Hot Item (Hot Zone 3)

As they settled into seats in the living room, Uncle Yank said, “So Spencer tells me you’ve been spending time with Riley Nash.”

At the mention of Riley’s name, Sophie’s heart did a little leap inside her chest. She knew better than to share the truth about her relationship, or whatever it had been, with her uncle. He’d rip Riley’s head off, and Sophie still cared about him too much to subject him to Uncle Yank’s wrath.

She swallowed hard. “Riley came to Florida with me when I was looking for Spencer.” So much more had happened between them and she hoped her fair skin didn’t show a blush.

“So he finally decided to go looking for his old man.” Her uncle nodded approvingly.

Apparently Uncle Yank was focused on Riley and Spencer’s relationship, not Sophie and Riley’s. Knowing she’d escaped, she jumped on the topic at hand and leaned forward in her seat. “You knew

Spencer was Riley’s father?”

Uncle Yank shook his head. “Until last month, all I knew was that in Riley’s senior year Spencer called me and said he wouldn’t be taking on Riley Nash as a client. He asked me to represent him before some other shark could step in.”

“Didn’t you wonder why Spencer would give up a prime athlete?” Sophie asked, confused.

“A man doesn’t always have to explain himself. That’s the way it was between Spencer and me.”

Lola let out a sigh. “We found out Spencer’s motives last month after the big revelation. He just wanted to protect Riley from the pain of having a gay father, so he called Yank and asked him to represent Riley. To take care of him the way Spencer couldn’t.”

Sophie rubbed her aching temples. Suddenly she had a better understanding of Spencer. She no longer considered him the man she didn’t understand, or the dear friend who’d let her down. Instead she saw a terrified human being who’d done what he thought was necessary for his child, no matter how misguided his actions had turned out to be.

“Riley doesn’t know this,” she murmured, her heart with the man who thought himself unworthy of his biological father’s love.

“I wouldn’t think that he did,” Uncle Yank said. “Spencer told me that there was an ugly confrontation in Florida and Riley wants nothing to do with him.”

“It’s confusing, but that’s about the gist of it.”

Lola rose from her seat, smoothing the creases in her slacks. “Sophie, honey, would you stay for dinner?”

Sophie nodded. She didn’t have any other plans and she’d missed her uncle and Lola.

As she helped Lola chop a salad and put dinner together, Sophie’s mind whirled with what she’d learned. She couldn’t stop wondering how Riley would feel when he found out that Spencer had looked after him from behind the scenes, taking care of his career through Uncle Yank.

Knowing Riley’s defiance when it came to Spencer, she doubted the truth would change much, especially the betrayal Riley still felt to this day. Spencer’s deliberate absence had affected Riley’s life in a profound way, from how he raised his daughter to how he maintained his distance from anyone who lived by rules and order.

No matter how much Sophie understood what made Riley tick, he’d never get past her need for stability and routine. Inevitably they’d clash over every decision he made that was spontaneous or unexpected, and he’d hate the way she made him feel boxed in. For her part, there was no possible way she could change the habits of a lifetime, ones that gave her comfort and security.

In fact, the more she thought about their short affair, the more she realized that he’d done her a favor by distancing himself in Florida before things between them got even more complicated or serious. A little heartache now was nothing compared to the damage he could have done to her if he’d gotten an even tighter hold on her heart.

RUNNING ON THE TREADMILL was a damn good way to release stress, and since returning from Florida just a few short days ago, Riley had had plenty of aggravation. First the scene with Lisa and Ted, and then the fact that his daughter was upset with the new regime, as she called it, and didn’t like that all three parents had read her the riot act. She’d decided to take her anger out on Riley by not making herself available to see him. His daughter turning on him was the one thing he’d wanted to avoid and he didn’t know how to make things better.

Then there was the issue of his burning desire to see Sophie again in someplace other than his dreams. And definitely someplace other than on the television screen being promoted as sexy, smart and single by her crazy uncle. Riley pounded on the rubber at a steep incline. Willing himself not to focus on his problems, he turned up the volume on the headset and set the channel to one of the sports channels before running harder.

But as usual, he couldn’t stop thinking about Sophie. He missed her like crazy. Yank Morgan’s close-up photo of Sophie had been like a kick in the head, reminding him she was even more beautiful than he remembered. Not to mention more vulnerable than she liked to let on and more sexy than any woman had a right to be.

Her uncle had held her out like a piece of meat in the marketplace. Unfortunately Yank’s description was dead-on accurate and every red-blooded male in this country probably now knew it, too.

Riley came to a skidding halt and grabbed the towel he’d slung over the handlebar.

“She’s hot.” Mike, his best friend, running back and occasional weight spotter, gestured to the television where they were rerunning clips from Yank’s interview, including the headshot of Sophie. “That is the chick from Florida, right?” Mike asked.

Riley had unloaded on his friend last night while at a bar, but only because Mike wouldn’t spread the information around the locker room. “That’s her.”

Mike knew that he’d hooked up with Sophie in Florida and that she’d gotten under Riley’s skin, but not even Mike knew about his relationship to Atkins. Growing up in a politician’s house had taught Riley the value of keeping a secret.

“I can see why you can’t forget about her. So why not have some fun and let the thing run its course?” Mike suggested.

Riley had asked himself the same question many times during sleepless nights when he’d tossed and turned, images of Sophie’s body under—and over—his keeping him aroused and awake.