Page 55 of Sweet Spot

“Officially? Since Friday.”

Olivia’s eyes narrowed. She was really very pretty. Dark hair, dark eyes, amazing skin. “And unofficially?”

I licked my lips and looked to the ceiling, wondering how much was too much. I technically didn’t know these women and therefore didn’t owe them anything. But on the other hand, I really liked Eve and felt we had a potential friendship ahead of us. And if Isaac and I became a real, long-lasting thing, then Olivia would undoubtedly be part of my life too.

I came clean. “Isaac and I met the night before I took this job.” You would have thought I just confessed to being royalty the way the two of them gasped and looked at each other wide-eyed. “Nothing happened. Just a lot of flirting.”

“Oh my god,” Olivia murmured, “you’re who he’s been mooning over. He’s been a lovesick puppy all month!”

Isaac was a lovesick puppy? I should be ashamed by how happy that made me, but I wasn’t. Not even a little bit. I loved it. “I wanted to keep things professional so it wouldn’t interfere with my credibility.”

“You tortured him,” Eve said, shaking her head, “that’s always a recipe for hot sex.”

My jaw dropped. That kind of talk at work was so…not what I was used to.

“What?” Eve shrugged. “If you stick around you’re going to have to get used to the fact that we’re at work but we also basically live with each other most of the year. It blurs things and I have no filter.”

She would get along so well with Mei and Jeri. Plus, she was right. The sex was hot. The first night was an explosion, but then last night…whew. Let’s just say low and slow was very good too.

“She’s right,” Olivia said. “I resisted it at first, but the reality is, this is one giant family. You can try to keep secrets but it won’t last. They always figure it out.”

“Besides, you’re in now. Everyone loves you and wouldn’t think anything of you and Isaac dating. It would probably boost morale. Everyone here loves love.”

“I don’t know if marketing would like it. They’re making a killing with him being single,” I said out loud even though I was thinking through it.

Eve placed a hand on my shoulder. “You work too much. Let’s just celebrate the fact you aren’t going anywhere. Welcome to the family!” I got yanked into a fierce hug that took my breath away.

Olivia was much gentler. “Now, go back in there and give those kids a second round of ice cream. You’ll cement yourself as the ice cream lady in Rosie and Linc’s hearts and minds.”

Normally I was in control of my life, but ever since I met Isaac, I seemed to be lost on a tide, getting tossed from one wave to the next, drifting further out to sea. Not only did I accidentally meet his family, but now I was on the team plane, going with them to Chicago for the week. It wasn’t my plan. I had meetings set with the front office. A quiet week without any home games to catch up on office dynamics and smooth any lingering wrinkles.

Instead, Eli ordered me to go with the team. Apparently there was some friction somewhere on the coaching staff and no one would talk about it. I spent the flight with Liam, the mental health coach. At the hotel I was put in the room beside June, Eve’s sister and team trainer. So I chatted with her as we walked downstairs to the buses. We rode over together and then parted ways at the stadium. I observed batting practice, the bullpen, and the dugout during the game.

I didn’t see any problems, but I had five more days to ferret out the issues. The whole bus ride back to the hotel I felt his eyes on me. I didn’t dare turn around. If I did I would melt and everyone would know we were seeing each other. And while I was getting closer to accepting the fact that our relationship status would eventually get out, this week was not the week for it. The coaches would see me as Isaac’s girlfriend and I’d never figure out what the problem was.

But whether I looked or not, knowing he was watching me, wanting me, that was enough to get me hot and bothered.

“You okay?” June asked. She looked exactly like Eve except blonde.

“Oh I’m fine. Just thinking.”

“Hmmm. I don’t usually blush when I’m thinking.” She leaned close and whispered, “Unless you’re thinking about how Isaac is staring a hole through your seat?”

Eve must have told her. Of course she did. Sisters shared gossip like this. “Is it obvious?” I whispered back.

“Only to those of us who are in the know. Everett is definitely watching Isaac watch you. And I’m watching both of them. Everyone else has their headphones on, is asleep, or talking.”

“What about Gordo?”

She glanced back again. “No. He’s sitting with Rhett. They seem to be in a deep discussion about something. It’s probably taking them three times as long to get through it though since Rhett says fuck every other word.”

I laughed. “Well at least he’s distracted.”

“Trust me, I understand wanting your privacy.” June frowned.

When news broke that she married Roman St. James it brought down a storm of paparazzi, not to mention shock from her own family. For a brief moment in baseball history, all anyone could talk about was how incredible it was that June Daniels grew up to marry the son of her father’s mortal enemy, Roman St. James. They became American royalty against their will. But they ignored it, and after a while, they slowly got their lives and privacy back.

“But,” she said, surprising the hell out of me, “you really don’t have to worry about these guys. They won’t bother you or give you a hard time.”

---