I looked up, not surprised there was a condition. “What is it?”
“You really want to get this contract, don’t you? Even if you sign, it’s not official until Ben signs it, you know that, right?”
“Of course I know. I’ll do anything.”
Jackson gave me a careful look. “If you want it that badly, then stay away from Zoe, or try and hide your relationship better. Ben’s condition was you keep away from his daughter.”
Ah. I knew it was too good to be true.
The food came, so I didn’t get a chance to answer Jackson immediately, but it wasn’t like there was even a question of what I would do. If this had come up earlier, I would have, reluctantly, told Zoe to put things between us on hold and take the contract. There was no way I could now, though.
Zoe interacted with the team naturally, so even if I could make myself stay away, she’d be in contact with the team, and I wouldn’t be able to help myself. It wasn’t a promise I wasn’t sure I could make, because I knew I might break it. As for hiding things better... I thought we hid it just fine and somehow, he still noticed. But maybe...
It was possible. If she agreed to play along that is.
“Howard?” Jackson said after the waiter left. “Do I have to guess?”
I shook my head and handed the contract back. “I’ll sign it.”
I’d talk to Zoe later, and find out what she thought. It wasn’t a legal contract until Ben signed it too, so I had time to rescind if she pulled the plug. I would do anything to play again, for her team, I’d even hide my relationship with her, but I would not give it up totally.
Chapter Six
Zoe
I trudged along the sidewalk. I was close to home, and that was the only thing that made me happy right then.
This isn’t going to be easy, is it?
I growled. “If Dad had something to do with this...”
Who was I kidding, though, he had to have something to do with it? Just when I made up my mind and wanted to move on, all avenues were closed in front of me, and I didn’t think it was happening naturally, not this way.
Finally, I made it to the house. It was the very same house where I grew up with my parents, even though now there was only the two of us. Sometimes, it didn’t feel like two people lived in that house, though. It was moderately big, with two floors, four bedrooms even though we’d only ever used two, and three of them had en suite bathro
oms. The outside of the house was painted in white and blue shades, because blue used to be Mom’s favorite color.
I groaned in relief, walking up the sidewalk to the house. At the short steps that led up to the porch, I looked up and froze.
“What are you doing here?” I blurted out.
Howard looked up and smiled, then rose from his crouch just outside the door.
“Hey. I missed you so I came to see you. Or do you not want me here?”
I arched an eyebrow. Usually, when he wanted to see me, he’d just text, then go ahead with the call if it turned out I wasn’t busy. I hadn’t seen him for a few days, and he hadn’t tried to get in contact with me, either, which gave me time to focus on other things.
“It’s not that I don’t want you here, I was just surprised. You’re lucky it’s still early. Dad shouldn’t come in for a while, so you’re safe for now, but you can’t stay long.”
“Aw, let me stay a little longer. I can always sneak out of your bedroom window like last time.”
“You almost broke something last time,” I snapped. “You’re not staying.”
Howard just chuckled.
That was an adventure neither of us wanted to try again. It was one of the few times Howard had come to my home. Dad came home unexpectedly while we were getting hot and heavy in my room. It was lucky that he hadn’t left anything in the house, or Dad would have been suspicious.
I pulled my keys from my purse and went to open the door. He stood aside but stuck close to my side. Usually, having him this close got me hot, but feeling his warmth beside me just made me feel a little better after the day I’d had. As wonderful as it was, sex was the last thing on my mind.
“Come on in,” I said, stepping aside to let him through, then closed the door behind him.
Letting out a sigh, I eased my heels off and dropped my purse on the seat. The interior of the house was painted cream, with black and brown furniture scattered in the room. There used to be family pictures hung up on the wall, but Dad had long since replaced them with plain pictures. Stairs to one side of the room led to the upper floor, and a door in the back led to the kitchen. In the living room, there was a TV and a small coffee table surrounded by chairs. I gestured for Howard to go and sit as I headed for the kitchen.