Page 17 of Fair Trade (New York Monarchs #2)

fifteen

I’m back at the office, and my head is on a swivel.

I haven’t heard anything from Nick in the last few days, which is only adding to my paranoia. After he sent those not safe for work emails, he went radio silent.

I should be glad and shake it off. But instead, he feels like the bogeyman. Like he’s about to jump out from every corner I turn.

“Morning, Luisa!” Daisy chirps.

“Ay, cono.” I curse as I slap my hand across my heaving chest.

Daisy startles as she looks around us. “Um, is everything okay?”

I nod repeatedly as I try to get my breathing under control. “Sorry about that. I’m a bit jumpy today.” I raise my empty to-go cup. “Must be all the caffeine,” I lie.

Daisy smiles gently. “Maybe you could swap it out for decaffeinated tea. I can bring you some from home if you’d like.

Maybe something more calming to start your mornings?

I have a couple of blends you could try out, and if you don’t like those, I’m sure I can head to a tea shop and find something,” she says eagerly.

I’m not a tea drinker. I actually can’t stand the taste of it, but I’d sooner kick a puppy than turn down a nice offer from sweet Daisy.

“That is so kind of you to offer. Thank you so much.” I give her arm a squeeze right as the phone in her hand lights up and her fiancé’s name flashes on the screen.

Her smile dims a fraction before she settles it back into place. She lifts her phone as she raises her finger at me. “Hold on a sec! I need to take this and then we should be all good for lunch. I’ll be quick. Promise,” she finishes as she steps into her office and closes the door.

I’ve noticed her do that before. Shy away from speaking about her relationship or directing the conversation to me when I ask too many nosey questions, especially since she walks around with a rock the size of a golf ball on her ring finger.

But just like she’s learned to accept that I’ll never give her a straight answer as to why her brother and I aren’t the best of friends, I’ve learned to respect her boundaries and allow her to keep her relationship to herself. For now.

I’m still staring at her door when a deep voice almost has me shooting out of my heels. “Hey, Luisa.”

“?La puta madre!” I gasp before I cover my mouth in embarrassment.

Coach Weston’s eyes widen. “Did you call my mother a slut?” He scratches his bearded chin while taking in my current state. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. No. I’m sorry. I did not mean to call your mother a—it was a figure of speech.”

He tilts his head slightly. “You do know I’m fluent in Spanish, right? Easy to pick it up when you play in a sport where more than half your teammates are native Spanish speakers.”

“Yes. Well, please rest assured that I was not trying to disrespect your mother. I was startled, that’s all.” I force a chuckle. “You know, in a moment of panic, your body goes into either fight or flight or slut-shaming the universe mode.”

He nods, and in true Coach fashion, changes the subject abruptly. “I’m back from a three-hour lunch with the team’s PR team. Tell me again why I need to attend more press conferences than any other manager in the league right now?”

“Well, for one, you refuse to call yourself a manager. Therefore, you have the media swooning over you as the ‘bad boy of baseball who will only answer to Coach.’”

He groans. “Had I known it’d be such a topic of discussion, I probably would have changed my mind.”

“No, you wouldn’t have.” His mouth twitches slightly as I continue. “Also, you’re the youngest manager in MLB history, a former player who ended his career on a World Series win and—” I stop abruptly, but it’s too late.

Coach stiffens, then sighs deeply. “And my personal stuff.”

I won’t insult him with a lie, so I nod instead.

He blows out a breath. “I figured. But I thought—never mind. I’m done for the day, so I’m heading home.”

Luke isn’t a touchy-feely guy, so I offer my fist for him to tap his as our way of saying goodbye.

Before he turns to leave, Daisy comes bounding toward us with a broad smile. “Hi, Luke! Nice to see you again.”

He clears his throat. Multiple times. “Hi there, Daisy. How’s, uh, it going?”

Daisy smiles softly as she nods. “Really well. I still don’t know exactly what my job here is supposed to be, since my brother basically roped me into the Monarchs family.

But I’ve been toying with an idea lately that I want to run by a few people.

I want to know whether it’s worth mentioning to the social media team or not. ”

My phone pings with a notification as Coach struggles to string a simple sentence together.

Interesting.

MAMI:

Can’t wait for you to get here! Let me know when you’re close so I can start on the tostones.

Shit, that’s right. I promised my mom I would come over for lunch since I’ve been out of town and insanely busy since the season started.

I feel terrible about ditching Daisy last minute, but it truly has been forever since I’ve seen my mom, and that is a Dominican cardinal sin.

“Hey, so please don’t hate me.” Daisy eyes me warily. “But I totally forgot that I’m supposed to be meeting my mom for lunch today. I’m so sorry.”

“Oh.” Daisy places her hand over her chest. “Of course. Don’t worry about me. I’m not even that hungry.” She laughs, but her poker face needs some work. “I can grab something quickly from the vending machine. It’s no big deal. Go see your mama.”

For a moment I swear I see sadness in her eyes.

But it can’t be because I’m canceling lunch. We’ve both had times where we had to call off our lunches last minute when our schedules have shifted throughout the day.

I quickly run through what I said and wonder if she’s ever told me anything about her mom or her parents, but I’m coming up blank.

Before I can invite her to come with me—my mother certainly wouldn’t mind—Luke cuts in.

“I could eat.” Daisy and I turn toward him, sporting different looks.

Daisy’s is filled with hope, while mine settles on confusion, given he had a long lunch.

“And never let me hear you say you’re considering eating out of a vending machine when we literally have a cafeteria that feeds some of the best athletes in the world. ”

He waves her over as he begins to walk away. Daisy looks back and forth between me and Luke’s retreating back. “Okay, guess I’m heading to the cafeteria. Have a great lunch with your mama. Remember to give her a big squeeze when you see her.” She turns and gets in step with Luke.

Huh. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure if Daisy has ever mentioned her mother to me, which is odd, given how much I’ve told her about mine.

I’m stuck on the thought when I hear Coach’s echoed words as he leads Daisy to lunch. “I want to hear all about this idea you’ve got for the social media team.”