Free Illegal Motion: A Loveswept Classic Romance by Donna Kauffman Page B

played for Carolina.” Nick nodded, familiar with her father’s career. “Well, the Rebels were a new team at the time and not very good.” He smiled in agreement. “I always liked to root for the underdog, and when Dad was traded to the Jaguars a few years later, I was already a diehard fan.”
    “He wasn’t upset when you rooted for the enemy?”
    “Heavens no. He encouraged me to maintain my loyalties. Besides,” she added, smiling broadly as she reminisced, “it was something to argue about. Dad loved a good debate.”
    “I have a feeling that’s an inherited trait.”
    Willa looked at Nick, her eyes shining in agreement before her smile turned wistful. “I haven’t thought about those days, before I went to college …” Before Dad got sick , she thought, looking beyond Nick, into her past.
    “I thought your dad was a great man. At least as far as football was concerned,” Nick commented quietly. The pain that shadowed her eyes for a moment bothered him. He felt bad that what had started as a warm memory for her had somehow turned sad. “You loved him very much.” She didn’t have to answer for Nick to see the depth of feeling she had for her deceased father. It shone in her face and in her eyes. For a blazing instant Nick knew a deep-seated need, stronger than anything he’d ever felt, to be the recipient of that kind of look. From her.
    A little taken aback by the ferocious wave of desire that engulfed him, Nick frowned and turned back to the counter. In a tone sharperthan he intended, he said, “Set the table if you plan on eating this while it’s still warm.”
    Her smile evaporated at his change and sharp words. Had she imagined the scene that had just taken place? It seemed like every time they made a connection of some kind, something happened to break it. But for the life of her, this time she couldn’t guess what it was. She was curious about the almost desperate look that had briefly registered on Nick’s face when he commented on her love for her dad. Maybe I imagined that too .
    Frustrated that she couldn’t be around Nick for ten minutes without losing her temper, she determined to be civil, no matter his mood. “The plates are in the upper left cabinet. I’ll pour the coffee and get the silver.”
    Nick seemed to accept her unspoken request for a truce. He waited until they were seated and eating before he spoke. “I’m sorry I snapped.”
    Willa looked up from her plate and saw that he was sincere. She shrugged, but didn’t chance talking quite yet.
    “If you want to talk about him, I don’t mind. It might help me understand so I don’t inadvertently hurt you in the future.”
    A part of her locked onto the word “future.” “We, that is my dad and I, moved around a lot as he moved around the league. We settled in Virginiajust as I started high school and I finally thought I’d found my niche.”
    “And did you?”
    A smile wandered across her face. “No. I grew six inches before my junior year. The only boys taller than me were the guys on the basketball team, and their interest in me was limited to getting me to play b-ball and getting Jaguar’s autographs. When it came to anything social, they chose the petite cheerleader types.”
    “They must have been blind,” Nick muttered. Willa glanced up at him and he nodded for her to go on.
    “Being tall and gawky was bad enough, but people always seemed to expect me to be something special because I had a famous dad, which made me feel doubly awkward. I constantly failed to measure up to everyone’s expectations. So I concentrated on studying instead. Then, when I was a senior, I discovered my long legs were actually good for something.”
    Unbidden images of her long legs wrapped around his waist wreaked havoc with Nick’s senses and he forced his gaze to the untouched food on his plate, certain that the use she had discovered for her legs couldn’t come close to the one he’d imagined.
    “… track and