With Lu, his devil-may-care side was demanding a lot more decision making opportunities and—what had Kelby called him?—Mr Disciplined Control was taking a beating.
Either way, he felt as if he was fighting a demonic alien invasion with a water pistol in a desert.
Lu could see all her confusion reflected in Will’s eyes. He wanted her—she’d have to be dead not to realise that—but he didn’t want to want her. As for her, she knew that if they moved from friends to lovers then she would be inviting a whole bunch of complicated craziness into her life. It would be a lot harder to say goodbye to a lover than a friend when he left, and even worse it would be so much more difficult to keep her mind thinking friends, her body thinking lover and her heart out of the equation if she was sleeping with him.
Lu held his gaze, hating his rigid self-control. He wasn’t going to ask her to bed, wasn’t going to take that step. If only they could really talk to each other...
What would she say?
I love spending time with you, she told him silently. But I don’t think that I’m ready for a relationship, strings or not. I’m just getting to know myself again, learning to be on my own. I’m finally coming into myself, learning who I am without the responsibility of raising the twins. If we hook up I’ll have someone back in my life and I don’t know if I’m ready for that. Because you are a strong character, a protector, another alpha personality, and when you go I’ll be back to square one, learning to be on my own again.
It was so hard to resist him, and it would be easy to let him slide into all the empty spaces in her heart and home that the boys had left. But for the first time in her life she had to think about what was best for her and, as much as she thought it would be fun, she didn’t think it was a smart move long-term. For the first time in a decade she didn’t have to worry about someone else—and she liked it.
Lu sighed. ‘Will?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Do you know that neither of us has said anything for ten minutes?’
Will shrugged. ‘OK...so?’
‘If we need to think about it so much maybe we should leave things the way they are?’
Will twisted his lips. ‘Confused and horny?’
Give the man another gold star, Lu thought morosely.
‘So, Carter has been cleared to come back to work in a month...’
Will stared at Kelby, nonplussed. ‘That means that I can leave Durban in a month or so?’
‘We’ll pay you out for the full three months.’
He didn’t give a toss about the money. It was leaving Lu earlier than he’d bargained for that was threatening to throw him into a tailspin.
‘Also, at the director’s meeting last night, the board agreed that Carter will retire in six months. I can offer you a position as consultant coach until then and a five-year contract as head coach when he’s gone. What do you think?’
Will yanked his thoughts away from Lu. ‘Giving control back to Carter sucks. I don’t know if I can do it and then work under him.’
‘It’s for six months, dude! And he’s a good coach. You’d learn a lot from him.’
Will placed his hands on Kelby’s desk and straightened his arms, thinking it through. ‘I’ve been getting other offers from other teams. Firm consultant and then head coach offers from Melbourne and Auckland.’
Kelby leaned back in his chair. ‘Have you talked to Lu about any of this?’
Will frowned at him. ‘No.’
‘Don’t you think you should?’
Will stood up and folded his arms belligerently. Because he was still reeling at the thought of how much he didn’t want to leave her, he narrowed his eyes at Kelby’s comment. ‘She isn’t a factor. We’re just friends.’
‘Friends! Yeah, keep telling yourself that.’ Kelby shook his head in disbelief. ‘And if you let her go then you’re crazier than I gave you credit for.’
Let her go? He hadn’t even had her yet! He’d spent most of last night tossing and turning, and when he had slept his dreams had been super-hot and had involved him taking Lu fifty ways to Sunday.
As a result he was tired, irritable, and still as confused and even hornier than he had been yesterday afternoon. He thought he was either a saint or an idiot to have dropped her off at home after their day on the beach and left her there.
No, he was definitely an idiot.
Will glanced at his watch. ‘I’ve got to go. I’m late as it is.’
Kelby frowned. ‘Late for what?’
‘Game analysis. It’s at four.’
‘Do you ever read any of the memos I send you? I asked for game analysis to be postponed because Lu is doing that nude calendar shoot with the squad this evening.’
Will turned around very slowly and sent Kelby his death-ray glare. ‘What. Did. You. Say?’
Kelby didn’t do a very good job of trying to hide his smile. ‘Twelve of the franchise clubs are collaborating on a calendar featuring the various teams to raise money for charity. Each franchise is responsible for capturing their own discreet image of the team.’
‘And Lu is doing this?’
Kelby looked innocent. ‘She is our photographer. I don’t know why you’re looking so surprised about this. I’ve been mailing you about it all week!’
‘I saw the subject heading and thought you were joking.’
‘And Lu didn’t mention it to you?’
Will frowned. ‘I think she did. I said something about it being a stupid-ass idea and that anyone associated with it was stupid...she hasn’t mentioned it again.’
‘I can’t imagine why,’ Kelby said dryly.
Will’s mouth flattened. ‘I’m really not happy about this.’
‘Lucky for you that I don’t give a toss whether you’re happy about it or not. It’s her job.’
Right.
‘Where are they doing the shoot?’ Will demanded.
‘In the gym.’ Kelby stood up as Will whipped around and headed for the door. ‘Will, don’t you dare go down there! Don’t make things difficult...’
Kelby sank back into his chair as Will ignored his order. Friends? Yeah, right! He hoped that Will didn’t make the shoot difficult for Lu, but he wouldn’t bet money on it. Kelby lumbered to
