by Casey Hagen
“Yeah, well, I had planned to, but something came up.”
“Your shoulder?” she asked.
“I wish.”
“What is it?”
“Well, you clearly haven’t watched the entertainment news. At least that’s something. The people you know must not have either.”
“Oh, God. Do I even want to know?”
He scratched the back of his head. “Probably not, but you need to know. A woman came forward, claiming I’m the father of her baby.”
“Okay, that’s my cue.” She moved out from under his arm and tried to push up, but he curled his hand into the back of her shorts and yanked her back down with a hard thud, making coffee slosh onto her hand.
“Dammit!” She passed the cup to her other hand and shook the coffee off as best she could.
“That’s what you get for being an idiot,” he bit out.
“If you’re trying to flatter me, you’re sucking at it. Big time,” she said.
“The least you can do is put on your big girl pants and hear me out. After all, I’m here confessing all to you, am I not?”
She pressed her lips together and glanced away. Here he was, telling her some nubile young thing might be carrying his baby, and in a couple days, Kate’s mother would likely bring a pamphlet to brunch with a chart breakdown of how many viable eggs Kate had at her age.
And William still sat beside her, which just made the whole thing weird.
“What will you do?” she asked without looking at him. She didn’t need to see the look on his face. The look that told her he was slowly putting distance between them.
And how many times had he said “marry me” to her the other night?
She didn’t know what she wanted, but after their time together, she wanted something. At least a chance at something. It’s not like she was mining for diamonds in this relationship, not that she’d have to, but a second date would be nice.
It was the least he could do after she put out on the first date.
“I have no other choice but to give my DNA for testing. If I refuse, I look guilty.”
“How possible is it?” What did this girl look like? After their talk the other day about his aversion to fake boobs and walking fetuses hitting on him, she hoped at the very least the woman wasn’t just like what he said he loathed.
Not that she wanted the woman to be like her either.
Five minutes ago, there was no other woman. Could they just go back to that?
He took the coffee from her and smiled. “It’s not.”
She slowly turned to face him. “What do you mean it’s not? She’s accusing you—you must have had sex.”
“Nope.”
“Are you sure?”
He gave her a sardonic look, brow raised and mouth twisted. “You think I would forget that?”
“Well, if you were out with the guys, got loaded… it could happen.”
“My last bender was the day I found out about my shoulder. I was the last patient of the day. I went out and got bent with the MRI technologist—Doug.”
“I don’t suppose Doug has ovaries, then?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Nope.”
“You haven’t slept with anyone else?”
“It’s been a while. And I always use protection. If something had gone wrong and I got someone pregnant, the child would have been born by now, and the mother would have already been after me for support.”
“Why would she be doing this then? What could she possibly get out of it?”
“You’d be amazed. A little fame, some money for interviews while the paternity is in question, that kind of thing. It happens a lot, and it’s hard for me to even get mad because it’s more pathetic than anything.”
Yeah, well, she still wanted to drop-kick the bitch. “And what about us? Where do we stand?”
“I guess that depends after I give you the other part of the news.”
“There’s more?”
“Just a bit. With the story, they ran a grainy picture of us from Ten Spot the other night. They haven’t identified you yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”
“Great. Knowing my luck, they’ll discover my identity and find me out here with William’s ashes.” She pushed off the sand and reached for the urn. “It’s stupid. I need to just honor his wishes.”
Sebastian caught her hand and stood up next to her. “Hey, don’t rush this on my account.” He smoothed his fingers over her cheek, curling his palm along her jaw and staring into her eyes.
“You keep William as long as you need to. You’ll know when the time is right.”
Did he have to do that? Did he have to be so damn understanding of the dead man sitting on the other side of her?
How was she supposed to keep herself from falling for him? For everything good that he was?
He cupped her neck and pulled her in for a scorching kiss that singed her toes. His tongue searched for hers and glided alongside it in a silken movement.
She recognized the motion from the other night, the way he had used that same tongue to part her and caress her, bringing her to a blood-boiling climax. Her body had sprung to life, and she’d clenched his sheets so hard she tore a hole in them.
More than just her mind remembering, her body remembered…and they both wanted it all again.
He pulled back and smudged the moisture away from her bottom lip with the pad of his thumb.
“Why are you so understanding about this?” she asked, squinting up at him. Her hair whipped up around her face, and he reached in to tuck it behind her ear.
He shrugged and linked hands with hers. “Because I want you, and he’s part of the deal.”
“You know how that sounds, right?”
“Like I’m in love with you,” he said quietly.
She tried to step back, but he held her there. “No one said anything about love,” she whispered.
“I just did… and at some point, we’ll need to discuss it.”
“You barely know me,” she said.
“That doesn’t matter. I know my mind. And I definitely know my heart,” he said, pinning her with his stare.
“Sebastian—”
He shook his head and shut down whatever she was about to say. “Look, I have to drive to San Jose this afternoon to meet with management and team attorneys to get the test done. Come with me?”
Being seen by his team and bosses was as much of a declaration to her as the words, and much more serious than his flirtatious demands to marry him from a couple nights before. Despite the dozen ways this could all go terribly wrong, she desperately wanted to take him up on it.
“I can’t. I promised my sister I’d babysit tomorrow night. She’s pregnant with twins, so they’re limited in how many times they’ll get to go out before their life turns into one giant bounce house.”
He kissed her forehead. “I understand. Let’s get together when I get back. What are you doing Sunday afternoon?”
“I will have just had brunch with my parents, so I’ll be shit company,” she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. It’s like her psyche knew just what Sunday morning would bring, and the headache decided to ramp up and torture her early.
“Perfect.”
“You’re twisted,” she said with a laugh.
“You don’t know the half of it.” He swatted her ass again, something she was beginning to like, and headed back to his bungalow.
He thought he’d lost her. Relief settled in his heart when he spotted her on the beach. Was it normal to fall hard and fast like this?
He’d never really been in love, so he had no idea how it all really went, but from what he’d witnessed of his friends and family, he and Kate should have at least dated for a few months for her to have crawled so cleanly into his heart and taken up residence there.
Since her, for the first time since his injury, he didn’t worry so much about the prognosis. Oh, he wanted his career. He loved baseball. He’d lived and breathed it since
Baseball life was hard, though, despite the huge paycheck. He had to give up privacy, some friendships, and relationships along the way. He had to be on guard daily for scams, like what had jumped out at him now, and anyone in a relationship with him had to commit to the same.
It was a lot to ask.
Almost impossible.
And why he had put off serious relationships indefinitely.
But now he had Kate, and for once, he could see himself compromising on his belief that marriage and a family should wait until after his contracts were done. He’d figured a serious relationship might well be on the back burner until he was at least thirty-five, if not forty.
He smiled as he rinsed the last of the shaving cream off his face.
Well, not anymore.
He called his closest teammate, third baseman Randy Carver.
“Hey, man, where the hell have you been?” Randy asked. “It’s like you fell off the face of the planet.”
He sat on the bed and put on his pants. “In a way I did. I needed a break, and I needed to see a new team of doctors so I know my real prognosis.”
“And?”
Pinning the phone between his ear and shoulder, he buttoned his pants. “I’m cautiously optimistic.”
“Excellent. So where have you been?”
He slid his arm in his shirt. “I’m in Tallulah Cove. I’ll be back in town for a couple nights to straighten out some business.”
“The thing with Callie Sandville’s claim?”
“That’d be the one.”
“Yeah, just a warning, guy: there’re a few of us preparing to go through it. This group of bloodsuckers hanging around for the past couple months has gotten out of hand. We were at Rex’s the other night, and they stalked our table until closing time. We made a pact that we’re only dating older women now. Thirty at the bare minimum.”
Sebastian laughed and wondered what Kate would think of the deal the guys had made. “Good call. I’ve found one of those myself.”
“Nice—who is she?”
“Her name is Kate. She’s got a smart mouth and adventurous spirit. And her legs… perfection.”
“Damn, can’t wait to meet her. She got friends, a sister maybe?”’
“A sister pregnant with twins, so cool your nuts, dude.”
“Maybe I can convince her to stop slumming with you and come my way,” Randy joked.
“Only if you want me to use your balls for batting practice,” Sebastian returned with little heat.
“I hear you loud and clear.”
“Good. Look, I’ll call you when I get into town,” Sebastian said.
“Sounds good, man.”
Fully dressed, Sebastian grabbed his bag and headed for San Jose.
CHAPTER SEVEN
So Many Truths
SEBASTIAN ROLLED INTO SAN JOSE midafternoon, just in time to beat rush hour traffic.
With every additional mile of asphalt between him and Tallulah Cove, between him and Kate, the sense of urgency to get back grew.
A sense of loss took over, leaving him edgy.
He turned on the radio and flipped through about fifty stations before he found one he could tolerate. Then when he did, he couldn’t get the volume just right so he turned off the music entirely.
With her, he wasn’t just a ballplayer. For the first time since he’d begun focusing on his skills and performance for baseball scouts, he could just be Sebastian Macina, the man who loved adventure, simple entertainment, and fun banter…something Kate delivered in spades.
Tallulah Cove was supposed to be a reprieve from the barrage of media, groupies, and demands of his career while he healed, but it turned into a whole lot more.
Home.
The townspeople had seen him around. By the raised eyebrows, they’d definitely recognized him.
And despite that, they’d given him his privacy. They’d treated him as if he were just another local picking up a cup of coffee.
Just another single guy grabbing a pizza and beer on a Friday night.
No questions. No requests for pictures or autographs.
Since that last time he stood on the mound before a team of doctors delivered the solemn news of his injury, he wondered what he would do if he lost his career. Who he’d be? Where he’d land?
He didn’t have to wonder anymore. He’d be Sebastian Macina, Tallulah Cove’s newest coffee addict.
And if he was lucky, the love of Kate LeBlanc’s life even…no disrespect to her prior husbands.
He waited for some sort of flash of jealousy, but nothing. Instead, gratitude filled him that two men had loved her thoroughly.
Thoroughly enough that she still carried one of them with her, literally.
God, the sight she made with that urn tucked under her arm, smile on her face, and saucy gleam in her eyes.
Yeah, he knew right where he wanted to be.
In her arms.
In her bed.
In her heart.
He rolled into the closest space at Royce and Tillerman Law offices, shut off the engine of his car, and took a deep breath with his hands gripping the wheel.
A seed of resentment pulsed in his gut that Callie Sandville had put him in this position to begin with.
She started it, but he sure as hell would put an end to it, and that started today.
He had a whole other life waiting for him.
He stepped through the door and gave his name to the man behind the reception desk.
“Of course, Mr. Macina. If you’ll just follow me,” he said, rising to his feet and opening a heavy dark door to the inner sanctum.
Closed office doors lined the pristine hall all the way down to the end where just one stood open.
The man gestured and smiled. “Can I get you anything? Coffee, tea, soda, water?”
“No, I’m good, thank you,” Sebastian said. Any other time he would have asked for coffee, but he was already on edge, and between the caffeine and simmering anger, he might just blow a gasket.
“Sebastian, good to see you. I wish it were under better circumstances,” Justin Royce said, offering a hand.
Justin Royce had gone to the same high school, only ten years earlier, but he still held the batting record as the first major baseball talent from their high school.
He’d been offered a life-changing deal to play for Oakland, and he’d turned it down when even the obscene amount of money wasn’t enough for him to overlook the drawbacks to a major league baseball career.
Instead, he’d gone to law school, worked for a few years, and eventually opened his own firm, turning his focus to representing athletes.
There was no one in this business, not even his coaches, that he trusted more.
His coaches, as much as he respected them, were out to win.
Team owners were out to make money.
Justin’s dedication was to protecting Sebastian from all of it.
“You and me both,” he said.
“This is Miranda Kern from San Jose General. She’s going to collect the sample and take it in for testing.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Macina,” she said as she slid on medical gloves and peeled open a kit with long cotton swabs and a tube inside.
“I’m expecting Ms. Sandville and her attorney to arrive at any moment—”
“Why the hell are they coming here?”
“They have an offer they’d like to present,” Justin said, closing the door quietly.
“I don’t care. I didn’t sleep with her. So, unless she’s offering to go public and admit she’s a liar and a con artist, I’m not interested.”
“I knew you’d feel that way, but it’s still worth it to listen. The more they talk, the more chances she has to slip up. I plan on giving them enough rope to hang themselves,” Justin said, taking a seat at the head of the conference table.
Sebastian dropped into a chair and fought the urge to fidget.
“This won’t hurt a bit,” Miranda said with a smile, cupping his chin. “If you could just open your mouth. I’ll collect a sample from each side, and you’ll be all set.”
“Just like that and this whole mess will disappear, huh?” he said with a laugh.
“Well, in a few weeks,” she said with a smile.
He opened his mouth and waited while she swabbed each side of his mouth and sealed the samples in the tube.
She peeled off the gloves and popped the samples into her bag and headed for the door. “Try not to worry, Mr. Macina. Your sample is in good hands, and you’ll have answers soon enough.”
“Wait! How will we know so soon when she hasn’t had the baby? I mean, is she even showing yet?”
“I would imagine she’s going to have amniocentesis,” Miranda said.
“But is that safe?” Sebastian asked. Son of a bitch. Why did he even care?
Justin leaned back and tossed his pen on the papers. “It’s relatively safe, yes. Any procedure comes with risks, but Callie is making one hell of a spectacle, and I don’t think your reputation is going to ride out another six to nine months of her antics. No matter the outcome. It needs to be this way.”
“If there’s nothing else, I’m just going to get this back to the lab,” Miranda said, already backing out the door.
“We’re all set. Thank you, Miranda,” Justin said, keeping his eyes on the door. The minute it clicked shut, he pinned Sebastian with his shrewd stare.
“Let me do the talking when they get here.”
“Of course, I—”
“All of the talking,” Justin warned.
“That’s what I hired you for, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but you’re worrying me. Somewhere in there, you’re growing a heart, and there’s no room for it in this deal.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re worrying about the risk to the baby.”
“Well, yeah. Someone should.”
Justin’s eyes snapped to his. “Yes, someone should,” he said quietly. “But that someone is not you.”
“Then who?”
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