Be My Baby Tonight by Kasey Michaels Page B

two reporters. She
decided she might feel safer on the other side of the double doors
she and Tim had come in through earlier, and headed for them
now.
    She should have kept still, kept playing at
being invisible.
    “Hey, miss?”
    Suzanna stopped, but kept her back
turned.
    “Excuse me, but are you the gal who came in
here with Trehan?”
    Keeping her back turned, she shook her head.
“No, I’m only her twin sister.”
    And then she took off, not quite running, for
the door marked Women that she’d passed on her way to Sam’s
office.
    Once safe inside her sanctuary, Suzanna
walked over to the sink, washed her hands as she stared at herself
in the mirror.
    Hot babe?
    That was nice. Very nice.
    But what was this business about a curse?
    * * *
    “Well, that’s one down, babe,” Tim said as he
took hold of Suzanna’s elbow and led her toward an elevator tucked
deep inside the stadium. “Sam’s fine now.”
    “Poor man. Is that vein in his nose still
throbbing?” she asked as she stepped inside the elevator and waited
for whatever came next.
    Good old Suze. She just went with the flow.
No muss, no fuss, no hassle.
    “Just a little,” Tim told her, grinning, as
the doors closed and the elevator car started up. “But now I’ve got
two minutes to get you upstairs to my private box, and get back
down to the clubhouse, change, and get out on the field. There’s a
rumor going around that I’m dead, you know. Guess somebody missed
the bulletin about us running in here.”
    “Do you think Jack and his wife will be there
yet? In your private box.”
    He looked at his wristwatch, shook his head.
“No, not yet. Keely will want to wait until Candy’s gone to sleep
before leaving her with Aunt Sadie. I figure they’ll be here by the
bottom of the second. But Mort will be there.”
    “Oh.”
    Tim looked at her quizzically. “What ‘oh,’
Suze? What’s the matter, babe? You’re not afraid of the big bad
Mort, are you?”
    “No, of course not. But he’s going to have
questions, isn’t he?”
    The elevator stopped, and Tim bounced on the
balls of his feet, waiting for the doors to open. “Only about six
dozen. You can handle him. I mean it, he’s a big pussycat.”
    “An example,” Suzanna said, stepping out into
yet another hallway. “Give me an example.”
    Tim grinned. “Okay. Mr. Bendix.”
    “Benny the Bear?”
    “You got it. Algebra two, tenth grade.
Remember him?”
    Suzanna nodded. “Growled like a bear, but he
was always fair. If you worked hard, he gave you credit for
trying.”
    “And he was a sucker for compliments,
remember? Jack once got the class out of a pop quiz just by
complimenting Benny on his new tie.”
    “Your brother was shameless,” Suzanna said as
they walked along the hallway, toward Tim’s private box. “His tie,
his new sports coat. One time, I remember, he told him he liked his
crew cut.”
    “He probably did.”
    “Are you kidding? The man looked like he’d
been attacked by a table saw.”
    “Just remember,” Tim said, opening the door
to the box, “Mort loves compliments. He can be in the middle of one
of his rants, and a compliment brings back the sunshine.
Honest.”
    Suzanna nodded, then motioned for him to
precede her into the box.
    “Mort, hi!” he said as his agent scrambled
out of his seat and headed toward them. “You look great. Is that a
new jacket?”
    “Blow it out your ear, Tim,” Mort shot right
back at him. “Where the hell have you been?”
    “I see what you mean, Tim,” Suzanna said from
slightly behind him. “Works like a charm.”
    “Mort,” Tim pressed on, knowing he should
already be on his way back down to the clubhouse, “keep a lid on it
for a moment, okay? I want to introduce you to my wife, Suzanna
Trent Trehan.” He hesitated a moment, then added, “Be nice, Mort.
She’s on our side.”
    “Mrs. Trehan,” Mort said, extending his hand,
which Suzanna took.
    “Please, call me Suzanna.”
    “Suzanna. I like that. Good