“I’d like that to change,” he said truthfully.
“I’m not sure there’s time for that. You’re on a fast track to Miami.”
“As are you,” Matt countered. “I can’t lose you again, Jaye. I’ll give up baseball if that’s what it takes because it means nothing to me if I don’t have you.”
Jaye pulled the sheet up to her chin and backed away from him. “Don’t say that.”
Matt had to put an arm around her waist to keep her close. “I want to know everything about you. I want to tell your father that you are important to me. I want to take care of you and be part of your life.”
“What about what I want?”
“Tell me,” Matt invited.
“I don’t want you to give up baseball for me, just as you wouldn’t want me to give up baseball for you.”
He smoothed her hair back from her face. “Your father gave up baseball for you,” he said softly.
“How do you know that?”
“I followed his career as a child. I know why he stepped away from the game. What happened to your family was tragic.” Matt watched Jaye closely as myriad emotions passed through her expressive eyes.
“We were going to the ball park to see Daddy play. I fought with my sister that day over who would get to sit in the front seat. It was a common argument between us.” She tucked her legs up beneath her chin and wrapped her arms around them. “We raced to the car, but I got there first.” She paused again. Though she was here with him, in her mind, he could see she was far away. “If I’d been in the back seat . . .”
Matt gathered her close then. She snuggled into him, and he held her tight. After several moments, she continued. “Daddy didn’t pitch that night—or ever again. He said his heart wasn’t in the game any more. It was with me.” She moved away so she could look at him. “We only had each other. He needed me as much as I needed him.” She paused, again touching his chain. “He said he never regretted the decision, but I know he missed playing.”
“He gave you his love of the game?” he asked as he removed the chain and draped it over her neck.
Jaye smiled, holding the St. Anthony’s medal in her hand. “We went to games. His old teammates and coaches would come by our house. Sometimes I overheard them trying to convince him to come back, but like I said, he was all I had.” Tears filled her eyes, and Matt pressed his lips to her cheek. “It’s hard being someone’s everything, Matt. I can’t be responsible for ending another person’s career in baseball.”
“No, mi amor. You have it wrong. Your father chose you, just as I do.”
“But I love my job, and I don’t want to give it up.”
“I’m not asking you to give it up.”
“It doesn’t bother you I’m not willing to give up my work for you when that’s what you’re offering?”
As she said the words, he realized something about her. Her drive to succeed was not just for her but for her father and the career he’d lost. She carried on in something that had been at the center of her family’s life as a way of honoring what they’d had together. But as some point, shouldn’t she consider a life and family of her own?
“What happens when you achieve ultimate success in your career, Jaye?” he asked. “What then?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, frowning.
“What comes next? Will you successfully manage a major league baseball team only? Or will you then consider marrying and having a family of your own?”
“I don’t know.”
Could it be she hadn’t thought past getting the job she desired? “Do you want to marry and have children?”
“Being a woman in my job is a liability. The men I work with barely tolerate the fact that I’m a single woman. If I was married with children, I don’t know how that would work.”
“Men marry and have children.”
“It’s different for men. You know that.” She brought his medal to her lips before she continued. “Men and children have specific needs of the women they call wife and mother.”
“Your family consisted of you and your father only,” he gently pointed out. “The two of you wrote your own script based on need. You could do the same with whomever you choose as your partner.”
“It wasn’t perfect. Dad always felt inadequate to the task of mothering me. He thinks it’s his fault that I’m not girly.”
“You made it work. Just look what you’ve accomplished. And yet . . .” he trailed a hand to the top of the sheet she held in place over her breasts and pulled it down. He moved her legs across his and took in her voluptuous figure. “You are undeniably a woman in every sense of the word.” He touched her breast. “Soft,” he said, and then trailed his hand to her stomach, imagining their child growing there. “Yet strong.” He moved his hand down to her thigh and pressed against her. “You can have anything you want, Jaye.” He kissed her. “What do you want?” He kissed her again. “A job, a family? Both, neither? The choice is yours.”
“You make it sound so simple,” she said against his lips.
“Nothing worthwhile is ever easy.”
She kissed him for several long moments then said, “You lost your family, too. You walked away, but came back. How did you do that?”
Matt smiled sadly. Of course she would know about what had happened to his family. “After I had taken time to grieve and could once again think rationally, I realized I must go on living because I had no other choice. So, it was simple, really. With my family gone, baseball was all I had.” He traced the lines of her face. “But then there was you and life changed for me. For a time, I denied that our brief encounter had altered me. I ran from my feelings until I could no longer do so. My desire for something more eclipsed my desire to play. I was on my way to a dark place, mi amor.” Jaye closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his. “But fate stepped in and threw us back together, quite intentionally I believe. And now we must choose.”
Jaye nodded. “Will we have careers in baseball together or apart?”
“I’m praying the answer to that question will be ‘together’.”
She touched his chest and trailed her hand down to his waist. “Well, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. If you don’t get your form back, then both our careers are likely over.”
He settled his erection between her legs and enjoyed hearing her intake of breath. “If my comeback means a promotion for you, I’m all in.” He paused and then added, “As long as I have you.”
“You’re all right with keeping us a secret then? At least until you’re called up to Miami?”
“Do you think that is best?”
Jaye nodded, but rubbed her body against his in a most pleasurable way. “With you pitching the way you have been, we have no bargaining position. If you don’t recover, Stan might blame the problems on your well-known penchant for women. And if the woman was me—”
“I’m back,” Matt interrupted. “There is no question.” In a few weeks’ time, he’d be throwing better than ever. He could feel it.
“I like your confidence.”
He squeezed her butt cheeks. “I like the man I am when I’m with you.”
Jaye sighed. “Careful. Pretty words like that could go to a girl’s head.”
Liking the sound of that he asked, “What else can I say to turn your head?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “The way you look at me is pretty heady.”
He hooked his thumbs into her thong and dragged it down. “Pretending at work could prove difficult.”
“We should only see each other rarely at work. Players and front office have little contact.”
“And what of your father?”
“I’ll tell him. He’ll be happy I finally have a man in my life.”
“Careful,” Matt said. After he had her panties off, he moved his thigh between hers suggestively. “Words like that might go to my head.” And he wasn’t necessarily referring only to the head on his shoulders. “Am I in your life, Jaye?”<
br />
“I hope so,” she said, her lips moving on his neck.
“I do not like sneaking around like we’re doing something wrong.”
“Really?” she said, arching her back so that her sensitive nipples brushed his chest. “I think it’s kind of hot having a secret affair with one of the sexiest men alive.” Her reference to the magazine that had given him such a dubious designation made him flush with embarrassment. She laughed. “Are you blushing?”
“You are the only woman I want to find me sexy.”
She sighed. “If only it were that simple. Women would find you sexy even if you wore glasses and geeky clothes.”
He wrinkled his nose at that suggestion. Admittedly, he liked nice clothes. “Keeping our affair secret will become harder when reporters begin following me. It is only a matter of time.” He rolled her nipple with his thumb. “You won’t like the women who will come to the ballpark.”
“As long as you don’t take any of them home.”
He stopped moving his hand, considering. “That’s not a bad idea. Do you have a friend who could be a decoy? Someone who would pretend to be my girlfriend?” Jaye growled, but he added, “It could deflect any suspicion.”
“I don’t have any girlfriends here,” she said flatly.
“Perhaps one of the trainer’s assistants?”
“I’m not sharing you with another woman, Matteo Ruiz,” she said, frustrated. He loved the possessiveness he heard in her voice. “Besides, the fewer people in the organization who know, the better.” He frowned when she added, “We won’t be able to see each other every night.”
“Unacceptable,” he said, dismissing her suggestion.
“You’ll be traveling with the team. You leave next weekend for six days.”
He opened her thighs and slid into her. “And I can’t see you while we are in town?”
“We’ll see each other, but not every night,” she managed as he began to move.
“The manager at this hotel handles ladies for some other famous athletes from Jacksonville’s football and basketball teams. He understands the need for discretion and is used to deflecting the press.”
Jaye closed her eyes and moaned. God he loved her sex sounds. “Is that what I am? A famous athlete’s lady?”
“You’re that and much more,” he said and stopped moving. She opened her eyes and frowned. “What will we do when I go to Miami?” he asked.
“I’ll figure something out when the time comes. For now, focus on pitching.”
He pressed into her. “I’m focused on something else entirely at present,” he said.
“I do love your ability to focus,” she said, practically purring her pleasure.
And he did just that, honing in on her body’s reaction to his lovemaking. He painstakingly moved her slowly to orgasm then pushed her over the edge. And when she fell, he was right there with her.
12
Matt continued to progress, becoming stronger and more consistent everyday. After a little more than three weeks, she got the call she’d been expecting from Stan.
“I’ve looked at the reports you’ve sent,” Stan said. “The coaches have reviewed the film you overnighted. We want Ruiz down here for our home stand this weekend against the Mets.”
“The team is on the road, but I can pull Ruiz—fly him out to you. I’ll make the necessary arrangements,” Jaye said, her emotions mixed.
“Good work, Baxter. He looks better than he did as a rookie. What are you feeding him up there?”
Jaye smiled to herself. “I have an excellent staff, Stan. We were able to maintain a beneficial climate where Ruiz could focus and improve. We’re very pleased with the work he did here. He was,” she paused, “quite determined.”
“We need you doing that here, Baxter, but we have to find your replacement first. Since it’s only a few weeks from the end of the minor league season, I’d like you to stay put for now. I have another pitcher I want to send you anyway. It’s Enslow. He’s middle relief, but ought to be starting.”
“Yes, I’ve seen his numbers,” Jaye said, trying to neutralize the disappointment in her voice. “Dismal.”
“Yeah. We’re bleeding money on him right now.”
“We’d be happy to work with him, Stan.” Undeterred, she added, “When can we talk more about my move to Miami?”
“Well, I don’t see why you couldn’t come as soon as the season ends there. Hopefully, we’ll be in the post season here.”
“Can I see something in writing?” she pressed.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll get legal on it. You’ve earned this, Baxter. Chuck must be proud as hell of you.”
“Thank you, Stan. There is one other thing I’d like to discuss, but I’d prefer to do it in person. Mind if I pop in this weekend? As I said, the team’s on the road here.”
“Yeah, sure. Bring your dad along. I’d love to see him.”
“I’ll ask if he’s free. See you this weekend.”
Smiling, her next call was to Coach Anderson, and then she put Jackie to work making travel arrangements while she watched for her cell to ring. She didn’t have to wait long. When she answered, she said, “Congratulations.”
“I’ll get excited as soon as you tell me you got your promotion,” Matt replied.
“All in due time.”
“Meaning?”
“I’m going to Miami this weekend to speak with Stan.”
“And then you’ll get your promotion?”
Jaye laughed. “It’s probably not going to happen until after the minor league season ends, but we will be able to spend this weekend together. And I may get to see you play.”
“There is that,” he said, but did not sound excited.
“Are you happy?” Jaye asked.
“Sure.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I miss you. Feels like we’ve been on the road for a month, and we don’t exactly travel first class.”
“Spoiled much?” she teased then added, “You’ll be flown to Miami first class, if that helps.”
“I miss you,” he repeated.
Jaye cradled the phone against her ear, loving the sound of his voice. “You’ll be so busy the next few days that Friday will be here before you know it.”
“When does your season end?”
“Late September.” A string of Spanish curses followed. “Matt, you’ll be traveling half the time anyway. I’ll do my best to come down on the weekends when I can.”
“You were promised a job,” he insisted, angry now.
“And it’ll happen. Be patient. Be happy you’re playing in the majors again. You’ve worked hard, and you deserve this.”
“You deserve it as well,” Matt said, still sounding pissed.
“It’ll happen. Stan has legal working on my new contract. Like I said, it’s just a matter of timing. And, in a few months, we’ll both have a couple of months off.”
“That sounds like heaven right now.”
“Be happy, okay? I’ll see you soon.”
“Mi amor,” Matt said softly. “Te adoro. I want you to be mine.”
“I am yours,” she replied.
“Friday cannot come soon enough,” he growled.
“Talk tonight?”
“Yes. Adiós.”
* * *
Before the game on Saturday afternoon, Jaye walked into the Marlins’ bullpen and was immediately met by the pitching coach, Alberto Lind. “Ms. Baxter, I’ve been expecting you.” The coach shook her hand, but Jaye’s eye was on the handsome player who was moving their way—a man she hadn’t seen in more than a week. The coach motioned Matt over. “I want to thank you for the work you did with Ruiz here.” Coach Lind smacked Matt on the shoulder. “He’s better than ever. We expect big things.”
“That’s what you pay me for, Coach,” Matt said as he devoured her with his eyes.
“All the credit goes to Matt. His determination and work ethic are what got him here.”
“You’re too modest
, Ms. Baxter,” Matt said. “I couldn’t have done it without your leadership and the staff you’ve put in place in Jacksonville.” He paused then added, “Your father was particularly helpful.”
“He’s here with me. We’re both anxious to see your debut tonight.” She took in how he looked in his uniform. Thank God for baseball players in tight, white pants. “You wear the uniform well,” she said with a private smile all for Matt.
“Make sure Chuck stops by to see us. It’s been too long,” Coach Lind said.
“I’ll do that,” Jaye said. “Can I borrow Ruiz for a moment, Coach?”
“Of course.”
The coach moved away to watch the starter warming up and consult with another coach while Jaye walked to the rear corner of the bullpen with Matt. She turned. With her back to the wall, Matt stood in front of her, blocking her from the view of the other men in the bullpen. “It’s all I can do not to take you into my arms and kiss you right now,” Matt said. He took in her lacy t-shirt in Marlins teal and a coral skirt with tall sandals that matched the shirt. The look he gave her made her blush. “This is not at all masculine like your usual dress.”
“Is that a compliment or an insult?” she said softly with a smile.
He moved a bit closer as if he couldn’t help himself. “That skirt is giving me ideas I should not have when I’m supposed to be working.”
Jaye gathered her courage. It was now or never. If they were coming out, they might as well go all the way. She stepped into him, framed his face with her hands, and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back as several of the other pitchers in the bullpen wolf-whistled. She was smiling when she broke the contact, but left a hand on his face.
“What are you doing?” Matt asked, surprised.
“Staking my claim.” She wiped her lip-gloss off his mouth with her thumb. “I told Stan about us.”
He turned his head and pressed a kiss into her palm. “Then all is well? You got the promotion?”
“I’ll explain everything after the game.” She squeezed his biceps. “Good luck.” When he didn’t let her go, she asked, “Are you nervous?”
“Not with you here.”
Played: Scandalous Moves Series Page 8