The Running Series Complete Collection: 3-Book Set plus Bonus Novella (187 page)

A
dam walks into the living room and crosses to me, handing me the cutest, most adorable fuzzy little teddy bear.  “What’s this?”

“It’s for you.  And Bean.  I know it doesn’t make up for missing our appointment, but I want you to know how sorry I am.” He frowns at me and pushes his hand through his soft, dark blonde hair. 

“Thank you.  It’s adorable.”

Adam sits on the couch next to me.  “So, talk to me.”

“I don’t think this job is working out.  You led me to believe that accepting this job was going to make our lives easier and better.  It’s made everything worse.  A million times worse.  Don’t you see it?”

Adam looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Worse?  I’m making more money than I ever dreamed of.  How can you say things are worse?” 

“You’re never home anymore.  And when you are here, all you want to talk about is work and Alex.  And by the way, why didn’t you tell me Alex was a woman?  You had me thinking she was just another guy at the office.”

“I didn’t tell you because there’s nothing to tell.  What difference does it make, anyway?”

“I call bullshit.  Whose idea was it to call Cole in today, on your day off, and have him sign a stupid contract?”

“We had no choice.  When Alex got the call ...”

“... Stop!  How do you know other teams are looking at him?” I ask.

“Emmy, I don’t have the connections Alex has.  Not yet, anyway.  I have to trust her on stuff like this.”

I look him square in the face and ask seriously, “Do you trust her?”

“Absolutely,” he snaps.

“And whose idea was it for you to go down to Spring Training in Florida?”

“How did you know about that?”  He runs his hands through his hair and walks away from me toward the window. 

“I ran into Alex on my way to the bathroom last night,” I tell him.  “She just couldn’t wait to tell me all sorts of things – including how much she wants you to travel.  And I have a sneaking suspicion you won’t be traveling alone on most of those business trips.”

He abruptly turns, looking at me, shaking his head.  “I was going to tell you, but I was waiting for the right time.  I know you’re mad about me missing your doctor’s appointment, so obviously I wasn’t going to bring it up today.  I’m sorry you don’t like my boss, but honestly that’s not my problem.”

“It’s about to become your problem.  I don’t like it when she puts her wrinkly hands all over you, like she owns you or something.”  Yes, I sound like a nagging, bitchy girlfriend, but I can’t stop. I stand up to face him, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Emmy, what are you accusing me of?” he asks in a low voice, his platinum eyes narrowed.

“I’m not accusing, I’m calmly telling you how I feel.”  I just stand there and stare at him. 

“Well, I feel like I’m under attack for things I have absolutely no control over.  Yes, Alex is my boss, and maybe she is a little friendlier than she should be, but if she tells me I have to call in a player to sign a contract, I do it.  If she tells me I need to see the team training, I go.  And if there’s a rookie she wants me to scout, I scout.”

“What do you care more about – me or this job?”

“You.  Hands down, every time.” He looks back to me with a frown.  “This isn’t some sort of a competition.”

“It sure feels like one.”

“What has gotten into you?”  Now he’s pissed; silver-tinted eyes, jaw set in a grim line, hands back on his hips. “You’re not suspicious or jealous.  Believe me, Alex is not someone you need to worry about – ever.”

“You’re right.  I’m not jealous.  I never have been.  But I’m not an idiot, either.  My eyes are wide open and I have no problem seeing what’s right in front of me.  Can you say the same?”

“Of course I can.  I’m not blind.  Alex is my boss.  If it makes her feel good to get some harmless male attention, I don’t see what the big deal is.”

I want to scream.  I want to holler.  I want to stamp my feet on the ground and shake him until he understands.  “If you were single and unattached, it wouldn’t matter.  But you’re not.  You’re an adult.  A father.  With a second child on the way.  It’s disrespectful to me and to Bean.”

“Do you trust me?” he asks.

“It’s not you I’m worried about, Adam.”

“Just answer the question.  Do you trust me?”

“Yes, but that’s not the point.”

“Tell you what, let’s make it the point.  If you trust me like you say you do, then what does it matter who flirts with me?”

“Maybe it wouldn’t matter if you were honest with me from the get-go,” I explain.  “You were in complete radio silence.  I knew nothing about your secretary.  I don’t know when you’re leaving or when you’re coming home.  I’m not used to be treated like a second-class citizen.”

“No one is treating you like a second-class citizen, Emmy.  Everything I do, including tolerating Alex’s advances, is to secure a better life for us and for Bean.  Don’t you know that by now?” 

“Since Bean came along, everything seems different,” I tell him. “You’re so busy and I’m always so damn tired and moody. I just miss you. And I know that you’re getting frustrated with me for not agreeing to marry you.”

“You assumed I’d eventually move on.” It’s not a question. I cringe at the cold edge of his voice and focus down at his chest. “And you think I’d move on with someone like
her
?” God, he sounds angry, and I can’t blame him.

“No, of course not.”

“Good.”  He comes back and sits with me on the couch, picking up the bear he brought home and handing it to me.  “I’m going to make this right.”

“Does that mean you’re going to quit?”

His jaw clenches shut and he runs a hand through his hair. “Baby, it doesn’t do either one of us any good if I’m unemployed.” 

“I didn’t think so,” I mutter.

“Is that what you want?  You want me to quit this job that I love, stay home with you, and collect unemployment?”

“No,” I interrupt. “I don’t give a fuck about that job right now. What I care about is
you
!” I poke my finger into his chest and pace around the room. 

“Goddamn it, Emmy, what am I supposed to say?” 

“Tell me there will be no more secrets.  Tell me there will be no spring training.  And tell me you will never, ever, be going on any out of town trips with Asswipe.  I mean Alex.”

“I can’t promise you that.  My job requires me to do both of those things.  But I will promise you this – I will never give you a reason to doubt me again.  Tomorrow, you’re coming to visit me at the stadium.  I’m going to give you the grand tour and then we’ll have lunch together.  How does that sound?”

“Perfect.” 

Adam pulls me in and holds me closely.  I close my eyes and I can feel the warmth of his big, hard body and smell the richly masculine scent of his skin.  I feel like I can breathe again.

He looks down at me, smiling, and asks, “So what happened at the OB visit today?”

“
H
OLY COW, EMMY
, this place is huge!  I think it’s even bigger than the Sentinels’ stadium.”  Jette and I are staring up at the magnificent windows that stretch across the front of Riverfront Stadium. 

As we get closer, we can see more clearly the offices behind the glass.  Rooms are illuminated with bright lights and we can see the silhouettes of bodies moving from room to room.  The straight lines of desks and curved lines of chairs become visible.  “I think one of those is Adam’s office,” I tell her.

No wonder Adam jumped at the chance to work here. 

We make our way up three flights of steps leading to the entrance, flanked by statues of baseball players from the team’s early years.  Alongside the stairs are brick walls with engravings of Red Hawks in flight. 

Jette and I stop to appreciate the view.  Rising high above the windows are the iconic baseball scoreboards decorated with the names of the team’s main investors.  Huge names of soda companies, clothing companies, banks and other financial firms are plastered across the monumental sign. 

We make our way through the front doors and follow the directions Margie texted me until we find ourselves standing at the receptionist’s desk.  A friendly young woman welcomes us, offers us a cold beverage, and asks us to take a seat while she calls for our escort.

“Is this what it’s like at Liberty Stadium?” I ask Jette as we walk around the waiting room.  Pictures of players adorn the wall; there are so many to look at.  Men in red and blue uniforms huddling together and throwing their hands, hats, and mitts up in victory.  Pitchers deep in concentration in the middle of a pitch.  Batters tossing their bat to the side after a winning swing.  And young men sliding for home plate as a catcher waits with open mitt, hoping to make the tag just in the nick of time.  It’s all so dramatic.  I can feel it.

“Actually, Emmy – I’ve never been up to the corporate offices.  But I have been in the locker rooms, weight rooms, a conference room where they do some press interviews, and on the field.”

Walking confidently towards us is Kathy Bates, I mean Margie O’Hare, dressed in a sharp pant suit with a simple silk blouse, smiling broadly.  She walks straight towards me, somehow knowing which of us she’s here to see.  “Emmalyn?” she asks extending her hand.

“Yes, it’s so nice to meet you, Margie.”  I meet her hand and am pleased to find a firm, assertive handshake.  “This is my friend, Juliette McGuire.”  I almost never introduce her by that, but there’s something about the grandeur of this place that makes me want to use our full names.

She releases my hand and reaches for Jette.  “Yes, of course.  It’s so nice to meet you.  Your husband had a hell of a year,” she tells Jette.  I like her.

She turns her attention back to me.  “Let’s see if we can find that man of yours,” she tells me as she guides us down the hallway.  When we arrive at what must be Adam’s office, she knocks twice, opens the door and calls in, “Miss Akins is here to see you.”

She steps back and ushers Jette and me inside.  Adam rises from behind his desk and strides towards us.  “Hey, baby,” he announces.  God, he looks so frigging hot in his dark suit and white shirt.  The top button is open and he’s not wearing a tie.  I could eat him up.

He wraps an arm around me and pulls me in for a kiss, which is much quicker than I would have liked.  Jette gets a friendly kiss on the cheek, too. 

His office is large, spacious, and smartly decorated.  Adam walks us over to a small sitting area with a few chairs wrapped around a glass coffee table.  “So, what do you think?” he asks.

“It’s huge,” I tell him. 

We sit in Adam’s office for a short while chatting.  One wall is nothing but windows and just as I had suspected, it looks directly out on the park entrance.  It must be something to look outside at the thousands of fans as they arrive to spend a day at the ballpark. 

My mind wanders.  I begin to imagine Adam holding Kai’s hand and walking him up those steps, bringing him to his first professional baseball game.  Or maybe in a few years, Adam arriving with two little boys, one in each hand, holding tight to their daddy’s hand, full of excitement and wonder.

Then again, maybe a little girl sporting a pink baseball cap will steal his heart and learn to love baseball for the simple reason that her daddy loves it.

“Emmy, are you coming?”  A voice rips me from my daydream.  It’s Adam; time for our tour.

We take a quick journey through the offices as we make our way back to the elevators.  There’s a lot he wants to show us. 

Just as the elevator doors open, our tour is interrupted.  “There you are, Adam.  I’ve been looking all over for you.”  Asswipe Alex is approaching our little group with a plastic smile plastered across her tightly stretched face.

Always the gentleman, Adam makes the necessary reintroductions.  “Alex, I’m sure you remember Emmy.  And this is a friend of our, Juliette McGuire.”

Alex keeps a respectable distance from Adam.  I’m hoping that’s because he set some boundaries after our talk last night.

“Yes, of course.  So nice to see you both again.”  She smiles, showing off her veneered teeth.  “Adam, I’m afraid there’s a problem with Tanner’s contract.  It doesn’t look good.”

I can see the immediate look of concern in his eyes.  “Are you sure?  I just talked to his people last week.  We had it all worked out, down to the last penny.”

“I know.  They trust you and won’t talk to anyone else right now.  I hate to break this up, but I’m afraid I have no choice.”  Alex looks at us with feigned sympathy.  She’s not sorry, she’s gloating.  “If you’d rather, I could try to get Tommy or Rich in on the call.  They’ve been chomping at the bit to get involved in this deal.”

“No!” Adam barks.  “Don’t bring in anyone.  I’ll handle it myself.”

He turns and looks at me, desperation etched across his face.  “Emmy, I have to do this.  Can you and Jette wait here in the reception area while I make a few calls?”

I would do anything for him, including keeping my tongue in my mouth when I would rather speak my mind. 

Before I can answer, Alex interjects.  “Oh, no – don’t be silly.  They would be much more comfortable in your office.  We can head back to my office and make the call from there.”  She turns to me.  “Are you okay to find your way back?”