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  Liz stepped closer to her and put a hand on her arm. “Are you sure you’re okay, love?”

  Shar nodded, trying to force a smile, but she could barely think straight. She must look a mess. Patting at her hair, she murmured, “Nothing a hot shower and my own clothes won’t fix.”

  Liz’s eyes were too perceptive. “Lily let slip that you might … fancy Mike Kohler.”

  Fancy Mike? She more than fancied him. She thought she was falling in love with him. No, that wasn’t right. She was a strong, independent woman, and he had his family and that blonde Meredith all over him.

  “Are you sure you want to leave so fast?” Liz softly asked when Shar didn’t reply.

  “Yes,” Shar said quickly. “I need to get home. My restaurant. My employees need me.”

  Sutton walked back toward them, pocketing his phone. “The driver is pulling up to the door now. We’ll just wait with you so I can introduce you and make sure you’re comfortable.”

  Tears stung her eyes again. These people were a class act. “Thank you,” she managed to get out. “I’m so grateful I met you.”

  They both nodded graciously. Liz said nothing more about her “fancying” Mike, and Shar was grateful. The driver, a small, grinning man, hurried into the open waiting area of the hospital, shook her hand, bid Sutton and Liz goodbye, and waited for her to say her farewells.

  “Thanks again,” Shar said, shaking Sutton’s firm hand.

  He nodded. “Let us know if there’s anything else you need.”

  “Thanks.” She was saying it too much, but she meant it. These two had rescued her. She could’ve gotten ahold of Ally or Kim, and they would’ve helped her, but she would’ve been waiting a while.

  Liz gave her another hug. “Wonderful to have met you.”

  “You too.” She forced another smile, whispered, “Bye,” and followed the driver out the sliding glass doors to a stretched Escalade limousine that she suspected was bulletproof. Sinking into the soft seat, she closed her eyes and let the tears leak out. Had Mike really kissed that Meredith back and said, “Now that’s a way to wake a man up?” Oh, she could hardly stand to remember it. Even though it felt like she’d been hit by a sledgehammer, her brain still seemed able to remember.

  She let her mind wander back farther. Mike using her as a bench press. Mike kissing her like she was the one for him. Mike grinning at her. A sigh escaped, and luckily, the driver let her have some privacy. She was going home, back to her restaurant. That had to be her focus. She just wished the tears would stop leaking out.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Mike was in a fog. He wanted to fight out of it and hold Shar close. She’d promised she’d stay close. He heard voices and movement and fought to rise out of the fog. Suddenly, lips pressed against his. Shar. He smiled against her mouth and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her through the haze. It was a subpar kiss for Shar, but she was probably as exhausted and out of it as he was. All that mattered right now was she was here.

  When she pulled back, he heard people laughing, and he tried to joke away the lackluster kiss with, “Now that’s a way to wake a man up.” Their next kiss would be dynamite again. They were simply both worn out.

  “Welcome back to the land of the living, son.”

  Mike finally opened his eyes. Everything was a bit blurry through the grogginess of the insanity of last night and the anesthesia, but his family was here. He could hardly wait for them to meet Shar. Where was she? She had to be close. Hadn’t she just kissed him? His gaze swiveled around the well-loved faces until they landed on … “Meredith?”

  She grinned at him, biting at her lip. “Hi, Mike.”

  “Wh-what are you doing here?”

  Her face flushed red, and his dad said, “Now son, that’s no way to greet the woman you just kissed.”

  “I just … kissed?” Horror traced through him. His head was cloudy for sure if he’d kissed Meredith and imagined she was Shar. Shar’s kisses beat Meredith’s a thousand times over. “Where’s Shar?”

  “Who’s Shar?” his mom asked.

  “She’s my …” Could he really claim she was his girlfriend? They’d only known each other a few days, but he felt as if they were together. And if it got Meredith to back off, he definitely thought it was worth claiming he was with Shar, even if he hadn’t had a chance to clarify that with her. Where was she? “My girlfriend,” he said firmly.

  “Oh?” His mom looked confused, but then she smiled. “Well, then, we can’t wait to meet her.”

  His sister Eliza glared at him. “Meredith came all this way to see you, you just kissed her, and now you’re claiming to be dating some Shar chick?”

  Mike had no clue why Meredith was even here. His father had taught him to be kind, but this was ridiculous. “Meredith and I broke up a long time ago,” Mike said as kindly as he could. “Shar is the woman I want to be with.”

  Meredith’s face crumpled, and she gave a little overwrought cry, spun, and ran from the room. Eliza gave him a death-glare and followed her friend.

  As soon as they were gone, Mike turned to his dad. “Why on earth would you bring her with you?”

  “Well, son, she’s been coming to services every Sunday and for youth activities. She and Eliza have become close friends. She was with Liza last night when we got word about you being attacked by some stalker …” He pushed a hand over his balding pate.

  “And that means you’d fly her across the nation to see me in the hospital?”

  “Mike, you’re being a jerk,” his youngest sister Kerri piped up. “Meredith’s a sweetie. We all love her.”

  “Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t. I haven’t dated her in years, and I am never going to date her again. Can someone please find Shar?” Panic rose in him as he ached to have Shar close again. She’d said she wouldn’t leave. Where was she?

  Jacey gave a dramatic sigh. “I’ll go try and find this Shar. What does she look like?”

  “The most beautiful angel you can imagine.”

  “Oh, my goodness, it’s getting deep,” Jacey flung at him.

  Mike chuckled. “Have you seen pictures of my teammate Preston Steele’s wife, Ally?”

  Jacey nodded. “I’ve seen her at your games.”

  “Shar’s her twin sister.”

  “Okay.” Jacey patted his leg. “Glad you’re still in one piece, but I guess we’re not going to talk about how you had a stalker for years and never told us.” With that, she flitted from the room.

  Mike looked at his parents’ concerned faces. “I didn’t want you to worry,” he said lamely.

  “All I care about is that you’re safe,” his mom said.

  “Thanks, Mom.” Leave it to her to forgive him instantly.

  She bent down and hugged him, kissing his cheek. “A bath wouldn’t be out of line, my love.”

  Oh, great. Had he driven Shar away because he was stinky? With the combination of smoke, hospital, and sweat, he probably smelled more disgusting than the locker room. No wonder she ran.

  His parents had a lot of questions about the stalker, the attack, and Shar. Even though the despair of wanting Shar by his side was overwhelming, he felt himself drifting off again from the aftereffects of the anesthesia and losing so much blood. He jerked awake when Sutton and Liz Smith walked into the room.

  “Cheers,” Sutton greeted his parents. They all talked and chatted for a while. Mike fought to stay awake. He noticed Eliza and Meredith hadn’t reappeared, but Jacey slunk back into the room sans Shar. What was going on?

  Mike gestured her closer. “You didn’t see her?”

  “Dude, I staked out the entire hospital. I even saw one guy’s gown flapping open, and got a glimpse of his nasty, and I might add hairy, rear.” She pretended a shudder. “I did not see your Ally Steele look-alike. Sorry, bro.”

  “Thanks for trying,” Mike said. He deflated into the pillows, semi-listening to the conversations going on around him. He didn’t even have a cell phone to call her on, and her cell w
as still in South Carolina. Maybe she was so exhausted from no sleep last night that she’d found a bed to lay down on. She’d be coming back to him. She had to.

  Liz Smith sidled up closer to him. “How are you feeling, Mike?”

  “Okay.” He looked into her blue, sincere gaze. Ten more seconds of conversation felt like running a marathon, especially without Shar here by his side. “Not really okay. There was a woman with me—”

  “Shar Heathrow,” she supplied.

  “Yes. I thought she’d stay. Do you know?” He nodded. Even though he was bleary, he could see the light in her blue eyes. “You do know. Where is she?”

  Liz gave him a compassionate smile. “She wanted to go home, so we sent her on our jet.”

  She wanted to go home? Without him? Worse, without even telling him goodbye and making plans for their future? He could hardly compute it. The Shar he knew and loved was feisty, strong, and independent, but she wouldn’t just leave him, would she?

  “I’m sorry, Mike.”

  Mike tried to drum up a smile, but everything was maddening and overwhelming him. Even listening to the conversations swirling around him made him want to shut down. Liz must’ve noticed, because she said, “Maybe we should take this party down to the cafeteria and let Mike rest for a bit.”

  Mike mouthed thank you to her, even though he was frustrated that she and Sutton would send Shar off on their jet. Yet, if that’s what she wanted ... His mom fussed over him some more, but eventually, they all filtered out. Mike thought he’d be happy to be alone, that maybe he could drift off to sleep and forget the nightmare of Shar disappearing. But, no matter how tired he was, sleep didn’t come, and all he had were his thoughts. His thoughts were only saying one thing. He’d fallen in love with Shar Heathrow, and she’d ditched him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Mike’s leg healed a lot faster than his heart. The doctor said he couldn’t practice or play for four to six weeks. He did as much of the workouts as he could and worked really hard at physical therapy, determined to make it four. Football was all he had right now, so he made getting back to full activity his life. Gunner and Lily got released and reassigned, and were heading to the south border of Mexico to fight trafficking. They said goodbye, but neither of them asked about Shar, which he found really odd and disturbing. He couldn’t put her from his mind, but everyone else acted like there’d been nothing between them. Why?

  He fought with himself almost daily, wanting to charter a quick flight out to Hilton Head and demand to know what happened, why she left when she said she’d stay. How she could be kissing and loving him one minute, then up and disappearing from his life the next. Yet, he didn’t want to be the guy who couldn’t hear no, who couldn’t take a hint. He’d had many women pursue him, especially as an NFL player, who couldn’t take a no. He hated the thought that Shar was telling him no by her distance and silence, but he tried to respect it.

  The Patriots were playing the Titans on the Thursday evening game, and Mike was walking around on the field an hour before the game as other players were filtering in to warm up, and die-hard fans were finding their spots. But most of the stadium was still empty. On the far side of the field, he spotted the gorgeous face and dark curly hair that he would know anywhere. Without letting himself second-guess it, he stumbled through players until he reached her on the sidelines. Had she come for Preston and Ally? Who cared? She’d come.

  “Shar,” but the name died on his lips. It wasn’t Shar. This person was rounder and not as tall.

  Ally Steele flipped around and grinned. “Mike. How are you?” She gave him a brief hug. “Where have you been? Why haven’t I heard your name dripping off my sister’s lips?”

  “I’d love to know that same thing,” Mike said.

  Other players were turning to look, but he didn’t care. If Ally had any insight for him, he’d take it and praise her forever.

  “Well, she won’t talk to me about it. She claimed you didn’t want to date her. She saw you with an old girlfriend, and that was it. Then, she shut down. Like a vault. She won’t even come to the Patriots’ games, and that’s her favorite diversion on the planet.”

  Preston came jogging up, padded up and ready to play. He hugged his tiny wife close, and Mike was jealous of their relationship and the fact that Preston was healthy and able to play.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he greeted her before focusing on Mike. “How’s it going, Mike? When are you back?”

  “We’re hoping just a couple more weeks. Denver game.”

  “Awesome.” Preston held out his fist to pound, and then went back to warming up.

  Mike’s mind was spinning. Old girlfriend? What old girlfriend? “Meredith,” he suddenly said.

  Ally turned to him. “What?”

  “Did she see me with Meredith at the hospital? I still don’t know why she presumed to come with my family and act like we were going to get back together.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but are you going to make this right with my sister or not?” Ally glared up at him with all the defiance and spice of a three-hundred-pound linebacker. Even though she was small, she was tough and had her massive, devoted husband to back up her sassy attitude. Mike thought she was great.

  “I don’t know. She just ditched me, Ally.”

  “Well, you listen here, Mike Kohler. My sister is the most amazing person on this planet, and if you aren’t worthy of her, then you just stay here in Atlanta and whine about her ditching you. If you’re half the man I think you are, get your butt to Hilton Head and work this out. You’ll regret it for the rest of your life if you don’t.”

  Mike didn’t know how to answer her. She had no clue how many times he’d wanted to “get his butt to Hilton Head and work it out”. But wasn’t a relationship a two-way street? Why had Shar made no effort to contact him, to explain why she left? If she didn’t want him, he wasn’t going to push himself on her.

  “Good to see you, Ally,” he muttered and turned to go.

  “Good to see you too, you lily-livered chicken,” Ally shot at him.

  Mike smiled, but he didn’t stop. He didn’t want to battle with Ally. He wanted to love Ally’s twin sister, but it stung that she didn’t seem to care about him at all.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Shar spent a miserable end of September and the first of October. She worked nonstop, which usually helped, but the restaurant wasn’t as busy in the off-season. She didn’t want to let any of her assistant chefs go, so she felt like she was just over their shoulders all the time. Ally constantly bugged her to come to Atlanta for a game, but she couldn’t risk seeing Mike. If she saw him with Meredith again, she would have an implosion.

  It was a gorgeous late Friday afternoon in October, with a light breeze but still a warm seventy-five on the island. She’d taken a break to walk on the beach as the lunch crowd was gone, and they were waiting for the dinner crowd to come.

  Walking back up the path toward her restaurant, she eased onto the wooden planks and heard a voice from the side of her. “I need to speak to the owner. Alone.”

  Shar whirled, and there he was. Mike Kohler. He was still the superstar of her every dream, but it was even more encompassing now that she knew how amazing he was inside as well as out. She gasped and put a hand over her mouth. Some patrons arriving for an early dinner were gaping at him, probably wondering what was going on. Kelly rushed out of the kitchen and screamed, “Yes! He finally grew a brain and came. Yes!”

  Mike smiled at the young girl but focused back on Shar. “I want to talk to you. Out back. In the alley.”

  Shar arched an eyebrow. “Sounds a little sketchy, Mr. Kohler.” Her voice trembled, but she tried to act tough. “I don’t have any knives on me, but you sure you’re brave enough to go out there alone with me?”

  Mike walked up to her, and she felt overwhelmed by his strong presence. “I’m willing to take the risk. Are you?”

  She didn’t know. Could she risk her heart to him
again? After she’d gotten home that fateful day and slept for eighteen hours, she woke up and realized she’d been cruising along one level above zombie. And maybe, she shouldn’t have run out. She’d replayed that scene in the hospital, over and over again. Meredith kissing him, and him returning it. Could there be another explanation? It didn’t seem likely, especially when over a month had passed, and the jerk never came for her. He was the famous, amazing superstar, and she wasn’t going to humble herself and chase him, especially after being accused of being his stalker once.

  He tilted his head toward the rear of the restaurant.

  “Go, Shar!” Kelly yelled.

  Shar rolled her eyes, but she turned on her heel and strode off the wood flooring and around the back of the restaurant. She could hear Mike walking behind her, but she didn’t so much as glance over her shoulder. Her heart was thumping wildly, and she wondered what he had to say. Would it change anything between them?

  When she was in the alley, she rounded on him. “I’m here. What do you want to say?”

  He towered over her, but even though she didn’t know him as well as she’d planned on knowing him, she knew she was physically safe with him, but probably not emotionally.

  “First of all,” he started, “you promised you wouldn’t leave my hospital room, and you did. Why?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I had to use the restroom. If you must know.”

  “Why didn’t you come back?”

  She swallowed down the awful memory and spit out, “I figured you didn’t need me when you had Meredith kissing you, and giving you, how did you say it? ‘What a man needed to wake up to?’”

  “I was so out of it I’m not sure exactly what I said.” His dark eyes were soft and regretful. He took a step closer. “Shar, I thought I was kissing you.”

  She took in a deep breath. “Well, that’s all kinds of wrong. I’m sure I don’t kiss at all like a fake blonde.”