Catching Zia (Spring Training Book 1)

by Becca Jameson

  “The football party? Isn’t that not until eight thirty?” She glanced at her watch. “I think we can surely make it to the gallery and then the party before the kickoff, or whatever you call it. We have four hours.”

  He chuckled, taking her hand in his and holding it over the console between them. “You had it right. It’s called the kickoff.”

  “I can’t believe you guys immediately thrust yourselves into another sport the second the season is over. And football?” She groaned. She’d spent the last eight months learning the ins and outs of baseball. Now they had to dive into football?

  Brett pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Don’t worry. I don’t watch it religiously or anything. If it weren’t for the fantasy league, I wouldn’t have that much vested interest. But it’s a nice way to get together with the guys in the off season. There will be plenty of wives and girlfriends there. They mostly hang out together in the kitchen or his basement bar while we men scream at the television in Dominic’s media room.”

  Zia blew out a breath. She liked nearly all the women she’d met during the season. She’d even developed friendships with many of them. They had a bond no one else could possibly understand. Baseball was a sport unlike any other. It lasted eight months, and there was a game nearly every day. One hundred sixty-two to be exact.

  Football players, in contrast, played one game a week. Were their wives the lucky ones? She didn’t know. Could be they had a pile of issues she would never understand.

  “It’ll be fun. I promise.”

  “What are we going to do between the gallery and the party?”

  “You’ll see.”

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, they pulled up in front of Lily’s gallery. Brett managed to parallel park the SUV as if he did so every day of his life.

  Zia was glad she wasn’t the one driving. She jumped down from the truck, her gaze on the gallery. It was located in the center of a long strip mall in the most ideal street in Miami. Most of the patrons were tourists, but the locals also loved to come in every time Lily had a show.

  The sun shone bright on the tall glass front that reached two stories high and gave passersby a perfect view of the inside.

  Lily opened the front door and held it for Zia and Brett to pass. As soon as they were inside, she glanced at Brett. “You’re here. I wasn’t sure you’d actually be able to get her out of the house on time.”

  Zia rolled her eyes. “I’m not that bad.”

  Brett chuckled. “I’ll bring Zia’s paintings in.”

  “Right.” Lily stepped back to the door and led them out front.

  As soon as Brett opened the trunk with his remote, Zia handed Lily a few paintings, and then Brett took the rest. Lily shut the car and then angled between her friend and her man to open the front door of the gallery. Moments later, they had the paintings settled in the back room to be handled another day by Lily’s employees.

  Finally, Zia faced her friend. “You’re awfully dressed up, considering the gallery isn’t open today.” It was a Monday afternoon, the only day Lily was closed. “Big plans for tonight?”

  Lily groaned. “I had big plans. At least, I thought I did.”

  “What happened?”

  “I broke things off with Luke. Long story.” Lily’s heels clattered on the floor as she led them to the kitchen area at the back of her gallery. She opened the door to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of champagne.

  What? Zia watched Lily closely, hoping it was true, and she was finally done with Luke. “You okay?” Zia came up to her friend across the island where Lily began to work on the bottle.

  Lily nodded. “Better than I expected, actually.” She finally gave up on the cork and handed it to Brett. “Would you?”

  Brett took it from her, a silly look on his face that Zia couldn’t read.

  “Why the champagne?” Zia asked.

  “Can’t a girl enjoy a little bubbly in the afternoon for no reason?”

  Zia tipped her head to one side, trying to read her friend. If she wasn’t mistaken, Lily was flustered. Zia wasn’t willing to let this go. “What exactly happened with Luke?”

  Lily had been dating Luke Vandergriff off and on for two years. The guy was an ass, as far as Zia was concerned. But she had done nothing more than attempt to be supportive every time Lily broke up with him. “It’s over,” she stated matter-of-factly. She met Zia’s gaze.

  Zia doubted that.

  “I mean really, really over this time. He’s a dick.” She shuddered.

  Brett popped the cork on the champagne right at that moment and set it quietly on the counter.

  Zia was used to Lily’s harsh language.

  Brett spoke next. “I’m sorry. Why don’t you come with us? We’re going to a Monday night football party at one of my teammate’s house. Zia isn’t super keen on the idea. If you come, she’ll be guaranteed to enjoy herself.”

  “Mmm. Maybe.” Lily reached above the island and slid three champagne flutes off the rack above her. It was low enough for her to barely reach in her high heels, which meant Brett would hit his head if he leaned in too close.

  Lily was all of five-foot-three without her shoes on. With heels, she still wasn’t as tall as Zia.

  “Let’s go,” Lily said, grabbing the flutes and nodding over her shoulder.

  “Go where?” Zia followed, glancing at Brett, who shrugged and lifted his brows but seemed far less confused than she thought he should be.

  No one answered her question, and a minute later, Lily used her elbow to push open the back door that led to the alley behind the gallery. She turned around, her butt holding the door.

  “What the heck are we going outside for?” Zia asked. She stepped into the sunlight and held up a hand to block the afternoon light.

  Brett took one of the flutes from Lily and filled it with the bottle in his other hand. He handed it to Zia and then leaned over to fill the other two flutes in Lily’s hands. Finally, he took one, lifted it in the air between them, and smiled. “A toast.” He clinked Zia’s glass and then Lily’s.

  “To what?” Zia asked, eyeing both her friend and her boyfriend suspiciously. She had surmised that the two of them were in cahoots on something Zia was unaware of.

  Brett took a sip and gestured toward the shiny red four-door next to him. “What do you think?”

  “About what?” Zia narrowed her gaze at him. “What the hell have you two plotted behind my back?”

  Lily floated toward the car on light feet and petted the top of it. “Isn’t it gorgeous?”

  Zia stared at her friend. “You got a new car? What was wrong with the Lexus?”

  “Nope. You did.” Lily beamed.

  Zia sucked in a sharp breath, her gaze darting to face Brett.

  The man stood there with a smug look, rocking forward on the balls of his feet while he took another sip of the champagne.

  “You didn’t.” Zia’s mouth went dry.

  “I did.” Brett carefully took the flute out of her hand. Good thing too. She was about to drop it. He eased his arm around her and kissed her lips gently. “It’s done. You have to accept it.”

  “You bought me a car?”

  “Yep.”

  “You can’t buy me a car, Brett.” She’d told him that hundreds of times in the last eight months. She’d insisted she would buy one for herself as soon as she had enough money saved up. She was getting close, but not close enough to have bought something that cost as much as she figured this one cost.

  Her fingers shook, and she wiped her hands against each other as she inched toward the driver’s door Lily opened.

  “Why not? That’s ridiculous. Of course, I can buy you a car. The one you have makes me nervous every time you leave the house. And I can afford it.”

  She glanced up at his persistent face and then slid into the driver’s seat. It was top of the line. She didn’t even want to know what it cost.

  “Ooh, I forgot something.” Lily s
pun around on her heels and headed back into the gallery.

  Zia wasn’t buying her line. She undoubtedly wanted to get out of Dodge to avoid listening to Zia pitch a fit about why Brett couldn’t buy her a car.

  Brett slid into the passenger seat and reached across to start the engine with the push of a button. Where was the key?

  The inside lit up with so many dials and lights and gadgets Zia thought it would take a month to learn how to operate the radio.

  She wasn’t sure if she should kill him or let him have his way on this.

  No. She couldn’t give in. If she did, he would shower her with stuff all the time. And she didn’t want him to ever think she cared about his money. “Brett…”

  “Did you try the lights? Check out the dial on the side by the window.”

  “Brett…”

  “And the seats are heated and adjustable. You can lift them up as high or low as you need, and forward too.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re rambling. All cars have lights and adjustable seats.”

  He grinned from ear to ear. “Maybe this one’s better.”

  She leaned her head back against the seat and stared at him sideways. “We’ve been over this. You can’t buy me shit.”

  “I disagree.”

  “You don’t get to disagree. You’re my boyfriend. Not my husband. Boyfriends do not buy cars for their girlfriends.”

  “Fine.” He reached for the glove compartment and popped it open. Two seconds later, he had a small jewelry box in his hand. Two seconds after that, he lifted the lid to reveal the most beautiful diamond ring she’d ever seen. “Marry me, then.”

  Zia gasped. She couldn’t blink or take her eyes off the simple solitaire. The diamond was huge. Too big. But she knew he probably gritted his teeth when he bought it, wishing it were larger. He knew her. He knew she wouldn’t want something ostentatious.

  Her fingers shook as she eased her hand toward the box and stroked the diamond. “Oh my God. Brett?” She lifted her gaze to meet his.

  The smile on his face was even wider. “Zia, will you marry me?”

  She narrowed her gaze. “Are you asking me to marry you just to shut me up about the car?”

  “Yes?” He winced. “I mean, no. Of course not. I love you. You’re my life. I know you wanted to wait for at least a year, but it’s been eight months, and I can’t stand it any longer. Marry me.”

  She did tell him several times early in their relationship that she wanted to date for a year before she got married. And she’d meant it. But that was before. Now she couldn’t imagine life without him. They’d survived an entire baseball season. Surely they could survive anything after that.

  “Yes.”

  Brett blinked in shock. “Just like that? I don’t have to grovel?”

  “You gonna put that ring on me? Or do you want me to make you work for it? Because I’ll do it if you want me to.”

  He jerked the ring out of the box, dropped the box on the console, and grabbed Zia’s finger. His hand was shaking also. It took him a moment to line up the ring and slide it on her finger. “Lily got me the size.”

  “Of course, she did.” Zia held up the ring. “It’s beautiful, Brett. I love it.” She leaned over the console and met his lips. “And I love you.”

  Loud clapping met her ears as she pulled back to find Lily standing outside the car door she hadn’t ever shut. “Did you say yes? Let me see how the ring looks on your finger.”

  Zia held out her hand, still shocked. “You were in on this.”

  “Yep. It was so much fun.” Lily beamed. “Now get out of the car so I can hug you.”

  By the time Lily released Zia from the hug, Brett was once again at her side. He reached toward the ground to pick up the forgotten champagne flutes, handed one to Zia, and lifted his toward hers again. “Let’s amend that toast.”

  “To us,” Zia stated.

  “To love.” Brett took a sip and kissed her.

  Okay, maybe it would be all right to accept the car. After all, she was marrying the guy.

  Author’s Note

  Thanks for taking the time to explore my new world of baseball. I hope you enjoyed this first book in the Spring Training series. Use the following link below to continue reading this series. Catching Lily releases February 14, 2017.

  www.beccajameson.com/spring-training/catching-lily-spring-training-book-2

  Welcome to the Spring Training series by best-selling author Becca Jameson. Spring Training follows the lives of several major league baseball players as they deal with the fame and reality of life and love. This second book in the series, Catching Lily, features the pitcher and the woman who has haunted him since their chance meeting three months ago.

  When it comes to games, he has mastered every rule, on and off the field.

  After sneaking off to have the hottest sex of her life with Dominic Cordes, the insanely sexy pitcher for Miami’s major league baseball team, Lily Phillips can’t imagine ever facing the man again. She acted completely out of character. But there’s no way to avoid seeing him three months later at the wedding of their mutual friends.

  Dominic hasn’t forgotten a single moment with the tiny blonde who submitted to him so thoroughly that night. He should have called. Now he will have to face her wrath.

  The steam between them hasn’t abated, but starting a relationship proves nearly impossible between Lily’s inexperience as a submissive, their hectic schedules, and an ex-boyfriend who does everything in his power to interfere.

  Is it worth it? When they’re together, the world stops. But reality keeps threatening to tear them apart.

  Books by Becca Jameson

  Wolf Masters Series

  Kara’s Wolves

  Lindsey’s Wolves

  Jessica’s Wolves

  Alyssa’s Wolves

  Tessa’s Wolf

  Rebecca’s Wolves

  Melinda’s Wolves

  Laurie’s Wolves

  Amanda’s Wolves

  Sharon’s Wolves

  The Fight Club Series

  Come

  Perv

  Need

  Hers

  Want

  Lust

  The Underground Series

  Force

  Clinch

  Guard

  Submit

  Thrust

  Torque

  Saving Sofia

  Spring Training Series

  Catching Zia

  Catching Lily

  Catching Ava

  Claiming Her Series

  The Rules

  The Game

  The Prize

  Emergence Series

  Bound to be Taken

  Bound to be Tamed

  Bound to be Tested

  Bound to be Tempted

  Durham Wolves Series

  Rescue in the Smokies

  Fire in the Smokies

  Freedom in the Smokies

  Wolf Gatherings Series

  Tarnished

  Dominated

  Completed

  Redeemed

  Abandoned

  Betrayed

  The Art of Kink Series

  Pose

  Paint

  Sculpt

  Stand Alone Books

  Blind with Love

  Guarding the Truth

  Out of the Smoke

  Abducting His Mate

  Three’s a Cruise

  Wolf Trinity

  Frostbitten

  About the Author

  Becca Jameson is the best-selling author of the Wolf Masters series and The Fight Club series. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two kids. With over 50 books written, she has dabbled in a variety of genres, ranging from paranormal to BDSM. When she isn’t writing, she can be found jogging with her dog, scrapbooking, or cooking. She doesn’t sleep much, and she loves to talk to fans, so feel free to contact her through e-mail, Facebook, or her website.

  …where Alphas dominate
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  Beccajameson4@aol.com

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