In It to Win It by Morgan Kearns
Authors: Morgan Kearns
couldn’t put her finger on. But something bugged her. Something … just not right.
Grayson was leaned back against the pillows with his arms behind his head. His biceps were sexily flexed. His brow was quirked and his smile promised all kinds of intimate acts. His eyes were looking directly into the lens of the camera. So … he knew he was being photographed. What an idiot!
This wasn’t like the time that she had been with him. Neither of them had known then. They certainly wouldn’t have posed for the picture on purpose. Jane couldn’t imagine that Grayson would be so stupid as to pose for this picture, knowing full-well it would end up on the cover of a tabloid.
Unless …
Would he cast himself in a bad light to draw attention away from the pictures of her?
“ In the interview,” one of the sportscasters continued, “the prostitute says he asked her to call him ‘master.”
The three men laughed and Jane cringed. Another of the men, still chuckling, said, “He’s a little full of himself, isn’t he?”
Jane turned off the television. She didn’t want to know any more about the story. She didn’t want to know any more about Grayson. She knew all she needed to; Grayson Pierce was not the man for her—no matter what her heart kept trying to tell her.
“ PUT A STOP TO IT, KEVIN!” GRAYSON YELLED into the phone. “I don’t care what kind of favors you have to call in. But you need to fix this!”
“ I did say that I wanted you to get publicity, I just didn’t think you’d go that far.” Kevin’s laughter gave Grayson a pretty good idea that his agent wasn’t taking the situation seriously, and that made Grayson’s anger spike.
“ Fix this, Kevin,” Grayson snarled, low and deadly serious. “I don’t want to see this anywhere.”
What would Jane think?
He knew exactly what she’d think.
She’d think he was a womanizing jerk who requested his women call him ‘master’. His fingers rubbed circles on his forehead and his teeth ground together.
“ I want this fixed.”
Kevin sighed through muffled laughter. “Okay, I’ll see what I can do. But I can’t see how this is necessarily a bad thing. I mean, the media loves when you’re bad. They’ve nicknamed you the ‘bad boy of baseball’. I love it.”
“ Yeah, well, I hate it. I’ve told you before I don’t want to be bad.” Grayson used his hand to rake through his hair. If he didn’t stop he was going to end up bald. He picked up the bottle of Mylanta and guzzled.
“ But you do it so well,” Kevin said through another bout of unrestrained laughter.
“ I pay you a lot of money to take care of shit like this, Kevin. Make it go away.”
“ I’ll do my best, Master .”
Kevin’s sense of humor was not humorous and Grayson couldn’t even voice a farewell. Instead, Grayson hauled back and launched the phone into the wall. It splintered into pieces of plastic and electronic crap. He shook his head. He was known for the tight rein he kept on his temper.
Yet another sign that he was losing it.
“ Totally losing it,” he grumbled, pulling out the broom.
JANE AND MOLLY PARKED IN THE DRIVEWAY of the Spencer home and began to unpack the back of Molly’s pink and black Smart Car. With arms full of bags and boxes they waddled to the porch. Molly used a toe to knock on the door.
The door opened a bit and a little boy’s face appeared in the crack. “Who are you?”
“ Is your mommy here?”
“ Mom!” he screamed, slamming the door. His muffled voice said, “Someone wants you at the door.”
The door flew open again and Kate looked embarrassed, even if her son didn’t. He stared up at them with big brown eyes focused on the stuff in their arms. His skin was brown and his hair was black. His face was rounded with baby fat. He wore khaki pants, a denim shirt and brown shoes and belt. He looked like a miniature man.
“ Jesse,” Kate said, “please say hello to my friends. This is Jane and
Grayson was leaned back against the pillows with his arms behind his head. His biceps were sexily flexed. His brow was quirked and his smile promised all kinds of intimate acts. His eyes were looking directly into the lens of the camera. So … he knew he was being photographed. What an idiot!
This wasn’t like the time that she had been with him. Neither of them had known then. They certainly wouldn’t have posed for the picture on purpose. Jane couldn’t imagine that Grayson would be so stupid as to pose for this picture, knowing full-well it would end up on the cover of a tabloid.
Unless …
Would he cast himself in a bad light to draw attention away from the pictures of her?
“ In the interview,” one of the sportscasters continued, “the prostitute says he asked her to call him ‘master.”
The three men laughed and Jane cringed. Another of the men, still chuckling, said, “He’s a little full of himself, isn’t he?”
Jane turned off the television. She didn’t want to know any more about the story. She didn’t want to know any more about Grayson. She knew all she needed to; Grayson Pierce was not the man for her—no matter what her heart kept trying to tell her.
“ PUT A STOP TO IT, KEVIN!” GRAYSON YELLED into the phone. “I don’t care what kind of favors you have to call in. But you need to fix this!”
“ I did say that I wanted you to get publicity, I just didn’t think you’d go that far.” Kevin’s laughter gave Grayson a pretty good idea that his agent wasn’t taking the situation seriously, and that made Grayson’s anger spike.
“ Fix this, Kevin,” Grayson snarled, low and deadly serious. “I don’t want to see this anywhere.”
What would Jane think?
He knew exactly what she’d think.
She’d think he was a womanizing jerk who requested his women call him ‘master’. His fingers rubbed circles on his forehead and his teeth ground together.
“ I want this fixed.”
Kevin sighed through muffled laughter. “Okay, I’ll see what I can do. But I can’t see how this is necessarily a bad thing. I mean, the media loves when you’re bad. They’ve nicknamed you the ‘bad boy of baseball’. I love it.”
“ Yeah, well, I hate it. I’ve told you before I don’t want to be bad.” Grayson used his hand to rake through his hair. If he didn’t stop he was going to end up bald. He picked up the bottle of Mylanta and guzzled.
“ But you do it so well,” Kevin said through another bout of unrestrained laughter.
“ I pay you a lot of money to take care of shit like this, Kevin. Make it go away.”
“ I’ll do my best, Master .”
Kevin’s sense of humor was not humorous and Grayson couldn’t even voice a farewell. Instead, Grayson hauled back and launched the phone into the wall. It splintered into pieces of plastic and electronic crap. He shook his head. He was known for the tight rein he kept on his temper.
Yet another sign that he was losing it.
“ Totally losing it,” he grumbled, pulling out the broom.
JANE AND MOLLY PARKED IN THE DRIVEWAY of the Spencer home and began to unpack the back of Molly’s pink and black Smart Car. With arms full of bags and boxes they waddled to the porch. Molly used a toe to knock on the door.
The door opened a bit and a little boy’s face appeared in the crack. “Who are you?”
“ Is your mommy here?”
“ Mom!” he screamed, slamming the door. His muffled voice said, “Someone wants you at the door.”
The door flew open again and Kate looked embarrassed, even if her son didn’t. He stared up at them with big brown eyes focused on the stuff in their arms. His skin was brown and his hair was black. His face was rounded with baby fat. He wore khaki pants, a denim shirt and brown shoes and belt. He looked like a miniature man.
“ Jesse,” Kate said, “please say hello to my friends. This is Jane and