Hard and Fast

“I never would have guessed,” she teased, stroking him with her fingers.

The doorbell rang and he cursed under his breath. “I don’t suppose you’d let me ignore that.”

She smiled and gave him a quick kiss. “Not a chance.”

***

AT 8:00 A.M. THE DAY the team left for Texas, Amanda stood inside the terminal of the private airstrip waiting to board the Rays’ jet. Reggie was off getting her coffee and she loved him for it. She’d stayed up far too late the night before, and her body ached with the demand for sleep.

She wore black from head to toe—pants, cotton blouse, boots. Black traveled well. Amanda didn’t. Flying had never really been her thing. She got nervous over every bump, every sound.

It didn’t help that she was nervous about being in such proximity to Brad, who had yet to show up. Would she be able to hide from the others how she felt about him? Or would they all guess she had fallen hard for their star pitcher?

They’d said goodbye last night agreeing to keep their distance on the road. Once they were back in L.A. they’d probably pick up where they left off. Or would they? They hadn’t actually agreed to that. During this trip Brad could decide he’d had enough of her and never want to see her again.

God, she hated flying. It made her paranoid.

Still, they should stop their affair and use this time as the opportunity to do that. She had a job to think about. At the end of the day she wanted her career, not a longer fling with Brad. Right. That’s exactly what she wanted and if her libido was thinking otherwise, she could ignore it. This wouldn’t be the first time.

Reggie appeared by her side and handed her a cup of coffee. Casual as usual, he wore a Rays’ ball cap over his dreadlocks. “Mocha straight up,” he said. “The choices were limited. I had to get it from a machine.”

“I’ll take anything I can get,” Amanda said.

Around them, players talked to the press and to family, saying farewells. Amanda kept her distance. She had two weeks of living day and night with these guys, so there was no rush to get close.

“What kept you up so late?”

“I didn’t finish tomorrow’s feature on Tony until near two. I was afraid to wait and have some sort of travel delay keep me from making deadline.”

What Amanda didn’t say was that she’d stayed far too late at Brad’s, not going home until the last possible minute.

“My shots were okay, right?” he asked, sipping his coffee.

“They were perfect.”

“And your headline?”

She grinned despite her tiredness. “The Italian Sweet Spot.”

Reggie let out a bark of laughter that drew attention. “Oh, my God, that is too good. It’s perfect. Of course, you mean the sweet spot as in the perfect place on his bat.”

Amanda wiggled her eyebrows. “Guess you’ll have to read my feature to find out.” Of course, he was right about her meaning. Tony had talked quite a bit about the sweet spot on his bat during their interview. She felt his agreeing to talk to her showed she was earning his trust. “Once you get past his ego, he’s a pretty nice guy.”

“Seems Laura still likes him,” Reggie said, moving closer and lowering his voice.

Amanda caught a glimpse of the couple. The atmosphere between them seemed strained as Laura spoke to him and Tony responded. Her expression indicated displeasure with his reply. Still, she pushed to her toes, and kissed his cheek.

“I’ve warned him,” Amanda told Reggie. “He won’t listen. You know, she hasn’t called me in days. Not since I told her she should consider dating other guys. I know I shouldn’t have said it, but I had a weak moment. She hung up on me.”

Casey walked past them, and winked at Amanda.

“I swear, that kid is either mad at you or trying to get in your pants,” Reggie muttered.

Amanda elbowed him. “Behave,” she said. “He and Laura would be quite the mature pair, though, wouldn’t they?”

An announcement over the intercom indicated they were ready to board. “Great,” Amanda said, inhaling.

“Flying is safer than driving,” Reggie reminded her for the fifth time since he’d arrived.

She cast him a warning look. “I told you to stop saying that. It doesn’t help. I’m going to the bathroom so I don’t have to get up on the plane.”

“I’ll wait on you.”

Amanda eyed the signs but didn’t see one for the bathroom. She looked left, then right. Right looked, well, right. But after passing several gates, she saw no bathroom. Worse, being a private airport, the customer service seemed limited. She was about to turn back when she heard Jack’s irritating voice ahead. Strange. What was he doing down here? She should have noticed his absence at the gate.

She really didn’t want to see him, nor did she want to eavesdrop. But for some reason, she was frozen in her steps. A woman’s voice filled the air.