We’d talked a lot about her whining, but at that moment, I couldn’t make myself care. At least she was talking to me. And when Josie suddenly gasped, I realized this kid was about to get me exactly what I wanted.
“Is that Miss K?” she squealed.
“It sure is. You remember she told you that Daddy’s boss is her brother?”
Josie was jumping up and down, windmilling her arms at her teacher. I looked back to Gracie and raised my eyebrows.You’re not going to ignore the kid, are you?
She shook her head, but she was grinning at me. Saying something to her friends, the three women headed in our direction. Next to me, Gabe let out a little whimper—he must have seen Peyton.
“Josie O’Conner,” Grace said, putting her hands on her hips. “Was that you I saw jumping in the bounce house? Where’d you learn to do a somersault like that?”
“That was an accident, Miss K,” Josie said, giggling. “I tripped and fell and just kind of…rolled.”
All the guys around us laughed. “Gentlemen,” I said, gesturing to Grace. “This is Josie’s teacher, Grace Knight.”
Dalton’s eyebrows went up. “Knight as in…?”
She smiled. “Andy is my twin brother.”
“Wow,” Tommy said. “Any chance sucking up to you will help me earn a starting spot in the opener this week?”
Gracie laughed, the sound achingly familiar. God, what I wouldn’t do to be able to slip in arm around her, to pull her close to me. To let every asshole eyeing her at this party—and I’d already noticed plenty of them—know that she was taken.
“I doubt it,” Gracie said, shooting him that gorgeous smile. “But if you want to try, I certainly won’t ask you to stop.”
Tommy grinned back and just like that my hackles went up. I moved slightly closer to Grace, pressing my hand to the small of her back. No one else in the group would be able to tell that we were touching, but I couldn’t not have my hands on her. Maybe I wasn’t able to tell all these assholes the truth, but I could make damn sure that Gracie knew she was mine.
Grace introduced her friends to the guys and the conversation continued around me for a few moments but I barely took any of it in. I was too busy trying to breathe in the almond scent of Gracie’s shampoo. When she excused herself to find a restroom, I was ready to jump on the opportunity.
“Take Josie over to grab a burger?” I asked Jay.
His gaze went to Grace’s retreating back, immediately realizing my motivation.
“You need to be careful there, man,” he muttered.
“What are you talking about?”
He jerked his head towards the edge of the patio, where our interim GM was deep in conversation with Andy.
“Dude had his eye on us the whole time his sister was over here.”
I rolled my eyes. “I can handle Andy Knight.”
“You sure about that?” Jay asked. “Because the way I see it, you’ve got a pretty good thing going here in Austin. Living near her grandparents is the best thing that could happen to Josie right now. Why would you want to get on the bad side of the man that could ruin all of that for you?”
“I have no intention of getting on his bad side.” Even as we spoke, my eyes continued to track Grace. She had been waylaid on her way inside by a group of people I didn’t know—probably employees of Andy’s. From what she’d told me, she knew most of his core team really well. I wondered if one of those Dockers-wearing men was the Greg she liked to go out to eat with. Maybe the one with the bow tie? Greg sounded like the name of a guy who would wear a bow tie to a freaking cookout.
“Hey.” Jay snapped a finger in front of my face, forcing me to look at him. “I’m serious, man. You need to think long and hard about whether or not you’re willing to screw up your place on this team for a chick.”
“She’s not just some random chick,” I growled.
He held up his hands. “I get that. But this is your career. Are you willing to put that at risk just to get your dick wet with your high school crush?”
It was everything I could do not to grab him by the collar and shake him for talking about Grace that way. I probably would have done it, even with team management standing ten yards away, if it wasn’t for Josie’s presence. She was giggling over something Peyton was telling her, not watching us, but she would definitely notice if I went off on her beloved Uncle Jay.
So I took in a deep breath, forcing my hands to keep from balling into fists. “Jay, I know you’re just looking out for me. But I swear to God if you ever talk about Gracie like that again I will lay you flat out.”
His eyes widened, but I only saw surprise there, not anger.
