Page 8 of Dare to Embrace
I kissed her on the nose as I pinched her nipple. “You know I always find you.”
“Pffft. I let you,” she said, sashaying over to the island.
I chuckled. “We’ll see.” I resumed cooking, cracking the eggs into a bowl.
“I think we should decorate our bedroom while I’m home,” Lacey said. “Don’t we have some pictures stored in the basement?”
I beat the eggs. “I think so.” I really didn’t want to do anything house related. We only had four days, and I wanted her in my arms the entire time.
A phone rang.
I tensed as I tossed a look over my shoulder. Mine was off and in the bedroom.
Her hands disappeared under the counter for a second. When they surfaced, she was tapping on the screen, and her features were pinched. “I’ll be right back.” She hopped off the stool and breezed out of the kitchen before I could question who the fuck was calling at seven in the morning. Or calling at all for that matter.
She was on break from baseball, so it couldn’t be her manager. Maybe someone in my family was hurt and couldn’t get ahold of me. I dismissed that idea. Mom and Dad lived a stone’s throw across the lake. If something had happened, Dad would’ve been at my door if he couldn’t get me on the phone.
I could barely hear Lacey as I busied myself with scrambling the eggs. My hands stopped over the pan when I heard her say “Tara.”
What the fuck does she want?She only called Lacey when she had an opportunity for her or wanted to talk contracts. But her current contract with the Portland Sea Dogs wasn’t up until the following year. My mind spun, remembering a conversation Lacey and I had had before she signed with the Sea Dogs.
“Are you sure you’re okay with me on the road all the time?” she’d asked.
Hell no.I didn’t want her away from me for one fucking second. When she’d gone off to college and I’d stayed behind, those four years had been brutal on me. But I couldn’t deny her something she’d lived and trained for her entire life, and I wouldn’t.
“I want you to live your dream, but I do want kids in the near future,” I’d replied.
She’d beamed up at me. “We’ll start our family when my contract with the Sea Dogs is up. I promise.”
It had been pointless to discuss what-ifs. What if she extended her contract? What if she signed with another team? What if she decided she didn’t want kids until she retired? All those questions had plagued me then and every now and again during the last two years.
Lacey waltzed back in and over to her stool. Her gaze was glued to her phone.
I carried the bowl of scrambled eggs to the island. “What did Tara want?”
Her head shot up. “You heard?” Panic laced her tone.
I gripped the edge of the marble top. “I heard you say Tara.”
She slumped her shoulders as though she were relieved that I’d only heard Tara’s name and not their conversation.
I cocked my head, wondering why the fuck she was so panicked. “Well?”
She shrugged, gnawing on her lip. “It’s nothing.”
I let out a chuckle that wasn’t light or funny. “And you’re lying. Tara is your agent, which means she’s calling you because she has an opportunity for you.”
The doorbell rang.
Neither of us moved as we stared at one another.
I lifted my eyebrows, prodding Lacey to answer me or say something. But she sat there, seemingly perplexed as though she didn’t know what to say.
The bell rang again.
Cursing under my breath, I left Lacey to answer the door. Whoever was standing on the porch had better have a damn good reason for disturbing us at an early hour. I wasn’t in the mood for anyone else’s problems.
Blowing out a breath, I opened the door.
