The Athletic Groom: Billionaire Marriage Brokers

by Lucy McConnell

  Harper sagged like she was in the seventh inning and down by ten. “As much as I hate to admit it, Jackson brings in the fans.” She glared at the numbers on Kimber’s jersey. “And we need him happy.”

  “Winning games would fill the seats,” Isaac pitched.

  Jackson jogged their way. He ducked into the dugout, brushing awfully close to Harper. He paused, giving her a sly once-over. “I forgot my seeds.”

  Harper hugged herself, not meeting Jackson’s leer. “Let’s talk upstairs,” she said to Isaac.

  She didn’t wait for him to respond before disappearing into the locker room.

  Isaac stared after Kimber’s retreating back, wondering why the guy repelled Harper and why he suddenly wanted to punch him in his pretty little face.

  10

  Harper entered the elevator just before Isaac, his fingertips grazing her lower back. A gentlemanly gesture, to be sure, but it caused all sorts of unladylike feelings to surge through her body. With a pang, Harper realized this was the first time anyone had touched her since her father’s funeral. There had been hugs all around then. But since that night, she’d been physically isolated, and Isaac’s touch had her craving more. Craving his arms around her. His nice, big, tough guy arms.

  Crap. She’d settle for holding hands.

  The doors slid shut on the fresh air that wafted through the lower rooms when all the doors were left open for practice, sealing her in with Isaac’s rugged scent. She leaned against the back wall, her palms pressing flat against the cool steel as she outlined Isaac’s fingers with her eyes. Each one was square at the top, long and sinewy, corded like his forearms.

  Isaac stuck his hands in his pockets and stared straight ahead.

  Furious with herself for dropping into a pity party and then allowing her thoughts and feelings towards Isaac to travel to a forbidden after-party, she stood tall. “How did meeting the team go?” Her gaze darted to the upper left corner, where the security camera watched their every move.

  “Fine.”

  “Good.”

  She’d had a meeting that morning too. Max Carter, the executive VP of business operations, reminded her they were ten million dollars over budget. Becoming profitable was on everyone’s mind in the front office, but Max threw their numbers out like a pitching machine. As if Harper could forget the deficit.

  With a ding, the doors slid open. Isaac’s hand guided her out once again and she felt her cheeks flush. This time, she was able to keep her mind on the task at hand as she strode purposefully down the hall and into her office. She left the door wide open, all the better to dispel rumors. Although that was stupid, because they were married. Closed doors were perfectly acceptable for a married couple, and yet that would cross a line she wasn’t willing to cross.

  Placing the desk between them, Harper got right to the point. “Jackson may be a, a—” She searched for an appropriate word.

  “Yeah—he’s that.” Isaac grinned, leaning back in his seat.

  Harper’s estimation of Isaac went up a few steps. Most men, including the coaching staff, were Jackson lovers through and through. As long as he delivered on the mound, they let him run right over the top of them. They didn’t care about character defects, like lying or cheating, off the field. Perhaps Harper wouldn’t care either if he hadn’t lied and cheated on her. But that was over two years ago and didn’t play a part in what was going on now.

  “He’s also a free agent at the end of the year. We’re ten million dollars over budget because of his contract, but he brings in the crowds. On the nights he’s scheduled to pitch, we sell twice as many tickets. We need to keep him happy.”

  “He has a horrible work ethic.”

  “I know. But we can’t afford to have him sit out. He did once before. He said his elbow hurt and ended up on the bench for six games straight. We lost over seventy-five thousand dollars that week in concessions, merchandise, and ticket sales.”

  Isaac let out a low whistle. He looked past Harper and took in the field outside her window. Leaning forward, his elbows on his knees, he said, “I think he’s not happy because he’s not challenged. He’s floating and that gets boring.”

  Contemplating this, Harper tapped a pen against the desk. “That could explain the trips to Vegas.”

  “What Jackson needs is a challenge.”

  She snorted. The noise was involuntary—a knee-jerk reaction to the idea that Jackson needed anything more than a ball game, money, and an easy woman. Blushing with the strength of a thousand saunas for having made that noise in front of a guy who could pose for the cover of Baseball’s Hottest Coaches, Harper shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  Isaac stiffened.

  Harper held back a groan. She felt like all she’d done was start fights with him and they’d only been married twenty-four hours. There had to be a way to communicate with her husband that didn’t end in strained silence. “I don’t want to argue, Isaac.”

  His shoulders lowered. After a brief pause, he spoke in quiet tones. “Your dad was a great man, and he’s built something here that’s pretty amazing.”

  The sting of tears burned behind her eyes. She blinked to keep them at bay. “We all miss him.”

  Isaac scooted his chair closer to the desk. “I’m not here to take away from his legacy. I’d like to build on it.”

  The wheels began to turn inside Harper’s mind. Isaac wasn’t talking about Jackson anymore. “And building means adding to what’s already here. Like a team psychologist.”

  “Yeah.” Isaac put his elbows on the desk, his forearms lying across it, bringing his hands near hers. Harper looked down, taking in the square tips of his fingers again.

  Her pinkie involuntarily twitched closer to his hand. “I want to keep the team the same—it preserves my dad in a way—like he’s not really gone.” She swallowed, afraid of the honesty of her own words.

  Isaac’s hand covered hers, all warm and firm. Harper gasped at the charge between them, her eyes jumping to meet his gaze. “A team has to live. It has to have a heart.”

  “I’ve heard that somewhere before.” Harper smiled softly, thinking of the times her dad had told her that baseball was a game of the heart. “Let’s compromise. I’ll bring in a team psychologist and you leave Jackson alone.”

  Isaac drew an infinity sign on the back of her hand while he mulled over her offer. Harper bit her lip. It was all she could do to keep her wits about her with his touch creating warm fuzzies in her brain. Somewhere in the real world, angry footsteps approached, but Harper couldn’t seem to break through the foggy heat.

  “Are you out of your mind?” demanded her older brother. Seth slapped his palm on the desk, scattering the warm fuzzies like dandelion fluff.

  Harper yanked her hands to her mouth. She’d forgotten to call Seth!

  Isaac jumped to his feet, his chest out. He inserted himself between Seth and Harper, going toe to toe with her brother. Harper bolted upright. Coming to the side of the desk, she placing her hands on Isaac’s shoulders to hold him back. Oh, but he was solid and warm. Those fuzzies!

  Isaac was just taller than Seth, and Seth was no slouch. She had to stand on her tiptoes to see over Isaac’s shoulder and ask Seth, “What are you doing here?”

  Isaac didn’t back down.

  “I came to dig you out of this mess. Marrying your manager or hiring your husband are equally stupid moves, Harper. You should know better.” His blue eyes were hard.

  Harper dropped back into her heels, so Isaac blocked Seth from view. The last thing she wanted to do was disappoint her brother.

  Isaac put up his hands. “Let’s take this down a notch.”

  Seth jerked his chin. “Save it. I can spot a gold digger a mile away.”

  Harper stepped to Isaac’s side. Her shoulder brushed his arm and she drew strength from having him on her side. This was why she’d consented to marriage. She wanted a partner who would stand with her against the tide. “He’s not a gold digger. I
went after him.”

  Seth rolled his eyes. “That’s what he wants you to think. We don’t just hand out the Richmond name, Harper. It’s much too valuable.”

  Isaac smirked. “She didn’t give me her name—she took mine.” He threaded their fingers together, and Harper’s heart thrummed with the sense of rightness. She couldn’t help her cheeks lifting into a ridiculously large grin. Even her irate brother couldn’t wipe it from her face with his glare.

  “Doesn’t matter. It’s getting annulled. Today.”

  “No.” She glanced at Isaac. She hadn’t been the most supportive wife in all of this, thinking more of what Isaac could do for her than what she could do for him. Granted, she was paying him an insane amount of money to do his job, but maybe there was more to his needs than a paycheck. She didn’t know much about his ex-wife or how he ended up with full custody of Logan, but she wanted to find out. “I chose him once and I’d do it again.” Isaac gave her hand a squeeze. Fuzzies.

  Seth closed his eyes, his jaw muscles flexing. “Can I speak to you in private?”

  Isaac looked to her for confirmation that this is what she wanted. Though she didn’t want to let go of his hand or the sense that they were stronger when they were together, she could handle Seth’s concerns. “That would be fine.”

  Isaac tugged her hand, pulling her body close. His tiger eyes sparkled. “I’m going to work on our deal.”

  Fighting the urge to giggle, Harper bit her lip. “Let me know how it goes.”

  “You got it.” He winked and let her go, nodding once to Seth on his way out.

  Harper watched him leave, sighing. Dang!

  Seth’s head bounced back and forth as if he were trying to keep up with a triple play. “What the heck, Harper? Are you seriously in love with that guy?”

  “What?” She darted around Seth and shut the door. “I’ve known him less than a day—you can’t fall in love with someone that fast.” It wasn’t love—it was a huge amount of attraction. A crush? Maybe. But not love.

  Seth’s face darkened to a menacing shade of red. “What do you mean, you’ve known him less than a day?”

  Harper twisted the two-carat ring on her finger. “Have a seat before your face explodes and I’ll explain.”

  Seth sat deep in the chair, his look telling her this had better be good.

  Harper gave a quick summary of her run-in with the previous manager, subsequent hiring attempts, and finally her meeting with Pamela Jones and her marriage. “I know it sounds crazy, but Seth, it just felt—feels—right.”

  Seth’s foot tapped. “I’m not convinced that you had to do something as drastic as marry the guy.” He shook his head. “Why didn’t you call me? I would have helped with the interviews.”

  “Because I didn’t want your help.” She clenched her fist even as Seth took on a wounded look. “I thought Dad saw us as equals. I was just as involved as you in Richmond Enterprises—yet he handed it over to you without so much as a how-do-you-do Harper.”

  Seth’s features softened.

  “Instead, I get this.” She threw her hands up. “A dysfunctional baseball team with debt issues. Seth, this is all I got. I needed to do it on my own—without my big brother stepping in to save the day.” She folded her hands on the desk. “Was marrying Isaac unconventional? Yes, but my instincts said it was the way to go.”

  Seth put his chin in his hand. “You always did lead with your gut.”

  “And it’s served me well.”

  They sat in silence for a moment. Harper remembering how it felt to have Isaac’s fingers draw on the back of her hand, the headiness, the surge of attraction. She couldn’t remember the last time a guy made her feel so giddy. If she’d met him somewhere else, like the frozen yogurt place or the grocery store, she would have given him her number.

  “If the manager was such an idiot, why’d Dad hire him in the first place?” Seth tossed out.

  Harper leaned back and pulled down on her jacket. “Dad was in the middle of chemo. He made the decision based on the guy’s numbers. I don’t think they ever met in person.”

  “But you didn’t think his performance level was enough to keep him around?”

  She pondered the decisions Payton Adams had influenced—bringing in Jackson was one of them. Pushing aside their whirlwind disaster of a romance, she focused on the evidence outside her bruised ego. Yes, Jackson sold seats, but after watching his interaction with Isaac, she wondered if he was good for the Redrocks in general. “I think Adams’s decisions were motivated by something other than a love for the game.”

  Seth harrumphed. She knew that sound. He disagreed but didn’t have a solid argument.

  He got to his feet, buttoning his suit as he went. “I’m in town for a couple of days.”

  Translation: I’m going to babysit you.

  Harper smiled. “I’d love to have you stay with us.”

  “Us?” Seth narrowed his eyes.

  “Yes. Us. As in me, my husband, and my stepson.” The moment the words left her mouth, she wished she could take them back. They sounded so familial and exclusive. She didn’t want it to be an “us” and “you” situation in her home. She wanted Isaac and Seth to get along. Wanted Logan to know his uncle Seth.

  Seth sighed. “Harper, I can’t pick you up again—not like I did after that no-good son of a—”

  “Hey,” Harper warned, knowing full well he was talking about Jackson the Snake. “This is not the same thing.”

  “Isn’t it? The signs are all there.”

  Harper’s face burned. She wasn’t about to ask Seth what signs he was talking about. She could guess the physical contact and her sigh when watching Isaac walk away were at the top of the list. What was she supposed to do when a man like that took her hand?

  However, she could see Seth’s side. If Jackson had taught her anything, he’d taught her to keep her heart out of reach and not get attached to a ball player. Yet here she was, one day into what could classify as either her most brilliant move of her life or her biggest mistake, and she’d let her guard down. No—Isaac had gotten past it. Him and his great hair, strong arms, and infinity circles on the back of her hand. The way he talked through things instead of demanded. And when he didn’t get his way, he didn’t pout. How she hated the pouting Jackson could do—better than a four-year-old with an attitude, because he somehow managed to point his disappointment right at her. She’d gotten over that pretty quickly and she wasn’t going back.

  “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ve learned my lesson.”

  “Good. I’m going to set up in the conference room for the rest of the day and I’ll meet you back at your place.”

  “Should I tell Danny to plan on you for dinner?” That won’t be awkward.

  “I’ll be there.”

  “Okay.” She settled behind her desk as Seth hauled himself out of the room. Focusing in on the budget analysis, Harper decided she was glad Seth had shown up. Though he was uninvited and his behavior rude, he’d probably saved her from losing her head over Isaac. Yes, he was good-looking and smart, said all the right things, and sent little shivers over her skin with his touch, but she wasn’t about to fall for a smooth-talking jock again.

  11

  The noise from several teenage boys met Isaac on the stairs as he made his way to the living quarters. “Living quarters”—is that even what they were called? The whole billionaire lifestyle was way beyond his depth, but he chose not to focus on it—he had enough to think about.

  Jackson’s behavior today was an issue. Guys like that could poison the locker room. There was nothing he could or would do about it right now. For now, he needed to keep his cool, keep his authority, and keep an eye on the situation.

  As promised, he’d worked on the deal he made with Harper and lined up three interviews for team psychologists. He also needed to line up a meeting with the scouts and general manager to go over trades before the deadline. His shoulder muscles bunched beneath the strap of his messenge
r bag.

  Things had taken longer than he expected and he’d sent Harper home before him so that she could check in on Logan. Someone should be home for his son, even if it wasn’t him. And Harper was genuinely excited to spend time with him. For his part, Logan was impressed with Harper and respected her enough to behave himself. Even though Isaac had done what needed to be done for the Redrocks, he hated not being there for his kid.

  A woman’s laughter rang out above the sound of boys, causing him to pause mid-step. Was that Harper? Hanging back at the doorway, he took in the scene.

  Logan and Zeek and one other teen clustered around the far end of the table. Harper sat on one side and Seth was on the other. No less than seven pizzas ran the center of the table, their crusts uneven, indicating they were homemade. Well, Danny-made in this house. Ordering out was unlikely with a chef on staff. Besides, he had no idea where to order pizza with pears, nuts, and blackberries like the one in front of Harper. At least there was a meaty version, though it was disappearing quickly thanks to Zeek.

  Seth was in the middle of a story and had the room in the palm of his hand. “And then the guy says, ‘What’s the price of the other one?’”

  The group erupted in laughter again. Harper covered her mouth with her napkin as she laughed. Her luscious eyes sparkled, and as she tipped her head back, Isaac took in her elegant neck and the way it slid into the beautiful skin of her—

  “Dad.” Logan grinned. “You made it.”

  Darting a glance at his new and disgruntled brother-in-law, Isaac nodded. “Yeah. I’m starving.”

  Seth got to his feet, extending his hand. “I’m Seth. It’s nice to meet you.”

  Isaac eyed his hand. If Seth wanted to forget their meeting earlier, Isaac would go along with him in order to keep the peace. “Isaac Wolfe.” Isaac shook his hand harder than was necessary, but Seth answered in kind. A little alpha male power struggle in a handshake. Isaac took the seat next to Harper, her shoulder turned to him. Not in a cold, unfeeling way, but in a way that said she wanted to keep her distance. He eyed Seth, wondering what he’d said to Harper in their private meeting.