Playing Catch: A Baseball Romance by Rachelle Ayala

Unbelievable. The man was a favorite with New York fashion models and worth millions, not to mention his family wealth. He couldn’t possibly be saving himself for her, could he?
    Jeanine shook the delicious thought from her mind, despite how it made her tingle. Nope, he had more ulterior motives. She’d set herself up as a challenge, and men like Kirk could never pass by a challenge. He’d have her on his terms.
    Sure, he wanted between her legs. No doubt about it. Coming from her background, she had a sixth sense when it came to men telegraphing their lusts. Every man, except for the gay ones, sized her up and wondered how she’d be in bed.
    It came with the territory of being labeled pretty or fitting into culture’s image of beauty. It also came with a terrible burden. Pretty girls got in trouble early on. Pretty girls never lacked for male attention—and face it, ninety-nine percent of male attention was bad.
    If Kirk “Cocky” Kennedy thought he’d win her over and turn her into a panting puppy dog with hearts in her eyes, he was in for a huge awakening. She could play him and not feel a thing. She wasn’t looking for love, money, fame, or any of the usual feminine desires. She had one big thing over him. He cared whether she’d get rid of him or not. She couldn’t care less if he walked away and never looked back. That was power.
    Yeah, right. So why was she still quivering and frustrated at the almost orgasm he’d teased her with? The douchebag was more into power tripping than she was, but he wasn’t going to win this one. Not if she could help it.
    Jeanine glanced at the clock over the bar and walked over to where Tina was pulling the beer taps. “Marcia’s doing paperwork in the office tonight, in case you need her. Wednesday nights are usually quiet being midweek. Think you can handle it?”
    “No problem at all. You go have some fun.” Tina winked. “I know you haven’t gotten laid ever since I showed up.”
    “Don’t let that bother you. I’m off to Vegas for the evening. Call me if you need anything.”
    “Go, go. Get out of here.” Tina waved her away. It was a slow night and the bar was half empty.
    Before leaving, Jeanine stopped in the tiny office she shared with her business partner.
    Marcia sat on the couch staring at the wall. Everything about her drooped. Her hair was flat and greasy over her forehead, and bags sagged under her eyes.
    “What are you doing here?” Marcia looked up and rubbed both sides of her face with her palms. “Isn’t it your night off?”
    “Are you okay?” Jeanine hurried to the couch and placed a hand on her friend’s slumping shoulders. “You look tired. How much sleep have you been getting?”
    “Not enough. I can’t sleep when the baby’s sleeping.”
    “Why? Aren’t you dog tired?”
    Marcia yawned and nodded slowly. “Exhausted, but whenever I’m home, I feel like I have to watch over him—make sure he’s okay. But when I’m here, it’s like he doesn’t exist. And then I feel guilty about getting away and leaving Junior for Pappy to take care of.”
    “You should go home then. I’ll stick around.” Jeanine rubbed her friend’s back.
    “I can’t do that to you. You haven’t had a day off since Sunday and then you spent it with Bianca and Pappy.”
    “You’re falling apart. Look at you.” Jeanine didn’t want to point out how unkempt her friend was. She looked like she’d slept in her clothes, and her hair was stringy and tangled. “Why isn’t Brock helping? Just because Pappy’s home all the time doesn’t mean Brock should be getting a pass on all this baby work.”
    “He does help. As much as he can.” Tears leaked from Marcia’s eyes and she closed them. “But you know how it is with spring training. Everyone’s on evaluation, even the starting players from last season. Brock’s been screwing up. His concentration’s shot. I feel guilty for the baby keeping him awake.”
    “You shouldn’t. He’s the