Hot Property (Hot Zone 4)

He frowned. She was new to this business and to his life. She didn’t know his inner circle as well as he did. Nobody would deliberately sabotage him. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence. Someone might have recognized me and decided to leak the information. It happens all the time.”

She drew a deep breath. “Fine. Just pay attention in the future. That’s all I ask.”

He conceded with a jerk of his head, then glanced at the dashboard clock. “We need to get going.” He turned and reached for the handle, but her hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“There’s something else I need to run by you,” she said.

He turned back her way. From her serious expression, he wasn’t going to like this subject, either. “What is it?” he asked, resigned.

“What’s your biggest priority at the moment?”

He let out a laugh. “Come on, you know the answer to that. My career. The upcoming season.”

“Then why not act like it? Why aren’t you at the gym this morning instead of playing mediator between your mother and your sister?”

He sat up straighter in his seat, his shoulders stiffening. “Not that I need to answer to you, but I’m going to the gym later today.” He resented being put on the defensive just

because he cared for his family. “Right now they need me. They’re my responsibility and I won’t turn my back on them.”

She ran a hand through her hair, her frustration obvious. “They’re adults, despite how they act. They should be able to look after themselves.” She paused, then reached out and placed her hand on his arm. “You have a good heart, John, but if you don’t start putting yourself first and get your shoulder healed and strong, they won’t have you to turn to financially, now will they? Not with a lot of your future money tied to playing time and performance?” she asked softly.

If it was anyone else asking the question, he’d turn on them in a heartbeat. But he knew Amy had his best interest in mind by pushing him to face things he’d deliberately been ignoring.

“How do you know this?” He spoke through clenched teeth.

“Yank thought I should be filled in. So I’d know how important this assignment was,” she admitted.

He hated that Amy was privy to his secrets. “So it was just business.”

“Exactly.” She inclined her head. “And in that vein, so is my suggestion. Are you aware of the fact that Annabelle’s husband owns a lodge in Upstate New York? A town called Greenlawn?”

He folded his arms across his chest. “What about it?”

“The Hot Zone has a suite available and I think it would be a good idea if you went into seclusion there until spring training.”

Nothing could have surprised him more. He was speechless.

“They have a full-scale gym and trainers and there’s a physical therapist in town who caters to the athletes who stay there. You’d have no distractions, no family complications. You could focus totally on rehab and getting yourself in shape for the season,” she said, her hands waving rapidly as she described her vision.

He shook his head. “Won’t work.”

“Why not?”

“Because my family will have no problem calling me upstate with their problems. Hell, they’d drive up in a heartbeat.”

Her brown eyes glittered with anticipation. “Not if they don’t know where you are. All you need to do is tell them that you’re on a business trip of sorts. We’ll sneak you out of town and I’ll put out any fires here.”

Her enthusiasm for the idea would have been infectious if not for the fact that there was no way in hell it would ever work. “I appreciate the thought. But I have a responsibility to my family. I’ve been the one they turned to from the day my stepfather took off. They need me. I can get strong and juggle them at the same time. It’ll be fine,” he assured her.

She shook her head and shot him an I-don’t-believe-you look. “Just promise me we’ll revisit the subject when things get too intense?”

He shrugged. A promise to revisit wasn’t the same as a promise to leave town, but it would keep Amy satisfied. “If things get out of hand, I’ll rethink things. Feel better?”

“I would if I believed you,” she said, laughing. “But that’s okay. I’m not finished trying.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

AMY FOLLOWED ROPER DOWN the hallway to his sister’s apartment. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the musty smell in these places,” she said. The odor assaulted her every time she stepped off an elevator in Manhattan. Considering she’d practically grown up outdoors, she wondered if she ever would.