Page 28 of Out of Left Field

“No! Well, not while you were there.”

My heart began pounding so hard it whooshed in my ears. “When did you know?”

“Right after Everett left. Apparently half the table had been freaking out the whole time. They waited until they left to start gushing and gossiping.”

“And you didn’t call me right away?” My voice went up several octaves, drawing the attention of several walkers.

“You left to go work on a Friday night, Kate! Work! When you were supposed to be taking it easy! If I called you up and told you that the sexy beach bum you’d been flirting with all night was actually the new manager of a professional baseball team you’d never give him another glance. You know it’s true. You want a successful, put-together man, but you also want one that comes home every night.”

Bullseye. Like a shot right to the heart. “Ouch.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m not trying to hurt you. I just want you to see the truth. You…you were a different person at Reds. You smiled and flirted and you liked him. You didn’t judge him before you got to know him.”

Oof. Another shot. But she wasn’t wrong, and that’s what hurt the most. I slumped against the railing. “You’re right.”

“Keep flirting with him, Kate. Get to know him. The man. Not the title. Not the paperwork. It might not work out. Most relationships don’t. But I saw you two at the bar. There’s something there worth exploring.”

I knew that. I felt that. Just talking to Isaac made me more excited than anything I could remember. “I am. We are. I’ve just got this six-foot stubborn team owner blocking the way.”

Mei laughed. “Well then you better get back to work. The faster you make Eli Stirling move, the faster you can get back to flirting with Isaac.”

10

Kate

Iknew something was wrong the moment I stepped into Eli’s office. For one, it was dark. Eli always had the blinds open, letting in all the light, even if it made the room hot. But he was also quiet. Eli was never quiet. Annoying, yes, but full of life and energy, ready to steamroll everyone with his enthusiasm.

He nodded as I spoke. He didn’t interject. Didn’t offer his opinions. It was like he’d been replaced by a pod person.

“Okay,” I finally broke. I tried to be polite but this was too weird. “What’s wrong?”

“Hmm?” Eli shook himself. “Sorry. My mind is somewhere else today.”

“Should I leave?”

“No!” He shot up from the desk and ran his hand over his head. “Everything you think will fix things? Let’s put them in motion. Where do we start?”

This was excellent news but…why now? Was he losing so much money even Eli Stirling was upset? “We start by offering Rhett Ryan and Erik Cassidy good, multi-year contracts.” The same thing I said almost every day.

“Yes. Okay. I’ll give Jonathan the greenlight.”

Jonathan Grant was the Director of Baseball Operations, the man who should be in charge, but with Eli controlling everything, Jonathan’s job had been limited. “What’s going on, Eli?”

He shook himself again. “Max said you have a lot of degrees, didn’t he? Is psychology one of them?”

“Actually, yes.” Whatever had Eli rattled, it was big.

He sat back down, his hands up in a gesture of acceptance. “My dad is disappointed. In me. Me. Me?” He stared at his hands like he’d never seen them before. “He’s not that kind of guy. He’s never been disappointed in me before.”

This sounded new. And sudden. I made my voice as soothing as possible. Didn’t want to spook the wounded animal. “I would like to help you, Eli. Can you tell me what happened? Did you have a conversation with your father today?”

What I thought would be a long, slow slog of pulling the information out of the billionaire, turned into a firehose of information I didn’t want or need. “He said he was trying to give me the benefit of the doubt, but after today’s game he couldn’t stay quiet any longer. He said…he said my ego was ruining his favorite team.” Eli’s voice trailed off into a shocked whisper. “He said he wouldn’t even root for the Mantas if I didn’t fix this mess.”

“I take it your father is a big Mantas fan?”

Eli’s eyes moved to meet mine. “The biggest. I bought this team partly because I love it, but…” He couldn’t finish the sentence.

“To impress your dad.”