by Roz Lee
Tony Ramirez was a big man. His shoulders and barrel chest filled her doorway, but she barely saw him. What captured her attention was the man standing beside him. Her heart kicked into an atypical rhythm that had nothing to do with the coffee she’d consumed and everything to do with finding Royce Stryker on her doorstep.
“Sorry to get you out of bed so early. Can we come in?”
Tricia mentally kicked herself for not taking more care with her appearance. After splashing cold water on her face, she’d pulled on a well-worn pair of sweatpants beneath the over-sized college T-shirt she used as a nightie. She ran a hand over her hair, wishing she’d done more than slap at it with a brush and corral it with an elastic band.
“Sure.” She stepped back so the men could enter. Her place was adequate for one, but the two new arrivals seemed to take up all the available space in her living room. She closed the door then edged past them to the kitchen. “Coffee?”
“That’d be great,” Tony said.
“If it’s not any trouble,” Royce added.
She grabbed her empty mug off the counter, took two more from the cabinet and filled them. “Here you go. Make yourself at home while I put on another pot. Can I get you anything else? I think I have some cookies or something.”
She was rambling and she knew it, but seeing Royce in her apartment, just a few feet away from her bed had her nerves jumping. Her rational self knew the man was here to help his friend, not to see her. Her heart and her body wanted to believe otherwise, even though she’d seen him with another woman wrapped around him less than forty-eight hours ago.
“No. Don’t go to any trouble on our account.” Tony picked up one of the mugs and moved to the sofa, which looked ridiculously small once he’d sat.
“Coffee’s good.”
She risked a glance at Royce who remained standing while he sipped his coffee. If she reached out, she could touch him. “I’ll just get another pot started, then.”
Her hands shook as she measured the grounds into the paper filter. One of these days she planned to invest in one of the new style appliances you just popped a pod into. For once, she was grateful she hadn’t replaced her old model. Going through all the steps bought her a few extra minutes to get her conflicting emotions under control. She filled the carafe with water and dumped it into the reservoir then hit the brew button. After wiping the counter where she’d spilled grounds, she folded the dish towel and hung it neatly over the edge of the sink.
“You done in there?”
Royce. She glanced up. Her gaze locked with his. She was tired, too tired to hide her feelings for the man, so she flicked her gaze to the other man in the room. “I saw your catch on the news. It was spectacular.”
“Not if it ends my career.”
Tricia sat on the sofa next to Tony. “What happened? Was it the catch? The hard landing? The throw?”
“I don’t know. It could have been either, or some combination of all three. When I came up to throw, my arm felt fine, but adrenaline can mask a lot of symptoms. I certainly had the power to make the throw, but afterward….” He massaged his upper arm. “I felt this dull ache. It started near my shoulder then went all the way down to my elbow.”
“How is it now?”
“My range of motion sucks. My arm still aches, but I’m not sure if it’s because of the injury or from being immobilized for this long.”
“You said the MRI didn’t show anything.”
“Nothing conclusive. They thought I’d torn something, but it wasn’t evident. They took X-rays, too. No broken bones.”
“What’s the next step?”
“More doctors. More tests, I guess. I don’t have a clue. That’s why I’m here. You’ve got all the data from before. I was hoping you could hook me up again, gather some information on what’s going on in there now. If I know what’s wrong, I can fix it. Right?”
“That’s the theory.”
“Then let’s give it a try. You fixed Strikeout, you can fix me.”
She dipped her chin to keep either man from seeing the heat creeping into her cheeks. “If he said I fixed him, he lied. He did it all on his own.”
“We both know I couldn’t have done it without you.” Royce stood over them.
The crisp creases in his slacks reminded her of the night she’d knelt at his feet. He’d done wicked, wonderful things to her—things she would never forget. Her clit throbbed with remembered ecstasy.
“I understand why you might think your work didn’t help me, but can we agree to disagree for now? All Tony wants you to do is see if your fancy program can detect what’s wrong. If he can point the doctors in the right direction, then they can decide on a course of action.”
Muffled music broke the tension. Tony stood, pulling a cell phone from his pants pocket. “Clare. I forgot to call her when we landed.” Moving toward the kitchen, he raised the phone to his ear. “Hi, babe. Sorry, I forgot to call.”
Deciding the only way to afford Tony any privacy in her small place, she looked up, intent on engaging Royce in conversation. His smile wasn’t a happy one. “I’m sorry I barged in on you this morning. Tony didn’t want to make the trip alone.”
“You’re a good friend to come with him, but won’t the team miss you?”
“I was supposed to fly home tomorrow…today…anyway. I’m scheduled to pitch tomorrow.”
“I never knew pitchers got special treatment.”
“Didn’t you?” This time, his smile was downright wicked. “You certainly know how to make a pitcher feel special.”
Tricia darted a glance toward the man in the kitchen. “Royce!” she hissed.
“Don’t worry. He might suspect, but he doesn’t know anything for sure, and if he did, he’d keep his mouth shut. If you had any idea the shit Tony has done, you’d faint dead away.”
“What kind of sh…stuff?”
He held a hand up. “Not my story to tell.”
Tony walked back into the living room. “That was Clare, my wife. I told her she could come over. I hope that’s okay?”
Oh Lord. “I should put on some clothes.” She stood.
“You look fine,” Tony said. “Can you just hook me up, run the tests?”
“Let me get presentable.” No way was she letting the wife of a Major League Baseball player catch her in sweatpants and a sleep shirt. It was bad enough Royce and Tony had seen her at her worst. She made a quick dash for the bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
Standing in the tiny walk-in closet, she stripped to her panties. She had just fastened her bra when her bedroom door opened. The closet door swung outward, and since she lived alone, she kept it propped open with a brick. With nothing between her and whichever man was in her bedroom, she grabbed for the first thing she could get her hands on.
Royce filled the doorway. Her foolish heart did a flip-flop before she remembered he wasn’t hers. Whatever reason he had for cornering her, it wasn’t the reason she hoped it was. It never would be.
“Nice shirt.” His gaze tracked downward. The corners of his mouth lifted in a genuine smile.
Gripping the hanger in a tight fist, she let her hand drop to her side. What difference could a shirt make? He’d seen more of her than was revealed by her bra and panties. “What do you want?”
“To thank you for what you did for me, and to tell you, you didn’t have to leave. I wasn’t going to tell the press about us.”
If he’d thrown a fastball at her heart, he couldn’t have wounded her any deeper. She’d done nothing but think about what happened between them since she left Seattle. He had no way of knowing she’d seen him after the game with another woman, and she wasn’t going to tell him. Let him think what he would about her reasons for leaving. He was partially correct in his assumptions. She had fled for the reasons he stated, among others he’d never know. He’d clearly moved on, and she’d been afraid he would tell the world what a fraud she was. But before her plane touched down in Dallas, she’d come to another co
nclusion, one she suspected was the real reason she’d run away in the night. She’d fallen completely in love with Royce. If she’d needed proof her feelings weren’t returned, she’d gotten it in that touching scene in the parking lot after the game.
She’d been stupid to think there was anything between them. He’d never said he loved her, so she couldn’t expect him to suddenly declare his undying devotion to the world.
“I didn’t do anything….” She cut herself off before the words, but love you, spilled out. “You worked it out on your own.”
“We both know what really happened, and I’m grateful. I just wanted you to know I’ll never forget what you did for me.”
Grateful. The word would have been a validation coming from anyone else, but from Royce, it made her feel cheap. The doorbell sounded, and they both looked in the direction of the living room.
“That was fast.” Tricia assessed the shirt she still held. A basic pullover style, it would do for now. She yanked it off the hanger. “Tell them I’ll be out in a minute.”
Instead of taking the hint, he took another step inside the closet. “I looked for you after the game. Why did you leave?”
She almost choked on the hysterical laughter trying to bubble out of her throat. Of all the things she thought he would say, she never thought he would lie to her. “I don’t want to talk about it. Not now, not ever.”
His gaze raked over her face, searching for a crack in her armor, she supposed. He must not have found what he was looking for because he took a step back.
With a silent nod, he exited the closet. Once she heard the bedroom door open and close, she grabbed for the clothes rod to steady herself. Her knees were weak, and her heart was racing. How many times could a heart be trampled on before it broke beyond repair?
Fuck! Royce pasted on a smile for the newcomer. He’d just left the woman he loved standing half naked in a closet for no good reason he could think of. As Tony introduced him to his wife, Royce went over all the ways he’d messed up with Tricia. The list seemed endless, but at the top was the fact he hadn’t told her he loved her.
He’d had every intention of saying the words to her a minute ago, but her cold reception had iced that idea. Besides, a woman deserved better than to hear those words spoken for the first time in a cluttered closet while strangers occupied her living room. Still, the words had nearly burned his lips, wanting to be out in the open.
While Tony and Clare enjoyed a sappy reunion he wouldn’t have thought possible for the Mustangs’ burly center fielder, Royce rummaged around in Tricia’s kitchen. He found another coffee mug in the cabinet nearest the sink. After filling it for Tony’s wife, he slid it across the counter. “Coffee, Clare?”
“Thanks.” The couple broke apart. Tony brought his mug to the kitchen for a refill while his wife sipped from her cup. “Nice game the other day.”
“You watched?” He refilled his and Tony’s mugs then leaned against the far counter, coffee in hand.
“I watch every game. I even DVR the ones I have to miss and watch them later.”
“You must have been crazy when you saw Tony get hurt.”
Her expression grew serious. “Crazy doesn’t even come close. If I could have leapt through the television set to be with him, I would have.” She snuggled up close to her husband’s uninjured side. He slid his good arm around her waist, pulling her closer. “I hope Dr. Reed can help him. The game means so much to him.”
“You think she can?” The hope in his teammate’s voice was evident.
“Maybe.” He’d been debating with himself all the way from Seattle over what, if anything, he should tell Tony about how Tricia had helped him. “Off the record?”
They both nodded, and Royce continued. “Without her, I wouldn’t be back in the game. She’ll tell you she didn’t do anything, but she isn’t being entirely truthful. The data she collected played a huge part in my comeback. However, there are aspects, details that will remain private. I don’t know if she can help you, but I believe in her work. I think it has enormous potential.”
“I knew you were hiding something, Strikeout.”
“Only to protect her. Her work is important. It doesn’t deserve to be ridiculed because of what happened between us.”
“I figured out you guys were in love with each other a long time ago. I can see how a personal relationship might compromise her research. That being said, I’m not a scientific scholar. I don’t give a flying fuck about propriety or conflict of interest. I just need to fix my arm, and fast. The lady doctor can be as inappropriate with me as she needs to be as long as it helps get me back on the field.”
“Hey!” Clare gave her husband a playful punch in the gut. “All inappropriate behavior gets cleared through me. Okay?”
Tony’s smile for his wife was tender. “Always, my queen. Always.”
Tricia’s reemergence from the bedroom spared Royce from witnessing another PDA from the loving couple.
“Good morning.” Tricia scooted past the entwined couple to join Royce in the kitchen. Introductions were made then she refilled her coffee mug and took a sip. She was sunshine fresh in white denim jean shorts and the yellow top she’d been clutching to her chest when he walked in on her. Her hair was in a clip at her nape and her feet were bare. He wrapped his hands tight around his coffee mug to keep from touching her. He seriously doubted Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez would mind if he fucked Tricia on the kitchen counter in front of them, given the stories he’d heard about the couple, but he couldn’t say the same for Tricia.
“What a lovely necklace.” Tricia went up on tiptoe and leaned across the counter to admire the gold and diamond bauble around Clare’s neck.
Royce went hard as stone at the sight of Tricia’s ass pointed in his direction.
“It’s very special to me,” the other woman said. “I’m never without it.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it. Where did you get it?”
He had to do something to get Tricia off the subject of Clare’s necklace. If the rumors he’d heard were true, that was a conversation he didn’t want to be a part of. Royce opened the refrigerator and peered inside. “You have anything to eat in here? I’m starving.”
Tricia turned to look at him. “Not much. Eggs. Bread. Cheese. Basics.”
“Anyone want breakfast?”
“Yes.” All three answered in unison.
Royce chuckled. “Why don’t we try the chorus again? I think a couple of you were off key.”
“Shut the fuck up and cook, Strikeout. We haven’t got all day, and Dr. Reed needs to take a look at my arm.”
“Okay, okay. But no complaints.” He pulled the egg tray out and set it on the counter.
“I can help,” Clare said.
He was grateful for Clare’s offer since he knew less than nothing about cooking. He’d learned enough by trial and error to get by since Hannah left him, but no one would call him a chef. Tony’s wife took charge, assigning him easy tasks that allowed him to keep an eye on the other couple. Tony had stripped off his shirt, and Tricia was busy applying the wired electrodes to his upper body.
He snuck a glance at the woman beside him. She was busy stirring the scrambled eggs and didn’t seem in the least bit fazed by what was going on in the other room. He wished he could be as calm. For Tricia, the procedure was nothing more than a science experiment, but Royce’s gut twisted at the sight of her hands on another man.
The woman had brought him back to life in more ways than one, and he was going to win her over, some way, somehow.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Tricia focused on the man in front of her. What had occurred between her and Royce was best forgotten. She had to admit, it meant a lot he hadn’t discouraged Tony from coming to her for help. He’d said he believed her work played a part in his recovery. Just because he couldn’t tell the world how she’d helped him didn’t mean he wasn’t sincere.
She attached the last wire then plugged the ends into the box that
would translate the electrical impulses into quantifiable data. Turning to her subject, she waved a hand at the box. “All set.”
Tony held his right forearm cradled to his chest, supporting his injured limb without the sling he’d been wearing when he arrived.
“This is going to be painful, but can you let your arm hang naturally to your side?”
A light sheen of sweat coated Tony’s face by the time she had put him through the same routine she’d used to gather his baseline data.
“I’ve got enough for now,” she said, disconnecting the wires from the box. She helped him put the sling back on, leaving the electrodes attached for the time being. “Let’s eat. Afterward, I’ll take a look at the data, make sure I have good readings. If so, then you can go. It’ll take me a while to run the comparisons.”
Clare insisted on cleaning the kitchen before she and Tony left for his appointment with the medical staff at the stadium. Tricia thanked the woman then got to work on the new data sets. She was so absorbed in her analysis she didn’t look up until she heard her front door close. She blinked to refocus her eyes. Everyone had gone except Royce.
“Aren’t you going with them?”
“No. I said I’d stay behind. If you find anything, Tony wants you to bring it over to the stadium. With everyone still out of town, security wouldn’t let you in by yourself.”
He was right. Her pass was only good when the team was in town. If she wanted in the stadium, she’d need him to escort her in. “Thanks. You’ve got to be tired. Why don’t you go home, get some rest? I’ll call if I need you…I mean, if I want to go to the stadium.”
Much to her dismay, the man kicked off his shoes and stretched out on her sofa. “No car. We took a limo from the airport.”
“My keys are on the table by the door. I won’t be going anywhere.” Having him this close, being alone with him was wreaking havoc with her body systems. She didn’t have time to deal with any of the malfunctions going on. Not the ache to have him inside her. Not the pain of knowing he would never be hers. Not the hollow feeling where her heart was supposed to be. Not the eat-gallons-of-ice cream despair weighing her down.