CHAPTER SIX
SABRINA WAS OUT OF HER DEPTH. She leaned against the door she’d closed and let out a breath. Mal Hughes had somehow dug his way into her heart last night, and it was disconcerting. Especially since she’d been getting married a few hours before she’d met him.
But he was in pain, and she wanted to help him. Wanted to draw him to her and soothe him in any way she knew how.
Sabrina shoved a hand through her hair and strode into the kitchen where she started to clean up the dishes. How could she want a man she barely knew? How could she want him after she’d been so spectacularly betrayed just yesterday afternoon? She should be running as far and fast as she could away from any man, but all she wanted to do was take care of Mal and see him through this awful time in his life.
She lifted her gaze to the television. She’d muted it now, though she’d turned on ESPN this morning when she woke up and watched the football recaps in her room. Now she’d put it on out here because she was fascinated with the glimpses of Mal that she’d gotten.
Malcolm Hughes was a tight end for the San Francisco Outlaws. She wasn’t quite sure what that meant. Her phone was toast, and Mal didn’t appear to have a computer hooked up anywhere in the house, so she was stuck with the television for now. And, oh, the views of him in his uniform. He was big in person, but put him in pads and a helmet and stick him on a field with other guys, and he looked larger than life.
He blocked sometimes, ran sometimes, and made touchdowns. Her favorite image was one where he’d leapt over the big guy blocking him and caught a ball with his fingertips before coming down with both feet in the end zone, the ball tucked tight to his chest.
It was a game-winning touchdown, and the way his teammates exploded onto the field said it all.
He’d told her last night that he’d wasted his life playing a game while his brother went into the Army to defend his country. She knew it was the liquor talking. She also understood that he was feeling angry about his brother’s death and helpless in the face of it.
Still, she couldn’t agree that he’d wasted his life. She might not get football, but she knew it made a lot of people happy. The bar was always slammed during games, and people laughed and shouted and groaned while eating wings, burgers, fries, and nachos. Those people were having a good time, and watching football was a big part of that.
She finished loading the dishes in the dishwasher and found a book about the game on Mal’s shelves, then went out onto the lanai to read. She thought about Brian and his wife, and wondered how he’d managed to explain her to Missy. If Missy had clobbered him and left him in the sand, it was the least he deserved. Considering how smooth a talker he was, however, Sabrina wouldn’t be surprised if he and Missy were holed up in the house he’d rented for the honeymoon, having their own wonderful time together.
It was enough to make her skin burn with anger and shame. How had she fallen for his lies? How had she not listened to that little niggling voice inside, telling her it was too much, too fast? If something was too good to be true, that meant it often was. Clearly, she hadn’t wanted to listen.
Hours later, after she’d checked on Mal and found him sleeping, fixed herself some lunch, and then returned to the lanai to watch the waves rolling against the shore, she heard the heavy tread of his footsteps moving across the floor. She turned her head and watched him walking toward her. He slid the door all the way open and came outside, a bottle of water in his big hand.
He was tanned and muscled in a pair of board shorts and a T-shirt that clung to his biceps and pecs. His hair was messy, as if he’d been running his fingers through it, and his eyes were a clear mossy green that made her warm inside as they moved over her.
And then a thread of discomfort uncoiled in her belly. She didn’t belong here, and he would want her to leave now that he was better and there was no storm to stop her.
She sat up straighter then, prepared to tell him she was ready even though she didn’t know where she would go. Well, home, of course, but she’d have to call the airline and change her ticket. Naturally, that was going to cost her. It wouldn’t be as bad as staying in Florida and renting a hotel room for a few days, however.
“It’s a great view, isn’t it?” Mal sank onto the lounge chair beside her.
She tore her gaze from his body, her heart throbbing in confusion and longing, and fixed it on the water and the sun sinking toward the horizon. “It’s amazing. Thanks for letting me stay last night.”
“Thanks for listening to me talk.” He rubbed a hand over his forehead as if he was embarrassed. “I guess if I told you I don’t usually talk too much, you wouldn’t believe me, huh?”
“I think yesterday was an unusual day… for us both.”
He turned toward her and her heart skipped a little beat at the clear intensity of his eyes. They warmed her and excited her at the same time.
“I guess so. I’m sorry about your wedding, by the way. Guess I wasn’t too sympathetic when I was dumping my problems on you.”
Sabrina waved a hand as heat crept into her cheeks. “What happened to me doesn’t compare. You lost a family member. I discovered the man I was about to marry was a lying jerk. I’d say it was actually a good day for me, even if it didn’t feel like it at the time.”
“You must have loved him if you were getting married. That can’t be easy to let go of.”
Sabrina sighed. “I thought I loved him, yes. But maybe I didn’t. Maybe I don’t know what love really is. Do any of us?”
She found herself clenching her hands in her lap and released them to reach for her glass of tea. That was definitely a thought that had been bothering her today. How did you distinguish between love and lust? How did you know when it was real and not your hormones driving you crazy?
How, when you’d spent your whole life wanting to be loved, did you know it was real when it happened?
“Don’t ask me,” Mal said. “I’ve never been in love.”
She blinked. “Never? Not once? Not even when you were in high school and all those teenage hormones were driving you wild?”
He laughed. “Nope, not even then. I expended a lot of energy on the football field. And trust me, I knew what I wanted from girls. It wasn’t love.”
She dropped her gaze as heat spread through her. She could imagine what he’d wanted. Worse, she was picturing it. And not with some anonymous woman either.
Oh lordy, what the hell was wrong with her? She wanted to press her hands to her cheeks and will the heat away. That would be giving away the game, however. “That’s certainly honest.”
He shrugged. “I don’t see much point in lying about it. Never have. Any woman who gets involved with me knows what she’s getting.”
Sabrina rubbed her hands over the fabric of her dress. “I suppose I should be getting out of your hair now. It was kind of you to pick me up.”
His eyes were sharp on her face. “Where do you want to go?”
“I guess I’ll have to go back to Bridle Beach. I need to replace my phone, and then I need to call the airline and change my ticket to an earlier date.”
“You won’t get on a flight out tonight. It’s Sunday, and everyone flies home on Sunday.”
Now why did a current of relief wash over her?
“I still need a new phone. Can you tell me where to find a store?”
The sun was sinking faster now, washing the water with golden rays.
“I’ll take you into Bridle Beach. We can have dinner and get your phone replaced.”
Her heart throbbed. “That sounds good. Are you sure you feel up to it?”
One corner of his mouth lifted in a wistful grin. “I know all the out-of-the-way places, Sabrina. Besides, getting out with you beats sitting around here and wallowing in memories.”