Extra Innings and In His Wildest Dreams Read online

  “John Goren.” She gave his arm a playful tap. “I’m twenty-seven years old. I do not have crushes. Besides, I haven’t seen Rob in six years. I want to surprise him is all.”

  “Ah, I see.” He looked a bit sad, certainly disappointed. “So what do you need, Tori?”

  “There’s a good chance the Texas Talons will be calling him back up on September 1. Seeing as my daddy owns the Talons, I can’t imagine Rob would be real keen on being seen with me in public. I thought if you could let me into his room…”

  John groaned.

  “I know.” She rubbed his forearm. “It’s probably against every rule in the book, but you know I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important.”

  He blinked at her flatly.

  “Well, okay, let’s say the new me wouldn’t ask.” She slid an arm around his broad middle. “That’s the God’s honest truth. You’ve got no reason on earth to believe me, but I’m not the girl I was in college. I know you’ll eventually see for yourself now that we’re gonna be able to hang out again. But maybe you could trust me just for now?”

  He snorted. “Crap. You know I can’t refuse you.”

  “Well, good thing you haven’t changed. You’ve been great since day one.” She smiled, and watched him go to the front desk and check something on the computer. Probably Rob’s room number.

  They walked to the elevator in silence, and she absolutely hated that she hadn’t looked him up earlier. That truly was unlike her, or at least had been for the past two years since she’d finally gotten tired of playing the poor little rich girl, and as her father would say, she’d stepped up to the plate.

  Not for his benefit. But for her own.

  When the elevator doors opened on Rob’s floor and they’d stepped out of the car, Tori touched John’s arm. “Maybe after dinner on Wednesday, I could convince you to come see the place I leased and tell me what you think.”

  “Sure thing. I’d like that.” He ruffled her hair. “It’s good to see you, even if you are still a pain in the ass.”

  “Hey.” She ducked and tossed back the long tawny hair that she’d spent some precious time on this afternoon.

  After checking the hallway, John opened the door with his master key. “I hope Perry has a sense of humor. I could get fired for this.”

  “No one will know who let me in. I swear.” She gazed at him for a long fond moment and then kissed his cheek again. “You were always a good friend, John, even when I was a selfish bitch. Thank you for not giving up on me.”

  He smiled. “Wednesday night.”

  “I’ll call on Tuesday.” As soon as he left, Tori quickly shut the door behind her, leaned back on the cool metal and briefly closed her eyes. Dammit, her stomach felt tied in knots. Why was she anxious? She normally wasn’t the nervous type. Except she hadn’t seen Rob for over six years…and that last time had been a doozy. Talk about an embarrassing twenty-first birthday.

  She’d planned her own celebration, knowing all she’d get from her loving father was a big check and an excuse for his absence. At that point in her life she’d stopped being surprised that her parents didn’t give a damn about her. But she’d known with unwavering certainty that Rob Perry had cared.

  He hadn’t disappointed her. She’d done that all by herself by drinking too much champagne and revealing far more about her pathetic life than she’d ever shared with another human being. They’d kissed, an amazing, heart-stopping kiss—and then he’d flat-out refused to sleep with her.

  His rejection had stung worse than an open-handed slap to the face.

  She turned off the overhead entry light, flipped on the bedside lamp, then moved to the window, hoping to see the bus pull up. No sign of it yet. She glanced around the uncluttered room. It was clean and orderly, but far below the standards of a Major League player. She didn’t have to wonder how that was affecting Rob. The man was a damn fine pitcher and had an ego half the size of Texas, and to be reduced to this? It had to be eating away at him.

  Sighing, she checked her watch and then went back to the window. The room was kind of nippy, and it didn’t help that she’d gone with an off-the-shoulder summer dress that had more style than fabric, but she wasn’t about to fiddle with the thermostat. Obviously Rob had it set the way he liked it. Instead she found a cheap terry courtesy robe hanging up in the bathroom and slipped it on, tightening the belt as she went to the window.

  As soon as she saw the bus turn into the parking lot, her jitters got jitters. She stood by the foot of the bed. Then sat on the edge. Got up again. Ran her hand through her hair and practiced a smile. She hadn’t been this anxious since…ever. Thing was, her only agenda was to be here for Rob the way he’d always been there for her. Would he believe it? She had no idea. Given her past behavior, at least the years he’d known her, he had no reason to. But just like with her friend John, she would have to show Rob that she wasn’t that foolish girl anymore.

  She was a woman now, one who cared more about Rob Perry than she liked to admit.

  2

  ROB LET HIMSELF INTO his room and automatically turned on the entry light before noticing that the lamp was on. The maid obviously had forgotten to turn it off. Letting out a quiet groan, he flexed his arm.

  “Aren’t you gonna say hello?”

  Startled, he snapped his attention toward the lilting Southern voice. A woman sat in the dim corner. He made out her honey-colored hair and her long, shapely crossed legs, but her face was in shadow. She had on his terry-cloth robe, stiletto heels and not another stitch, as far as he could see. And that robe was sliding off her bare shoulder.

  “No,” he muttered more to himself than her as he stepped back. “Lady, you’ve got the wrong room.”

  “Sure don’t.”

  “Yes, you do.” He fumbled for the doorknob behind him. She had to be looking for that cocky young pitcher who signed on three months ago. He yanked open the door. “You want Sean Langdon. Two rooms down on the left.”

  “For God’s sake, shut that door,” she said, leaning forward. “You’d better be teasing me, Rob Perry, or I’ll be plenty offended.”

  He frowned, squinting into the dimness. He knew that voice. He knew that attitude even better. “Tori?”

  “Nice save.” She uncrossed her legs and stood, pulling the robe up her shoulder and cinching the belt. “My goodness, you keep it freezing in this room,” she said and walked straight for him.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I was in town and I thought it would be nice to surprise you. Aren’t you happy to see me?”

  “Jesus, you’re in my room.”

  Tori gave him a hesitant smile. “I thought it would be better not to meet you in the lobby.”

  He came to his senses and realized how close she was, then put some distance between them. “How did you get in here? Did anyone see you?”

  “Wow. Six years and that’s all you have to say to me?”

  He snorted. “No—you need to get out of here. Now.”

  “But then someone probably will see me,” she reasoned, grinning when he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

  Man, he really needed to look away. She’d turned into a stunner. All polished and sophisticated with that waist-length, honey-colored hair, smooth tan skin and standing there in those high do-me heels. How could his cock help but react? There was no denying he’d thought about Tori over the years, but for her to show up here? In this Minor League hotel, with his career in the balance? Shit.

  Her expression turned serious. “I saw you flex your arm when you came in. How is it?”

  Dammit, that sobered him even more. “It’s okay. I pitched the last two innings.” He shrugged. She knew enough about the game to draw her own conclusions.

  She nodded pensively, her smoky blue-green eyes slightly troubled. “I would’ve liked to have seen the game this evening but I had this business dinner I had to attend.”

  “Business dinner?”

  She looked irritated at his dry to
ne, but of course he was surprised. Tori and the word business didn’t belong in the same sentence. He’d been with her father’s team for most of his career, and he and Tori had been friends of a sort since she was a rowdy teenager. She’d gotten into every kind of trouble a kid could find. According to the tabloids, college hadn’t tamed her. He wondered if anything could, although she hadn’t been at the center of any noticeable scandals for quite some time.

  But she could be again, if her being in his room got out. He’d almost wrecked his career over Tori six years ago. Not that he blamed her. She’d been depressed and lonely on her twenty-first birthday, and taken solace in too much champagne and the shoulder he’d offered her to cry on. He’d nearly crossed the line that night, which would have been unforgivable.

  “Yes, a business dinner,” she said smugly. “I opened my own interior-design studio last year and I’m opening a second one here.”

  “Congratulations.” He noticed the glint of pride in her eyes and it pleased him that she’d found something constructive to focus on. “I figured you were still living abroad.”

  “Not for a while. It was fun. Paris was amazing for two years, Florence for a while, and then I got homesick. I came back and finished graduate school.”

  “Good for you, Tori.”

  “Yeah, who knew I’d love decorating so much? I started out gussying up homes, but I’ve expanded to high-end offices. I just finished redoing two floors of Daddy’s lawyers’ offices.” She smiled, and tossed back her hair. “They probably felt pressured to hire me, but I don’t care. Lord knows how much money they made off Daddy for keeping me out of juvie or jail.” She laughed, and the robe slipped off her shoulder again.

  His gaze drew to the silky expanse of bare skin, and his mind went straight to a place it shouldn’t. Hell, she hadn’t changed that much. It would be just like her to be naked under that robe just to get him going. As long as he’d known Tori, she’d taken unholy pleasure in teasing him to the limits of his patience.

  “You have anything to drink?” She caught his eye, and he knew immediately that she was up to her old tricks when she said, “It’s getting hot in here.” And then loosened the belt.

  “Oh, no.” He lurched forward and closed his hand over hers.

  “Well, what’s the matter, Rob? Look at you being all skittish.” Her accent had thickened, which meant nothing but trouble. Exactly what he didn’t need. “I’m twenty-seven now, sugar, you don’t have to worry about Daddy or anything else.” The corners of her glossy pink lips lifted slightly. “And I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  His palm was still pressed to her soft hand. He measured six-one, and with those heels on she had to come up on six feet. She didn’t have to tilt her head back far for their gazes to meet. Hard for a man not to lose himself in those sexy blue-green eyes of hers…

  “What do you have on under there?” he asked, annoyed that his voice had lowered, the timbre rough and gravelly.

  “What do you think?” She inched closer, near enough that her exotic perfume momentarily distracted him.

  He should escort her to the door right this second. Truth was, he’d always had a soft spot for Tori, and as they’d both gotten older, that soft spot had turned into a hot, hard want. “Street clothes, I hope.”

  “Do you?” She lowered her gaze to his chin and ran the tip of her finger over the cleft in the center.

  Shaving over the deep indentation was a bitch, and he knew it was stubbly and rough. His thoughts should’ve stopped there. But he wondered if that’s the way she liked it in bed. Rough. Quick and dirty. She gave off that kind of vibe. Or she had six years ago. But at twenty-one, she’d still been a wild child. What had once been insolence in those eyes was now more like determination.

  He snapped through the web she’d begun to weave and stepped away. “I’m serious. You shouldn’t be here.”

  Her hand was still in the air, her finger still poised from touching him. With a sigh, she lowered it to her side. “You can relax,” she said.

  She started to shrug out of the robe, and he bit off an objection when he saw that she wore a black dress underneath. A tiny dress, but it covered all the necessary parts.

  “Admit it.” Grinning, Tori tossed the robe on the bed and slowly moved toward the cheap wood dresser. “You’re just a teensy bit disappointed.”

  Rob tried not to notice how the clingy dress molded to her breasts. In spite of the bare-shoulder thing, he thought she might be wearing a bra, but wasn’t sure. He forced his gaze to a neutral spot—not easy with Tori. “I’m starting to feel sorry for your father.”

  “Wow. That’s low.”

  “First, the incorrigible tomboy stage, then the—”

  “Tomboy?” She planted her hands on her curvy hips. Her hem slid up a dangerous inch. “I’ve never been a tomboy in my life.”

  “Yes, you were when I first started with the Talons.”

  “You are so wrong, son.”

  He smiled at the use of her father’s famous and often quoted phrase. “Don’t you remember how you used to wear your ponytail stuffed up in that cap—”

  “That didn’t make me a tomboy. All my daddy ever wanted was a son instead of me. You really think I would’ve given him the satis—” Her voice had come out in a rush, but she abruptly cut herself short and drew in a deep, shuddering breath. Turning away she flipped her long silky hair over her shoulder. “You still haven’t offered me a drink.”

  Rob had always known about the volatile relationship between Sterling Gallagher and his headstrong daughter. Everyone in baseball knew. But this glimpse of her vulnerability brought back memories of her twenty-first birthday and it made Rob even more edgy. “You’re putting me in a tough spot, Tori. I’m hoping to be called back to the Talons. You being here…” He shook his head. “It’s no good.”

  She spun around. “Oh, come on, Rob. I’m not here to cause trouble. I’m not. I’ve been discreet as all get-out, and I was really excited that we could talk again. It’s been a long time, and well, I’ve missed you.”

  He may not have seen her for years, but he knew she wasn’t lying. Not about all of it, at least. If she’d come a week later, after he’d been called back to the Talons, he’d have welcomed her with open arms. But his future was teetering on the edge, and if her father ever found out…

  Shit.

  “Okay,” he said. “I have a bottle of scotch in the top dresser drawer. Help yourself while I take a quick shower.”

  She smiled, and oh, man, her determination was back in her eyes with a vengeance. Hell, what did she really want from him?

  SHE WATCHED HIM SHOVE a frustrated hand through his short dark hair, then disappear behind the closed bathroom door. Hot damn, he looked good, better than she remembered. And those enigmatic brown eyes still made her heart want to beat out of her chest.

  Tori kicked off her heels and sighed. The urge to flirt and tease Rob was strong. They’d done it for so long, it was pretty much as normal as breathing. Besides, she’d come here with distraction in mind. She hadn’t realized that teasing him would cost her something. She liked this man, liked who he was on and off the field. He’d been good to her, and she wanted to return the favor. But the way he stole her breath, the way he made her ache was more than just a physical reaction.

  Hearing the shower come on made her smile. He’d already showered at the ballpark. Not only had she smelled the pleasant lemony scent of the soap he’d used, but she knew all the players shed their uniforms and showered as soon as they got off the field. Rob probably needed the time away from her.

  She took no offense. She wasn’t stupid. The future of his career was at stake and if she thought for one second anyone could have seen her sneak into his room, she would’ve hit the road and not looked back. She trusted that John wouldn’t say a word, even if his job weren’t on the line.

  Still, she wished it was next week already, and that he’d been called back to the Majors. Everything would have been so much simpler—but
by then, he wouldn’t need a friend. Or a distraction.

  She picked up the robe she’d discarded on the bed and shook it out, wondering if Rob knew she’d always had a thing for him. It wasn’t as though he’d been the only player on her daddy’s team that she had fantasized about. There had been a number of cute boys she’d spied on and dreamed about in her teens. Most of them had been drafted right out of high school so they hadn’t been much older than her.

  But Rob had been different. No matter how much she flirted and baited him, he’d always been a gentleman. He’d never failed to ask how her grades were in school, even when she hated that he did, and he gave her just the right kind of smile when it was clear she and Daddy had been arguing. Again.

  He’d always been a comfort to her and a turn-on at the same time, which she didn’t understand one bit, but there it was. A month before her twenty-first birthday she knew he was going to be the one she’d drink her first glass of champagne with, her first legal glass anyway, and he’d be the only one she’d kiss at midnight. It seemed as if she’d relived that kiss a thousand times. Even though she’d bawled like a baby because he’d later refused to let her in his bed.

  Of course now she came to find out, he’d considered her a tomboy.

  A tomboy. Huh!

  She folded the robe over her arm, decidedly miffed. Just because she hung around the ballpark or liked to keep the hair out of her face did not make her a tomboy. Why, she’d had boyfriends all the way back to the first grade.

  She was about to set the robe on the dresser when she suddenly had a much better idea. After stopping at the mirror and making sure her lip gloss was still intact, she knocked at the bathroom door. The shower was going strong and she had no idea if he’d even heard her when she opened the door and stepped inside. Hello, distraction.

  “Rob?”

  He pulled back the opaque vinyl curtain and stared at her in disbelief. “Christ, Tori, what are you doing?”

  Dammit, she couldn’t see anything, only his face and one muscled shoulder. She held up the robe and sauntered toward him. “I thought you might need this.”