by Gemma Bruce
Getting no more enthusiasm, Bernie wandered back to the baseline.
J.T. waited until he was out of hearing distance. “Has everyone been tested for drugs this season?”
Tommy cut her a look. “What?”
“I just asked you—”
“I know what you asked. Why did you ask it?” J.T. shrugged. “I just wondered.”
“Hell, that’s all we need.”
By three o’clock the new carpet was down and the Bowman Furniture truck pulled into the parking lot. Amazing how fast work got done when you had money and clout.
J.T. watched them carry in a new leather couch for the media room. A long wooden table with padded chairs for the locker room. After signing for the delivery, Tommy changed into sweats and left the stadium.
J.T. didn’t see him again and was a little disappointed. What did she expect? She couldn’t go to dinner with him every night. And besides, he was too much temptation.
At four o’clock, she packed up her notebook. She could practically hear Bernie sigh with relief when she told him she was taking off.
She was beginning to think the Beavers were suffering from more than bad luck. And she was pretty sure Tommy thought so, too. An interesting twist. But who would profit? And what did they want to achieve?
She drove to the mall. She’d put in a good day of manual labor and she was hungry. She deserved a decent meal. Maybe the steak house.
But by the time she’d made the fifteen-minute drive to the highway, she was too hungry to wait. She pulled into the Wendy’s drive-through and ordered a burger, fries, and Coke. Tomorrow, she told herself, she’d start eating healthy.
She drove up to the window and handed the girl a twenty.
“J.T.” J.T. nearly dropped the twenty. Grace Tucker was smiling at her from the cash register.
“Grace? What are you doing here?” She works here, stupid.
“I work here.” Grace’s smile faded. J.T. wished the earth would swallow her up. Had her surprise been so obviously judgmental? Well, what could you expect? Tommy was a millionaire several times over. And his sister was working at Wendy’s. All that talk about the teenagers, blah, blah. Why didn’t he do something to help his sister’s family?
Then she remembered how happy everyone had seemed last night. She hadn’t picked up resentment anywhere.
“I’m helping out so Billy can take his civil servant’s exam.”
“Civil servant exam,” J.T. repeated lamely.
“Yeah. He’s hoping to get a job at the post office over in Beaver Falls. Darn, there’s Grimbutt. See you later.” Grace snatched the twenty that had been suspended over the tray and quickly made change. “Next window, please.” She winked and grinned as J.T. drove to the next window.
J.T. parked in the mall parking lot. She’d lost her appetite, but she wasn’t sure if the onset of the shakes was from hunger or shock, so she sat in the car, forcing down her burger and fries, then hit the mall.
She shopped with a vengeance, not that she needed anything, but because she was trying not to think about Grace sitting at that cash register hour after hour while her boys grew up without her.
Tommy should be helping his sister instead of buying leather couches for the Beavers media room.
She bought a new bedspread. She didn’t think she could sleep another night under the one in the hotel. She picked up groceries at the Giant Eagle—she wouldn’t be coming back to Wendy’s for dinner.
The only bright spot in her disastrous shopping excursion was the newsstand. She was no longer on the front page of The Buzz. She’d been bumped for another Hollywood divorce scandal.
J.T. gave out of steam after that. There was nothing she wanted. Besides she shouldn’t be spending money when she didn’t even know if she’d still have a job after this assignment.
She’d been here three days and had nothing. Well, nothing that Skinny would want. She’d done a couple of really good character studies.
Like those were going to keep her in Ding Dongs.
By the time she got back to the motel, it was growing dark. There were lights on in some of the rooms, but a lot of the cars were missing from the lot. Probably out to dinner, she thought, suddenly feeling lonely and a little sorry for herself.
She carried the groceries inside. Came back for the comforter and saw Danny, Boskey, and Rob Brown crossing the road to the Pine Tree.
She had just enough energy left to indulge in a little investigative reporting. She grabbed her jacket, stuck her notebook in the pocket, and went to buy herself a beer.
At first, her normally boisterous companions were uncharacteristically reticent. Tommy had obviously put it to them about talking to her.
And why was that?
She bought the table a round of beers. Tongues loosened as she knew they would. She returned to her room two hours later, a little muzzy and without a word written down. But she’d learned plenty. She opened her laptop, pulled up a new blank document, and started to write.
Not an article, but a list. It had been a productive evening. Once the players started talking, they were eager to tell everything they knew. As far as she could tell, none of them suspected anything more than a jinx.
Which to their minds was bad enough.
To J.T.’s mind, there was just a little too much coincidence. She was careful not to prompt them. She wanted clear uninfluenced information. But as they talked, a pattern emerged and J.T. began to smell a story.
This wasn’t just a case of the Bad News Bears. The “accidents” had begun at the opening of spring training. Slowly at first, but now they were escalating. Random vandalism? A spree? Or an orchestrated attempt to finish off the Gilbeytown Beavers.
She printed it out, her excitement growing. Read it while pacing across the shag carpet. Read it again and changed her mind.
There was just not enough evidence of sabotage. It could be a simple string of bad luck. She opened the three-ring binder and added her list to it.
But she wasn’t satisfied. If there was something sinister going on here, J.T. was determined to discover what it was.
She’d just have to dig until she hit pay dirt.
Chapter 10
“You’ve got to do something with her. She’s driving us nuts.” Bernie clumped across Larry’s office to point the tip of his crutch at Tommy.
“Sit down, Bernie, you’re gonna drive us all nuts.”
Bernie shot Larry a ferocious look but fell into the extra chair.
“You should be glad of the publicity,” said Tommy. He didn’t want to talk about J.T. Green. He’d dreamed about her all night long. He didn’t know how he was going to face her today, after what he’d done to her in his imagination.
Larry smacked his fist on his desk. “She’s been here three days. It was bad enough before the damn pipe. The boys were already falling over each other just to get near her. I’m gonna have to start putting saltpeter in the water cooler if this keeps up. Now she’s snooping all over the place, looking for criminals.”
“Yeah,” agreed Bernie. “She was at the Pine Tree Tavern last night. Asking all sorts of questions about shit that’s none of her business. She kept the boys up after curfew. They dragged in like they were beat to shit. All of a sudden they perk up and start playing like the all-stars. When I turn around to see what they’re all so hepped about, I see Miss Green swaying her little butt toward the bleachers. She waves and I thought they were going to cream their pants.”
“Well, there’s your answer,” Tommy said. “Keep her around and you might have a winning season.”
“Not goddamn funny,” said Bernie, and reached in his pocket for his pack of Tums. “Look, Tommy, I know this is an imposition. Taking away from your holiday or whatever it is you’re doing here, but I need her away from the team. At least after hours. She’s a pretty good-looker. And she ain’t dumb. Couldn’t you just take her to dinner or something?”
“I already did that.” And he didn’t trust himself to see her a
lone again. “You take her.”
“Can’t,” said Bernie. “Got dinner with the folks tonight.”
“What about you, Larry? She probably has questions for management.”
“Not me. I’d probably belch at the table or something.”
“Hell, Larry. She’s a reporter,” said Tommy, beginning to sweat. “She hangs out in press rooms. She’s a regular in the locker rooms. She’s used to anything you can dish out.”
“Not doing it. Come on, Tommy. I’ve never known you to turn down a chance at a choice bit. Take her on a real date. You might get lucky.” Larry grinned, inviting Tommy to join him.
“Watch your mouth, Larry.”
Larry put up his hands. “Sorry. I don’t know why you’re so touchy.”
“Listen,” said Bernie. “Forget what you might get or not. I don’t want my boys passing her around. The season opens next week and we have to face the Drillers. I need their minds—what little they have—and their bodies.”
Tommy didn’t think there was a chance of J.T. letting anybody pass her around, or push her around for that matter. And he’d kill anybody who touched her.
“And she’s gaga over you.”
Tommy snorted. “She isn’t gaga, she’s playing me.” And doing a damn good job of it. No wonder Skinny sent her instead of one of the veterans.
She was cute and cuddly as a kitten, not sophisticated, much too young, who would skewer him in the blink of an eye and who’d kept him semi-aroused for four days running.
Life was weird. And the timing was terrible.
“You’ll have her eating out of your hand.”
Tommy sighed. “And what if I get bitten by those razor-sharp teeth of hers?”
Bernie shook his head. “It’s one night.”
“She’s staying three weeks.”
“But you aren’t.”
“Which brings us to,” Larry interrupted. “When are you leaving? Not that we don’t like having you around, but…”
“In the next day or two.” And Tommy realized that he was going to miss being here. He was going to miss J.T.
He’d known her four days and she’d already wormed her way into his thoughts. Maybe even his heart. And he hadn’t even slept with her.
“Okay.” He was playing with fire and he knew it. He couldn’t trust himself not to jump her pretty little bones. And after seeing how she’d managed to put the entire team on cleanup duty and pitched in herself, how she took time to help Boskey with his mental state, he knew he would have zero willpower if he got close to her.
The woman was smart. She not only loved baseball, but she knew more about the game than half the guys on the team. Hell, she could coach the team. He smiled to himself—she could coach his team anytime.
And she was also Abe Green’s daughter. If he took her out to dinner, he’d end up seducing her, and Abe would christen every parking lot from Shea to Dodgers Stadium with Tommy’s head.
“Tonight, only. But you’ll have to talk to the team and tell them hands off.”
Bernie stuffed his roll of Tums back in his pocket. “I’ll tell them she’s yours. That should take care of it.”
“No you won’t. I don’t want them—or her—getting ideas.”
“You don’t have to act on it. But once you’re gone, they’ll still keep away. And I can get their focus back on the game.” Bernie sank back into the chair. “And to think I’ve been praying for someone to take an interest in this team. Don’t say it. Be careful what you wish for.”
Tommy couldn’t agree more. He needed to keep focused on his game. He’d just signed the contract with Thelma this morning. In three days it would be a fait accompli. But everything hinged on secrecy and timing. If things went smoothly, the question of the Beavers future—and his—was assured.
As long as nobody rocked the boat.
He was afraid the person who could do that was J.T. Green, because she was certainly rocking his.
J.T. sat on the bleachers and watched Tommy walk away. She hadn’t seen him all morning. Then he shows up long enough to ask her to dinner and leaves again. What the hell was with that?
He was picking her up at the motel. At seven. Wear something casual. It was astounding. And gratifying. And suspicious.
She was one of the guys. Which was the way it should be. She couldn’t see herself enjoying a candlelit dinner with Boskey or Danny Lewis. Of course Tommy said nothing fancy. He might just take her to one of those fast-food joints near the mall. Though probably not to Wendy’s.
Tommy may have been born and raised in Pennsylvania, but he’d seen the world since then. He was suave and cultured. Most of the time. He hung with movie stars, heiresses, and runway models. Hell, he’d married a model who was as greedy as she was gorgeous.
He was used to sophisticated women, and J.T. was afraid that she didn’t have a sophisticated bone in her body. She didn’t go on many dates. She’d had only a few halfhearted relationships; she’d always been too busy trying to please her father. The realization appalled her. It made her sound pitiful.
She pushed the last thought to a back burner. She didn’t want to pull out her life and analyze it right now. She wanted to go out with Tommy. Then go home with him. She wanted to have hot, sweaty sex with him. See if the pressroom gossip was true that the speed of his fast ball was proportional to the size of his—He pitched 102 mph.
It was too much temptation.
She shook herself, concentrated on the afternoon practice. She wouldn’t think about tonight. Things would take care of themselves.
Tommy could figure it out. If he wanted to. If he was even thinking about sex. But didn’t they all? He was a baseball player after all.
Tommy parked outside number twelve at the Night n Day. He was nervous and his shoulder hurt, just from tossing a few balls to the kids that afternoon. And from tension.
He was a little concerned about what he and J.T. were going to talk about over dinner. He was even more concerned about how he was going to handle the after-dinner part. His nerves were stretched. He had to consciously prevent himself from second guessing his actions.
An unknown future was looming before him. And he was going on a date. Well, at least it would be distracting. Too distracting, maybe. And it got even more distracting when J.T. opened the door.
Her hair was clipped up on one side; the rest fell past her shoulders. It was the first time he’d seen her without the ponytail and he wanted to spear his fingers through it and march her right back inside.
She hadn’t gotten too dressed up. A lot of women thought “casual” meant heels, pearls, the whole thing, then acted like they were being casual.
Not J.T. Green. She was wearing tight black jeans and a fuzzy sweater.
“You look great.” And smell great, and would feel great if I just pushed you back through that door and—
She smiled at him. “Thanks. You look nice, too.” She closed her door.
He hurried to open the passenger door for her.
She got inside, drawing Tommy’s more than willing body with her. He recovered just in time not to embarrass himself, shut the door, and walked around to the driver’s side. Maybe they should skip dinner.
She watched him with a half-amused expression as he backed out of the parking space. Had she guessed what he was thinking? Was she thinking the same thing?
“Nice car.”
Oh.
“With all the amenities.” Like me. “Do you like barbeque? There’s a place just outside the town limits that has the best ribs for hundreds of miles.”
“I love ribs.”
“Great.” And wasn’t he just being a great conversationalist?
They didn’t talk all the way through town. Well, he was doing what he was supposed to be doing. Keeping her out of trouble. Keeping her away from the players.
Boring the hell out of her. Well, he was certainly doing that. If the evening kept up this way, she’d be packed up and heading for the highway before dessert.
<
br /> Which would be a good thing. Except he really…well, he was getting used to her hanging around. Doofus. She’s been here less than a week. Well, you could get used to someone in a short time. And besides she had a cute little body that really got his motor running. She’s Abe Green’s daughter. So what? He’d be respectful. Wouldn’t tear the buttons off her clothes or anything. She wasn’t wearing buttons. He grinned to himself.
“Watch out!”
Tommy swerved back into the lane.
“Sorry, my mind was wandering.” He was such an ass. Now she’d think he wasn’t paying enough attention to her. “I was thinking about you.”
He glanced at her; she eased away from him.
Great. Now he’d scared her. What was the matter with him? He usually had to beat women away just to get out of the clubhouse. Is this what happened when you were an ex–baseball player? Suddenly people didn’t think you were so hot anymore?
A cold chill ran up his spine. He hadn’t allowed himself to think what his personal life would be like after baseball. He was prepared financially for the future, but not for life as an everyday kind of guy. The mere thought scared him shitless.
“S-o-o-o,” he said. “How do you like Gilbeytown so far?”
She looked at him like he was crazy. Maybe he was.
“I haven’t seen much of it yet. I’ll give myself a tour on the team’s day off.”
Tommy nodded. Another brilliant opening. So far he was 3 and 0. He needed to get one over the plate or she’d be walking right out of his life.
Which is what she was supposed to be doing. Strategy, remember? Intentional walk. But he wasn’t ready for her to go. Ah, hell. Sal’s was just a few minutes away.
At least while he was chewing, he couldn’t say anything stupid.
Chapter 11
Sal’s was a wood shack with a neon sign winking out SAL’S BARBEQUE, THE BEST IN THE EAST. There was a screened porch to one side, and even though the temperature had dropped considerably along with the sun, it was crowded with people eating at long picnic tables.
While J.T. was taking it in, Tommy managed to get out of the car and around to open her door.