TWENTY-FOUR
“YOU GOING TO SIT
AROUND MOPING ABOUT THIS FOREVER, or are you going to do something
about it?”
Gavin knew he should
have stayed home today instead of going to his parents’ to see his
dad. He’d had a week out of town where he’d blissfully drowned his
sorrows in baseball and at the bar. He’d sucked at his game, which
hadn’t helped his mood any, and the bar hadn’t offered any answers,
either. Neither had the women who’d tried to approach him. He
wasn’t interested in any of them, because they weren’t beautiful
redheads with emerald green eyes and challenging
attitudes.
Now he was home, and
home reminded him of Lizzie, too. So he’d gone to his parents,
figuring he could do some fix-it work for his dad. He visited with
his father, who hadn’t said anything about Elizabeth. His mother,
on the other hand . . .
“Nothing to do about
it, Mom. It’s over. I tried to talk to her and only succeeded in
screwing things up again.”
She stood in the
kitchen chopping vegetables but paused to offer him a
not-so-sympathetic look. “I’ve never known you to be a quitter,
Gavin.”
“And you only get so
many strikes before you’re out.”
She waved the paring
knife at him. “Don’t try that baseball analogy on me, mister.
Elizabeth isn’t a bat that you can swing, try three times, and go
sit down when you don’t get a hit. She’s a woman you claim to love.
You get out there and keep trying until you get her
back.”
“You make it sound
so easy.”
“It’s not easy. It’s
hard. Love is hard, just like baseball. You think it should come
easy to you just like all the other women in your life since you
became famous.”
He laughed. “I’m
hardly famous, Mom.”
“You’re not a
nobody, either. And you need to admit that you’re well known,
especially around here. It’s not like you’ve had to go trolling for
women since you went to the major leagues.”
His mom had said
“trolling for women.” Jeez. “Okay, I admit women have been pretty
available.”
“Exactly my point.
And then you hook up with Elizabeth, and suddenly it’s not so easy.
You have to work at the relationship.”
“No, she’s
definitely not easy. In fact she’s been a giant rockin’ pain in my
ass since we first got together.”
She continued to
slice carrots. “Yeah, and you’re a real walk in the
park.”
“Hey.”
She laid the knife
down and looked at him. “Well, let’s just take it from her side.
She’s your agent, and she’s been in love with you for years, but at
the same time she has to see you on the arm of these bimbos year
after year and not say anything. Then suddenly you show interest in
her, and she probably thinks she’s just going to be another notch
on your bedpost. How’s she supposed to react to that? A little
standoffish, I imagine.”
Gavin frowned.
“Wait. What? She’s been in love with me for years? Where did that
come from?”
His mother rolled
her eyes. “Men are so dense sometimes. I guess I wasn’t supposed to
say anything about that, but yes, Gavin, Elizabeth has been in love
with you for many years. She just never said anything to you about
it because of your professional relationship.”
“I didn’t
know.”
“Of course you
didn’t, because she didn’t intend to ever do anything about
it.”
Until that night in
Florida when he made the first move. And everything changed between
them. And before then. He remembered the night Mick fired her. That
kiss that had knocked him out of his shoes. And the look in her
eyes that had made him wonder what the hell was going on. No wonder
she was so reluctant, and so willing to keep things light and easy
between them.
She hadn’t wanted
him to know. And she’d been scared.
“I never knew, Mom.
Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Because she was
guarding her heart against you, because you could hurt
her.”
Aw, hell. “And
that’s exactly what I did.”
“Yes, you did. The
question is, are you going to give up on her now, or are you going
to fight for her?”
ELIZABETH BURIED
HERSELF IN HER WORK. HAVING two new clients helped with that. There
were contractual issues to go over, and she’d met with them to
discuss their current team contracts and their career goals, which
meant more travel. While she was on the road, she’d also stopped in
at a few of the games of her other clients to meet with them and
give them a little attention.
Getting out of town
again had been the best thing for her. She’d needed to clear her
head.
Now that she was
back she intended to concentrate on her client portfolio and give
all her clients her attention. She’d given one client too much of
her time for too long.
That was over and
done with. Time to focus on her career, on what she loved, on the
one thing that fulfilled her and loved her back.
Besides, with her
assistant on vacation for two weeks, she was utterly
swamped.
Perfect. It would
give her a chance to clean up and reorganize her office, something
she desperately needed to do.
She was on the
floor, her head buried in a box of files when her door
opened.
“That had better be
either my lunch or more boxes.”
“Neither,
sorry.”
She whipped around
to see Mick standing in her doorway.
She stood, wiped her
hands down her skirt, not at all mentally armed for this battle.
“Look, I’ve stayed away. What the hell more could you possibly want
from me?”
“Is it okay if I
come in?”
Wary, she motioned
with her hand. He walked in and shut the door.
“Your receptionist
sent me back. She seemed to be in a hurry to head out to
lunch.”
Damn Felicia and her
crazy diets. Hunger made her stupid.
“You’re here. Might
as well sit down. Do you want some water?”
“That would be good,
thanks.”
He was being polite.
That was new. She fixed him and herself a glass, handed his to him,
and took a seat behind her desk. Her spacious office suddenly
seemed too small as she waited for him to say whatever it was he
came to say. Finally, she tired of the suspense.
“Why are you here,
Mick?”
“To apologize for
being so hard on you. I’ve never been one to carry a grudge, and
for some reason with you I have been.” He stood, dragged his
fingers through his hair. “I’ve never been in love before. It’s
made me a little crazy and overprotective of Tara and Nathan. And
what you did really set me off.”
“I—”
He held up his hand.
“Let me finish, please.”
“Okay.”
“What you did hurt
them. And I know you realized it and you fixed it. You apologized
over and over again, and made peace with both of them. You’re even
friends with Tara now. But I couldn’t let it go. For some reason I
just couldn’t let it go. I kept on punishing you. And when you and
Gavin got together, I didn’t want that to happen. I wanted you out
of my life, out of Tara and Nathan’s lives, too. Seeing how happy
Gavin was with you made me think we might never get away from you.
It also made me think I made a mistake firing you.”
She had no idea what
to say to that, so she said nothing while he paced and
talked.
He stopped, turned
to face her. “I hate Don Davis. I signed with him because you hated
him, too. I knew he was your nemesis, that his number one goal in
life was to take business away from you. I did it to get back at
you, to hurt you the way you hurt the people I love. And maybe it
did hurt you, but it hurt me, too. He doesn’t know shit about
promoting me and my career the way you did.”
Wow. Just . . .
wow.
“I mean, obviously,
I can’t have you throwing women at me anymore. Not with Tara in my
life. But you really understood me and my career goals and what was
important to me. And you listened. Davis doesn’t listen. He doesn’t
know me and my family and my life like you do.”
He sat in the chair
and faced her. “I’m sorry, Elizabeth.”
She got up and moved
around the desk and sat in the chair next to his. “I’m sorry, too,
Mick. Truly sorry for what I did to Tara and Nathan. I do learn
from my mistakes and try never to make them again. I’ve missed
having you as a client and as my friend. Losing you as a client
hurt me professionally. Losing your friendship hurt me on a much
deeper level.
“If you’d like, I
can recommend some very good agents who aren’t as slimy as Don
Davis, people who’ll listen to you and who’ll be very good for your
career.”
He arched a brow.
“You’d do that?”
“Of course. I’ve
always wanted what was best for you. And Tara’s my friend. Your
career is beneficial to her, too.”
“How about I re-sign
with you as soon as I can get out from under the Davis
Agency?”
She leaned back in
the chair. “You’d want to work with me again?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know, Mick.
There’s a lot of history, not all of it good.”
“And sometimes you
have to leave the past in the past. We had a great working
relationship. You get me. And your negotiation skills are the best
out there.”
She smiled. “They
are, aren’t they?”
He laughed. “That’s
what I like about you—your humility.”
“Can’t have humility
in my job. Not when it counts the most.”
“I signed with him
for a year, told him I wanted to test the waters. When the
contract’s up for renewal, you and I will talk. If you’re
interested . . .”
“You know I will
be.”
He stood. “I’m sorry
I’ve been so hard on you. And I’m sorry I came between you and
Gavin.”
Her smile died. “You
wouldn’t have come between your brother and me if he hadn’t allowed
it. It just wasn’t meant to be. Too much conflict
there.”
“Is that Gavin
talking, or you deciding it for him?”
She shrugged.
“Doesn’t really matter, does it? You heard him that day at your
dad’s house.”
“Yeah, I did. And I
was part of it, instigating it all. I can’t apologize enough for
it. You have every right to kick my ass forever for
it.”
She lifted her gaze
to his. “I think there’s been enough ass kicking to go around for a
lifetime, don’t you think?”
“Probably, but I
still deserve it. Tara sure did her part when she found out. She
was mad as hell at me.”
Her lips lifted.
“Well, that’s good enough, then. You don’t need me to add to
it.”
“Still, I feel bad.
I should have butted out. What’s between you and Gavin is none of
my business and never should have been.”
She turned away to
stare out the window. “There isn’t anything between us. Not
anymore.”
“He loves you,
Liz.”
“No, he
doesn’t.”
He laid his hands on
her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Yeah, he does. He’s
never been in love before, and loving you scared him as much as my
dad’s heart attack did. He didn’t know how to handle it. Give him
another chance.”
“Thanks, but I gave
him all the chances he’s going to get. It’s better this
way.”
“Now who’s
scared?”
Her eyes widened.
“Me? I’m not scared. I’m sad. And maybe a little fed up. I gave
everything and it didn’t work out. He didn’t love me.”
“Try
harder.”
“What?”
“Try harder. You
didn’t try hard enough.”
She laughed.
“Please. I gave everything to Gavin. I gave him my heart, and he
threw it back in my face. I don’t know what more I could possibly
give.”
“Give him a chance.
First, he’s a guy. And he’s never been in love
before.”
“Oh, and I
have?”
“Yeah, but you’re a
woman. It’s like being a female agent in this field of sports where
you’re surrounded by all these men. You have to work twice as hard
at it to be taken seriously. But you’re also twice as good as most
of them.”
“Well, thanks for
that.”
“Love’s the same
way. Women are so much better at it. Better at communicating what’s
in their hearts, better at showing the one they love how they feel.
So maybe this was your first time, too, but you obviously handled
it better than Gavin did. And he’s fumbling it bad, and he’s fucked
it up, and now he doesn’t know how to fix it, but he’s trying. Or
he wants to try. And he’s afraid to fuck it up again.”
She wrapped her arms
around her middle. “I can’t. I just . . . can’t.”
He nodded. “That’s
your call, but I hope you’ll at least think about it. He’s worth
it, Liz. And I really do think you two are good for each other.
Give him another shot.”
“Thanks, Mick. For
coming here, for talking to me, and for giving me another
chance.”
He pulled her into a
hug. “You’re family, Elizabeth. I’m sorry I forgot that for a
while.”
He left, and she
fell into her desk chair, kind of stunned that Mick had been here.
She thought about everything he’d said about her and about
Gavin.
She was trying so
hard to get over him. A plea from his brother on his behalf wasn’t
going to change her mind.
And she wasn’t going
to go to him. She’d done that too many times already.
No matter what Mick
said, no matter how much her heart hurt, no matter how much she
missed Gavin, she couldn’t take that step.
Not this
time.
She threw herself
back into her office project, until her phone rang. She picked it
up, surprised to hear Dedrick Coleman on the line.
“Dedrick, how are
you?”
“Fine, Elizabeth,
and you?”
“Great, thanks. What
can I do for you?”
“You can possibly
become my agent, if you’re interested.”
Wow. Was it going to
be a good day or what? “Definitely interested. Is your contract up
with your current agent?”
“Yeah. The guy is a
dumb-ass. Overlooked some clauses in my last contract and tied me
up with a few things that made me pretty unhappy.”
“That’s not
good.”
“I’ve given him his
thirty days so he knows I’m looking. Can we talk?”
“Certainly. What
does your schedule look like?”
“Well, you can see
our game schedule if you look it up. Problem is, my grandparents
are flying in on Saturday for this big anniversary party we’re
planning for them, and I’d like to get this settled one way or
another as soon as possible. I don’t want it weighing on my mind
with my grandparents being here and Shawnelle breathing down my
neck about it. She’s already stressed enough about the
party.”
“I understand. My
calendar is clear the next few days. You just let me know when
you’d like to meet.”
“We have a day game
tomorrow. Can you come to the game? Shawnelle would love to see
you, and we can go somewhere right after, have a chat, and
hopefully get things ironed out.”
“Uh, Dedrick, I
assume you know I’m not seeing Gavin anymore.”
“Yeah, believe me,
we all know about that. He’s been moping around the clubhouse ever
since you dumped him.”
“I didn’t dump
him.”
“Whatever you say,
honey. Look, I like you. Your shit with Gavin is between the two of
you. I just want a good agent, and I think you’re a good agent. But
if you think there’s a conflict because me and Gavin are friends .
. .”
“I didn’t say that.
I can meet with you after the game.”
“Shawnelle would be
disappointed if she didn’t get to see you. You aren’t going to cut
off your friendship with her just because of you and Gavin, are
you?”
Now that he said it,
it sounded petty of her. And selfish. “Of course not.”
“Good. I’ll leave a
ticket for you at the box office, and I’ll see you after the game
tomorrow afternoon.”
“That sounds fine,
Dedrick.”
“And thanks for
agreeing to do this on such short notice.”
“It’s no problem at
all. I’ll see you then.”
She hung up, laid
her phone down, and sat in her chair. Well, hell. She was hoping to
avoid the Rivers—and seeing Gavin—at least until she could get her
riotous emotions under control.
No such luck. She
was going to have to suck it up. No way was she passing up on the
chance to pick up another new client just because she might see
Gavin.
Besides, he’d be out
on the field. She’d be in the stands. It was unlikely he’d even be
aware she was there.
IT WAS UNSEASONABLY
HOT IN THE STANDS. SHE’D much prefer to be in the owner’s suite,
where it was shady and airconditioned.
Then again, there
was nothing like seats behind the dugout as far as the best view.
And hanging out with Shawnelle and Haley again was wonderful. She’d
missed her friends, and their excitement at seeing her again made
her feel warm and gooey inside.
“We were afraid you
had dumped us just because you fired Gavin and broke up with him,”
Haley said.
Ah, nothing like the
brutal honesty of youth. “I would never do that.”
“You haven’t been
around,” Hayley said.
“I’ve been really
busy.”
“Busy avoiding us
and Gavin. You weren’t planning on hanging out with us anymore,”
Shawnelle said.
“That’s not
true.”
Even though that’s
exactly what she’d planned to do. Now that she was here though, she
was ashamed of herself for even thinking it. So what if she and
Gavin weren’t together anymore? That didn’t mean she couldn’t have
spa days with Shawnelle and Haley or have lunch with them or even
go out for drinks and dinner once in a while.
She’d gone her whole
life without girlfriends. And then she’d found a few in Shawnelle,
Haley, and even Jenna. She didn’t intend to close herself off just
because all of these women were in some way connected to
Gavin.
She’d have to deal
with it. And so would he.
It was nice to be at
a Rivers game again. This was her home team since she’d moved to
Saint Louis ten years ago, and she wasn’t going to pretend
otherwise. Of course as an agent, she wasn’t supposed to have an
allegiance to any professional team since she represented so many
players from so many different teams.
But no one had to
know the Rivers were her favorites, did they?
She ate a hot dog,
had a soda, and enjoyed catching up with Haley and
Shawnelle.
“Where are the kids,
Shawnelle? I thought they’d be at the game today.”
“They came to the
last day game, but they’re at the pool with my mom and dad today,
while Dedrick’s parents get the house ready for his grandparents
arrival. It’s one big coordinated effort for their sixty-fifth
wedding anniversary.”
“Awww, that’s sweet.
And how nice of you to throw a party.”
“Dedrick loves his
Gamaw and Paw-Paw. They were instrumental in helping him go to
college, so he feels like he owes them. And they’re just so damn
proud of him.”
“It’s nice to have
that kind of family support, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it
is.”
“And how about you,
Haley? How have you been?”
“Great. Enrolled in
school for the summer semester, and excited as hell about taking
classes.”
“Good for you.
Settled on a degree program yet?”
Haley grinned. “I
want to teach. Elementary education.”
Elizabeth reached
for Haley’s hand and squeezed it. “I can so see you as a teacher.
That’s wonderful.”
Shawnelle nodded. “I
told her she’d make a great teacher. She’s incredible with my two
kids. She has more patience than I do.”
Haley laughed. “It’s
always easy when they’re not your kids. You don’t have to keep ’em.
But I do love children. Always have.”
Shawnelle nudged
her. “Ready to have one of your own?”
“Nope. Not ’til I
finish school. I’m still too young. Not ready to settle down and
have a family yet. I have goals.”
“And maybe you also
want to stick it to your family and home town?” Elizabeth
suggested.
Haley arched a brow.
“Maybe just a little.”
“Ahh, there’s
nothing like a little vengeance to stir the juices of motivation,”
Shawnelle said.
Elizabeth laughed.
She knew all about that. Her family might never know what she’d
amounted to, but she knew, and that’s all that
mattered.
As the game got
under way and the Rivers took the field, Elizabeth’s gaze was
riveted to Gavin. She swore she wasn’t going to pay attention to
him, but how could she not when she loved him?
As he stretched out
to catch practice balls at first base, she sighed. She knew every
inch of that man’s body, and it was absolute perfection. His
uniform clung tight to his muscular thighs and stellar ass, and his
biceps bulged out underneath his shirt as he pulled the ball from
his glove and threw it to second base.
Shawnelle smoothed
her hand over Elizabeth’s back. “You miss him.”
She nodded. “I
do.”
“Then fight for
him.”
She shook her head.
“I tried. It’s over.”
“Who walked out, you
or him?”
“I
did.”
“Has he been trying
to contact you?”
“Yes.”
“And you won’t let
him.”
“No.”
“Then bullshit. If
you still have this much feeling—and I know you do because there
are tears you’re trying not to shed—then it’s not over yet.
Whatever it is that he fucked up, and God knows men fuck things up
all the time, give it another try. If he hasn’t given up, then why
have you? It’s obvious you love him, honey.”
Tears blurred her
vision, and she blinked, swiping at the ones that broke free. “It’s
complicated.”
Shawnelle laughed.
“Honey, love is always complicated. If it was easy, there’d be no
fun when you win at the end.”
“What Shawnelle says
is true, Elizabeth,” Hayley added. “There are so many pressures on
a relationship sometimes. Often it’s outside stuff that has nothin’
to do with the two of you that gets thrown into the mix and can
muck things up. Wade through it all, and focus on what’s important.
If you love him and he loves you, isn’t that what’s really
important? The rest of it’s just fluff.”
Elizabeth inhaled a
shaky breath, feeling as if she were balancing on a high wire with
no net underneath her.
Maybe she was being
too stubborn, or too afraid. Maybe she should talk to Gavin and
figure out if there was anything between the two of them. Maybe he
was afraid, too. He’d come to her, had tried to talk to her, and
had apologized. She hadn’t given him much of a chance. She’d
decided his apology wasn’t good enough, had cut him off and walked
out. That had been her fear and her anger preventing communication.
So maybe she owed him—owed them both—another shot at
this.
“Thanks, both of
you. I’ll give it some thought.”
Shawnelle smiled and
squeezed her hand. “That’s good enough. Now dry your tears, and
let’s root these boys on to a win.”
Elizabeth did
exactly as Shawnelle suggested. She shoved Gavin to the back of her
mind and focused on the Rivers. By the seventh-inning stretch the
Rivers were up by three runs, and Elizabeth was relaxed and into
the game.
“Ladies and
gentlemen, we have a very special announcement. One of our Rivers
players has asked that instead of singing ‘Take Me Out to the
Ballgame’ during the seventh-inning stretch tonight, he be allowed
to take the mic and ask a question.”
The crowd went
silent. Elizabeth frowned and turned to Shawnelle and Haley.
“What’s going on?”
Shawnelle shrugged.
“No clue.”
Haley shook her
head.
“Would Elizabeth
Darnell please stand up?”
Oh,
shit.
Shawnelle elbowed
her. “Stand up.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Go on, stand
up.”
She shook her head
again. Vehemently.
Shawnelle and Haley
both shoved her, then the people around her started clapping and
yelling and pointing her out. She had no choice. She stood, and
suddenly her face was beamed up on the giant JumboTron
screen.
Oh,
hell.
Then Gavin climbed
up on top of the dugout, much to the raucous delight of the fans.
He waved his hands down and the cheers subsided.
He found her in the
stands and turned his attention on her.
“Elizabeth, you know
the last time we talked things didn’t go so well.”
Good God, he had the
mic in his hands, and everyone could hear what he
said.
“And that was my
fault. This time I hope I can be a little more
eloquent.”
He wasn’t playing to
the crowds. He was looking right at her. He came down off the top
of the dugout and Shawnelle pushed her. She went to him and met him
in the aisle.
He took her hand,
and when she saw him swallow, she knew he was as nervous as she
was. That gave her comfort.
“Elizabeth, I love
you. I’ve loved you for a while now, but I was afraid to say it.
Maybe I was afraid you wouldn’t love me back. But I’m not afraid
anymore, and I need you to understand that. So I figured the only
way to get you to believe me was to tell you in front of forty-five
thousand people.”
And then he got down
on one knee.
Oh. My.
God.
Her legs were
shaking.
“Marry me,
Elizabeth.”
The chorus of awws
and cheers was deafening.
But she only saw
Gavin, only focused on Gavin. She saw the truth in his eyes. She
saw the love.
This time, she
believed.
She burst into tears
and threw herself into his arms.
And then he kissed
her. And oh, what a kiss. Her heart swelled with so much love she
couldn’t believe it was real. Her fantasy, what she’d always
wanted. The man she’d always wanted.
The cheers and
clapping of the fans told her it was real.
He broke the kiss
and swiped the tears from her cheeks. “Sorry, we’ll have to wait
’til later to continue this.”
She laughed. “Go win
the game.”
“So does this mean
you said yes?”
She took the mic
from his hand. “I said yes.”
More cheers, and
Gavin climbed back down to the dugout.
The rest of the game
was a blur. The Rivers won. Even more shocking was seeing Kathleen
and Jimmy Riley, Jenna, and Mick and Tara after the game. They had
just been a few rows over. Gavin had told them his plans, and after
he’d gone back to the dugout, they’d surprised her. She flew into
Kathleen’s arms for a hug.
Even Mick hugged her
and welcomed his new sister into the family.
“What if I’d said
no?” she asked Kathleen.
Kathleen gave her
that all knowing look. “You weren’t going to say no. You love my
son, and I had every confidence he wasn’t going to screw this
up.”
She looked to Mick.
“So, you think we can put up with each other?”
“Hey, if I can put
up with Jenna, I can put up with you.”
Jenna elbowed him in
the ribs. “Jerk.”
Tara was thrilled
for her. “We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?”
Elizabeth hugged
her. “You’re the most forgiving of all, and I’m so grateful. I need
family and sisters.” She hooked her arms with both Tara and Jenna.
“I’m going to have sisters now. I’ve always wanted
them.”
Jenna gave her a wry
grin. “Be careful what you wish for.”
Elizabeth
laughed.
After she said
good-bye to the Riley family, she and Shawnelle and Haley headed
down to the team locker room to wait for their guys.
Shawnelle told her
Dedrick really did want to change agents, but it could wait. They’d
been in on Gavin’s proposal, and it was Dedrick who came up with
the idea to use his interest in changing agents to get Elizabeth
there tonight.
“You are such a
sneaky bitch,” she said.
Shawnelle just
waggled her brows. “All in the name of love. And speaking of love .
. .”
The door opened and
Gavin walked out. The rest of the world ceased to exist as she
walked into his arms and was greeted with a kiss that rocked her
world.
“Uh-huh. I think
we’ll leave these two alone, Haley. I’m going to go find my
man.”
“Me, too,” Haley
said.
“Talk to you
tomorrow, girl,” Shawnelle said.
Elizabeth waved them
off, her lips and her mind and her heart focused only on
Gavin.