; paisleys and prints."
Today was no exception. She made the sun blink in her violet silk blouse, red-flowered denim mini, lime green high tops with yellow star laces, and a ton of turquoise jewelry.
A fan of different and daring, Risk liked her look. Beyond her clothes, she had incredible blue eyes, fragile cheekbones, and flawless skin.
"I prefer you blond," he ruffled her burgundy hair with its platinum highlights. "But don't change the color for me or for any man."
Her chin quivered and a tear escaped. "I like the way I look."
He threw back his head and groaned. "Damn, girl, I don't do tears."
She cut him a look, the tear drying on her cheek. "What do you do, Risk Kincaid?"
The words that spilled forth were light and teasing, and more heartfelt than he'd ever admit. "Rebounds. I could kiss you until you forget Danny Rhodes."
She plucked at the hem of her skirt. A skirt that rode high on her thighs. "Could be a long make-out session."
He shrugged. "I'd make time."
"Me… too."
They'd fooled around until their lips were numb. Somewhere between giving her a hickey on her neck and brushing her firm, little breasts beneath her silky blouse, he'd helped Jacy forget Danny Rhodes.
The very next weekend, Risk took Jacy to the prom; then in the backseat of his Cougar, he took her virginity.
At the end of the summer, he made the only promise a young man bound for college and then onto the major leagues could make: he promised to be her rebound lover.
Anytime, anywhere, anyplace.
She need only pick up the phone and call.
@
Risk Kincaid drew his hands down his face as the memory faded. He felt damn lucky to be in Jacy's life. Whenever her world fell apart, he picked up the pieces. She would die laughing if she knew her power over him. For all his super-star status, for all the women available to him, he held himself back. Only with Jacy did his heart get involved.