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She declined Ron's request to come with him to the locker room. Instead, she and Viktor stayed in the skybox and watched the short postgame interviews that had recently been added to the Monday night game. Dan managed to be both modest and jubilant, heaping praise on his players. His words came to her in snatches.
"Great heads-up play by the defense… a lot of quarterbacks fancier than Jim Biederot, but no one's got more heart… We got burned on the blitz a couple of times, but we came right back…" He concluded the interview by saying, "You're not going to find a better ball club than the Giants. We're just glad we were ready for them."
Al Michaels congratulated Dan on the win, then moved to Bobby Tom, who had pulled his Stetson over his matted hair. "Bobby Tom, you were open all night. How do you account for that?"
Bobby Tom gave the camera his best Lone Star grin. "We worked hard this week. And, Al, I can't say enough good things about the way Jim threw the ball tonight…"
After several more questions, Michaels turned to Webster Greer. "What do you think made the difference for the Stars this week, Webster?"
Webster tugged on the towel that he'd hung around his neck, which was still glistening with sweat. "We've been a good ball club all season, but we've been tight. Miss Somerville talked to all of us before the game and helped us relax a little. We went out there and forced the Giants to play our game. It made a difference."
Al Michaels hadn't earned his reputation as one of the best sportscasters in the business by letting a tidbit like that slip by him. "Exactly what did she tell the team?"
Greer smiled and rubbed the towel over the back of his neck. "Nothing much. A couple of jokes. She's a nice lady."
Phoebe's cheeks flushed. She felt as if she'd been handed a valentine.
It was nearly two in the morning before the plane left Newark for O'Hare. Even though the victory was only a few hours old, Ron was already thinking about next week.
"We picked up momentum tonight," he said as the plane reached its cruising altitude and the seat belt light went off. "I hope we don't lose it."
"Try to relax and enjoy the victory. They're not worried." She tilted her head toward the back of the plane, where the raucous noise of the players celebrating could be clearly heard.
"I suppose you're right."
Three rows ahead of her, she heard Dan laugh at something Tully had said. So far, she'd managed to avoid him, but she hadn't forgotten his threat. She wanted to believe that he understood what she'd been trying to do before the game, but somehow she doubted that he'd be as gracious as Webster.
Almost as if he were reading her thoughts, he turned his head and scowled at her. She watched with alarm as he began to unfasten his seat belt. Jumping quickly to her feet, she slipped past Ron and escaped to the back of the plane, where the battered players greeted her boisterously. She visited with all of them, but when Darnell asked her to get Pooh, she declined. She was already living in the danger zone, and she saw no need to dig in any deeper.
Ron was asleep by the time she returned to the first-class cabin. He barely stirred when she slid past him into her seat. As soon as she was settled, she leaned against the window and shut her eyes, only to discover that all the diet soda she'd consumed had caught up with her. Easing back out into the aisle, she walked hastily past Dan's first row seat and slipped into the lavatory.
She hated using airplane toilets. She was always afraid the plane would choose the exact moment she was most defenseless to crash, and she'd spend her final seconds of life spiraling toward earth with her bottom bare to the world. As a result, she hurried through, washed her hands, and was just opening the bolt on the door when it flew out of her grasp. Before she could react, Dan squeezed in next to her and shot the bolt back into its locked position.
"What do you think you're doing!"
His massive body pressed her up against the washbowl. "I'm giving us a little privacy so we can talk."
The tiny cubicle was much too cramped for both of them. One of his knees wedged between her thighs and her breasts flattened against his chest. It was hard for her to catch her breath.
"I don't want to talk to you now. It's obvious you're going to lose your temper, and I don't happen to feel like being yelled at."
Anger crackled from him. "Maybe you should have thought of that before you stormed into my locker room tonight."
"I didn't storm in!"
"You came this close to sabotaging a whole season's work!" His eyes narrowed into the same fierce slits that had found the weakness in the most awesome defensive lines in professional football. "I want my players focused before the game, not distracted from the jobs they have to do with a lot of idiotic mumbo jumbo. If those men ever needed proof that you don't understand this game, they got it tonight. You don't have any idea what they're facing when they run onto the field. It's serious business out there, not some kind of joke."
She struggled to squeeze past him, but she didn't have a prayer. His body pressed harder against hers, and his voice was low and furious.
"I don't ever want you doing what you did tonight, you hear me? You stay out of the locker room before the game. You're just lucky they're disciplined enough that your little exhibition didn't distract mem so much it cost us a win!"
She stared at him. "You don't have a clue why I was there, do you? You have no idea what I was trying to accomplish. My God, you really do think I'm some brainless bimbo."
"After listening to your asinine theories about naked football players, I'm not going to argue with you there."
She'd never thought of herself as a short-tempered person, but now her fist shot up from her side, and she punched him in the ribs as hard as she could.
He gave a soft "oof" and stared at her incredulously. She stared back, unable to believe what had just happened. Even though she was too close to have put any real force behind the blow, she had still struck another human being, something she had never done in her life. This man was turning her inside out, and the fact that she had let herself be pushed so far made her even angrier. A red mist swirled before her eyes.
