The Winning Season

by Alison Packard

“No,” Angie snapped. “I made it clear to J.T. that I’m very happy with Scott.”

  Kelly couldn’t let that go by without comment. She’d held her tongue far too long about the dour accountant who didn’t treat Angie the way she deserved to be treated. “You’re happy spending every Saturday night eating the same Chinese take-out food and watching Scott’s favorite movies? Because that’s all the two of you ever do.”

  “We pick movies I like too,” Angie said, going on the defensive.

  “When was the last time you guys watched a movie you picked out?” Angie’s brows drew together and several seconds passed. Kelly rolled her eyes. “Good God, woman. If you have to think that long then I’m guessing it’s been a while.” She dropped her pen on the desk, hardly able to believe Angie put up with her boyfriend’s peculiarities.

  “I’m not here to talk about my relationship with J.T.—” Angie broke off, her cheeks turning an even deeper shade of pink. “I mean...with Scott.”

  “Whatever.” Kelly grinned. “What did you want to talk about?”

  “I’m worried about Alexis,” Angie said in low voice. “I’ve heard her throwing up in the restroom a couple of times, and whenever I eat lunch with her she heads straight for the bathroom right afterward.”

  “Do you think she has an eating disorder?” Kelly wasn’t happy her suspicions had been confirmed, but she was relieved that someone else had heard Alexis purging.

  Angie hesitated a moment. “I’m not sure what to think. But it happened again this morning and I can’t sit idly by and not say anything. I didn’t know whether to approach her directly or come to you.”

  “It’s best not to confront her,” Kelly reassured her. “You did the right thing coming to me.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  She sighed. “I’m not sure. But I have to do something.”

  Several hours later, Kelly sat at her desk staring at her computer screen while she massaged her temples with her fingers. She had press releases to write, the injury list to update, autograph signings to schedule and a boatload of press credentials to approve, but all she could think about was how to approach Alexis without alienating her. Just because she’d gone through recovery didn’t mean she was qualified to counsel Alexis, or anyone else. What if she made things worse? When her cell phone rang she was thankful for the interruption.

  “Hi, Dad,” she greeted her father after a quick glance at the caller ID.

  “Hey, Peanut.”

  “Are you coming to the game tonight?”

  “That’s why I’m calling. I can’t make it tonight. Pharmacy business. I won’t be there Sunday either. I gave my tickets to our new neighbors. But I had a great idea. Since it’s an early game, I was thinking you could bring Matt over afterward. He seemed real interested in taking a look at the Chevelle.”

  Bring Matt to her parents’ house? After that kiss last night she wasn’t sure where things stood with them. Did it mean something, or nothing? And did she want it to mean anything when it was clear by his past behavior that Matt wasn’t a guy who was big on commitment?

  “I can ask him.” Kelly heard a light tap on the door and turned to find Alexis poised at the threshold. She motioned for her to enter. “I’ll miss you at the game tonight, but I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know about Sunday.”

  “I’m barbecuing.”

  “Then I’m coming for sure,” Kelly said with a smile. “I’ll see you Sunday, Dad.” She put her phone on the desk and gave Alexis a quick once-over. Angie was right, her intern had lost a lot of weight very quickly. Her round face had thinned, there were dark circles under her eyes that hadn’t been there before and her skin was sallow. Alexis didn’t look healthy, however the tight skirt and figure-hugging knit top she was wearing emphasized her slimmed-down body. She supposed a lot of young girls would envy Alexis’s new svelte shape. That was the problem. Like Alexis, they would do anything, including jeopardizing their health, to attain the lowest weight possible.

  “The Twitter hashtag battle has begun.” Alexis rested her palms on the back of the chair and smiled. “The Phillies claim their fans are more passionate. Our fans didn’t take that lying down. I predict the tweets will be hot and heavy all night long.”

  “That’s good. The more the fans are involved the better it is for the team.” Kelly folded her arms on her desk. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You’ve lost a lot of weight.” She kept her tone neutral lest Alexis think she was praising her.

  “Almost twenty-five pounds now.”

  Kelly didn’t miss the pride in Alexis’s tone. “Just a few weeks ago you’d lost eight and now it’s up to twenty-five? That’s a lot to drop in such a short time period.”

  A sour look crossed Alexis’s face as she lifted her arms to cross them over her chest. “I’ve been doing really well on my diet.”

  “Is it a healthy diet? Are you eating plenty of fruits and veggies?”

  “Of course.” Alexis was too quick with her reply. “And I drink lots of water. It helps me lose faster.”

  “You do know that extreme dieting can ruin your metabolism, and your health, right?”

  Irritation flickered in her intern’s eyes. “Yes. But there’s nothing to worry about. My diet is healthy. In fact, I had a salad for lunch.”

  Deciding to back off, Kelly nodded and pushed her chair back. “I’m going down to the clubhouse. Rizzo and I need to have a little chat.”

  * * *

  Standing in front of his locker, Matt pulled his uniform pants over his compression shorts and zipped them up. Next to him, J.T. sat on the slatted bench staring glumly into his locker. The guy had been grumpy as hell for the past two days. Which was odd—J.T. was one of the most amiable guys on the team.

  Before he could say anything to J.T., Kelly came around the corner and, judging by her expression, she wasn’t happy. Her ponytail swung back and forth like a pendulum as she marched over to Rizzo and tapped him on his shoulder.

  “You missed our meeting,” she said, and just like that, the noise level in the clubhouse lowered noticeably. Several of the players stopped what they were doing and watched with blatant curiosity.

  Rizzo turned from his locker, lifted his foot and rested it on the bench. “I forgot,” he said with a smirk that made Matt want to punch his lights out. “Sorry.”

  “Not a problem.” Kelly kept her tone professional. “We can talk right now in the lounge. It won’t take long.”

  Rizzo’s smirk was still intact as he glanced around the clubhouse. He had an attentive audience and was enjoying it. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it here.”

  “Fine. It’s been brought to my attention that you’ve been giving interviews without informing me or Katherine.”

  “I don’t need your permission to talk to reporters.”

  “Actually, you do. Read your contract.”

  “I have.”

  “I don’t think so,” Kelly replied quickly. “Because if you had, you’d have read that as long as you’re a member of this team, all interviews must be cleared by the office of media relations. You see, the image of the team is more important than you are. We’ve never denied any interviews. However, we reserve the right to do so if we believe the interview could tarnish the Blaze brand.” Kelly pulled out a folded piece of paper from her jacket pocket and shoved it at Rizzo. “This is a copy of the page in your contract I’m referring to.”

  Rizzo scowled as he took the paper and unfolded it. Matt caught J.T.’s eye; they exchanged a grin.

  “I’ve highlighted the paragraph regarding media interaction,” she continued with cool confidence. “You’ll also note that there are potential fines for not complying. So, in the future, please have your agent call my office before agreeing to any interviews. Is that clear?”

  Rizzo looked up and with both hands crumpled the sheet of paper into a ball. Without saying a word, he dropped the paper on the bench and lowered his foot to t
he floor. A hush fell over the clubhouse as Rizzo and Kelly stared at each other. Having been in a staring contest with her the first night they’d met, Matt already knew who would win this battle. And it wasn’t Rizzo. Several tense seconds elapsed before Rizzo turned his back on Kelly and rummaged for something in his locker.

  Kelly let out an almost imperceptible breath. As if remembering where she was, she turned and surveyed the locker room. No one spoke. It was as if each and every player had been struck dumb by what they’d just witnessed—the Blaze’s star pitcher being schooled by a woman. When her gaze landed on him, her lips twitched but she didn’t smile. She’d bested Rizzo, but she wasn’t going to rub his nose in it. Matt was pretty sure if the situation was reversed, Rizzo wouldn’t exhibit the same class.

  “Have a good game, you guys,” she said and left the still-hushed clubhouse.

  “Cunt,” Rizzo muttered under his breath.

  “What did you say?” Matt demanded, stepping over the bench. Anger rode him as he approached Rizzo.

  “You heard me.” Rizzo turned, his eyes narrowed slits and his face mottled with fury. “She’s a cunt.”

  Seeing red, he reached for Rizzo’s T-shirt, fisted his hand in it and jerked him forward. Rizzo’s eyes widened and flickered briefly with fear. “Don’t you ever call her that again.”

  “Or what?” Rizzo sneered. “Are you fucking her, Scanlon? If so, I’m sure you can do better than a lard-ass like her.”

  Without hesitating, Matt clenched his other fist and took a swing at Rizzo’s smirking face. His knuckles connected with the asshole’s jaw and he felt a great deal of satisfaction in the grunt of pain Rizzo emitted. Blood pumped at warp speed through his veins as he drew back to try to land another blow. Before he could follow through, a large strong hand wrapped around his upper arm, preventing him from throwing another punch.

  “Don’t do it,” J.T. said tersely.

  “Yeah, man,” Marquis Lopes, who’d come up behind Matt and rested a hand on his shoulder, said in his lightly accented voice. “He’s not worth it.”

  Tension permeated the room. Matt could feel the eyes of every single player in the clubhouse on him. They’d been waiting for him to do just this. To lose control and start a fight; that’s exactly what he’d been doing for the past year.

  Immediately, he released his grip on Rizzo’s shirt and stepped back. He pulled his arm from J.T.’s grasp and took a deep breath. Putting his hands on his hips, he returned Rizzo’s contemptuous glare. Rizzo rubbed his jaw and winced.

  The motherfucker was in pain. Good. He deserved it.

  “If I ever hear you call her that again, I’ll put you in the hospital,” he warned Rizzo in a low controlled voice. “Do we have an understanding?”

  * * *

  As he headed out of the media room after the game, Matt was curious as to why Kelly hadn’t attended the press conference. At first, he thought her continued presence was to check up on him to make sure he followed through on their little arrangement, but now he realized it was an integral part of her job. When she wasn’t in the room tonight, it didn’t feel right.

  The thought of going straight to his condo wasn’t appealing, so after spending about fifteen minutes signing autographs outside the ballpark he walked in the direction of Kamu’s. A beer and a cheeseburger would hit the spot. The moment he entered the tavern he knew he’d made the right decision. Several of the servers greeted him with waves and welcoming smiles. What a difference from the first night he’d walked into the place. After a few short weeks in San Francisco he was beginning to feel like he fit in. No one was more surprised about that than him.

  He was about to slide onto an empty stool when he spotted Kelly sitting alone at the far end of the bar. There was a bottle of beer sitting in front of her and she was gazing at one of the flat-panel televisions replaying highlights from the various games around the league. So this was where she’d come instead of the media room. This wasn’t like her, which told him that the confrontation with Rizzo had rattled her more than she’d let on.

  Kelly didn’t notice him until he sat on the stool next to her. “Drinking alone?” he asked when she turned her head and their eyes locked.

  “Not anymore.” The smile she gave him was seductive. Or was it? Maybe he was just seeing what he wanted to see.

  He nodded his thanks to the bartender as he brought him his favorite beer. “You weren’t in the media room.”

  She lifted her beer. “I didn’t feel like it tonight,” she said, then put the bottle to her lips and took a sip. He wrapped his fingers around his icy bottle, unable to look away from her mouth. A tug of arousal pulled at his groin. Jesus. He was getting turned on just watching her drink a damn beer.

  “Because of Rizzo?”

  “Not entirely.” She lowered her bottle to the bar, then pushed it aside, leaving a wet trail on the shiny surface. “That was quite the scene in the clubhouse, wasn’t it?”

  She didn’t know the half of it. “Rizzo’s a punk,” Matt muttered, then took a pull from his bottle.

  “That’s what you said that night in L.A.” Kelly’s beautiful eyes sparkled with genuine amusement. “And you know what? You were right.”

  “You called me a punk that night,” he reminded her. “Well, not in so many words, but you implied it.”

  “You deserved it.” She shifted on her stool, causing her thigh to brush against his. The contact sent an arrow of liquid heat through his body. She leaned forward, her lips curving slightly as she searched his face. Suddenly, the bar chatter ceased to exist and all he heard was the sound of his heartbeat echoing in his ears. Kelly’s clean citrusy scent surrounded him, reminding him of last night when he’d held her in his arms and kissed her. Their eyes locked and the sexual heat between them intensified. “You were such a prick that night.”

  Her words were hardly a compliment, so why was he getting turned on? Maybe it was that husky voice of hers. Even her insults sounded sexy.

  “Forget about that night. Let’s talk about what happened last night.” Matt grinned as he met Kelly’s puzzled eyes. “You know, when you kissed me.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “I kissed you?” Kelly couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Oh, hell no.” She pointed her finger at Matt’s handsome, yet smug, face. “You kissed me.”

  “That’s not how I remember it.”

  “Then you have faulty memory, mister.”

  “I don’t think so.” He wrapped his fingers around his bottle of beer. Instantly, she remembered those long tapered fingers of his entangled in her hair during that amazing kiss. Butterflies danced madly in her stomach. “You practically attacked me in your kitchen,” he added with an impudent grin.

  Her jaw dropped. “Of all the...” she began hotly, then saw the mischievous gleam in his eyes and poked his hard bicep with her finger. He feigned a pained look before the corner of his mouth lifted in a self-satisfied smirk. “Ha, ha. Very funny.” She tried not to smile. It was difficult though; she liked this lighter side of him.

  Matt shrugged. “It was mutual. How about that?”

  Pursing her lips, Kelly thought about it. She couldn’t deny she’d avidly participated in their searing kiss. In fact, if there was an award for participation, she’d win hands down. “I can agree to that,” she said, unable look away from his heated gaze.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Put the car in park. What man ever wanted to talk? Had she just landed in The Twilight Zone?

  “There’s nothing to talk about. It was just a kiss.” Flustered, she reached for her purse on the bar. “We were upset about Lily...it was a moment. That’s all.”

  His dark brows rose. “A moment?”

  Kelly slid off her stool, trying her best to appear cool and unruffled. Like Matt seemed to be. Were they going to analyze the kiss like it was a box score or something? “Yes. A moment.”

  “A hot moment.” His gaze lowered to her lips and lingered, reminding her of last
night. A little ball of need burst to life low in her belly.

  “I should go.” She had to get out of the bar right now. It was extremely warm, or maybe she was, but in any event, talking about the kiss was not what she wanted to do. Talking about it could lead...well, it could lead to almost anything and if he kissed her again she’d probably go up in flames. No, make that definitely, she would definitely go up in flames.

  “I’ll walk you home.” Matt eased off of his stool and reached for his wallet in his back pocket.

  “I’m a big girl. I can get home by myself.” She clutched her purse tightly; a mixture of both anticipation and nervousness flooded her. Here, inside Kamu’s, with a crowd around them, she felt safe and totally in control. But alone, with Matt, that control was in serious danger of being shattered.

  “So you’ve said before.” He slapped a twenty on the bar. “But I’m an old-fashioned guy, so humor me and let me walk you home.”

  “Fine.” She gave him a perfunctory nod and headed toward the exit. Matt followed after calling out a farewell to the bartender.

  When Kelly stepped outside Kamu’s, the cool bay breeze whispered across the heated flush of her body. She waited as he held the door for an older couple and took a moment to study him unobserved. Even wearing faded jeans and a black-and-orange Blaze V-neck sweatshirt layered over a polo shirt, he looked exactly like a cover model. Come to think of it, he had graced quite a number of magazine covers in the past seven years. She’d seen those covers, and while each one of them had effectively captured his dark sensual good looks, they couldn’t compare to Matt Scanlon in the flesh. In person, he oozed power, authority and raw animal sexuality.

  “So I imagine you’ve heard the good news,” Matt said as they walked side by side up the block toward her building. “About Sean and Kayla.”

  Kelly nodded, relieved the topic had switched to something safer. “Kayla called me the other night. Sean had just proposed. She was thrilled.”

  “I got a text from Sean today. They’ve scheduled the engagement party to coincide with the team’s travel day to San Diego next month. I talked to the skipper and he gave me the okay to attend the party that night. But I have to be at the Padres ballpark the next day in time for warm-ups.”