Playing for Keeps (Feeling the Heat Book 6)

by Alison Packard

  Rick’s unyielding expression didn’t change. “How did he die?”

  “He was shot. He had some of my things and told me that he’d throw them away if I didn’t come pick them up. He said he’d put them in a box on his porch. When I got there the front door was ajar. I looked inside, saw him lying on the floor, and called 911. The police questioned me several times and finally cleared me, but by then the damage was done. Bryce’s friends and family members told anyone that would listen that I was the one who’d killed him. Almost the entire town believed I was a slut and a murderer. I got fired from my job and Danny started getting bullied in school. I came back to San Francisco to get him away from all of that and I started working two jobs to save money so I could move across the country and escape from all of the bad things that happened to me in California. But then I met you, and I didn’t want to leave anymore.”

  He studied her, his eyes still unreadable. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

  She spread her hands, beseeching him to understand. “Do you think any of that is something I wanted to share with you? I was afraid of losing you,” she whispered as tears formed in her eyes. She blinked to hold them back, but they fell anyway

  Rick dragged a hand through his hair. “You really don’t know me at all, do you? We rushed into this thing before really getting to know each other. Being in a relationship, a serious one, means trusting the other person enough to share important information and I don’t think I can be with someone who obviously doesn’t trust me.”

  “So this is it? It’s over?”

  Rick folded his arms over his chest and stared at her with eyes that were hard and inscrutable. “Answer me this; if someone else hadn’t found out about your past would you have ever told me about it?”

  “I’d like to think so,” she said as she wiped at the wetness on her cheeks with her fingers. “But I...I don’t know.”

  The cold glitter of his gaze turned her blood to ice. “I think you should leave. Now.”

  Amy’s shoulders sagged as the fragile hope inside of her was snuffed out. She’d told him the truth, but it was too late and now her heart was breaking into a million tiny pieces. Turning, she managed to keep her composure until she left the gym. But once the door shut softly behind her, the pain closed in on her, the weight of it crushing her until she felt like she couldn’t breathe.

  19

  Late Tuesday morning, Amy sat at her desk updating a records report on her computer while trying to ignore the furtive glances of her co-workers. The City Inquisitor’s article had been published online on Saturday, and yesterday when she’d come into work, it was apparent that several of her fellow employees at Logan-Johnson had read it. Although no one had said a word to her, the stares and the hushed conversations had been so patently obvious it was almost comical. Today was no different. It was like Barstow, but worse, because this time her relationship with Rick had been severed.

  Her saving grace had been Danny. On Saturday she’d taken him to the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park and they’d spent most of the day there before she had to get ready for her shift at Stylus. Then, on Sunday, she’d taken him to Urban Putt and they’d played several rounds of miniature golf before having dinner at Mateo’s Taqueria, his favorite Mexican restaurant. If he’d noticed she’d been distracted or unhappy, he hadn’t said anything. As much as she’d tried to be upbeat, when he talked about Rick it was hard to keep a smile on her face. This evening she planned to tell him that she and Rick wouldn’t be seeing each other anymore. Tomorrow was one of Rick’s days at the youth center so it had to be done before then. She dreaded their upcoming discussion; no matter how she presented it, he was going to be devastated.

  There was something else she dreaded. A four o’clock meeting with Adam Logan. It wouldn’t be long before Adam found out about the article, if he hadn’t already. This morning she’d asked Jade if she could meet with him, and Jade had put her on his calendar. After being fired in front of the entire staff at the real estate firm in Barstow, she hoped to stave off a similar fate by offering to resign in lieu of termination if Adam planned to fire her.

  Amy prayed he wasn’t so inclined. Not only did she love her job at Logan-Johnson, she needed the health benefits that came with it. Being the subject of office gossip would be bearable if it meant medical coverage for Danny. The one thing she still had was the moral support of Jade and the O’Briens. She wasn’t alone like she’d been before moving back to San Francisco.

  If there was a silver lining to be found in the whole mess, it was that she’d spent several sleepless nights thinking long and hard about why she’d been so hesitant to tell Jade, and then Rick, about her past. She suspected a big part of it had to do with how she’d reacted to being sent to live with her aunt. Almost immediately after stepping into Aunt Helen’s house she done a complete one-eighty and, in her mind, became the tramp her mother accused her of being. As a result, she’d made a number of poor choices, but after quitting the strip club she’d been on the right track until Bryce had been murdered and his family and friends had cast her as the villain. She’d let them and their vicious gossip seep into her subconscious, causing her to question her own worth. Maybe, just maybe, if she’d thought more of herself, she wouldn’t have cared what anyone else had thought of her. It was certainly something to think about and explore further. And she would. For herself, and for Danny.

  At five minutes to four, Amy left the legal department, nodding politely at two co-workers as she headed down the hallway toward Adam’s office. With each step, the pounding of her heart reverberated loudly in her ears and tightened the knot in her stomach, reminding her of being sent to the principal’s office at Barstow High School. Only this time instead of detention, she faced the loss of her main source of income.

  Pausing at the threshold of Jade’s office, she tried to smile when Jade looked up from her computer, but the best she could manage was a grimace.

  “How are you holding up?” Jade asked, sliding her keyboard tray under her desk.

  “I’ll tell you after I meet with Adam.” Amy tucked her hair behind her ear. “Either way, I’ll probably need a stiff drink afterward.”

  Jade gave her a sympathetic smile. “I’ll come down tonight after Danny goes to bed and we can talk. I’ll bring a bottle of wine.”

  “Bring two. I’m telling Danny about Rick tonight.”

  “Have you talked to Rick since Friday?”

  “No. He’s made it clear that we’re done. I tried to explain why it was so hard for me to tell him about my past, but it didn’t matter.” She blinked and waved a hand in front of her face as her eyes welled with tears. “I can’t talk about this now. I don’t want to fall apart when I’m meeting with Adam.”

  Jade glanced at the clock on her wall. “Are you ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be,” she said, unable to keep her voice steady.

  “Don’t worry. Adam is a fair man.” Jade pressed the intercom button on her desk phone. “Adam. Amy is here for your meeting.”

  A second later, Adam responded. “Send her in.”

  Amy nodded at Jade, then walked the short distance to Adam’s office, or as Jade called it, his shrine to the Chicago Cubs, his favorite baseball team. Crossing the threshold, she closed the door behind her as Adam rose from his desk and gave her a warm smile.

  “Thank you for seeing me,” she said, managing to return his smile.

  “You’re welcome,” he said, motioning for her to sit in the chair across from his desk. “I assume you’re here about the article in the City Inquisitor?”

  Amy’s heart sank as she moved forward and sat in the cushioned chair. “So you’ve seen it?”

  “Yes.” He settled in his chair and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his desk. His eyes, a deep shade of blue, didn’t hold any censure as he studied her. “It was brought to my attention yesterday afternoon. In my opinion, The City Inquisitor is nothing but a sleazy tabloid,” he said with a scowl. “
The majority of their content is gossip and innuendo. They crucified Trey during the Ava McCandless situation and continued even after he was cleared. I had to resort to having our attorney threaten them with a lawsuit if they continued to label him as a sex offender.”

  The fact that Adam recognized the tabloid for what it was gave her some comfort. “I’d like to be able to say that the information they published about me is false, but I can’t. Though the writer of the piece did make it sound more salacious than it actually was. The police cleared me in relation to my ex-boyfriend’s death not long after it happened. I’m not especially proud of some of my decisions, but I haven’t done anything wrong and frankly, I’m tired of defending myself.”

  “I can understand that.” Adam cocked his head, arching a dark brow. “Why did you want to meet with me?”

  “I love working at L-J. It’s the best job I’ve ever had, but my previous employer fired me because of those events. I was concerned you might be leaning in that direction and if so, I’d like to resign in lieu of termination.”

  “Why would I fire you?” Adam brows knit together. “You haven’t broken any laws. Carrie has had nothing but positive things to say about your work in the legal department, and in preparation for her move into the junior agent position later this year, Jade has pitched me the idea of grooming you to be our next senior executive assistant.”

  Stunned, it took her a few seconds to find her voice. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Are you interested?”

  “Yes.” She nodded. “Very interested.”

  “There’s just one thing,” Adam said, reaching for a scuffed baseball on his desk. He flexed his fingers around it like it was a stress ball.

  “What’s that?”

  “Jade’s position can be extremely demanding. There are times when she’s had to work on weekends, so you’d have to give up your job at Stylus if we promote you.”

  Amy’s cheeks grew warm. “Oh. Right. That was in the article too.” Compared to everything else the reporter had written, it seemed like an afterthought.

  “I knew about it before the article was published. I found out by accident.” He grinned. “I overheard you and Jade talking about it in her office not long after you started working here.”

  “And you don’t mind?”

  “No. It’s never interfered with your job here and I know how expensive it is to live in the city. But as I said, if you fill Jade’s spot I’d expect Logan-Johnson to be your only employer. Would you have a problem with that?”

  “Not at all.”

  “I’ll talk to Carrie and we’ll set up a schedule for you to start shadowing Jade next week. Nick and I agreed that as much as we depend on her, Jade’s promotion is long overdue.”

  “Thank you,” she said as the tension eased from her body. “I appreciate the opportunity more than I can say. I don’t expect you to promote me just because I’m Jade’s friend. I’ll work hard to prove to you that I’m the right candidate, but if you don’t feel I’m a good fit I’ll understand if you go in a different direction.”

  Adam nodded. “Sounds fair.” He leaned back in his chair and gave her a sympathetic smile. “As for the article, my advice is to ignore it. As you’ve said, you’ve done nothing wrong, and knowing the City Inquisitor it won’t be long before they have someone else in their crosshairs. That’s how they roll.”

  “Thanks, but I’m not worried about myself, I’m concerned about my son, and Rick. The article indicates we’re dating. We aren’t. At least not anymore. Will this affect his career?”

  “I’m not worried. The Blaze organization thinks the world of Rick, plus the fans love him. All signs point to him being the starting catcher this season now that Matt Scanlon is retiring. His competition, Dallas Bristow, is talented and he has a promising career ahead of him, but Rick’s fundamental skills are much stronger, and with Scanlon taking on a coaching role, the team will need a strong leader on the field. Rick will be able to step into that role immediately. He’s well-liked and respected by his teammates. Dallas, not so much.”

  “That makes me feel better,” she said, then stood. “Thank you for being so understanding.”

  “You’re welcome,” Adam said, rising from his chair. “Believe it or not, there are athletes we’ve represented with incidents in their past that would shock you. Trust me. Nothing I read about you in that article comes close. If you have any trouble, or if anyone harasses you or your son, come see me and I’ll handle it. You’re a part of the Logan-Johnson family and we take care of our own.”

  For the life of her, Amy couldn’t seem to formulate a coherent sentence. Relief whooshed through her body like a tidal wave and left her almost limp as Adam’s words sunk in. All this time she’d had no reason to worry. Adam didn’t care about her job at Stylus, or her past. Not only that, but he was considering her for a promotion. It was all so wonderful, and the last thing she’d expected.

  “Amy?” Adam’s voice jolted her back to reality. “Are you okay?”

  She looked up to find him standing next to the chair. “Yes,” she exclaimed, then stood and impulsively hugged him. “Thank you,” she said breathlessly as she dropped her arms and pulled back, giving him a sheepish grin. “Sorry, I got carried away. Thank you for being so understanding. I promise I won’t let you down.”

  Bemused by her passionate declaration, Adam patted her arm. “I’m sure you won’t.”

  Leaving Adam’s office Amy felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off of her shoulders. For so long she’d been so critical of her past and the choices she’d made that she believed other people would be just as critical and think she was a bad person or a horrible mother. But in reality she had been her own worst critic.

  As she passed by Jade’s office, Jade was on the phone so she gave her friend a huge smile and an enthusiastic thumbs up and headed down the hallway. There would be time later tonight to fill Jade in and thank her for championing her, but as relieved as she was right now, she had to figure out what she was going to say to Danny. He idolized Rick and while she doubted Rick would avoid him at the youth center, Danny would have to adjust to seeing less of him. It wouldn’t be easy for him. She knew that from experience. It had only been a few days, but she missed Rick like crazy.

  Later that evening, after she’d taken her sweet time washing and drying the dishes, Amy knew she couldn’t put off the inevitable any longer. As she set an apple and box of raisins on the counter to include in Danny’s lunch sack tomorrow, she watched him as he sat on the couch enthralled by something on his tablet. She glanced at her watch.

  “Tablet time is up,” she said as she turned off the kitchen light.

  “But it hasn’t been an hour yet,” Danny grumbled without taking his eyes off the screen.

  Amy crossed the room then settled next to him on the couch. “Actually, it’s been over an hour,” she said, adjusting one of the round throw pillows behind her back. She glanced at his tablet, her heart tripping when her gaze landed on Rick’s picture. For a second she thought it was a police mug shot, but then realized it was a head shot of him wearing his Blaze cap. “What are you looking at?”

  “The Blaze website. I found the roster page. It has a picture of Rick and all of his stats from last season.” Danny angled his head toward her and grinned. “He hit ten home runs. And he wasn’t even the starting catcher. I bet he hits way more this season. I can’t wait to see him play.”

  A lump formed in Amy’s throat. She swallowed past it, thankful that Danny’s attention had returned to his tablet. In a few minutes she was going to break his heart; she couldn’t think of anything she wanted to do less. “It’s time to turn off your tablet.”

  “But it’s not bedtime yet,” he replied with a hint of a whine in his voice.

  “Turn it off. I need to talk to you about something. It’s important.”

  With an exaggerated sigh, he leaned forward and set the tablet on the coffee table. When he turned to look at her, the
odd expression on his face made her pause. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Are we moving to Florida?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “We’re done moving. This is our home now.”

  His face brightened immediately. “I can’t wait to tell Becca and Archer,” he said, his voice filled with excitement. “They’re my best friends. They were sad when I told them I might have to move away. Now they’ll be happy and we can be best friends for a long time. Just like you and Aunt Jade.”

  “Yes. Just like me and Jade,” she said, then paused to prepare herself for Danny’s reaction. “What I need to talk to you about concerns Rick.”

  “Are you getting married?” His eyes grew round. “That’s what boyfriends and girlfriends do, right?”

  “Sometimes. But honey, Rick and I aren’t getting married. Remember how I told you that when you date someone you’re trying to find out if you want to be boyfriend and girlfriend?”

  “Yeah.” Danny nodded, then his brows lowered. “But didn’t you do that part already?”

  “We tried, but it turns out that we’re going to be just friends. Like you, Becca, and Archer are friends.”

  Danny’s face clouded with uncertainty. “Will we still see him?”

  “You’ll see him at the youth center every week until he leaves for spring training.”

  “That’s not the same, Mom.”

  “I know, but when adults decide not to be boyfriend and girlfriend they don’t usually spend a lot of time together afterward.”

  “But you said you and Rick are still friends. Like me and my friends and we hang out a lot. At school and at the youth center.”

  “It’s different with adults, honey. But Rick cares about you and that won’t change.”

  “Yes, it will.” Danny glared at her with a mutinous glint in his eyes. “I’ll never see him again after he leaves for spring training. After that, he’ll be way too busy to come to the youth center. He’ll forget all about me.”

  Amy’s heart clenched. “Rick could never forget you.” She put her hand on his back. “You’re unforgettable.”