I’m an arrogant ass.”
She smiled softly. “I don’t think it, Roy. You are. But I realize it’s a little, very little, part of your charm.”
Damn, she was actually smiling at him. In fact, she’d been treating him differently since he’d helped her father by doing a charity stint at the Minotaur Falls Opening Day Fair. Danny had been away on another one of his “trips” and someone needed to raise money for the Youth Athletic League. Roy offered his services in exchange for a few therapy sessions.
A few hours in the dunk tank and suddenly Lane had seen something in him that she hadn’t seen before. Maybe it was that she’d learned it wasn’t true that Roy didn’t do any charity work ever—a reputation he had fostered along with his ass persona. He just didn’t make a big show of his charitable work like so many of the other guys on the team. Which is why he never said anything about the equipment and uniforms he donated.
Only Duff had made a point of thanking him for the stuff in front of Lane.
Which meant his secret was out. He wasn’t quite the selfish, arrogant ass he’d always presented himself as. It must have been difficult, after years of thinking he was a pathetic scumbag, for her to realize he was a better man than he let on.
The truth was he never really cared what other people thought. With Lanie, though, it mattered.
Only now he was about to prove her shiny new opinions wrong. Really, really wrong.
“Lane, I would like you to leave.”
“What?”
“This party...I don’t think...you’re going to like it. It’s getting a little out of hand. Not your kind of thing. I’m not sure what I was thinking asking you to come.”
How far away was Danny? Hopefully twenty minutes. Maybe thirty. Roy should be able to get Lane away before Danny got here.
“What’s the matter? Afraid I’m not hot enough to compete with all the eye candy out there. I saw how some of those girls are dressed. The ones dancing on your coffee table. By the way, those heels will leave scratches. I know I don’t compare.”
She didn’t compare. They were nothing. She was everything. But Lane Baker wasn’t the type to worry about the other girls in the room. She was still smiling as if she found the whole thing funny.
She shucked her coat and he could see she wasn’t totally unaware of what type of party he might throw. Dark, skinny jeans, high-heel boots up to her knees, a silver blouse that showed way too much cleavage, in his opinion, but was conservative in comparison to what the other women were wearing. Or not wearing.
“Look, Roy, I’ve been around enough baseball bunnies to hold my own. I’ve been cooped up all winter, mostly by myself, and I’m looking to... I just want to have a little fun. You know? I promise, if I see the other players getting a little handsy with the bunnies, I won’t say a thing. I took a cab so I can get my drink on and unwind.”
She walked toward him, but he still had his back to the door, shutting out the party. Shutting her in.
“Let’s get out of here, then. I’ll take you someplace else. You can get your drink on there and I’ll make sure you get home safely.”
She blinked at him. “You’re going to leave your own party?”
“Yeah. Why not?”
She huffed, her hands on her hips, and shook her head like he’d exasperated her again. He did that to her a lot it seemed.
“Roy, I thought the whole point of this party was for you to make a new start with the team. Get to know them for a change. You said this might be your last season.”
“It is my last season.” There was no negotiating that. One more year, then he was done. Thirty-two years of age, the best in the game right now. This was how he was leaving baseball. On his terms.
“I figured you wanted to do something different. Get along with the guys.”
“Why? I’m leaving. It’s not like I’ve ever been friends with them before.”
She rolled her eyes. “Then why throw this big party?”
He couldn’t tell her truth. “As a going-away thing, I guess. But I don’t expect anything to change in the locker room.”
Where he had his bench, his locker, his privacy. No one bothered him beyond an occasional “Hey, man, you got an extra bar of soap?” It was his thing. Roy Walker, loner.
“Roy.” She sighed. “You don’t always have to be alone, you know. If you just let people in a little, you’ll see we’re not all bad.”
“You want in?” he asked, his voice suddenly rough with truth. “I’ll let you in.”
He could see her expression change. Like she understood what he was offering. More than he’d ever offered any woman before. A good thing, then. Lane would get angry at the suggestion he wanted something more from her. She might slap him. Certainly she would storm out the front door in indignation.
How long until Danny got here? Ten minutes? Maybe he would blow off the party completely. Happy with the company he was with currently.
“You know it can’t be me,” she said tightly. She clasped her hands together. Didn’t look at him. “I’m married.”
And there it was. So obvious, so bald it almost made him gasp. She’d said the words like a death knell. Like she was trapped in a cage with no escape. It was his mission to save her.
“Get unmarried.”
She jerked then, as if he’d hit her. When she looked at him, the tears in her eyes almost broke his heart.
“I can’t. I can’t fail. Duff wouldn’t—”
“Duff would understand. He loves you. He would support you no matter what.”
“You don’t get it.” She shook her head, her hair brushed her cheek. A cheek he so badly wanted to touch because it couldn’t be as soft as he imagined. Nothing could, right?
“Then tell me.”
“When Duff lost Mom he made us all promise we would try harder. That if we married, we wouldn’t make the same mistakes he made. That we would find a way to be happy. Danny and I...we can be happy. Again. I have to believe that. I have to.”
Roy pushed away from the door and advanced on her. He watched her, waiting to see what she would do, but she didn’t move. Until he was close, so close their thighs were nearly touching.
“What if there is something else? Someone else.”
She put her hand on his chest. She wasn’t pushing him away, but it was her signal to stop. So he waited and just breathed her in.
“I can’t...”
“I can.” Without another word his head dropped and his mouth was on hers. And it was like no kiss he’d ever felt before. Not even his first. This was the thing
