“Lucky you,” Maggie said. She paused at a doorway and threw the door open. “This is the conference room,” she said. “It’s got the best view of the complex.” She walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows that made up the far wall and pulled up several sets of blinds. “Come have a look.”
Sara walked over her and peered out the glass. They were looking not at the stadium itself but at what lay behind it. Which consisted of several small baseball fields, a row of caged enclosures, and a couple of other single-story fairly nondescript-looking buildings. NEW YORK SAINTS was painted in bright-yellow letters across the flat roof of one of them.
“I never realized all this was here,” Sara said. “I’ve only ever driven past the stadium. You don’t see all this from the road.”
Dark eyebrows lifted. “Lucas said you were a local. You’ve never been to a game here?”
Damn. Her dirty secret was about to be out. Again. Maybe it would be easier to have a T-shirt printed with SORRY, I DON’T LIKE BASEBALL. Save the explanations.
“I was more interested in helicopters than sports, growing up,” she said.
“Not even a school tour?”
“Not that I remember.” She was pretty sure there’d been a field trip to Deacon Field at some point, but she’d played hooky.
“Huh,” Maggie said. “So you’re not a baseball nut then?”
“No, sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. It makes a nice change,” Maggie said. “We need some sanity around here.” She waved at the buildings out the window. “Training facilities. Mostly. We use the fields for some of the community leagues we get involved in, too, but mostly for practice. Gotta keep those players on their toes.”
“It’s bigger than I thought,” Sara said.
“Yeah, we’re like an airport that way. The public only sees half of what goes on. Thank goodness.” Maggie stared out at the buildings. “It’s bad enough running security for the stadium on game day, so we limit access to the rest of the complex. Less potential for chaos. As much as that’s possible in the majors. So what has Lucas told you about the place?”
“Not much,” Sara said. “There hasn’t been that much time. He’s always reading stuff on his laptop when I fly him places.”
“Yeah, his schedule is pretty nuts. Mal’s and Alex’s, too. But yay, you’re a Saints history virgin.” She rubbed her hands together. “I can tell you all about us.”
“Ollie Shields told me a little bit about spring training when I was in Orlando.”
Maggie rolled her eyes. “Let me guess, he did it while flirting madly.”
“Yeah. Don’t worry, I figured he pretty much flirts with anything female.”
“It is kind of instinctive with him,” Maggie said. But her expression was fond exasperation, not annoyance. “He’s a good guy, though. Just needs the right gal to sort him out, maybe.”
Sara held up her hands. “Don’t look at me, I don’t think I’m any athlete’s ideal mate. He needs someone who at least understands the game. Like you. You must know it inside out.”
“Yup. Hopeless baseball nerd. Always have been. In the blood, like we said. But despite that, I’ll leave Ollie to someone else’s capable hands, thank you very much. He and I work best as friends.”
There was a story behind that, Sara thought. But she wasn’t about to ask the woman about her love life on their first meeting.
“Okay, enough about Oliver,” Maggie said. “He’s already got a healthy enough ego without us boosting it vicariously. Let’s go touring.”
They made their way out to the stadium via another trip in the elevator and a confusing series of turns and corridors that ended in a locked fire door. Maggie produced a security card, swiped it, and the door opened. They stepped out into a concrete tunnel that looked pretty much like the ones in every stadium where Sara had ever gone to a concert. There were stripes in Saints colors running horizontally along the walls but that was about the only distinguishing feature.
Maggie kept walking. “I always thought it must be pretty cool to know how to fly a chopper. Just never had the time to learn.”
“Well, it’s never too late. And helicopters are more fun than planes. Most of the time.”
“Maybe after this year’s season is done,” Maggie said. “Things might have calmed down a little by then. Then you can show me the basics.”
“Sure. And if I fly you anywhere, you can sit up front with me and I can explain some of it to you.”
“That would be cool.” Maggie stopped as they reached a security screen. This time she pulled out a key and dealt with the chain and padlock that secured it. “Better put on those gloves … this is where we get into the stands.”
Sara pulled on her gloves. “So do you travel as much Lucas does?”
Maggie shook her head. “His schedule is the worst,” she said. “Alex’s is bad enough but now that they’ve dumped Lucas with spring training, he’s got the short straw.” She paused. “You know, I’m not sure that he even likes flying. We did quite a few plane trips when the deal was being approved. He always goes quiet and works through the whole flight, like you said.”
Sara nodded. “Yes, I got that impression, too. Though he’s pretty good at hiding it, if he really is bothered by it. Which is better than the ones who white-knuckle the whole thing. Or barf.” She wrinkled her nose. “The barfing is the worst.”
Maggie grimaced sympathetically. “Ugh. That’s bad enough on a big plane. So Lucas has never tossed his cookies on your helo? Too bad, that would give me something to tease him about. Dr. Gorgeous shows a weakness. He’s kind of a little too perfect, that one. Makes you want to rumple him up a bit. Or it would if I didn’t have Alex,” she added with a wink as she dragged the screen back. It made a rusty protesting whining noise as she did and she frowned at it, obviously making a mental note.
Sara decided to ignore the rumpling comment. “No, no barfing. How long have you known him, or them, I guess?”
“Not long,” Maggie said as she started walking again. “I only met the three of them when Dad sold the Saints.”
“And you and Alex?”
“Yeah.” Maggie rolled her eyes. “It’s kind of ridiculous. I should hate the man. After all, he kind of stole my baseball team … but, well, you’ve seen him?”
“I have,” Sara said. “He’s pretty easy on the eyes.”
“Well, so is Dr. Gorgeous. And Mal, for that matter. Though easy on the eyes isn’t always easy on the heart…” Maggie trailed off.
“So I hear,” Sara said. She stopped to take in the view before her. They were standing about halfway up one of the empty stands, looking down on the field. The stadium arced around them, the stillness kind of eerie. “This is pretty cool.” Not as cool as being up in the air, but somehow the emptiness gave the same feeling of space.
Maggie smiled. “I think so. You’d better be careful. Baseball kind of sneaks up on you when you least expect it.”
Sara wondered if she was talking about baseball or the men involved in it. But she refused to take the bait. “I’ll keep that in mind, too,” she said. “But why don’t you tell me about it anyway?”
* * *
By the time Sara got home, Dougal in tow and bouncing all over the place with delight at being back with Sara, she was beginning to feel the lack of sleep.
Maggie’s tour of Deacon had been both comprehensive and informative. It had even included a tour of the tunnels in the depths of the stadium, where Maggie had introduced Sara to Malachi Coulter, who like his partners was startlingly attractive. In Mal it was more a tawny, rangy, slightly-too-long-hair-and-tattoos sort of way. He was unmistakably ex-military, though; his bearing and the way he scanned any space they entered gave that away. She’d ferried him to Manhattan and back later in the afternoon, and his ease and familiarity with the helo—not to mention the fact that he called it a helo—were further proof.
But she didn’t ask him where or whom he’d served with. He didn’t offer, which me
ant she’d judged right and he was the doesn’t-want-to-talk-about-it type. Instead they’d talked a little more about the stadium and the security upgrades Mal was making. Fascinating, even if it was over Sara’s head.
And now she was back home and waiting for Lucas to arrive. She fed Dougal then showered and changed into jeans and a deep raspberry V-neck sweater and her favorite black boots. It was, at least, more female than her uniform. She had no idea if Lucas would want to go out for dinner or something so anything dressier felt like overkill. There was very nice red lace underwear underneath, so that should distract him if she’d judged the outer layers wrongly.
Her stomach was rumbling by the time the intercom buzzed, which sent Dougal padding toward the door, with a woof of alert.
Damn. Dougal. She hadn’t thought about Dougal when she’d agreed to have Lucas come over again. Or how Lucas might feel about a large dog who was going to be expressing his displeasure at Lucas’s presence any second now.
Too late now. She ordered Dougal back onto his spot on the rug in front of the TV and pressed the intercom to let Lucas up.
The sound of his footsteps in the hall outside made Dougal bark and raise himself into a sit. Sara hushed him with a signal, sending him back into a downstay.
She was rigorous with his training and made sure her parents were, too. That way, while he still might bark his head off when they encountered men, he usually didn’t do anything more if they told him not to.
Dougal made a grumbling growl, and Sara kept half an eye on him when she went to open the door.
Lucas had a bouquet of hot pink lilies in one hand and a pizza box in the other. “Hello,” he said.
“Hi.” Sara said, but she didn’t step back to let him in. “Look, I forgot to mention my dog isn’t a big fan of men.”
Lucas’s brows drew together. “Dog? Oh right, you mentioned him. Where was he last night?”
“With my parents. But he’s here now. And he’s going to start barking his fool head off once you step over the threshold. He won’t do anything more than that, I won’t let him, but I wanted to warn you.”
“What kind of dog did you say he was again?” Lucas asked. To his credit, he didn’t look overly concerned with what she’d just told him.
“He’s a black Lab.” From behind her she heard Dougal bark, and she turned to hush him again.
“Big guy, huh? I thought Labs were marshmallows.”
“He is. Just not if you’re tall and male. Don’t ask me why, I’ve had him since he was a puppy, but at some point before I got him, a guy did him wrong. And he hasn’t forgotten.”
“Does he like any guys?”
“He’s okay with my dad. Now.”
“And how long did that take?”
“About six months until he didn’t growl at him every time he saw him. Maybe a year until he would let Dad pat him for more than a second or two.”
“Does he like pizza?” Lucas said.
“Yes. But bribes won’t work. We’ve tried that.”
“Oh well,” Lucas said. “He’s just going to have to get used to me, too.”
She liked his optimism. Even if it was misplaced. “Come on in then.” She stepped back and then turned to face Dougal. He was, as usual, watching the door intently, making little growling noises in the back of his throat.
Lucas moved into the apartment behind her. She braced herself for Dougal to go nuts.
Instead he gave a single short bark and then sat there, ears pricked, eyes on Lucas. His tail started to thump against the floor.
“Am I missing the savage-beast part?” Lucas said. “He doesn’t look so scary to me.”
“This isn’t how he usually reacts,” Sara said, staring at Dougal. No, this was how he acted with people he liked.
“Told you I was charming,” Lucas said. He took a few steps closer to Sara. “Hey, buddy,” he said to Dougal. Dougal tilted his head and panted before barking once. His tail still thumped the floor.
“Stay,” Sara said warningly.
“Hold the pizza,” Lucas said. He held out the box. Sara took it. Lucas walked halfway between her and Dougal. Dougal whined a little and looked at Sara.
“So far so good,” Lucas said. He took another couple of steps, bringing him within arm’s length of Dougal. He crouched down and held out the back of his hand. He was obviously used to dogs. “Hey there, Dougal,” he repeated. “What’s happening?”
Dougal, after a quick look at Sara, stretched his head forward and sniffed Lucas’s hand. And then he whuffed happily and shoved his head under Lucas’s palm, clearly angling for an ear rub.
“Yeah, this one’s a killer,” Lucas said as he obliged.
Sara still couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. Of all the men in the world that Dougal could choose not to hate, he was picking Lucas?
Why? It wasn’t like Dougal could tell Lucas was gorgeous. That, Sara kept telling herself, was the reason she had let him back into her bed last night. “He’s never done that with any strange man before. What are you, an orthopedic dog whisperer?”
Lucas twisted back to her, looking smug as he continued to pet Dougal. Dougal looked kind of smug, too. Smug and blissful. “He’s no dummy, he can recognize a guardian angel when he sees one.”
Chapter Fourteen
Sara still wasn’t sure how she felt about Dougal adoring Lucas when she set the helo down at the Vero Beach stadium two days later. It was kind of ridiculous. Each night when Lucas arrived at her apartment, Dougal’s wriggling, yipping welcome became even more ecstatic.
True, she did kind of feel like wriggling in ecstasy every time Lucas put his hands on her too, but she was trying to keep hold of some degree of sanity. She and Lucas were temporary. She knew that deep down.
Dougal was not going to be happy when Lucas finally bailed. Neither was Sara.
“Thanks, Sara.” Maggie’s voice came through the headset and Sara turned to smile at her. Maggie had taken her under her wing and, as a result, she now knew almost everyone who worked for the Saints who wasn’t in Florida. She suspected she would know the rest of them by the end of this trip.
In between introductions, Maggie had found her a job helping Shonda, Alex’s PA, with various tasks. In the spare moments when Sara wasn’t doing that or ferrying Alex, Mal, or Lucas between Staten Island and Manhattan, Maggie kept giving her the potted history of the Saints with enough juicy gossip interspersed with the facts and figures to make it interesting.
She watched Lucas climb out of the helo and then hold out a hand to help Maggie out. Maggie grinned down at him, and Sara felt a wholly unreasonable twinge of envy. She wasn’t going to be able to touch Lucas for two days while they were here in Florida. That thought already made her skin itch. So it hardly seemed fair that Maggie got to.
Which was ridiculous. For one thing, Maggie was madly in love with Alex—that was blindingly obvious to anyone who saw them together. And for another, Sara had had orgasms aplenty in the last few days. She didn’t have any excuse to be as horny as she felt now watching Lucas walk away.
As he and Maggie headed toward the stadium buildings, Sara looked back down at her instrument panel, just in case Maggie turned around.
She didn’t want to be caught staring at Lucas. Maggie hadn’t done any more outright probing about Sara and Lucas, but Sara wasn’t stupid. She knew Maggie had her suspicions. Sara had caught Maggie looking at Lucas when he spoke to Sara a time or two. Which meant she had to keep her nose clean.
Maybe she should find Ollie Shields and flirt with him shamelessly in front of Maggie or something.
Though that might backfire if Lucas thought she was serious.
She sighed as she settled back in her seat. She had to deliver the helo to the airfield where it belonged. Then she’d come back and worry about fooling Maggie Jameson when she had to.
* * *
Lucas heard the chopper’s now familiar takeoff behind him but made sure he didn’t look back to watch Sara fly away. Sara ha
d warned him that Maggie had asked questions and, as much as he’d be happy to tell Maggie about Sara, he had to respect what Sara wanted. He wasn’t going to keep them a secret forever but a little time for Sara to get comfortable with the situation was reasonable enough.
He hid a yawn as they walked toward the stadium entrance.
Beside him, Maggie turned her face up to the sun. “Sunshine! I’d forgotten how nice this is.”
“Are you wearing sunblock?”
She laughed. “Yes, Dr. Gorgeous. I am enjoying my UV rays responsibly. I have no desire to fry. Just to be warm and not have to wear seven layers of clothing.”
Lucas couldn’t argue with that. The New York winter had been long and cold so far, and there was no sign of it letting up. It was almost March. There should at least be some hints by now that spring might happen eventually.
Of course, with his current workload, he wouldn’t have much time to enjoy nice weather in New York even if there was any.
“So are we going to see this Sam Basara that Dan keeps telling me about?” Maggie said.
“That’s the plan. Dan’s going to give him a trial in the game today. See how he goes. He’s sent a couple of them home already, so pressure’s on.”
“Thank God I don’t actually play baseball,” Maggie said. “I’ve never liked this part. I mean, it’s fun to look at stats and try to work out who’s undervalued and go with the scouts and study the guys playing. But it’s harder when you get to the part where you have to crush their dreams.”
“I don’t think anyone aspires to crush dreams,” Lucas said. “But we can’t hire everyone.”
Even if he wanted to. It had been hard when Dan had told him he’d already cut Walsh and the other two older pitchers who’d been after a contract. He agreed with the assessment on the older guys, they were about done, but Walsh had been a good strong candidate. Sadly for him, not as strong as his friends. Or the pitcher from the Preachers who was still hanging in there. But Walsh was going back to his college team and had a few more years to prove himself and get a shot.
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