Page 30 (1/2)
Chapter 1
Confucius say: “Baseball wrong—man with four balls cannot walk”
—Author Unknown
She’d read soh his stomach, but Samantha McNead knew better than that—in certain h
Wade O’Riley was one of them
The best defensive catcher in Major League Baseball, he had wo up tothat they wanted to give him either
Not that Wade seemed to mind Nope, even with all the constraints that ith the new big, fat, ned for Santa Barbara’s expansion teauy see, he took everything as it ca smile that let everyone in on the joke
Because life was one big funny joke to Wade
Sam appreciated that, she just didn’t live it the way he did Didn’t kno As the publicist for the Heat, as one of the few females in a man’s world, her life tended to be more work than fun lately Hence her mission today
The lie-style beach house, perched on a bluff over the ocean From the backseat she could see the waves froth and pitch
Much like her stomach
In the work aspect of her life, she was extreiven She’d been raised by men: her father, her uncle, her brother, and her cousins were all tough, i alpha males Failure had never been an option, which translated to being very good at whatever she tackled Unfortunately for her more womanly parts, all she’d tackled lately was the job
A job she loved with all her heart, but sometimes she yearned for more Maybe one of these days a man would sweep her off her feet and then into bed, but it wouldn’t be today, and it wouldn’t be with the guy she’d been tasked with babysitting
The Heat had played last night It was the first week of April, and it’d been an exhibition game, a prelude to their season opener on Sunday They’d played the Padres, and it’d turned out to be surprisingly down and dirty Wade had hit a ho, then been harshly walked in the third when the pitcher had hit hione two extra innings, until past ht, when the Heat had finally won on Wade’s double, so Sam expected him to be exhausted and probably sore as hell Maybe she’d even have to pull him out of bed
The thought brought concern, and a secret tingle to those wo
Nice to know they still worked
As she reached for the lied, lean, muscled male stepped out in Levi’s and an untucked blue and white striped button-down A gust of wind ainst the body that tended to ue stick to the roof of her mouth
Wade stopped to slide on his sunglasses, the picture of a California surfer, all easygoing, laid-back charm
He’d been a rock star in another life, Sam was convinced, and she purposely let out a breath and leaned back, reh certainly none of his flaws happened to be showing at the moment
He moved across the lawn in an unhurried, sexy stride, all scruffy gorgeousness, and opened the li in the chilly April afternoon air With one hand on the roof, the other on the door, he bent down, peering in through his Prada sunglasses,a brohen he saw her
Couldn’t bla terms
His sun-kissed light brown hair was either styled messy today on purpose, or he hadn’t bothered with a co with the no comb theory He should have looked sloppy and unke less than God’s gift She’d seen hiear, in all sorts of things including absolutely nothing, and he always looked perfect
Especially in the nothing
“Hey,” he said in that low, slightly raspy voice of his, the one that never failed to immediately put her back up
And/or turn her on
“Hey yourself” He hadn’t limped, and he sure as hell didn’t look exhausted The opposite, she thought a little breathlessly as his deceptively lazy gaze raked her in from head to toe Deceptively, because behind that beach bum front of his lay a sharp-as-hell wit
Given theirtense relationship at the moment, she didn’t smile
And though he usually s female, neither did he
“Are you okay after last night’s game?” she asked
“Always How about you, Princess?
She’d asked him a million times not to call her that It drove her crazy, which was of course why he did it “I’m fine We need to talk”
“Sorry,” he said with ht And I’m not in the mood”
He hadn’t been “in the mood” since what she called The Mishap
The Mishap Never To Be Talked About
Exceptexcept Wade got along with the entire world, and she had to ad that they didn’t Couldn’t But there was nothing to be done about that now
Nothing
She had a job to do They had a job to do “I realize you probably don’t want to go over the plan,” she said, feeling at a disadvantage sitting while Wade still stood “But I really think we should”
“I know the plan,” he said “One of the corporations endorsing the Heat has a new, conservative CEO who has high family values, and is upset with our PR troubles—”
“Your PR troubles,” she corrected
He let out a tight breath and bowed his head in agreement “And you, the Skipper, the owners—hell everyone but me—believes that the world cares about oneI’ve gotten her pregnant”
“You can’t bla it; you do have a bit of a playboy reputation”
“I never slept with Tia”
“She produced pictures of you and her on the beach by your house”
He just looked at her
“See,” she pointed out “This is e have to talk about it”
“Look, I get what the powers-that-be want from me From us We pretend to be a couple in the eyes of the press so I look like a good boy, and our endorsements won’t be pulled How hard can it be?”
“I don’t know,” she replied cautiously “How hard?”