Out of His League

by Cathryn Parry

  He reached into her refrigerator and grabbed one of the energy drinks she’d brought over from his place.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked softly.

  No. My life is frigging falling apart. But he smiled at her. “Yeah. I’ve got one more phone call to make. A short one.”

  “Okay. Feel free to make it here. Brandon is asleep. He won’t wake up.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked in a low voice.

  “Take your time.” She smiled and rubbed her arms. Then she went into her bedroom and closed the door. Jon had never felt more grateful to her. This was a woman who understood privacy.

  He picked up his phone again and called Bobby. Broke the news in as neutral a manner as possible.

  “Wow, that’s awesome,” his kid brother said. “It’s about time Dad got remarried.”

  Jon’s hand involuntarily tightened on the phone. Bobby would feel that way. He’d been an infant when their mom had gotten sick. He’d confessed to Jon once that he couldn’t even remember what their mother’s voice had sounded like.

  “I like Mary Angela,” Bobby said. “She has hot daughters, too. Have you ever met the twins?”

  Jon remembered them as two ponytailed rug rats about Bobby’s age who liked to switch identities. Probably interesting as college girls, but he wasn’t a cradle robber. “No,” Jon said. “But it sounds as if you knew Dad was seeing her. Am I the only one who didn’t?”

  “I knew it was her he went to Vegas with, but he asked me not to tell you and Frank about it. Jeez, Jon, quit hating on him, it’s a good thing. Wish him well.”

  Stung, Jon hung up the phone. Long after the call ended, he sat staring into space.

  His father was getting married and moving away. Their dad didn’t need the memory of their mom anymore. That meant he didn’t need Jon anymore, either.

  Jon took a long drink from the can. Rationally, his father acting happy and getting on with his life was a good thing. A positive for everybody in the family. But why couldn’t he feel it?

  “Jon?” Elizabeth stood in the doorway.

  He started. He hadn’t known she was still awake.

  “Do you want to talk?” she asked.

  He shook his head. Really, he felt weary. It had been a long, lousy day. The worst day he could remember in a long time. The newspaper article, people blaming him, the team scapegoating him—that was crappy enough.

  But his dad getting married...that had just sucker punched him. He felt eight years old again, alone, and with a hole the size of Arizona in his heart.

  She nodded and left him alone. He heard a door close, and then after a time, the running water.

  Lizzy...I need Lizzy.

  Of everybody he’d pushed away tonight, she was the only one he really, truly wanted to be with.

  He got up and tried the bathroom door. It was open, so he went inside. A layer of steam fogged the mirror and warmed his face. Lizzy’s back was to him, adjusting the spray of the shower, and she was still wearing that silky Chinese dragon robe with the embroidered orange fire. The belt cinched her waist tight, and beneath that was smooth silk covering the most beautiful, rounded ass he’d ever seen in his life.

  He went from zero to hard in two seconds. When he closed and locked the door behind them, she turned.

  “Jon?”

  He put his finger to his lips. Then he put his lips beside her ear. “We can’t talk. Brandon’s asleep.”

  She shivered, and he wrapped his arms around her from behind, pressing her bottom against his erection. She stirred beneath him and he nearly groaned, but he suppressed the noise.

  She turned her head, planting a soft kiss on his jaw. “I’m glad you’re here,” she whispered.

  His heart seemed to break open. “I want you,” he murmured back. “You’re the only person who makes me feel better.”

  She sighed, her big brown eyes gazing at him. Kissing her beautiful long neck, exposed by her short hair, he nudged her robe open and ran his hands up, between her thighs and over her belly to her breasts, caressing the weight of them. She gasped, rubbing her bottom against him, and he thought he might lose it at that moment. He gently spun her so she was facing him, and kissed her, deeply.

  God, he needed this woman. Needed her arms around his neck, the flesh of her hips in his hands, her long leg, curving around his backside.

  “I didn’t...expect...this...” she whispered.

  He hadn’t, either. Not really. Not this feeling.

  With the splash of the shower in the background, a constant drumming of water spray on the tub, he intertwined his tongue with hers, tasting the peppermint toothpaste still on her breath.

  She sighed and broke his kiss. “Your shower would work so much better for this.”

  Lazily, he smiled at her. He’d forgotten she’d been in his apartment tonight. Obviously, she’d looked around and liked what she saw. That gave him a sense of masculine pride.

  Never had a woman fit so well with him. “As long as we’re taking the risk of conversing, are you on birth control? Or do we need the doctor kit with your condoms again?”

  She gave him a secret smile. “Until I met you, I didn’t need birth control. The condoms are in the drawer beside the tub.” She indicated with her chin. “There.” He glanced, and saw that the placement was perfect. He could reach for the drawer when he was ready.

  But it appeared she was more ready than he was.

  She tugged at the button on his pants. He peeled off his T-shirt and obediently stripped down his pants and his boxer briefs.

  And then with her smile gazing into his eyes, she parted the shower curtain and led him inside. And inside that pitiful little shower tub, she soaped him up from head to toe, taking her time lavishing care and attention on every part of him. She shampooed his hair, a long, gentle massage using his shampoo. He felt the stress of the day, all the pain, leaching out and running down the drain. And when all the soap and shampoo was washed out and he felt better, he took his time with her, too. Bathed her with that exotic, Hawaiian girly-smelling soap she used. Rubbed the bath sponge over every inch of skin.

  But then he could no longer stand it. He let the sponge drop and, instead, caressed her with his bare fingers. With his thumbs. With his mouth. She was wet and stretched for him, her breathing getting harder. He found the condom, pulled it on and she guided him inside her. Standing in the shower with the water, now cool, raining down on both of them. Her legs were long compared to his, and their height worked together. They just worked.

  She was exactly what he needed after a day in which everyone had seemed against him.

  * * *

  AFTERWARD, THEY TIPTOED from the bathroom, as quietly as possible. “Do you want to sleep in my room?” Elizabeth whispered to Jon.

  “Not with Brandon here, I don’t,” he murmured.

  “You’re right. I almost forgot, I’m so used to whispering.”

  Elizabeth prepared a makeshift bed on the couch for Jon. She smoothed fresh sheets over the cushions, plumped a clean pillowcase onto her spare pillow and found him a warm blanket.

  Alone in her own bed, she thought about Jon sleeping in her home—wonderful, happy thoughts—until she fell asleep herself.

  The next morning, Jon was gone before Elizabeth woke. She found the pillow, sheets and blanket folded at the end of her couch. His clothes that she’d brought back from his apartment were gone. She looked for a note but didn’t see one.

  Being a Saturday, she drove Brandon to play with Caitlin’s son for the day, and then headed to the hospital for her work shift, feeling strangely bereft.

  She was shaky inside. The lovemaking last night had been different from before. Her boundaries toward Jon were shredded, it seemed. The physical intimacy was deeper. There were emotions in her heart she had shared—about her mom and sister, about her fears with alcohol—that were new to her. She had let Jon deeper into her world over these past weeks than she’d let anyone before. It was exhilarating. And yet, terrify
ing.

  As open as Jon was with her—physically, at least—he didn’t once share how he felt about what was going on with his family. Yes, he had expressed it through his lovemaking but, under pretext of needing to keep quiet for Brandon, they hadn’t discussed it. It made her feel left out and a bit empty. She hadn’t realized the extent of it until she’d been struck by his empty bed and folded sheets that morning.

  Did she even have a right to ask Jon about how he felt? They had an agreement, after all. An end to their time: just eight more days, by her calendar. Nine, if she counted tonight, but he hadn’t mentioned anything about wanting to get together later.

  Things were becoming confusing between them. This wasn’t just a controlled fling anymore; last night, after she had come home from meeting Frank, it had spun out of her control and gone beyond her reach.

  How could she go back to the prudent person she had been before meeting Jon, and life without him in it, after what she was feeling for him now?

  She pulled into the parking garage at her hospital, not thrilled about the weekend shift she’d had to pick up, and the fresh day of emergency cases ahead. She hurried toward the elevators, pulling her long sweater tighter around her in the cool morning air—so suddenly colder overnight that she could see her breath hanging in the air before her—when her cell phone rang.

  Her pulse leaped, but no, it wasn’t Jon, it was her mother. The call Elizabeth had been dreading. “Hi, Lisbeth, this is Mother. I booked a flight into Boston this Friday, arriving at twelve-thirty.”

  Elizabeth pulled her sweater even tighter. “That’s good, Mom, but I haven’t checked my schedule yet. If I’m working, you’ll have to take a taxi.”

  “Well. I was hoping to see my grandson before I checked into my hotel.”

  Elizabeth swallowed. “You need to discuss that with Ashley and her counselor when you see them. Brandon won’t be part of your session because, according to their rules, he’s too young.”

  “Lisbeth. The only reason I’m going up there in the first place is because Ashley needs me.” Her mother sounded huffy and self-righteous. But that was typical.

  Elizabeth fought the urge to hang up and flee, but she stayed on the line. Jon would stay on the line. “I’m glad you’ll be present for her, Mom. She wants you to see her.”

  “The counselor said you’re invited to meet with us, too.”

  He should not have said that. Elizabeth gripped her phone. “It was agreed that it’s best for you and Ashley to spend the day together. You’ll help her by being there.”

  “Well, I just don’t know.”

  “I need to go, Mom.” Elizabeth checked her watch. “I’m at work now, my shift is starting. Good luck with your travel next Friday.”

  She hung up the phone and hurried through the automatic doors to the hospital. Her pulse was racing. If she let her mother close, her mother would consume her. She needed to stay free.

  Heading into the coffee shop, intent on a large, double-shot latte to make her feel better, she almost bumped into Albert.

  He smiled at her from his position waiting in line. “Hello, Elizabeth. I see you’re on my team this morning.”

  “Am I?” She gazed at the muffin selection inside a display case. Just another person she did not want to see or talk to.

  “I was going to call you this weekend,” he said from behind her.

  It was hard to believe she had ever considered him a potential boyfriend. Elizabeth made her muffin selection—it would be a long time in surgery—and then turned to face him. “Thank you, Albert, but I don’t think that’s a good idea. You and I are best as work friends. Professional colleagues.”

  He shrank back. “Of course.” He didn’t say another word, and as soon as he could, he hurried from the café.

  She stared after him. No, she did not want to be with Albert. But she did feel better after their brief exchange. More like a person who coped rather than a person who avoided the difficult conversations.

  Feeling thoughtful, she went to her first case of the morning. As usual, she monitored the digital readings on the screen in front of her, and her shift passed quickly. The wonderful thing about her job was that it occupied her. While she worked, she rarely had time to consider what was missing in the rest of her life.

  But once her case was over, her mind returned to thinking of Jon again. She thought of the way he made love to her. The look on his face during that last moment before he came inside her.

  Shaken, she closed her eyes. This would not do...

  And then, without much notice, Jon strolled into her work space. Her department seemed to go quiet as he walked toward her. All the nurses and orderlies and medical patients watched him. A more recent photo of him had been in the newspaper this morning, and people recognized him now.

  This time, Jon was a curiosity. There were whisperings and comments behind the backs of hands. Nobody asked him for his autograph, though Jon didn’t seem to notice or care.

  Her heart swelled. His courage in the face of his public humiliation made him even more compelling to her. She ached.

  Jon held his head high, as if he respected himself no matter what anyone else thought. But she knew the truth. Oh, she knew. She’d never met a man who cared more about pleasing people than Jon did. Now that she knew about his family, she could understand why.

  “Lizzy, babe.” Jon leaned over and kissed her cheek. His face lit up to see her.

  She felt her bones melting. “What are you doing here?”

  “I made a decision.” Jon pulled her aside so no one could hear them. “I’m flying to Arizona this Friday for my father’s wedding.”

  “That’s...good. Really good.”

  He nodded. “I don’t like having things weird with my family. I needed to settle it.”

  She thought briefly of her mom, and silently agreed with him. “I think that’s a wise idea.”

  “Yeah. And if the wedding sucks, Arizona is always great to visit, anyway.”

  “Right.” She nodded, knowing she would miss him. But that was crazy of her, wasn’t it? Where had the old Elizabeth LaValley gone?

  “I haven’t told you the best part.” Jon gave her a grin, showing off those dimples. “I know you can’t leave Brandon alone, so I bought three seats together in first class. I hope the name on your ticket matches the name on your driver’s license.”

  “What are you talking about?” she asked, dumbfounded.

  He gave her an innocent look. “You won’t be able to fly otherwise, Lizzy. Homeland security rules.”

  “Let me see that.” Her hand shaking, she took the printout and studied the passenger names on the airline itinerary: Jon Farell, Elizabeth LaValley, Brandon LaValley.

  She felt a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  “The tickets are refundable,” Jon said. “But I really would like you to go.”

  “You want me?” she whispered. “And Brandon...to go to your family’s wedding?”

  “Yeah.” He waited until an orderly with a rattling cart of dirty lunch trays passed by, and then Jon stepped closer, smoothing her hair with his thumb. “Brandon is only invited because he comes attached to you. You’re the main attraction.”

  “But wh-why?”

  He smiled. “Because you’re beautiful, Lizzy.”

  She blinked away the moisture in her eyes. She was not beautiful. She was everyday in looks. Beautiful women were all around him, from Susan Vanderbilt to Brooke, his agent who Elizabeth had noticed accompanying him to his original surgery.

  Elizabeth stared at the pocket on Jon’s chest. “You could have any beautiful woman you wanted.”

  “I don’t want another beautiful woman. I want the one who will go with me as Jon Farell, the kid from Massachusetts, and not just a baseball star, even a fallen one.”

  She let that digest. “I thought you were going with your brothers,” she murmured.

  “Frank has my credit card number. He can book flights for him and Bobby. It’s
time they step up and take care of themselves.”

  She put her hand to her mouth. Oh, God, it really was happening. She and Jon were growing closer. “Does...your dad want me to come?”

  “He wants what I want.” Jon dropped his hand to her hip. “So how about it?”

  She was running out of peripheral excuses. There was something more she wanted Jon to say to her. To express for her. But nobody could force that on another person.

  “Lizzy, please go with me,” Jon said quietly, drawing her by the waist to him. “Don’t make me pull rank, because I will if I have to. We have one more date, and it’s my pick.” He sighed. “Look, you were right. There’s nothing long-term between us. Your sister is coming back, what, the day after the wedding, the Sunday we fly home? Consider it our last hurrah if you want. It won’t cost you anything but your weekend. And hey, I’m throwing in Brandon as a bonus. If you decide you don’t like hanging out with me in Arizona, then you can go off and tour Sedona with your nephew, or even take him to a minor league baseball game. He’d love that. Consider it an escape plan.”

  “There’s nothing long-term between us?” With that one phrase he had crushed all her hopes.

  “Like you said.” He looked relieved, misunderstanding her. “And thank you for being there for me last night. I wasn’t thrilled about hearing my dad is getting married. I don’t know anyone else who would understand. You’re really someone special.” He rubbed his knuckle along her lip. “So how about it? We leave on Friday.”

  “Friday,” she repeated. That was the date her mother was arriving in Boston.

  “Yeah, we’ll be home by Sunday afternoon for the Sunshine Club fund-raiser.”

  And for Ashley’s return from rehab on Sunday night. But it was the Friday date that stuck in her mind.

  She just knew it would be a mistake.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  THAT FRIDAY MORNING, they were up in the air.