Free All in the Game by Barbara Boswell Page A

different version of the same theme—‘Needs must when the devil drives.’ I suppose that could be the Howe family credo, the true one. My mother should needlepoint it on one of those canvases she’s forever working on. She’s filled every room of the house with them made into pillows and pictures and foot stools and is still going strong.”
    Shannen swallowed, unsure how to respond but feeling the need to say something. “I saw your mother on the news when your father resigned from Congress after the, uh, um, final incident. She looked incredibly calm. Maybe the needlepoint helps,” she added quickly.
    â€œNo, it’s the tranquilizers around the clock that keep her comfortably numb.” Ty heaved a sigh. “Shannen, I’m not a devil and I don’t want to lead you astray. It’s just that I know you’re hungry and I wanted you to have something to eat.”
    â€œWhy?”
    He turned his back to her to stare out at the sea. The white caps from the waves were the only breaks in the vast stretch of blackness. “Why wouldn’t I?”
    â€œNo fair answering a question with a question. I’d like a straight answer. Why do you want to help me to cheat?”
    â€œNot cheating, Shannen,” he countered quickly. “It’s more like—”
    â€œOf course it’s cheating, Ty. Don’t go all Howe on me and get weaselly with words.”
    â€œWeaselly with words?” he repeated, as if unfamiliar with the concept.
    â€œYou know exactly what I mean, Ty. After all, your father’s classic line, ‘It depends on what is meant by a call girl ring,’ is still quoted by politicians and comedians when—”
    â€œCan we skip the quotes and the commentary, Shannen? If you don’t want my help, just say so.”
    â€œI don’t want your help, Tynan.”
    â€œOkay. I won’t offer any more, then.”
    â€œAnd if you expect me to say ‘thank you’ for tonight, well, you can just—” She clenched her fists in frustration. “Would you kindly turn around when I’m speaking? I don’t like addressing a person’s back.”
    â€œI wasn’t being intentionally rude, I was being…prudent.” Ty slowly turned around. “But here we go again, anyway.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œI mean we’re doing it again. Picking an argument over nothing. Quarreling about anything. It’s all an excuse to prolong our time together. And while fighting ought to keep us from touching each other, of course it won’t. I predict we’re moments away from another hot clinch.”
    â€œYou are so far wrong, you’re—” She had to catch her breath; his bluntness had physically winded her “—wrong!”
    Very articulate, Shannen, she mocked herself. Why not call him a condescending, self-righteous jerk, too? Where are your allegedly superior verbal skills when you really need them?
    â€œWhen you’ve filmed as many episodes of daytime television as I have, you know exactly what’s going on here. Frustrated sexual tension. It’s a staple on the soaps.” He tilted her chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Unfortunately, we’re caught in that same maddening trap.”
    Shannen gaped at him, uncertain what to address first. “You worked on a soap opera?”
    â€œThree of them. It’s where I got my start as a cameraman. I moved from daytime TV to primetime news magazines and the reality game shows. I’ve learned things on every job, and along with how to shoot close-ups of a person’s best angle, I also picked up some true life lessons on the soaps.”
    â€œAnd you think we’re like a soap opera couple?” Shannen laughed at that preposterous notion.
    â€œHoney, we could be one. We even have the obligatoryconflict in our past.” His fingers lazily stroked the slender column of her