“I’ve got to study tomorrow.”
“It won’t take long,” he promised. “I can show you around the gym, too. That way you can let me know if you need any other equipment. I can order it before we really get started.”
She fiddled with her fork and gave him a considering look. He hoped he didn’t look too pathetic. When she sighed, he knew she was caving in.
“All right. I’ll be there after I drop my grandpa back home after church. Should be around eleven.”
Grinning, he said, “Thank you, Everly.”
This time, he just did a mental fist pump.
Chapter 10
Thanks to Everly’s advice, Cole slept until the housekeeper, Margaret Owens, buzzed at the gate around nine o’clock on Sunday morning. His shower and morning routine went more smoothly, too. Only a few twinges in the shoulder.
That woman really knew what she was doing, he decided.
He headed out to the kitchen for some coffee with a renewed spring in his step. When he spotted Margaret loading the refrigerator with groceries from Whole Foods, he smiled.
“Good morning, Ms. Margaret. How’s it going?”
She rose after loading some sliced deli meat in the proper drawer and turned to greet him. Her sizable frame blocked most of the fridge. Her graying brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, giving her a youthful appearance. The twinkle in her brown eyes contributed to the ageless look. He’d never dared to ask her age. As best he could guess, she was somewhere in her fifties. All he knew was she had two grown children to whom he was often compared.
“I’m doin’ well, Mr. Cole. Sho’ seems you are, too, this mornin’. Don’t usually see that smile ‘til after you’ve had a cup of coffee or two. You’re like my Monty that way.” She winked at him. “Glad to see you happy.”
Pouring coffee into his Iron Man mug, he said, “Sure can’t complain.” Margaret pulled the creamer out of the fridge and set it on the counter, so he reached over and took it. “Listen, Ms. Margaret, I’m going to have to boot you out of here a little early today.”
“You havin’ a party you didn’t tell me ‘bout?” she asked, planting a hand on her hip.
He knew that would spell trouble for him if he was. Margaret liked to be prepared for such things. It made him think of Everly and her reaction to him ordering for her at the restaurant the day before. He’d quickly learned not to spring things on his new physical therapist. He suspected he wouldn’t want to experience her fury unleashed.
“No, ma’am,” he answered. “Just having a guest over.”
“Oh?” She paused as she reached for a carton of brown eggs and gave him a surprised look. “A lady friend?”
“Now, Ms. Margaret, you know I don’t bring ‘lady friends’ here.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You don’t usually shoo me out early, either.”
He sipped his coffee and considered what to say. Although Margaret was his employee, she was old enough to be his mother and he’d known her for almost four years. He considered her a friend. Still, he wasn’t about to tell anyone he didn’t have to about Everly. The more people who knew, the more likely the press would find out.
“I’ll pay you for the full day,” he said at last.
“Thank you, Mr. Cole.” She smiled and went back to unpacking groceries, but he saw her give him a considering look as he ventured out to the family room.
He took a seat on his reclining sofa and flipped the television to SportsCenter. Then he grabbed his iPad so he could get caught up on some of the things he’d ignored over the past few days.
After scanning stocks and e-mailing his investor with a few questions and requests, he browsed through his personal e-mail. His mom had sent him a message containing an update on the household renovations she and his dad were undertaking. He had no doubt that she’d call him in the next day or two and rehash the entire message, but he dutifully read through it.
He wrote back, “Y’all need to get hobbies that keep you from watching HGTV. Keep Dad away from the power tools. I don’t want to spend any more time in the hospital, thank you very much. I’m sure the house looks great. I’ll come out and see it soon. Love you, Cole.” He paused, then added, “P.S. Don’t plant anything J.J. will dig up. Let the poor guy live to see his tenth birthday.”
J.J. was Joe Jackson, the family mutt. Cole loved that dog. His father wouldn’t give him up, though. Cole had been thinking of getting a dog himself, but he hadn’t gotten around to it.
The next message was from his agent, Wayne Shelton. It contained a list of upcoming PR obligations Cole was expected to fulfill. Some were just phone or e-mail interviews, but a few involved attending meetings, photo shoots, or social functions. He made sure that everything was plugged into his calendar, then wrote Wayne back to confirm.
He reviewed the list of remaining messages. He had to clear out some junk mail before determining what he had left to address. Then he frowned.
Three new messages from Rebecca.
Damn.
He’d met Rebecca Peterman, a good friend of his teammate’s wife, Abigail, in January at a party. Rebecca had started up a conversation with him and they connected. He dated her for about four months before she decided it wasn’t working for her. She said she hadn’t realized how demanding his schedule was going to be during the season. She wanted someone who could spend time with her...whose focus was on her, not his career. And she wanted to be invited into his home, meet his family.
He’d considered trying to make things work with her. She was smart, funny, attractive, and imaginative in the bedroom. Although she wasn’t a sports fiend, she knew enough to have an intelligible conversation about current happenings in the sports world. He really liked her.
But in the end, he’d decided that the split was for the best. Twenty-three at the time of their break-up, he was three years her junior. He knew she was in a different place in her life. She was thinking of marriage and kids and settling down. He was still riding the high of being one of the most successful pitchers in Major League Baseball. While she enjoyed the prestige that came of dating a famous athlete, she wasn’t prepared to deal with his grueling schedule.
The biggest issue in his mind had been her constant questioning. He left for spring training in Orlando a month after they met. Because she worked full-time as a clerk in the county court, she hadn’t been able to travel with him. At first, she was satisfied with his daily calls and reports about how the day went. Then her questioning grew more intense.
Why was he calling later than usual? Why was he going out to clubs with his friends when he already had a girlfriend? Who was he talking to on his cell phone when he said, “I love you?”
That last question made the difference in his decision about whether or not he should try to salvage their relationship. He’d been talking to his mother during that particular phone call and Abigail had overheard the end of the conversation. She’d reported it to Rebecca, who jumped to the wrong conclusion.
The last thing he needed to deal with was a woman who didn’t trust him. Yes, there were some ballplayers who took advantage of the females throwing themselves at them while on road trips, but Cole wasn’t one of them. He hadn’t given Rebecca any reason to doubt him and he hadn’t appreciated her suspicion. She wanted to meet his family and be welcomed into his home—a space he shared only reluctantly—but she didn’t trust him? There was no way that was going to fly.
Apparently, she had done some thinking during the course of the season. By the time September rolled around and the team was well-positioned for a playoff berth, she started calling and e-mailing him.
He took the first few calls. They had a history, after all. He listened to her apologies and assured her there was no harm done. But she didn’t let up. She left multiple voicemails and sent even more e-mails, even after he asked her to let things be.
And here he was, staring at three more messages.
Downing the rest of his coffee, he opened the first one.
Then the second. Then the third. The message remained consistent. She regretted breaking things off. She realized she had overreacted. If he wanted to take things slow, that was okay with her.
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he deleted all of the messages without responding. He’d been clear with her that he didn’t think a relationship would work between them. There was no sense in encouraging her.
Since he didn’t have any other e-mails worth responding to, he moved on to his social networking sites. The team had PR people who handled the players’ Facebook fan pages, but he had one of his own that only his family and real friends knew about, so he checked it and caught up on the events he’d missed. He also had a Twitter account that he’d been neglecting lately.
“I’m heading out, Mr. Cole,” Margaret said.
He looked up and glanced at the clock. Damn, it was already ten-thirty.
“Okay, Ms. Margaret. Thanks.”
“Happy to help, as always. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He set his iPad to the side and turned the television off. Rising from his sofa, he noticed that Margaret had replaced his coffee at some point. He’d finished more than half of the second cup without even realizing she’d refilled it. He carried the mug into the kitchen and set it in the sink. He was debating what to eat for a quick breakfast when the phone rang.
Thinking it was Everly and she was lost, he answered it without checking the User ID.
“Hey, hey,” crooned a familiar voice. “If it isn’t the long lost Cole Parker!”
Leaning against the counter as his friend and teammate’s voice filled the receiver, he grinned and responded, “Hey, Marshall. What’s up, man?”
“Not much, man, not much. Haven’t seen you in a while. Makes a guy wonder what’s up.”
“Well, you know me. The dark, mysterious type.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Marshall said. “You’ve got Abigail convinced you’re holed up in your house experimenting with copious amounts of sex and drugs. Since I live vicariously through you now, you’re going to confirm that rumor, right?”
“I’ll neither confirm nor deny,” Cole said, keeping his tone light even though he knew where this was going. “Are you by any chance doing reconnaissance for your wife, my man?”
There was a pause that answered his question. Then Marshall said in a low voice, “Look, don’t dog me, man. Rebecca’s been giving Abigail grief because you haven’t been in touch with her, so I’m obligated to listen to all of the back and forth. I don’t even know how I got roped into this.”
Cole sighed. “I hear you. What are you obligated to do?”
“They want to know if you’re planning on attending the New Year’s charity ball, and if so, who you’re planning to bring as your date.”
“Seriously, man? You’re asking me about a frickin’ dance?”
“Look, sex may have been involved when this particular agreement was made, okay?” Marshall said. “I’m just fulfilling my obligations. When you’re married, you’ll understand.”
Cole rolled his eyes and walked to the pantry to hunt for food. He’d been on a few dates with Abigail before she hooked up with Marshall, so he knew how stubborn she could be.
“Look, my friend...you and I both know that I’m contractually obligated to attend that event. As to who I’m bringing, I’m not thinking of anyone at the moment.”
“Seriously? That’s the line you have for me to bring back to the women?”
“‘Fraid so.”
“Man, you got no love fo’ a brotha.”
“Hey, I’ve got mad love for you, Marsh,” Cole said, unwrapping a granola bar. “What I don’t love is silly games when it comes to relationships. We left high school a while ago.”
Marshall sighed on the other end of the line. “Yeah, yeah. I hear you on the high school shit. My brother-in-law just graduated college and he’s visiting over the holidays. Talk about acting like high school fresh. I swear to God, I’m going to bury him in the backyard if he doesn’t let up.”
“He still begging you to get him a tryout for the team?”
“You know it. I can’t wait ‘til he goes back to Baltimore.” He sighed. “Seriously, though, where you been, man? Haven’t seen you ‘round the clubs lately.”
Cole winced, not wanting to lie. Something vague, he decided. “Haven’t been feeling a hundred percent. Just fighting it off, you know?”
“Ah. All right, man. All right. It’s that time of year. Get out when you can, right?”
“You know it.”
They disconnected. Cole gazed at the handset for a minute before setting it back in its base. Although he hadn’t lied to his friend, he still felt bad keeping things from him. It just served as another motivator to get healthy as quickly as he could. Then his life could finally get back to normal.
Chapter 11
It was easier to find Cole’s house than the restaurant, Everly was pleased to discover. Although the house was hidden from the main road by cleverly placed trees and shrubbery, the drive leading to it was clearly marked. She eased Champ up alongside an elaborate-looking panel housed in a brick pillar outside the double gates. Tall wrought-iron fencing ran the length of the front yard, which looked as large as the entire block she lived on.
She took a deep breath and patted the steering wheel. “It’s okay, Champ. We might not fit in around here, but it’s only a few weeks. Right?”
Failing to convince herself, she shook her head and rolled her window down. Cool air rushed in to battle against the heat pouring from Champ’s vents. She pressed the call button like Cole had described the day before.
As she waited for a response, she rubbed her gloved hands together and studied the house beyond the gate. She figured it sat on at least a couple acres. It was a sprawling, modern, ranch-style home, bent in an L-shape with a beautiful courtyard leading to the front door. She fell a little in love with it right then.
The panel clicked and Cole’s voice emitted from the speaker. “Welcome to Chez Parker,” he said in a cheesy accent. “Please come on in.”
She lifted one corner of her mouth and looked at the camera she saw beside the call button. “Was that supposed to be French?” she asked, making him laugh.
As the gates swung open, she waved at the camera and drove through, using one hand to steer and the other to roll up her window. She looked for a logical place to park. It seemed the garage was behind the house, but the circular drive led to the front door. Since Cole opened the door and stood watching her, she drove around the drive and stopped in front of the entrance. She left her car running and unbuckled her seatbelt, reaching across and manually rolling down the passenger window.
“Is it okay to park here?” she asked.
He stared at her for a beat before replying, “Sure.”
“Cool.”
She rolled the window back up, using her position as an excuse to take in the sight of him in a simple brown T-shirt and jeans. He wasn’t even wearing socks, she realized. Seeing him in such a casual state made it very hard to stay focused on being professional.
Despite the temperature, he remained where he was until she cut the ignition, got out of her car, and ran up to the door. “Aren’t you freezing?” she asked. “It’s only forty degrees out here.”
He started to speak, but then stopped and just stared at her.
Frowning, she fiddled with the lapel of her coat. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re wearing glasses.”
“Oh.” She instinctively reached up and adjusted the rectangular frames so they sat higher on her nose. She’d forgotten that she was wearing them. “Yeah. I usually wear contacts, but I like to give my eyes a rest every now and then.”
“So...your eyes, they’re naturally...”
He trailed off and continued to hold her gaze. She shifted self-consciously, making a note to wear contacts around him from now on. He was acting so strange.
“Yeah, I’m blind as a bat. Trust me, the people of Atlanta are grateful that
I’m wearing this unappealing eyewear right now.” After another pause, she added, “It won’t impact my ability to work with you.”
Finally he shook his head as if coming out of a trance and stepped back so she could walk in. She tried not to fidget since she could still feel his gaze on her.
“Sorry. I like the glasses,” he said, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. He gestured around the foyer. “Once again, welcome to my humble abode.”
She pulled her ivory knit hat off and used her fingers to comb her hair into place. Looking around, she smiled. “This is some place. It’s even more beautiful on the inside than on the outside, and that’s saying something.”
“Thanks. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it.”
Remembering her own reaction outside the gate, she nodded in understanding. “I can see why. All of this natural light makes it feel so homey and inviting.”
When he didn’t say anything, she looked at him again. He was just standing there with his hands in his pockets, watching her. Was she missing something? Did she have something on her face? Just in case, she took her gloves off and casually rubbed a hand along her cheeks and mouth. She longed for a mirror.
“So, um, do you have somewhere I can hang my coat?” she asked. “Or should I leave it on?”
He blinked, then gave her a chagrined smile. “I’m sorry. Got a lot on my mind. Let me show you around, starting with the coat closet.”
She unbuttoned her navy blue pea coat and unwound the scarf that coordinated with her hat and gloves as they walked around a corner. Cole opened a panel in the cream-colored wall that she never would have guessed hid a closet. Her face lit up as he reached for her coat.
“Wow! Does this have a secret passageway into an ancient library?” she asked, crouching to sneak a look under his arm as he grabbed a hanger.
He wiggled his eyebrows. “I’ll never tell.”
Grinning, she started to rise from her crouch. Her eyes shifted from the closet to Cole’s waist when he reached to hang her coat. His T-shirt rode up enough to give her a glimpse of his well-defined abs.
The XOXO New Adult Collection: 16 Full Length New Adult Stories Page 37