by Jody Holford
She took a deep breath as Liam edged his way along the side wall, closer to the front. She tracked his progress.
“I’m very excited to tell you that the Nashville Slammers will be partnering with Conroy Hotels to create affordable getaways that offer tickets to see the Slammers, in whichever city hosts these hotels, as part of the booking. In addition to this, we’ll be partnering with the school districts to create a Baseball Buddy program. I have several other things in the works, and while I might not know much about the sport yet, I believe in it. I believe in the Slammers, and I believe in myself. Effective immediately, Bruce Gains is being dismissed. Mickey Sarola has agreed to step into the General Manager position.”
Chaos exploded. Bruce started yelling to the point that security escorted him out. Her father pushed past Ethan and took the mic, shouting over the fray of reporters launching questions.
“She’s sleeping with one of the players. She and Liam Cruz have been carrying on an affair since the beginning. I have proof. She isn’t interested in running a team; she just wants access to her own roster of playboys.”
More questions erupted as her father was pulled back by security, forced off the stage. Isla came back to the mic, her gaze locked on Liam. It took a few minutes, but the press realized she wouldn’t speak until they shut up.
She huffed out a breath. “Okay. Part of that is true. But I don’t want the whole team—well, professionally I do, but not personally.”
Liam laughed. Adorable. She was killing him here, and the press was eating it up.
“Liam Cruz offered me kindness before we knew who the other was. I think I fell in love with him the minute he offered to help me with my gloves.”
The press started launching more questions, but a few people had noted the direction of her stare. He kept making his way to the front even after they realized it was him. Stepping up on the stage, he closed the distance between them, ignoring the many onlookers.
“You love me?” His heart was too full. How the hell was he supposed to talk when just looking at her stole all his words?
“I do,” she whispered. “I’m sorry for everything. There may be some further complications that we need to iron out, but Josiah assured me Bruce can’t trade you.”
“He can’t.”
“I just said that.”
Liam laughed, yanked her close, but didn’t kiss her yet. Once he did, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop. “No, I mean, he can’t. I’m here to tell you,” he said, pausing and turning toward the mics, keeping Isla tucked in to his side, “I’m retiring. I’ve played my last season.”
He barely heard Isla’s questions with all the noise coming from the crowd. He did see, from the corner of his eye, Ethan drop his head into his hands. With a smile, he turned back to Isla.
“You can’t give up baseball,” she said, her arms coming up around his neck, like she could transfer her urgency if they were closer.
“I’m not. I’m going to apply for a job with the Slammers. Pretty sure they have some spots opening up in various positions.”
“But you wanted to play in Nashville so badly. This is your dream.”
Pressing his forehead to hers, he shook his head. “I wanted to be in Nashville, because I knew I was winding down. I wanted to come home. And now I’m here,” he said, pulling her as close as he could in front of an audience, hoping she understood the dual meaning in his words. “And I’m exactly where I want to be. For good.”
The bridge of her nose scrunched up. “But…you’re our power hitter.”
Liam laughed, his chest expanding with happiness. “Don’t worry, Red. I’ll help you replace me.” He leaned in. “At least on the team.”
They stared at each other, and if her father thought he had photographic evidence of their relationship before, it would be nothing compared to the pictures Liam was sure would surface all over the internet within minutes. The Nashville Slammers’ former heavy hitter grinning like a love-sick fool while staring into the eyes of the team owner.
Ethan approached them. “Thank you for this disaster. How about we end this so I can start batting cleanup?”
Liam laughed. Isla bit her lip. “That’s a baseball reference,” he told her.
She giggled but caught Ethan’s irritated scowl and tried to hide her amusement. “I got that.”
His name was being shouted along with Isla’s. Raising a hand, waiting for silence, he spoke into the microphone.
“One question. I’ll answer one question, and everything else will be summarized and shared in a statement I’ve already prepared. It’ll release tomorrow morning.”
Dozens of people shouted their questions, but there was one woman at the back of the room, hand up. He’d recognize those eyes anywhere, because they mirrored his and their mom’s.
“Woman at the back,” Liam said, grinning.
Talia spoke loudly despite someone shoving a microphone close to her mouth. “My question is, do you love her back?”
Surprise caused him to say “What?” into the mic.
“She said she loves you. You asked her if she did. Do you love her back or not, you dork?”
Turning, he looked down at Isla and saw she was staring up at him. He touched the necklace he’d given her, and the smile she wore warmed him inside and out.
“I do,” he said, not speaking into the mic. “I love you, Isla.”
She sniffled and threw her arms around him and he lifted her off her feet. Ignoring everyone other than the woman wrapped around him, he spun once and carried her right out of the room.
In the hallway, he took a brief second to kiss her because he couldn’t wait a minute longer. He could hear people coming and knew they had only a second.
“We need to get out of here,” he said.
She glanced around and tugged on his hand, pulling him into a supply closet and closing the door just as a rush of voices came into the hallway. It was dark, and they stood, muffling their laughter in the blackness.
“I’m sorry about the last few days,” she whispered when the noise started to lessen.
Pressing his hands into her lower back so they were locked together, he found her lips and kissed her softly. Quietly. “We’ll talk about that. We have a lot to talk about, but right now, I just want to make out with you in this supply closet.”
He felt the quiet laugh against his skin. “Are you sure about retiring?” she asked.
“I am. I think I needed to know the choice was mine to make. I didn’t want to be pushed into it, but these last few months, I’ve started seeing things differently. I still love the game, and I’m happy to be home. But I feel ready. I feel happy with the decision. And what I am sure about is you. Us. The only time I’ve ever felt this kind of sure was the first time I held a bat in my hand. I’ve had a great career, Red. Now I want more. I want a life. With you. Baseball will still be part of it.”
“A big part, seeing as I wanted to talk to you about something,” she said.
His eyes were adjusting to the dark. A tiny sliver of light came from the hallway. “What’s that?”
“I need an advisor. And another investor. I’d still like to be part owner, but I was thinking maybe we could make a deal.”
He smiled, buried his face in her neck. “You gave Conroy fifteen percent?”
Liam felt her nod. “What were you thinking? Sixty-twenty-five?”
“Actually, I was thinking we split the rest fifty-fifty.”
He sucked in a breath. “An equal partnership.”
“What do you think?” He heard the uncertainty in her voice.
“I think you’re a hell of a negotiator, but as the party buying in, I should ante up.”
“What do you mean?” Isla’s heartbeat was going crazy in her chest. Or maybe it was his.
“I mean, I should bring something to the table aside from money.”
“Oh?” The squeak in her voice made him smile.
“Don’t worry. I have something in mind.”
“One day soon, Red. One day real soon.”
She pulled back. “Think we can leave yet?”
Liam pulled her back. “Better stay a bit longer, just to be safe.”
He closed his mouth over hers, swallowing her sigh as he tunneled his fingers into her hair. It didn’t matter if he was walking through the streets of his hometown, in his oversize house, or in a broom closet with her.
Isla Bennett made him feel like he’d won the World Series.
Epilogue
She couldn’t watch. She’d waited all this time to see the opening game, on home turf, and now she couldn’t watch.
Isla’s stomach tipped uneasily, and she felt Liam’s presence even before his arms wrapped around her from behind. She had her hands over her eyes and was listening to the announcers.
“Babe, it’s pretty hard to watch the game that way,” he said, nudging her ear with his nose. Shivers racked her body. Would the impact of him ever lessen? Unlikely.
She was watching from the conference room, the sound filling the space. Everyone else—Addie, Cruz’s family, Cordelia, Jennifer, and Josiah—were up in the owner’s box.
Turning in his arms, she looped hers around his neck. “It’s too stressful,” she admitted.
Liam laughed, kissed her forehead. “You are the cutest woman on earth.”
“I’m glad you think so,” she said.
The seats were almost full, which she knew was normal. Maintaining attendance throughout the entire season, however, was where she focused her time.
Things had settled down, sort of. She was done giving press conferences. That had been the first thing she’d signed over to Liam when they’d worked up the deal. It still felt weird to have a contract written up with her boyfriend. He was the face and voice of the Nashville Slammers. He worked closely with Mickey and the new manager, gave his input to the scouts, sometimes accompanying them when they travelled to meet a player.
And at night, they went home together and shared their day. Her father was still suing her, but Josiah had told her not to worry. She’d taken his advice and put her focus into learning everything she could about the game she’d come to love.
“You did well, Red,” Liam said, interrupting her thoughts.
“We did well,” Isla corrected. They were truly a partnership, and though sometimes she worried that it was too good to last, she tried to push those thoughts aside.
“I was thinking, you’ve probably never bet on a game,” Liam said, turning her around so they could watch. They should probably go up to the owner’s box and join everyone.
“I’ve never bet on anything,” she said, thinking about that. Risk-taking wasn’t generally in her nature. Or it hadn’t been, until Liam. Until the Slammers.
His chin rested on her shoulder, their hands entwined at her stomach. The smell of his cologne was equal parts stirring and comforting. “I think we should make a bet.”
“Okay. Five bucks we win?”
Liam chuckled, and his breath felt soft and warm on her skin. “That’s a coward’s bet. I was thinking something bigger.”
She watched Corey slide into first, and her heart hammered wildly. “What’d you have in mind?”
Her mind was on the game. Mostly. It was hard to give her full attention to anything with his body pressed up against her own.
“How about if the Slammers win today, I ask you to marry me?” Liam said casually. Like he’d just suggested takeout for dinner.
Isla’s heart lodged between her ribs and, game forgotten, she turned and stared up at him. He was serious. Oh. My. God.
“What if they don’t?” she whispered, her throat tight.
Liam brought his hands to her shoulders, ran them up her neck, his thumbs tracing over her skin before he drove his fingers into her hair. “Then you ask me to marry you.”
She bit her lip, her pulse going haywire. “So, either way, you want to marry me.”
“I do. Do you want to marry me?” His gaze was so heated and hopeful at the same time.
She curled her fingers in his shirt. “I really do.”
Grinning, he came closer, his breath feathering over her lips. “Look at us, already saying the words.”
Her laughter was cut off when he kissed her, picking her up and twirling her around, his mouth moving over hers in a kiss that made her dizzier than his spinning. He set her down on the table and moved between her legs.
“I love you, Isla. I want you forever. I didn’t bring the ring.”
Pressing her lips together, she took a few breaths through her nose, trying to ward off tears. “I love you back. So much. I can’t believe you bought a ring.”
Brushing her hair away from her face, his gaze never left hers. “You walked into the bar, and my life changed. I knew, the moment I saw you, everything would be different.”
In a short period of time, her whole world had tilted. Righted itself. “Coming here was the best choice I ever made. I found you, a family, and myself.”
“Wanna go sit in the owner’s box with everyone?”
She nodded, happiness making her feel like she could burst. “I might be too nervous to watch. Especially now.”
Laughing, he threw his arm around her shoulder and led her out of the room. “Don’t worry. Win or lose…we win.”
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Acknowledgments
Thank you, Stacy for pushing me, for making my words better, for not getting tired of me soft peddling the conflict or trying to skip right past it—for making me dig deeper to include it so the story is richer and better. Thank you everyone at Entangled for the work that went into making this book. I’m so excited to be going back to my Bliss roots. Thank you, Bree for my perfect cover. I love it.
Thank you, Fran. For having my back. Always. To my writer friends who I lean on (re: complain to), thank you for listening. For caring. Thank you, Nicole. It’s hard for me to make decisions but you are one of the best I’ve made.
Thank you, readers. Because of you, I can write more books. Because of you, I feel like my words have found a home. Thank you for letting me tell my stories and for wanting to read them.
To my family, last on here but always and forever first. You are everything. And you make me feel like I am something. I love you more.
About the Author
Jody Holford lives in British Columbia with her family. She’s a huge fan of Rainbow Rowell, Nora Roberts, Carly Phillips, Rachel Gibson, Sophia Kinsella, and Emily Giffen. She’s unintentionally funny and rarely on time for anything. She writes multiple genres but her favourite is romance.
Also by Jody Holford…
More Than Friends
The Bad Boy Next Door
Hate to Love Him
Let It Be Me
Never Expected You
Story of Us
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