“Like I said before, I’m okay,” Tom answered her, even though shafts of pain coursed through him every time he took a deep breath. If he hadn’t already known from the days he’d played football that getting hit in the groin was as bad as it could get, he sure knew it now.
Lili frowned as she glanced at the beads of moisture that had gathered on Tom’s forehead. “I knew you were hurt. I have an idea. Wait here and don’t move,” she ordered when he tried to interrupt. “I’ll be back in a minute with something to help you.”
Her eye-catching yellow sundress flashed brightly as she made for an ice cream truck parked on the asphalt a few yards away.
Ice cream? Tom frowned. What made her think an ice cream treat would do anything for the pain running through him?
As if nearly being gelded in the prime of life wasn’t enough, he still had the problem of what to do about this woman and her crusade.
Tom turned as he heard a familiar voice shout at him from across the playing field, and saw his father heading in his direction. Apparently fate was further intent on complicating his life. Judging by his dad’s determined body language as he made his way through the crowd, Tom was afraid he was going to have to listen to another of his lectures.
Seeing Tom in the company of a woman like Lili and her small daughter was bound to have drawn his dad’s attention. Tom prepared himself for a speech on the joys of marriage and fatherhood. Not that it would be the first time his father had sounded off about Tom’s single state. Homer Eldridge made no secret that he wanted grandchildren before it was too late for him to enjoy them. Even if they came readymade.
Tom’s younger sister, Megan, bless her cowardly heart, was still single, too, but as a travel writer, she made a point of touching home base as seldom as possible. At the moment, she was busy flying around the world researching articles for a local newspaper. A side benefit was that her work kept her as far away from their father’s matchmaking activities as possible. The last time Tom had heard from Megan, she’d been somewhere in Bali, sunning herself and admiring the local males from a safe distance. To further rile him, she’d congratulated herself on having no dependents the last time she’d called.
He should have insisted Megan return home and at least help run the letters-to-the-editor pages of the magazine. So much mail had come in since they’d published Lucas Sullivan’s controversial article. And maybe if Megan were around, their father’s attention would turn from Tom to his sister.
Still, Tom counted himself lucky. If Megan, a well-intentioned do-gooder, had been living in Chicago, even without children of her own, she would have been all over him, insisting he help Lili keep the day care open. It was bad enough the management was up in arms because of Lili’s escapades; the last thing Tom needed was having Megan on his back.
Maybe he hadn’t made himself clear the last time he’d told his father he wasn’t cut out for the marriage game, and even less for fatherhood. If he hadn’t already been convinced that he was a contented bachelor, Tom had become a true believer when he’d commissioned Lucas, his fraternity brother, to write “Sullivan’s Rules.” The article had convinced Tom he was right: a strong woman was to be avoided at all costs.
He thought of Sullivan’s Rule number five, which called for a woman to “show her man how much she likes and appreciates him.” It was right on the mark.
He gazed after Lili. Number six, on second thought, wasn’t bad, either. He would have been happy with a woman who was “supportive, fun-loving, easygoing, and generous in her praise of a man’s achievements.” Just not today.
He wasn’t the only one uninterested in fatherhood, he told himself righteously. Not one of Sullivan’s Rules mentioned children.
Tom cautiously eyed the way Lili and the ice cream vendor were deep in conversation. Injured or not, his body still stirred at the sight of Lili’s shapely bare legs. The hem of her short dress rose even higher as she gestured to the vendor, leaning over the counter in the side of his truck.
It would have taken a man of iron not to admire Lili’s exquisite knees and the glimpse of golden thighs.
Thank God, Tom thought as he felt his body stir. His vital parts were still working.
On the other hand, something had to be wrong for him to be reacting this way. Now that he knew Lili was leading the crusade to keep the center open, how could he possibly be lusting after her? And then there was his policy of no fraternizing with members of his staff.
If he was suffering a severe case of spring fever, he’d have to do something to take his mind off Lili.
He also had to do something fast to get rid of her before his dad made it all the way across the playing field. But parts of Tom still hurt too much to hurry, and a quick mental calculation told him he would never make it to the ice cream truck and back before his father arrived. Besides, how could he reject the woman’s efforts to help him?
Another problem was the way she’d taken to calling him Tom instead of her usual “Mr. Eldridge” in that intriguing accent. Intriguing enough to send his thoughts down paths he’d deliberately managed to avoid until now.
He turned back to check on his father’s progress, but Homer had stopped to admire a baby. Tom noticed Paulette streaking after another soccer ball and desperately looked around for some shrub where he could hide.
Before he could take refuge, Lili came hurrying up to him. “Now,” she said briskly as she glanced around the grassy area, “all we need to do is find a place for you to lie down.”
Lying down sounded like a good idea, Tom thought wryly as he put his weight on both legs. The problem was that he would be in plain sight for his father to spot him. The bigger problem was the brown paper bag Lili carried.
“Why?” he asked warily, even though he admitted that under difference circumstances, lying down with Lili might have been an idea worth considering.
“So that I can help you!”
To his dismay, she was gazing quizzically at his shorts.
“Help me?” Tom eyed the leaking brown bag. “If that’s what I think it is, I have to tell you I’m not in the mood for ice cream just now. Thanks, anyway.”
“No.” Lili smiled at what she obviously thought was his attempt at a joke.
If she only knew he wasn’t trying to be funny.
“When I told the ice cream vendor what had happened, he was kind enough to give me some ice cubes to ease your pain. I didn’t have any way to carry them, so he gave me this bag. Now, come with me,” she added. “As soon as we can find a place away from the ball field, I will apply the ice to your injury.”
Tom shivered at the thought of having Lili anywhere near his aching groin.
He tried putting his weight on his right foot. A sharp pain shot down his legs. “I’m sure I’ll be fine without the ice. Just give me another minute.”
“You are sure?” Lili eyed him dubiously. “Ice always helps Paulette when she scrapes her knee.”
“If it were my knee, Lili, I’d let you apply the ice cubes,” Tom said fervently. “As it is…” He hesitated at her blush. There was no way he could come up with a creative way to describe his injury without embarrassing them both.
It was time to compromise.
He glanced around the surrounding area. Letting Lili help him hide from his father sounded like a good idea, but that was as far as he was willing to go. Unfortunately, the only place to lie down, short of staggering back to his car, appeared to be on the other side of a grassy knoll a few yards away. He took a deep breath.
“Toss the ice cubes and follow me.”
To his dismay, after Lili tossed the bag of ice cubes behind a tree, she hurried to put her arm around his waist as he slowly made his way up and over the small embankment. He tried leaning away from