Miranda realized she hadn’t even looked at the score. She cringed when she saw the Empire’s seventeen-point deficit.

“What do you think veteran quarterback Luke Archer said to rookie Brandon Pitch in the locker room?” the announcer asked his sidekick, in an echo of Patty’s comment.

“Archer doesn’t make long speeches, so I’m figuring something like ‘Get your act together and win this game,’” the sidekick responded with a chuckle.

“I think I’d use stronger language than that, after Pitch got sacked three times,” the announcer said.

The camera cut back to the sideline and zoomed in on Luke, so close that Miranda could see the cold, focused blue of his eyes in the shadow of the cap’s bill. She sucked in a sharp breath at the painful beauty of the face that she would never touch again.

“Miranda, is something going on between you and Luke Archer?” Patty asked.

“What? No.” She tried to give her sister-in-law a look of bland innocence. But the ache of loss walloped her in the chest and she choked on a sob. “Not anymore.”

“Sweetie, what happened?” Patty put down the bowl of popcorn and scooted over next to Miranda.

“I was an unrealistic fool,” Miranda said, clenching her hands around the mug to keep the tears at bay. “I knew he would go back to playing football, but I let myself get involved with him anyway.”

“How involved?”

Miranda stared down into the dark, rich chocolate. She’d spent the last two days telling herself it had just been amazing sex and that was what she missed so much. When she was out with the cows, she could even convince herself of that. But now, seeing him again, the yearning reached far deeper than that. “It sounds ridiculous, but I think I fell in love with him.”

“Oh, honey.” Patty put her arm around Miranda’s shoulders. “Every woman on the planet fantasizes about Luke Archer, so it’s no wonder you’re dazzled by that brilliant glow that surrounds him.”

Miranda shook her head. “I’ve met a lot of celebrities. I’m not that easy to dazzle anymore.” She met Patty’s gaze. “He’s so different from what you see on television and in the magazines.”

Her sister-in-law said nothing.

“He loves his brother, Trevor, and gets hurt by Trevor’s resentment. He’s insecure about what he doesn’t know because he’s been so focused on football all his life, but he knows more than he thinks. He’s an incredibly generous”—she’d been about to say lover but stopped herself—“person.”

Patty gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. “That may be true, but since you hang out with the rich and famous, you know they’re not like us. They’re used to getting what they want without considering the consequences.”

Miranda looked away. “I knew the rules. He doesn’t have relationships during the football season.”

“So why did he break his own rules?”

“He had some bad bruising, so the coach made him take the week off. He’s fine now,” Miranda hastened to add. “The coach just wanted to give Pitch a chance to play.”

“Wrong decision,” Patty muttered before she returned to Miranda’s love life. “I hate to say this, but it sounds like you were just his entertainment for the week.”

Her comment drilled into Miranda. No matter how often she’d told herself the same thing, hearing someone else put it into words made it sound sordid. And true. Miranda winced. “I told you I was a fool.”

“That doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

Patty’s sympathy broke the tenuous hold Miranda had on her tears. They streaked down her cheeks and clogged her throat. Her sister-in-law took the mug out of Miranda’s grip and pulled her into a hug. “Go ahead and cry, honey. You’ll feel better.”

Miranda dropped her head onto Patty’s shoulder and let all the tension of the week escape with her sobs. It wasn’t just Luke she cried for, but her worry about Theo and Dennis, the loss of her job, and her responsibility for the family finances. She let the tears spill out until her body felt wrung dry.

As she lifted her head, a roar came from the television set. “Touchdown, Empire!” the announcer bellowed.

Both Miranda and Patty turned toward the screen as the replay showed Brandon Pitch shaking off a defender and throwing a perfect pass to the open wide receiver. The receiver sprinted the last few yards into the end zone and did a zany dance.

“And it’s good,” the announcer intoned when the extra point was scored by the kicker.

As Pitch jogged off the field, the camera followed him until he stopped in front of Luke. The two men did nothing more than exchange a nod, but Miranda thought the announcer was correct when he said, “Something happened between Archer and Pitch at halftime. That’s them acknowledging it worked.”

Patty turned to Miranda. “I can turn this off if it’s too hard for you to watch.”

It was an intense combination of pain and pleasure. “I can handle it.”

“I guess you’ll need to get used to it because you’ll see him at the Pinnacle,” Patty said, handing Miranda a box of tissues.

Miranda had lied about her job, telling Patty that Orin had agreed to give her the week off. Patty and Dennis had enough to deal with right now without worrying about money. “He has a private entrance and a personal assistant, so I rarely see him anyway.”