Craving Her Curves by Nora Stone Page B

stepping a little closer.
    “He didn’t know that guy was going to kidnap me,” I said softly.
    “No, he didn’t.  But he did know that he’d had a few letters and suspect encounters around his building.  He knew something was up and he should have warned you, even before that first date.  It takes a special kind of person to deal with this stuff.  It was your choice to make if you wanted to be that person for him or not,” he said, his face genuinely sympathetic.
    “A special kind of person,” I repeated.  Coach gave me a gentle punch to the shoulder.
    “You’re a strong girl, and I respect what you did.  You had to make a hard decision about what’s best for you, and no one here thinks less of you for it.  Even Joey, he’s just not the best at expressing that right now,” he said.  I glanced back out onto the field, where Joey and the others were running tackle drills and nodded.
    “Right.  I decided based on what’s best for me.  And that’s okay,” I said.  Coach smiled.
    “Trying to convince yourself?” he asked.  I grinned slightly and nodded.
    “Yeah, but it’s not really working yet,” I said.  Coach laughed.
    “Don’t worry.  It’ll sink in eventually.  You come back out here and see us, come to a home game and let us see your face, okay?  I wasn’t the only one concerned about you,” he said.  I sniffed, smiled and nodded.
    “Thanks, Coach.”
    “Anytime,” he replied.

CHAPTER NINETEEN
    “J oey, are you sure that you’re okay with this?” I asked softly.  I wasn’t one hundred percent certain that I was okay with it, but the media had been hounding Joey mercilessly since they couldn’t get to me.  Jade had protected me well.  But, Amy had contacted us and requested that we attempt to lessen the media scrutiny on Joey, and we’d agreed to help.
    “Only if you are.  I don’t want you to have to relive this at all, but Amy and Jade both said that this was the best way,” he said, his voice gentle on the phone.  I sighed.
    “I’m not okay with either of us having to put our business out there like this,” I said softly.  I heard him sigh.
    “Even after you break up with me, I’m still causing problems for you,” he said.  I closed my eyes and leaned back against the wall behind me.
    “Joey, that’s not what I was trying to say,” I whispered.
    “I know.  But it was there anyway.  Go do your interview; I’m at home watching,” he said, before ending the call.  I resisted the urge to take out my frustration on my phone and slipped it back into my purse.
    “Charlotte, according to the media outlets around you, you were leaving Joey Parker’s apartment building when the suspect who police state they now have in custody attacked you, knocked you unconscious, and kidnapped you, correct?”  His name was Greg Hanson.  He was national news, one of the few I actually respected, so he was who we’d called to offer the interview to.
    “Yeah, in a nutshell,” I said, laughing softly.  We were trying to keep it light, but there was only so much lightness you could have when talking about kidnapping.  Unless you had issues.
    “Let’s start with the first burning question on everyone’s mind: why were you at Joey’s apartment building?” he asked.  I sighed.
    “Joey had invited me over for dinner.  After the paparazzi disaster that was our first date, we’d decided on his place because he knew we wouldn’t have people trying to get pictures there,” I said. Greg nodded.
    “So you had a great time at your dinner date, right?” he asked.  I smiled and nodded, remembering.
    “Yes, we did,” I said softly.
    ––––––––
    “T hen what?” he asked.  I took a deep breath.
    “When I got outside, I told Joey he didn’t need to walk me to my car and we parted ways.  I called one of my best friends to let her know how the night went, and as I reached the car doors, I felt a sharp pain in my head.  My legs gave out