by Maria Geraci
Aubrey gazed around the empty tables. A few of the centerpieces had been taken by the bride’s mother, but there were literally dozens of beautiful arrangements that would go to waste. If only she could share them with someone who might appreciate them.
Then it came to her. She knew exactly what to do with all the abandoned arrangements.
“Do you think the bride and groom would mind if I took the flowers?”
“We were going to throw most of them out, so I’m positive they wouldn’t care if you took them.” Willow cocked her head to the side. “Want to share your plans?”
#
It had been a while since he’d taken a run on the beach. Tonight, the Bucks had beaten the team from Jacksonville five to zero. He should be out celebrating with the guys, but he wasn’t in the mood for a night out at the local bar. What he needed was to think hard about his future. It was time to face facts. If Phil couldn’t come to an agreement with the Bombers, then for the first time in his career, next season he’d be sporting some other team’s colors.
And then there was Aubrey Adams. The woman drove him crazy, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He wanted her and she wanted him back, but either she didn’t want him enough, or she was too afraid to take a chance on them.
Brian picked up the pace, his feet hitting the damp sand hard. At this rate, after a couple of miles he’d be too tired to think. Which might be a good thing, because nothing in his life made sense right now. No use beating his brains out with all the stuff he couldn’t control.
He ran until his lungs burned, then slowed down to a jog. The lights from the resort came back into view. It was almost midnight, but it was a Saturday and there was always something going on. A party, maybe. Or a wedding. He’d been at the Casa Blanca Resort & Spa for three weeks now and it seemed as if the entire country had gotten married while he’d been here.
In the distance, he spotted a familiar yellow Jeep and his first thought was that she was here to see him. Then the rest of his brain caught up with him. What was Aubrey’s car doing parked near the service entrance to the outdoor pavilion? Two men were taking down tables and a cleaning crew was hard at work hauling away trash.
He waited till his breathing slowed down to approach her. She didn’t see him at first because she was too busy loading up the back of her Jeep with flowers.
“Hey there.”
She whipped around, surprised, but definitely not unhappy to see him. Maybe there was some hope, after all. “Hey, yourself.” Her gaze quickly took in his running apparel. “Who won the game tonight?”
“We did. Five to zip.”
“That’s great!”
He probably shouldn’t say it, but hell, why not? What did he have to lose? “Why weren’t you there? You’ve missed two home games in a row now.”
“We both know you don’t need me anymore. I figured since you were leaving soon anyway that it was no big deal.”
There wasn’t a pitcher in major league baseball whose body language he couldn’t read. But this woman? He wasn’t sure if the signals she was giving off were real or if he just wanted so damn much to believe them. If his gut wasn’t playing tricks with him, then despite what she was saying, right now she was part nervous, part happy, and part exactly everything that he was feeling too. Now he just had to get her to admit it.
“What’s up with all the flowers?” he asked, because he didn’t think a frontal attack would work right now, plus, he was curious.
“They’re leftover from a wedding this evening. They’re for an idea I had…well, kind of. It was actually inspired by you.”
“Then it must be genius.”
“Are all baseball players this cocky?”
“It’s a defense mechanism. Cocky on the outside, shaking on the inside.”
“Ha! What would the great Boom-Boom Callahan be nervous for?”
He took a step toward her. “C’mon, darling, we both know the answer to that question.”
She froze, deer-in-the-headlights style.
Shit. He’d been too aggressive. He tried for a friendly smile. “Tell me about the flowers.”
She showed him the inside of her jeep. There wasn’t a space that wasn’t taken up by containers of flowers. He could tell she was still nervous, but her voice sounded steady. “Normally, all these flowers would go to waste, but, after I talked to Gary Young tonight, I got this idea about recycling them.”
The name sounded familiar. Then he remembered. “The guy from the nursing home.”
“The guy that thinks you walk on water. He called to tell me how terrific you were at the game Friday night.”
Interacting with fans was part of the game, but if he was honest, he probably got more out of it then they did. Having people want your autograph for doing something you loved? It was still as much a rush today as it was eight years ago. “It was fun for me too.”
“You went above and beyond. Thanks.”
“No need for you to thank me.” He watched as she packed away the last of the flowers. “So, what exactly is this idea and how can I help you?”
“Honest? It’s kind of crazy and it’ll probably take us all night.”
“Sounds like hard work.”
“It is.
“Good. Cause hard is all I know.”
She rolled her eyes at his double entendre. “I have a feeling that by the end of the night, you’re going to be sorry you said that.”
#
“Thank you! And please, come back anytime!” The nurse at the Sun Coast Assisted Living facility took one more picture of them, then waved goodbye as she and Brian picked up the last of the empty cardboard boxes and headed out the front door.
Aubrey smiled and waved back. “That was—”
“The most fun I’ve had in a long time,” he said, opening the Jeep door for her.
“Yes!”
He grinned, then yawned. She took in his messed up hair and five o’clock shadow. He was still gorgeous, but he also looked like he’d stayed up all night. Which, he had.
Last night, they’d hauled all the flowers back to her apartment then swung by the twenty-four hour Walmart in Naples to buy an assortment of small vases and mason jars and ribbon. Then they’d cut, trimmed and arranged the flowers into small bouquets, repacked them all into cardboard boxes, and at seven a.m. sharp they’d delivered them to the nursing care facility to be distributed to the residents along with their breakfast trays.
The whole thing had been a huge success. The nurses had insisted they stay to watch the reaction from the residents. They’d shaken hands and laughed and Brian had posed for so many pictures Aubrey had lost count. But it was now almost ten and neither of them had slept a wink.
“Please tell me you don’t have a game this afternoon,” she said.
“Two p.m. matinee.”
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry.”
“For what? Giving me the best night of my life?”
“That was the best night of your life?”
“Second best.”
Clearly, this was a set up, but she had to ask. “Okay, I’ll bite. What was first best?”
“I’m still waiting for it.”
The way he looked at her made her want to do something crazy. He’d be gone in less than a week. It was stupid, but she couldn’t help herself. “Then today’s your lucky day. Your place or mine?”
CHAPTER TEN
His whiskey-colored eyes went dark like burnt amber. “Which is closest?”
“Definitely mine,” she said.
He glanced at his watch. “Then you better book it. We only have four hours before I have to be at the stadium.”
“Four hours—”
“Isn’t nearly enough time, but it’ll have to do.”
“I like the way you think.” Aubrey backed the car out of the parking space. “Except, we need a condom.”
“Make that plural.”
O-kay.
Sunday morning traffic was blissfully slow. They made it
to the nearest drug store in less than five minutes, and then on to her place in under fifteen, which, according to Brian’s time clock, now only left them three hours and forty minutes for the ‘most incredible sex of her life’. Since they’d both been working all night, the first thing they did was hit the shower.
She should have been shy. Shower sex was definitely not first time material, not that Aubrey was all that experienced in watersport, but first time sex was usually awkward enough without adding in the mechanics of being forced to do it standing up in a cramped shower stall. She quickly discovered, however, that having sex with a man who was an entire foot taller than her made things easier. Plus, he was just so damn beautiful, it was all she could do to keep from gawking at him. There wasn’t time to be shy or even think really.
He easily lifted her off the ground, allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist. “Please don’t drop me,” she half-way joked.
“Do you trust me?”
Trust you with what? Not to drop me? Not to break my heart?
She nodded, because, yes, in this moment even though it made no sense, she trusted him with all that, and everything else, too.
“Good,” he said, “because I trust you, too.” Then he raised her legs slightly so that he was able to enter her in one long, slow stroke. Just like the rest of him, he was big there too, and for the longest time they were frozen in that position, holding onto each other, the warm water hitting their bodies. He felt wonderful inside her, until she realized he was waiting for some kind of cue.
“I’m all right,” she whispered against his ear.
“Thank God, because I don’t think I can wait a second longer.” He made a guttural sound like he was dying, then pulled out and slowly entered her again, repeating the motion until Aubrey felt like she was going to melt into a puddle and be pulled down the drain with the rest of the water. Then he adjusted her legs again and increased his pace, hitting that most perfect spot over and over like flint trying to catch flame. And when it caught, she was the one making the dying sound.
#
Brian flopped back in the bed, too tired to do much more than wrap an arm around Aubrey and tuck her against him. Round one had been spectacular, but then first time sex was usually the most exciting. Round two had been nothing less than phenomenal, but he’d expected that because it was still new, plus, they’d switched it up from the shower to the bed, allowing them more room to explore one another. Then there was round three, which was usually the apex. By then, both parties knew what the other liked enough to make it as good as possible. Anything after that in the same night was always one big disappointment.
He’d tried to hold back, but his body had screamed go for it, and Aubrey had looked so damn sweet lying in his arms, with her hair all messed up and her mouth moist and plump from his kisses. So he’d gone for round four, and it had put all the other times to shame.
Maybe it was because he’d been celibate for so long, but he was pretty positive that wasn’t the case. Everything about her was perfect. From the way her green eyes narrowed at him when she wasn’t happy, to her laugh—which automatically made him want to smile, to the tiny freckles on her nose, all the way down to those incredible legs of hers. But more than just the physical stuff. It was her.
When they were together, he wasn’t Boom-Boom Callahan, the guy who made millions hitting a baseball, or who’d been People magazine’s Sexiest Man of the Year (a title that still made him cringe). He was just Brian, a guy who loved baseball and who wanted her to be a part of everything else he loved, too. He wanted her to meet his parents. To see his home in Tucson. He wanted her to be at all his games and to cheer for him. To celebrate with him when he won, and to hug him when he lost. And he wanted to do the same for her, too.
Should he tell her how he felt, or was it too soon?
Before he could come up with an answer, his phone rang. It was Phil, so he couldn’t ditch the call. “Yo, what’s up?” he asked quietly so he wouldn’t wake her.
“You’re in a good mood.”
“I’m always in a good mood.”
“You’ll be happy to know that I just talked to the owners. The poor saps don’t know what to do. The fans wanted you back home in Tucson before, but now, after this flower thing, they’re demanding it. It’s like you’re Mother Teresa! Half the season ticket holders are threatening to boycott next season if you’re not on the roster. I have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning nine a.m. sharp to discuss your contract.”
“That’s great, Phil.” And he meant it of course, it was just that it was all beginning to sink in. Three weeks ago he couldn’t wait to get out of Mimosa Key and Barefoot Bay, but now…
“Why am I sensing hesitation here?”
“No hesitation. Just tired. I didn’t sleep last night.”
“Shit. Are you sick? Please don’t go to some local yokel who can’t tell which end of a stethoscope is up or down. Where’s that Adams woman? I’ll call her and have her find you a doctor asap.”
“Calm down. I’m fine. I was up all night delivering flowers.”
“And you did this because why?”
“It was all Aubrey’s idea.” He explained about the wedding and the leftover flowers and how she’d had this brilliant idea to recycle the flowers to the nursing home residents.
Phil didn’t say anything.
“You still there?”
“Still here.” He could hear the tapping of computer keys in the background. “Did you know this nursing home has a Facebook page?” Phil asked.
“I guess everyone has one of those now, huh?”
“Someone posted a picture of you hugging some old lady with purple flowers in her hand.”
“That must be Millie. And she’s not that old. Maybe eighty or so.”
“Not that old? Man, I got to get you out of Florida.”
Brian chuckled. “Just get me my contract, Phil.”
He hung up, trying his hardest not to disturb Aubrey as he replaced the phone on the night stand, but she rolled over and smiled at him. “What time is it?” she asked softly.
He picked up his watch and swore under his breath. He should have been at the stadium five minutes ago. “When I go back to Tucson, I want you to come with me,” he blurted. Now that he’d said it out loud it sounded right.
She slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position. The look on her face told him her answer. “Brian—”
“Just for a visit. Come and stay with me for a couple of weeks. The season will be over and we can take a vacation.” She wet her lips, and just like that, he was hard again. If he wasn’t already late for the pregame practice, he would have gone for round five.
“I’ve just started a business. I don’t think I can take a couple of weeks off. At least, not right now.”
“Okay, then a couple of days.”
“Do you know how expensive a ticket to Tucson is? I’d have to plan that and—”
“You’re kidding right? Do you know how much money I make?” The minute he said it, he realized it was the exact wrong thing to say.
“I know exactly how much money you make. And who you are, and who you’ve dated in the past. If I go to Tucson with you next week I’ll be leaving Felicity in the lurch and we still haven’t gotten a big client, which we desperately need. It’s just not good timing to take a…” She stopped and shook her head.
“To take a chance?” he finished.
“Look,” she said, “this was terrific. Obviously, it was more than terrific, but can’t we take things slow? Let’s not make promises to each other that we can’t keep.”
She looked so damn beautiful, and hopeful, and maybe just a little sad, too. He wanted to tell her he was ready to make promises right now, this very instant. Promises he had every intention of keeping. But she was right. Slow was better. He reached for her hand and turned her palm to kiss it. “Whatever you want, darlin’.”
She smiled and tried to look relieved, but he knew her. She was unsettled.
And he didn’t like it. There wasn’t time now to reassure her properly, but after today’s game he’d make certain that, one way or another, she’d know that he planned on keeping her in his life. Maybe even forever.
#
Brian insisted Aubrey sit in the Bucks’ family section to watch the game. The rest of the wives and girlfriends recognized her from previous outings and welcomed her into the fold. They were friendly, but curious, too. They all wanted to know if she was “with” Boom-Boom, which, she supposed after today, she sort of was, but it was all so new, and since they hadn’t had a real chance to talk, she found herself dodging the most obvious of the questions and simply called herself his “friend.”
The other women smiled knowingly, but soon they were all too caught up in the game to pay her much attention. They cheered when the Bucks scored a run and yelled at the umpire when he called a strike against any of their players. They ate popcorn, danced during the seven inning stretch, and when the Bucks beat the Brevard County Manatees six to two, they all hugged one another like long-lost sorority sisters.
Three short weeks ago, what Aubrey knew about baseball could fill a thimble. She still wasn’t an expert, but she knew enough now that she could follow the game and appreciate Brian’s talent. Most of the other players were good too, but even a novice like herself could see that none of them played at the kind of level he displayed.
It made her both proud and a little sad, too. If he was just a regular guy, things would be so much simpler. But he wasn’t a regular guy. He was a superstar and soon he’d be back in his element. Back in stadiums with tens of thousands of fans calling out his name, and back to a life she couldn’t begin to imagine. Today had been spectacular, but ultimately, probably the dumbest thing she’d ever done. What if he went back to Arizona and forgot all about her? How was she ever going to top Brian Callahan?
The stadium began to clear out. After much wrangling from a couple of the wives, she promised that she and Brian would try to make the after-game party, but with the exception of a thirty minute nap they’d taken between round two and round three they’d both been awake now for almost two days. If she was exhausted, then Brian had to be almost delirious from sleep. Not that you could tell from today’s performance. As usual, he’d stolen the show, hitting two home runs that had driven in a total of four runners, solidifying the team’s win.
