Double Play

by Joanne Rock

  Thank God she was still sitting there, right in the middle of about twelve women—mostly wives but a couple of girlfriends—who frequently came to the games. She belonged here. With him.

  He’d import books from all over the globe to keep her by his side. Hell, he’d hire a staffer to cover them all in white dust jackets, too.

  She didn’t give him a reassuring smile, but she didn’t flip him off, either. And the fact that she was still here gave him more hope than his sorry ass deserved.

  As he ducked back into the dugout, the game resumed.

  The next pitch was a knee-high fastball that Bailey could only pound into the ground—right back at Bryant. He fielded the one-hopper and threw to first for the out. Game over.

  Heath’s team had just won the single most important game of his career as a manager. He was so damn proud of his guys he choked up like a girl when Jay Cannon pounded him on the back. The dugout went wild, sensing a shift in momentum that was going to do them a whole lot of good.

  But if Amber Nichols wouldn’t give him another chance, this win wasn’t going to mean jack in that big picture that Heath now saw all too clearly.

  16

  AMBER WATCHED A LIMOUSINE pull up to the curb in the players’ parking lot just at the same moment Heath plowed through the doors into the underground garage.

  He wore shorts and an Aces’ T-shirt, his hair slick against his head as if he’d just stepped out of the shower. He looked just like he had that first day she’d seen him on the beach in Nantucket.

  If ever there was an ideal man for a fling…

  She remembered thinking that the first time she saw him. Her heart lodged in her throat now, however, since she wanted much more than a fling.

  He spotted her and gave a nod toward the chauffeur hopping out of the limo, even though he never took his eyes off her.

  “I dialed up a ride for you.” Heath jogged to shorten the distance between them. The stark expression on his face would have never given away the fact that his team had won a significant game less than an hour earlier.

  His job was safe. He’d proven his worth and more to the Aces’ owners.

  “A ride for me?” She hoped she hadn’t misunderstood his note during the game. “You’re not going with me?”

  The players’ garage was quiet on this side of the elevator bank since most of the players drove their own vehicles and used the valet service. A few taxis waited, but no fans thanks to excellent security.

  It was so quiet, Amber’s question echoed back to her off the concrete walls.

  “More than anything, I want to go wherever you’re going.” He waved off the chauffeur who had just opened the door for them, probably so they could talk in private. “But I want you to have the option of kicking me to the curb for being too stubborn and blind to see that you weren’t a groupie and that this wasn’t just a temporary thing.”

  Her heart swelled that he would do something so incredibly thoughtful. It was also sweetly insightful to let her feel as if she had the decision-making power after Brent had made her feel so insignificant.

  She drifted a step closer to Heath.

  “It’s been quite a few days since you thought I was a groupie.” Their time together had been fast and intense. The most exciting days of her life. “I don’t think I can keep holding that against you.”

  His eyes were so steady on her that her heart tripped up in its rhythm.

  “Still, I want you to have the choice of taking this free ride wherever you choose, even if you want to head to the airport and back home. I’ve been so busy living in the moment—riding the wave of success I had as a player—that I didn’t see I’m thirty-eight years old and it’s past time to take a long view on my career, my life and the people in it.”

  Amber saw a few guys emerge from the elevators and she waved Heath into the backseat of the limo.

  “Why don’t we at least sit inside where it’s private?” She hopped up into the back and then slid into one of the leather seats.

  Her living room didn’t have much more square foot age than the vehicle’s spacious interior. As Heath settled in next to her, however, the space shrank. She might as well have been tucked inside a broom closet with him since her whole body tingled with awareness.

  His scent was familiar to her by now. His thigh rested mere inches from hers and she could imagine the heat they would generate if they closed that distance.

  “Congratulations on keeping the team,” she blurted, feeling guilty she hadn’t mentioned it yet. “I’ve been so preoccupied since I got your note or I would have said something sooner. Plus, I don’t know enough about baseball to really appreciate what you did, but Naomi said—”

  Heath laughed. “I had the feeling she’d see the nuances at work. Chase Montoya wasn’t too happy with me that I didn’t put him in, but I thought it was a good time to send a message to the guys about what I expect from them. I’m not going to manage like a player anymore.”

  “You rewarded hard work.” She could understand that much. “But it seemed like a risky time to test out a new approach.”

  “If not then, when?” He pulled out a folded sheet of paper from the thigh pocket of his shorts. “I was looking at these quotes you gave me before the game and there was one about success not preparing you for failure.”

  “I remember it.” She studied him more carefully, beginning to see there was more at work here than just him lobbying for more time together.

  “It made me think about how much I’ve learned to trust my instincts.” He set the paper on a low side table. “That worked well as a player. Not so much as a manager. Or in relationships.”

  He’d thought about her today, during the most crucial game of his managing career. That alone would have touched her. But the fact that he seemed to want to make her happy gave her heart palpitations.

  His thigh loomed so close. His big hand rested on his knee, and she thought about how it would feel to place her palm inside his.

  “So you changed how you managed.” She was starting to see the significance of what he’d done today by keeping in the relief pitcher.

  Yes, it had been about baseball. But it represented a deeper shift in thinking. An openness to new ideas.

  “Yes.” He moved the hand closest to her, stretching that arm out along the back of her seat, without really touching her. “Not that I see myself as ever turning into a really hard-core, old-school tough guy or anything. But I’m not going to just blindly follow my instincts. I’m going to question everything, study traditional strategy and see where I can improve. More important, I’m not going to just assume that I can’t make things work with you on a long-term basis because of my job.”

  Behind her, Heath’s hand came to rest on her braid where it snaked along the seat. She could feel the gentle tug against her scalp as he slid his fingers very lightly up and down the woven center.

  Her heart stuck in her throat, and her skin hummed with pleasurable shivers.

  “Long-term?” Her breathless voice didn’t sound like it belonged to her.

  “I screwed up a marriage.” He slid under the braid to cup her shoulder in one hand. “That doesn’t mean I will always mess up relationships. I know how to dig in and work harder.”

  He used the tail of her braid like a paintbrush to trace patterns along her bare arm. Had he leaned closer? Amber couldn’t quite breathe. Either that, or she was holding her breath waiting for him to kiss her.

  “I would like that,” she managed, hypnotized by the promise in his dark eyes. “In fact, I really want to be around to see you dig in and work hard.”

  His hand stilled in the middle of the mesmerizing patterns he’d been making along her arm.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Completely sure.”

  “Because this is one instance where overthinking could be a good thing.”

  Closing the gap between them, she edged over that last inch on the seat until her thigh brushed his and her hip bumped him.r />
  “I’ve already thought about it enough.” She stroked his cheek with shaky fingers, hardly daring to believe she might have shared her heart with a man who wanted to take really good care of it. “While I’m glad you’re trying to be more analytical sometimes, you have to know that other times, I’d very much like you to trust your instincts.”

  A feral grin quirked his lips as he banged on the roof of the limo. Instantly, the driver set the vehicle in motion.

  “In that case, we’re going to a little beach house I know.” He was already pulling the band out of her braid to free her hair.

  “Not Nantucket?” They still had two games to play on the west coast.

  “No, a little place on Catalina Island.” Gently, he slid one strap of her tank top off her shoulder. “It’s far away from everyone and everything.”

  Amber relaxed into his touch, her skin coming alive everywhere he stroked.

  “You don’t think the team will mind?”

  “I don’t care who thinks what.” He kissed her bare collarbone as the limo picked up speed. “I called the Aces’ owner and told him I’m not dancing to his tune anymore. He’s not going to be breathing down my neck until at least next year. And as for the rest of the guys, a little worry about the new regime will do them good tonight.”

  Amber would have Heath all to herself, just like that first night in Nantucket when he helped her see the depth of passion that lurked inside her.

  “I like the new regime,” she observed, tugging at the neckline of her shirt in an effort to be free of any clothes in the way of Heath’s hot, persuasive mouth. “In fact, I’ve come to a few of the same realizations about my own work, too.”

  “Really?”

  “Management’s been breathing down my neck quite a bit, too.” She hadn’t thought about it in quite those terms, but the metaphor was apt. “I’ve been running so hard to keep my job for the past six months that I haven’t really thought about if it’s making me happy anymore. And as much as I love the work, it’s too much.”

  He frowned, shifting back from her as if to gauge her expression. “You’re thinking about leaving the book reviewing business?”

  “I can look for another outlet for my reviews. Or find something else for my unique skill set. There must be jobs available somewhere for a book geek.”

  “Maybe,” he began, shifting closer again, “you could look for a job that you could do from anywhere. In case, you know, you felt like doing some traveling in the near future.” He kissed a line from her cheek to her ear and down her neck, inciting shivers.

  “I’ll admit, I like flying first-class.” She tipped her head, enjoying the way sensations chased down her spine.

  “Then I’m going to show you the time of your life during the course of eighty-one road games.”

  “That’s a lot of travel.” Days full of endless possibilities by Heath’s side.

  “There’s going to be a lot of time in hotels, just you and me.” He laid her all the way down on the seat, his body half covering hers. “I hope you don’t get bored seeing me all the time.”

  “And I hope you don’t get tired of me telling you how to run your team when I don’t know anything about baseball.” She stared up at him, her lover turned lifetime love, and felt more complete than she’d ever been in her whole life.

  He grinned as his hips settled against hers.

  “I don’t know how we’ll do with the team, but I’m going to have a winning streak where you’re concerned,” he promised. “You wait and see.”

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-6432-2

  DOUBLE PLAY

  Copyright © 2010 by Joanne Rock.

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