by Jody Holford
Sawyer dropped his hands and leaned against her door. Addie slipped off her shoes, taking them, her purse, and jacket to the closet. Putting things away, she worked to settle her emotions.
“I don’t want to talk about that right now. I wasn’t joking when I said I need a date.”
Shutting the entryway closet, she glanced at him on her way to the kitchen. “I wasn’t joking about putting out a message on social media for you.”
His laugh followed behind her. “I’d rather it was you.”
Addie breathed in deeply through her nose and out through her mouth. She opened the fridge and took out two sodas before turning to meet his gaze. “I don’t think us dating is a good idea.”
Sawyer took a can from her, opened it, and took a long sip. “You’re probably right on that. For several reasons. What about a favor?”
She smiled. It was impossible not to. “Sawyer McBain is asking me for another favor? This is becoming quite the habit.”
His shoulders lifted, dropped, but the smile still played on his lips. She reminded herself not to dwell on his lips. “Let’s call it a trade.”
Intriguing. No. Not intriguing. Steer clear of hot, broody baseball players. She told her inner worrier to shush. “What would we be trading?”
The way he looked at her had Addie wondering what was going through his mind. “You mentioned your wellness program and wanting to help players in different areas of their lives.”
Her heart rate sped up. “I did.” Would he let her help him? Would he admit that something was going on with his knee? Maybe it was physically fine, but she sensed there was something more going on with him.
“I have an…area I could use your thoughts on. I’ll let you help me if you agree to the date.”
She felt her brows arch upward. “Just to clarify, if I go out with you, you’ll let me help you within the capacity of my job.”
Addie bit the inside of her cheek because it was right up her alley. She wanted to help him, and he knew it would appeal to her to be able to do so. Clever man.
“That’s right. Then we both get what we want. I won’t have anyone hitting on me tomorrow, and you’ll get to stick your nose into my business. Win-win.”
Like a balloon deflating, her heart shriveled up. For a minute—a quick second really—she’d thought the unwanted attraction was mutual. You aren’t friends and you won’t be more. You’re acquaintances who can offer each other something. Acquaintances with benefits.
Hoping her expression didn’t reveal her true feelings, she held out a hand. “Deal. Come in and sit down. You can tell me what I need to wear and then you can tell me how I can help you.”
Heading for the living area, she took a seat in the armchair so she wouldn’t have to breathe in the scent of his cologne.
His eyes wandered over Addie, spreading warmth wherever they touched. “You clearly can wear anything and look good but probably something a little dressier. I told my agent I’d go to a party at her house tonight. There’s an actress who, uh, runs in the same circles who would like to…get friendly.”
Addie bit her lip, her heart fluttering. “And you don’t wanna be friendly?”
Setting the can down on her coffee table with a bit of a thud, he paced over to the patio doors, running both hands through his hair. The T-shirt he wore under the thin bomber jacket stretched across his chest. Do not think about how it would feel to run your own hands through his hair.
“Listen, I don’t like to be on display. If I meet a woman, wanna date her, I’ll ask. But I don’t like being put on the spot or worse, being used for someone’s agenda.”
Addie sucked in a harsh breath, and Sawyer’s eyes locked on hers. He swore and came closer, looking down at her with regret simmering in his gaze. “I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t mean you. That came out wrong. Listen, I’m just not in a place to be with anyone, and even if I was, being set up is the last way I’d want to go about it. I know I need to think about my career, and that’s the only reason I’m going tonight.”
She wasn’t sure which part to latch on to—he wasn’t in a place to be with anyone, which should have been a relief instead of a thorn pressing against her heart, or his thinking about his career. Was he expecting it to go in a different direction? What did he need help with and why now after he’d been so against the idea? He’d played well the other night—she’d caught the game on television. But it was clear he’d let a few things slip and the team overall was dispirited. Had his knee given him trouble?
“What are you thinking?” He took a seat on the couch across from her.
Too many things. “I’m fine with joining you at your agent’s party. What do you need my help with…in other areas?”
You are either hallucinating or just imagining the heat that just rocketed into his gaze.
Settling his forearms on his thighs, he clasped his hands between his legs. “I tell you this, it stays between us, right? This won’t go in some file that’ll get reviewed and put in a PowerPoint?”
Tilting her head, she asked, “Not everyone is out to get you, Sawyer. Have a little faith. Maybe even some trust. In me.”
Sawyer’s eyes widened in surprise. “I don’t think everyone is out to get me. I just don’t want my life on display.”
Giving him the benefit of the doubt, she nodded. “My intention is to help players achieve balance. So far, I’ve hired an assistant to help with social media for several of the players, arranged massage therapy, one player’s wife was feeling overwhelmed about daycare options so I compiled a list. There’s no one in our organization who wants to parade your private life around the locker room. My only goal is to make it easier for our athletes and our staff to give their all to their career without sacrificing their personal life.”
The disbelief shone bright in his eyes. “Okay. My brother—and my mother actually—think of me as their own personal ATM. I’m not cheap. I don’t mind sharing with the people I love. In fact, if it’s my grams? I’m thrilled to give her anything I can. But with Brooks and my mom…it’s different. They’re always on the take, and I can’t deal with it anymore.”
This was so far from what she thought he’d ask about, she didn’t know where to begin.
“What about your knee?” Apparently she wanted to begin with the elephant in the room.
“What about it?” He picked up the soda and drank deeply.
“How was it feeling after the game?”
With deliberate slowness, he set the can down and leaned forward. “I’m asking for your help with my family. Nothing else. My knee is fine and not what’s…unbalancing my life.”
“Okay. Why do you let your family take advantage of you?”
He gave a rough laugh and leaned against her couch, looking so comfortable and male, her tummy tumbled. “I didn’t realize there was an option not to. But mostly, it’s because if I don’t do what they ask or demand, they take it out on my grandmother, who I adore.”
Addie smiled, needing him to trust her. Wanting him to. “The handsy one?”
Sawyer’s chuckle was genuine and sexy. “One and the same. She lives in an assisted living facility just outside Nashville. She’s my mother’s mom and my biggest fan. When I say no to Brooks or my mom, they give her a hard time, go visit her, cause scenes. Or worse, don’t show up when they say they will and that disappoints and hurts her.”
Addie chewed on her bottom lip a minute. “Do you want to keep giving them money?”
Sawyer put both hands behind his head so his arms spread out like muscled wings. “I don’t mind sharing the wealth, literally or figuratively, but Brooks needs to get his act together. Apparently, he’s getting married and if I don’t figure out a way to cut off the nonstop access to my bank account, I’ll have his wife in on it as well. And she’s already gotten her fair share of my money.”
Pulling her feet up to get more comfortable, Addie’s brows moved together. “Why would his fiancée have received anything from you?”
> A mean smile crossed his lips. His arms dropped down. “Because last year she was my girlfriend.”
Addie sucked in a breath. No wonder he was so jaded, so guarded, and so certain people didn’t want him for…him. Her heart ached for him, but she knew he’d hate that.
“That does not sound like a good story.” Did her voice convey how much she wanted to pull him into a hug? To tell him not everyone was like that?
“It’s not. And I don’t want to discuss it. I’d just like some help if you think that fits into the parameters of what you do.”
Getting out of her chair, she went to the dining table and grabbed her notebook. Flipping open to a blank page, she settled back in her seat.
“Give me some details and I promise you I will help.”
“And you’ll go with me tonight?” He eyed her skeptically.
“I said I would. Friends don’t lie.” They couldn’t be anything more, but instead of dwelling on that and answering to the little piece of herself that would like to explore the chemistry, she was determined to do that well.
“Okay.”
She’d just have to prove to him that there was no other shoe waiting to drop where she was concerned.
“As your friend, I want to point out that I have Ben & Jerry’s and Netflix. If we’re meant to be besties, then that should appeal to you more than some party.”
Sawyer laughed and his body relaxed. “How about a compromise, since I said I’d show up? Hour at the party, you keep me safe from Alyssa, and I’ll take you to the best ice-cream shop in Nashville.”
Addie’s mouth watered, then dropped open. “Alyssa? Like Alyssa Davay?”
“You know her?” He frowned.
“Of her, like anyone else who’s seen a television or movie screen. Seriously? If she’s not on your list of women you’d date, you have some strict requirements.”
It took her a minute to realize the meaning of how he was staring at her—like every requirement he could list was standing right in front of him. That didn’t seem possible. She might clean up well, but Academy Award nominee Alyssa Davay? There was no way she could hold a candle to her.
“I’d rather blow off the party and take you up on the Netflix. That appeals to me a hell of a lot more than anything else. But when I say I’ll do something, I follow through.”
The feelings of fatigue and a rotten day were buried in a giddy kind of excitement. “You should have mentioned her earlier. I would have gone without you letting me help you in exchange.”
Before he could speak, she waved him off with a smile. “Too late now. You’re my next project, McBain.”
Chapter Twelve
Sawyer hated crowds. He hated putting on a phony chill smile and making small talk. But he couldn’t deny it felt damn good to have Addie by his side as they wove their way through the throng of people.
“Small gathering, my ass,” Sawyer muttered, pressing his hand to Addie’s lower back.
“You’re a real people person, aren’t you?” Addison grinned up at him. His stomach tightened uncomfortably.
The last time he’d let a smile pull him in, the woman had ended up cheating on him with his brother. Not that Addie was anything like his ex. No, she was unlike anyone he’d ever met. Which made her more dangerous. She had a smile that could make him believe in things he didn’t want to think about.
“I like smaller crowds,” he admitted, leading them toward the bar set up in the corner by the wall of windows leading to a patio.
“Good evening. What can I get for you?” The bartender was dressed in a freaking tux, reminding Sawyer why he didn’t usually attend Lynette’s gatherings.
“Addie?” He looked down and saw her jaw had dropped. Unable to resist, he stroked a finger along it and tapped her nose. “You want a drink?”
She leaned right into him so all he could smell and taste and think was her. Jesus. It should be illegal for a woman to smell so good. “That’s Alyssa Davay!” Her voice was a hoarse whisper.
Sawyer glanced over and his gaze connected with Alyssa’s. That smile tilting her lips, which People magazine called one of the top ten sexiest, didn’t do half of what Addison’s did for him. He didn’t see her agent around but that didn’t mean the woman wasn’t there. If she was and Sawyer hadn’t spotted her yet, she’d do everything she could to force Alyssa and Sawyer together. She’d once even called Lynette to set up a date. Sawyer thought about contacting Alyssa and asking her to tell her agent to back off but never had. He told himself he did what he did next to make it clear to Alyssa—and by extension, her agent—that he wasn’t interested. Or maybe it was just that Addie smelled so freaking good and he couldn’t help himself.
Using the same finger he’d touched her satin skin with, he turned her chin toward him, tilted it up, and pressed his mouth to hers in a soft, slow kiss that had the impact of a wicked fastball to his glove.
He pulled back and waited for her eyelids to flutter open. She touched her fingers to her lips in a gesture so sweet his breath caught. Damn. Big mistake. Because now he wanted more.
“Um, wow. Okay.”
God, she was adorable. “Drink, Addie. What do you want to drink?”
“White wine, please,” she answered, her cheeks taking on a pale pink hue.
Yup. Adorable. Good luck keeping your head on straight with this one.
He ordered a beer and Addie’s wine, handed it to her, and faced the inevitable as Alyssa approached, her low-cut gown leading the show.
“Sawyer,” Alyssa drawled.
He leaned in. He might not like the expectations of these things, but he knew them. He brushed his lips over her cheek. “Alyssa. Nice to see you.”
“You too. Who is your friend?” Sawyer eyed her a moment and felt guilty for his earlier judgment. The woman should fire her agent. She gave Alyssa a bad rep in his opinion.
“I’m Addison Carlisle, Ms. Davay. I’m a huge fan of your work. You were absolutely brilliant in Come Home. I cried for days afterward.” Addie shook the woman’s hand with so much enthusiasm Sawyer almost laughed.
Alyssa’s smile morphed from somewhat removed to amused to completely genuine. “Uh, thank you. So much. I swear, it never gets old hearing people say they love your work and meaning it. Because you can tell, you know? If people are just paying lip service.”
Sawyer was surprised by that comment and wholeheartedly agreed.
Addie nodded, grinned at Sawyer, and turned her attention back to Alyssa. “Absolutely. You can definitely tell. It is truly such a pleasure to meet you.”
Alyssa chuckled and this time, it was Sawyer’s jaw that dropped. Addie Carlisle was magic.
“It’s nice to meet you as well. Please, tell me how you got this one to attend a party. I’ve been trying for far too long.”
Addie leaned in like she and the starlet were old friends. “I sort of owed him a favor.”
Alyssa’s burst of laughter turned more than a few heads, but Sawyer could only look at Addison, charming the hell out of a woman she’d met thirty seconds ago. Addie went on to explain how she’d talked Sawyer into helping out with the MS charity ball, omitting the part where she kidnapped him. Which was too bad because it was sort of his favorite piece.
“I’d love to get involved with something like that. My grandmother had MS. It was terribly hard because, at the time, they knew so much less,” Alyssa said.
“They’re learning more every day, and educating people both with and without the disease is essential to making a difference.”
Alyssa opened her small purse that Sawyer hadn’t even noticed and then handed Addie a card. “Call me if there’s anything I can do behind the scenes. A lot of what my PR people have me take part in is more for publicity than actual impact. I’d love to get involved in something real. I need to mingle, but it was great to meet you and great to see you, Sawyer.”
Pressing a kiss to Addie’s cheek and then his, Alyssa started across the room but Sawyer called her name. She looked back at hi
m.
“You here without your agent?”
Alyssa grinned. “We parted ways.”
“Congratulations?”
She laughed and Sawyer’s shoulders relaxed all the way. Alyssa nodded. “That works.”
Sawyer turned and faced Addison. He could see the adrenaline pumping off her. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he shook his head.
“Who are you, Addison Carlisle?”
“Good question. I’d like to know the woman who can get one of my most reclusive clients out and about on a Friday night and have him smiling about it,” Lynette said as she joined them.
Sawyer turned, his arm brushing Addie’s side. He wasn’t sure he’d ever been so aware of a woman.
“Lynette Glass, this is Addison Carlisle. She works for the Slammers Organization. Addie, this is my agent who nags me more than my mother does.”
“Only because you actually return my phone calls. Lovely to meet you, Addison. What do you do for the Slammers?”
Their fingers touched, and he had to stop himself from taking her hand. He reveled in the slight intake of breath. Yeah. She felt what he did. Which wasn’t good for either of them but impossible not to enjoy.
“I’m the director of special projects and team wellness. I have other duties as well, but I’ve recently started a project to help the players and staff learn to balance their professional and personal lives in all areas.”
Lynette pursed her lips. “Interesting. I’ve heard their new owner is taking the team in some new directions.”
Sawyer hoped Lynn wouldn’t bring up the rookie or the mentoring. He didn’t want to get Addie’s defenses up again.
“Isla is an incredible woman. Her family owns a chain of fitness centers, and I was lucky enough to work with her in Colorado where we’re both from. She understands the bottom line but also knows that people matter and they’re the heart and soul of any strong organization.”
“Well then, I look forward to meeting her and am hopeful she’ll recognize the value of this person right here,” Lynette said, patting his arm.
