Curveball (21 page)

“Okay.”

She set the pizza slice down after one bite. She’d been wrong; pizza deserved to make
Chicago’s top three after all. Pizza was not supposed to be sweet. This was a sugar
cube with goat cheese and mushrooms. She watched with dismay as Junior finished his
first slice and reached for another.

She said, “We need someone good enough to tickle his agent bone but not so good that
Chance is gonna wonder why the Soldiers didn’t want to keep him for themselves.”

Junior stood up and took two beers out of the six-pack, putting the rest of the green
bottles in the mini-fridge. “Shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve got about fifty guys in
there.” He looked around the small kitchenette before pulling his car keys out. He
popped the bottle caps off with a key ring opener and handed her one. “
Cerveza Presidente, señorita
.”

“
Gracias
.” She toasted his bottle with hers. The glasses made a dull clang and beer spilled
out the top, dripping down her hand.

“Agh!” She hopped up, trying to keep the cold liquid from running down her arm. She
looked around the room. “I need a towel.”

Junior grabbed her arm and pulled it up to his mouth. Before she knew what was happening,
his tongue had reached out and licked the drops of beer off her arm, tracing its way
up to her hand. He slowly ran it up to her finger, closing his lips around the tip
and seductively pulling it back out. “No need.”

She stared into his deep brown eyes and tried to swallow but her heart clogged her
throat. She was speechless, breathless, motionless and, if she didn’t stop it here,
she’d soon be topless. She shifted herself back onto the bed, breaking his mesmerizing
stare and wiping her hand on her jeans. “Um, I don’t remember what—”

Junior’s mouth curled in amusement at her obvious flustered state. He flopped back
on the bed. “The issue is going to be getting Chance to trust your motives. From what
you said, he didn’t want to give you the time of day with Cristian.”

Cat’s eyes trailed down to his lips and her body warmed with the memory of their soft
caresses. She began to experience that same feeling on other parts of her body.

“Cat?”

“Huh?” She blinked. “Oh, trust. Yeah. I think Chance already knows I’m not his biggest
fan.” She tapped the bottom of the bottle while she thought. “We could use Paige.”

Junior shook his head. “Let’s leave Paige out of this. For both our sakes.” He a swig
of the domestic island beer. “The Soldiers don’t look kindly on moonlighting, even
if it is for a good cause.”

She frowned. “True, and I’m kind on probation anyway.”

He nodded. “The less people in on this, the easier it’ll be to pull off.”

Cat reached across the bed for the binder. “Okay then, let’s find ourselves a ringer.”

Stretching her legs out, she rolled onto her stomach. Junior followed, lying on his
stomach and scooting closer. Her pulse began to accelerate at his proximity.

He reached over and positioned the book so they could both read it. She closed her
eyes and took another deep breath, hoping to slow her rapid heartbeat. Upon opening
them, she focused her energy on the stat sheets.

“Here’s a decent average. How about this guy, Juan?”

Junior clicked his tongue. “Look at that OPS.”

“Oh. Yikes, he’s got the power of a baby kitten.”

Junior flipped the page. “But this isn’t bad.”

Cat peered over. “Eduardo Olivares.” She nodded. “Not too shabby. In fact, it’s too
good. Look at this. In late-inning pressure situation, he’s Reggie Jackson. There’s
no way the Soldiers would write off a guy this clutch.”

Saying nothing, Junior turned to the next page.

Cat pointed to the man’s date of birth. “Too young. You really think you can pass
for a nineteen-year-old?”

“Ouch.”

Cat giggled. “Why don’t we just make up our own stat sheet from scratch?”

“Yeah, we’ll have to find some way to account for my shingles and broken hip.”

“Aw. Did I hurt the twenty-five-year-old’s feelings?” She playfully elbowed him. “I’m
just saying, we can give you some decent fielding, a slightly impressive batting average,
but I’ll tell him the Soldiers don’t want to bite because of your age and iffy knee.
Chance’s last two quote-unquote clients were eighteen and nineteen, so I’m thinking
age isn’t an issue.”

“Don’t make my knee too iffy. We don’t want to scare him off.”

Cat scribbled down some notes. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Oh, you do?”

“I do.” She dropped her pen and finished her beer. “I’m not the same little journalism
major who let herself be bossed around by a cocky freshman.”

“I never bossed you around.”

“Ha!” She grinned. “I specifically remember you telling me you’d only give me a sound
bite if I walked across the field to the other side of campus and brought you back
a mint chocolate chip shake.”

He feigned innocence. “Well that’s probably because I had a crush on you and wanted
to see you walk through the sprinklers.”

“Ha!” She kicked his feet playfully. “Waterlogged chic. That’s why you dated every
leg of the three-thirty swim relay.”

“Well you can’t blame an eighteen-year-old kid for choosing swimsuits over that goofy
reporter hat you used to wear.”

Her jaw dropped in an exaggerated fashion. “That fedora was at the high point of fashion,
thank you very much.”

He chuckled for a moment, and then assumed a sweet smile. “I do remember this one
time during practice ... you were sitting in the bleachers talking to Troy Dupree.
It was when he had broken his leg.”

“Oh yeah. Didn’t he do that at a strip club or something?”

“Nah. He fell off the roof trying to hang a banner, but he told everyone he’d been
playing naked Crisco Twister at the Boom Boom Room.”

She rolled her eyes. “He had that huge giant cast covering half his leg.”

“And when he fell asleep, a couple of the guys painted the whole thing to look like
a big dick.”

“Which was more than appropriate considering his personality.”

They started laughing. His gaze stayed riveted to hers and for just a moment, she
let herself enjoy it. His face was gorgeous, even more so when it focused on her with
adoration. She broke the intense stare, flipping to another page in the binder.

“So yeah, if you don’t mind, I’ll just keep this overnight and use it as a template
for—”

The lights flickered and the room went dark.

Cat gasped. “What’s that?”

Junior’s hand touched her arm, making her sharply draw in her breath again.

“It’s a blackout. They happen all the time here. The lights should come back on in
a bit.”

She turned her head toward the window. Sure enough, the buildings were nothing but
shadows under the moonlight.

“Oh.”

“Do you have a flashlight?”

She cringed, a little embarrassed to be so ill-prepared. “No. Do you have one in your
car?”

“Yeah, but by the time we walk down to the parking lot, I bet the lights will be back
on.”

“I guess.” She took a deep breath.

“You’re not scared of the dark, are ya?” He felt around the bed, his hand landing
on her shoulder. “Uh-oh. What’s that?”

“My shoulder.”

“Phew. I thought maybe I stumbled into second base.”

She chuckled. “No. And no, I’m not scared of the dark.”

I
’m scared of being with you in the dark
.

“I’m just not sure what we’re supposed to do now.” She clicked her tongue against
the roof of her mouth. “I guess I could tell you a ghost story.”

“Okay, but first let me finish mine.”

“The floor’s all yours.”

“Anyway, I remember looking over at you. You were interviewing Dupree about his injury
and how he felt about basically blowing any chance we had at the CWS. You were perched
on the bleachers. Your legs were crossed one over the other and this little pad of
paper was in your lap. You wrote down his every word and you had this look on your
face, like pure … passion. It was really windy that day and your hair was blowing
all around your face but you didn’t even care, you were in your own little world.
I thought about throwing myself off the Roosevelt Dorm just to break my leg and get
to talk to you, too. You were so beautiful.” He paused. “
Are
so beautiful, that is.”

The lights popped on and immediately their eyes met. This time Cat didn’t fight the
pull of his magnetic stare.

He slid his hand behind her neck and cupped the back of her head. He drew her closer,
just slow enough to give her a chance to change her mind.

Indeed, conflicting emotions sparred for ascendancy, each going for a knockout punch.

She’d enjoyed their flirtation but knew she shouldn’t have let it go this far. And
now, his lips inches away from hers, she knew she shouldn’t. The guilt would punish
her like it was a belligerent fan and she was Bill Buckner, only it wasn’t a baseball
between her legs that she was worried about. However, she was aware of another thing:
a part of her—the bad part, the part that used the box score to fudge innings when
she’d nodded off, the part that laughed when ballplayers took a bouncer in the crotch,
the selfish part, the terrible part, the
Paige
part—would assuage that guilt. It would remind her that she was only human, subject
to all human foibles, including lust. It would assure her this was beyond her control.
This part would even suggest that what Benji didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt him. And,
if no one was hurt, no one should feel guilty.

It was a body blow, all right, and she silently counted the seconds, waiting for the
counter argument to resume.

Her hands trailed across Junior’s smoothly shaved cheek, around his neck and into
his thick hair.

E
ight … nine … ten ...

She sighed softly as his lips met hers.

We
have a winner
.

The part still standing told her it was totally worth it. She had not realized how
much she craved Junior until just this moment.

Heat rushed through her and she leaned into his warm body. He tore his lips off hers,
giving her a chance to protest; instead, she softly moaned. He ran his mouth down
the side of her neck before rushing back to hers and kissing her even more deeply
than before. Her hands rested gently on his firm chest while his hands worked their
way over her hips and around to her lower back. They pulled her in even closer and
embarked up the back of her shirt.

A soft click sounded from the hotel door. Cat tore away from his embrace, pushing
him back with full force.

“It’s Paige!” The words came out more like a hiss than the whisper she’d intended.

The door began to open and they both jumped apart, to opposite ends of the bed.

“Ugh. I just had to walk up six flights of stairs in these shoes and that stairwell
smells like dorms at the Soldiers’ training facility.” Paige slammed the door behind
her and stopped in her tracks. She cast her eyes back and between the two of them
and smiled unpleasantly. “Hey Junior.”

He smoothed out his shirt and rubbed his neck with his hand. “Paige.”

Cat smiled meekly and combed her fingers through her hair. In an attempt not to appear
flustered, she reached for the papers scattered over the bed. Many were wrinkled and
smashed. She pulled one from beneath her thigh.

“Junior and I were just going through the top prospects down here.” Her pitch was
higher than usual, and her voice rattled. She cleared her throat.

“I see.” Paige’s index finger circled in front of Cat’s lips. “I know you’re new to
this whole makeup thing, but usually we girls try to keep the lipstick confined to
the lips.”

Cat wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

Junior dismounted the bed and shrugged in Cat’s direction. “Well I better be ... tomorrow’s
an early day for me.”

Cat nodded and followed his lead. “I’ll walk you to the lobby.”

Paige watched with an amused smile. “You don’t have to leave on my account. I was
going to take a shower anyway.”

Junior shook his head. “No really, I was just about to go.”

“Yeah, I’ve got a bunch of stuff still to do tonight anyway.” Cat opened the door
and stepped out into the hallway, happy to get out from under Paige’s scrutinizing
eye. The second the door clicked behind Junior, she exhaled dramatically.

“Oh man.”

“I am so sorry.” Junior raked his fingers through his short hair. He didn’t look apologetic.
As he leaned up against the wall, he nibbled on his bottom lip to conceal a smile.

She wondered how many other women had fallen prey to his nonchalant sexuality. He
kissed like he wanted to make love, danced like he was making love and she got a chill
just thinking about how he actually
made
love. Whether he knew it or not—and Cat suspected he did—Junior couldn’t so much
as blink without turning women on. It was all she could do to keep from initiating
an encore of their steamy scene right there in the hallway of
La Concha Gran Hotel
.

Instead, Cat kept walking toward the elevators. The farther they got away from the
scene of the crime, the better. Not to mention the fact that Paige’s ear was probably
glued to the other side of the hotel door.

“No. It’s not your fault. Things just got a little …” Cat let the sentence trail off.
There was no way to sum up what had happened without opening a new set of questions.

“Carried away.” He pressed the elevator button and the doors opened immediately. He
let her step on first and waited until they closed behind them before adding, “But
I liked it.”

Cat’s heart skipped a beat, knowing she was trapped in this discussion for the next
six floors to the lobby. She cursed her own excitement, reflected in the mirrored
elevator doors, and struggled to fish out the right words. To her shame, the five
syllables of “I have a boyfriend” couldn’t make their way to the surface. She sighed
and searched for a different set.