Worth the Drive (11 page)

He chuckled. “You see. You cover matters of life and death, while these ‘professionals’ as
you call them, only cover a silly game.”

She smiled. “But it’s not a silly game to you, is it?”

He returned her smile with one of his own,
lopsided and adorable. “No. It’
s not a game to me. It is my livelihood, but even more importantly, it is…” he paused, searching. Katie wasn’t sure if he was searching for the correct word in English, or trying to define his thoughts. She waited, silently. “It is who I am,” he finally said.

Katie
nodded, understanding. She
wished she could define herself that simply. At one point, she’d hoped to define herself in three words…
mother
,
wife
and journalist. Now, one was out of her reach, one had been ripped from her grasp, and the third wasn’t what she’d thought it would be. How nice to say, “I am a golfer” and be done with it.

“Did you learn to play with your father, at his club, like most of the players on the Tour?” she asked. She knew that the majority of pro golfers grew up with silver spoons in their mouths, learning the game at their fathers’ knees at country clubs. There were the exceptions, of course, but for the most part, golf at the professional level continued to be a game for the elite. You didn’t see many players who battle
d their ways out of the inner city
to join the PGA Tour.

But
Darío
didn’
t seem to have an attitude of entitlement about him. She didn’t know much about his background, only that he was from northern Spain, had taken the golf world by storm at twenty, was currently thirty-six, and had never married. If her two best friends had not
also been single at thirty-six
– Lizzie marrying
Finn
only three months ago – she would have found
Darío
’s
being single suspect
, wondered if maybe he was gay
. But because of her friends, she knew that not everyone was destined to marry, or
even to marry young, as she had
.

And he sure wasn’t giving off any gay vibes.

“No. Not from my father,”
Darío
said. The curtness of his voice pulled Katie back from her silent reverie to watch him. He did not look at her as he spoke, but rather his gaze swept the room, not landing on anything or anyone in particular. “I learned golf from the greens keeper at the club where my mother worked as a cook.”

“Oh. Well your parents must be incredibly proud of all you’ve accomplished,” she said, trying a different tack.

“
Sí
, my mother is very proud. We are very close,” he said, still not looking at her.

“But not your father?” she asked. She knew he was dodging the subject, but her journalist’s curiosity won out.

He finally looked at her, his warm eyes for a moment flashing cold. “I
don’t
know who my father is, Katie. I
don’t
know if h
e is proud of me.” His shoulder
s slumped and the glare went out of his eye
s, the gentleness returning. “I’m not sure
if he even knows I exist.”

She held his eyes for a moment, trying to convey the same empathy that he had given her earlier when talking about loneliness. Like him, she felt no pity, but she did feel the loss he must have felt as a child. A loss that
obviously
was still with him.

He gave a small smile, acknowledging her, then swept the matter aside. “So, tomorrow, Chad and I will no longer be paired together. Lizzie will be following his group. Will you be with her, or may I count you among my gallery? You have a good luck charm reputation to uphold.”

She was flattered that he asked, but sorry for the answer she had to give him. “We won’t be going to the tournament tomorrow. We’re leaving in the morning.”

“You’re leaving? But why?” Katie heard what she thought sounded like minor distress in her voice, and it perversely made her feel good.

“We have to get back. Lizzie planned this trip so that she could meet with Chad on days he would be sure to be here, in case he missed the cut. And… and we need to be back home on Sunday.”

“What happens on Sunday?”

Katie looked away, took a deep breath and said, “Sunday is Mother’s Day.” She said the words like a poison she was trying to expell from her body. “It will be Lizzie’s first Mother’s Day since she got married, and became a stepmother. She didn’t want to miss it.”

She remembered Lizzie’s earlier news and realized that the day had even more meaning for Lizzie and
Finn
than she had originally known. She tried to feel happy for her friend, and she was, but feelings like that were locked so deep down by now, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever find them. Her own inability to conceive had left her bereft anytime a close friend or one of her brother’s wives became pregnant. Now with Ron becoming a father, the pain was even deeper.

Katie watched
Darío
watch her. She remembered that she had told him about her infertility in the car last night in the midst of her tirade. She searched his eyes for the pity she was sure to find, but didn’t. She went on, “And, it’s also my birthday, and my parents and brothers and their families will want me there for dinner.”

“Your birthday is on Mother’s Day?” he asked.

He seemed to get the cruel
joke played on Katie. “Every so
many years it falls on Mother’s Day. There’s a celebration for me all right, but never the right one.” She laughed at her joke, but
it came out as more of a
whimper
.
Darío
did not smile at her attempt.

He reached across the table and laid his warm hand over hers. “To mark the day that you joined us in this world,
Gata
, that is most definitely cause for celebration.”

She looked into his warm, chocolate eyes. What would it be like to be held by this man? Could he take away the pain that hearing of Lizzie’s pregnancy brought her? Could he make her body feel anything other than the numbing cold she’d felt since Ron had left? No, of course not. But maybe…maybe for just one night she could forget her traitorous, barren body, her friend’s impending motherho
od and
the family gathering on Sunday, which would surely be a birthday party for her
and
a Mother’s Day party for her mother and sisters-in-law.

And maybe,
one night
in the arms of
Darío
Luna
would help her
forget the existence of little Crystal Lipton.

That was when Katie decided to seduce
Darío
.

Chapter
Seven

It was one of those days you dream about. Every hole seemed to be six inches wide.

- Tom Purtzer,
professional
golfer

She was breathtaking. She was exquisite. She was acting very very strangely.

The evening had been going along fine, she had enjoyed what he’d chosen for her for dinner, their conversation was comfortable and even. She had been very honest about her feelings about not being able to celebrate Mother’s Day.

And then, something happened.

She seemed to come to some sort of decision. And then her manner changed dramatically. If he didn’t know better, he would have sworn she was trying to s
educe him. He knew that couldn’
t be
it. For one thing, Katie didn’
t want to be with a man right now. Her venomous spew the previous evening was proof of that. Also
, w
hat she was doing was a far cry from any seduction
Darío
had ever seen before. She didn’t seem to know what she was doing. He thought for a moment that she was actually batting her eyes at him!

She attempted to put her hand over his that rested on the table and in doing so, proceeded to knock over her water glass, dousing the table. She was not to be deterred, though, from whatever mission she was on, and
Darío
found himself admiring her tenacity. He was still confused, but admiring.

When she nearly set her hair on fire leaning across the candlelit table to whisper something to him that could easily have been said at a normal level,
Darío
was determined to put her out of her own misery. For her own safety, as well as for the fact that it was painful to watch her demonstration.

“
Gata
, what is it you are trying to say to me?” he asked.

She furrowed her brow. “Say to you? What do you mean? We were talking about your next
tournament
.”

He maneuvered his hand around the battlefield of debris she’d made of the table and lightly touched her arm. “
Sí
, but what are you trying to
say
to me?”

She tried to put her head down, but he moved his hand from her arm to her chin and held it up. There was no way that
he would not see her gorgeous
eyes as she said whatever she was going to say.

Not being able to hide, she did the next best thing, and whispered her reply
.
Her voice was soft and light, and he was not able to hear her.

“I didn’
t hear you,” he said, leaning closer.

The already quiet restaurant became even quieter, all diners feeling the need to stop talking and take bites of their food at that precise moment. It coincided with Katie raising her voice. “I said,
‘
I’m trying to seduce you
’
.”

Not only did
Darío
hear her this time, but so did the entire restaurant.

He watched as her huge blue eyes became even larger. A look of panic and then mortification took up residence in the sky blue pools. Thinking quickly,
Darío
said loudly, “Did she really say that?
No way
.
So what
did
he
say?”

Katie immediately caught on to
Darío
’s attempted rescue. She continued, “Well, she said…” and then she leaned closer, as if to tell him the rest of the story. She only whispered,
“Thank you.”

“No, I believe the thank yous are all mine, Katie, if you meant what you said,” he teased, his eyes never leaving hers.

On the drive back to the hotel he kept glancing
at
her, waiting for her to change her mind, but she seemed determined. “Are you certain about this?” he asked at a red light when he could turn to face her.

“Yes,” she said. Then she seemed to realize that more than just her consent was needed. “Unless…unless you don’t want to.”

He saw a tremor of doubt flash across h
er beautiful face. “Katie, you’
re a remarkable woman, any man would jump at the chance to
spend the night
with you.”

“I didn’t even ask if you were involved with someone. Oh God, maybe you’re not even available,” she groaned. She dropped her head back against the headrest, closing her eyes.

“It’s fine. I’
m not seeing anyone. If I
weren
’t available, we wouldn’
t even be havi
ng this conversation. I wouldn’
t have invited you to dinner, innocent as I thought it would be.
I don’t mess around, Katie
.” He moved to brush his hand across her cheek, to give her some sign of his interest, but the car behind them honked and
Darío
realized the light had turned green.

Back in his own thoughts, he could not wrap his mind around the idea that Katie indeed needed a sign of his attraction to her. Had she never lo
oked in the mirror
?
Didn’t she
know how stunning a woman she was? Had this Ron person done damage so deep that she needed affirmation that she was desirable?

Was this what her seduction was all about?
Her ex-husband?

Yes, probably. He didn’t care. She needed to feel desired, and he most definitely could do that for her. He had slept with women out of boredom, loneliness and other reasons much less definable than this.

He snuck a peek at her, watching her elegant neck arch as she rested her head, her heavy lashes at rest against her smooth cheeks. He found himself growing
hard
, and knew that this seduction may have been her idea, but he was a very willing participant.

In the elevator, he hesitated to push the button, giving her one more chance to change her mind. Instead, she sidled in front of him, facing the panel herself and said, “What floor is your room on?”