Aussie Rules by Jill Shalvis Page B

like you could use a little fun.”
    Fun. Yeah, she needed fun. Mindless fun, and not the platonic kind she always had with Danny, but the kind of fun she could get only with a man who didn’t know her, who couldn’t look into her eyes and see the pain, or if they did, wouldn’t comment on it.
    Danny wasn’t that guy. He knew her too well, knew all her dark secrets. In fact, even now his smile faded, and he looked at her in that way he had of seeing right into her. If she turned away, he’d just pull her back around.
    So she lifted her chin, stalked to the board in her pink miniskirt and polka-dotted halter top, and grabbed a set of darts. Tossing him a long, level look, she managed a smile. “What are we playing for?”
    For a beat, his eyes darkened. Then he shrugged it off and smiled that easy smile, making her wonder if she was seeing things. “Name it.”
    â€œSuch power,” she teased.
    â€œName it,” he said again, softly now.
    She would—except he couldn’t give it to her. She wanted oblivion, faceless oblivion. “Winner gets breakfast for the rest of the week,” she said. “Delivered right to their—”
    â€œBed?”
    She laughed. “Desk.”
    He turned to get his own darts, not showing his face for a long moment. “Deal,” he finally said, turning around. “You first.”
    Suited her. She threw a dart, and unbelievably, missed the board entirely. This was so shocking, she just stood there staring at the dart still quivering in the wall.
    Danny, knowing she was usually unbeatable, pulled her around to face him. “Okay, talk to me.”
    She stared up into his familiar face and felt her throat tighten. God, she was so sick of herself. “I’m good.”
    â€œDimi—”
    â€œNo, really. I’m fantastic, actually.”
    â€œYou’re so full of shit your eyes are brown.”
    â€œFine, things are out of control, all right?” She backed away. “ I’m out of control!”
    â€œWhy?”
    She couldn’t explain, couldn’t tell him Bo had the deed and the world she and Mel had created might have never even existed. “It’s complicated.”
    â€œMost things are, Deem.”
    â€œLook, all I know is that tea isn’t working, crystals aren’t working, nothing’s working.”
    He touched her jaw. “How about breathing? Have you tried that?”
    He wasn’t teasing her, he was serious and she could have loved him for that alone. She gulped in air and shot him a wry glance. “I am now.”
    â€œGood.” He kissed her cheek. “Keep doing that.” For a moment he stayed close, his tall, lean body supporting hers. “You can tell me, you know. You can tell me anything.”
    Not this, she couldn’t. “Danny. Don’t you ever get tired of feeling sorry for me?”
    â€œI don’t feel sorry for you. You’re too ornery to feel sorry for.”
    â€œGood.” She went to the line, gripping her darts with new determination. “Prepare to lose.” Backing up the words, she threw.
    Double twenty.
    Her game was back.
    Or so he let her think for a few minutes, before he proceeded to kick it into gear and beat her by three points.
    â€œI could use breakfast now,” he said, putting the darts away.
    â€œIt’s dinnertime.”
    â€œSo?”
    She just rolled her eyes and headed to the door before he could say anything else, before he could see her tension had really only mounted…
    It was her own fault. She’d gotten complacent. She’d fallen into a false sense of security, and she’d forgotten the pretense. She was good at forgetting. She’d spent most of her childhood forgetting about her father’s wandering ways, her mother’s drugs…
    What if it all fell apart again, her entire world? If she lost this job, what would happen to her? She had no talent for