by Iverson, Ivy
“I’m Alex,” he said, cringing at the hug and the ‘friend’ designation. There wasn’t much bonding Kate to him yet, and it made him feel weak and easily dismissed. Two things a prince should never feel. “Who are you?”
The man considered him and took his hand while still keeping his other one wrapped around Kate’s shoulders. “I’m Ben. She and I go way back. I guess you could say that once Kate said she was on the team, I took a page out of your book. I own a few bars in town and called in for a favor too. Free booze for the team for a year at my place for a slot on the team.”
Alex laughed a little, even if there was a cruel edge to it. “I suppose that everyone on the bench might just be a business person or someone else who pulled some leverage.”
Kate grinned as she finally—finally!—pulled away from that grinning schmuck. “I think we’ve definitely found that pattern, haven’t we?”
Ben shrugged. “I’ve been playing ball since I was seven, even played a little in college. You don’t seem to be much into American pastimes. I mean, that’s an Eastern European accent, right? And Kate mentioned you’re a chess nerd.”
Kate frowned and batted at Ben’s arm. “Hey! That’s not nice.”
“It doesn’t have to be nice. I’m going to clean up in this game,” Ben said, sneering up at him. “I’m wondering if you can even hit.”
Alex narrowed his eyes at the rat. “I don’t play a lot of American sports, that’s true, but this can’t be that hard to pick up. Besides, I think I could hit a homer run.”
“It’s a homerun, Comrade,” Ben sneered. “It’s called a home run. You know, ‘swing for the fences’ is the expression.”
“Fine,” he said.
Kate rolled her eyes and patted both of them on the shoulder. He bristled at the gesture and found it vaguely condescending. He wasn’t a puppy and he wasn’t just showing off. Okay, engaging in some home run dare was a bit like staking out a claim or territory. He understood that much. Still, she’d started it by just being oh-so-thrilled that this guy had come along and being snuggly with him.
Alex was just going to end it.
By crushing the baseball.
Ben nodded. “You’re very confident, should we place a bet on this?”
Alex’s throat went dry. Gambling was something he was trying to fight. Yes, he still struggled daily with the online problem and, if he were honest, it wasn’t getting better. That was something private though, something he could hide from his cousins and his parents. This was small time, some deal between teammates, so to speak, but it made him feel uncomfortable, as if he were backsliding even more than he was.
“I’m not sure. Can’t we just play for pride and bragging rights? That would work fine for me, Comrade,” he said, lowering his voice a little and standing—not looming—up to his full height.
Kate chuckled and hugged him, leaning in close enough that if he were just a bit surer of her reaction, he’d have kissed her. “Come on. It’ll be fun. Just a little bet.” She batted those big blue eyes up at him, and then Alex really knew he was in trouble. After so short a time, she could easily get him to do anything—had power over him.
If it makes her happy…
“Fine,” he said, shaking hands with Ben and thrilled to find that Mr. Successful had a limp-wristed grip. “Set the price and I’ll crush the pitch.”
“The price? Fifty bucks says you can’t hit a home run.”
“Then that’s it because I definitely have fifty bucks that says you’re wrong.”
“We’ll see, won’t we?” he said.
***
Alex stood at the home plate. It was the top of the ninth inning, and there was no way mathematically he’d be up to bat again. So far he’d done fine, being walked twice as well as hitting a double and a triple. It wasn’t that hard a sport to get the hang of, not at all. Still, that huge hit had eluded him.
The first pitch sailed past him and he swung, feeling the disappointing rush of air as his bat cut through nothing but empty space. The second pitch was high and to the right and he ignored it. The count was even then, but he just needed a hit. There was no way he was going to be embarrassed by that smug prick, and even less of a possibility he was going to fail in front of Kate. He was going to impress the hell out of her and a home run was the way to do that.
The next pitch was lobbed and it was almost as if time stood still, something in his gut told him this was his shot. He swung the bat, his arms straining and pushing through the space easily and he felt it.
The connection.
The fierce ringing in his arms as metal and the leather of the softball met.
He didn’t even hesitate, he just ran for first as fast as his 6’5” frame could carry him, and God bless long legs. As he rounded the base toward second, he realized everyone was screaming loudly and, frankly, the opposite team was cursing. He looked out to the far fence edge where some fan in the opposite end of the stands was holding up the ball and shouting.
He’d done it.
He knew it.
As he rounded into home, Kate rushed out of the dugout and he swept her into his arms and kissed her, feeling twice the passion flaring between them as in the car previously.
What a home run.
Hell, it was a grand slam.
Chapter Twelve
She didn’t expect this.
She was just trying to congratulate Alex on a great hit and for essentially winning the game for them. After that grand slam, there was no way the actual Rattlers were going to rise above their shutout status and win. No way. Still, she’d only intended to hug him and now his arms were wrapped around her and she wasn’t sure what was going on. He was there, so powerful and male, and she was being so weak, just thrilled to be in his strong arms, protected and loved by him.
His tongue was doing sinfully amazing things to her mouth, and she loved it—had never loved anything more.
But that was wrong.
After the prognosis from Dr. Johnson, she was more determined than ever to sink him. This whole forced bet was part of her plan—she couldn’t fall for him. She pulled back as the rest of the team crowded over them, patting Alex on the shoulders. Kate was swept back in the force of the milling bodies, like being shoved out to sea. She could see those soft brown eyes of Alex’s as he regarded her, studied her, frankly, as if she were the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.
“I’ll see you soon!” she said, as the mess settled.
She wasn’t up to bat, not that it mattered much. It gave her enough time as the the teams were settling back to nominally finish the ninth inning to sneak up to a spot near the stands. As she looked through the fence, Joan worked through the crowd with both Lily in tow as well as a camera.
Kate forced herself to smile even if her stomach burned and it was growing harder to breathe. “Did you get it?”
Joan nodded and held up the camera. “I was very sneaky. I was around close enough to pick it all up from the bleachers when they placed the bet. Filming the end result and such was just the icing on the cake. We have proof that Prince Alex is definitely taking bets and staging them in public.”
“Yeah,” Kate said, feeling hollow. “But it’s small potatoes. It’s still only part of the puzzle. I mean, I consider this the sad-ass Plan B. It’s not enough to get him in real trouble. It might anger his parents but it’s not drastic. But what I’ve seen of him? The little bets and the struggles? I just know if I can get into his place, just get an hour alone, I can prove everything I need.”
“Kate what’s going on?” Lily asked, her lip wobbling. “What are you talking about?”
She sighed and patted her sister’s head through the chain link. “It’s nothing important, just adult stuff. Why don’t you and Auntie Joan get some hot dogs on me?”
“Can we afford that?” she asked. “What about the hospital bills from last time?”
“It’s fine.”
And it would be. If Lily’s treat tonight meant that she didn�
��t eat dinner herself one time later this week, then Kate would gladly make that sacrifice. She always did.
“Okay,” Lily said.
Joan gestured to the dugout with her chin. “Looks like your team might still need you. We’ll regroup at the diner after this, figure out how to get him to ask you out, and get you back to his place and his browser history. Still,” she said, waving the camera and wearing a wide grin. “This could be good collateral too and it never hurts to have a Plan B.”
“Yeah,” Kate said glumly. “But without a Plan A—and soon—then all of this doesn’t matter.”
“It does,” Joan said, her resolve firm. “Now, Lily, let’s get you some food.”
“Good, I want nachos and cotton candy.”
“One, pick one, Lily Anne,” Kate chided before heading back to the dugout. The kiss was fresh on her tingling lips, but the butterfly bracelet of her sister’s was weighing even more heavily on her wrist.
***
“So, maybe this wasn’t the diner I had in mind,” Joan said, sighing over greasy pizza.
“Yes, but at Paul E. Pony’s Lily can be distracted by ski ball and we can commiserate and plot over pizza away from little ears. I gave her like twenty tokens. She’ll be busy for a half hour, you know?”
“I suppose. I mean, damn Kate, I saw the way he looked up to bat. Swinging those muscular arms? They look like damn tree branches. Also, can I just say that his channeling his inner Casey-at-the-bat is sexy as hell?”
Kate sighed and bit into the greasy lump that technically qualified as pizza. Technically, the same way that Cheeze Whiz was actual cheese…sure. “There’s nothing he does that’s not sexy. That man could probably make teeth brushing hot.”
“Man what an ad for oral hygiene!”
“I’m serious. You’re supposed to be here to help me keep perspective on Alex, you know? I’m not supposed to like him.”
“Well, I have to say that I wasn’t near you because of being in the crowd and all, but from that lip lock? I’d definitely say that you’re far from disliking him. Admit it, Morrison, he’s under your skin now and you have to accept that you like him. It’s not a mortal sin.”
Kate folded her arms across her chest, “It is a bit since I’m basically using it against him to screw him out of his inheritance.”
“And if Ops for Kids doesn’t get the funding from the government of Lavinia and soon, then you’re completely screwed. It’s like survival of the fittest. So he won’t be king? I don’t mean to be harsh, but so what? He’ll still be rich probably—and he’ll be alive. We both know that Lily can’t say the same and she’s the best part of basically planet Earth. Yeah, he’s got great biceps and a killer smile, but it’s not the same.”
“I know, but I guess,” she said, taking a sip of her soda and trying to blot the grease off her pizza. It was an unsuccessful attempt. She was pretty sure the chief ingredient to hold the damn slice together was grease. “Maybe I didn’t realize there’d be real stakes here, a real person to hurt. He’s nice. If he were a jerk or greedy or just using me back for a quick date, then I’d feel better. I guess I just wanted him to be as bad as the tabloids made him out to be.”
“A few dates and run-ins don’t mean you know the guy’s soul or something. Again, Lily’s worth anything. It’s just the sacrifice we’re making. Now, we just have to make sure you’re set up to get close to his computer. What’s the next plan?”
Kate sighed and raked a hand through her hair. “Okay. After the game, we arranged another date. He’s taking me to a smaller magic show on the strip. If I play it right then I might be able to have him take me back to his place.”
Joan snorted. “Oh, honey, you only have to bat your eyelashes at him, and he’ll totally do that. There’s no worries at all that you won’t be ‘invited’ home.”
“So I can just seduce him, and then raid his private files and safes. That sounds ethical. I just…” she sighed, smiling when she saw Lily. She was on the Dance Dance Revolution machine, and it made her smile to watch her sister’s wide, joyful eyes. Lily hadn’t had much energy since her attack and it was nice to see that vivacious glee back in her sister. It was just a question of how much longer it would stay. “…I wish there were other choices.”
“There aren’t, honey,” Joan said, her tone not unkind. “You need to do this and, yeah, it’s a big case of the ends justifying all means but neither of us could stand to lose her. You just have to deal with the fact that saving her might stain your soul a little.”
Kate shook her head even as her sister laughed and danced in the corner of her eye. “No, it’s going to stain me a lot.”
Chapter Thirteen
“You look upset, man,” Xavier said.
Alex was in the shared bathroom of their suite. He was futzing with his tie. Even after all these years, he never quite got the hang of getting it right. That was both what his mother and staff were for. Once he’d had a personal stylist to make sure he presented the “correct” image for the crown of Lavinia. God, had that been a waste. All anyone in the world thought about him was that he was a lying gambling addict and, possibly, a waste of space. It wasn’t as though Alex could fault them for these assumptions. He was both of these things and hardly the man that he wanted to be. That was just the way it was, and he resented that part of his reality.
Sighing, he started again, reciting the poem his mother had told him as a kid “Okay so the rabbit goes down the hole…”
“Seriously, cousin, you should be ecstatic. After all, you’re going out with her. You were on cloud nine when you got back from the game and bragging to all of us about the kiss. I don’t understand now why you look like you’re going to a funeral and not a date?”
He finished the tie and would have to deal with it being just a bit shorter than he wanted. That happened a lot. It was one of the problems of being tall. Turning to his cousin, he shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked a bit on the balls of his feet. “Can I talk to you, exile to exile?”
“Wait so I rank over the vaunted Raymond on something?”
“This time, yeah. He has his happy ending. In a short while, I might be permanently bumming off of him and you might not be much better. Are you even trying to get back to the throne of Ruminea?”
“I’m trying, but I have no idea how to please mother. Queen Mina is so very demanding,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Still, I don’t really think it’s permanent. Christ, I’m their only son. If they don’t get the stick out of their asses, the crown will default to some distantly related baron.”
“Well, I’m glad I have younger brothers,” he huffed. “I’m serious. I want to go home so badly and I am trying but gambling…it’s something I can’t resist.”
“I haven’t seen you hitting the tables,” Xavier said, frowning a little. “How much sneaking around are you doing?”
“I’m not sneaking around…uh, not exactly,” he hedged. “I just…okay, so at the game some jerk was hanging all over Kate. They’re friends or whatever, and I just wanted so badly to impress her. She said he and I should have a bet about who could hit a homerun. So I did, and I won, but I promised myself I’d never publicly bet on anything again even between friends.”
“So do you privately do things?”
“That’s not the point,” he sidestepped, even as his cousin’s scrutiny told Alex that Xavier hadn’t discounted the possibility. And why should he? He’d been using his online accounts for a solid six months and had lost close to three hundred thousand dollars. “Anyway, I just felt like I backslid. I was weak and foolish and, worst of all, I was weak in front of Kate and she deserves so much better.”
“Does she know about you? I mean about who you really are—that you’re a prince and why you’ve been exiled?”
“No, I was scared if I told her she’d just be impressed by the, ugh, former title. I didn’t want her to turn out to be a gold digger. This isn’t some fuck for fun. I want her to like me, apart from all the reputations
and tabloid expectations. That’s all I ever wanted,” he said, his voice growing quiet.
Xavier nodded and smiled. Reaching up, he squeezed Alex’s shoulder. “I think that it’s time for you to tell her everything. Maybe if she knows, she can help support you instead of accidentally tempting you.”
“And what if she either only sees the crown or, worse, knows exactly all about my past and thinks I’m a fuck up?”
“Well, cousin, we are fuck ups, but if she’s as amazing as you say she is, then she’ll love you anyway.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Xavier grinned, his normal levels of cockiness rising with his shit-eating expression. “I always am.”
***
“I know you’re not going to believe me,” he said, as he met Kate in the lobby of the theater, but you’re even more beautiful than our last date.”
She laughed and it was gorgeous, like the tinkling of bells at Christmas time. Today she’d opted for a long, slinky black dress with a plunging neckline and a slit just this side of appropriate up the left thigh. “I’m glad. It makes it worth dressing up to make your tongue hang out of your mouth like that.”
“My tongue is not!”
“Oh, there’s definitely some drool there, Casanova,” she chirped, her tone amused.
“Well, I’m glad I can be so funny to you,” he huffed, narrowing his eyes at her mockingly.
“No, completely. I guess it’s just been so long since I’ve dated. I take care of Lily because I just don’t have time for anything else. I have my job in hotel reception and I’m there doing double shifts just to make ends meet.”
“Can I ask where your parents are?”
Kate stilled and he instantly regretted asking her such a question. It was obviously dredging up very painful memories for her. “They were taking my sister to a pediatrician’s appointment. It’s funny. I was supposed to do it but I begged out of it. I mean I was already a senior. Lily was kind of a surprise,” her breath hitched and he squeezed her shoulders.
