Straddling the Line (34 page)

She started to pull away, but he held her tight. “It’s true. When you were sad and depressed over your dad, she called me and asked me to help.”

Haven frowned. “What? She did? When was that?”

“Right before you got assigned the interview.”

Haven couldn’t believe he’d done that for her. “You orchestrated that interview for me.”

“Partly. And partly to be the focus of a feature story.”

“You weren’t at all interested in that. You did it for me.”

“Yes.”

Haven took in a deep breath. Even back then, he cared about her. “That makes me love you even more.”

“Wait till you see the interview. I’m handsome, I’m charming, I have charisma.”

“Don’t go overboard.”

“I have a nice ass . . .”

She laughed as he walked away.

She was . . . happy. Content with her life, and looking forward to an amazing future. And for a lot of that, she had Trevor to thank.

If not for being assigned to interview Trevor, she might not have come to terms with her father’s passing. And without Trevor’s admission of his learning disability, she might not have rediscovered her love for teaching. She’d been honest with Trevor when she’d told him that while she’d thoroughly enjoyed her time in
sports reporting, when she’d dug in and started working with him again on his dyslexia, she’d discovered a newfound passion. And it had taken this journey for her to realize this was where she was meant to be.

Funny how life had such twists and turns sometimes. And how one person could intervene and change your entire life.

She smiled, thinking about her dad. For some reason, she wondered if he had something to do with the matchmaking, if somehow, he’d maybe put a heavenly whisper in her mom’s ear to send Trevor in her direction.

Knowing her dad, he would have found a way. Because Trevor had come into her life when she’d needed him most. He’d turned it upside down and inside out, but she’d ended up happier than she ever thought possible.

She smiled up at the heavens.

Thanks, Dad.

Dear Readers,

I hope you enjoyed
Straddling the Line
. Over the past four Play-by-Play books I’ve had a blast writing about college roommates Garrett, Gray, Trevor, and Drew, and you’ll definitely see more of them in the upcoming books. The next Play-by-Play book,
Quarterback Draw
, introduces a family dynasty similar to the Rileys. Grant Cassidy, the quarterback first seen in
Playing to Win
, is the hero. I think you’ll enjoy reading about Grant and his tight-knit but competitive family. He and his brothers don’t always get along, and they always compete with each other, but they share a blood bond and are always there for each other. And yes, each brother will get his own book!

My next release is
Hope Burns
. It’s the third book in my Hope series, contemporary romances that take place in the small town of Hope, Oklahoma. Carter Richards and Molly Burnett share a past, one Molly doesn’t care to revisit. However, she’s returned to Hope for her sister Emma’s wedding, so she has to face her high-school sweetheart Carter and the town she’s avoided for many years.

I fell madly in love with this couple, and I hope you will, too. Read on for a first-chapter excerpt of
Hope Burns
.

Happy reading!

Jaci

KEEP READING FOR A PREVIEW OF
THE NEXT HOPE NOVEL

HOPE BURNS

COMING SOON FROM HEADLINE ETERNAL

THIS WEDDING WAS GOING TO BE A DISASTER.

Molly Burnett didn’t know what had possessed her to agree to come back to Hope for her sister Emma’s wedding. Love for her sister, of course. But she knew what was at stake. She never came home, hadn’t been home since she’d left when she was eighteen.

That had been twelve years ago. She’d moved around from town to town, state to state, never setting down roots. Permanence just wasn’t Molly’s thing. And she sure as hell had never once come back to her hometown.

Until now. Even as she drove past the city limits sign her throat had started to close up, her breathing becoming labored. If she hyperventilated, crashed the car, and died a week before Emma’s wedding, her sister would never forgive her.

Then again, with all the sputtering and coughing her ancient Ford Taurus was doing, it might just do itself in before she had a chance to crash it into anything.

“Come on, George,” she said, smooth-talking the car. “Hang in there.” She didn’t have a new—or a newer used—car in her budget. Old George, currently age fifteen and she hoped heading toward sixteen, was just going to have to suck it up and keep working.

At the next stop sign, George shuddered and belched rather loudly, making the two little kids sitting in the backseat of the car next to her point and laugh. She gave them a smile, then gently pressed the gas. Obviously having cleared his throat, George lumbered on and Molly sighed in grateful relief. Gripping the steering wheel and forcing deep, calming breaths, Molly drove past the First Baptist Church, her favorite doughnut shop, the florist, and Edith’s Hair Salon. So many places still stood, all too familiar.

So much had changed in twelve years. So much progress, so many new businesses had cropped up. New restaurants, the hospital was bigger than she remembered, and they’d widened the highway. When she’d lived here before, there’d been only one shop to stop at for gas and sodas along the main road. Now there was one at every corner.

She purposely turned off the main road, determined to avoid the high school. Too many memories she wasn’t ready to face yet. She headed toward the main strip of town. There was a new bakery, and on impulse, Molly decided to stop and buy some goodies for the family.

She headed inside, the smell of sugar and baked goods making her smile.

After buying a box full of croissants and cream puffs, she made her way outside, stopping short at a very fine ass bent over, inspecting her car.

“Can I help you?”

He straightened and turned, and Molly almost dropped the box of baked goods.

The last person in Hope she wanted to see today stared back at her.

Carter Richards, her first and only love, and the main reason she’d left Hope all those years ago.

“Hey, Molly.”

“What are you doing here, Carter?”

“My auto shop is just a few doors down. I saw you get out of the car.”

Recovering, she walked over to the driver’s side, placed the box on the hood, then opened the door. “And you thought this would be a good place for a reunion? Really, Carter?”

She hoped he wouldn’t notice her hands shaking as she slid the box onto the passenger seat and climbed in, shutting the door.

He leaned his forearms inside the car. “That’s all you have to say?”

“I think we said all we needed to say to each other twelve years ago.”

She turned the key and winced at George’s attempts to fire on all cylinders. She tried again, and this time, the car started. Sort of. It mostly wheezed. And then died.

Dammit.
Come on, George. I just need you to start this one time.

“Let me help you with that.”

She shot him a look. “I don’t need help. I can do this.”

She tried again. No go.

“Molly.”

Carter’s voice was deep and low, causing skitters of awareness to race down her spine. She wanted him to disappear. She wanted to pretend he didn’t exist, just like she’d tried to erase him from her memories for the past twelve years. She wanted to be anywhere but here right now.

“Slide out and let me give it a try.”

With a resigned sigh, she opened the door and got out. Carter slid in and fiddled with the ignition.

“George is a little touchy,” she said.

He turned to face her. “George?”

Crossing her arms, she nodded. “Yes. George.”

His lips curved, and her stomach tumbled. God, he was even more good looking now than he’d been in high school. Thick, dark hair, and those mesmerizing green eyes. He wore a polo shirt that stretched tight over his well-muscled biceps. Why couldn’t he have turned out bald and fat and hideously ugly? Not that it would have made a difference anyway, because it still would have been Carter.

When George’s engine finally turned over, tears pricked Molly’s eyes.

Carter got out and held the door for her. “There you go.”

“Thanks.”

He shut the door, then leaned in the window again. “Molly . . .”

She looked up at him. “Please don’t.”

He nodded and backed up a step so she could back out of the parking spot, which she did with a little too much fervor. As she drove away, she saw him watching her out of her rearview mirror.

She forced a tight grip on the steering wheel and willed the pain in her heart to go away.

It was in the past. Carter was in the past, and that was where he was going to stay.

CARTER WATCHED MOLLY DRIVE AWAY, THAT OLD
junker she drove belching out smoke and exhaust like it was on its last legs.

He shook his head and leaned against the wall of the bakery shop, needing a minute to clear his head before he went back to work.

He’d been thinking about Molly for a while now, knowing she was coming back to Hope. She had to, because she was in Luke and Emma’s wedding. He hadn’t expected to see her today, though, when he’d stepped out front of his auto body shop to take a breath from all the damn paperwork that was his least favorite part of being a business owner.

He’d always liked watching the cars go by on his breaks.

When he’d seen an unfamiliar one—an old, beat choking out a black trail of exhaust, then wheezing as it came to a stop in front of the bakery—he couldn’t help but wonder who’d drive an old piece of shit like that. Surely the owner had to realize that poor junker should be shot and put out of its misery.

His heart slammed against his ribs as a gorgeous brunette stepped out of the car. She had on shorts, a tank top, and sandals, and she was hurrying into the bakery like she didn’t want to be recognized. She even kept her sunglasses on, but there was no mistaking who it was.

Yeah, like he could ever forget the curve of her face, the fullness of her lips, or her long legs. It might have been twelve years, and she might have changed from girl to woman, but Molly Burnett was someone Carter would never forget. His pulse had been racing and he knew damn well he should turn around and go back to his office. But for some reason his body hadn’t been paying attention to what his mind told it, and he pushed off the wall and started down the street toward the bakery.

He debated going inside, then thought better of it and decided to figure out what the hell it was she was driving. So he’d walked over and studied the car.

A ’99 Taurus. Christ. He wondered where Molly was living, and how the hell that car had made the trip. It had dents all over, the muffler was nearly shot, and the tires badly needed replacement—like a year ago.

In retrospect, he should have let her be, should have kept his distance from her. But when he’d seen her, he’d closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, transported back in time to the last time he’d heard her voice. It had been in hurt and anger. The last words they’d said to each other hadn’t been kind ones.

And maybe he’d wanted to change all that.

But it hadn’t gone at all like he’d planned. She was still hurt, still angry with him, even after all these years.

Carter dragged his fingers through his hair, pushed off the wall, and made his way down the street toward the garage, then back to his office. He shut the door and stared at his laptop, but all he could see was Molly’s long dark hair pulled up in a high ponytail, and her full lips painted some shimmering pink color. She was tan, and her body had changed over the years. She was curvier now, had more of a woman’s body.

But she was still the drop-dead gorgeous woman he’d fallen in love with all those years ago.

He’d thought he was over her, that what he’d once felt for her in high school was long gone. But they’d had a deeper connection than just being first loves.

And seeing her again had hurt a lot harder than he’d thought it would.

DON’T MISS THE NEXT PLAY-BY-PLAY NOVEL
FROM
NEW YORK TIMES
BESTSELLING
AUTHOR JACI BURTON

QUARTERBACK DRAW

COMING SOON FROM HEADLINE ETERNAL