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"An honest acceptance or one of those female things where a woman tells a man she forgives him for something, but then spends all her spare time thinking up ways to make him feel guilty?"

"Does Valerie do that?"

"Honey, every woman I've been close to has done that."

She tried to slip back into her old role. "Life's tough when you're irresistible to the opposite sex."

"Spoken by someone who knows."

When she attempted to frame a retort, nothing came out, and she realized that she didn't have any resources left to play the part she had staked out for herself. "Those sandwiches must be just about done by now."

He went back to the stove, where he checked the bottoms of the sandwiches with a spatula, then lifted them out of the skillet. After neatly halving them, he returned to the table with two brown pottery plates and sat in one of the captain's chairs.

For several minutes they ate in silence. Finally, he broke it. "Don't you want to talk to me about the game today?"

"Not really."

"Aren't you going to second-guess me on that double reverse? The sportswriters are going to rake me over the coals for that one."

"What's a double reverse?"

He grinned. "I'm beginning to see that there are some definite advantages to working for you."

"You mean because I don't have any secret desire to coach the team myself?"

He nodded and bit into his sandwich.

"I'd never do that. Although I do think you might consider opening up the offense more and starting Bryzski instead of Reynolds."

He stared at her, and she smiled. "Some of Bert's cronies got to me in the skybox."

He smiled back. "The reporters were upset that you didn't show up at the postgame press conference. People are curious about you."

"They'll just have to stay that way. I've seen a few of those postgame interviews. A person would actually have to know something about football to answer the questions."

"You'll have to talk to the press sooner or later. Ronald can help you through it."

She remembered that Dan still thought she and the general manager were personally involved. "I wish you wouldn't be so negative about him. He's doing a good job, and I certainly couldn't function without him."

"Is that so?"

"He's a wonderful person."

He regarded her intently as he picked up a paper napkin and rubbed it over his mouth. "He must be. A woman like you has a lot to choose from."

She shrugged and listlessly picked at her sandwich.

"Damn. You're sitting there looking like a mule that's been kicked one too many times."

"Gee, thanks."

He balled his napkin and tossed it aside. "I can't stand to think that I did this to you. Where are your guts, Phoebe? Where's the woman who maneuvered me into taking Ronald back as GM?"

She stiffened. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Like hell you don't. You conned me. It took me a couple of days to figure out your neat little scam. You and Ronald set me up. He actually had me convinced the two of you were lovers."

She was relieved to see that he seemed annoyed rather than angry, but she picked her words carefully. "I don't know why that's so hard to believe. He's a very attractive man."

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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