Chapter Ten

Lisette wore the same outfit she’d worn the first time she interviewed with the Cajun Rage. A white, cap-sleeved blouse paired with a black pencil skirt. Except today she’d added the accessory expression of determination tinged with righteous indignation.

Kurt might have broken her heart...heck, there was no might about it. His manipulation, his choice to continue to lie to her every single time they’d been together by not coming clean—that snapped her heart in two as handily as if he’d stomped his skate blade across it.

She’d assumed from the start that they couldn’t have a future. Was quite certain that his grief over Jasper and her part in easing his passing would prevent anything resembling a relationship. Until, suddenly, that hadn’t seemed to matter. But Lisette had never once thought that Kurt would be the reason they didn’t succeed. Not handsome, caring, down-to-earth Kurt. Not Kurt who swore up one side and down that he didn’t want or need the perks and fame of being a pro athlete.

The ghost of Jasper hadn’t broken them up. No, that was all Kurt’s doing. Kurt, who assumed that his privilege gave him the right to get his way. Period. It filled her with rage just to think about it for the twentieth time in the last two days.

Of course, the rage was tempered by pity, that he’d ruined what he’d claimed to be the first real happiness he’d felt in a long time. Not to mention the wistful sadness for what might have been between them.

Oh, and that aforementioned heartbreak crowded in there, too.

So her emotions were all over the place. But her focus was a spear with a needle-fine tip. Lisette looked over at her soon-to-be brother-in-law. “Are you ready?”

“To stand in a corner and look menacing? Sure.”

Riiiight. Sean Yamamoto’s knobby knees poked out from beneath unfashionably long cargo shorts. His glasses were hipster-black horn-rims, and a ridiculous number of black hairs stood straight up from his cowlick. At best, he looked unassuming and adorable. Until you realized there was a whip-smart brain churning beneath the cowlick.

Because her sister would kill her if Sean missed the wedding for any reason whatsoever, Lisette paused to ask, “Is there any chance you could get in trouble for this?”

“Nah. You know my motto. Livin’ on the edge.”

“Of what? A desk chair with duct tape around an arm?” The teasing took up the rest of the time required to walk the length of the hallway. Bad country music played from a speaker overhead. And the whole place smelled more than a little like a locker room. Lisette inhaled deeply. She hoped that within less than half an hour, she’d be able to say this was what triumph smelled like.

Their escort knocked on the door, then pushed it open without waiting. Lisette hesitated for a split second. Thought about how this could be the stupidest thing she’d ever done. How she might very well antagonize a very powerful person in the city where she intended to stay put.

Nope. Kurt had shattered her heart, but she refused to let him shatter her dream. Her heels clicked—menacingly, she hoped—against the concrete floor as she strode right up to the edge of the metal desk. “Thank you for seeing me, Coach Courage.”

The frowning man jerked a thumb at Sean, who hovered about an inch over the threshold. “What’s going on there? You bring your lawyer?”

“Worse—a Times-Picayune reporter.”

His eyebrows shot up to meld with the frown lines across his forehead. “This isn’t an interview, Miss Broussard.”

“You’re right. Because I already had my interview with your team. An interview that I aced. An interview that was completely ignored because Kurt Lundquist decided to swing his balls around and mess with my life. I’m sure you don’t want the fine people of New Orleans hearing that you let your players dictate who you hire.”

It was a subtle threat. Hopefully, it would be enough. Because Lisette didn’t want to cause trouble. She just wanted a job.

He jerked his chin at Sean. “Are we on the record?”

“Not yet. Not until Lisette says so. I’m just her backup. For now.”

“Look, Miss—”

It took one finger-point to cut him off. Because Lisette had realized this was a little bit fun. She knew she was in the right. And yelling at the coach was a somewhat decent replacement for yelling at Kurt. Which wouldn’t get her anywhere.

“I’m great at my job. I’ve got the references and credentials to prove it. That should be all that matters. I refuse to let Kurt’s whims chart my path.”

The coach slammed a hand on the desk to stop her. “But he got you the job. An hour ago. I was about to draft the offer letter for you.”

Talk about taking the wind out of her sails! As thrilled as she was to hear that she did, indeed, have the job, Lisette was confused. “Seriously? But...this isn’t right. I’m not a pawn that Kurt can just shove around.”

“Do you still want to keep arguing with me, young lady? Or just shut up and show up at personnel tomorrow at ten?”

Yes. Definitely, yes. As long as she’d be working with people who respected her and didn’t doubt her ability because of whatever Kurt had done. “I don’t want you to feel coerced. Or worry that I can’t treat your players right.”

“I did Kurt a favor the first time, when he asked me not to hire you. This time, I did the Rage a favor when I heard him out about why I should hire you. Then I emailed your references and talked to the rest of the medical staff to be sure they were on board. You impressed everyone during your interview. And we haven’t found anyone as good since then to fill the position. So it is yours, fair and square. Feel free to print that in the Times-Picayune.”

“Feel-good stories aren’t really my thing.” Sean was great with the written word. Less so with interpersonal communication. Aside from when he made googly eyes at her sister.

Lisette beamed at the coach. “Thank you. I promise you won’t regret it.”

“I’ll hold you to it.”

She snatched at Sean’s sleeve and hustled him from the room.

“That went well.”

Lisette sagged against the wall. Without righteous indignation to fuel her, the exhaustion of two sleepless nights crying over the breakup hit her like a brick to the head. “What just happened? How did...why...what did Kurt do?”

“Maybe you should ask him.”

“Sean, last night you agreed with Noelle that I should never speak to, and I quote, ‘that rat-bellied snake of a liar’ ever again.”

He put a skinny arm around her shoulders. “Snakes can shed their skin. The man helped you get a job, Lisette. Your dream job. Isn’t it worth hearing him out as to why?”

**

Kurt paced beneath the Spanish moss dripping off the oak tree overhead. Would Lisette show up? She didn’t owe him anything, least of all the chance to explain. Would she think it was too much trouble to come all the way out to City Park? At dusk?

Yeah. It probably was asking too much. But Kurt figured he had exactly one shot at this, so he was loading up with as much romantic ammunition as possible. It was what Jasper would have done. The kid had always stockpiled stuff, like soldiers in the game Risk and putting houses on even the crappy, cheap-ass properties in Monopoly. So if Jasper was somehow watching, or at least pulling for him, he’d approve of Kurt’s approach.

Not that he actually thought his brother was a ghost. Not even here in New Orleans, which spilled voodoo and magic and ghosts out of every third doorway. But Jasper was what brought him and Lisette together. So Kurt felt his presence, in some weird way. Hoped it’d bring good luck.

“Hello.”

The soft voice had him doing a one-eighty. Which was a hell of a lot harder on grass than on ice. “Lisette. You came.”

“Guess so.” She tightened both hands on the handle of her big straw purse, holding it in front of her like a shield. “I mean, I almost didn’t leave the apartment. Then I almost turned around twice on the road and once on the path into the Oak Grove.”

“Thank you.” Kurt wanted to rush over and take her hands. But she seemed as skittish as a rookie in front of the goal for the first time. So he shoved his hands in his pockets and drank her in.

She looked beautiful. Well, Lisette always did. But tonight she wore a long dress with red and white stripes as wide as his hand that clung to all her gorgeous curves like a second skin. It tied with a single string behind her neck.

One that Kurt wanted to undo with his teeth.

At this point, he’d settle for being lucky enough to touch the golden skin of her bare shoulder. It taunted him. He knew its smoothness, its warmth. And he might never get to touch it again.

Fuck.

Better get started before she noticed he was almost stripping her naked with his eyes.

Lisette angled her head, looking around the basically empty section of the enormous park. Nothing but the tangle of oak trees kept them company on the edge of the bayou. “Do you plan to tell me why I’m here? Because I certainly don’t know.”

“Sure. But can I start with an apology?”

Her chin lifted a little. “I won’t stop you.”

Even as pissed at him as she must be, Lisette stayed polite. That was his girl. Sweet through to the core. The frosting of sass just tickled him. “I’m sorry.”

“You covered that already.”

“Jesus, Lisette, I could say it every day for a year and it wouldn’t be enough,” he burst out. “So yeah, it’s what I’m starting with. And however long you end up listening to me tonight? It’ll be the last thing you hear from me, too.”

“Duly noted.”

She wasn’t giving him an inch. But...she also wasn’t walking away.

That was all Kurt needed.

“I’m sorry that I blocked you from being hired by the Rage. It was selfish and stupid. But I didn’t know, at the time, that you’d quit your job. You’ve got to believe me. I’d never mess with someone’s livelihood and income like that.”

“I’ll agree with the selfish.”

“You’d told me that you have breaks between patient assignments all the time. I worked it around in my brain that since I was paying you, if anything it’d be some extra cash before you moved on to the next patient.”

That jolted her out of her stone-faced listening. Her purse fell to the sun-parched grass as her arms pinwheeled until she fisted her hands on her hips. “But the job with the Rage wasn’t for a monthlong assignment. It was for a permanent job.”

“I never took the time to think it through like that. I reacted. I followed my gut. My gut said that you made me smile. You made me feel—” he broke off. Right or wrong, he had to touch her. Kurt grabbed for one of her hands. He needed the connection. For however long it lasted. “You made me feel, Lisette. Not grief, not the numbness that came after and not the single-minded focus on winning that got me the Cup. Those were the only things I felt for almost a year. Until you. Until I saw you in that hallway. Suddenly, I felt like a normal man again.”

There was a long pause. Long enough to watch a snowy egret fly by in his peripheral vision. Finally, Lisette inclined her chin the merest centimeter. “It was inexcusably selfish.”

“I know. And I’m sorry.”

“It was also understandably selfish.”

Hope punched into his heart. “You’re being generous. The point is, I fucked up. I made it worse by keeping it from you. I knew that, every damn day. The only reason I stayed silent was because I was trying to fix it. Fix what I broke.”

“I spoke to Coach Courage. He offered me the job this morning.” Her eyes narrowed. “How did you do that?”

Kurt didn’t have a single qualm about telling her. Hell, if she let him back into her life, he’d never keep so much as a mosquito bite from her again. “I asked him to give you the job two weeks ago. He turned me down flat. That’s when I called the Quake. But this time I wouldn’t take no for an answer. You know my contract’s up for renewal. I told him that I’d stay for one more year if he gave you the job. Otherwise, I’d walk.”

After an audible gasp, Lisette said, “You bargained your job for mine?”

“It seemed like the least I could do.” Hell, he’d do more, if it’d make a difference. Kurt would’ve done anything to fix this for her.

She steepled her fingers in front of her glossy red lips. “Kurt, no. I can’t let you.”

“Don’t try and horn in on my selfless gesture. It doesn’t matter, because the coach agreed—and then he let me go.”

That elicited another, bigger gasp. “From the Rage? You’re not going back?”

“Nope.” Which Kurt hadn’t entirely processed. Because he couldn’t focus on anything until the situation with Lisette was resolved.

“But I still have the job?”

“Coach Courage is a fair guy. And he did his homework on you, too. He’s sure you’ll be good for the Rage. Just like I wouldn’t be good for them. Not anymore. He let me go because he doesn’t want anyone playing for him who isn’t giving one hundred percent. It isn’t safe. After I told him what was going on, he knew my heart wasn’t in it.”

Amazingly, her lips curved up in approval. “So you figured out what was most important.”

Hell, yes. Five feet, three inches of the best woman he’d ever met. Everything else fell about a mile down on Kurt’s priority list. “I quit the team because I’ve done everything I set out to do. My team won the Cup. I’m thirty-two. Which means that I’m just thumbing my nose at fate every time I step out on the ice. A serious injury could leave me permanently hurt, or my brain scrambled. Jasper didn’t get to live out all his dreams. I won’t risk not living mine. I’m going back to school.”

“But what about all the money? With one more year, you could sock away so much in the bank. Maybe get a broadcast contract to make it last while you’re taking classes.”

God, it was a punch to his gut at how, even angry, Lisette still looked out for his best interest. Her big heart was one of the things he adored most about her. He didn’t deserve her compassion. But Kurt wanted to wallow in it for as long as he had the chance.

“If you were brave enough to start over without a safety net, I should be, too.” It was time to finish his pitch. “I can live without fame or any more money. I don’t want to live without you.” Kurt tugged her to the base of the tree. “You asked why we’re meeting here. Right here. It’s because of this tree. The Anseman Oak. People think it’s been here for six hundred years or so.”

She put a hand to the rough bark, then looked back at him. “You lost me.”

“It’s the biggest symbol of permanence I could find. You told me that you want to stay in New Orleans. Well, I’m going to plant myself right next to you.” Kurt covered her hand on the trunk with his. “If you’ll let me. If you’ll let me share your new life while I’m trying to follow your example of starting again, from scratch, as I get my history and teaching degree.”

“Oh, Kurt, I’m no role model.”

“You’re right.” He reached over to cradle her soft cheek in his palm. And felt another surge of hope when she let him touch her. “You’re sunlight and laughter and joy wrapped up in a beautiful package. You cared for my brother in his darkest days. Now, will you let me care for you? Because I do. Baby, I’m crazy about you. I’m not even asking you to forgive me today. Just for the chance to try again with you.”

Lisette pulled away. From his touch. From where their hands were joined on the tree trunk. Then she took yet another step backward, putting more space between them. “But what about Jasper? I don’t want to remind you of him, to bring that sadness back every time you look at me. He’s been between us from the start. I won’t bring you a moment’s more pain, Kurt.”

There she went, yet again just fucking knocking his feet out from under him with her thoughtfulness. And he’d given this some thought. How he didn’t want to be a reminder of one of her last patients who died. Kurt had realized that it was stupid to let their shared past haunt their future. That the two of them together could create enough happiness to banish any ghosts, any pain.

Kurt stepped forward, bridging the gap she’d put between them. “If Jasper was still here? Well, first he’d punch me in the balls for treating you so badly. Then he’d high-five me for ripping out my heart and offering it to you. Thinking about him doesn’t make me sad anymore. Not most of the time. The first time I thought of him without sadness was in your apartment. When we kissed for the first time. If that isn’t proof enough, well...I’ll do it again.”

Kurt pulled her into his arms.

Slowly, in case she wasn’t on board with this.

And then Lisette grabbed his head and kissed him. Kissed him hard and fast and full of all the longing that had built up in the two days since they’d last seen each other. His tongue danced with hers. Seeking, sucking, tasting. He gulped her in, smelling the honeysuckle of her perfume arrow to his balls. Threaded his fingers through her dark curls and moaned at the softness. Used his other hand to pull her tight and flush against him. Lisette popped up on tiptoe so his dick ground against the notch between her thighs.

He tore his mouth away. Looked down with satisfaction at her kiss-swollen lips, passion-glazed eyes. “Is that a yes?”

“Several yeses, in fact. Yes, I forgive you. Yes, I’m crazy about you, too. Yes, I want to stay with you as you start this new adventure. Yes, I’ll take your heart.” She feathered her fingertips in the open vee of his shirt. “And I’ll start by taking this sexy-as-sin package that’s wrapped around it right to bed.”