Love on the Line

Blaine watched as his friend and teammate Tucker Jackson dropped to one knee, but his eyes weren’t on the happy couple. Instead, they were drawn to the stunning brunette who stood behind them holding the mic out for the proposal to be heard while trying her best to blend into the background so as not to be a distraction. As if that was possible for her. With her dark velvet locks pulled up on top of her head, the slender curve of her neck was even more pronounced. Her skin glowed like fresh cream, and his eyes followed the lines of her neck to her slim shoulders before he shook his head to clear it. 

He wondered how her skin might feel under his fingertips, but he had no business thinking about Kenzi like that. Not with Heidi, or was it Jennifer, he was seeing this week? It didn’t matter. While Kenzi wasn’t like the women he usually dated, she was too good for him. Besides, she deserved a man who could give her a future like Tucker was doing for Shelby, and that certainly wasn’t him. He shouldn’t even be thinking about settling down. Not with his past.

Still, since the day he’d met Kenzi, she’d made appearances in his mind. Not every day but often enough that he’d memorized the slight tilt of her upper lip, the way her eyes sparkled when she smiled. Enough to know that he thought of her more often than he should.

Cheering erupted around him, and he realized Shelby had said yes. She held her hand up for the crowd to see, and a tightness seized his heart. He wanted that - what Tucker had. He wanted a beautiful woman who would smile at him the way Shelby was smiling at Tucker now. Someone who would look at him with pride and admiration. A woman he could pamper and love and protect - but there was the rub. He wasn’t good at protecting. He was great at pretending he was. Sometimes he even convinced himself he could do it. He was, after all, older now and wiser.

Maybe. But what if he failed again?

He knew he shouldn’t - it was wrong, it was dangerous, it would never work - but as if they had a mind of their own, his feet pushed into the floor and he stood, clapping with those around him. Then he moved. Not towards the door where he should have been moving. Of course not to where he should be going. Fresh air. That’s what he really needed. That would clear his head and push this stupid idea away, but then why were his feet moving away from the door? Away from the door and toward Kenzi. Turn back, he thought. But his feet did not seem to be getting the same message his brain was sending. Before he knew it, he stood before her.

“Hey, Blaine, I’m so glad you could come tonight.” Her eyes sparkled like emeralds held under a light, and the sincerity of her smile only deepened her beauty. Oh man, was he in trouble. 

“Thanks. You did an amazing job with the place.” He’d volunteered a few times since the Christmas party last year, but he was still in awe of how many improvements Kenzi had managed to do to the bland building in such a short time. 

Her gaze scanned around the room, and he could see the pride on her face. “Thanks. There was more that I wanted to do, but we couldn’t keep using the church forever. The kids need this space.” Her eyes came back to his, and the corners or her mouth lifted in another smile - one that made his heart do funny things inside his chest. “I hear you’ll be volunteering around here more often.” 

“I will. Each of us will be hosting a day a month, but I figured I would set an example and do more than that. My hope is that more of the players will follow. You and Shelby have certainly done something amazing here.”

She shook her head, sending the dark tendrils that framed her face bouncing. How he wanted to touch those tendrils, to see if they felt as soft as they looked. “Shelby is the one who has done amazing work. I simply did what she needed. Working at the center was never my dream, but I’m glad I was able to help her fulfill hers.”

“And decorating? Is that your dream?” Blaine had been following the scuttlebutt he could gather from Shelby and Tucker, and he knew that Kenzi was finishing her certificate in interior design.

Her lips pursed in an adorable position as her head tilted slightly. “I think so. I’m really enjoying school and doing this was so much fun.”

“Do you think you’d be open to doing a cabin?” He broke out in a sweat. He could feel it along his hairline. What was he doing? Inviting her into that house - even though it didn’t feel like his house -  was dangerous, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. There was something about Kenzi that made him want to put his guard down and figure himself out so he could have nice things. One side of him knew it was impossible to ever not feel this heavy burden of guilt; that was the cold sweat part. The other half wanted more than anything to try and be better; that was the mouth part.

Her head cocked a little farther to the right as her eyes narrowed at him. “Are you looking for a designer, Blaine Hollis?”

His name sounded like honey from her lips, and he forced himself to remain aloof even though the way she looked into his eyes like that terrified him. Could she see his demons? “Maybe. If you’re up to it, but it’s probably a lost cause, I don’t know.” He stumbled, trying to backtrack and maneuver away from his betraying mouth. “I’ve inherited a lakeside cabin, but I don’t know what to do with it. I’m probably just going to sell it.” He should have sold it already with all the ghosts it held, all the memories, but some of them were good memories. “I’ve looked at a few designers but haven’t found any I liked and trusted. Until now.”

As if gauging his sincerity, her eyes searched his face. “I’d be happy to come take a look, but it would be my first real job. I mean this was a job, but,” she shrugged, “it’s not the same as redecorating a house or cabin. I’d love to take a look and see if it’s something I could do. I’ve been looking for things to add to my portfolio. Are you sure you want me?”

Was he sure he wanted her? If she only knew how loaded her words were. He wanted her more than he’d wanted a woman in a long time. “Yeah,” he paused, feeling a lightness he hadn’t felt since the last good day at the lake house. “I think I’m sure.”

She walked over to a small table and picked up a handbag before returning to him. His eyes followed her brightly painted nails as she flicked the clasp open and reached inside. A moment later, they reappeared with a pink business card and tilted towards him. “Here. Shelby got me some business cards as a graduation present. I don’t know how she did pink, but I love it. It’s so me. Anyway, my number’s on here. Call me tomorrow and we’ll set up a time to check it out, so I can see what I can do.”

He took the pink business card from her and bit the inside of his lip. She couldn’t do just a normal white business card like everyone else. Nope, she had to be different.  The pink with gold sparkly letters fit her completely.

Blaine watched her walk away and then slipped the card into his pocket. He’d either just made the smartest move of his life or the dumbest. He just wasn’t sure which.

* * *

Kenzi 

“Ooh, let me see.” Kenzi squealed as she lifted Shelby’s hand to critique the ring. She’d seen it earlier, of course, when Tucker had showed it to her before the proposal in order to make sure Shelby would like it, but diamonds always looked better on hands than in boxes - no matter how beautiful the velvet wrapping was.  “It’s perfect, Shelby. It’s so you.”

Shelby’s eyes dropped to the ring and pure rays of happiness shone from her gaze. “I know, right? It’s just what I would have picked if I’d been asked. Did you help him pick it?”

Kenzi chuckled and shook her head. “Nope. He showed it to me after he had it just for reassurance you would love it, but picking it was all him.”

Shelby’s gaze wandered to her fiancé who was currently chatting and laughing with several other members of the team including Blaine Hollis and Mason Dixon. “I never thought I would find someone who knew me so well, and I certainly never expected him to be a football player.”

“Yeah, I would never have believed it if someone had told me that either.” Kenzi laughed and sat down in the chair next to her. Shelby had barely even known what football was before she met Tucker Jackson, much less how to play it, so it was completely ironic she was now engaged to a football player. 

Shelby turned her gaze to Kenzi, a mischievous smile on her lips. “Now, we just need to find someone for you.” 

Kenzi held up her hands. “No, thanks, I’m good right now. Though Blaine Hollis did just offer me a job. I think. And he’s a cutie. A little mysterious and intense, but a cutie.”

Shelby’s eyes lit up, and the mischievous smile was joined with a twinkling light. “A job, huh? Are you sure that wasn’t code for a date?”

Kenzi shook her head. Her friend had jumped off the deep end. Shelby had always been a romantic, but put a ring on her finger and she was a regular Cupid shooting love arrows at anything that moved. “No, he wants me to redecorate some cabin he inherited.” It definitely wasn’t a date, because he would have actually asked her on a date if it was a date, right?

“Sure he does.” 

Shelby was on a roll tonight, but she might be able to give Kenzi some insight on Blaine, seeing as how she had spent more time with the team members. There were definitely some things Kenzi was curious about. “Do you know anything about the members of the Tornadoes? Blaine’s been on the team for years and no one has ever seen him with the same girl more than once. Not once. Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”

It certainly did to Kenzi. When she’d begun gaining interest in football about six years ago in order to impress a college quarterback, Blaine Hollis had been the first member of the Texas Tornadoes to catch her eye. With his blond hair and warm brown eyes, he exuded this odd mix of masculinity and sensitivity that Kenzi found attractive. She had figured she couldn’t be the only one and had dug into his personal life, surprised when she found no mention of a steady girlfriend. Nor did they ever mention one on TV or show a woman in the stands. Occasionally he was spotted with a woman, but never the same woman twice. Six years and still no relationship. He was either celibate or…

Shelby’s voice interrupted her rabbit train of thought. “Maybe he just hasn’t found the right woman yet.”

“Maybe.” Kenzi agreed because she knew there was no use arguing with Shelby when she was like this. She was sweet and loyal and stubborn as a mule when she wanted to be. Besides, it was possible she was right. Maybe Blaine was just waiting for the perfect woman, but Kenzi didn’t think so