“I’m going to fly south for a couple of days to Gulf Shores. We call it the Redneck Riviera, and I have a place on the beach there. When I get back, I’ll have some spare time on my hands. That big old house. Nothing to do. There’s a local art show on Saturday, and since I know how much you like art, I thought we might check it out.”

She stared at him. “Are you telling me you’re not going to fight this suspension?”

“That’s what I’m telling you.”

“Why?”

“I’ve got my reasons, and they’re private.”

“I won’t tell.”

“Don’t push it, Phoebe.”

“Please. I want to know.”

He sighed and she thought she saw something that looked very much like guilt flash across his features. “If you repeat this, I’ll call you ten different kinds of a liar.”

“I won’t repeat it.”

“The suspension is going to hurt the team, and I don’t like that. It’ll take a miracle for us to win this Sunday, and it’ll be tough to recover from one and four. But I’m not fighting it because Ron finally did the right thing. I was way out of line. I just never expected him to call me on it.”

She finally smiled. “I don’t believe it. You actually called him Ron.”

“It slipped out, so don’t count on it happening again.” He began walking. “And don’t think I’ve changed my opinion about him just because he finally showed some gumption. The jury’s still out as far as I’m concerned. Now what about Saturday?”

She hesitated. “Why, Dan? We’ve already agreed that we don’t mix well.”

“I’m not siccing my lawyers on you. Isn’t that a good enough reason?”

They had reached the end of the cul-de-sac. As they came around the curve, she gathered her courage. “I’m not a toy. You can’t use me to amuse yourself and then toss me away when you’re done.”

His voice was surprisingly soft. “Then why do you act like one?”

Although he sounded more puzzled than accusatory, the hurt came back, and she picked up her stride.

He stayed with her. “You can’t have it both ways. You can’t flirt with everything in pants, wear clothes that look like they’ve been shrink-wrapped on your body, then expect people to treat you like you’re Mother Teresa.”

Because she knew there was truth in what he was saying, she stopped walking and turned to confront him. “I don’t need a lecture from you. And since you’re into personal assessment, maybe you should consider looking in the mirror and figuring out why you can’t control your temper.”