Impulsive (13 page)

"Great! I was hoping to weasel at least one out of you."

When the desk clerk checked the roster, Jess was disgruntled to
find that the team manager had put her in a room with three of the
cheerleaders. "Do you have anything else?" she asked the man. "A
single room, on any floor, would do. Naturally, I'll pay for it myself."

"Sorry, miss. With the game and two conventions going on,
we're booked solid."

Ty glanced at the register himself. "It'll work out, Jess.
They've got you rooming with Destiny, Jazz, and Pepper. They're all nice. Now,
it would be another story altogether if they'd put you in with Bambi. One of
you would probably come away bald, and from where I stand, I'd put my money on
you keeping your hair."

Jess sighed, and accepted the room key the clerk handed her. "I
suppose you're right. They did seem fairly personable when I met them before.
It's just that I'm not used to sharing quarters with other women. I haven't had
to do that since college."

"Think of it as a pajama party. Isn't that what they called
them, back when my sisters used to have a horde of giggling girls sleep
over?"

"Yes, but I never thought I'd see the day when I would attend
one of those goofy gatherings."

Ty, still carrying his slumbering son, ushered Jess ahead of him
into the waiting elevator. "What? Didn't you go to scads of those things
in your teen years? I thought all girls did that."

"Not me," Jess informed him with a shake of her head.
"I
wasn't all that popular in high school, and I didn't date much.
Therefore, I didn't really fit in with most of the other girls, when all they
could talk about were boys, clothes, who was going steady with whom, et
cetera."

"Oh, well, you probably didn't miss much," Ty said.
"It all seemed pretty silly to me, even from a distance. When Karlie,
Cheryl, or Lynn threw one of those shebangs, I was exiled to a pup tent in the
backyard or shuttled over to my best friend's house for the night."

"Good grief, that's right. You did put down on that
questionnaire that you had three sisters. Two older, and one younger than you,
if I recall correctly. And no brothers, to help even the odds?"

"Nary a one. Just me and Dad against four females. The worst
of it was trying to get some time in the one and only bathroom. Dad finally
tacked a schedule on the bathroom door. Not that they abided by it too
faithfully, but at least it gave us guys some small chance at the shower and
toothpaste."

"About the same chance I'm going to have rooming in with
three other women," Jess surmised. "Which means I'd better hustle if
I want to wash this cotton candy out of my hair."

The elevator stopped on her floor first. She was out and in the
hall before she thought to ask, "When and where should I meet you?"

Jess lucked out. Pepper was the only one who had checked into
their room before her. She was sitting on one of the two queen-size beds,
painting her toenails. "Oh, hi, Jess. I was beginning to wonder if my
deodorant was failing and everyone was avoiding me."

"Hi, Pepper. Where are our other two roomies?"

"Out shopping. They barely took time to drop their bags off
at the desk before hailing a cab."

"Didn't you want to go with them?"

"If you'd ever been shopping with Destiny, you wouldn't ask
such a dumb question," Pepper replied with an exaggerated shudder.
"That girl has an incredible knack for finding the most bizarre boutiques.
You know, those little holes-in-the-wall stocked full of old sixties styles
that look like they're straight out of a 'Brady Bunch' rerun. Bell-bottoms,
beads, headbands, you name it. Weirdest stuff I've ever seen. Personally, I wouldn't
be caught dead wearing any of it."

Jess laughed. "Sounds really 'far out.' "

Pepper returned her grin. "Almost as spacey as Destiny."

Jess plopped her suitcase on the empty bed. "Are you going to
need the bathroom, or can I monopolize it for about half an hour? I've been to
the zoo with Ty and his son, and I'm in sad need of a quick shower."

"Go ahead. But don't lock the door, okay? I'll try to run
interference for you, but like as not Jazz will dash in here about to wet her
pants. I swear that gal's got the weakest bladder in the world."

Jess had gathered her clean clothes and her shampoo and was
halfway to the bathroom when she thought to ask, "By the way, Pepper, what
do you know about a restaurant called the Mouse House? Ty said that's where we
were going tonight."

Pepper's eyes went wide and began to sparkle. Then her lusty laugh
broke forth. "Maybe you ought to put off that shower until you get back.
You'll probably need another one, anyway. The Mouse House is one of those kids'
places, where they have video games, and all sorts of other hyper-activities
for children. Mostly designed with breaking the sound barrier in mind, I think.
They also serve a variety of ultrafattening junk food."

She went on to add, "If you're extremely nimble, you'll make
it past all those screaming, jumping kids, and the obstacle course of
horn-honking clowns and midgets dressed up as cartoon characters, without
wearing your meal all over the front of you. Don't quote me on this, but I
think they award the kids with free tokens for every adult they bowl over. And
if you haven't got ear plugs, for God's sake find someplace to buy a
pair
beforehand, or I can promise you'll be deaf for hours afterward."

Jess grimaced. "Oh, yippee, skippy! And me without my
raincoat. That would have provided some protection, at least."

"I've got a dry-cleaning bag you can wear, instead,"
Pepper offered gleefully.

The Mouse House was a far cry from Jess's idea of the dream date,
but it wasn't as awful as Pepper had portrayed it, either. Her major mistake
had been wearing her cream-colored jeans instead of her blue ones. They were
now finger-painted with pizza sauce, bearing the imprint of Josh's small hands
after he'd excitedly grabbed her without first wiping his hands clean.

Immediately after it had happened, Ty apologized profusely.
"I'm sorry, Jess. He just gets so carried away sometimes that he forgets
to be careful."

"No harm done," Jess told him, not wanting Josh to get
into trouble over one little accident. "It'll wash out, and if it doesn't,
it's no great tragedy. I'll just say it's the latest in designer jeans."

She didn't realize her mistake until Ty instructed her to stand
up. He did likewise, coming around to her side of the table. "Turn to face
me, and hold still." With no more warning than that, he stepped close, put
his arms around her, and planted his hands firmly on the seat of her pants.
Then he swung her around to view the result of his "handiwork."

"Perfect!" he gloated. "The only thing better would
be two more handprints to match, on the front of your blouse, but that will
have to wait until later. Not here, in front of the kids," he added in a
staged whisper.

Jess couldn't turn her head far enough to see her own behind, but
she didn't doubt she now wore matching imprints of Ty's hands on the rear of
her jeans. "Ty!" she exclaimed. "You idiot! Do you know what
that is going to look like to everyone?"

He chuckled. "Like I've been copping a feel?"

She whirled to face him, torn between laughter and exasperation.
"Precisely. You might just as well have autographed the darned
thing!"

His eyes lit up. "Great idea. Let's do it." He reached
for his pen, but she swatted his hand away.

"Don't you dare!" she hissed, though her intended scowl
emerged as a smile. "There are impressionable children here, including
your own very attentive son, who is going to go home and give his mommy a
blow-by-blow description of everything that went on this weekend."

Ty resumed his seat, his face still alive with mischief. "Spoilsport!"

Privately, Jess wished they had been somewhere else, alone, and he
could have signed his name to her jeans. As it was, she was tempted never to
wash them again, unless she could be sure of setting the stain in for all time.

Later, Ty apologized again, not for the pizza prints on her jeans,
but that they couldn't have gone somewhere nicer to eat, like a supper club,
maybe one of the local comedy clubs, or out dancing.

"I really didn't mind," she told him sincerely.
"After all, this is your time to spend with Josh. I'm the one who's
intruding, but I'm glad you invited me along because I had a lot of fun."

"So did I," he said. In deference to his son's presence,
he gave her a peck on the cheek. "Good night, Jess."

Josh raised his head from Ty's shoulder, giving her a sleepy
smile. " 'Night, Jess," he echoed. "Sleep tight. Don't let the
bed bugs bite."

After breakfast the next day, the Knights had a light practice at
the RCA Dome, what amounted to an early warm-up for the game. Remembering her
promise to Ty, Jess let Josh watch as she gave Alan a few last-minute pointers.
Then, to the boy's delight, she let Josh kick a few balls, and gave him a short
lesson
on some simple soccer maneuvers. Josh was elated, so excited that he could
barely eat his lunch, which he did with the entire Knights' team.

The game, which was to be televised, was scheduled for a one
o'clock kickoff. Jess was disappointed that she and Josh couldn't sit together;
but she had to be on the sidelines with the other coaches, and Josh wasn't
allowed to stay there. Aware of this, Ty had already arranged for Josh to sit
in the reserved section with Lisa Harvey and her children.

The Colts had the home-ground, home-crowd advantage from the
start, though many Knights fans had driven the relatively short distance to
Indianapolis in support of their new team.

"I'd really like to win this one," Ty told Jess.
"Not only for the Knights, but for Josh. But it's going to be a hard row
to hoe, since many of the Colts are guys I used to play with. They know my
style, my favorite moves, which will make it twice as difficult to surprise
them."

His prediction proved true. Though Ty and his teammates did their
best, the Colts were reading many of the plays and held the Knights to two
scores. Fortunately, Alan made both points-after, but at the half the Colts
were leading by two touchdowns. The down-hearted Knights followed their
coaches, Jess included, into the locker room for the traditional halftime pep
talk.

"Things aren't looking real good out there, fellas,"
Danvers said. "I know you're doing your best, but you've got to dig deeper
if we're going to pull ourselves out of this hole." He listed a couple of
changes he thought would help, matching his players against different
opponents. "Ty, since the Colts are evidently so familiar with your
technique, I'm thinking of putting Jack in at the start of the second half.
Sort of mix it up more. We've got to get them off our scent, so to speak."

Though Ty hated to admit it, Danvers was right. "I
understand, Coach, but I'd still like to keep my hand in. If we alternate
sporadically between Jack and me, it might confuse their defense even
more."

Danvers nodded. "I like that, James. It just might
work."

They returned to the game, their deflated spirits somewhat
renewed. Jack Hays took over as quarterback for the first possession, with a
revised offensive line. The baffled Colts' defense, not expecting such a
drastic change in the lineup, faltered. Several downs and mixed running plays
later, the Knights were finally on their opponents' forty-five-yard line. From
there, Hays, not noted for successful long passes, made a short shovel-pass to
Tornado Jones. Like the whirlwind he was nicknamed for, Tara's hubby made
straight for the end zone, outrunning three Colts to get there. Then, Alan,
unable to handle the pressure, missed the crucial kick.

Jess nearly bawled. Damn! A conversion kick, straight in and
short, and Alan had to miss the blasted thing! Josh could have made it from
there! Well, not really, but after making the first two Jess was hoping for a
third. Obviously, she was going to have to work harder with him.

Fortunately, the realigned defense held the Colts from another
score. Hays loped back onto the field, confident and cocky. Impossibly, the
Colts were already onto him and the Knights' new offense, almost as if they
were plucking the plays straight out of Jack's head. It was a fast one, two,
three, and punt.

Again, the defense managed to hold the Colts, and Ty ran onto the
field to lead his offense once more.

It was right about then that Jess's headset, which all the
Knights' coaches were required to wear, went on the fritz. Suddenly, she was
listening to the television broadcast of the game, though that should have been
impossible. She heard the announcers talking, about Ty, evidently.