Worth the Trade. Kristina Mathews

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ to acclimate to the city, the clubhouse, or the contours of the outfield. A week ago, he’d been looking forward to Marco Santiago bobblehead night at his old stadium. Now he was sporting a new uniform, a new number, and a new set of expectations.

      Besides, she’d acquired him for his defense as much as anything else. He was fearless in the outfield. Making impossible plays look routine. And routine plays spectacular. He’d just saved them two runs. That was worth plenty in her book. They would have needed to score three if he hadn’t made that catch.

      In his first at bat, Marco hit a soft line drive that squirted past the second baseman into the outfield. Baxter scored from third base and the Goliaths took a one to nothing lead. Hunter breathed a sigh of relief as Marco recorded his first official hit and his first RBI since the trade. She started to relax. He was settling in. Showing signs of the player she’d put her faith, and several million dollars, into.

      She watched him standing on first base. He glanced over at her usual seat behind home plate, and shook his head. He then lifted his gaze up to the suite level where she now sat. Even though he couldn’t possibly have picked her out of the crowd, she felt the connection. Those damn blue eyes that haunted her dreams. Made her feel naked when he looked at her. And made her want to be naked. With him.

      The next batter struck out and she watched Marco trot back to the dugout. He grabbed his glove and hustled to the outfield, ready to play. She watched him cover the large expanse of left field. He would shift his body at the crack of the bat. Somehow he knew which direction the ball would go before it left the bat. Instinct.

      She had that kind of instinct when it came to her players.

      Usually.

      She watched Marco make several routine and not-so-routine plays. Her gut feeling about his defense was spot on. She hoped her faith in his batting would play out eventually.

      But when he got to the plate in his next at-bat, he hit the ball hard, right into the glove of the diving center-fielder. On his next trip to the plate, his frustration showed. He hit a weak grounder to third. He shook his head as he walked back to the dugout. This time, he didn’t look up.

      “Your boy toy is turning out to be a bust already.” Clayton slunk into the seat next to her. He leaned back, stretching his legs as if he owned the place. Right. He had a thirty percent share of ownership. He was her business partner, but he saw her more as competition. He’d been threatened by the players’ loyalty to her father and now her.

      And he wanted her position as president and managing partner. Vice president wasn’t enough for him. She wasn’t sure if he wanted more power or if he wanted to be more powerful than her. Some men couldn’t handle a woman who knew more than they did. He’d expected her to be a spoiled little rich girl, only interested in her daddy’s money to keep herself in designer shoes and spa treatments. Instead, he’d been shown up by her business savvy and determination to improve the team.

      “And we gave up a hot pitching prospect to get him.” He didn’t like the fact that she couldn’t be pushed around. That she knew more about the game than he did, and a lot more about the players, both on her team and around the league. He only cared about numbers, statistics, and name recognition. She sometimes wondered if he chose players based more on jersey sales over actual production on the field.

      “Marco Santiago will come through for us.” She hoped. No, she truly believed in him. “I’m sure of it.”

      “Oh really?” Clayton leaned toward her, the Scotch on his breath making her a little nauseated. His wife, Annabelle, had left after the third inning to get the girls ready for bed. “You want to bet on it?”

      “What would you like to wager?” She hated that he could bait her so easily, but she couldn’t let him think she was intimidated by him. Or that she had any doubts about her choice. “A hundred bucks?”

      “No. Not cash. I’ve got plenty of that.” He gave her a patronizing laugh. “But I’d be more than willing to wager, say five percent.”

      “Five percent?” If she won, that would give her more of an advantage when it came to negotiations. Dempsey trusted her and usually went along with her decisions, but it would be nice to have the added leverage over Clayton. “And just how would we measure Santiago’s contribution?”

      Would he have to lead the league in RBIs? Batting average? He’d already been named an all-star. Just not for their team. But there was only one thing she wanted from Marco. From her team.

      “MVP?” Clayton suggested.

      She laughed. No one had ever won the most valuable player award after being traded. She wasn’t going to fall for a sucker bet.

      “Nice try. It would be quite an accomplishment, but not likely enough to give up a percentage of my team.” She narrowed her gaze. “I want something more. I want the division. I think Santiago will help us get there.”

      “L.A. has picked up several big names.” He was still pouting about losing out on one of the megastar free agents last winter. Even though he hadn’t quite justified his enormous salary. “It’s going to be tough to win the division outright.”

      “But it can be done.” She folded her arms across her chest. She couldn’t back down. For one thing, her partner didn’t know shit about what it took to put together a winning team. But more importantly, she had absolute faith in her new left fielder. He would contribute to the team’s ultimate success. “Marco Santiago is the key. I would bet five percent, no make it ten, that the Goliaths will make it to the postseason.”

      “The division title. Not a wild card berth?” He gave her a shit-eating grin. “That sounds like a definitive measurement.”

      “Looks like we have a deal.” She leaned across the armrest and shook on it. She got a shiver down her spine at the contact. But it wasn’t the good kind of shiver. Not at all like the kind of tingling she felt when she touched Marco.

      That kind of tingling must have short-circuited her brain. She’d just bet ten percent of her team—her legacy—on a player who didn’t want to be there in the first place. A man who was more interested in hitting on her than hitting a baseball.

      What could possibly go wrong?

      Maybe she wasn’t ready to run the team. No. She was ready. She’d been doing it long enough. Marco Santiago was a good acquisition. He was a good player and once he had a chance to settle in with the team, he could be a great player. One she could count on. What she hadn’t counted on was the crazy attraction between them. It had thrown her off her game, but she’d shake it off. She had to.

       Chapter 3

      After his last at bat, Marco glanced over at the empty seat behind home plate. Even without her sitting there, he still felt the overpowering presence of Hunter Collins. He wanted her. Wanted her more than was good for him. Or the team.

      The Goliaths had a six game road trip coming up. He was already packed, ready to head straight for the airport after the game. He hoped getting away for a few days would give him the space he needed to get his head on right. To work out the flaw in his swing. Yeah, sure, the flaw was in his swing. In the swing of his head toward Hunter’s seat. Then up toward the booth, where he imagined the owner’s box was located.

      A road trip was just what he needed to clear his head. To get back in the game. And every other cliché guys like him used СКАЧАТЬ