The Ace (9 page)

His low, husky voice made goose bumps break out. “I did too. Thank you.”

“We’ll have to do better with the betting next time.”

She grinned. “I don’t know, I thought mine was pretty good.”

“Karen,” he said, as he leaned forward so his face was just inches from hers. Her tongue darted out, wetting her lips, as she waited, totally expecting him to pull her in for a smoldering kiss. “You’re never getting your hands on my car.”

She shoved his shoulders with a grin. “You’re a jerk.”

Jerry laughed and sat back. “No, I’m just smart. God knows what state I’d find this baby in after being in your hands.”

“I had to try.”

“And a nice try it was,” he said. “I’m glad that you’re on board with our agreement.”

“Are you now?”

“Yeah, because I can’t wait to get my hands on you.”

Karen cleared her throat. It was amazing how he could go from fun and carefree to all hot and sexy in a matter of seconds. Her head felt like a whirlwind and since her pulse was always out of whack whenever she was around him, she was surprised that she hadn’t gone into cardiac arrest yet.

“I’ll see you next week at the shindig,” Jerry said, smoothly switching back to his friendly demeanor.

Karen hesitated a second, confused and frustrated, but then shook her head. “Yep, you will,” she said as she reached for the door handle, trying not to be disappointed that he hadn’t put his hands on her that second if he was so looking forward to it. She wanted to scream, “What are you waiting for!” but she kept her mouth shut, not wanting to appear desperate. Two could play the game.

Jerry tugged on the hand that he still held and she slowly turned back toward him with renewed hope. He leaned forward and paused for a second before closing the gap between them and giving her a soft, tender kiss on her cheek.

“Good night, Karen.”

“Good night, Smutty.”

“Pookie,” he corrected.

Karen sighed, realizing the night was indeed going to come to an end. “What’s with you and that damn name? I should have never said it.”

“I like it.”

She rolled her eyes as she opened the door and climbed out. Before she shut it, she leaned back in and smiled. “Drive safe, Pookie.”

Chapter Nine

Jerry sat on the long wooden bench that lined the back wall of the dugout during one of the rare night games they had at the beginning of the season. The air was cold and brisk, still trying to rid itself of the sharpness of a Michigan winter and ease into a warm pleasant summer. It was often a bumpy ride through the transition—almost hot one day, cool the next, with spring bypassed altogether.

Hunched down with the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and another jacket layered over it, he shoved his hands into his pockets as he bounced his legs, unable to sit still, and eyed the portable heater at the opposite end of the dugout. He could easily get up and walk down there, but he stayed where he was, too cold to move.

He hated this part of the year. While he was excited to start each season, the night games early on were usually bitterly cold, which was why there were thankfully only a few scheduled. He couldn’t believe that just a couple of nights ago it had been warm enough for him and Karen to play miniature golf. Next week, the team would take off for their annual long road trip out west and he couldn’t wait. At least they would see some sunshine and have consistent warmer temperatures.

Jerry was glad he wasn’t pitching tonight. The cold made it that much harder to get comfortable and feel loose on the mound, and although it made him cringe to admit it, he
still
wasn’t feeling like himself. It was early enough yet in the season that he didn’t want to panic and sometimes it took a start or two under your belt before things really started to flow, but for some reason, it was taking him longer to get there, to feel “right” this year.

After his start on Opening Day, when he’d felt in command of all his pitches once he’d worked through some minor rustiness, Jerry now felt like he’d taken a few steps backward. He felt awkward and disjointed, like something just wasn’t right, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was exactly, and that bothered him more than anything. It would be easy to blame it on the cold or a change in the angle from which he threw, but it wasn’t any of that.

He was trying not to fret about it, despite the fact that it wasn’t going unnoticed. A couple of reporters had mentioned it in interviews, and there’d been some speculation by the press about the reasons behind his struggles. He’d managed to convince them everything was okay, that there was nothing to worry about. He was the Ace and hadn’t gotten that title by not evolving as a pitcher...all he had to do was keep reminding himself of that fact.

It’d only been a few games where’d he felt out of sorts, and he’d managed to actually squeak out a couple of wins, so he’d push it to the back of his mind and hope that whatever it was corrected itself. Jerry knew based on past experience as well as advice from coaches earlier in his career that dwelling on it made it worse, so he would continue to act like everything was status quo. No issues here. Everything was just fine.

He would get things going, he had no doubt about that, but it had to be sooner rather than later. After signing the long-term contract, he now had to prove his worth. He knew that, but he also couldn’t let it overwhelm him. He had to put it out of his mind, as best as he could, ignore the pressure and continue going about his business as he always had—regardless of what he was paid. More money didn’t change anything. But even with that, this was not the year to start breaking down, whatever the reasons might be, and he had to get his shit together.

That night, the Rockets were struggling to come back from a two-run deficit. Coach Brooklyn had yanked the starting pitcher, Mueller, a few innings before after he’d given up six straight runs and turned the reins over to the bullpen. So far, they’d been successful in stopping the Cleveland Buffalos from scoring again and the Rockets’ offense had slowly scratched and clawed their way back in. Jerry glanced at the scoreboard and wished the game would move a bit quicker, knowing the few fans in the stands felt the same way. He was cold and bored, and he needed a distraction from the worries that filled his head.

Just as Jerry was trying to figure out how to entertain himself, Chase stood up from the opposite end of the bench and walked his direction. Lost in thought, Chase presented the perfect opportunity for Jerry to mess with him. He knew his teammates kept one eye on him, figuring he always had something up his sleeve, and that cracked him up almost as much as the pranks themselves. But he was patient and waited for those perfect moments when one of them let their guard down.

As Chase crossed in front of him Jerry shouted, “Heads up!” and pretended to reach forward and snag something out of the air near Chase’s head.

Chase saw this out of the corner of his eye and threw his hands up as he ducked away, convinced a foul ball was coming right at him. When nothing happened and the players around him started to snicker, he turned and spotted Jerry laughing hysterically next to him.

“You’re such a punk,” Chase said as he punched him in the shoulder. “I should know better with you by now.”

“That was beautiful, man,” Jerry said as he continued to laugh so hard tears streamed down his face. “What a flinch!” He mimicked Chase throwing his hands up and clenching his eyes shut.

“You must really be bored to pull that one,” Chase grumbled, but he was always a good sport about Jerry’s pranks, and he sat down next to him on the bench.

“Bored and cold. It’s brutal out here tonight,” he said as he wiped at his cheeks.

“I hear ya,” he said as he nodded in agreement. “Hey, did you hear about Scott Adams?”

“What about him?”

“He’s taking the pitching coach job down in Dayton.”

“Really?” Jerry asked. “Good for him.”

Scott Adams was the reason many teams shied away from signing long, multi-year deals with pitchers. He had been the Ace of the Los Angeles Quakes in his day, the backbone of their organization—just like Jerry. After the Quakes had signed him, they’d proceeded to build the team around him, believing he would lead them to multiple pennant wins, but then he’d started to struggle. He couldn’t find the plate, was unable to get anyone out and gave up runs left and right, despite having been one of the most feared pitchers in the league only the season before. He’d never fully recovered, and his fall from the spotlight had been quick. For years, it had been as if he’d never existed, and while Jerry was pleased to hear he was making his way back to the game, he was a little surprised.

Adams’s story always made Jerry feel uneasy. To realize how easy it was to lose it all was scary as hell, even though he was convinced it would never happen to him. He and Scott were two different people and Jerry could handle the pressure. He knew how to keep things off the field, that only he could be on the mound whenever it was his turn in the rotation. Scott obviously couldn’t.

“Hopefully he can help others so they don’t go through what he did,” Chase was saying.

Just then, Matt caught a foul ball for the last out of the inning and returned to the dugout. He plopped down on the bench next to Jerry and started to remove his catching gear.

“Got a girl for you, Smutty,” he announced.

“Oh, yeah? Who’s that?”

“By the visitor’s dugout, first row. Long blond hair, big tits.”

Jerry glanced across the field and immediately spotted the woman Buck was talking about. It was cold out, but she was still wearing a tight, red Rockets T-shirt that definitely put her assets out on display. Lots of girls like that came to the games, trying to catch the attention of the guys on the field—sometimes it worked and they were asked for their numbers, sometimes it didn’t.

Jerry continued to look at her, waiting for some spark of interest to hit. When he felt absolutely nothing, he shook his head.

“Nah, no thanks.”

Matt and Chase both looked stunned.

“What? Why wouldn’t you be all over that? She’s hot, Smutty. A sure thing,” Matt insisted.

Jerry shrugged. “Just not interested. Sorry.”

He definitely was not going to tell them that he wasn’t interested because another blonde had caught his attention for the moment. Even though they had agreed to be nothing but casual and although they hadn’t actually
done
anything yet, he still didn’t feel like he should be scoping around.

Matt shook his head as he stood up to snag a cup of water. “Okay, man. Your loss.”

Chase and Jerry watched him walk away before Chase shot Jerry a puzzled look. Jerry knew that he was thinking that any other time Jerry would have been all about getting the girl’s number, but Chase eventually just shrugged and let it drop.

“So, how’s the house hunting going?” Chase asked, changing the subject.

On the back burner
, Jerry thought. His focus had quickly flipped from trying to find a house to breaking down Karen’s defenses.

“It’s going okay. Found a couple that I like,” he said instead.

“But?” Chase pressed, reading between the lines.

“I don’t know. Guess I’m still contemplating whether I want to make the commitment, put the stake in the ground, you know.”

“And how are things with Karen?”

Jerry jerked his head around in surprise. “What do you mean by that?”

Chase’s eyes widened a bit. “I didn’t mean anything. I was just wondering if she was behaving or being a pain to work with.”

“Oh!” Jerry smiled slowly as relief washed over him.

He wasn’t sure why, but he thought it would be best to keep the arrangement between him and Karen quiet. He had a feeling if others found out they would be in their business and trying to force them into something they didn’t want, like a relationship.

“She’s been fine. She’s actually very good at what she does. She’s showed me some nice places.”

Chase studied him for a minute before he looked back out to the field. “I was worried that you’d want to pull your hair out after a while, dealing with her.”

He nodded, suppressing the urge to laugh. “Yeah, no. It’s good.”

It’s real good
, Jerry thought, thinking back on the night in the car. He’d really wanted to kiss her some more, maybe take her to his place and start to make good on their agreement, but something told him to wait, that the timing wasn’t quite right yet. So, he’d fought every urge to pull her against him, to put his hands all over her and feel her hands on him, and only gave her a chaste good-night kiss on the cheek. Jerry knew that wasn’t what she’d been expecting and had seen the looks of surprise and disappointment on her face when nothing more happened; even he was a bit shocked with himself. He didn’t know exactly what he was waiting for, but he had a feeling he’d know when it was time. He just hoped he could survive the tension between them until then.

“What are you thinking about?” Chase’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“What? Oh, nothing.”

“You’re sitting there with a stupid grin on your face,” he pointed out.

“That’s my normal look.”

“That’s it, isn’t it? You like her, don’t you?”

“Like who?” Jerry asked, even though he knew exactly whom he was talking about.

“Karen. You like her. That’s why you’re not interested in that blonde over there. You’re interested in Karen.”

Jerry shook his head. “Of course I like her. She’s funny and a crack-up to be around, but I don’t
like
her like her. And I just don’t feel like dealing with that blonde tonight, that’s it. Nothing to read into there. It has nothing to do with Karen.”

Chase narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think I believe you. She’d be right up your alley. Both of you are commitmentphobes.”

“I’m not a
commitmentphobe
,” he scoffed as he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. “I just don’t want to feel like I’m stuck in anything. It’s completely different.”

“Why won’t you buy one of the houses you like, Smut?” Chase asked.

“It isn’t because I’m
afraid
to,” he implored. “I just don’t know if I want to take it on at this moment in time. It’s a lot of responsibility and it’s not like we’re around a lot, as you know.”

“But you could pay people to take care of all that. Why, Smut?” he pressed.

“When did you get a psychology degree? What’s with you being extremely annoying all of a sudden?” Jerry asked.

Chase grinned. “Just trying to get you to admit it.”

“There’s nothing to admit, you ass.”

“Sure, Smutty,” he said as he stood up and started to walk away. “No commitment issues with you. That’s why you’ve never had a girlfriend longer than a couple of weeks and why you won’t put an offer on one of the houses you actually like.”

“Wait!” Jerry said as he shifted on the bench toward Chase, who was smiling as he walked backward. “Didn’t I just sign a long-term deal? That sounds like a commitment to me!”

Chase laughed and shook his head. “Whatever, dude. You signed your paycheck, that’s what you did. No comparison, my man.”

Jerry smiled back at him, knowing he was right. “You’re an asshole!” he yelled as Chase’s laughter floated on the breeze.

Chase didn’t know what he was talking about. He wasn’t
afraid
to commit to things; he just liked to wait until he was sure it was the right decision. Not being a hundred percent sure if he really wanted the responsibility of a new house, even though he was way tired of the condo, seemed like a valid reason to wait, in Jerry’s opinion. It wasn’t because he was scared to commit. And just because he hadn’t met a girl that he didn’t find smothering or that he wanted to spend more than a couple of weeks with didn’t mean that he shied away from a commitment. He didn’t
want
to be tied down. It was completely different.

Then what was holding him back with Karen? Jerry wondered. It was the ideal situation. She’d agreed with him that she didn’t want a relationship, so why didn’t he jump on it—literally and figuratively? To find a woman willing to be a part of that arrangement, to claim she would tire of him first, was a rare treat, so what exactly was stopping him? He was definitely attracted to her and wanted her more than any girl he could remember wanting, so what his issue?

He’d truly had fun with her that night and he wanted to see her again. The intensity between them was palpable and he couldn’t wait to see what would happen when they really came together; the edgy anticipation was almost killing him. He had a feeling it was going to blow his mind if the kiss they had shared was any indication.