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.Even when he was a teenager,he’d never been that careless.What really galled him was the fact that he hadn’t even thought about ituntil after she’d left.It was as if the minute he’d set eyes on her, his brain had gone into hibernation, andlust had taken over.Maybe he’d taken one too many blows to the head because he sure as hell felt like he was losing his mind.If it had been any groupie other than Rosebud, he would never have let her into his room.The first timehe’d had an excuse since he’d been half-drunk, but this time there weren’t any excuses.He’d wanted her,and he’d taken her; it had been as simple as that.He couldn’t even figure out what her appeal was.One of the perks of being an athlete was picking andchoosing, and he’d always chosen the youngest and the most beautiful women.Despite what she’d said,she was at least twenty-eight, and he had no interest in women that old.He liked them fresh and dewy,with high, full breasts, pouty mouths, and the smell of newness about them.Rosebud smelled like old-fashioned vanilla.Then there were those green eyes of hers.Even when she waslying, she’d looked at him dead on.He wasn’t used to that.He liked flirty, fluttery eyes on women, butRosebud had no-nonsense eyes, which was ironic considering the fact that nothing about her was honest.He brooded all the way back to Chicago and kept at it right on into the next week.The fact that he washeld out from practice made him even more bad-tempered than usual, and it wasn’t until Friday that hisrigid self-discipline finally kicked in, and he blocked out everything except the Denver Broncos.The Stars were playing in the semifinals for the AFC Championship, and despite his sore shoulder, hemanaged to perform.Injuries, however, hampered their defense, and they weren’t able to stop theBroncos’ passing attack.Denver won, twenty-two to eighteen.Cal Bonner’s fifteenth season in the NFL came to an end.* * *Marie, the secretary Jane shared with two other members of Newberry’s Physics Department, held outseveral pink message slips as Jane walked into the office.“Dr.Ngyuen at Fermi called; he needs to speakwith you before four o’clock, and Dr.Davenport has scheduled a departmental meeting for Wednesday.”“Thanks, Marie.”Despite the secretary’s sour face, Jane could barely resist giving her a hug.She wanted to dance, sing,jitterbug on the ceiling, then race through the corridors of Stramingler Hall and tell all her colleagues thatshe was pregnant.“I need your DOE reports by five.”“You’ll have them,” Jane replied.The temptation to share the news was nearly irresistible, but she was onlya month along, Marie was a judgmental sourpuss, and it was too early to tell anyone.One person knew, however, and as Jane collected her mail and walked into her office, a nagging worryburrowed through her happiness.Two nights ago Jodie had dropped by the house and spotted the books onpregnancy that Jane had unthinkingly left stacked on the coffee table.Jane could hardly hide her conditionfrom Jodie forever, and she didn’t try to deny it, but she was uneasy about trusting someone so self-centered to keep quiet regarding the circumstances surrounding her child’s conception.Although Jodie had promised that she’d carry Jane’s secret to the grave, Jane didn’t have quite that muchfaith in her integrity.Still, she had seemed genuinely happy and sincere in her desire to keep the secret,so, as Jane closed herself in her office and flipped on her computer, she decided not to waste any moreenergy worrying about it.She logged on to the electronic preprint library at Los Alamos to see what new papers on string theory andduality had been posted since yesterday.It was an automatic act, the same one performed daily by everytop-level physicist in the world.The general public opened a newspaper first thing in the morning.Physicists connected with the library at Los Alamos.But this morning, instead of concentrating on the list of new papers, she found herself thinking about CalBonner.According to Jodie, he was spending most of February traveling around the country fulfilling hiscommercial endorsement obligations before he left for North Carolina in early March.At least she wouldn’thave to worry about bumping into him at the corner grocery store.The knowledge should have been comforting, but she couldn’t quite shake off her uneasiness.Shedeterminedly turned her attention back to her computer screen, but the words wouldn’t come into focus.Instead, she found herself envisioning the nursery she wanted to decorate.She’d already decided it would be yellow, and she would paint a rainbow running up the walls and acrossthe ceiling.Her mouth curved in a dreamy smile.This precious child of hers was going to grow upsurrounded by everything beautiful.Jodie was pissed.The guys had promised her a night with Kevin Tucker if she came up with the Bomber’sbirthday present, but it was the end of February, more than three months later, and they still hadn’tdelivered.Watching Kevin flirt with one of her girlfriends didn’t sweeten her mood.Melvin Thompson had rented Zebras for a party, and all the players who were still in town were there.Although Jodie was officially working, she’d been sipping from everybody’s drinks all night so she wasfinally ready to confront Junior Duncan when she found him in the back room shooting pool with GermaineClark shortly after midnight.“I need to talk to you, Junior.”“Later, Jodie.Can’t you see me and Germaine have a game going?”She wanted to pull the cue right out of his hands and bash him over the head with it, but she wasn’t quitethat drunk.“You guys made me a promise, but I still don’t have number twelve hanging anywhere near mycloset.You might have forgot about Kevin, but I sure haven’t.”“I told you we’re working on it.” He aimed for the center pocket and missed.“Shit.”“That’s what you’ve been saying for three months, and I’m not buying it anymore.Every time I try to talkto him, he looks at me like I’m invisible.”Junior stepped aside so Germaine could take his turn, and she was happy to see that he looked a littleuncomfortable.“The thing of it is, Jodie, Kevin’s been givin’ us a few problems.”“Are you sayin’ he doesn’t want to sleep with me?”“It’s not that.It’s just that he’s been seeing a couple other women, and it’s gotten sort of complicated.Tellyou what? How ’bout I fix you up with Roy Rawlins and Matt Truate?”“Get real.If I’d wanted those two benchwarmers, I could have screwed them months ago.” She crossed herarms.“We had a deal.If I found you a hooker for the Bomber’s birthday present, I got a night with Kevin.Ilived up to my part of the bargain.”“Not exactly
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