Falling for Centerfield Read online

  When he turned to smile at her, he heard random words come out of his month. “So, how many sugar packets can you eat at one time?”

  Ryker snorted, and the other guys took a drink to try to pretend like they weren’t all laughing at him.

  “How many….” She swallowed and took a drink. “Whatever.” She looked away like he was making fun of her or something.

  “No, I’m sorry. We have a contest, from Belltown days…” He reached for her but she shimmied away.

  Axe Man kicked him under the table.

  He cleared his throat. Think. What could he say?

  Axel leaned forward. “So tell us what you’re working on, Harlow.” He eyed Cole like he’d grown another head. He wished he had.

  Cole let out a long breath of air, trying to relax. Of course, just take it easy and ask her about herself. Normal stuff. He watched her face while she answered, her eyes lighting up. Her dimples came and went, depending on how she pronounced her words, and every now and then, she smiled about something and then her whole face lit.

  “I want to cover women’s issues. And I can sometimes. But mostly I’m doing the same kinds of things I was when you guys were there. I’m at all the sporting events, doing after-game interviews, only there’s no Six Pack around to liven things up.”

  Axe Man nudged him.

  He jumped in. “That’s great. I bet you would do a good job with the women’s issues. Being a woman.”

  She looked around at all the guys trying not to laugh, and her face went white. And then she stood. “Look, it’s time for me to get back home. I don’t need this.”

  “No, it’s not like that, need what?” Cole didn’t know what was eating her, but he didn’t want her thinking they were making fun of her. “It’s me, not you. They just can’t see me and you…They can’t imagine I’d…I’m an idiot. Everyone knows it.”

  She started scooting out of their booth. But he blocked her with his legs, hoping she’d stay.

  “I get it. Look, I’m going home.” She eyed him until he stood to let her pass. When she paused for half a breath, their bodies pressed together between the table and the wall, he rested a hand on her hip. “Stay. I’m sorry.”

  Her eyes met his, vulnerable, hurt, and he didn’t know what to do about it. “Stay.” He repeated. “We’re not trying to be jerks.”

  She shook her head but she sat, and he called it a small victory. But he vowed not to say much to her the rest of the night for fear he’d scare her off.

  For a moment, his worst fear, the awkward silence tied everyone’s tongue, but then Ryker held out the lucky stone. “It needs to recharge.”

  Everyone groaned.

  “No, come on, stroke the stone.”

  He held it in his palm, a smooth small river stone he’d picked up somewhere as a kid and swore it was the secret to his uncanny luck. No one could argue with him because the guy was luckier than anyone they knew. Cole reached a couple fingers out, rubbing the stone. Then Ryker got to Harlow and paused. “Bonfire, I don’t let everyone rub the stone. I don’t want to mess with the luck.”

  Her laugh was nervous. “It’s okay—”

  He pushed his hand forward. “But I think I’m gonna need some extra Harlow luck at our game tomorrow. Would you do me the honor?” He reached closer.

  Cole would have laughed at his over serious expression if he didn’t know that Ryker was being absolutely sincere. He took his luck seriously.

  She must have noticed, because she reached out and ran a finger down the top of the stone.

  “Thank you!” he brought it to his mouth and kissed it and then put it back in his pocket.

  The others joked and teased Harlow some more, and they even got a small smile from her. After a few more minutes, she checked her watch. “I’ve got to make it a night.” Her gaze found his, her eyes seeking, insecure. She paused, waiting for something from him, but he fumbled. “We should tuck in too.”

  She nodded, disappointment shading her expression.

  He kicked himself. What did she want from him? If only he knew.

  “Our office will send you copies of the articles we run and any websites that pick it up. If you guys can share the links on your social media, I’m sure our illustrious dean will appreciate it and continue to worship you.” She waved her hand without looking back and said, “Bye.”

  Cole slumped. “I. Am an idiot.”

  “What’s the matter with you?” Axel shook his head.

  “I just don’t know what to say to her. That woman scares me.” He swirled his glass. “In a good way. She’s everything, man, the whole package.”

  They were silent so he lifted his eyes and they were all having some kind of face conversation.

  “Look, cut it out. It’s nothing. I’ve still got my touch. Invite a few hotties over and we’ll get this party going.”

  Hopefully that would be one of the last times she ever had to see the Six Pack up close. She didn’t need a bunch of athletic guys making fun of her. She didn’t need them hitting on her either, she reminded herself. She was having too much fun before Cole got there, joking with the guys, even missing the old days when they used to talk after the games. Which set her up to be hurt by Cole minutes later. What was it about that guy? As soon as he got there, she clammed up. And then his overconfident swagger, the way everyone loved him, cheered for him in the restaurant. “Ugh.”

  The couple getting into their car next to hers both looked her way. She just waved and sat in her cold car, breathing into her hands and turning on the heater. Cole was too much like the guys on the football team. He could have played with them, started the season trying it out. He would have been in Devin’s group, hung out at his parties.

  She remembered him in those days. She used to hang around the practice field with all the other girls like her, hoping for a drop of attention, hoping to get a practice jersey to wear to the games, hoping for a football boyfriend. Cole had run by how many times without once looking in her direction? She rolled her eyes at her own cluelessness. If she’d known then what she knew now, she would have run, far away in the opposite direction and hoped none of them ever took notice. Like she should be doing right now.

  Instead she just sat and thought about how Cole shimmered with masculine power. The other guys were funny, and she had to admit she was flattered to be included in their group. But flattery was not a good reason to leave your heart open to being hurt again by a guy who cared about nothing except his own fame. Wake up, Harlow. Cole had a different girl on his arm every time he went somewhere.

  So she needed to remind herself every girl wanted to be the one who convinced Cole Hunter to go exclusive—but he never would. Go exclusive. Maybe not even after he was married. She hated to think such a thing, but better to face the facts now. These athletes weren’t the one-woman kind. She’d discovered the hard way. And she knew that. So she’d be stupid to spend even another second wishing to be part of their group, wanting to be in Cole’s life.

  Even though she’d wondered more than once what it might be like to be held by him again, only this time, not catching her from a fall, but feeling the power of his arms around her because he cared, because she was special.

  Chapter 3

  Harlow Ember joined the other reporters, writers, and editor at the long rectangular table:

  the press team for the local Belltown paper. She served two purposes with these people, as the press liaison for the university and as a staff member for the paper. She took assignments and wrote articles for them as well as for the school.

  “Welcome, Harlow.” The senior editor, an archaic man, who knew his stuff about fifteen years ago before the internet changed the way the news worked forever, nodded and then continued his meeting. “Bart, you’re up next for the March film festival. And that should cover all the local events. Oh, except for the newborn lambs. We need someone at the Pickleberry Farm covering all the new growth, the new animals.” His eyes travelled over Harlow and she tried to disap
pear. But thankfully he kept moving down the table until he picked the new intern at the end. “Eric. It’s yours.”

  “Thank you sir, happy to get right on that.”

  Harlow liked Eric. He was going places even if he was overly excited. All of them had started that way.

  Their boss, Jorgenson, dismissed everyone but asked Harlow to stay. “Your piece on the Six Pack was a standout piece. Larger presses are picking it up. It might go national.” He angled his laptop for her to see the layout. “These shots here, of Cole with the boys, so tender. It gives the guys a real home-town feel.”

  Her eyes scanned the page and her heart warmed. She ran a finger down Cole’s face, laughing down at the two boys.

  Jorgenson rubbed his hands together. “And it keeps them connected to Belltown.”

  She tried not to roll her eyes at the grasping people did to keep the eyes of the world turned on them. She saw it here with the paper and with Dr. Grant at school. Everyone wanted to milk the SixPack guys as long as they could.

  “Find out the story with these boys, why he cares.” A spark of something in his eye made her nervous.

  “What do you expect I’ll find?”

  “I don’t know. But I’ve heard he’s particular with these two. The case worker was closed-mouthed about it, but maybe you can find out more from the other angle.”

  “What do you mean?” Warning bells continued in her mind.

  “I’m putting you on the Six Pack, exclusively.”

  She shook her head. “What does that mean?”

  “I want you on them twenty four hours a day; if they buy a soft drink instead of electrolytes I want you to know it, and we’ll do a piece every week about something to do with one of them.”

  The words didn’t form as quickly as she needed. “But my work with the women’s group here? The rally in Seneca Falls…”

  “You can still attend of course. But I want you to focus more of your weekly articles on the guys.” He twirled his pen around on his thumb. “Come now, I thought you’d welcome the opportunity. You went to school with them, didn’t you?” He watched her with an intensity that made her curious. What was he getting at?

  “I did. But it’s not like we were ever close, like we…get together or anything.”

  “I don’t know. It looked to some like you and Cole knew each other. He’s your source.” He pulled up a picture someone had taken of the embrace with the two boys off on the side. “Find out the story here. This is your moving piece.”

  “Not sure what you hope I’ll find there.” He was right. She sensed the story when she saw Cole with the boys, but for the first time, sharing a story with the world, even a good one, felt like the wrong thing to do.

  “You never know. But no matter what, the boys are here in Belltown; it keeps the story here.” He grabbed his next stack of folders. “Thanks, Harlow. I know you’re itching to get out of this town. This could be your ticket. Stories like this one get noticed.”

  She knew she was dismissed. So she made her way out the door, reeling. Cover only the Six Pack? With an occasional story covering the women’s rallies? This very situation was why her work with the women’s conference was needed. The men on her staff got all the best stories. And who did she get assigned to cover? A group of men made famous for playing baseball. And why? Because her boss thought she was dating Cole. That was the short of it. He thought she could get a personal inside scoop. When real people were actually accomplishing things that mattered, she had to focus on athletes. Her thoughts burned within her. And she knew part of her problem with the new assignment was Cole himself. She didn’t want to be so near him, thinking about him, looking him up, or discovering some beautiful soft side to him.

  He was too handsome for his own good, and too handsome for her to have to keep at a professional distance. And he had so firmly placed her in the “I’m disinterested” category, she didn’t want to hound him. Cole would surely immediately think she had a thing for him, along with every other girl he’d ever met.

  Her boss dinged her cell phone. “I want you in California by Friday. They’re bringing in another centerfielder. Get Cole’s reaction.”

  Thankfully, her sigh and irritated frown didn’t communicate over her text which said only, ok. I’ll leave tomorrow.

  Couldn’t she do any of this by telephone? A follow up to the service they did for the children would be fun to do.

  Her phone dinged again. This time her friend, Aiysha sent a text. Harlow clicked on the image to see what she’d sent and then almost dropped the device in the hallway on her way back to her cubicle at work.

  Aiysha had sent a picture of Harlow and Cole, facing off at the mid-court line. She had a ball in her hand and they both had huge competitive grins. Staring at the image, her smile began slow and then grew. It was an adorable photo, she had to admit, but then she wiped the smile from her face. The headline, in bold letters taunted her. “New sparks flying for two Belltown alumni?”

  Then the article went on to talk about their dodgeball game and how they all went out to dinner after, making it sound like she and Cole were a thing. And she groaned. Her job to follow him and have any sort of professional expectation was made much more complicated now. No wonder Jorgenson gave her this assignment.

  Harlow pulled up the image again and had to smile anyway at how fun they looked. A part of her wished life were as simple as the still shots captured by the press.

  Chapter 4

  Cole ran along the beach outside of his house in LA. The ocean breeze cooled his perspiring skin. Even the early morning sun felt hot today. Where was his beautiful California seventy degrees? It had been unbearably hot the last few days. He missed Massachusetts. And Belltown. And for some reason he kept thinking about a pair of blue eyes behind a curtain of silky hair.

  He felt other eyes on him, all around him while he ran. He welcomed them. It made him flex harder, pull in his gut tighter and work on his form.

  His dad was flying in today from Texas. They would take the boat out and do some fishing this weekend. He’d had the smaller yacht brought over to the California coast and docked at a nearby marina, hoping to lure his Dad out for a visit.

  His watch beeped at him and he turned to head back to his house. He looked up towards the cliffs. His home sat on the edge, overlooking the water. He could see the rising sun reflect off the glass roof in the sun room. He loved it up there, the wide expanse of blue visible from every western window. During the season he got to spend so little time there, he appreciated it when he was home.

  Texas was so flat and Dallas didn’t have any ocean nearby. So while he played for the Los Angeles Sea Rays, he was going to appreciate the ocean. The road began the incline up through the cut back windy roads to climb up to his house, and his thighs burned. He welcomed the pain at the end of a long run. It was good for him. He had a full practice today, beginning with ball after ball hit out to him near centerfield. Which would mean quick sprints, and a sharp eye. He loved it. He knew where the ball would land just by looking at the angle of the bat against the ball. He practiced running in that direction before the ball fully arced.

  Dad had taught him that. They worked on it, hour after hour, ball after ball.

  His breath came hard when he finally reached his property. The guard at the gate nodded and Cole made his way around back to the pool. He stripped to his compressions and dove in. The cool water rippled over his skin. He swam four slow laps before his body cooled off sufficiently. Then he swam to the very edge of the infinity pool and stared out the glass wall to the valley below and ocean out to the front. Something felt off, a dissatisfied itch pestered him. In all this beauty that usually filled him with peace, he recognized his lack. He wished he had someone to share it with. Harlow. He imagined her here, commenting on the view, or sitting in his deck chairs or better yet, in the water beside him. Wow, she’d really gotten to him.

  He dried off and got ready to go work out with the team. The guys were great. Not quite
like his Belltown brothers but they were professionals, worked hard, had fun when they could, and Cole respected them. The owner, Cameron Stacy about drove him crazy. The guy made decisions based on nonsense. But when Mr. Stacy stepped back and didn’t interfere, Cole loved his situation with the Sea Rays.

  He and his dad hoped to one day make it to the Mustangs, get back to Texas, but not until he had enjoyed California and built a name for himself there. Then when he was traded, his contract would be two to three times more than where he’d started out. Money wasn’t everything, but like his father had always taught him, a few strategic decisions were the difference between one million and several. And Cole had no problem earning several more million.

  Considering where he began, it was a miracle he could even plan such a thing for his life. He thought of two of the boys at the center, Luther and Johnny, and their current foster family. They said the sister wasn’t too nice, but the parents were good to them. That eased Cole’s mind. He worried every time the boys had to change homes. With any luck, they could stick it out with this family until they went to college, but chances of that were slim.

  Cole worried for them, especially when he saw himself in their wide eyes. He knew his early childhood had affected him, but his dad and he had worked to overcome all of his hang-ups and special needs. He always struggled in school, but he learned he could manage if he worked hard. It had been a huge blessing when they discovered his natural athletic ability. And then the way was paved. He left the pool, dripping, hurried to get ready and headed to practice.

  He pulled into Harwood Stadium. As soon as he entered the locker room, the manager pulled him aside. “Cole, I need a word.”

  “Yes, sir.” It made him sound like a rookie to some, his “yes sir,” but the way he saw it, for one, he was a rookie of just five years, and two, he’d been taught from the first moments, trying to drag a heavy bat around, coaches were sir, always yes, sir. You respected your elders. He followed him into his office, curious. Then Skip closed the door, and he was even more curious.