by Kelly, Erika
“I promise you my feelings weren’t hurt.”
“But you flinched. So, yeah, they were.”
“I didn’t flinch. Go on.”
“Way to be self-aware.” Her teasing smile did funny things inside his chest. “Okay, so, bottom line, my sister and brothers want to make some changes to our family business.”
“And you don’t?”
“Not at all. Our business has been around…well, let’s just say that the core product we sell? My great, great, great, great, great grandmother started making it in Manchester, England in the eighteen hundreds. Don’t bother counting my greats. I suck at math.”
“And your parents? What do they want?”
“My parents passed away a while ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah, sucks. But thanks.”
“So, when you say family, you mean just the siblings?”
She nodded. “There’re five of us.
“Anyone else against the changes? Or just you?”
Her phone buzzed, and she picked it up. “Just me.” She smiled as she read the text. “Apparently, women can pee like race horses, too.”
“Good to know.” He waited while she responded to her friend. And then he pushed for more information. “What kind of changes?”
“We sell a variety of…products. They want to sell off the one that started everything.”
“Why?”
She looked away. “You don’t want to hear my crap. And I can’t believe I took you away from tonight’s fun. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“You were thinking about your friend. That’s nice. And I wasn’t having fun.”
“Yeah, ‘cause I cock-blocked you.”
Watching those sexy lips form the word “cock” sent a rush of heat through him. A flash of her on her knees, his cock in her mouth, shot a punch of lust through his system.
She gave him a once-over. “I’m guessing no one can really block you, though. You probably get every girl you want.” And then her eyes went wide. “Why on earth did you proposition me?”
“Because you’re gorgeous.” Heat flamed up his neck, burning his ears. Smooth.
The nearly full moon splashed its light onto her skin, making it glow. He spotted a house, set back a good bit from the road. Up ahead, lights from a gas station appeared. They’d hit the outskirts of town.
The screen of his phone lit up, and he looked down to see his teammate’s name. If he read the text, he’d have to respond. He’d have to lie.
A warm hand settled on his, resting on the seat next to him. “Are you all right?”
He nodded, swiping his other hand across the dampness on his forehead. “Great.” But when he looked at Sophie and saw the warmth in her eyes, it loosened something in him. “Ball players don’t get spring break. We’ve got some important games this week.” The way she looked at him, the intense focus, made him feel a closeness to her that made no sense.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. Why was he telling her this shit? He didn’t know her. “The scouts come to Florida.” His pulse jackhammered. “They’re finalizing their lists. I should be there.” His agent believed he’d be a first-round pick.
“But you’re not?” Her voice softened.
“I’m not.”
“Are you going to be kicked off the team?”
“Nah. My coach won’t kick me off for this. But he’ll do something.”
“Why’d you do it?”
He never shared his shit. Didn’t even talk to his closest friends about it. “I don’t know. I just…”
“You just what?”
“I need a break. Training’s year-round.” A band tightened around his lungs, making it difficult to draw a full breath. “I’ve played baseball all my life, and once I sign, I’ll be playing at a whole other level. I just wanted a break. A couple days to not be disciplined and focused and…perfect.” Jesus, he could not believe he’d said all that to a stranger. He hadn’t even said it to himself.
“So, before you get locked into your future, you want an escape from reality?”
He shot her a look. “Yes.” He stuttered out a laugh. “Yes.”
She had the softest, sweetest smile. Nothing frantic or manipulative. Just warm. Engaged. “Well, I don’t know. In the scheme of things, bailing for a few days isn’t such a big deal, right?”
It could cost him the reputation he’d spent a lifetime building. But saying the words out loud would probably give him a heart attack. “I lied. To my coach, my teammates. I don’t do that.”
Her eyes warm with concern, she leaned closer. “So, if he’s not going to cut you from the team, tell him the truth.”
“He’ll make me come back.”
“With handcuffs? A SWAT team?” She gave his hand a squeeze. “Come clean. Tell him you’re messed up in the head and you need this break. When you get back, you’ll give him a hundred and ten percent.”
The weight of sand bags lifted off his chest. He knew she was right. Even if he didn’t do it right away, coming clean was the right answer. “I’m going to.”
She unbuckled her seat belt and shifted closer to him. “It’ll be okay, you know.”
The sweater had slipped off her shoulder again. Streetlamps spilled pale yellow light onto her creamy white skin. Her breasts wobbled from the motion of the tires jolting over rutted roads.
With her sitting this close, his body heated up. She was beautiful, yes, but she was so fucking real, so warm and compassionate, so in the moment with him that he wanted to haul her onto his lap and kiss her.
“Everything always works out.” Her voice was gentle, warm. “You know that, right?”
He nodded, completely captivated by her. He just…fuck, she was so sexy and soft and sweet.
“Do you want to play baseball? I mean, is this the future you want?”
That snapped him out of his lust-fog. “Of course. It’s what I’ve worked for.” He thought of his dad—all the time and money he’d put into building Ryan’s future as a ball player. Quitting three months before grabbing the brass ring? Not gonna happen.
“You’re sweating. Do you want to open your window?”
He didn’t feel hot. He felt clammy. But he cracked it anyway, and the moist island air rushed in.
She watched him curiously, as if trying to figure him out. “If you didn’t play, what would you do?”
“I’m going to play. That’s not the point. I just want a break. That’s all.”
“You seem a little anxious.”
He shrugged, tamping down the anxiety. “There’ll be consequences for what I’ve done. And I don’t know what they are yet.”
“Okay. But, you know, just to throw it out there, lots of people play sports all the way through college but don’t go pro. Maybe you worked so hard to be All American in high school and starting pitcher in college or whatever. If you’ve hit those marks, you don’t necessarily have to keep doing it the rest of your life.”
“No, I’m pretty sure I worked hard so I could make the majors.” He gave her a smile, when what he really wanted to do was throw open the door and start running. Back to the bar. For that cold beer he never got. He cleared his throat, needing to talk about something else. “What about you? Are you expected to go into the family business?”
“I want to.”
He loved the fierceness in her eyes. “So what will you do?”
“Hah.” She tugged the sweater back up.
“What?”
“Nothing, it’s just…” She gave him a mischievous smile. “You’re entering dangerous territory.”
“Hey, I just shared my crap with you. Come on. Your turn.”
“You know this is a pretty serious conversation for people who literally just met.”
He checked the driver’s GPS. “We’ve got seven more minutes. Let’s see just how deep we can go.”
She smiled, and he felt the warmth of it down to his bones. “Fine. What will I do? Well, we haven�
�t figured that out yet.” She let out a frustrated breath. “Okay, it’s like this. I’m the youngest. And when I say youngest, I mean my sister is eight years older than me. My parents popped out four kids, and then eight years later I came along. Which means my siblings have been running the company without me for a long time.”
“Are you saying they don’t have a job for you?”
“They’ll find one for me.” Her forehead creased. “But who wants to be given a token job? I graduate in two months, and they still haven’t figured out what I’m going to do. If they think I’m going to hang out at the beach or…or spend my days shopping while they figure it out…well, that’s not going to happen.”
“What role do you want?”
For the first time, she looked at him with a tortured expression. “I don’t know.” She said it quietly, looking at him like she was completely lost. “I want to take my place in the company just like them. It’s not like any of them were groomed for a specific role. I mean, my parents died, so my oldest brother took over as CEO. My second oldest brother took over my mom’s IT job. The others just fell into place. But with me…there’s no specific place.” And then she gave a weak smile. “I suppose I could be a greeter. You know, wear a red vest and stand out front and hand out cookies every morning.”
“Somehow I think you’d be wasted in that role. How do they see you?”
Her features pulled in, and she looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know if they see me at all. I mean, they’ve always been in totally different phases of life than me.”
“Didn’t you say they wanted to sell the family business?”
“Just one part of it.” She looked like she wanted to say more, so he waited. After a moment, she said, “Can you keep a secret?”
“I can.”
She leaned toward him—even closer—exposing her inner wrist. That delicious vanilla and floral scent swirled around him. Holy shit, she smelled good. And then she tapped the tattoo. It took him a moment to make sense of it. “It’s a heart.”
“It’s a Crazy Heart.”
Valentine. “You’re that Valentine?” Crazy Hearts were to Valentine’s Day what Peeps were to Easter. It was that big a deal.
She glanced into the rear-view mirror, but the driver was now negotiating traffic, his features set in a scowl. “Shh.”
Now the ink made sense. Heart-shaped, the cookie was a silvery gray—confectioner’s sugar—with a raspberry jam heart in the center.
Her sweater fell off the other shoulder, too, so now all that bare skin was right there. And since she sat so close, he could see right down her tank top into the deep valley of her breasts. Desire pulsed through his cock. Honestly, it wasn’t the spectacular tits. It was her. Everything about her. And now that he’d gotten to know her a little, he wanted her even more.
“So you’re Crazy Hearts?” he asked, just to shake off the grip of lust.
She nodded. “We make more than just Crazy Hearts, of course.” Her gaze narrowed. “Promise I can trust you?”
“Absolutely.” She didn’t know him, but not only didn’t he talk about his own shit, he didn’t talk about his friends’, either.
“I shouldn’t say anything, obviously. Your dad’s probably the head of some venture capital firm that does corporate take-overs in the food industry. Which would explain why a guy your age is at an exclusive resort.” She sighed. “I really should keep my mouth shut.”
“My dad’s in wealth management, so you don’t have to worry about me.”
“Wealth management means he handles money for those venture capitalists in the food industry.”
“Good point. You still don’t need to worry about me. My dad and I don’t talk about things like that.” But he missed the whispering, so he steered the conversation back. “It’s not Crazy Hearts they want to sell, is it?”
She nodded, gaze flicking back to the rearview mirror. “You can’t say anything, okay?”
“I won’t.”
“So you know how I said my siblings are so much older than I am? Well, they’ve all got kids now. They want to shift our focus to healthy snacks. They want to go green and be responsible guardians of the planet and all that.”
“So make Crazy Hearts healthy.”
She drew back from him. “No. They’re perfect just as they are.”
“They’re processed shit made in a factory.”
Her brilliant smile gave him a jolt. “Aren’t they delicious?”
“I don’t eat crap like that.”
“Right. Athlete.”
He nodded. “In high school, the baseball team used to sell Crazy Hearts. We’d deliver the orders ourselves.”
“Of course you did. You must’ve made a killing.”
“We did. Girls love a jersey.”
“Please. Girls love all this.” She waved a hand at him, taking him in from head to toe.
“Sophie Valentine. Did you just say I’m hot?”
“Well, yeah.” She reached for his biceps and squeezed it. “What does it take to make something like this?”
“A lot of dedication. And no Crazy Hearts.”
“When we get back to the resort, I’m going to give you one.”
Why did that sound so salacious? “One what?”
“A Crazy Heart. What did you think I meant?”
“You bring them with you?” The cab braked, jerking them forward. When he looked out the window, he saw they’d hit a red light. Which meant they were in town. Disappointment slammed him. He’d enjoyed his time with her more than anything he could remember in a long time.
“Oh, sure. I learned early on that anywhere I go where people will figure out who I am, they’ll be asking for Crazy Hearts. So I bring some and hand them out. Leave them for the cleaning staff and valets. They love it.”
Her pride shifted his energy into a higher gear. “You shouldn’t sell it.”
“What can I do? I’m one vote out of five.”
“Fuck that. They’re your family. Convince them.”
“They have an offer.” She leaned so close he could smell the shampoo in her hair. “And it’s really big. I mean, too-big-to-turn-down big.” She clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes going wide. “I can’t believe I told you that. Please don’t tell anyone.”
He tipped her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. “You have an offer.”
“What?”
“You. Not they. This is your family. You have a say.”
Her eyes rounded. “Isn’t it funny that I never thought of it like that? I just gave them all the power. But you’re absolutely right.” Her mouth softened, lips parting.
Oh, fuck, did he want to kiss this woman. His breath hitched. It was killing him to keep fighting off his hard-on.
Even after the light had turned green, the cab remained stationary. The boulevard was jammed with red taillights, the sidewalks packed with partiers.
“Get a lawyer.”
She stiffened. “Against my family? I can’t do that. I can’t ruin my relationship with them over this.”
“No, get a lawyer to brainstorm options. It’s not black and white. It never is.”
“What do you mean?”
She looked so hopeful. He wanted to fix her problem right then and there. “I mean there are creative solutions to every business deal. You just have to hire the right people to find them.”
“Are you a business major?”
“Yeah.” He shoved aside the familiar rise of irritation at his major. “And I’ll bet you can find a way to make everyone happy.”
“Like?”
“Like buying them out.”
“I could never match the offer.”
“You might not have to, depending on what rights you have. But maybe not all four of them are set on selling off Crazy Hearts. Talk to each one individually. Stop thinking about this as you against the block of them. Maybe one or two of them agree with you. Who’s leading the charge on this? Is it one person or all of them together?”
/> “It’s my sister. She just had her first baby. All through her pregnancy she was talking about how our processing affects the environment, how irresponsible we are, how we’re poisoning children with hydrogenated oils. And then about a week ago, at my niece’s birthday party, she announced the deal. She said it was an offer they couldn’t refuse.”
“The four of them took this action without you?”
“Yes, but I don’t work at corporate yet, so why would they include me?”
He held her gaze so she heard him. “Because you’re one of them. You’re not an outsider, Soph. Look into it. See what the options are.”
Those blue eyes warmed. “I will.” Her hand wrapped around his wrist.
Lights from the city flashed into the car, splattering color all over them. He wanted to kiss that mouth, run his fingers through her hair. An image flashed in his mind of him thrusting into her from behind. Her long, dark hair wrapped around his hand, as he pulled her back for a deep, carnal kiss.
Jesus. He’d just met her. Get a grip.
Sophie pulled back a little, so he dropped his hand. “It’s weird that I never thought about my options. I’ve just always seen it as me against them. But you’re right. I’ll talk to our lawyer. Thank you.” She smiled up at him like he was some kind of hero, and not some guy who wanted to plough into her.
What would she be like in bed? He’d never get to find out, but he wondered what she’d look like on her back, stripped of her tank top and shorts.
Oh, fuck. He could see it so clearly—her dark hair splayed on the white pillowcase, her full breasts bouncing—he went hard as a pipe.
The cab jerked to a stop. Nothing but headlights and traffic everywhere.
She looked around, distraught. “Oh, no. This is terrible. How far are we?”
He checked the dashboard GPS. “Not far.” He pulled a bill out of his front pocket and handed it to the driver. “We’ll get out here.” The driver eyed him questioningly but took the cash.
Ryan got out, reaching back to help her out of the cab.
“We don’t even know where it is.” She looked around.
“Two blocks away.”
“Are you sure?”
He slammed the door behind him, took her hand, and they wove through traffic to the sidewalk. “Positive. Saw it on his GPS.”
