Free Last Play: Book 1 The Last Play Series by Taylor Hart

his water and looked out the window. He imagined the view from the top of the mountain was glorious.
    “You want to know what the deal is with Tiffany, don’t you?”
    The fact that she’d brought it up told him that she wanted to talk about it. “Nope.”
    “It’s awkward, right?”
    “No.”
    “You said no too fast,” she accused.
    “I did?”
    “You did.”
    “O-kay.”
    Her eyes twinkled. “If you don’t want people to know you’re lying, you have to pretend you’re thinking about it. You didn’t think about it.”
    “Wow, look at you, studying lying.”
    “I do have a communications degree.”
    “You do?
    She grinned. “A master’s degree. My thesis was on lying in relationships, courting relationships.”
    Suddenly he felt nervous. “Really?”
    She smacked his hand and laughed. “But we’re not courting, so you don’t have to worry, I don’t even think of you that way. You’re my boss, right?”
    “Right,” he answered quickly. Then he tried to appear to be thinking about it. “I mean, of course, that’s why we’re here, cause you have one meal a day included.”
    She nodded. “You’re just the new signer of the paychecks.”
    “Oh right.” The food felt hard in his gut. “Yeah.” He wondered if he answered too fast.
    “So, that reminds me.” She put her fork down. “I was thinking, that you could take out ad space for the inn with the ski resort and the boat rental place down at the marina by the lake.”
    The lake. Memories surged through him. He remembered going out on a boat with his uncle. “The lake.”
    Her eyes twinkled. “Yeah, the lake.”
    He shook his head. “I’d forgotten about the lake. Uncle Jim took me out on his boat when I was here.” He grinned, thinking about feeling the water spray on his face and the sunburn he’d had the next day. But the best part had been seeing his mother water ski. Seeing her so alive and happy. They’d eaten ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch, and he remembered Uncle Jim burying him in the sand. “That was one of the best days of my life.”
    She cleared her throat.
    He looked at her and caught her studying him. He blinked. “What?”
    She blinked back. “Nothing. I mean, you—you look so sad sometimes.”
    He decided to be honest with her. “Uncle Jim gave me everything, and I gave him nothing. I-I guess being here reminds me of what a jerk I’ve turned into.”
    The moment seemed to slow, and she reached across the table and took his hand. “Your uncle loved you.”
    The pain that he’d been trying to push away came rushing at him full force, like a natural geyser in Yellowstone that burst with hot air. Tears pushed themselves out of his eyes. “No, I—” He didn’t know why he was telling her this, but it all came tumbling out. “I was a fool. Sheena had this image she wanted to protect, and I see now that I got so caught up in that that I didn’t realize all the important things that she took me away from.”
    Her eyes were so sympathetic. “I’m sorry.” She kept her hand on his.
    “I got hurt a few months ago and that, combined with—”
    “With finding out your wife cheated on you.” Her face had gone stone cold hard.
    He was surprised. “You read the tabloids?”
    She shook her head. “Your uncle told me you called him.”
    Hope sprung out of him. “He did?”
    She smiled. “He was really happy to have you back in his life.”
    More tears spilled down his cheeks. “Then why didn’t he tell me he was dying?”
    She gently squeezed his hand. “I don’t know, but like I told you before, I bet it was because he wanted you to get back on that field. He didn’t want to mess that up for you.”
    A turmoil of emotion swirled through him. His uncle had always protected him. Helped him. Even still protected him when he needed Roman. He clenched a fist and put his head down, letting more tears come. “I can’t be here.”
    “Roman.” She held onto his hand.
    He looked up.
    Her eyes were bright,