Sliding Into Second (4 page)

“No, it isn’t,” Jason agreed. “I just didn’t think you would remember me.”

“I did my first sit-down interview with you when the Crushers signed me.” How ironic that years later, the sportscaster Nic respected so much would be doing his girl.

Not your girl.
He’d do best to remember that.

“What are you drinking?” Sage asked Rosalie.

“A snowflake martini.” She held it up and stared at Nic. “I’m almost empty.”

Nic smiled as he waved Joe over. “My friends would like to order, and the lady and I will have another round.”

“Sure thing.” Joe looked at Sage. “What can I get you?”

“I’ll take a Stella,” she said.

“That’s what Nic’s drinking,” Rosalie chimed in. “How perfect.”

“That silly martini has gone to your mixed up head,” Sage said. “Jas, what are you having?”

Jas?
A pet name.

“I’ll take a scotch.” Jason pulled out the bar stool next to Rosalie and motioned for Sage to take a seat. “I’ll sit down by Nic. I’d love to hear all about the last series. Maybe an interview?”

“Sure.” Nic sat back down. “We could set that up. I’ll be in New York for the next two weeks.” He locked his gaze with Sage’s. “I plan on doing many things in that time.”

* * * *

Sage sipped her beer as she watched Nic and Jason hit it off. Jason was almost star struck by the established athlete. That wasn’t supposed to happen. When she figured out what her sister was up to, she brought Jason along to piss Nic off. He didn’t look all that upset.

“What were you thinking?” Sage asked her sister. “You’re not Matchmaker dot com.”

“I’m better than that since I know you two personally.” She nodded toward Nic, who was too wrapped up in baseball to hear their conversation. “Why didn’t you tell me how hot he was? He looks ten times better in person. TV does nothing for him.”

“You’ve been following his career?”

“So have you,” Rosalie said. “I know for sure, now that you’ve taken a new job. You wanted to be close to him.”

“The job was a coincidence.”

That wasn’t entirely true. When the job came up at KLX, Sage had fought hard for it. She kept telling herself it had nothing to do with Nic, but after seeing him that night in the locker room, she couldn’t deny she still had feelings for him. That made her mad. Why couldn’t she be strong and forget about him? He’d hurt her, humiliated her when he left town without her. Every time she saw him in the paper or on one of those tabloid shows with a model or an actress, all of those feelings came rushing to the surface. She was supposed to be the one by his side. It was her place, not the flavor of the month’s. Taking the new job was going to be her way of proving to herself that she was over him. She didn’t need him. She had done just fine all on her own.

“Bullshit,” Rosalie said. “You took the job to get close to him, but when you saw him in October, you chickened out and ran back to the city.”

“What do you know?”

“I was there, Sage,” Rosalie reminded her. “I remember all those years you were alone because you were too afraid to love again.”

“Then why would you try to set me up?”

“Because I also remember how much you loved him. I can remember the way he looked at you, as if you were the only woman in the room.”

“What have I told you about living in fairytales?” Her sister was a romantic, always believing in happy endings. She’d had a major crush on Nic when she was a kid. Clearly, that hadn’t changed.

“This isn’t my imagination.” Rosalie looked at the guys as they chatted about stats and coaches before bringing her attention back to Sage. “I saw the way he looked at you when you entered the lobby. Everything came back to him.”

When Sage looked over at Nic, she caught him staring at her as Jason talked shop. He took a long pull from his beer, never taking his gaze away from hers. Her cheeks were flushed and her throat went dry. He made no attempt to look away. She recognized that determined look. The possessiveness in his eyes brought back teenage memories. Her head swirled with a giddiness she hadn’t felt in years, and her stomach jumped like a school girl falling for the hot jock.

Not again!
Not this time. No, they were adults, capable of making adult choices. She would never allow her heart to be trampled on again. She wouldn’t give him another chance when it came to love. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t be the object of his every desire.

Now it was her turn to have the control. She raised her glass and smiled before licking her lips and taking a sip from her drink. Nic continued to stare, his gaze following her mouth.

Game on.

Chapter 4

“It was good seeing you,” Nic said as he and Sage walked into the lobby of the hotel.

“It wasn’t as if you didn’t think you were going to see me.” Sage pulled on her jacket and flipped her hair out of the back. “Now my sister is occupying Jason for you.” She motioned toward the main doors. Rosalie and Jason were chatting, waiting for Sage. “You have a pretty strong influence over her.”

“I may have asked your sister for a bit of assistance tonight, but can you honestly say you would have met me for dinner if I had reached out to you?”

“We’ll never know.” She liked watching him squirm. After the stunt he and her sister had pulled, he deserved to be a little uncomfortable.

“Do you think we could get together while I’m here in town? You know, just the two of us?”

“These are my last two weeks here before the holidays, and then I’m on my way to Kingston to start my new job.”

“So, are you saying you’re too busy?” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’ll be here for a while. One night for dinner?” He looked desperate. “I could meet you for lunch or a drink? Whatever fits into your schedule.”

“I’m sure we could come up with something,” she said. “We should tie up any loose ends before the season starts. You know, so it’s not awkward between us.”

“It doesn’t have to be awkward between us.”

Yeah, right.

“I know we haven’t been together in a long time,” he said.

Whose fault is that?
“That’s ancient history.” She giggled, trying to lighten the mood.

“I missed that.”

“What?” she asked.

“Your laugh.” His gaze dropped to her lips. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot these past few weeks.”

“Oh...” She fought the urge to bite her fingernail. “You’ve thought about me?”

“Well, when you showed up at that locker room in Chicago, I was taken by surprise, but yes, I’ve been thinking about us. All the things we shared, the laughs. We had fun, Sage. A lot of good memories.”

“You want to get together and reminisce?” Why did he have to be so tempting? She wanted to stay professional and prove to herself that she could go to Kingston, leaving the past where it belonged. Seeing him changed everything. “Talk about old times?”

“Something like that.”

When he smiled, her knees buckled and her insides quivered. It was time for her to go, before she said something she would regret.

“I’ll call you,” she said. “Maybe we can have dinner or something.”

“Please.” He reached for her hand. “I didn’t mean to come here and disrupt your life, but I really want to see you again. I’m not going to take no for an answer.”

“You might have to.” She shot him a flirty grin.

“I hope not.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “I’ll just sic Rosalie on you.”

“You don’t play fair.”

“I play to win.”

* * * *

Tonight had been overwhelming for Sage. She tried to be tough and act as if she didn’t care that Nic was in town, like his presence didn’t affect her. But it did. She was wrong when she thought she could take that job and not think being so close to him wasn’t going to have an impact on her. She had loved him for most of her life. She’d spent years trying to forget him. Forget what they had shared. Now, every memory and emotion came rushing back.

She reached up and pulled out the thick scrapbook that took up space on the top of her closet. She hadn’t opened that book since she had left Florida, but for some reason, no matter how many times she had moved throughout the years, her collection of the past always came with her. She could have shoved it in her parents’ attic and forgotten about it, but she didn’t.

Settling on the bed, she set her cup of tea on the nightstand. She ran her fingers over the leather cover, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before she opened the pages of the past. What she saw between the pages all seemed like a lifetime ago. There wasn’t one picture where they weren’t smiling. His prom, the homecoming dance, her prom, both of their graduations. Every moment of their young lives was documented and neatly cut and pasted on a coordinating background. She used to spend hours making this book just right, matching stickers, newspaper articles of all of Nic’s baseball accomplishments, and pictures of him in his college uniform with his teammates.

When she turned to the last page, she couldn’t fight the memory. Nic stood by the team bus, waving at her with the biggest grin. He’d just received the best news of his early career.

The aroma of fresh cut grass on a cool April afternoon surrounded her. She reached into her backseat and grabbed one of Nic’s hoodies. When she shut the door and turned, he was right behind her.

“You scared me!”

“Sorry.” Nic pulled her into an embrace, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around.

“Congrats on that grand slam, baby.” She kissed him as he set her down and leaned her against the car. “Did you hear me screaming?”

“I’m surprised you have any voice left.”

“I made sure the school photographer took lots of shots of you when the team cleared the bench to congratulate you.” She was so proud of him. “You’ll be on the front page for sure.”

“I have some news.” He looked as if he might burst if he didn’t get it out. “I have to get the team bus back to campus, but I wanted to tell you real quick.”

“What is it?”

“There was a scout here this afternoon.”

“From where?”

“Rhode Island. A minors team.”

“Cool.”

“He wants to talk to me.” He wrapped his arms around her waist. “The coach is setting something up, but they want me to come out and talk to them.”

“That’s fantastic.” She hugged him. “This was an incredible day for them to see. Your fielding was amazing. You were really on your game.”

“You sure you don’t want to be a sports reporter?” He took off his cap and ran his fingers through his sweaty hair. “You’ve been out here long enough with me.”

“Sports reporter?” She shook her head. “I think I’ll stick to editing and designing.” She was majoring in journalism, but she liked the behind-the-scenes aspect of it. She didn’t see herself in the spotlight in front of the camera. She did a few articles on the team for the school newspaper, but that was no big deal.

“I’m going to meet with the scout in the morning.”

“I’m so happy for you.” This had been what they had been waiting for. A shot at a professional baseball career.

“Be happy for us.” He pulled her into his chest. “This could be the opportunity we’ve been hoping for. If all goes according to plan, I could be on the roster next season.”

“You keep shooting for the stars, baby. It’s all going to come together.”

“You’ll come to Rhode Island with me, right?” He caressed the side of her neck. “I’ll need you to keep me grounded, especially if they offer me something.”

“I wouldn’t be anyplace else but by your side.” She gripped his dirty jersey and kissed him. “Always.”

“I like to hear you say it.” He kissed the corner of her mouth as he threaded his fingers through her hair.

She sighed when his lips connected with hers. As he deepened the kiss, he pinned her against the car. His hard, muscular form pressed into hers, letting her know just how excited he was.

“Cordova!” His teammates whistled and teased as they boarded the bus across the parking lot. “Don’t you two ever get enough?”

“Fuck,” he mumbled against her mouth as he let go of her. “I have to go.”

“See you tonight?”

“Do you even have to ask?” He traced his finger over her lips. “Meet me at my place.”

“Okay.” She smiled as she pulled her little camera from her pocket.

“Be safe driving,” he called over his shoulder. “Road trip to Rhode Island!”

“Can’t wait.” She snapped his picture just as he turned and waved to her.

Rhode Island... She couldn’t have known it then, but that was the beginning of the end for them. Had they come full circle? Could Kingston be a new start for both of them? Or was it just a disaster waiting to happen?

Chapter 5

Sage sat at the hotel bar the next night and waited for Nic to come through the lobby doors. She had no idea what time he’d be back. Jason had tipped her off that Nic was meeting with the sneaker execs to go over a few details of his endorsement deal. It was a long shot, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

Last night, the four of them had made their way to the hotel restaurant, where Jason and Nic talked sports and Sage and Rosalie listened in. Sage had zoned out on more than one occasion, reminiscing about her past with Nic. She tried hard to fight the memories, but anytime he had done something, even as trivial as cutting his steak, it triggered some distant moment they shared with one another. She spent years trying to block this man out of her head. And, for a while, she had done a really good job.

She’d found happiness with Jason for a brief period, but once she hit twenty-five and all of her friends starting getting married and having babies, she realized he wasn’t the man for her. At forty-five, he had been married to his career and had no desire to have children. A twenty-year age gap was far too much, and although he adored her, he couldn’t give her the life she eventually would want. They remained close, but even after dinner the evening before, he seemed to be advocating for her to give Nic another chance. She still wasn’t sure she had it in her to forgive and forget.