A Numbers Game Read Online Free

again. He turned to face her, surprised she hadn’t finished her escape. Her getaway ten years ago had been immediate and unexplained.
    “It was great to seeing you again. Maybe we can catch up some more after dinner?”
    He wanted to slap his head. Her abrupt role reversal made him think his brain was playing tricks on him again. But she was standing there, three yards from him, her brother waiting at the ballroom door. Heath searched her face for some indication of why she’d suddenly changed tactics. Merrit had been the most genuine girl he’d known. Until he’d ruined her.
Her eyes gave nothing away and Heath decided he might not get another chance.
    “That sounds great. How about we meet back home?”
    A slight tremor passed through her body. Someone who didn’t know her intimately wouldn’t have picked up on it, but Heath knew her—and her body—too well. She jerked her chin up and gave him a nod before retreating into the ballroom on the arm of her brother.

Three
    The root canal Merrit had endured last year was less painful than the dinner that followed her confrontation with Heath Gibson. She’d been on pins and needles since early that morning when she saw him standing on the lawn. It had been ten years since she’d last laid eyes on Heath in the flesh. From what she’d seen, his flesh hadn’t suffered too much wear and tear over the past decade, despite spending it in the NFL. He was leaner than he’d been as a college student, his muscles defined but not bulky. Gone also was his youthful face. Maturity had hardened his jawline, tightening his mouth, while the laugh lines fanning out from his eyes were more pronounced. One look at him and she was the vulnerable college girl again, the one who led with her whole heart.
    And then he’d touched her . . . Merrit squirmed in the chair as she remembered the feel of his fingers on her skin, practically searing her, the reaction was so intense. Just the thought of his body and what it could do to her stirred up feelings in parts of her that had been dormant for years—parts not even Grant had been able to reach. And that made her angry. She’d always been susceptible to Heath’s charm—and his body. She had to remind herself that he preyed on that weakness. Still, her own nerves thrummed at the notion of him touching her again, and the idea tied her stomach up in knots.
    Blake paused in his conversation with the Blaze’s future owner, Jay McManus—his best friend from their days at the University of Chicago—to give her hand a reassuring pat. Her brother sensed that something was up, but she’d been able to convince him it was the photo of Grant in this morning’s
Trib
that was upsetting her. Blake—her whole family—would be disappointed that she’d been duped by another man the same way Grant had conned them all.
    “You haven’t touched your dinner,” Blake whispered. “Eat something or I’ll tell Mom.”
    Her brother was teasing, she knew, but the concern in his voice made her chest ache. She was tired of being the odd woman out in her family of Teflon extroverts. Merrit was sick of men stomping all over her heart. It was time for her to find her backbone and stand up for herself, and she’d made up her mind: she was going to start tonight.
    As Blake had led her out of the lobby earlier, Heath’s words crackled through her mind:
You’ve spent ten years running from this conversation. Avoiding me
. Sure, she’d run ten years ago. Away from Heath. Away from South Bend. He’d humiliated her by dating her, and then bedding her, all because of a dare from his teammates. She’d given him all she had, her youthful heart included, and it had all been a lie. Worst of all, she wasn’t sure if she was more angry at Heath for the deception or ashamed of herself for succumbing to it.
    This evening, before she’d even thought about what she was doing, she’d turned back to Heath, agreeing to meet with him later tonight. She was well aware