My balls heard me thinkcommit, and now they’re shrinking.
C’mon, buddies, I coax.This isn’t the end. This is trying something new.
Not helping.
Let’s be real.
Waverly Sweet isn’t interested in sleeping with me.
She probably knows I’m even better in bed today than I was eight years ago, but also, she knows my reputation. And while I’m starting to suspect she’s a closet Fireballs fan, that’s probably more out of some kind of loyalty to Levi Wilson, or because half the country has been watching our transformation, than it is because she’s been curious about my career.
And she will definitely not be interested in climbing the Rock to help me get over a little baseball slump.
But on the infinitesimally slim chance thattalkis, in fact, code forI want to ride the Cooper Train, this needs to be the best trip she’s ever had.
I need her to never want to get off.
Wait.
That came out wrong.
I want her to get off. Over and over and over again.
Courtesy of the Cooper Train.
“Shut up,” I mutter to myself.
Her bodyguard lifts both pale brows. It’s a small lift, like a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it lift, but she heard me, and now she thinks I’m the kind of guy who talks to himself.
Rudely.
Good thing she can’t hear what’s going on in my head.
“You come here often?” I ask her as much to distract myself as because I’m curious about Waverly’s schedule.
Her gaze settles into a flat-linedyou wanna rethink that question?
“Denver, I mean.” I gesture around the service elevator, which is slowing,thank fuck. “Not service elevators. I meant Denver. Mile-high city. Mountain views. Good art scene. You get to Denver often?”
“Mm.”
“I ramble when I’m nervous, and you remind me of Levi Wilson’s lead security agent. You know Giselle? She’s awesome. And terrifying. She scared the shit out of my brother the first time Levi came to visit me up in Shipwreck. Probably because I told her he had a secret file of photos of Levi on his computer, so she was doing her job. I’m a bad influence. Terrible, really. You heard how my sister and her boyfriend had that little glitter incident before they hooked up, right? Everything my little sister knows about pranks, she learned from me.”
Shut. Up.
My mouth doesn’t get the message.
Also, now I feel a challenge. It’s thewin Waverly’s bodyguard overchallenge. “Wait. Duh. Of course you know Giselle. Do you know Rhett Elliott too? He’s my teammate’s brother. Has his own security firm. Total badass. And his wife—she’s scary. You ever meet Eloise, donotunderestimate her. I made that mistake once, and I had to get a totally new computer with new log-ins for everything. And change my social security number. And my legal name. And don’t ask what happened to my cleats. Pro tip: She doesn’t like being called short.”
“We’re here.”
“Sweet ride. Nice. Appreciate you driving.”
In a dozen years in pro baseball, counting my years in the Minors, I’ve never had a game that’s made me sweat more than this elevator ride has, including last year’s play-off games. Never met a woman who’s put more nerves in my stomach either.
And I’m not talking about the security lead.
I mean Waverly.
