“Absolument, Meg. C’est vrai. Of course. You’re right.”
Meg’s breathing kicked up and she wanted to groan. She hated when he spoke French even though he was always careful to translate for her. No, that was so wrong. She totally loved it when he spoke French, but it made her shake and burn inside so much that it scared her. French should be illegal or it should at least come with a warning label.
“But I still don’t understand,” he said, nodding toward the bag.
“It’s simple,” she explained, dropping her bag of objects with a clatter. “Everyone is tense. We’re beginning to snap at each other.”
“I haven’t heard you snapping at anyone.”
She blushed. Okay, she was lying just a little. And she might even lie a little more. “On the inside I was snapping,” she explained, and she quickly raised one hand. “Do not, under any circumstances, raise that eyebrow.”
So, he didn’t. He grinned, with those darn dimples that made her shiver.
“All right, Meg. What were you snapping about on the inside?”
She thought. Long. Hard. Trying to come up with a plausible answer. “I can’t think of what it was right now, but there was something, and anyway, the whys and wherefores are beside the point. The point is that we’re all under a lot of pressure. The expo is coming up in just two weeks and we need some way to let off steam. Hence, this.”
She gestured toward the canvas bag she had been carrying.
“I see,” he said. “And what is this?”
Meg pulled out a bat. “We’re going to do something to help us get back to bonding and away from snapping. Something we can all do together as…as friends, but also as business partners. I understand that lots of businesses have teams of one sort or another and since there’s a big field right outside our door, I thought that tomorrow at lunchtime, we could have a very short game of…of baseball.”
“Of course. Do you play a lot of baseball, Meg?”
“Not a lot, no.” In fact she had been horrible at all sports in school, but at least she knew the basics of baseball. And the equipment was simple, the field was there and she’d heard Jeff and some of the other men discussing the sport. This could be a good thing. It could take some of the edge she’d been feeling around Etienne off and bring her thoughts back to mere friendship. She hoped. “I thought you might captain one team and I would captain the other. I checked on the Internet and I know this isn’t a very popular game in France but they do play it, don’t they? There were eight major league baseball players in America who were born there, although…not for a while and not all even in the twentieth century. I would have chosen something else, like soccer…I mean your football…except I thought it would be best to have a low contact sport so that everyone could feel comfortable and not self-conscious. Not much touching in baseball, is there?” Oh, would someone please shut her up already?
“Except for the tagging part,” he said. “That would be touching.”
“But the baseball glove or at least having to have a ball in your hand when you tag a person would make it okay,” she reasoned. “I was hoping this might be fun.” Did she really sound wistful, hopeful, nervous? This had seemed like such a good idea when she’d thought of it, but now…She was terrible at sports. She’d been doing so well here, otherwise. This wasn’t a good idea at all, was it?
“It’s an excellent idea,” Etienne said as if he’d been reading her mind. “And yes, people are getting a little tense. Let’s do it.”
“All right, I’ll announce it today. That way everyone can bring casual clothes. Shall we shorten the game to either three innings or an hour, whichever comes first?” She was beginning to feel better now. Organization was something she understood. Meg smiled and started to leave the room to make the announcement over the intercom.
“Meg, it is a great idea. And I think this might help with Paula, too.”
She didn’t even ask what he meant. No matter how much Meg had asked the people at Fieldman’s to try and accept Paula, the woman was having a rough time of it. “I know. I think people are afraid that if they show her any kindness that they’ll be disloyal to me.”
“I can understand why they feel that way.”
“I know. They think she hurt me and that I might still be hurting. I’ll be putting her on my team to try to dispel that notion, if that’s okay with you.”
And Meg realized that while she wasn’t heartbroken over Alan anymore, Paula did make her nervous in one very unacceptable way. Paula’s eyes followed Etienne everywhere. She clearly had a crush…or more, and Paula was just as cute and tiny and as much of a showstopper as she had been before. Meg hated that she even noticed that. Jealousy was not in her plans. She had no right to notice anything that went on between Etienne and Paula, so yes, Paula was going to be on her team, and she and Paula were going to work together.
“She’s yours,” Etienne said. “And Meg?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you. I’ve never played baseball before, but I have a feeling that this is going to be an unforgettable experience.”
Meg had the feeling that it was, too. Had she really thought this through? Of course not, but heck, she had set it up and now she was going through with it. And she was going to make sure that Etienne enjoyed his first experience with baseball.
After all, what could really go wrong?
Etienne’s team was in danger of losing, not because he didn’t get the game. It was fairly simple, after all. And not because he was so inept. He’d discovered that he had a natural aptitude for hitting the ball with the bat, pitching and catching.
No, the problem was that he was worried about Meg. She seemed so determined to make sure that everyone had a good time, especially him, that she was running herself ragged. And also…she was just so very cute in her blue jeans and red T-shirt, with her inability to do anything that remotely resembled playing the game. She couldn’t hit, throw or catch, but she was still making such a valiant effort that it was all but impossible not to want her to win.
He could tell that he wasn’t the only one, either. Jeff was pitching now and while he was doing his best to give Meg easy pitches, she wasn’t getting anywhere near the ball when she swung. Etienne looked at Jeff and the man seemed to be perspiring heavily.
“Jeff, don’t look so worried. This is just a game,” Meg said, propping her bat on the ground. But Etienne knew that Jeff didn’t have any fear that Meg would fire him. She was the only person who hadn’t managed to make contact with the ball today and the man just wanted it for her so badly.
“Now,” Etienne said, hoping that his low tone would carry to Jeff but not to Meg.
Apparently it worked. “Are you sure, Meg?” Jeff asked, but as he did, he threw the ball…straight toward her now stationary bat. It hit the wood and bounced back slightly into the field. A fair, playable ball.
“Run, Ms. Leighton!” Paula screeched.
Meg’s eyes went wide. No one dove for the ball even though Lily, the catcher, could have easily reached it.
Meg glanced at her bat, at the ball, at the bat. She ran. Fast. Around first base, around second, nearing third as her team members jumped up and down and yelled and as the members of Etienne’s team smiled and didn’t do much of anything. But Etienne knew this deal wasn’t completed yet. If Lily didn’t go for the ball soon, Meg would be coming around third base and heading toward home plate with the ball lying not three feet away, right where it had fallen when it thudded off the bat. And while Jeff might have managed to surprise Meg with that hit, and while she hadn’t yet noticed the opposition’s inactivity, she was a highly intelligent woman. Eventually she would figure it out if no one made any effort at all. And Meg was not the kind of woman you let win. She would take it personally.
But what to do? Lily could still pick it up but Etienne wasn’t sure that she would without some coaxing. As for him, he was playing short stop, not that close to the home plate. Still, he sprinted toward the base. Not too fast s
ince he didn’t want to beat her there, but not so slow that she would suspect.
As he moved, he looked at Meg. She was running, running, her pretty hair flying out behind her. Etienne was approaching the ball, but at this pace Meg would make it over the plate first. He could tag her just after the fact just as he wanted to and she would have scored for her team. He took his time when he scooped up the ball.
But Lily was standing near the plate, yelling Meg on and encouraging her. Suddenly Meg, fearing she would hit Lily, veered aside. She collided with Etienne, a bundle of soft skin and hair and elbows, one of which caught him in the side. Caught totally off guard, he took the hit full force and winced. Then, seeing she was falling down, he ignored his pain and reached for her. Too late. He missed. Meg fell to the ground, her body sliding on the dirt.
Etienne swore, in French, in English, even in Spanish.
“Meg! Ma chère, are you hurt?” Immediately he dropped to his knees and started examining her, running his hands over her. Her leg was bent slightly crooked and he couldn’t tell if anything was broken or damaged. “Meg, talk to me. Say something. Say anything, all right?”
She gazed up into his eyes, blinking. “I…I ran into you. I didn’t see you. Did I hurt you?”
Etienne closed his eyes. He let out a breath of relief. Then he opened his eyes and gazed down at her. He smiled. “Never.”
Now her eyes were starting to clear. She was focusing. “Then…did I make it?”
No, she hadn’t. Her arm was over her head, but the base was half an inch beyond, and he had touched her while holding the ball. By now he knew the rules of the game and that meant that she was out and hadn’t scored for her team. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Paula and Lily exchange a look.
Then Paula suddenly rushed forward and fell to her knees. “I…Years ago I started nursing school and I’ve had CPR training. Now I know that you think you feel all right, Ms. Leighton, but it just never hurts to make sure. Let me ask you a few questions just to be on the safe side. How many fingers am I holding up? What’s your name? And what day is it?”
As she spoke, Etienne saw Lily stick her foot out and give a tiny kick.
“You seem okay,” Paula said, “but that certainly gave me a scare. You could have hit your head.”
When Paula rose and moved out of his way, Etienne saw that Meg’s hand was now resting on the plate. He resisted the urge to smile.
“You made it,” he whispered.
Meg suddenly sat up on her elbows and turned slightly, looking at the plate. When she turned back, there was a funny, crooked grin on her face. “Nice,” she said.
And then she stared straight into his eyes. He was still kneeling beside her. One hand was still on her right leg. Both of them looked down to where their bodies were joined, and now it became something more than him trying to make sure she wasn’t injured. The palm of his hand felt…warm. When she looked at him, her eyes looked languorous.
Someone—maybe Jeff—coughed, and Etienne slowly withdrew his hand. He helped Meg to her feet.
“I think game time is over,” she said. “But it’s been fun.”
“You don’t mean that.”
She smiled, a smile that Etienne felt down to the soles of his shoes. “Yes, I do. I’ve always hated sports, but not today. I loved every minute.”
“But, Meg,” Edie said. “You can’t give up now. Your team is still behind by one run.”
Meg looked at Paula. “It’s okay, isn’t it?” She turned to the other members of her team, who seemed uncertain what to do. “It’s not so much that we want to win,” one of them said. “We just want you to win. No disrespect to you, Mr. Gavard.”
“None taken,” he said.
Meg’s smile grew. “But I’m happy. I did win. In my own way, I did.”
“Yeah,” Paula said. “She made a run. That’s winning.”
And everyone took up the cry. Meg looked over her shoulder at Etienne. “Thank you,” she said.
“For what?”
Meg shrugged. “You’d never even played baseball, but you went along with this impetuous plan of mine.”
“I told you it was a great plan.” And it had been. She had been right. There had been some sniping and tension during the past week, but here on this field where everyone wanted Meg to have her day in the sun, they had all joined together. Even Paula seemed to be taken into the fold.
“You are a man of many talents,” Meg told him before joining Paula and Edie.
“I want you to know that I see how it is,” he heard Paula saying. “And I wouldn’t ever do anything that idiotic and cruel again. Not with you, that’s for sure. He’s yours free and clear.”
And, even though they were farther away now, Etienne was almost certain that she heard Meg say. “Not mine.”
He stared down at the baseball in his hand. Then he dropped it to the ground with a frown.
“Hey, at least we won,” Jeff said.
But he hadn’t, and he had no reason to complain. No reason at all. His relationship with Meg was what it was. There had been no hope for it from the start.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THREE hours after the baseball game had concluded and a good two hours before the end of the workday, Meg looked up to see Etienne standing in the door of her office.
“Come on,” he said. “Come with me.”
“Where?”
“Home. And then out.”
“Home? Now?”
“Yes. To change clothes.”
“And then out? Do we have a meeting with anyone that I didn’t hear about? A presentation? A dinner?”
“Yes, I’m taking you to an early dinner. Just us.”
She tilted her head. “Is something wrong, Etienne?”
“No. Yes. You got hurt today, and I noticed that you’re still limping even though you said you were fine. I’d simply try to send you home to bed but I understand that several people have already attempted that, and you’ve resisted. I suppose I could order you home, but…”
“You don’t want to do that, because I’m in training to take over when you’re gone, so you don’t want to take my power away. Is that it?”
“Something like that.”
“So you’re taking me out to dinner.”
“Yes, and then I thought I’d whisk you back home early and by…oh…seven o’clock you’d be in bed asleep.”
She smiled. “That was very clever and conniving of you.”
“It was, wasn’t it,” he said with a grin. “Too bad I’m not capable of lying to you.”
“That’s not such a bad thing, you know.”
He shrugged. “Will you come with me, Meg?” And when he held out his hand to her that way, how could she say no?
She placed her hand in his. Why was it that every time he touched her, she felt it a little deeper and the longing got a little stronger? The pain when he finally left was going to be excruciating, but she didn’t want to think about that. He was still here, right by her side. For now.
“I’m yours,” she said.
Those gorgeous eyes turned dark and fierce. “Figuratively speaking,” she added, trying not to blush. That had been a stupid, impetuous thing to say.
“Of course.”
Of course. And in no time, he had her home. She changed into a white dress, an unusually colorless choice for her, but there was something serious about Etienne tonight, and she didn’t want him to feel that he had to tease her about her bright colors the way he usually did.
What was wrong? Was it the upcoming anniversary of his wife’s death? Or had she, Meg, failed to digest all that Etienne felt she needed to know?
In the weeks since they’d met, they had spent an hour or two of each day together while he coached her on all the aspects of business he felt she would need to know. And he had been amazingly well versed in the American system. He possessed an abundance of knowledge about business law and labor and trade laws here. He taught her about stocks and bonds and retirement plans a
nd employee insurance plans, about taxes and safety considerations and…everything, it had seemed. She had tried to digest as much as she could; she had taken books and files home every night, but her time had been limited and…she was worried and…
“Something’s bothering you,” she said. “Tell me.” Just as if she had a right to invade his privacy.
But he didn’t seem to notice that she had overstepped a boundary. “I let you get hurt today. I wasn’t paying enough attention. If you had hit your head on the ground…if I had fallen on you and crushed you or caused you to break something vital, I…”
He turned to her and took her hands in his own. “I’ve pushed you too hard, Meg. You’ve been trying to be all things to all people, to prove that you can do it all, but you don’t have to do it all. You shouldn’t be forced to play a sport just to make everyone feel good. That day I came and lured you back here, I was pushy. I set a pace that was too driving. I’ve sapped your energy. You’re limping.”
His tone was angry, but she could see now that he wasn’t angry at her but at himself. Still, she knew that the tragedy of his wife was at the heart of this. How could it not be? How did any man get past the guilt that she knew gnawed at him?
So what could she do? Meg rose up on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Solemnly. Slowly. And with fervor.
When she pulled back, she saw that Etienne looked dazed and stunned…and heated.
“Yes, I’d say I’m perfectly healthy,” she said, a bit breathlessly. “My heart started pounding just as it does whenever we kiss.”
“Meg,” he warned. “Don’t do this. I don’t have much self-control tonight.”
“I don’t, either,” she said weakly, “so no, I won’t do that again, but I just wanted you to know that I’m fine, Etienne. Really. And nothing is going to happen to me. You don’t have to save me.”
She looked away as she said that because yes, it was a bold and daring thing to say even though she was pretty sure that it was true. She finally got it.
The Frenchman's Plain-Jane Project Page 10
