The Princess and the Player

“I always keep Gabriel in mind,” she countered.

“Good, then the three of you can deal with Patrick Rowling.” Her father wheeled on Gabriel with a scowl. “Since you’re taking Bella’s side in this, I’ll let you handle the delicate matter of ensuring the alliance I painstakingly put into place won’t suffer.”

Her father stalked off to go terrorize the staff or something.

“Sorry,” Bella said to her brother with a scowl. “I didn’t mean for you to get in the middle of this. At least not that way. Are you okay with talking to Mr. Rowling?”

Unfortunately, thanks to the hours upon hours of conversation with James at the farmhouse, Bella knew exactly why Patrick wasn’t going to be pleased with the developments.

“I’ll talk to him,” James volunteered, and Bella shot him a small smile.

“That’s a good idea.” Gabriel’s expression reflected the gravity of the situation. “I’ll speak with him as well. But it’s sticky. We have business agreements in place that could be in jeopardy. You should lie low for a while longer until matters are a bit more settled.”

Great, more hiding. Why was it such a problem that two people wanted to spend time together? But the mention of things like business agreements clued her in that there was more at stake than she might have supposed.

At least her father hadn’t forbidden her to see James. He just said he didn’t want her to and made his disappointment in her clear. Fortunately, she had a lot of practice at living with her father’s disappointment. If Gabriel worked things out with Mr. Rowling, maybe her father would come around. It could happen.

Gabriel and James talked a bit more about the logistics of their impending conversations with Patrick Rowling until James’s cell phone rang.

He glanced at it and excused himself to take the call. Based on his expression, it must be shocking news indeed. Gabriel went off to do king stuff as James ended the call.

“What is it?” she whispered, almost afraid to ask. They’d barely confessed their fledgling feelings to each other, their fathers were still potential stumbling blocks in their relationship and she didn’t know how many more hits they should be expected to take.

“Liverpool.” His tone couldn’t have been more stunned. “Management wants to meet with me. Tomorrow.”

“Liverpool? Isn’t that a city in England?” Then it dawned on her that he meant the football team. “They want to talk to you about a contract? That’s great!”

“I have to fly to London.” His enthusiasm shone from his face. Then he grew serious. “I don’t know what they’re going to say. But if it’s an offer, it would be hard for me to turn down.”

“Why would you turn it down? You can’t.”

“I would have to live in England for most of the year.” His gorgeous eyes sought and held hers as the implications weighed down her shoulders.

This was serious, life-altering stuff, the kind of thing couples with a future considered. While she thought that was where they were headed—thought that was where she wanted them to go—it was another matter entirely to have Big Decisions dropped in your lap before you were ready. It was far scarier than accidentally revealing your feelings.

“We’ll figure it out,” she murmured, as though she knew what she was talking about. “We’re jumping together. Just don’t let go of my hand, remember?”

Instead of agreeing, or grabbing her hand and shooting her a tender smile, he scrubbed at his eyes with stiff fingers. “Everything is moving too fast.”

Her heart froze.

Everything? As in their relationship, too? He’d volunteered to come with her, to talk to his father and work out the issues between the Montoro family and Rowling Energy—was he having second thoughts now? “One step at a time, James. Go to England and see what they say. Then we can talk.”

He nodded and swept her up in a fierce hug. She inhaled his familiar scent, soaked in his essence. That at least felt somewhat normal and it calmed her a bit.

“I’ll call you the moment I know something. Guess I’ll be gone a couple of days.”

Watching him drive away wrenched something loose inside her and the place ached where it used to be attached. She rubbed at her chest and perversely wondered if it would get better or worse if he called with the news that Liverpool wanted to sign him. Because that’s when she’d find out once and for all whether removing the temptation of the forbidden caused him to completely lose interest.

* * *

James resisted pulling at his starched collar. Barely. If he’d had more notice that Liverpool wanted a meeting, he might have scared up a more comfortable suit. Contract negotiations rarely included the player and the fact that Liverpool specifically asked for James to attend meant...what? He didn’t know and it was weighing on him.