Calling All the Shots

“Another illusion shattered,” she said.

“I never said I could cook,” he said.

“I know. It’s just that you seem like you can do everything,” she said. “All the shows and the easy charm. Life just looks really good for you.”

“It is, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. I have struggles like everyone else.”

He held her chair out and she sat down at the table. “Jack Crown isn’t like everyone else.”

“I was hoping you’d see that. I’m not like any other man you know,” he said. “But I think you meant that in a negative way. So tell me—what did I do to make you so angry?”

She swallowed hard and looked up at him with those big, dark brown eyes of hers. “Nothing. I’ve just been burned in the past by men who seemed too good to be true.”

“Get to know me so you can see that I’m exactly what you think I am.”

“That might not work in your favor,” she said. “I don’t have a positive impression of you.”

“I can work with it,” he said. He always had the feeling that she was judging him, and if there was one thing he knew about Willow it was that she didn’t pull her punches or her words. “How would you describe me?”

“Too charming for your own good,” she said.

“I can work with charming,” he said.

Two

“Not charming. Too charming,” she reminded him.

Willow hadn’t meant to reveal how she felt about Jack but she realized that she couldn’t help herself. Yes, she wanted some kind of revenge on him but she also wanted him to know how she felt. She wanted him to have a clue about her distrust of him. She almost would have said she disliked him but she knew that was a lie.

“Too charming … that can mean a myriad of things,” he said. “Do you find me irresistible?”

“Never,” she said. “You do have moments when I think I could like you but then your ego comes shining through.”

“It’s hard to be humble when I’ve got so much going for me,” he said.

It took a minute for her to get that he was teasing her. She really didn’t want to like him. It was okay to see flashes of it but she didn’t want to see that there was a real man behind the toothy grin and perfectly styled hair.

“Yeah, you got it all,” she said. “I know you’re being silly but to someone on the outside it looks like you do live a charmed life. Why would you be interested in me?” she asked. No sense in beating around the bush. It was the one thing that seemed illogical to her. He could have any woman he wanted so why her? Why now?

“Maybe because you’re a challenge,” he said.

It was the answer she was expecting but disappointing all the same. “So it’s just a game to you then?”

“Not a game. Life is too short to not go after what you want. I like you. You can be funny on the set and I see the way you really connect with the couples and with your friends and crew. I want to be a part of that.”

She didn’t know what he meant. Sure she made the time to listen to people but only because she’d learned that if she didn’t then the results they got when filming weren’t that great. “That’s just the way I work.”

“It’s more than that. I saw you holding Bella McCaw when Fiona needed someone to take care of her. And there was a look on your face….”

Fiona was a fashion designer and single mom who’d come on the show with her darling daughter, Bella Ann. She’d been matched to Alex Cannon, a games developer. They were an interesting couple who were now happily engaged.

“What look?” she asked. She always liked to believe she had a poker face that didn’t reveal what she was thinking. Wasn’t that true?

He shrugged. “It just got me to thinking that I wanted to get to know you better.”

“Are you looking to settle down with me?” she asked. If he said yes, it would really give her the ammunition she needed to bring him to his knees. But on the other hand … he wasn’t the boy she knew in high school. Maybe he didn’t deserve her vengeance.

“No,” he said. “Just want to get to know you better. For a few moments I want to be like every other man in America who has an attractive coworker and invites her out for dinner.”

“You’re never going to be like every other man in America. You know that, right?” How could he look at his life and think he could be like everyone else? He’d won a Heisman Trophy. They only gave out one a year, so that put him in an elite sportsman category. He’d been named Associated Press Athlete of the Year and played professional football before going on to be the host of some of the most popular shows on TV. He was never going to be an average Joe.

“Yes, I do, but with you I feel like I am. All the trappings of the celebrity lifestyle aren’t important to you,” he said.

“That’s true. I’ve seen the other side of celebrity,” she said.

“Me, too. We are uniquely suited for each other,” he said, waggling his eyebrows and smiling over at her.

“I don’t know.” She did know. If she played this right she could get him thinking that maybe he could have something with her. Then she’d walk away.

“Come on, how many people do you meet in this business from Frisco, Texas?” he said with that half smile of his that reminded her a little too much of the boy who’d first stolen her heart.

She put down her fork and took a sip of her wine. Revenge, she thought. She had to stay focused on what she really wanted or she was going to lose her way.

He reached over and touched her hand. A little zing shot up her arm. His touch unnerved her as much now as it had when he’d hugged her earlier. He ran his finger over her knuckles and then turned her hand over in his and traced the lines on her palm.

“I’m only asking for a chance here,” he said.

A chance. To do what? He’d said he wanted a regular relationship but had never had a chance to have that because of his celebrity.

And she wanted what Nichole had suggested. A chance to find some happiness for herself down the line. So she had to do something with Jack. Had to find a way to make peace with her past so she could trust again. And she knew now that unless he was hiding cloven hooves and the devil’s tail she wasn’t going to be able to be as coldly calculating as she’d thought she could be. She’d thought that focusing on getting back at him would be enough to protect her but maybe it wasn’t.

“A chance, eh? Just dating?” she asked. She didn’t want to admit it—even to herself—but the thought of walking away from him was beginning to fade.

“Yes, dating. It’s not going to be easy since I have to fly back and forth between the coasts all the time but I do want a chance to get to know you better. A chance to prove that there is more to me than Prince Charming.”

“I’ve never called you Prince Charming,” she said.

“Everyone knows I am,” he said with that stupid arrogant grin of his. “Let’s face it, you even said I was charming.”

Suddenly she thought it might not be too hard to hurt him if he was going to act like this. Was this the real Jack Crown? She had no idea, and she never would unless she took a chance on him.

“Fine, we can date,” she said. But as she looked into those very blue eyes of his, she couldn’t help a niggling sensation that this was a bad idea. She was susceptible to Jack. She always had been. And she knew how easy it was to fall for him.

Wanting revenge was one thing, but messing up her life at work—the one place where she was truly at home and happy—didn’t seem smart. If she was going to fool around with Jack and walk away, she had to be careful how she timed it and that she never let it interfere with work.

“Golly gee, Willow, don’t sound so excited about it,” he said.

She nodded over at him. “I’m sorry. I’d be happy to go on dates with you when the time allows.”