Page 32 of The Strike Zone

There had to be over a hundred people, and I could swear I’d not seen any of them before in my life.

“Is this just the social media team?”

“No, this is the whole communications and marketing departments.” She nodded over to the corner, where a life-sized cardboard cutout of Jupiter Reeves stood, holding onto a Gatorade. Someone had drawn a curly mustache and glasses on it. “My desk is this way, where the social team sits.”

Not one person looked up at us as I followed her in silence, walking past several banks of desks and over toward a wall of glass overlooking the entire stadium and field.

“Hey, cool view!” I marched over to the window. “You can see everything from up here. The batting cages, the bullpen…”

“Yeah, we can watch the game and work,” she replied as she stopped at the desks next to where I was standing and dropped her things onto it. “This is me. Thanks for the help.”

“You’re welcome,” I replied, my eyes still fixed on the view, where I’d be heading shortly. Usually at practice we were too busy focusing to think about anyone watching from the front office. There were always people wandering around—grounds staff, PTs, not to mention the occasional VIP who got backstage access with one of the execs. We learned to block it out.

It never occurred to me that Scout could be one of those people.

I kind of liked the idea that she was. Liked it a lot.

I placed down everything I’d carried for her as two chairs on the other side of her desk immediately swizzled around to reveal the guys who’d been on the entrance door yesterday.

Their mouths dropped open.

I nodded over to them. “Hey, guys.”

“Hey, Parker,” they echoed each other, staring at me in a way I always found unnerving, no matter how much I experienced it. “Good luck today.”

“Thanks.” I smiled and turned back to Scout. “I should go.”

“Yeah, of course, thanks again.” She shuffled a little, glancing down at her feet, at the pale blue Chucks she was wearing, then at her backpack and her laptop. “Good luck today.”

She was looking at anything but me. I should have found it weird, except from the way she was worrying at her lip, it was clear her nonchalance was all an act in front of her audience of two interns, plus anyone else watching.

“Anytime.” I took a step back with a quiet chuckle, wondering how far I would get before she gave in. “See you on the plane, Davison.”

Scout’s head shot up, her blue eyes flaring wide, eyelashes batting against her high cheekbones before she turned away with a flick of blonde hair. It wasn’t quick enough for me to miss the smile growing on her face, however.

Yeah, this girl definitely liked me.

Operation Strike Zone was underway, or would be as soon as I came up with a better name.

EIGHT

SCOUT

Alice: Have you seen him yet?

Scout: Seen who?

Alice: Your new boyfriend?

Scout: What are you talking about?

Alice: *eye roll emoji* Parker King, who else would I be talking about?

Scout: I don’t know what you’re talking about half the time

Scout: But no

Scout: And he’s not my anything

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