He had the sudden urge to take her hand and see if her skin was as warm as it looked. To breathe in the orange-blossom scent he could still smell. And... the guys were going to have fun teasing him if he couldn’t keep his eyes off the woman standing in front of him.
“I’m ready.” He slipped his hands into his pockets so that he wouldn’t be tempted to take her hand. He was already going all out by asking her to the dinner in the first place.
She smiled. And his heart thumped.
“You clean up nice,” she said, her smile still there.
Another thump. “So you’re not sending me to the gift shop?”
Her laughter was light but warm. Genuine. He liked that.
The Uber driver had waited for them, along with asking for an autograph. Axel opened the back door of the car for Brighton, then he climbed in on the other side. After giving the driver the new address, Axel turned to Brighton.
“Have you been to Belltown before?” he asked.
“Just the hotel in between flights,” Brighton said.
She’d applied some sort of lip gloss. He hadn’t noticed it on the plane before.
Axel nodded. “It’s strange to think I lived here for four years,” he said. “It feels like more of a home than California.”
“Did you move a lot?” she asked.
“After my dad... left... we did.” He didn’t want to talk about his dad. Ever. So why did he bring it up now?
“I moved a lot too, growing up,” Brighton said. “Whenever my mom remarried, we moved. Sometimes houses, sometimes apartments. I got used to packing my things into a couple of boxes and relocating.”
“How many times did you move?” Axel asked, interested.
“Let’s see, seven or eight,” Brighton said. “My dad died when I was seven, and my mom spent the next years getting married and divorced, only to start over again. No one quite matched up to my dad, I guess. She’s on her sixth husband now. Gabe calls her the serial lioness.”
Although the tone of her voice was filled with amusement, he didn’t miss the flash of pain in her eyes. “The serial lioness, huh?”
“Yeah, Gabe is sort of into comparing everyone and everything to animals.”
Axel had to ask her, and now was as good as time as any. “So are you and Gabe dating?”
Brighton’s brows drew together. “No. We’re good friends. He’s sort of like that annoying brother you can’t help but love.”
Relief thrummed through him. “Annoying brother, huh?”
“You have a sister, right?” she asked.
He shouldn’t be surprised she knew, because his life was pretty much public fodder. “I do. Silvia is fifteen and about killing my mom.”
Brighton shrugged. “I think that’s true for every fifteen-year-old. It’s a rite of passage.”
“Did you give your mom grief?” he asked.
She glanced out the window, then back to him. Her expression was more serious now. “I think it was the other way around in my situation.”
“Because of all the stepdads?”
“Yeah.” She pulled out her phone. “I should probably text Gabe that our dinner plans are not happening tonight.”
“Oh, did you have plans with him?” Axel asked, wondering if he should feel bad, but he didn’t.
“Nothing concrete,” Brighton said. “I was going to cancel on him anyway in favor of a hot bath and room service.”
It was Axel’s turn to look out the window. He felt a bit triumphant since his offer had been better than her Plan A and Plan B.
When Brighton finished texting Gabe, she said, “I should turn off my phone. I think Gabe’s pretty excited about who I’m with, and he’ll be asking for updates all night.”
Axel chuckled. “You and me both.” He showed her his phone and the many texts from Skeet that had gone unanswered: You’re bringing a date? What? You told me you were coming alone. Who is she? Send a pic! This is definitely going to make Six Pack history.
“So I take it you don’t date much?” Brighton said, her violet eyes refocusing on him.
“Not exactly.”
She scanned his face, and he wanted to know what she was thinking. Sort of a novelty for him. He couldn’t remember being so curious before.
“What does ‘not exactly’ mean?” she said. “Are you a player?”
Axel’s brows shot up. She was certainly direct. “I’m not a player. I don’t date because my mom and sister need someone to take care of them, and a girlfriend in the mix would make things complicated. Between conditioning, games, traveling, trying to keep my contract obligations, and family drama, I’m pretty full up.”
Her mouth quirked. Was she going to laugh at him?
“So I’m a tag-along tonight?” she asked in a soft voice. “Not a date?”
Axel’s pulse went into overdrive. The question was a valid one. And he knew the answer. Since he was already being impulsive, might as well take it one step further. He drew her hand toward him. She didn’t resist, and her fingers were as he thought—warm.
“You’re not a tag-along,” he said.
Brighton slid her fingers through his, linking them together. “Okay, I can live with that. But I do want to know what you said to those two idiots on the plane.”
Axel smiled. “Let’s just say I told them that the plane had security cameras and had caught everything they said on video.”
“That’s it?” she asked.
“I might have also told them if they ever fly Swift Airlines again, I’d personally sue them.”
Brighton scoffed. “You can’t do that.”
“I know.”
“Well, thanks anyway.”
His gaze held hers as he said, “You’re welcome.”
The drive to the Belltown Event Center was over much too soon, primarily because he’d have to release Brighton’s hand. Warning bells were going off in Axel’s head, but he was effectively ignoring them. He liked Brighton. And he’d wanted to hold her hand, so he did. Simple as that. The best thing was that the wariness he’d noticed on the plane was gone from her eyes.
“Is this good?” the Uber driver asked.
Axel took a second or two to notice what was outside his window. The driver had pulled up to the curb in front of the event center. They were late enough that no one was outside waiting for them. Even better.
“This is fine,” Axel said, pulling out his phone so he could pay and rate the driver. “Have a nice night.”
“Will do, sir,” the driver said. “Enjoy your evening as well.”
“Wait for me,” Axel told Brighton.
Her lips lifted into a smile. Axel opened his door, then went around the car to open Brighton’s.
He held out his hand, and she took it, then released his hand as soon as she stood.
She leaned in and brushed at something on his jacket, which meant that her hair tickled his chin. “Don’t want to ruin your reputation, baseball boy.” She stepped away from Axel as the Uber driver drove off.
Axel wasn’t sure what she meant about his reputation, but since she was heading toward the double doors, he should too. He got there before her and opened the door for her.
“Thank you,” she said and stepped inside.
The first person he saw was Sawyer Bennett, a.k.a. Skeeter.
“Axe Man, you made it,” Skeeter said, without even looking at Axel. Skeeter’s eyes were on Brighton. Not that Axel blamed the guy.
But suddenly he was wondering how Brighton would see Skeeter. He was the pitcher for the Black Racers in Ohio, and because he was a pitcher, he made about eight times more than Axel. And Skeeter was very easygoing around the ladies, with his ultra-white smile and blue eyes that were always laughing about something.
“You must be... ?” Skeeter let the question dangle.
Brighton didn’t hesitate. “Brighton West, and you must be the friend Axel told me about.”
Skeeter’s brows shot up. “Oh, what did he say? I must know.”
&nb
sp; Brighton laughed. “Nice try.”
Maybe Axel wasn’t liking this so much after all. He stepped forward. “Good to see you, Skeet.”
Skeeter turned his grin on Axel, then pulled him in for a bro hug.
“Who is this woman?” Skeeter said under his breath.
Axel just slapped him on the back, then released him.
“So what did we miss?” Axel asked.
Skeeter chuckled. “Just the whole wedding-rehearsal portion. Now we’re to the important part—eating.”
“Perfect,” Axel said and looked at Brighton. “Hungry?”
Brighton’s gaze connected with his, and he couldn’t explain it, but in her violet eyes he saw that she only saw him. In other words, Skeeter hadn’t dazzled her in the least. Which was completely fine with Axel.
From the moment Axel and Brighton stepped into the reception hall, they were surrounded by greetings. Axel introduced Brighton over and over, and he knew that his friends wanted to ask more personal questions. But for now, he had no answers, other than that he’d brought along the woman he’d only met a handful of hours before. He’d asked; she’d said yes. Simple as that.
Brighton was friendly and sweet to everyone, and he supposed it went along with her profession. But she was also genuine, and in a roomful of flashy women wearing glittering jewelry and sleek dresses, Brighton still outshone them with her natural beauty and hotel-gift-shop dress. And the rest of the Six Pack had noticed.
Part of that was because she was with Axel... the guy who’d sworn off dating for the foreseeable future.
“Axe Man,” someone said, and Axel turned.
Yep. Cole Hunter was in a tux. No surprise there. He was like a walking billboard for one of those Italian designers. One of the top centerfield baseball players in the country, Cole was all muscle, not to mention agile on his feet, earning him more than one player-of-the-week honor as he raced around the outfield, catching seemingly impossible fly balls.
“Big Dawg,” Axel said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Finally decided to clean up, huh?”
Big Dawg laughed and turned his blue-green eyes to Brighton. “Hello, darlin’, what’s your name?”
Axel hoped that Brighton wouldn’t be put off by Big Dawg’s larger-than-life Texas sweet talk.
Brighton only smiled and extended her hand. “Let me guess, you’re one of the Six Pack?”
He gave a mock bow. “Got that right, darlin’.” He winked at her, then looked at Axel with expectation.
Axel slipped his hands into his pockets. “Brighton West. Cole Hunter. Or Big Dawg, as we call him.”
“Nice to meet you, Big Dawg,” Brighton said. “I won’t ask how you got that nickname.”
Dawg belted out a laugh. “I like her, Axe, well done.”
Brighton stepped closer to Axel and slipped her hand through his arm. A flash of sensation rushed through him at her touch and her initiative. He found he didn’t mind in the least, especially because the twins were now headed his way.
“Remind me of their names?” Axel asked Big Dawg under his breath.
“Beats me,” Big Dawg said. Then, louder, he greeted the women. “Hello there, angels.”
Axel wanted to laugh. Big Dawg could make anyone feel like they were front and center of his world. The twin sisters introduced themselves to Brighton—their names were Deb and Darci. Hmm. Axel would probably forget within minutes.
With Brighton on his arm, the twins focused their attention on Big Dawg.
“Let’s escape to the buffet,” Axel said.
Brighton’s smile was soft. “I’m good with that.”
They walked toward the line that had formed.
“There you are!” a woman called out.
Axel would recognize Mamma Sal’s voice anywhere. The woman who’d given him advice countless times when he’d felt guilty being thousands of miles away from his sister and mom. Axel turned and saw the tall, willowy blond woman. She enveloped him into a huge hug that smelled of roses and vanilla.
Mamma Sal laughed. “Sawyer said that you were bringing a date.” She drew away and looked at Brighton.
Axel introduced them, and when Brighton attempted to shake Mamma Sal’s hand, she pulled her into a hug.
“If you’re with Axel, then I need to hug you,” Mamma Sal said.
At this rate, they’d never get a plate of food. He waited as Mamma Sal peppered Brighton with questions about where she lived and worked.
“Have you eaten?” Mamma Sal said. “You need to feed this woman, Axe.”
Axel gave her an ironic smile. “Trying to.”
“All right, all right. Moving on. I’ll bring my almost husband by your table later so you can meet him.”
“Sounds good.” Axel kissed her cheek, and Mamma Sal squeezed his hand and gave him that look—the look that told him she had more questions and would be asking them later.
Axel placed his hand on the small of Brighton’s back and led her the last few feet to the moving line.
“They’re like your family, aren’t they?” Brighton said.
“Yeah,” Axel said. “I guess they are.”
Brighton nodded. “They seem like great people.”
For some reason, his throat tightened. They were great people. Axel was blessed in so many ways. Despite some of the rough things in his life, the people in this room had smoothed many of those hard edges.
CHAPTER 8
Brighton sat down in the chair that Axel had pulled out for her. Meeting his friends and former teammates had been a whirlwind. She’d been hugged, patted, smiled at, and pretty much checked out by more than one of Axel’s friends. She didn’t mind though, because she could see that they were a close bunch and that they considered Axel’s business very much their business.
Axel sat next to her, and she tried not to gaze too long at his profile, because she’d definitely give away how much she was attracted to him. And yes, she’d noticed that many of the women had checked out Axel too. And her. Probably because if what he said about him not dating was true, then her presence really was an anomaly.
Brighton felt sort of pleased with that. Who would have thought she’d be the one to break whatever no-dating streak a professional baseball player had? She wasn’t exactly sure why he’d picked her above every other woman he could have picked in the world. Perhaps she had just been in the right place at the right time when Sawyer Bennett bugged Axel about not bringing a date.
But when Axel turned his gaze to look at her or he took small opportunities to touch her, she sensed that he was equally attracted to her. For whatever reason. She wasn’t about to complain, although the timing was not the best. She wasn’t fully over Leo, although seven months should be enough to get over an ex-fiancé. Brighton knew part of it was the sheer ugliness of the situation. Not only had he dumped her, but he’d also gotten her fired.
“I thought you were hungry,” Axel said, eyeing the food on her plate.
Brighton had added some salad and a single piece of baked chicken.
“You’re not one of those women who doesn’t eat on dates, then goes home and eats a carton of ice cream, are you?”
He’d clearly dated enough to know this type of information.
“No, I got food poisoning once from pasta at a restaurant,” she said, “so I only eat pasta that I cook. And I’m allergic to dairy.”
His gold-brown eyes had focused on her, and Brighton didn’t know how he did it, but when he looked into her eyes, she felt like he was seeing into her thoughts.
“Oh, sorry. Just call me a jerk then.”
Brighton felt a smile tug at her mouth. “It’s okay; you didn’t know.” She shrugged. “If I’m not satisfied after eating this, then I can get more, right?”
“I’ll get it for you.” His voice was low and smooth, and she knew he would absolutely get back in the food line for her.
She glanced at his plate, which had enough food on it for two grown men. “I take it you’re not allergic to anything?”<
br />
“Not that I know of.” He gave her a small smile, then picked up his fork and took a bite.
Brighton tried the salad she had drizzled with a raspberry vinaigrette.
“Hiding out over here?” a man’s voice rumbled behind them.
Brighton looked over her shoulder to see a tall, dark-haired man with a crazy-thick beard.
“Grizz!” Axel pushed away from the table and pulled the man into a bear hug. After much backslapping, Axel said, “Sit with us.”
“Us?” Grizz cut his gaze to Brighton.
She swallowed as his ice-blue eyes made a quick scan of her. Everyone who had a pulse and watched baseball knew about the legendary Grizz. And here he was, staring her down. She rose to her feet as well, because she was feeling very dwarfed by these two tall men, and stuck out her hand.
Axel introduced them. “Brighton, this is David McCarthy, or—as the world knows him—Grizz.”
“I know who you are,” Brighton told Grizz. “Catcher for the Pittsburg Knights. Congrats on the World Series run last year.”
Grizz placed his hand on his heart. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“I guess seeing you here makes you part of the Six Pack as well,” she said.
Grizz put a hand on Axel’s shoulder. “You’ve got that right.”
Axel’s brows drew together. “So you recognize Grizz right away, but not me?”
At this comment, Grizz grinned. “Don’t feel bad, Axe. It happens when you’re the wild card team and get into the World Series playoff.”
Brighton laughed, and Axel playfully scowled, which she decided was kind of adorable.
She hadn’t met one of the Six Pack she didn’t like immediately. But she could honestly say that despite all the good looks and charm surrounding her, Axel was the only one who’d caught her full attention.
“You’re a man with all the luck,” Axel said. “Maybe you can share some of it with me.”
Grizz’s smile hadn’t disappeared. “I’d say you’re the lucky man tonight.” His gaze cut to Brighton, and his meaning was more than clear.
She couldn’t have stopped her blush if it were her dying wish.
“Save me a seat then,” Grizz said. He nodded at Brighton, then left.
Charming the Shortstop Page 5
