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Authors: Katie Lee

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BOOK: What Endures
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Jason nodded, clearly not reassured.  They were at the Mariners’ headquarters, in one of the back rooms, waiting for Rick, who had turned out to be a reasonably nice guy, to call them into the press room for the conference.

Jason had been reluctant at first when she had talked to him about the idea, but after she had convinced him that it would be ‘fine’ he had agreed. After that, everything had been set up fairly quickly. So now, here they were, waiting as if they were the sacrificial lambs about to be led to the slaughter.

Or at least Jason was.

She usually avoided these things. She was always comfortably at home, watching his press conferences on T.V. like everyone else, but this time, Jason had insisted that she be there with him. That was the only way he had agreed to participate in this whole thing. Tyler would have been there as well, but he had to fly to L.A. for a meeting with his bosses. Telecommuting only went so far.

She really wished Tyler could have been there, if only to provide Jason with real support. She felt completely useless because she was as jittery and as nervous as he was. So far, she was managing to cover it up well but with each passing second, she felt her control slipping.

She glanced over at him again. By all appearances, he looked great. Amazing even. He was wearing one of her favorite suits. . .a black wool suit, expertly tailored for his tall frame, with a white dress shirt and pale green tie that brought out the color of his eyes. She had once told him the suit was ‘swoonworthy’ and that was a very accurate description. If he had to do nothing but sit there and look good, he would pass with flying colors.

But it was a bit more complicated than that.

“I was drafted when I was still in college?” he asked suddenly.

“Yes.”

“So I never finished college?” He swiped a hand through his hair, mussing the short strands, and while she was very fond of that look on him, it wasn't exactly appropriate for facing the press. “When was I called up from the minors again?”

“Jason,” she said trying with all her might to sound as reassuring as possible. “You’ll be fine. If you get confused or anything, just take a sip of water and Sean will jump in, O.K.?”

Again, he absently nodded before he went back to nervously glancing around the room. She hated this. She hated putting Jason in this position. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have enough to cope with, but the last few days had been a study in stress management for them. After Jason had agreed to the press conference, he had been put through a crash course on his career as a baseball player. She, Tyler and Sean had spent most of their time reciting his stats, awards and accomplishments on the field to him every chance they had. She wondered if Jason managed to absorb it all, but he hadn’t complained despite the tediousness of it all. 

The only good thing about it all was the fact that prepping Jason for his press conference took up so much time and required so much effort from everyone that neither she nor Jason had much time to dwell on the oddness of their relationship. She didn’t know if she was grateful that she didn’t have the time or energy to think about what it meant that Jason could remember things about her. . .about them.

She was certainly grateful that she didn’t have time to dwell on what it had felt like to wake up in his arms that morning. That quick moment when all her protective mechanisms hadn’t been up had given her a peek at what used to be. That instant had been enough to awaken a deep, intense longing within her. Something that she had fooled herself into thinking that she had been able to suppress.

“This tie is driving me crazy,” Jason grumbled, fidgeting with it.

She smiled. Jason had always been a jeans and T-shirt or warm-ups type of guy. He owned some gorgeous suits that he wore only when absolutely necessary. She stood up and indicated for him to come over so that she could fix it for him.

Even in heels, he still towered over her so he bent slightly as she adjusted the knot of his tie. His hand came to rest on her hip, steadying himself as the other hand leaned on his cane.

“I’ve always thought it was funny how men tied a noose around their necks each day,” she said teasingly as she loosened the knot a bit so that it wasn’t so constricting.

He grinned. “That’s not helping.”

She smiled. “Sorry.” She straightened out the knot and then smoothed his tie before tucking it back inside his suit. And then unable to resist, she ran her fingers through his hair, smoothing it into place. His eyes closed and a small sigh escaped his lips as her fingers combed through the short, but silky soft strands, of his hair. She ignored the tightening in her stomach and focused on taming the errant strands. “There. Perfect.” 

“Thanks,” he said softly, as his eyes met hers.

She offered him a smile and dropped her hands, noticing that they were trembling slightly. To cover up, she patted his tie again. She suddenly felt his warm hand touch her cheek, his thumb slowly trailing down to her lip. Her breath quickened and her heart pounded against her chest. She felt herself get lost in the green depths of his eyes and her hands seemed frozen against his chest. She could feel the taut muscles of his chest and thumping of his heart, much more rapid than normal, beneath her hands. She shivered at the thought that he was as affected by this as she was.

She felt Jason's hand tighten at her hip, pulling her closer and now his scent seemed to envelope her. That clean, manly smell that was all Jason mixed together with the scent of his favorite aftershave. His eyes darkened, turning from lime green to a deep jade. She ached to touch him, to feel the scratchy tickle of his stubble. Her eyes drifted to his mouth, and those full, deep pink lips, those full lips of his that she had kissed a few days ago when she had been half asleep. In her dreams, things were as they should be - they were still together and in love. It was only there that she’d ever allow herself to kiss him.

Except she hadn’t been dreaming.

When their lips had met, the feeling that had shot through her had been very real, too real, and without the haze of half-sleep to help her forget everything, she had panicked. But she wasn’t asleep now, and she wanted to feel that jolt again, craved it. She wanted to kiss him right then and there, even though this wasn’t the time or place.

“Hey.” The sound of Sean’s voice at the door caused them both to jump apart. “You guys ready?”

She looked up at Jason and gave him what she hoped was an encouraging smile. “You’ll do great.”

He inhaled deeply and then nodded. “Let’s do it.”

#

Megan didn’t know when she began to breathe normally again. Probably after the 10th question that Jason expertly fielded. Any concerns that she had had about Jason being able to deal with the press slowly disappeared as he fielded one question after another with that trademark charm of his.

Some things just didn’t change.

It also helped that Jason’s reputation with the press corps as ‘aloof’ seemed to be working for him today. He had always had a distant relationship with the press. He didn’t welcome it and had zealously guarded his privacy. Where he needed to deal with the press, he did so, but in a cool, detached, professional manner. And he had never, ever discussed his personal life. The press knew that and so far, no one was straying from asking him about anything other than baseball, his health or recovery. Which thanks to their extensive prepping, Jason seemed more than capable of handling.

No one questioned it when he didn’t elaborate on answers, because ‘Jason Kincaid’ rarely did. He answered questions and moved on. So the Jason now sitting in front of a packed room full of journalists, photographers, and TV camera crews was just like the ‘old Jason’ as far as anyone could see. No one thought it odd that Jason would answer a question with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and then proceed to the next question. That was how most press conferences or interviews with him usually went.

She could see, standing just off the side of the conference table where Jason sat with Sean, and the top brass of the Mariners, including the general manager, that they were actually pulling off this charade. Jason looked great. His outward confidence, which he hadn’t lost, coupled with that charm of his was winning over the press corps. He was definitively quashing any and all rumors that he had sustained a career-ending injury in the car accident.

“Mr. Kincaid,” a middle-aged reporter called out, directing everyone’s attention to one side of the room. “Before the accident, you had made mention of making some big changes in your life. Could you elaborate on that now?”

She froze. This was the moment she feared. An unanticipated question that Jason was not prepared for. She looked at him anxiously, willing him to reach for his water glass so that Sean could field the question.

Jason paused and then smiled. “I think that the past few months have brought more than a few life-altering changes for me. So for now, I’m going to deal with the status quo.”

There was some nervous chuckling in the room, but the reporter seemed satisfied with the answer. Megan exhaled and nervously checked her watch. Almost 20 minutes had gone by. Would this torture be over soon?

“Jason?” a young reporter held up his hand to get everyone’s attention. “Is it true that you have someone else handling your business affairs?”

Jason nodded.  “Well, Sean here still handles most of my career decisions. He’s a great agent by the way.” Jason paused to smile broadly at Sean who smiled back. “But after the accident, as you know I was incapacitated for a while so I turned over my power of attorney to a trusted friend. Since then, because of my rehabilitation, it’s just been easier to let this person continue to handle those things.” He grinned. “I figure it’s a pretty good deal ‘cause I can just sit at home and play video games while someone else deals with the bills and all that.”

A ripple of laughter traveled through the room before the same reporter continued. “Could we ask you who that trusted friend is?”

“Megan Williams.”

It was disconcerting, hearing her name echoing through the small room. She was pretty sure that no one knew about her engagement to Jason. They hadn’t announced it, and hadn’t planned on announcing it. They were only planning on springing it on the public after they had remarried since marriage certificates were a matter of public record.

It was then that she realized what she, Tyler and Sean had overlooked. Too late, however, because another reporter chimed in,

“Megan Williams?” the reporter stood up, looking both intrigued and confused. “That’s the director of your charitable foundation right?”

For the first time during the press conference, Jason looked confused and glanced at Sean who somehow wordlessly communicated the answer to him. “Yes.”

“Isn’t she also your ex-wife?”

At that instant, it was as if everyone in the room faded away and only she and Jason were left. He stared at her and she couldn’t look away from the confusion, hurt and anger she saw whirling in the intense green of his eyes.

 

CHAPTER SEVEN

 

When Megan looked back on that moment, the one thing she would remember, oddly enough, was being grateful for how small she was. Because if she had been taller than her 5’2”, she wouldn’t have been able to so effectively use the Mariners officials who had been standing off to the side with her to shield herself from the press. As it was, all she had to do was move a little more toward the wall and suddenly, she was surrounded by taller, bigger people. She saw a few pair of eyes look over at her before turning their attention back to Jason.

Jason.

He was no longer looking, actually the more accurate word would be glaring, at her and was now drinking from his water glass. He wasn’t sipping the water, but steadily drinking from it, slowly and deliberately. The silent communication wasn’t lost on her.

Nor Sean, who quickly jumped in.

“As you know, Jason doesn’t talk about his personal life, past or present.” Sean glanced at the Mariners’ general manager who nodded shortly. “O.K. guys, we have to cut this short. Jason is still recovering from the accident.” Sean glanced over at Jason who had drained his glass and was now stonily staring at the press corps. “Thanks everyone.”

Jason stood, grabbed his cane and began to hobble out. His face was impassive, and he calmly ignored questions that were shouted at him as well as the glare of the video cameras and blitzkrieg of flash bulbs. He barely glanced at her as he passed, while Sean gave her a ‘what happened’ look as he followed Jason out of the room. She waited until the group she was standing with filed out and she blended in, hoping to not attract any attention to herself.

Her body was on autopilot because her mind couldn't move beyond the look on Jason's face when that reporter had told him she was his ex-wife. Told him what she should have told him before letting him face the press corps. But she had been too scared, and now things were worse. She cringed, once again conjuring the image of his handsome face as the reporter had innocently asked, 'isn't she also your ex-wife?' Of all the ways for Jason to find out about their early marriage and divorce, that was definitely the worst possible way.

She barely made it into the hall when someone grabbed her and pulled her into one of the nearby assistant coaches’ offices. She had expected it to be Jason and felt oddly relieved to see that it was Sean instead.

“What the hell happened out there?”

“Where’s Jason?” she asked, concerned.

Sean sighed. “He’s in the car.” He rubbed his eyes tiredly. “He’s pissed about something. I thought the conference was going well. . .that it did go well so. . .”

“It’s my fault.”

“What?”

“Jason didn’t know about us,” she said quietly.

“What?” Sean looked at her, confused. “He didn’t know you guys were married?”

She shook her head. “I. . .his doctor said not to overwhelm him with things and I. . .I didn’t know how to tell him so we had a compromise where if he asked I’d tell him but he never asked so I didn’t. And I didn’t think about the press knowing about us because it was so long ago and I just didn’t remember how they had done a profile of him when he was first drafted and they had found our marriage license and divorce papers and you know that was years ago and it-”

BOOK: What Endures
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