IF THIS WERE A ROCK CONCERT INSTEAD OF A WEDNESDAY afternoon baseball game in Milwaukee, the girl with the huge tits in the second row along the first-base line would be lifting up her shirt and flashing her goods at Gavin.
Instead, she’d held up signs proclaiming her love for him, her boobs bouncing up and down as she held the sign over her head.
He loved fans, especially the out-of-town ones since the visiting team was typically booed.
But this woman was having a wet-panty party in her seat for Gavin, and he was loving every minute of it, despite the ribbing he was taking from his teammates in the dugout.
“Dude, you should definitely get her number.”
“She’s done everything but fling herself on top of the roof of the dugout.”
“I’ll bet you a hundred bucks she’ll be waiting for you outside after the game.”
No way was he taking that bet. He’d seen plenty of groupies before, and blondie up there was a class-A fan girl. He was flattered, but he knew better than to indulge the fantasies of the crazies. She probably kept a room filled with his photos and an ice pick under her pillow.
After the game he and a few of the guys headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant for dinner and drinks to console themselves after a tough loss. Sometimes it was easier to lose a game by six runs than to drop a close game. This one had been a nail-biter until the bitter end, and they’d had guys on first and third in the top of the ninth, but they couldn’t bring them home.
“Bats were cold today,” Dedrick said. “Or at least mine was.”
“Wasn’t just you,” Gavin said, lifting his glass of beer and taking a couple long swallows. “I couldn’t hit for shit.”
Tommy took a drink and sat his mug on the table, grimacing. “Pitching didn’t help much, either. Bailey couldn’t hold those two runners in the third, I couldn’t help him out in the fifth. I didn’t last but two innings. My relief sucked. Must be a full moon or somethin’.”
Gavin lifted his glass. “To a better game tomorrow.”
They clinked glasses.
“Couldn’t get any worse than today,” Dedrick muttered.
“Well, yeah, it could,” Gavin said. “But it won’t. Tomorrow we kick their ass.”
They drank beer, ate burgers, and moaned about the game some more. Dedrick and Tommy called it a night and went back to their rooms. Gavin hung out in the bar, too restless to pace the confines of his hotel room. There was a night game on, Atlanta and Tampa Bay, so he sat at the bar and watched the game, switching to soda after having one more beer.
A knockout brunette pulled up a barstool next to his since the bar was pretty full. She ordered a drink, pulled out her phone, and started punching buttons.
Gavin judged her to be in her mid-twenties, no doubt in town on business since she had her hair pulled up like Elizabeth styled hers and she wore a suit and some fancy shoes, same as Elizabeth.
She frowned at whatever nonsense was happening on her phone.
“Problem?”
She glanced up and offered a smile. She had nice brown eyes.
“Client canceled our meeting.”
Gavin nodded. “Hate when that happens.”
She laughed. “Me, too. You in town for business?”
“You could say that.”
She held out her hand. “Judith Stafford. I’m a marketing rep for Lincoln Aluminum. And you are?”
He shook her hand. “Gavin Riley.”
“Nice to meet you, Gavin. Who do you work for?”
“The Saint Louis Rivers baseball team.”
Her brows rose. “Oh. You’re a baseball player. No game tonight?”
“No. We played Milwaukee this afternoon.”
She let out a soft laugh. “I’m so sorry. Not a big sports fan, obviously. I should probably be drooling or squealing or something, shouldn’t I?”
He liked this woman. “Not required, really. Not everyone is a fan.”
She half turned in her seat, enough to showcase a set of spectacular legs. “So did your team win or lose today?” she asked.
“We lost.”
“I see. So you’re in the bar drowning your sorrows.”
“My teammates and I were earlier. Now I’m just having a soda and watching another game. I’m not big on spending the night in a cramped hotel room. I hate day games.”
She nodded. “Worst part of travel is the hotel rooms. I usually go to the mall to kill time, or do the same thing you do—either hang out in the restaurant or the bar. It’s a shame you already had dinner, or I’d invite you out and we could see the city.”
“I don’t get to see too much of any city when we play. It’s usually just in and out, and again, a lot of hotel rooms.”
“Sounds like my business, though I do get to eat in plenty of local restaurants. Schmoozing clients, you know.”
“So you travel a lot?”
She nodded. “Around the country. I’m director of sales, so I’m on the road probably three-quarters of the year.”