by Maya Banks
She nodded. “I could pick you up and drive us over.”
His eyes gleamed, and for a moment she could swear he looked victorious. Over what, she hadn’t a clue.
“Just tell me what time, and I’ll be waiting with bells on.”
“It starts at seven, so I’ll be here around five-thirty.”
“I’m looking forward to it already.”
She relaxed. Things were shaping up perfectly. She’d take him to the game and introduce him to Noah afterward. Then she’d wow him the next morning with a kick-ass presentation. The deal was hers. In the bag. She couldn’t contemplate any other outcome.
Golden Gate and Athos Koteas might be coming on strong, but they didn’t have Noah Hart, and they damn sure didn’t have her ideas. Ideas she knew were perfect for Evan and his company.
This was hers.
Evan reached out to wipe a smudge from the corner of her mouth. She glanced down to see his food gone and most of hers, as well. And the way he was looking at her, she had a good idea what was for dessert.
“Give me two seconds to clear this away and roll the cart out into the hall and we’ll get on with option two, although I’m thinking that option three should be significantly delayed.”
She raised an eyebrow and her heart started tripping double time.
“Oh? How delayed?”
“Very delayed,” he said silkily. “I’m thinking option two could be divided into options three, four, five …”
In response, she untied her robe and tugged it away until she sat naked on the bed.
Fifteen
Celia pulled into one of the reserved parking spaces at the stadium and cut the engine. She glanced over at Evan. “Ready?”
He looked out the windshield at the proximity of their space and the stadium entrance and whistled in appreciation.
“These must be some tickets you have.”
She smiled. “I told you they’re good.”
They got out and Celia led the way. Normally she would have gone in through the players’ entrance, but she didn’t want to tip her hand just yet, so they headed through the main gate just as everyone else did.
Evan waited for her while she went through security and had her bag screened and then they had their tickets scanned and walked in the direction of the field.
Since she’d handled the tickets, she knew he hadn’t seen them and she couldn’t wait to get his reaction to the behind the home plate VIP tickets she’d scored from Noah.
Several minutes later, and after navigating two entrances, they entered the field above the home plate. She flashed her tickets and an usher led them down the steps to a box of seats directly behind the batter’s box.
He motioned them into the row and Celia settled in the seat four rows up from the bottom.
“Wow,” Ethan said as he took his seat beside her. “I mean, wow. How the hell did you get these tickets? They must have cost a fortune. Not to mention they’ve been sold out. I know because I’ve tried to get them.”
“I know people,” she said smugly.
He eyed her curiously. “I’m beginning to get the impression you do.”
They caught the tail end of batting practice and then settled back as the field was watered and prepared for the start of the game.
Evan relaxed in his seat and knocked his shades down over his eyes. It was exceptionally sunny today and there was absolutely no cloud or fog cover. It was a perfect day for baseball.
In typical business-geek style, his gaze roved over the fans, looking for those who wore Reese designs. If Celia had her way, a lot more normal, everyday people would want to wear his line of sportswear.
He turned when he heard Celia talking to a hot dog vendor. She twisted to look at Evan. “You want something?”
“Whatever you’re having,” he replied.
He dug into his wallet to pay the vendor, but the older man smiled and waved him off.
“Our Cece is taken care of. No charge for her.”
Evan watched the banter between Celia and the vendor in utter bemusement. They chattered about batting averages, who to watch in the coming season and the travesty that had occurred the previous season when the Tide had finished one game back from the division leader.
“They’ll win the pennant this year,” Celia consoled. “Noah is in top form. He was only warming up his bat last year.”
The vendor nodded enthusiastically. “I believe you’re right, Miss Cece. He got hot and the season ended.”
Celia turned and made an expression like she’d forgotten something.
“Oh, my manners are horrible. Please forgive me. Evan, this is Henry Dockett. He’s worked here since the stadium was built thirty years ago. He knows everything there is to know about everything around here. Henry, this is Evan Reese.”
Evan extended his hand to shake the older man’s and Henry’s face lit up.
“You’re the Evan Reese from Reese Enterprises?”
Evan smiled. “One and the same.”
Henry nodded approvingly. “Good place for you to be then. Miss Cece will show you a good time.”
Someone else signaled for Henry and he nodded at Evan and Celia. “I’ll be back later on to check on you, Miss Cece.”
She smiled and patted Henry on the arm and thanked him for the hot dogs.
When she turned back in her seat, Evan leaned over to take his hot dog from her lap.
“Do you have everyone eating out of your hand, Miss Cece?”
She actually blushed and ducked her head.
“Henry is an old friend.”
Evan chuckled, delighted at the rosy bloom of her cheeks.
“Do you have any other surprises in store for me today?”
“Maybe,” she mumbled around a bite of hot dog.
The Tide took the field, and the very first batter walked. Celia groaned her dismay along with the rest of the crowd.
“Our pitching has been what’s let us down in the past,” she whispered to Evan.
He didn’t have the heart to tell her that not only did he know, but he could quote the stats for every one of the Tide’s pitching roster.
“This year should be better,” Evan consoled.
She nodded. “Soren is our best. He usually starts cold, though. If we can get out of the first inning, he’s awesome.”
Again Evan grinned and sat back to watch. Celia bolted from her seat when the second batter grounded to second and Noah scooped, tossed to the shortstop who turned the double play to first.
Evan could swear that Noah looked straight at Celia and winked. He looked between the two and finally shook off the absurd notion.
Soren struck out the next batter and the Tide was up to bat. Celia clutched her hands like an anxious mother. Todd Cameron, the lead off, looked up at Celia as he headed to the plate, grinned and waved. Celia waved and blew him a kiss.
Evan stared but didn’t say anything. Things just got stranger and stranger. He was willing to put the first off as a fluke, but when the third batter came up and gave Celia a thumbs-up, he wondered what the hell he was missing.
After the batter flied out to center field, advancing the two runners on a sacrifice, Evan leaned over, intending to ask Celia exactly what he was missing out on, but she put her hand on his arm and squeezed hard.
“Just a minute. Noah’s up!”
Her fingers dug into his arm like little daggers, but he didn’t pry her away. He was too interested to see what would happen when Hart came up. And, too, he was interested to get a close up glimpse of what he hoped would be his company’s golden PR boy.
Noah’s face was drawn in concentration as he began the walk to the plate. He swung the bat a few times then stopped, two inches out of the box. He turned and glanced first to the right of Evan and Celia and dipped his head in acknowledgment. Then he turned and scanned behind home plate until his gaze lighted on Celia.
He lost the look of intense concentration, and his face relaxed into a smile. He gave her an exagg
erated wink and then held up his fist.
Evan’s mouth fell open as he glanced between the two. Celia’s hand tightened further on his arm when Noah took the first strike.
“Come on, come on,” she whispered.
The next two were balls. Then he swung at the second strike. If he didn’t hit soon, Evan was going to lose the feeling in his arm.
The next pitch, Noah fouled back. The next was a ball, making it a full count.
“I can’t watch,” Celia whispered.
The pitcher wound up, threw a fastball and Noah swung. The bat connected with a sweet crack that to anyone listening signaled a smash hit. The ball sailed over the center-field wall into the upper deck. Three-run homer to start the game.
Celia lunged to her feet and screamed at the top of her lungs. “Did you see?” she yelled at Evan. “Did you see?”
“I saw, I saw!”
He laughed as she continued to bounce up and down. Noah rounded the bases, taking high fives from the first-and third-base coaches. He met his teammates at the plate, where the group jumped up and down and pounded on Noah.
Noah looked up at Celia and pointed. She leaped to her feet again and pointed back, her smile so wide Evan was sure she’d hurt something.
Then she glanced over in the direction that Noah had first looked when he’d come up to the plate and then back down at Evan.
“I’ll be right back, okay? I’ll just be a second.”
She hurried up the row of seats and then cut over to the section that adjoined the home-plate area. Evan watched as she hugged two younger looking men and an older guy. They glanced over in Evan’s direction once but then didn’t look back as they chatted with Celia.
A few minutes later, she returned and took her seat beside Evan again. He was beginning to think he’d been dropped in an alternate reality. Was there anyone here she didn’t know?
When she’d offered Noah to him on a virtual silver platter, he’d only assumed that she’d contacted him through his agent and offered him a deal he couldn’t refuse. He hadn’t considered that she had such a connection to his team. And what connection that was had Evan insanely curious.
He leaned over so she’d hear over the still insanely celebrating crowd. “What am I missing here?”
She smiled. “I’ll explain later. Just enjoy the game.”
Mysterious little wench. He’d make her pay later when he had her alone.
The rest of the game followed a similar pattern. Celia seemed to know every damn person on the team. He began to have uncomfortable thoughts, like whether or not Celia was involved with Noah Hart. It would certainly explain how she’d been able to get him to agree to the endorsement deal.
But it also brought up a lot of questions. Like whether she was using Evan to further her career. He glanced sideways at her. No way. It would take someone pretty diabolical to have a man like Noah Hart on the line and then sleep with Evan to secure his business. Why would she even need it if she was involved with Hart? The man made a lot of money, even without the million-dollar endorsement deals. He was one of the highest-paid baseball players in the league.
Before he could get carried away with thoughts that would only enrage him, he made himself back down and quit speculating. He’d find out before the end of the day. One way or another. And then he’d decide what to do about Celia. And his account.
When the game ended after the visiting team failed to score the necessary runs to overtake the Tide in the ninth inning, Celia stood, her cheeks flush with excitement.
“We’re going to have an awesome season. I just know it!”
He stood beside her unsure of what would happen now. Nothing had gone the way he’d anticipated.
Sure enough, she grabbed his hand and began pulling him toward the exit. “Come on,” she said.
But they didn’t leave the stadium. Instead they went down to a restricted area, where Celia flashed a pass he hadn’t seen up to this point. He shouldn’t be surprised. But when they stopped outside the players’ locker room, he was.
They waited a good while. Several members of the press came and went. Finally one of the players stuck his head out the door, looked up and down and then his eyes brightened when he saw Celia. Evan was a little starstruck. It was the Tide’s catcher, Chris Davies. He was a veritable legend in baseball, and it was rumored this would be his last year before he retired.
“Cece! You should have just come on in. Noah got held up by an interview, but he wanted you to come on back.”
Celia walked over and gave the catcher a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Good game, Chris. You’re looking as awesome as ever.”
The big man actually blushed. He glanced up at Evan, and Evan was convinced the guy scowled at him.
“Oh, Chris, this is Evan Reese. Evan, this is Chris Davies, the Tide’s star catcher.”
“Yes, I’m well aware,” Evan said. “Great game. I’ve watched you a lot of years.”
“You Evan Reese who makes the sportswear?” Chris asked.
Evan nodded.
“Cool. You two come on back. Noah should be done by now.”
Despite his wealth and position, Evan couldn’t control the incredible rush of walking into the Tide’s locker room. It was every little boy’s dream. It was why he’d gone into the business he had. He loved sports, and he was as in awe of the big dream as any other kid out there who loved sports.
Several players stopped Celia for a quick hug and a kiss. Some ruffled her hair and she gave them affectionate pats in return.
“Cece! There you are.”
Evan looked up to see Noah barreling his way through a crowd of people. The next thing he knew, he had Celia in a giant bear hug, swinging her around in a circle.
Evan watched, his irritation growing more with each passing second.
Finally Noah put her down.
“Hey, did you see? Fantastic hit, wasn’t it?”
Celia smiled broadly at the other man and her affection for him was obvious. A fact that made Evan even grumpier. Endorsement or not, he was ready to deck the star right in the jaw.
“I saw, of course. You were awesome as always.”
“Hey, I need to get a quick shower. You two can wait for me over there,” he said, gesturing toward a sitting area that was removed from the chaos of the open locker room. “I won’t be long.”
Celia kissed his cheek. “We’ll be there. Take your time.”
Noah ruffled her hair affectionately and loped off toward the showers.
Evan opened his mouth to ask but then shook his head. He’d wait. This had to be worth the price of admission.
Celia led him into the adjoining room and sat on one of the leather couches.
“This is usually reserved for coaches and their families,” she said when he sat down in one of the chairs across from her. “None of the press or players will come in here.”
“You know I have a hundred questions, Cece,” he said drily.
She flushed a little guiltily. “Okay, so maybe I’m guilty of wanting to watch you experience everything firsthand. I mean I could have warned you but that wouldn’t have been any fun.”
He raised an eyebrow. “The only question I want answered right now is whether you’re involved with Noah Hart.”
He watched her eyes go wide in shock. Her mouth fell open, and he knew in that moment, whatever he might have assumed—even with good reason—he was dead wrong.
“It was a sensible assumption,” he defended before she could speak.
“Evan, Noah is my—”
They were interrupted when the three men Celia had gone to visit in the stands came through the door.
“Cece, love,” the older man said when his gaze lighted on her. He smiled big and held out his arms. Celia went into his embrace and endured a painful-looking bear hug.
The other two men regarded Evan with what could only be considered as suspicion.
“Going to introduce us, Cece?” the bigger man asked.
“Of course,” she said as she curled her arm around the older man’s.
“Evan, I want you to meet my family. This is my father, Carl, and these two are my brothers, Adam and Dalton. Guys, this is Evan Reese. He owns Reese Enterprises. I brought him back to talk to Noah.”
Evan could swear she said the last pointedly. He relaxed and shook the hands of each man and endured a painful grip from each. Typical measuring stick of a man. See if you could make the other wince. He squeezed back with as much force and endured grudging looks of respect from her family.
Interesting that they were all back in the players area and that they’d sat in different areas for the game, although Celia had said she’d gotten the tickets particularly for him.
“Very glad to meet you, sir,” he directed at Celia’s father.
“Are you the man responsible for my Cece working so many long hours?”
Evan lifted one eyebrow then glanced between Celia and her father. Celia closed her eyes in despair and shook her head helplessly at Evan. He remembered her saying that according to her father and brothers, her only requirement was to look pretty and let them support her. Apparently they weren’t on board with her having a career.
“I’m afraid I am, sir. I wish I could say it was something I regret, but Celia is one of the brightest minds I’ve encountered. She’s going to single handedly turn my advertising efforts around. I think in a year or two, Reese Enterprises won’t simply be one of the leaders in athletic apparel, but the undisputed leader when it comes to sportswear.
Her two brothers eyed Celia with renewed interested while Celia stared at Evan, her eyes wide with shock. He could almost swear she looked a little teary. He smiled at her and reached for her hand. To his surprise she accepted without complaint and curled her fingers tight around his.
“If you’re meeting Noah about business, we’ll just scoot on out,” her father said. “You going to make Sunday dinner this time or will you be busy again?”
“No, I’ll make it,” she said as she leaned up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Sorry about last weekend. Something came up.”
Evan realized that he was what came up when he’d finessed Celia away for the weekend. While he was sorry she’d missed what was evidently an important family gathering, he couldn’t summon any regret for the way their weekend in Catalina had come together.
