The Winning Season

by Alison Packard

  “Dorie has to be calm. For Lily.” Matt rested his hand on her shoulder. It was warm, comforting. “Inside, she’s just as frightened as we are. Probably more.”

  “So you admit it,” she said and turned from the counter. Matt lowered his hand from her shoulder. “You’re scared.”

  “Yes.” He searched her face with haunted eyes. “I admit it, but it doesn’t make me feel any better.”

  “I wish I had some ice cream,” she said, longing for something to take her mind off of Lily and what she was going through.

  His lips quirked in a smile. “Is that your weakness? Ice cream?”

  “It used to be.”

  “What’s your weakness now?” Matt lifted his hand and brushed her hair back from her face with gentle fingers. She shivered, suddenly aware of how close he was. A warning voice inside her head implored her to step back, but she couldn’t move. His mesmerizing eyes held her captive.

  “I don’t have one.” Well, that wasn’t quite true. Her knees felt a little weak. Almost like rubber. Did that count? “What’s yours?” she asked as his fingers slid slowly, reverently, down the length of her hair.

  “Do you really want to know?” His gaze lowered to her lips and his husky voice sent a shiver of anticipation down her spine. For a long moment she couldn’t speak, her senses were filled with the scent of warm spice, and the smoldering heat in his eyes sent a jolt of sexual energy through her body that rocked her to her core.

  “Yes.” Her breath caught in her throat when he moved his hand behind her head and threaded his fingers in the long strands of her hair. He lifted his gaze from her lips to stare deeply into her eyes. Time stood still. Her heart, not so much. It was pounding like crazy.

  “Right now. You are,” Matt whispered, then fisted his hand in her hair, leaned forward and captured her mouth in a kiss that made her head reel. With a low moan, she pressed the softness of her body into the hardness of his, reveling in the forceful demand of his mouth.

  Sliding her arms around his waist, she arched against him and opened her mouth, eager for the taste and the feel of his tongue stroking hers. A lick of desire, hot and sizzling, ignited inside of her; she was burning up from the inside out. No longer able to deny the delicious heat of carnal attraction, she slid her hands under his sweater and touched his bare skin. It was warm and supple. He groaned against her mouth, splayed his other hand on her lower back and kissed her even more voraciously.

  Lost in a vortex of passion, she didn’t hear the sound of the front door opening, but Stacia’s voice managed to penetrate her consciousness.

  “Kelly?”

  Kelly froze and pulled her lips from Matt’s. He opened his eyes. They were dark and aroused.

  “Are you here?” Stacia called out and then Kelly heard the front door close.

  The sensual expression on Matt’s face turned to annoyance. Immediately, she dropped her arms from around his waist. He released her and moved to the other side of the kitchen, running a hand through his disheveled hair.

  “In here.” Kelly smoothed her palms down her skirt and took a deep breath. It didn’t help one bit—she was still feeling the effects of Matt’s blazing kiss. She didn’t look at him. She couldn’t if she was going to regain some semblance of normalcy. How the hell did he do it? She’d never been this turned on, this quickly.

  “My flight got in earlier than expected,” Stacia was saying as she entered the kitchen, still in her flight attendant uniform. As soon as Stacia saw Matt, she stopped in her tracks and stared at him, taken aback by his presence. “What are you doing here?” she asked and looked at Kelly. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” Kelly said in the most nonchalant voice she could muster. She didn’t want to discuss Lily with Stacia. “Matt has an interview tomorrow and we were going over some potential questions.”

  It was lame and she knew it. Even Stacia knew it. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion but she didn’t say a word. Instead she crossed the kitchen to open the refrigerator. “I’m hungry,” Stacia said, peering inside.

  “I was just leaving.” Matt moved past Stacia and headed for the living room. “Thanks for your help, Kelly.”

  “I’ll see you out,” Kelly said, trailing behind him and leaving Stacia in the kitchen. Watching him grab his sport coat, all she could think about was the kiss, and how pissed off she was that Stacia’s ill-timed arrival had interrupted it.

  Stepping around Stacia’s travel bag, she opened the door for Matt. Once he was in the hallway, she followed him out and closed the door behind her.

  “You’re a good liar.” His eyes flickered with amusement.

  “Thanks. I think.” She smiled, leaned against the door and let her gaze roam over his handsome face. Unable to resist, she focused on his lips and unconsciously licked hers.

  “Don’t do that,” Matt said in a low thick voice filled with frustration. Kelly knew the feeling. She was frustrated as hell right now.

  “Sorry.”

  “Your lips were already driving me crazy.”

  They were?

  “Will you let me know if you hear from Dorie tomorrow?” he asked as he pulled on his sport coat. The coat fit him like a glove and he looked devastatingly handsome in it, but at the moment what she really wanted was an up-close-and-personal look at what she’d glimpsed in the locker room a few weeks ago.

  “Of course,” she said and tamped down the erotic images running through her head. “Thank you for...for being here when I lost it.”

  “You’re welcome.” Matt lifted his hand to her cheek and caressed her skin. Kelly shivered. Good God. If the man could do that with a mere touch of his fingers, what could he accomplish with a full arsenal?

  Chapter Eleven

  Matt hated hospitals—with good reason. He was certain the children’s hospital at UCSF Medical Center was a top-notch facility but as he walked toward Lily’s room, the cloying antiseptic smell that all hospitals seemed to have, invaded his senses and triggered memories so vivid that the only reason he didn’t turn around and walk out was because it would hurt Lily’s feelings.

  When he’d returned from his morning run along the wharf, he’d discovered two voice mails on his cell phone. One was from Sean. It was short and to the point. Sean had proposed to Kayla and she’d accepted. There would be an engagement party next month and Sean and Kayla were trying to schedule it on one of the Blaze’s off days so Matt could attend. The other message was from Kelly. Even before he’d heard her husky voice, he’d been thinking about her. Kissing her last night hadn’t been planned, but he wasn’t one damn bit sorry it happened.

  Kelly’s voice mail was brief and also to the point. Dorie had called her again this morning and informed her that while Lily was improving, she would be staying in the hospital for a few more days for observation. She’d left him Lily’s room number and the visiting hours in case Matt wanted to pay her a visit.

  Clutching Lily’s birthday present, which he’d had the presence of mind to retrieve from Kelly’s car after he’d left her condo last night, he nodded at a nurse coming out of a patient’s room and then sidestepped a wheelchair being pushed by another nurse. In the chair was a young boy with a smooth bald head and an all-too-familiar pallor. Matt’s heart clenched and he dug his fingers into the gift-wrapped box.

  Engrossed in their conversation, neither the boy, nor the nurse, gave him a second glance. The boy was smiling at the nurse, who was gazing affectionately at her young charge. He’d witnessed, firsthand, the bond that could develop between seriously ill children and those who cared for them. He’d also witnessed the pain those nurses felt when their patients didn’t survive. More often than not, they were as devastated as the parents.

  Pushing away memories still too difficult to think about, he focused on room numbers and as he reached Lily’s room, Kelly walked out. Surprised to see her, he stopped short, the soles of his shoes making a squeaky sound on the shiny linoleum.

  “You got my message,” she said and hal
ted in front of him. She was dressed in her work clothes but that didn’t stop him from remembering how sexy she’d looked in the short skirt and knee-high boots she’d worn last night, or how perfectly her body had fit against his. As usual, her hair was pulled back into a ponytail; now that he knew how soft it was, he itched to pull the band from her hair and let it flow over her shoulders.

  “Lily will be thrilled to see you,” Kelly continued as she slipped the strap of her purse over her shoulder. Her demeanor was totally professional. There was no indication she was at all affected by the kiss they’d shared last night. It irritated him. He wanted her as hot and bothered by that kiss as he was. “She’s already antsy to go home.”

  “I don’t blame her.” Matt couldn’t help but grimace. He’d just gotten here and, despite his affection for Lily, he couldn’t wait to get the hell out.

  “I see you brought her birthday present,” she said with a smile. Unable to resist, he focused on her full lips and felt the thick beat of lust in his blood. What the hell was happening? He’d kissed at least a dozen women in the past year but none of them had left him like this—aching for more. Furthermore, none of them had ever tempted him to talk about the most devastating thing that had ever happened to him. But last night he’d almost spilled his guts. He wasn’t sure if it was because she’d come close to figuring it out, or if it was the genuine compassion he’d seen in her eyes. For one crazy moment he’d believed that maybe, just maybe, confiding in Kelly would set him free.

  “Matt?”

  “Sorry. What did you say?” he asked, meeting her puzzled gaze.

  “I asked if you wanted me to wait and drive you back to the ballpark. Did you take a taxi here?”

  “No. I drove. The SUV I’m renting has GPS.”

  “Well, then, I’ll see you later.” She pulled her keys from the side pocket of her purse. “I’ve got a meeting with Rizzo in an hour.”

  “Why?”

  The change in Kelly’s expression reminded him of a stormy day—dark and foreboding. “Just a discussion about media policy.”

  Her vague answer meant that Rizzo was probably doing something he shouldn’t—par for the course for the arrogant bastard. He didn’t envy her having to deal with the guy, but if anyone could put Rizzo in his place, it was her. Funny how the one thing that used to piss him off about her now garnered his admiration. Kelly Maxwell was tough, but inside there was a softness not many people got the opportunity to see.

  “Good luck with that,” he said with a grin.

  “Thanks. I’ll need it.”

  Matt watched her walk down the corridor and admired the gentle sway of her hips that even the pants and blazer couldn’t conceal. Tearing his gaze from her, he turned and stepped inside Lily’s room. It was eerily similar to the last hospital room he’d been in. Right down to the sterile white walls and vertical blinds in the windows.

  “Matt.” Lily looked up from the baseball she was holding, a happy grin wreathing her face. “You came.”

  “Was there ever any doubt?” He moved into the room and managed a grin even as it broke his heart to see Lily hooked up to a monitor that continuously flashed her vital signs and beeped ominously. He swallowed hard and managed to keep a smile on his face. “Where’s your mom?” he asked, looking around the room. There was another bed, but it was empty.

  “She went home to shower and change. She’s bringing me some books to read.” Lily pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose and held up the baseball. The bed was in an upright position and despite the paleness of her face she seemed in good spirits. “Look, Matt. Kelly gave me this ball. It’s signed by all the Blaze players.”

  “Sweet. Trade you,” Matt said and took the ball from Lily’s outstretched hand while he handed her the gift he’d planned to give to her last night.

  “What you’d get me?” Lily asked as she eyed the rectangular box wrapped with baseball-themed gift wrap he’d found at the drugstore not far from his building.

  “Open it and find out.” Instead of tearing off the paper, Lily painstakingly slid her index finger under each flap to loosen the tape. Then she turned the box over and did the same with the tape along the long seam down the middle. “Are you saving the paper or something?” he asked with amusement as he moved to the visitor chair next to the bed and sat down.

  Lily giggled and gave him a shy smile. “I like to open presents super slow. It lasts longer that way.”

  Matt eased back in the chair. “I never thought about it like that.”

  While Lily carefully removed the gift wrap he took the opportunity to observe her. She was extremely frail. Kelly said Lily was supposed to have heart surgery in a few weeks. Was she strong enough to survive it? Surely they wouldn’t operate until she’d regained some strength, would they? Maybe they didn’t have the luxury of more time. That was something he’d learned the hard way.

  Gazing at Lily’s downturned face, his heart constricted and a lump formed in his throat. In the past year, he’d frequently questioned the existence of God. For if there was a God, how could He let innocent children suffer? It didn’t make sense, and it never would.

  Lily set the gift wrap beside her on the bed and then lifted the lid off the box. She pushed away the orange-and-black tissue paper decorated with the Blaze insignia and let out a squeal of delight. “OMG,” she said as she lifted the warm-up jacket out of the box and clutched it to her chest. “I love it,” she said, staring at him, her eyes filled with wonder. “How did you know I wanted this?”

  Matt shrugged. “Just a hunch.”

  Her smile faltered as she lowered the jacket. “I’d put it on but I’ve got all these wires...” She looked down at the wires attached to her chest and coming out of the arm of her hospital gown. When she looked up, the fear in her eyes hit him hard, like a sucker punch.

  “Lily.” He leaned forward, set the autographed baseball on the bed and reached for her hand. “Are you okay?”

  “I have to have surgery,” she whispered, blinking rapidly behind her wire-rimmed glasses to keep her unshed tears at bay.

  “I know.”

  “I’m scared.”

  “I would be too.” Matt kept his voice calm even though his stomach was churning. He had no clue how to comfort her. It reminded him of how helpless he’d felt last year. How despite his money and his fame, he wasn’t able to do a damn thing to save the most important person in his life. “That’s normal for anyone having surgery.”

  A tear trickled slowly down Lily’s cheek. “I want to see the Blaze win the World Series before I die.”

  “You’re not going to die,” he said, unable to prevent his eyes from becoming moist.

  “Everyone dies.” Lily’s tone was matter-of-fact and much too serious for a ten-year-old girl. Life wasn’t fair. Nothing illustrated that more than the brave little girl in front of him.

  “That’s true.” Matt blinked as he nodded. “No one gets a pass on that.”

  “I asked God to send you to the Blaze because I knew you could help them win the World Series.” Lily sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “If you win tonight, you’ll be in first place. And if you keep winning I know you can get to the World Series. But Mommy said my surgery is going to be sometime next month.”

  “So it’ll be over in time for you to watch the Series in October.” Matt pasted a smile on his face. “Perfect timing.” Lifting his hand, he brushed the tears from Lily’s cheeks with his fingers. “How about we make a deal?”

  Lily tilted her head and frowned. “What kind of deal?”

  “From now until the day of your surgery, I want you to do everything your doctor and your mom tell you to do.” He paused to move several wispy dark strands of hair out of her eyes. “If you do that, I promise to win the World Series for you.”

  Lily regarded him with nothing short of skepticism. “Even you can’t do that all by yourself.”

  “Sure I can,” he assured her. “I’ve got two MVP awards, six Gold Gloves
, a few batting titles, and I’ve got one of the best pitching rotations in Major League Baseball.”

  Lily bit her lower lip and nodded. “Okay. I promise to do everything Mommy and Doctor Mike tell me to do.”

  “Good girl,” he said softly. “Now tell me about the food in this place. Does it suck?”

  * * *

  “Damn him,” Kelly muttered as she glanced at her watch. Rizzo was a no-show. Why wasn’t she surprised? Mainly because the jerk thought he was God’s gift to baseball, and that he was allowed to do whatever he damn well pleased just because he’d won two Cy Young awards.

  We’ll see about that. She would talk to Dave Rizzo today even if she had to go out on the damn field to do it.

  “Kelly?”

  Kelly turned from her desk to see Angie leaning against the door frame with a pensive expression on her face. “Got a minute?”

  “I’ve got more than a minute. My appointment didn’t show so I’m free for the next half hour.”

  Angie ventured into the office and took a seat in the chair opposite the desk. She wore a navy blue wrap dress with an adorable red cardigan over it. Somehow Angie was able to wear just about anything and look fabulous. That was the advantage of not being six feet tall.

  “Was it one of the players?” Angie asked.

  “Yes.” Kelly picked up her pen and began doodling stars on the notepad in front of her. “I haven’t talked to you since the game the other night.” She stopped doodling and looked up. “I heard J.T. went to Kamu’s with you.”

  Angie frowned, leaned back in the chair and linked her hands across her stomach. “Where’d you hear that?”

  “Matt mentioned it.” She pointed her pen at Angie and chuckled. “You’re turning an interesting shade of pink.”

  “I am not.” Angie shifted on the chair. “I just don’t like being the subject of gossip.”

  “Relax. There’s no gossip.” Kelly lowered her pen. “Wait. Is there something to gossip about?”