My eyes widened as I swept my gaze back and forth to see if anyone was paying attention to us or had heard what Auden had said. She’d been the only one I told, right after my cab rideof shame smelling like sex and the spicy cologne permeating the collar of Silas’s sweatshirt.
I’d spilled every dirty detail to a silent Auden, other than a couple of audible gasps in my ear at the really filthy parts. She’d understood my reasons for not taking it any further, even though she hadn’t agreed with any of them.
“No, you’re right.”
I was about to say more when my boss, Gayle, started waving her hands at the front of the aisle.
“Thank you all for coming here on such short notice.”
“Like we had a choice,” Auden whispered to me. I nodded and sat back in the oddly comfortable field seat as we waited for her to continue.
“Today is the start of our new partnership with the Brooklyn Bats—and hopefully the start of a new era for New York baseball. Our team is going to do everything they can to help make that happen.”
“A new era? Dramatic much?”
I started to snicker at Auden’s whisper, but I caught myself, pretending to clear my throat when someone turned their head. I loved Gayle and she was a great boss. She’d always been a big supporter of my work and accommodating of whatever I needed to do with and for my sister. But I knew that feral look in her eyes. I spotted the new big client excitement that would drive us all insane until we launched this campaign.
“I’ll explain more in just a few minutes, but in the meantime, enjoy practice.” She motioned behind her. Players were throwing balls back and forth in the outfield, while someone was pitching to a man at the plate. I didn’t know any of the players by name like my sister did for some, but they were young and cute, especially in those tight white pants.
I supposed there were worse ways to pass a workday. Maybe I could get inspired to write a sports romance and get that stupid night of a lifetime out of my head.
“I wonder what plans they have that Gayle thinks we’re going to start an ‘era,’” I said to Auden.
“Oh, I’m sure she’s got plenty.” She turned to me, the corner of her mouth twitching. “I wonder what your man will say when he reads your new book.”
“He’s not my man, and he’s not reading my books.”
“But he asked for your pen name. That’s cute. Super romantic.”
“And if he wanted to use it to look me up, he would have already. We’ve been over this. It was a nice walk on the wild side, and now I’m back to real life.”
“I bet you could, like, leave messages in your books for him in case he is reading.”
I narrowed my eyes at Auden. “Messages?”
“Yeah, like code or something. To meet you somewhere. It could be like aSleepless in Seattlething, keep mentioning the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day and then he’ll just show up as you’re getting on the elevator to leave?—”
“Listen,” I said, holding up a hand. “That’s a nice…idea. A little weird, but nice. He wasn’t looking for anything either. It was a wonderful, one-time connection. And maybe it will end up helping me sell some books.”
I focused on the field in front of us, ignoring Auden’s glare in my periphery.
“I hate that you do this to yourself, but we can rehash that later on.”
She pointed to Gayle, clustered with a few guys now on the field.
“I’d like you all to meet the Brooklyn Bats organization,” Gayle said into a microphone as she stretched her arm toward the men behind her. “Barrett Wayne, team owner.”
The only man in a suit waved to us behind Gayle. I’d seen articles about him, a lifelong New York businessman who decided to create a ball club in his sixties. I guessed it was more fun than the investments he was known for, as he flashed us what seemed to be a genuine and excited smile.
“This is Kent Shapiro, general manager.” Gayle nodded to her side, where a man with glasses in a polo shirt nodded at us with a little too much enthusiasm.
“And brand-new team manager and head coach, Silas Jones.” Gayle beamed as she held out her arm. “You may remember him from his many championship appearances when he played shortstop for Washington.”
The man to the far right, wearing a baseball uniform and jacket, lifted his hand in a small wave. I knew those broad shoulders and wide chest, straining against his shirt as he shifted back and forth on his feet.
When he smiled, my vision blurred, most likely from my heart seizing in my chest right before it bottomed out into my stomach.
I blinked, praying my mind was playing tricks on me. Maybe Emily’s text and Auden’s usual nagging about my love life were making me see things that weren’t there. When he pinched the back of his neck, an almost shy smile curved that perfect mouth that I could still feel on mine, and the full-body panic it triggered was all the confirmation I needed.
