Out at Home (9 page)

“Yes, although I don’t know why,” she said, holding back a smile.

He leaned forward to cup her cheek. “You can’t resist me, that’s why.”

“I told you not to open your mouth and ruin it.”

Laughing, he lured her face to his and brushed his lips lightly over hers. “Now I guess I better take you on a proper date, huh?”

“You probably should, but not tonight. It’s getting late and I have to be in the office in the morning,” she said.

“Brady?”

Pivoting to peer over his shoulder, he gave Taylor a clear view of Samantha’s cousin standing behind him, shifting from foot to foot. He raised a brow at her. “What’s up?”

“We’re going to go to that club Sam was talking about. Do you want to come?”

Lacing his fingers with Taylor’s, he gave her a wink. “Nope. I’m taking my woman out for ice cream, I think.”
Chapter Nine

They walked slowly, hand in hand, down the sidewalk to a nearby ice cream parlor. After they ordered, they sat on the patio at a little table to eat. Conversation remained light, revolving around the upcoming home stand. When they finished, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and escorted her back to her car.

“So you’re coming to the game tomorrow night, right?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I guess. It’s been awhile since I’ve been to one.”

His signature smirk worked its way to his lips. “Are you going to yell and cheer for me?”

“Only if you do something worth yelling and cheering for,” she said.

His smirk deepened to a smile as they reached the club parking lot. Pinning her against her car, he bent his head closer to hers. “But you are going to wear a jersey with my number on the back, right?”

She rolled her eyes. “Ha! Don’t push your luck.”

He leaned in and pressed his lips firmly to hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, forcing him closer. He broke the kiss but didn’t pull away. “You must not have one yet. I’ll get you one for you for your birthday.” He kissed her again before she could protest.

She reluctantly untangled her body from his arms and opened the car door. He stood by as she tried to get her aging car to start. She banged her head on the steering wheel and groaned in frustration as it refused to come to life.

“C’mon, love,” he urged, tugging on her sleeve. “You can take me home and use my car tomorrow. I’ll call a buddy of mine and have him take a look at yours in the morning. It’ll be okay here for tonight.”

She raised a brow at him. “Seriously?”

He grinned. “Yeah. I can be chivalrous when I want.”

Rolling her eyes, she gathered her belongs, passing her lap top case to him. “I don’t even know where you live.”

“I rented a condo in the complex where Kyle lives. He can give me a ride to the ball park tomorrow.” Carrying her stuff to his car, he tossed everything in back seat as she climbed inside. He hopped in the driver’s seat and turned the key, smiling at her when the engine roared to life. He chuckled when she glared at him.

She racked her brain to think of something to say, hating the awkwardness that had suddenly descended upon them. When they’d dated in high school, they’d always seemed to have something to talk about. He relieved her anxiety when he asked her opinion on the Racers’ chances to make the playoffs. She relaxed as she chattered away, grateful to be on a safe topic.

He directed the car through the Indianapolis outskirts and to the condo development she recognized as the one Brady took her to the day of the interview. He backed into the drive of a condo that very much resembled Kyle’s and killed the engine.

“Do you want to come in?” he asked, reaching out to stroke her cheek with his knuckles.

“I really can’t. I have to get up early,” she muttered, skin tingling at his touch.

Removing the car keys off his key ring, he handed them to her and got out of the car.

“Hop over here, then.”

She scooted to the driver’s side and adjusted the seat to her height. He leaned in the window to gently kiss her, igniting sparks in her heart.

“Don’t wreck it,” he ordered, lips still on hers.

She smiled into his mouth and wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, resuming the kiss. The sparks grew to flames as her traitorous body inched closer to his. He finally broke the kiss, whispered his goodnight as she started the car.

***

She sauntered into the office the next morning, eyes sparkling like a lovesick teenager, and immediately checked her voice messages. Josh waved to her from his desk and ambled over as soon as she hung up the phone.

“How’s the story going?” he asked.

She groaned. “It’s driving me crazy.”

He smiled. “Well, you wanted a real story.”

“I know.” She flipped on her computer and waited while it ran through its usual virus check.

“Never satisfied, are you?” Henry Lake, a veteran reporter, asked as he walked by her desk. He paused to sit on the corner. “You wanted something better to cover and now that you have it, you complain.”

“I wasn’t complaining,” Taylor informed him, folding her arms in front of her body.

“Sounded like it to me,” he grunted. He was a short man with an impressive paunch. He kept his gray hair in a crew cut and his face cleanly shaved. He always dressed in a shirt and tie with pressed slacks and a sports coat that he usually slung neatly on the back of his chair.

She leaned back and eyed him suspiciously. “What’s the matter, Henry? Are you jealous that I’m female and caught a good story because I have intelligence? Are you threatened because I didn’t have to show a little cleavage or sleep with someone to get to where I am?” He laughed. “Mighty high opinion of yourself, huh? We all know better.”

Josh rose to his feet but Taylor held a hand out to him, signaling him to stop. “Well, maybe if
you’d
sleep with someone instead of relying on your nonexistent talent, you’d get better stories.”

He slid off her desk, an evil glare on his face. “You are such a little bitch.” She leaned forward, danger lurking in her hazel eyes. “Don’t forget it, either.” With one last dark glance, he stomped off to the break room.

Sinking into a chair, Josh burst with laughter. “Man! When did Henry become such a big fan of yours?” Taylor waved him off and returned to her computer. “He’s been that way with me since I was assigned Brady’s interview.” She went through her notes as she started working on her latest piece. She became so engrossed, she didn’t realize it was nearly lunch time until her cell phone rang and distracted her from her computer. She answered it without so much as a glance at the number on the screen.

“hello?”

“Hey love, how’s your day going?”

Her heart leapt as she smiled, swiveling her chair away from her computer to give him her full attention. “Just peachy. And yours?”

“Could be better. You didn’t wreck my car, did you?”

She laughed. “No, but I am supposed to meet a few guys from the back at lunch. I challenged them to a race. How fast does your car go, anyway?”

“Not very so don’t bother,” he said so seriously it caused her to laugh again. “My buddy is working on your car now, by the way. Did you know the air conditioning is out?”

“Really,” she asked sarcastically. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Yeah. And the starter is out, too. He said he’d fix them both, but honestly love, why don’t you just get a new one?”

“Ha! On my paycheck? Are you kidding me?” she asked in disbelief. “Why don’t you just run out and buy me one Mr. Big League?” He snorted. “I’m still a rookie, remember? I don’t make the big bucks. Yet.”

She rolled her eyes. “I was kidding, Brady.”

“I wasn’t,” he told her cheekily. “Do you need one ticket or two tonight?”

“Just one. Is Kyle picking you up for batting practice?” she asked in a coy tone, smirk tugging at her lips.

“Yeah, why?”

Her smirk turned into a full grown grin. “You need to tell him to get you there early. You’ve been slumping lately, buddy.”

“Yeah, I know,” he groaned. “I
have
been slumping. But I do have a way to get over that particular problem.” Her pulse raced as her face flushed. “I’m not sure I want to hear it.”

“Probably not,” he quipped. “See you tonight, love.”

“Bye,” she said, ending the call with a sweet smile gracing her lips. She swiveled back to her computer and ignored the curious glance Josh gave her. She knew if she acknowledged him, he’d come over and lecture her on the dangers of dating Brady Nolan. She knew exactly what he’d say, too; he’d tell her he only wanted her to talk to him and get closure, not start dating him again and set herself up to be hurt once more. He’d hinted around about it ever since that night out with him and Tia. She didn’t even want to think about Brady hurting her again. She just wanted to wall ow in the sudden joy she had in her life.

***

She urged Brady’s sleek, black Maxima through the traffic surrounding the stadium and dug his player’s parking pass out of the glove compartment. She attached it to the rear view mirror and swung the car past the lines to the crowded parking lots and over to the players’ parking area.

Already running late, she cursed as she parked his car in the players’ lot and ran around to the other side of the building to the Will Call window.

By the time she claimed her ticket and got inside, the top of the first inning had ended. She made her way through the stands and was delighted to find Tabby and Zoey sitting next to her seat. She plopped down and greeted the two women just as the leadoff batter walked.

“Just in time to see Brady,” Tabby said.

Pinking slightly, Taylor smiled as Brady walked up to the plate. Brady had fall en into a slump lately and she hoped that maybe with all the weight of their issues off his shoulders, he could get back up to caliber.

He didn’t let her down. He smacked the fourth pitch through the hole between the third baseman and the short stop and bounded safely to first.

She stood and cheered remembering him asking her last night if she was going to do that exact thing.

When she sat back down, she noticed Samantha and her cousin sitting a few seats down from them. The other girl caught her glance and flashed a haughty look before turning her head. Taylor ignored her and watched Brady take a big lead off of first.

The next batter hit a ball to deep center field. Taylor held her breath as the runner on second tagged up, took off, and scored easily as the center fielder bobbled the ball. She winced as Brady slid into third under the third baseman’s glove. The umpire declared him safe and Taylor breathed again. Calling for time, Brady stood to wipe the dirt off his once clean uniform.

Unfortunately, he was stranded on third as the next two batters failed to bring him home.

“So you and Brady finally talked, huh?” Tabby asked, barely containing a smile.

“Yeah,” Taylor answered, signaling for the beer vendor. She had a feeling Tabby and Zoey were going to be merciless with their questions.

Tabby put her hand on Taylor’s arm. “He finally broke down and told us about the bet. I’m sorry he was such an ass.” After paying for three beers, Taylor passed them down. “Don’t apologize. We talked about it and it’s over.”

“He really cares about you,” Zoey added. “It’s so obvious.”

“I know,” Taylor said, taking a sip from her beer. “We decided last night to give it another shot.” Tabby snorted. “That explains the dirty looks Gina keeps giving you.”

“Who is Gina?” Taylor asked.

Tabby nodded at the girl sitting next to Samantha. “Samantha’s cousin. I think Samantha was trying to set her up with Brady. Too bad Samantha had to bring her tonight. If that girl gives you one more dirty look, I might have to take Alex’s bat to her.” Taylor laughed. “Don’t worry about her. She doesn’t bug me.”

They watched the rest of the game in good spirits. Brady finally broke out of his slump and went two for three with an awesome pickoff play at second.

Taylor followed the other girls to the players’ parking lot to wait for Brady. Her heartbeat quickened when he emerged from the players’

entrance, dark hair still damp from the shower. Walking straight up to her, he kissed her softly on the cheek.

“Are you happy? I finally broke the slump,” he whispered.

She shivered as his lips touched her ear. “Yeah and I didn’t even have to do anything lewd,” she retorted, tamping down the tingling in her stomach.

He winked at her. “Well, maybe not in reality but in my mind you…”

“Don’t even finish that sentence Brady,” she threatened.

Laughing, he hugged her briefly before waving to the others. He took the keys from her as he ushered her to his car.

“Your car is at my place. They brought it over before I left.”

“Okay,” she said. “Thanks for helping me out with that.”

“It’s no problem, love,” he said. “The Bill has been taken care of, too.”

“Brady,” she protested, her stomach sinking to her feet. “I can pay for it.”

“I know you can,” he said, lifting a shoulder. “But I wanted to do this.”

Gnawing on her lip, she turned her head to the window. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said in a small voice. “Taylor, I know you’re this independent, self-sufficient woman, but I just wanted to…you know…do something for you.”

“I know,” she said, turning to smile at him. “I appreciate it.”

He drove to his house and pulled in the drive next to her car. Taking her by the hand, he led her inside. The condo was immaculately clean, almost sterile, but it lacked any of Brady’s personality.

The beige carpet was a shade lighter than the walls. The furniture was heavy and bland - more than likely something the owner had picked up in order the stage the unit. The huge television and elaborate electronic devices in the entertainment center were the only things that screamed ‘a man lives here.’

“Don’t use your work excuse tonight. I know you’re usually off on Saturdays,” Brady said.

“I wasn’t going to use any excuses.”

Smiling, he motioned for her to have a seat on the couch. He disappeared into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with two bottles of beer. He handed her one as he sat down next to her. “I’m trying to get you drunk so you have to spend the night with me.” Her brows rose. “At least you’re honest, I guess.”