I promised to forgive my dad, kissed my mother goodbye, and fell onto my bed. It was so empty, larger than I remembered without Todd beside me. I thought about him lying alone in his room, probably sick. He needed me, but he was too stubborn, too mad, too betrayed to admit it.
When my eyes opened to a new day, I decided to put everything behind me. What my mother said was true… if it was meant to be, it would be. There was nothing I could say or do at this point to change how Todd felt. He’d have to decide if he wanted to trust me again.
My agenda pointed to Kane Steele for the next interview. He was at the bar last night, and in the light of day, I hated to face him. Suck it up, Katrina. You have a job to do.
The guys had an off day, so I knew I’d find Kane in his room. I dialed his extension, but almost hung up when his deep voice uttered, “Hello.”
“This is Katrina Delaney.” I felt foolish as I said it. Of course he knew who I was.
“Hey, Katrina. Is everything okay?”
“Yes. It’s great. I just have you set for an interview. I thought since you’re not practicing today it’d be a good time.”
“Absolutely. How about lunch by the pool around noon?” he asked.
“I’ll see you then.”
“Hey, Katrina. Are you sure you’re okay?” The concern in his voice made my eyes start to well up with tears.
“Yes. Thank you for all your help last night,” I said, quickly hanging up before I began to cry.
I shoved my knuckles into my eye sockets, pushing back the flood of tears fighting to escape. A deep breath, a sip of the wine from the glass left on the table, and I was ready to dig into everything I knew about Kane Steele.
What did I know about the man? First baseman, one hell of an arm, and a switch hitter. He was recruited personally by Rhett, fresh from the minors. He was hot, real hot. His personality oozed charm, but he was quiet most times, not a ladies' man or player like Ace Newman in his hay day.
I scrolled through the social media pages, searching for everything I could find on Kane. A younger brother, just as cute as him, parents who looked to be happily married, and a dog named Sam. He seemed to be perfect. This should be an easy interview.
He wasn’t exactly the player that Rhett needed me to micromanage, but I knew he’d want to have something edgy to show off. Players without some sort of edge just weren’t Beasts, so why did Rhett choose Kane? And what was he hiding?
Shit! It was eleven forty-five, and I wasn’t even dressed. I’d gotten lost in Kane’s pages, scrolling through his friends list looking for any skeletons that might be lurking in the shadows. I couldn’t find anything. He had a high school sweetheart, Sara. She was blonde, petite, and of course, a cheerleader. Their prom picture was adorable, and from what I could tell they were still great friends. No other women in the past that I could see, at least not anyone substantial. Hmm, guess I’d have to ask him myself.
My eyes were puffy and red, my hair still frizzed from sleeping so restlessly. I looked dreadful. I slapped on some foundation, a small amount of lipstick, and slid on a pair of shorts and tank top before running out the door. I dragged the brush through my hair as the elevator lowered me to the lobby and dabbed on perfume as I rushed through the long corridor to the pool area.
Two women walked by me as I neared the wide glass doors leading to the patio. “I’d like to climb that tree,” one said, the other giggled.
Of course, Kane sat at a table with the umbrella drawn. He was obviously the tree the woman spoke of. He was striking. His tanned skin rolled over the ripples his muscles formed, his green eyes glistened in the sunlight, bright and full of mystery. I fussed with my hair, pressed the wrinkles from my tank top with my fingers, and headed in his direction.
He stood, tall, intimidatingly handsome with no shirt. I’d never seen him with so little clothes. I'd learned to stay out of the men’s locker rooms after practice, having caught a glimpse of Ace’s cock for a brief second during my first week. Wow.
“I remembered you liked crab cakes, so I ordered for us if that’s okay,” he said sweetly.
I’d add attentive and thoughtful to my list of things I knew about Kane Steele. “Of course. I’m starving.”
Normally I’d have found a man ordering for me pretentious, but not today, and not Kane. It was sweet he’d remembered something I’d ordered on the one occasion I’d eaten with the team. Given the fact I’d skipped breakfast, not having to wait was perfect.
“So how do we do this?” Kane asked, pulling out a chair for me to sit next to him.
“I have to admit, I stalked your pages. You have a pretty squeaky clean life.”
“Well, that’s great for you, isn’t it?”
“Sure. But there has to be something edgy going on with you,” I said as playfully as I could without sounding pushy.
“Not a lot of edges here,” he laughed, laying a hand on his stomach.
Plenty of ripples though.
“I noticed you’re still friends with your high school sweetheart.” I jumped right into it.
He laughed. A waitress with huge breasts and her top opened enough to expose her deep cleavage showed up with two plates of crab cakes and two Bloody Marys. “Hair of the dog,” Kane said with a smile.
The woman lingered, glaring at me with a fake smile, and fawning all over Kane as she asked him what else he needed. Not you sweetie, move along.
“Yes, we’re still friends. Is that bad?”
I watched him sip on the drink, pushing the umbrella to the side. “Not at all, but why didn’t you stay together?” I asked.
“She went to school in Boston. I stayed in California to play in the minors. She wanted kids, I wanted a baseball career.”
His answer was so levelheaded. I couldn’t believe he was still only twenty-four. He oozed maturity. Especially for a major league baseball player.
“So, no girlfriends since…?” I pushed a little deeper.
His laugh was so deep it vibrated my soul. I shoved a bite of the crab cake into my mouth to avoid jumping from the topic. I wanted to hear this answer.
“Yes, there have been women,” he said with a slyness that intrigued me.
“I said girlfriends, not women.”
That laugh again. I didn’t understand why I hadn’t felt any sexual attraction toward him, and still didn’t. He was one of the sexiest men I’d ever laid eyes on, almost as sexy as Todd.
“I’m not ready for that,” he said quickly, too quickly.
Not ready for a girlfriend, at twenty-four? I hadn't asked him about a wife, a family…
“Okay, fair enough.” I decided not to push.
Women walked by, all ogling in his direction, but he didn’t seem to notice. His attention stayed on me, even when the big-busted waitress returned with our second drinks.
“I get the feeling there aren’t any skeletons in your closet,” I teased.
His eyes narrowed, his chin tightened, and a small, faint smile appeared on his face. I watched as his eyes sized me up as if he was ready to spill something juicy. “We all have skeletons,” he said softly.