“
Stop talking. Now.”
Deanna’s head fell back and she started laughing. It was a full-bodied belly laugh that spread over him like a breeze on a hot day. The sound was so sweet that it almost made up for how big of a disgusting pervert he felt like right now.
While she was still chuckling, she touched his arm. “Don’t feel bad. How old were you then?”
“It was senior year, so seventeen,” Lucky answered, still feeling gross.
“See? You were a teenager, too. It’s fine. Really.” She continued giggling, and he had to admit that the sound made him so happy that he didn’t even care that it was at his expense.
“It still feels wrong.” His shoulders shook as a chill ran through him, and it wasn’t the good kind. It was the grossed-out kind.
“I think it’s hilarious,” she said, clearly enjoying seeing him squirm.
“I’m so glad I can amuse you,” he said flatly.
“Well, I think it’s only fair since I seemed to have offered hours of amusement for you—”
Without even thinking, he reached over the seat and started tickling her. She wiggled and laughed, begging him to stop. He did, but only because a call came in.
When he saw the picture on his console’s display, he knew he had to answer it. Pressing the answer button, he extended his patent greeting to his publicist.
“Hello, beautiful.”
“Why can’t you just play nice with others, especially the press?” Jessie Sloan-Courtland asked in her usual no nonsense tone. Jessie wasn’t one for niceties. She was all business, all the time.
Deciding to ignore her rhetorical question and her dislike for small talk, he pushed on undeterred. “I’ve been good. How about you?”
“Lucky. You can’t treat the press like that.” Jessie seemed to have the same game plan as he did.
This conversation was going to happen, so he figured he might as well just get it over with. “I wasn’t there for them. I was there for the kids.”
“It doesn’t matter. They were there, and whether you like it or not, you have a responsibility—”
“I had a responsibility to visit the kids and their families. I had a responsibility to protect the people I brought with me. And I lived up to my responsibilities.”
“I’m not going to argue with you. You’re supposed to be cleaning up your act. We agreed. And your image is your responsibility. When you elbow photographers in the nose, you open yourself up for lawsuits, and that is not something sponsors think is appealing. You know what’s on the line with this bout. Don’t screw it up.”
“Yes, Mom,” he answered—his normal response for when Jessie was right.
“You know, you’re not nearly as cute as you think you are,” she said, sounding less than impressed.
“Awww, you think I’m cute. Does Zach know? I don’t want to come betw—”
“Goodbye, Lucky.”
“Bye, beautiful.”
When the call disconnected, Lucky felt a little twinge of guilt that Jessie had even had to make that call. He knew better.
“Wow. She’s awesome.” Unlike Jessie, Deanna did sound impressed.
“Yeah. She is pretty awesome,” he agreed.
“And so beautiful.” Deanna was still looking at Jessie’s picture on the console.
He didn’t want her to get the wrong idea just because he’d called her beautiful. “Her husband sure thinks so. He’s actually a friend of mine. Have you heard of Zach Courtland?”
Deanna was quiet for a beat. Then she snapped her fingers. “Was he the one in the Calvin Klein ads?”
“That’s him.”
“Wow. She’s married to him? He’s…hot.”
Well, this conversation had taken a turn Lucky didn’t like. Not one little bit.
”
”