Page 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

RACHEL

After two glasses of wine and laughing at Silas and Lee giving each other shit back and forth, I’d almost been able to relax enough to forget about running into my mother on the way here.

Almost.

It nagged at the back of my mind, but with each tiny smile Silas would sneak me as they’d told me stories about when he’d played shortstop in Washington, I’d managed to push her visit and what it could mean far enough out of my consciousness to let go of a real laugh.

“There’s a big candy store around here my daughter likes,” Lee said, a wistful smile curving his lips. He was tall at about Silas’s height, built, but not as broad as Silas. He had dark, cropped hair and blue eyes, with light salt-and-pepper scruff shadowing his jaw.

“My sister would probably like that. She’d sneak candy into her bedroom all the time when she was little, and I still have to watch now that she’s thirteen. How old is your daughter?”

“Six. She stays with my family because I’m always on the road. Now that I’m working for the Bats, I can see her more since I’m based on the East Coast.”

He was a single father? And his daughter stayed with his family, not her mother? I’d never ask and couldn’t after I noticed the sadness flickering over his face at the mention of his daughter.

I was glad Silas had a good friend on the team—or, at least, on the team’s payroll. Most of my friends had scattered all over the country after college, and Auden was the only one I saw on a regular basis.

On nights out or, I guessed, days out like when I’d met Silas, I’d realize how isolated I was. It wasn’t all bad, as staying focused on my sister had paid off. But sometimes, I just wanted to have fun. Not be like my mother and make fun for myself my only priority, but do something for no other reason than it made me feel good.

Like spend time with the man sitting across from me.

Of course, Kent had seated the few of us here from the agency with Bats management, which included their manager and team chiropractor. Silas wasn’t directly next to me but close enough to be in my line of sight the entire night.

And for once, I was allowing myself to look. I’d spot his eyes flick up and down my body, lingering on the slope of the neckline of my dress. Instead of averting my gaze, I leaned closer to the table, knowing the dip of my cleavage would deepen as my breasts strained against my dress.

I was treating myself by playing with fire. The fire I had to avoid if I wanted to keep my job and my sanity.

“Have you guys bid on anything yet?” I motioned to the silent auction items in the back of the dining room.

“I haven’t really looked,” Lee said. “We were about to take a walk over if you’d like to check it out with us.”

I bit back a smile when Silas’s head whipped to Lee, his dark brows pinching.

“Go see if I’m still the high bidder on the spa day,” Gayle said and went back to her huddle with Kent. I’d bet we’d have a part two to our PR campaign by the morning, but I was glad she was distracted enough not to notice any of the potent sexual tension shooting across the table.

“So, how did you guys meet? Silas never said.”

I stilled at Lee’s question and swiveled my head to Silas.

“He…knows that we didn’t just meet. He’s not going to say anything.”

“Nope.” He pinched his thumb and index finger together and pulled them across his lips as if he were zipping them shut. “But I’m curious. The big guy usually doesn’t say much, so I’m just curious how the conversation started.”

“I punched him in the stomach as he was walking by.”

I lifted a shoulder as Lee squinted at me.

“True story,” Silas said, bobbing his head in a slow nod.

“By accident, I swear,” I said, holding up my hands.

“I’m sure.” Lee smiled as he looked between us. “I’m going to see if that day at American Girl Place is still open for bids. I mean, the actual price would be cheaper, but charity and all that.” He cracked a sneaky grin as he padded toward the back row of items.

“Was this a ruse to get us away from the table?” I asked Silas.

“Probably,” he said, following me as I scanned the next few items. “I can’t say I’m mad at him for it.”

“Me neither. My boss is so into getting Kent to spend more money in promo, she won’t notice anything else at the table anyway.”

“I wanted to sit next to you, but?—”

“Too obvious? No, I told you. I could be on fire next to her, and she’d just scoot her chair closer to Kent to finish whatever she’s pitching to him.”

“Not because of that.” His gaze raked down my body, heating up every inch of my skin in its path. He glanced behind him before he leaned in to whisper in my ear.

“That dress, those legs,” he rasped. “My hand would want to reminisce all the way up those beautiful fucking thighs, and I wouldn’t be able to stop there.”

“Silas,” I groaned, turning around and pretending with all my might to be interested in the ugly vase behind us with a high bid of two thousand dollars.

“Let’s talk after this. I know it’s complicated, but maybe it’s simpler than we think.”

He traced his thumb down my shoulder before dropping his hand.

“You really are so fucking beautiful.” I felt the scratch of his stubble as his breath fanned hot against my neck. I waited for him to walk away before I turned, taking slow steps back to the table.

I couldn’t do this again. I shouldn’t do this again. It was one thing to allow myself to enjoy Silas’s company, but to hop back in bed with him had all kinds of consequences. Not only could I lose my job, but I didn’t want the girls to whisper about me in front of Taylor if they found out—like some of the girls I’d known as a kid always had about my mother in front of me.

Consciously, I knew it wouldn’t be like that, at least not exactly. I wouldn’t be known for a revolving door of seedy boyfriends, and my sister’s teammates would probably think it was cool that I was dating the Bats’ manager. The fight to never put anyone before my sister was an unhealthy hang-up. There was no reason why I couldn’t take care of her and make room for someone else in my life.

But the thought of even making the attempt frightened me to my core.

If I ended up with Silas tonight, it wouldn’t be another fleeting night. Hell, that one night was never just one night. It had haunted me before I’d run into him again, and it would be even harder to walk away a second time.

But would it be worth it? I knew with a bone-deep certainty that it would be everything and more because he wasn’t just a guy I’d run into by chance this time. He was someone I knew, that I admired, that I liked for who he really was, not the fantasy he’d been then and after.

I headed back to the table and found Gayle alone, punching something on her phone screen.

“I’m going to head out. I’ll let someone else have the spa day.” She gave me a wary smile. “I just had to tell Letty to ease up on the flirting with the cute catcher over there.”

She jutted her chin to one of the players’ tables. Letty was a new assistant, only in her mid-twenties. I wasn’t surprised that she was flustered around all these gorgeous athletes, but I was sure she was fangirling more than flirting.

“I’m sure she was starstruck?—”

“She knows the rules. The players are clients, as is their entire organization. Hopefully I put a stop to it before it was too late.”

Shit.

The wine that had happily glided down my throat earlier now bubbled in the pit of my stomach. I’d hoped that was a technicality, that she would think of Kent as our client but not the team. I was smart enough to know that wouldn’t be the case, but the confirmation doused any hot hopes I had for tonight and beyond with a big bucket of ice-cold reality.

I needed this job, especially if I had to fight my mother to keep her away from Taylor. Aunt Lucy would help me, but lawyers weren’t cheap.

I’d find Silas and make sure I drew a deeper line in the sand this time, despite how much I’d always want to cross it.

The gala had dwindled to just a few, the only guests left the ones interested in the items on auction. The team was mostly gone, with only two players left at their table.

I dipped into the ladies’ room, washing my hands and tapping a soft paper towel against my forehead and the back of my neck to cool the flush running over me. Being strong and responsible was how I’d rolled all my life, and tonight, it exhausted me to my core.

“Leaving so soon?” a male voice slurred behind me right after I stepped out the door, close enough to smell the vodka on his breath.

“I am. Good night.” I gave him a tight smile and picked up my pace back into the dining room. I scanned the space for Silas or Lee or anyone who could help me tell this guy to back off.

“Oh, come on,” he said, grabbing me by my wrist and spinning me until my back was against the wall. “I’ve been watching you.” He was about my height, maybe in his fifties with a very receding line of dark hair. The overhead hallway lights glowed on his bald head, and I would have laughed if I weren’t so terrified.

Where had this guy come from? I hadn’t sensed anyone watching me, but while I was sitting across from Silas, I hadn’t paid attention to anything or anyone else.

“Let me go,” I said, pushing against his chest as it rumbled with a laugh.

“I love them thick,” he said with a gross snicker as he tried to grab my hip. I swatted him away and kicked him in the shins, sending him back far enough to escape his hold.

“You bitch,” he sneered, grabbing my wrist again. For a man who swayed on his feet, his grip was strong enough to hurt. “I was just trying to be?—”

“Get your fucking hands off her!” Silas bellowed as he grabbed the creep by the collar and lifted him up, knocking him against the wall.

“I was just…t-trying to be friendly,” he stammered, his eyes wide and almost sober as he gaped at Silas.

“The fuck you were.” He banged him against the wall again, his head making a clunk loud enough for me to register heads turning in our direction.

“What’s going on?” Lee asked, taking us all in and rushing over to me. “Are you okay, Rachel?”

“Yeah,” I said, not realizing how breathless I was until I tried to talk. Lee caught me as my knees wobbled. “He’s drunk and wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Everything all right?” A security guard came over and approached Silas, eyeing us both as Silas kept this guy in a grip so tight, he sputtered for air.

“He came up to me when I left the ladies’ room and wouldn’t leave me alone. I pushed him away and was trying to leave, but he grabbed me again. Silas pushed him off me.”

“Hey, big guy,” Lee whispered, tapping Silas’s shoulder. “Let security handle it. She’s okay.”

Silas looked back at me, his chiseled jaw still clenched.

“Optics, dude. We don’t know who is still here and will take this out of context. Let him go, and let security handle it.”

Silas let him go with one last shove and rushed over to me.

“Are you okay?” He took my face in his hands, and I was shaken up enough to let him. I yearned for comfort from the man I’d planned to say goodbye to, so much that I didn’t care if someone saw us and reported back to Gayle that I’d gotten cozy with the team manager.

“I am, just shaken up, But I’ll be fine. I’ll sit for a few minutes until I take a cab home.”

“No, I’ll take you home. And you’re not going to fight me on that. Got it?”

“Got it,” I said, clearing my throat when I caught my voice squeak.

The concoction of feelings I had for Silas swirled in my belly as he led me outside, making my head spin. I was almost grateful Gayle had scared me out of being so reckless tonight.

Once I’d let myself get even a small piece of Silas, I’d want all of him and wouldn’t be able to let him go.