by LuAnn McLane
“Thank God.” She breathed a sigh of obvious relief and allowed tense shoulders to slump against the feather pillows.
“Hey, I’m not such a bad catch!” he protested.
She gave him a deadpan stare. “I’m talking off the field.”
“Okay, I am,” he admitted with a chuckle. “How in the world could we have gotten married last night anyway? Don’t you need a license and blood tests and stuff?”
“Hey, maybe I’m not thinking quite so clearly this morning.” She blushed and then lifted one shoulder. “But I had a friend who went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, for a weekend and came back to Chicago on Monday very much married.” She raised her left hand and pointed to her ring finger. “And it happens in Vegas all the time,” she said defensively. “I was just covering all the bases.”
“Ah, baseball analogies. Maybe you are my soul mate,” he joked, but something sad in her eyes hit him hard in the gut, and he wished he had kept his damned mouth shut.
“Soul mate?” she muttered darkly. “Pfft. Like there is such a thing. I am so done with dudes,” she ground out, but the anger in her voice failed to match the haunting hurt in her warm brown eyes. “I mean no offense, but who needs them?”
“Well, I could think of one particular need,” he said, drawing a deeper blush from her.
She wrinkled her nose. “There are battery-operated devices for that.”
He ran a gentle finger down her chin. Damn, she was smokin’ hot with bed-tousled, chestnut brown hair tumbling over her shoulders. Just a tiny little thing like Eva Longoria, but sexy and sultry and sporting a don’t-mess-with-me attitude that Logan thought was a major turn-on. “Oh, but a poor substitute for the real thing. Luckily, you now have a live-in boy toy.”
Her brown eyes widened. “Wait, Logan. So that part is true?”
He was momentarily distracted by hearing his name on her lips. He had never been too fond of Logan, thinking it sounded too frat boy–ish for a ballplayer, but hearing her sultry voice utter his name made him long to hear her say it again . . . but with passion. Wait . . . what? He gave himself a mental shake. What the hell was he thinking? Baseball was his one and only passion. Okay, so Bella had gotten to him last night with her tearful tale about Dastardly David, as she called him, who had dicked her over. And, yeah, he’d like to beat the guy to a pulp just for shits and giggles. But that was as far as this was going to go. This uncharacteristic softness he felt toward Bella Diamante would soon pass. And if their situation was going to work, he needed to keep his hands and other body parts away from her body parts.
“Logan?” she persisted, looking a bit lost and vulnerable, swallowed up by his too-big shirt. And, well, sexy. “Just what have I gotten my sorry self into this time?”
Logan scooted over and leaned against the pillows next to her. “Well, for starters, you accepted the job as hostess at Wine and Diner.”
“Oh . . .” She frowned, but didn’t seem too terribly upset by the prospect. “I kinda remember that.”
“Your friend Madison is pretty darned persistent.”
Bella nodded. “Yeah, we were tight back in Chicago. I’ve missed her and Jess. So . . . what is the rest of the story?”
He sliced his palm through the air. “Madison offered you this furnished condo as long as we show it as the model.”
“We?” Bella angled her head at him and toyed with the edge of the sheet. “How did this become we?”
“Simple economics,” Logan answered with a slow shrug. “The rent here is discounted for baseball players, but still a hefty twelve hundred bones a month. So we decided to become roomies.”
Bella put the heel of her hand to her forehead. “Wow. Note to self: Do not drink on an empty stomach.”
“I warned you about the Jell-O shots you and Madison were slurping. They were strong. But you said, ‘There’s always room for Jell-O,’ and then you and Madison laughed like crazy. Your favorite flavor was purple.”
Bella groaned. “Oh, would you please stop!”
“It’s all good, Bella. You were funny.”
“Yeah, but now I’ve moved in with a complete stranger!”
“It was Madison who suggested it.” Logan reached over and moved her hand. “Listen, it won’t be so bad. I really am pretty tidy, and I promise to leave the toilet seat down.” Her wrist felt so tiny in his big hand, and an unexpected pull of something he couldn’t quite name washed over him. He felt possessive . . . protective, and he barely knew the girl. Weird . . . and yet he couldn’t shake it.
“Yeah, but . . .” She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. “We can’t do this.” She opened her eyes and swung her hand in an arc across the bed.
“Okay . . .” He pulled a face. “Don’t worry. There’s another bedroom. And, hey, you made it quite clear last night that you think men are dogs. And then Madison got mad because she likes dogs, so you amended it to ‘Men are all cockroaches.’”
“Hey, if the shoe fits. Or in your case, the cleats.”
“There you go, going all baseball on me again. Damn, girl.”
Bella grinned in spite of this insane situation. “I’m a huge Cubs fan and I love Wrigley Field.”
“You’re killing me, but quite frankly, I don’t need the distraction of a chick.” He inhaled deeply. “Baseball means more to me than anything, Bella. This team is my chance to make it back to the minor leagues.” He flexed his left arm forward and showed her a four-inch scar on the inside of his elbow. I had Tommy John surgery last year. Should have bounced back, but my dumb ass started throwing sooner than I should have and fucked it all up.”
“Why did the trainers let you come back too soon?”
He shoved his fingers through his hair. “I lied about the pain. But I had been playing with pain for so long that it was normal for me. This is the kind of injury that comes from overuse. It even happens to kids in Little League. They call it Little League elbow.” He shook his head. “Comes from wanting to win over concern for the kid.”
She put a hand on his forearm and gave him a look of compassion. “I’m guessing this happened to you?” she asked softly.
“Yeah, my old man was a wannabe. Lived vicariously through me. Up and moved us to Texas so I could play ball year-round. Called me a pussy when I said my arm hurt too much to pitch.”
Bella gasped. “That son of a bitch!” she cried harshly, but her touch on his arm remained light and soothing. She was a passionate little force to be reckoned with, and Dastardly David was a complete ass clown to let her get away.
“Yeah, well, reinjuring my arm led to a bad attitude that was rotten enough to begin with, and I was released from my contract.”
“I’m sorry. That had to suck.”
“You have no idea.” He rubbed the sudden tension in his neck. His bad attitude hid a hell of a lot of disappointment and fear.
“Turn around.”
“What?”
“Scoot around and put your back to me,” she insisted.
“You’re a bossy little thing,” he grumbled, but did as she requested. A moment later, she was up on her knees, massaging his neck. “Ah, damn, that feels amazing. Seriously,” he said as her magic fingers melted the tension away from his entire body. “Where did you learn to do this?”
“My mother would bend over a table for hours, making jewelry, and the muscles in her neck would tense up. I’ve been massaging her neck for years. I hated to see her in pain.”
“Mmm, well, you know what you’re doing.” He meant for his statement to come out matter-of-fact, but her touch coupled with compassion made his voice gruff. He was used to being told to suck up the pain, rather than a tender and caring touch. And, God, it felt good.
“Better?”
“If I say yes, are you going to stop?”
Her low chuckle slid over his skin like a warm caress. “No,” she said as she rubbed the pads of her thumbs in circles. “Not until I feel the knots in your neck subside.”
“Listen, I’ll do dishes if yo
u do this. Deal?”
“Add take out garbage.”
“Deal.” He reached over his shoulder and shook her hand.
“So, have you already been added to the roster?”
“Not officially, but I know I will be. I’ve been through this enough times to know.” He sighed. “I’ll be honest—I hate playing for a team that isn’t even minor-league level, but Noah Falcon is amazing and he can teach me a lot about pitching. So I’m going to have to work hard and then get the hell out of here as soon as I can.”
She leaned over his shoulder. “Well, I don’t think you endeared yourself to Ty McKenna. He’s really into Jessica, Logan. And, hey, look. Jess is my friend too. She works her tail off, and hasn’t had it easy. If you screw things up for her, I’ll kick your sweet ass all the way into next week.”
“Oh, so you acknowledge that my ass is sweet. Very nice.”
She rolled her eyes and then gave his back a shove. “Whatever. But that brings me to the next stipulation. We need to keep our hands to ourselves. Except for this, no more . . . um, touching,” she said, and then plopped back down onto the bed.
“Look.” Logan swiveled around to face her. “You’ve sworn off men, and I’m going to be married to baseball. You’ll be working a lot, and I’ll be on the road for lots of games. We’ll be like ships passing in the night,” he said with a reassuring smile. “No big deal.”
She rubbed her lips together. “Good. Glad we’re on the same page. We’ll just have to roll with it.” She stuck her hand in his direction. “Let’s shake on it.”
Logan looked at her delicate hand once more. She had a cool, funky ring that must have been designed by her mother. Last night Madison had been hell-bent on getting Bella’s mother to move here and open a jewelry store. “I’d rather seal the deal with a kiss.”
“Logan! That would be defeating the purpose.” She tilted her head and gave him a deadpan look, and edged her hand closer just as he leaned forward. Her fingers brushed against his chest, sending a jolt of awareness straight to his groin. When her eyes widened slightly and she pulled her hand back quickly, he wondered if she felt it too.
Logan was floored by his reaction. Women had always just been a form of entertainment to him. He wasn’t a total ass about it, but he took what was offered. But watching his parents fight had left a bitter taste in his mouth where relationships were concerned, and he vowed never to let someone have that kind of hold over him. And yet he thought he could get used to sharing breakfast with Bella Diamante. Or even better . . . a bed. Having her delectable body off-limits wasn’t going to be easy. But he grasped her hand in good faith. “Deal?”
“Deal.” For such a delicate hand, she shook his with some strength. But her sudden frown bothered him.
“Hey, I fully admit that I can be an ass. But you can take me at my word.” He raised both palms in the air and wiggled his fingers. “I’ll keep these to myself. Of course, if you feel the need to touch me, go right ahead.”
“Well, then?”
“Yeah?” Logan looked at her expectantly, and for a moment he thought she was going to back out.
She inhaled deeply, outlining her breasts against the cotton shirt. My shirt . . . Damn, but that was sexy. Logan did his best not to notice, but he had to discreetly tug a pillow over the sudden tent in the sheet.
“I don’t know why, but I believe you.” She rolled her eyes. “Not that I’m a very good judge of character,” she added in a lower tone. She remained silent for a moment and then shook her head. “Wow.”
“What, Bella?”
“I was just wondering how I’m going to break my living arrangements to my mother.”
“Just tell her it’s a business arrangement,” he suggested.
“You don’t know my mother.”
He looked at her and grinned. “I can only imagine. What about your dad?”
A shadow crossed over her lovely features. “He ran off when I was just a kid. I barely remember him.”
“Dumb-ass,” Logan muttered. There is was again. Concern for her. But oddly enough, it felt good to care about someone. He told himself that it was just a reaction to being in bed with a gorgeous woman who had a vulnerable set to her full mouth, and dark eyes that a man could lose himself in.
“Yeah,” Bella said with a slight lift of one shoulder. “My mom deserved better. She drives me nuts, but she is a talented, beautiful woman.”
“Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Bella looked at him in surprise, and he really wanted to kick Dastardly David’s ass for taking away her confidence. He was surprised at himself, though, because he never said sappy things like that. But at her shy smile, Logan knew why: It was because it wasn’t a sappy come-on. He meant it.
Well, damn. He had better watch it. She had already been hurt, and he sure as hell didn’t want to be on her list of cockroaches. “Hey, listen. Are you hungry?”
“Starving.”
“Let’s go round up some greasy, bad-for-us hangover food. What do ya say?”
“I say that sounds like a plan.” Her sad face suddenly brightened.
“What?”
“I’m no longer homeless and jobless! Wow, and I actually have a plan.” She tipped her head. “Granted, it’s a crazy plan and my mother will throw a fit, but it’s a plan nonetheless. I think this might just work for us, Logan.”
“Ya gotta like it when a plan comes together,” he said, and wanted to kiss her, but then sternly reminded himself of the no-touching rule. But then she did something that blew him away.
She smiled.
Not just a regular curve of the lips, but a megawatt, Julia Roberts smile that lit up the room. It was the kind of smile that could make a man do just about anything to see again and again.
Of course, he wasn’t that sappy kind of dude.
A smile, he thought with an internal roll of his eyes. Holy crap. What the hell is happening to me?
Her smile faltered and she put a hand on his arm. “Hey, are you okay? I mean, if you’re having second thoughts, I totally understand.” She looked at him with warm, honest eyes and it hit him hard. She was a good-hearted chick. He simply had to keep his wits about him and his hands to himself. He would be her friend—like a big brother—and look out for her well-being. Keep her away from ass clowns like him.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just starving. Low blood sugar, I guess. Let’s go over to Wine and Diner and get some grub and get your car over here.”
“Okay,” she answered with another smile and a squeeze of his arm. “I need me some chocolate-chip pancakes!”
Logan smiled back but winced inwardly. Big brother, my sweet ass.
11
The Name of the Game
Ty turned his swivel chair away from his desk and gazed out the picture window overlooking the Ohio River. He and Noah had spent the day hammering out the final roster, and now he had the crappy job of cutting the hopefuls, but also the fun of welcoming the chosen ones to the team. He still had misgivings about Logan Lannigan, but the kid had too much talent not to give him a chance. But Ty was going to lay the law down to the hotshot pitcher and nip any bad behavior in the bud.
Ty rehearsed his speech in his head one more time and then spun his leather chair away from the view and back to his desk. Finally, he picked up the phone and told his secretary to send Lannigan into the office. Ty wasn’t surprised at the bored expression on Lannigan’s face, but what the kid couldn’t hide was the wary hint of uncertainty in the depths of his eyes.
“Have a seat,” Ty crisply ordered, and pointed to the chair directly in front of his desk.
“Thanks,” Lannigan said, and folded his tall frame into the leather chair. He casually draped his arms over his thighs, but there was a tension around his mouth that betrayed his nonchalant stance. The kid was nervous. Well, good. He damned well should be. First the shithead had hit on Jessica, and Ty had learned just a little while ago that not only had he spent the night with Bella, but they were al
so moving in together. What the hell was Bella thinking? Not that it was really his business exactly, and while he couldn’t come right out and forbid the arrangement—or whatever the hell it was—he could get his point across in a read-between-the-lines kind of way, if he could keep from punching the smirk off the kid’s face.
“Congratulations, Lannigan. You made the team,” Ty announced in a tone that was flatter than he intended. But when the kid raised one eyebrow slightly, he wanted to jump across the desk and throttle him.
“Thanks,” Lannigan replied in a not-quite-bored tone, but without the excitement of the other players. It pissed Ty off. The only saving grace was the almost-undetectable ease of his rigid shoulders that once again negated his badass attitude. This was his second chance, and the kid damned well knew it.
Ty pressed his fingertips together in a steeple and gave Lannigan a level stare. “Look, I am well aware that you think that playing in this league is beneath you.”
“Why would you say that?”
“It’s written all over your face.” Ty flattened his hands on the desk and leaned forward. “But let me explain something to you. A lot is riding on the success of this team.”
“I get it.”
“Do you? Noah and I have invested our time and a helluva lot of money, but more important, this entire town is counting on it. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Logan replied quietly, but a muscle jumped in his jaw.
“You’re not the only player looking for either a first or a second chance at the big show. Most won’t get it. You probably will. But if you bring this team down with an attitude, I’ll kick your ass off the field so fast you’ll get whiplash.” Okay, that last bit wasn’t part of the speech, but the kid’s insolence was getting under Ty’s skin.
“I get it,” he said just as quietly, and his chest rose and fell beneath his T-shirt.
Ty leaned back in his chair. “And while your personal life is none of my business, I expect you to conduct yourself in a professional manner. This is a small town with small-town values. I want my players to be an example to the community and be athletes that kids can look up to and emulate.”