It took forever to get there and then find Jill. Thanks to my miniscule savings, I didn’t have to sleep in my car. But what really took work was getting the woman to talk to me. She was a high school counselor and had too much on her plate to want to spend time digging into old wounds with a reporter. Fortunately, I didn’t have to resort to anything unsavory to get her to open up. All I had to ask was one good question.
“What do you want people to know about your relationship with Rob Lee?”
In one second, her expression went from dismissive to downright furious. “You’ve been talking to my asshole brother, haven’t you?”
I gave her a casual shrug. “I might have had a beer and nachos with him.”
She had some choice words about her brother, but in the end gave me everything I needed. Our discussion was brief and enlightening. And she had a really good answer for me.
“Here’s what I want you to know about me and Rob. If he’d loved me, I would have married him in a shot. But his whole soul is taken up by baseball. He helped me out of a jam. I got pregnant by another guy who my parents hated. Rob covered for me, helped me through the adoption, and paid for my counseling. Thanks to him, I went on and found my dreams. So there’s never been a relationship between us and never will be. That man loves baseball, and no woman will come between him and the game. But he sure as hell will come through if you need help.”
Words that were like daggers into my heart, but they were true. And now I had my story. I wrote it at a rest stop in Illinois. I just didn’t know if I had the guts to risk everything by printing it.
Chapter Eighteen
Rob
I’d never played a worse game in my life. Not even in Little League, when I had growing pains in my legs so bad I could barely run. Heidi was in my brain and I couldn’t get her out. Not even to play baseball. And maybe it wasn’t just my brain that was filled with her. She’d settled in to my heart and soul, too, and that’s what scared me most. Because I’d blown it with her big time. But before I could fix the situation with her, I had to deal with Brittany and the media machine.
The game ended with a loss. I had to endure a lecture from Coach and worried looks from my teammates, but everyone had experienced a bad day and knew better than to pry. Nico tried, but I shot him a look so dark that he held up his hands and backed away.
One dragon down. The next came in the form of one hyperactive brunette. Gia bounced on her toes as she waited for me outside the locker room. She started speaking before I’d taken a single step through the doorway.
“I know you sucked today, but now’s the time to start turning that to your advantage. Brittany’s out front looking amazing. She’s all set to cheer you up.” She shoved a boxed corsage into my hand. “There’s media to take pictures as you pin this on her—”
“This isn’t a prom date, Gia.”
“I know, but—”
I pushed the corsage back into her hand. “I’ve got the flowers all taken care of.”
She blinked. “You do?”
I flashed what my agent, Marc, called my million-dollar smile. I thought of it more as charm with teeth. Either way, it made her blink. “I’ve got this covered, Gia. Promise.”
“But—”
“I look okay, right?” I’d dressed in casual style, every piece picked out by Marc as perfect for a hot date. In fact, he’d gotten the designer to give me it for free if I mentioned his name to the press.
“You look incredible,” Gia said. “Is that Brioni?” She reached out a hand to touch the leather jacket but didn’t dare connect.
“Yeah,” I said, human enough to preen. Two days ago, I hadn’t heard of the man’s name and now I had to drop it into casual conversation while the press was snapping pictures. Honestly, every thought I had as I adjusted the leather was that Heidi’s skin was softer and I really wanted to be touching her right then. “Let’s get this over with,” I said as I headed up to the owner’s box where Brittany would be waiting.
“Not the right attitude!” Gia said as she rushed to follow me.
I barely stopped myself from snorting. If she thought this was a bad attitude, she was not going to like what was coming next.
By the time we made it to the owner’s box, Gia was panting in her high heels. I paused a moment before pushing through the door to make sure every hair was smoothed down and my expression was appropriately mopey. Not a hard feat given how badly I felt about everything. Then right when Gia started to give me last-minute tips, I pushed open the door and tried not to flinch at the flash of cameras.
God, they were everywhere. Somehow Gia and Brittany had made this date into a publicity event. I saw a dozen reporters, a few important somebodies in suits—including Joe DeLuce—and of course, perfectly framed by the sunset view of the park was Brittany, looking just like the girl I’d thought I’d one day marry. Blond hair, blue eyes, freckles smoothed into nonexistence by smartly applied makeup, and a tasteful dress that emphasized ample cleavage.
I wanted none of it. Straight, dark hair captivated me and almond-shaped eyes on smooth yellow-gold skin. I found Brittany overblown, especially when she pursed her lips as she came forward to give me an Obsession-scented hug.
“There you are. I’m so excited we finally get to spend an evening together.”
“Sorry about missing things earlier. You know how the season goes. I’m busy all the time.”
“I know,” she crooned. Then she angled her hips to the camera and tilted her head just right, so her hair spilled over her shoulder to tease at the edge of her cleavage. “You were at that children’s hospital on Monday and the cancer fundraiser right afterwards. And my goodness, don’t you look fabulous in this jacket.”
