But he didn’t catch a break. She was gone when he came out of the shower, whether out on a run or doing something else, he couldn’t be certain. She was avoiding him, and he felt like he was chasing smoke.

But then he reminded himself that he had all the time in the world, and plenty of patience.

He had a feeling he would need both.

Chapter 16

She had been grateful to escape when Nikki called, asking her to meet for coffee. As she entered the PR woman’s office, the dark-haired woman hung up the phone and indicated a seat.

“Hey, Jess. Thanks for stopping by. I have some press releases to run by you, but also wanted to invite you for cocktails later. A couple of gal pals and I are planning a bridal shower for Darcy. Thought you might want to get in on the fun.”

“Cocktails? Oh, I’m in.” Jessica took the chair, pleased to discover she’d made a friend.

“I knew I liked you,” Nikki said, extracting a menu from one of her files. “We were thinking to have it at a restaurant nearby. We could have happy hour snacks, some wine and cheese—you know, the good stuff.”

“You mean no punch bowl floating with ice cream, or stupid games where you put balloons between your legs?”

“Oh God no.” Nikki shuddered visibly. “In fact, we were thinking of a Chippendales-type thing. Which is so not Darcy that it is guaranteed to be funny.”

Jessica had to laugh, beginning to relax for the first time all day. It felt good.

“And for gifts, we will do all the traditional registry stuff. But we were also thinking of some racy presents. You know, garter belts, thongs…that sort of thing.”

“I love it,” Jessica said, refusing to let her mind go there. Garter belts and thongs were a little too hard to think about after her encounter with Gavin. “I don’t know her well, but heard she’s a little shy. Of course you know she will be mortified.”

“She’ll get over it.” Nikki smirked. “After all, she is marrying our ace pitcher. And it’s not like she needs a Crock-Pot or something. Chase can afford whatever she wants.”

“I love Crock-Pots.”

“Me too, although I’m a lousy cook.”

“I’m actually pretty good and make a mean roast pork in the slow cooker. Maybe you and Jake can come over sometime in the fall—we can have Oktoberfest, with good beers and good food.”

“I’d love that. But we can’t talk as if the Sonics won’t have a post-season. We are all really counting on Gavin, that he’ll get well and give us the offense we need.”

“I know. I’m trying not to put any pressure on him, let him recover the way his body wants to. But I’m hoping the same thing.”

“Speaking of Gavin, I have a press kit ready to go. Do you mind taking a look at it, to make sure everything is appropriate and accurate?”

“Sure. When do you need it?”

“If you could get it back to me by Friday, that would be great.”

“Perfect.” She took the file with her, putting it in her car to review later, when everything was quiet. Now, she needed to run, to get rid of the emotion that had her all twisted up.

She already had on her running shoes, and fortunately the ballpark was empty. Not surprising: the game was a late one, and wouldn’t start until eight o’clock. So she had the place to herself, and plenty of time to jog.

She’d barely gotten started when she decided to call her brother Logan. She wanted to talk, but Rory would have realized right away that something was wrong. And while she adored Logan also, he was more self-involved and less likely to notice that his sister was a basket case.

“Hey, it’s me.” She got the words out in hushed breaths as she began to pick up her pace.

“Hey, me,” Logan responded in his usual laconic style. “What’s going on, baby girl?”

“I’m not your baby girl,” Jessica huffed. She hated it when he called her that, which only made him do it more. “I just thought I’d check in. Haven’t talked to you in a while.”

“Bull,” he said, and she had to laugh. She could almost see him sitting on his fabulous balcony in Italy, enjoying a cold one and watching the sunset. “Now why don’t you tell me why you really called. I hope it’s not about that asshole Sack.”

“Do you mean Zach?”

“Nope. I mean Sack. As in sack-of-shit. Rory told me he was coming to Trenton.”

“Nice.” She ran faster. “So you were all discussing me as some kind of romantic loser?”

“Nope. We just didn’t want you upset by him. He didn’t do anything, did he? Because if he did, I’ve got no problem showing up in New Jersey tomorrow and beating the crap out of him. I haven’t been home in a while and Mom would be thrilled to see me.”

She knew she shouldn’t want that to make her feel better, but it did. Somehow, just knowing her brothers had her back helped, even though she was more than capable of handling her own problems.

And maybe one day, they’d learn that.

“That’s really sweet of you, but no, it’s okay. He did try to make a move on me, saying he wanted me back, but I told him to go to hell. In so many words.”

“Bastard. I knew it. So did Rory. Thank God you didn’t fall for it. He probably wanted to know he could have you again. Then he would be off to Cleveland with his actress, his ego totally supersized by knowing he had scored with you. Dickhead.”

It was nerve-racking to hear her brother spell out exactly what she had suspected. But on the other hand, it was empowering. He was sharing the male code, telling her what was said in the locker room so that she wouldn’t be a prize idiot.

Too late. But wrong guy.

“I appreciate that, but I am absolutely not interested in Zach anymore. At all. Seeing him again only reinforced that.”

“Glad to hear it. So who is it?”

She could have bitten her tongue, aware that she had given herself away. But she was surprised by his concern. Normally when he called her, it was a running monologue about what was going on in his life. The soccer games. The countries. The girls. He’d had to move to Europe as a teenager if he wanted to seriously compete, and it had been difficult for him to adjust. He’d been lonely, frustrated, and homesick. But it was all part of the game.

And now he was amazingly successful. So it was doubly odd that he was so tuned into what was going on with her. But then she realized why: he’d been speaking to Rory.

“Nothing. I just wanted to talk for a while. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nada.” She heard him take a gulp of the beer. “So I hear you are rehabbing that new guy, what’s his name? The big hitter?”

“Gavin.” She didn’t like the way this conversation was heading, but couldn’t think of a way to change the subject without being obvious.

“So how’s it going?”

“Fine. He’s coming along.”

“It’s him, isn’t it?”

She was back at the beginning of the track and felt the flare of irritation ignite once more. “Why would you assume—”

“That you would be interested in a guy that the rags call the sexiest guy in baseball? Gee, I don’t know. Why would I think any such thing?”

She had to laugh. Not only was he dead right, but it was funny. “Okay, you’ve got me. Yeah, I like him. But his last girlfriend was a swimsuit model.”

“Let me tell you something, Jess.” She could hear the annoyance in his voice. “You are worth one hundred million swimsuit models. You have a heart of gold, and will make the right guy really happy. I just don’t want to see you fall for a line, another guy just looking for bragging rights.”

“He’s not like that. He seems pretty decent for a ballplayer.” She wasn’t sure why she felt compelled to defend Gavin, but she did. “He has been a gentleman.”

Except when I jumped his bones…