Whatever It Takes

by Elizabeth Perry

  The dirty part of my mind has a lot of things to add to the list of things that I want her to do daily and weekly.

  But it’s too soon to roll all of that out. So instead, I just walk towards her, shamelessly staring her up and down before grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge.

  “Ave’s, I mean. I really don’t need you to do much cleaning.”

  “You hired me to be your housekeeper. I’m pretty sure that includes cleaning.”

  Her eyes level with mine, and, since this is all new, I simply shrug.

  “Fine. We can go over that while we eat.”

  “Good.” She turns her attention back to the skillet. “This should be ready in a few.”

  I lean back against the counter, taking long sips of my water and pretending to busy myself reading the newspaper when in all reality, the only thing that I am paying attention to here is her.

  Her sleep shorts are tiny, and coupled with just a sports bra and thin tank top? There is a whole lot of Avery on display.

  And my dick takes full notice.

  She glances up at me, catching me in my stare, so I force my eyes back down to the newspaper.

  I flip the page, noticing an entire page with circles all over it.

  I look harder before my eyes snap up.

  “What’s this?”

  She glances towards me in confusion. “A newspaper?”

  “Obviously.” I roll my eyes. “I mean, why do you have all of this stuff circled?”

  “It’s not stuff.” She wrinkles up her nose. “I’m looking for a car.”

  “You don’t need a car.” I finish, before crumpling up the newspaper and tossing it into the trash.

  “Seriously?” She snatches it back out before setting it on the counter further away from me. “Why would you do that? I actually spent time this morning going through all of those.”

  “Avery. Those cars you circled all sound like hunks of junk. You don’t need a car. You can just use one of mine.”

  “I am not using one of your cars. I am perfectly capable of buying my own.”

  I cross the room to the counter, snatching the paper back up and narrowing my eyes.

  “A 1995 Dodge Neon. Really?”

  She shrugs. “Sounds good on gas.”

  “Sounds like a damn deathtrap!” I slam the paper back down before crossing my arms. “You are not buying something like that. No fucking way.”

  The spatula is slammed down, and Avery spins, crossing her arms and giving me a hard stare.

  “Eric. Listen. I already agreed to work for you, which, trust me. Took a lot for me, ok? And now? You want to try to tell me what kind of car I can or can’t have? No. You need to chill out. The cars circled are what I can afford. So, let it be.”

  “What I am saying is, it’s ridiculous for you to buy a car when I have five. You can have whichever one you want. Or hell. If you don’t like any of them? I’ll get you something different! Something safe. For you and for Jacks.”

  “Nope.” She waves me away, before turning around and grabbing a couple of plates from the cabinet. “You don’t get to leverage my son at me in every argument. I’m a safe driver. Enough said.”

  “Ave’s.”

  “Eric.” She spins, glaring at me. “Do not push it right now.”

  We stand, staring at each other, each of us with spread legs and arms crossed, ready for a full-blown fight.

  Her eyes narrow as her nostrils flare, and I’m sure I look exactly the same. But I also know that I don’t want to push her too far on day one.

  I have to tread somewhat lightly here until I can start to try to win her back.

  S,o I’m the first one to cave. For the moment, at least.

  “Fine.” I throw my hands up as she smirks, before turning back towards the stove.

  Even though?

  This argument is far from over.

  “Ok.” She grins, before handing me a plate filled with food. “Good. I’m glad we can move on.”

  I sink down into a chair at the table, and she takes the one across from me.

  “Where’s the little guy?”

  “Sleeping.” She grins. “He never wakes up this early. He won’t wake up until around ten.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “Yeah. It is, for those rare days when I get to sleep in. But most days, I just take advantage of having a few hours in the morning to get the things that I need to do done before he wakes up.”

  “I have no idea how you do it,” I tell her, meaning every damn word.

  Avery has always been a very strong woman, even when she was just a kid. But managing everything that she has on her own with a child?

  Hell.

  It’s pretty damn remarkable.

  My own mother was a single mom, but she never managed shit.

  As far back as I can remember, I was pretty much on my own. Sure, she’d put a roof over our head, always temporary and only until the eviction notices were completed of course, but that was about it.

  I always had to scrounge for food, rely on free school lunches, was always on my own for any clothing and hell-sports equipment.

  But Avery?

  Sure, she was living in a bad neighborhood, but it was all in an effort to finish school and give her son a better life.

  Can’t hate on her for that.

  “Seriously. I mean it.” I tell her, when she begins to roll her eyes.

  “You’ve managed to take care of yourself and your son, all while working towards your goals. You’ve provided for him as best you can, and honestly? I think it’s pretty damn remarkable what you’ve done.”

  “Thanks.” She smiles at me, before looking back down at her plate.

  “It hasn’t been easy, that’s for sure. And a lot of times, I’ve wanted to give up. But I can’t give up on giving my son a better life. He’s pretty much my driving force with everything that I do.”

  “Thank god for that.” I grin at her, making her laugh. “Because if it weren’t for him, you would have never agreed to be here. And then that would mean, I would not be eating this delicious breakfast surprise right now.”

  Or staring across the table at the most beautiful woman in the world. But, of course, I leave that part out.

  “Well, hotshot. I’m glad that you like it.”

  “I really do.”

  We both turn our attention back to our breakfast, not speaking again until Avery begins to gather up the dishes.

  “No way,” I tell her, grabbing them out of her hands.

  “I don’t care what you think your job consists of. You cooked, I clean. That’s the way that it goes.”

  “Fine. I’m not going to argue there.” She grins as I carry the dishes to the dishwasher and begin to load it.

  “So, before you head out for the day, can we still go over that schedule? Or, if you don’t have time? You could always just email it to me, or text it.” She shrugs.

  “ I just need to form a plan for cleaning, and cooking. I just want to know which nights you’ll be home so that I can plan accordingly.”

  “Yeah. Sure. I have a couple hours before I need to be at the field today.”

  “Ok. Good.” She nods, grabbing out a pad of paper and a pen.

  “Can we start with a grocery list? I mean, I just need to know your usual stuff. What things I need to buy each week. The rest I can handle on my own.”

  We go over the list and then move onto cleaning. I basically give her no direction there, since frankly, I could care less whether or not she cleans a thing.

  My whole goal here was just to get her back into my house, and hopefully, back into my bed. After that, I’m certain that I can win back her heart.

  But for now, baby steps.

  I give her Laci’s contact information for the game itinerary, and then, we are left with nothing else to go over.

  “Alrighty. Thanks, Eric. I’ll get to work on this stuff, and, I guess I will see you later on.”

  “Ok. But Ave’s?”r />
  “Yeah?” She glances back at me, as I motion to the keys hanging from the board on the wall.

  “Take whichever car you want. Just promise me? You won’t go out and buy some piece of shit behind my back.”

  “Ok.” She shrugs, before spinning back around and heading towards the stairs.

  It doesn’t pass over me that she didn’t promise anything.

  I’ll just have to work on that more later.

  “SO, TELL ME. EXACTLY what is the matter with you? Why did you hire that woman to work for you? Must be some pretty phenomenal ass there, Waynsie. Because if not? You really screwed up, man.”

  I shake my head at Brock, before picking up my bat.

  “Listen. There’s more to the story, ok? And frankly, it’s none of your damn business.”

  “Ohhh. Somebody struck a nerve.” Brock cackles, before turning his attention to the rest of the guys. “Waynsie’s got it bad, friends. So bad, that I think he’s lost his mind.”

  “Brock,” I warn my voice a low growl. “Watch yourself.”

  “If I could, I totally would. Obviously.” He rolls his eyes. “There is nothing that I would rather watch than myself. And a hot babe of course.”

  Everyone groans.

  “I’m just trying to look out for you, buddy. She’s got a kid and hell. That means all kinds of baggage. She probably sees you as a one-way ticket to easy living. And honestly? I’m a bit disappointed that you didn’t see that for yourself.”

  I throw down my bat, before spinning around and squaring my stance, locking eyes with him.

  “It’s not even like that, Brock, and I swear to God, man. Just drop it, ok? Because you are accomplishing nothing here except pissing me off.”

  “Whoa. Easy there Waynsie. I’m just trying to be a friend here. It just doesn’t seem like you, ok? She didn’t get pregnant or anything right?”

  A hush falls over the dugout, as all eyes turn my way. I just shake my head, before cracking my neck side to side.

  “Oh, shit. She did.” His whole face falls. “Fuck. I’m so sorry man...”

  “She’s not pregnant.”

  Fuck, wouldn’t that be awesome? That’s a guarantee to keep her around...I’ll have to add that into my bag of tricks if nothing else works...

  “She’s my ex.”

  “You have an ex?” Eddie Cruz looks shocked, making me roll my eyes.

  “Everybody has an ex, Eddie.”

  “Not everybody.” Brock wags his finger. “Brock has never been tied down to a babe before.”

  “That’s only because you could never find anyone that stupid,” Jake interjects, and the silence is filled with laughter, making Brocks eyes narrow.

  “Oh, please. I could be tied down if I wanted to. I just don’t prefer that kind of lifestyle.”

  “Uh huh.” Jake chuckles, before smacking me on the shoulder.

  “Don’t listen to him, man. I think it’s cool that you hired her.”

  “She needed a job, and she’s going to grad school here.” I shrug. “Seemed like the right thing to do.”

  No way am I going to admit the truth. At least not to these guys, at least.

  They would razz me endlessly if I told them that I basically had to beg her to come here, and, well. That it was the only way possible to get her to even be around me so that I had even a tiny chance at winning her back.

  “Sounds dangerous, Waynsie. Just be careful, man. She may be after the golden ticket, and, I don’t want you to end up like some guys have.”

  Ryan James glares at Brock before shaking his head.

  “I’m sure that was directed at me. And for the record? I fucking love my kid, so to me, it was totally worth it.”

  “I was not referring to you, but, yeah, I guess. You are a damn good example of that.”

  Ryan growls something under his breath, but luckily, Coach comes barreling into the dugout before things can take a turn for the worst.

  Ryan is actually a prime example of relationships gone wrong, I mean, aside from my own crash and burn relationship of the past with Avery.

  He married some girl that he met during an away series. Some girl that up and got into his bed on the first night and somehow finagled her way into his heart.

  He lost his mind and married her way too soon, getting her pregnant shortly after that. All seemed good for the first year, but then, shit hit the fan.

  He came home after we won the world series two years ago, only to find her in bed with two other dudes.

  The guy went seriously nuts after that, and damn near lost everything. A few months later, things reached an all-time high on the shit meter, when the DNA test results came back and he found out that his kid wasn’t even his.

  There was a lot of interventions that went on immediately after that, because, well?

  Ryan was about to commit murder. And who can blame him?

  He’s a good guy, a true blue, good fucking man. And that woman did him so wrong. After the storm calmed, his mind cleared, and he took back the control. He was already in love with his kid, obviously, so he hired the best damn attorneys that money could buy and took that bitch to court.

  Since the kid wasn’t biologically his, they gave him the option of cutting ties or basically, getting fucked.

  He chose the getting fucked.

  He now pays a shit ton of child support and alimony on a kid that isn’t even his, just because he couldn’t stand the thought of losing him.

  But it isn’t like that with Avery, not by a long shot.

  She isn’t even remotely interested in my money, or in gaining anything by being with me.

  Hell, Avery wanted me back when I was a nothing. And had I not cheated, and not ever made it pro? She would have still loved me.

  Which makes knowing what I lost with her even fucking harder.

  “You clowns done fucking around?” Coach growls. “We have a game to play.”

  “Yes, Coach.” Is echoed through the dugout, before he nods, stepping out and taking his place leaning against the dugout.

  “Alright. All shit aside.” Jake draws everyone’s attention. “Let’s get out there and kick some ass.”

  “YOU DIDN’T ANSWER MY question on the bus.” Jake chirps into my ear through the phone.

  “Dude. I literally just left you.”

  “I know that you did, but you brushed me off. It was like talking to a damn wall.”

  “Uh, yeah. Well, my minds...”

  “I know.” He chuckles softly, and even though we’re on the phone, I can totally see him shaking his head. “Your mind is somewhere else.”

  “Yeah.” I blow out my breath, before punching in the code to my gate and turning my car down the driveway.

  “I totally get it, man. But Laci needs to know if you’re bringing a date.”

  “Ah.” Fuck. I blow out my breath, as I speed down the driveway. “I mean, I don’t know about that yet. But, I’ll know soon.”

  “Ok. To save myself some grief, I’m just gonna tell her yes. This baby is making her crazy, man. If I don’t give her an answer to her questions immediately, she hounds me. Fucking hounds me about it until I figure it out. She’s lost her mind.”

  The softness of his voice completely gives him away, and I know that even though his wife may be making him crazy?

  He’s absolutely crazy about her and wouldn’t have it any other way.

  “The struggle, man.”

  “It’s real, I’ll tell you that. So, I’m gonna tell her two tickets. If that changes or if she says no, you can find another date, right?”

  Fuck.

  “Yeah, sure.”

  Like hell, I’d bring anyone else...but odds are?

  If I approach Avery with being my date for our charity ball in a few weeks? She’s going to tell me no.

  Flat out, hell no.

  I need to do some wining and dining first...but before I can do that?

  I need to actually have her around me.

  She’s been h
ere, living in my house for over a week. Besides our very first day here together, I’ve barely gotten to see her or spend any time with her.

  But I’ve got the next three days off.

  And dammit all, I’m going to use every moment to my advantage.

  I pull into the driveway and am about to drive towards the garage when a car in the front grabs my attention. I turn away from the garage, pulling further down the driveway, and parking directly behind it.

  My blood boils as I step out, stepping towards the car, taking in the temporary tag hanging on the back.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I growl to myself, as I stare at the tiny ass piece of shit that I guarantee, is Avery’s car.

  I turn towards the house, taking the steps two at a time, before flinging open the door and slamming it behind me.

  “Ave’s?” I call out, trying to keep the anger from showing in my voice, even though it is fucking radiating off me right now.

  “I’m in here.” She calls out from the study.

  I peak my head in as she hops up from where she is lounging in a chaise, covered in a throw blanket and drinking a glass of wine.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” I growl, stopping once I am standing directly in front of her.

  Her jaw drops open, and she begins to stand, after setting her wine glass down on the table.

  “Eric? What’s the matter? You look like you’re about to kill someone.”

  “Remember what we talked about last week?”

  A blank expression crosses her face as she shakes her head. “Um, not exactly?”

  “I told you, that you were not going to buy a piece of fucking shit car. I told you, that you would drive one of mine. And yet, you went ahead, and bought a piece of fucking shit!”

  My arms are flying around like a crazy person, but I so do not give a fuck.

  I am furious at her, so freaking livid that I can’t even stand it.

  And even though I have no right to be?

  The fact that she is a stubborn ass pisses me off.

  “Are you kidding me right now?” She steps towards me, anger flashing in her eyes. “Who in the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that? You are not the boss of me.” Her finger presses into my chest hard as she glares at me.