The Ace Read online

  “Stop, Maddie.” Karen sat up and slouched forward on her knees. “Stop trying to find Mr. Right and stop trying to get me to settle down.”

  “I want you to be happy!”

  “I know you do, but you can’t force it.” She swung around and laid her head in her friend’s lap. “Just let me be me. You know the whole commitment thing isn’t in my blood.”

  “It was...when you were with Brian,” she said quietly.

  Karen narrowed her eyes at her. “I’m not a settle-down-and-get-married type of gal. Anymore,” she added with emphasis before her friend brought up the past again.

  “Fine,” said Maddie, groaning in frustration. “You’ll never know what you’re missing then. I know there’s a man out there who’s perfect for you and you’re going to walk right by him because you’re too stupidly stubborn and thick-headed to know what’s right for you.”

  Karen ignored her and steered their conversation toward a topic she knew Maddie couldn’t resist. “Speaking of perfect, how’s Chase?”

  The mention of her fiancé never failed to make Maddie flush a pretty shade of pink. “He’s wonderful. They come home in a few days before Opening Day early next week.”

  “I’m sure he was eager to get back to things after the way last season ended.” The Rockets had made it into the playoffs only to lose in the first round. During the last game of a best-of-five series, an opposing player had taken Chase deep into the stands for a home run late in the game. The Rockets hadn’t been able to recover and had lost by that one measly run.

  “Yeah, he was. All winter he blamed himself and I think he really wants to prove to everyone he has what it takes to be a starting pitcher again. I told him that’s ridiculous, that everyone knows what a great pitcher he is. Even Jerry told him the same thing, it was only one game and no one is going to think he doesn’t deserve to be in the starting rotation because of it, but of course, Chase thinks he has to continue to justify himself.”

  Jerry Smutton, the Ace pitcher of the squad, was Karen’s favorite Rockets player and a fabulous model of the male species, in her humble opinion. She stopped herself from pouncing on the mention of his name and turned her mind back to Chase and Maddie. “It’s the competitor in them. Athletes always want to redeem themselves.”

  “I know, I know. It just gets heavy sometimes.” Maddie looked around the place with longing, her eyes falling on the traces of Chase that remained in his absence, like the pair of size twelve flip-flops sitting by the front door. “But now it’s just lonely around here without him. Like something’s missing.” She stopped and cocked her head, considering. “It’s funny that it feels this way since it was only Bree and me for so long. You’d think I’d be used to it.”

  Hearing the sadness in her voice, Karen squeezed her hand. “He’ll be back before you know it.”

  “I just miss him so much.” She sighed as she glanced at the picture of the two of them with Bree, smiling back at her from the top shelf of the entertainment center. “Bree doesn’t know how to play by herself anymore, he’s spoiled her rotten.”

  Karen sat up, determined to shake off the sudden gloom that had overcome her friend. “Then let’s get your mind off of it. Let’s talk about your wedding. When are we going to shop for your dress?”

  Maddie’s green eyes brightened and excitement lit up her face as she told Karen about the perfect sleeveless gown she’d seen in a photo. Karen smiled as her friend got up to go looking for the magazine in the kitchen.

  As much as Karen didn’t want to admit it, Maddie was right. She had once been exactly that type of girl who wanted to experience the thrill of true love, of planning the wedding of her dreams, and of marrying her prince in shining armor.

  Senior year of college, she had just about marched down the aisle with Brian until he turned out to be a class-A jerk. Karen knew she’d let Brian get the best of her, but no matter how hard she tried to move past all of the hurt and anger, for some reason, she couldn’t. It irritated her, sometimes made her angry, especially when she thought about everything she was missing, but she refused to experience that level of pain ever again. If she took it out on other men, oh, well, it was their fault for being born with penises.

  Brian’s deceit, combined with her father’s desertion of her mother when Karen was young, didn’t paint a particularly stellar picture of men, and Karen was a changed person because of it. Gone was the weak woman who let men walk all over her. Nope, she didn’t play that game anymore. Now she did the walking and she didn’t feel even a little bit guilty about it. She’d made her choices and she was sticking with them.

  Chapter Two

  Sitting in the stands of the ballpark for the Rockets’ home opener, Karen sat bundled tightly in her winter jacket, hat and mittens next to her younger half-sister, Shannon. With the season opening in early April, the fans knew to come prepared for the erratic Michigan weather. It could be hot and sweltering or cold and snowy. This year, Opening Day was of the winter variety.

  “I’m going to freeze my butt off,” she complained as she rubbed her hands together.

  Shannon sipped on her hot chocolate, her eyes twinkling above the rim. Even though the girls had different fathers, the similarities between them were striking. From their long blond hair and golden skin to their bright, blue eyes, they could almost pass for twins—if Shannon didn’t stand four inches taller.

  “Tell me about it, but I’m still glad that Danny’s out of the picture so I could come. Speaking of that, you never did tell me what went down with him. Another woman? He decided he didn’t want to use deodorant anymore? He uttered the dreaded ‘R word’?”

  “‘R word’?”

  “Relationship.”

  “Ah.” Karen laughed and shook her head before giving a small shrug. “It was just time.”

  “Why? Something had to have made it ‘just time.’”

  “Ease off, counselor,” she teased, used to Shannon cross-examining every little thing. Shannon, an up-and-coming lawyer, had recently graduated from law school and passed the bar on her first try. Karen couldn’t be more proud of her baby sis, despite believing that Shannon was only doing what her demanding and overbearing father pressured her to. She kept that belief to herself, not wanting to create a rift between them, but it took nearly all Karen had to bite her tongue. Shannon looked up to her dad and Karen understood that, even though her own relationship with him was cordial—at best—ever since he’d married her mom.

  “What? I’m just trying to understand. It’s not like you’re loose with the details.”

  Karen reached out and tugged Shannon’s blue knit cap farther down over her hair. “Because there are no details. He was getting a little too cozy and I wasn’t, so it was time to put an end to things.”

  Shannon paused for a second before she said, “Huh.”

  “Jesus, you sound just like Maddie,” Karen said with a scowl. “All of you with your all-knowing huhs.”

  “Probably because we know this is classic Karen behavior.”

  “Classic nothing,” she snarled. “Don’t be annoying.”

  Shannon grinned. “Oh, yeah, classic Karen denial, as well.”

  “I hate you.”

  “No, you don’t,” she said as she slung one arm over her sister’s shoulders and hugged her. “You love me.”

  “You’re right. I do love you, even when you’re being an ass.”

  Shannon laughed as they turned their attention to the field, watching the players unload from the dugout for the pre-game ceremonies. They stood up and cheered loudly during the team introductions, each player tipping his cap to acknowledge the fans when the PA announcer introduced him.

  After the singing of the national anthem and a few other on-the-field ceremonies, the new season was officially underway with a loud cheer from the crowd. Every baseball fa
n looked toward the first home game as a sign of spring and the end of winter, even if it didn’t feel like it that particular day, and that was certainly something to applaud loudly in and of itself.

  They sat back down as the players, wearing multiple layers under their crisp white uniforms, tossed balls around on the field, warming up as much as they could in the bright winter sunshine. Karen didn’t see any of it, however. Her attention was only on the tall, muscular man standing atop the pitching mound in the middle of the infield, throwing pitches to his catcher as he warmed up. She never saw anything else when Jerry Smutton was around. She could watch him forever; he was just that beautiful to her.

  Not only did she find him to be physically appealing, but she also enjoyed watching him pitch. The way his long, strong body flowed through the motions, showing strength and perfection, was awe-inspiring. She marveled how he could command such a small object and hurl it toward home plate, topping—and sometimes exceeding—one hundred miles per hour without appearing to break a sweat.

  Jerry wasn’t just her favorite player but, as the Ace of the team, he had become the clear fan favorite. A quick glance around the stands proved this—Smutton jerseys were all over the place. What everyone seemed to enjoy the most was that his personality always shone through. Sure, he took the game seriously—to the point of appearing severe at times—and he was fiercely competitive, but there were also sparks of a more lighthearted side. Quick smiles he shared with his teammates on the field and his expressions when an opposing player got the best of him showed how much he enjoyed himself out there. He had fun each time he took the field and it drew in the crowd, connected them to him. They liked to have fun with him, but at the same time, they had no doubt he would get the job done. He was Detroit’s adopted son and everyone believed wholeheartedly that he could strap the city onto his shoulders and lead them to the next pennant.

  Shannon glanced at her and smirked. “Oh, your crush is back, I see.”

  “Stop it. I do not have a crush on him. I just like watching him.”

  “Yeah, right. That’s why you get that dreamy look on your face whenever you see him.”

  Karen forced herself to turn away from the field and scowled at her sister. “I do not have a dreamy look on my face.”

  “I bet you’re all heated up now, don’t even notice the cold anymore,” Shannon teased.

  “Shut up,” she said with a laugh as she swatted at her sister’s arm, refusing to acknowledge the truth in her words.

  “Don’t you see him when you’re at Maddie’s? I thought he lived just a few doors down from them and you’d be past your infatuation by now.”

  “I am not infatuated with him,” Karen huffed. “And no, I don’t see him whenever I’m at Maddie’s.”

  She wasn’t going to tell Shannon how bummed she was about that. She’d hoped that because her best friend was now engaged to one of his teammates, and since he lived in the same complex as Maddie, he would be around more, but that hadn’t been the case, much to her disappointment.

  “He seems like he’d be a nice guy. He doesn’t look like an egomaniac in any of his interviews, despite the fact that he just signed one of the largest contracts in baseball history.” Shannon watched Jerry from their perch in the stands. “What was it? Two hundred million over ten years or something ridiculous like that?”

  Karen shrugged with indifference. “Maybe, who knows? I mean, that’s just on camera, for show. His ego could be out of control for all we know. He could be taking advantage of weak women everywhere, leaving broken hearts in his wake while he sets up his next conquest.”

  “Karen!” she exclaimed. “You don’t know that he’s like that. Not every guy is as much of a dog as you like to believe.”

  It had been weird meeting Jerry once Maddie had gotten involved with Chase, after so many years of watching him from afar. She hadn’t been sure what to expect, but she had been pleasantly surprised to find that he really seemed like just an average guy. He didn’t appear to have an ounce of arrogance in him when he wasn’t in baseball mode.

  In fact, if you didn’t know who he was, you would never guess that he was a multimillionaire athlete with a fastball feared throughout the league. He was so normal that it was almost disconcerting. With the new contract, however, she had to believe that the money, along with all the fame and publicity, had gone straight to his head.

  “No,” she said, pointing toward the infield where he stood, “but I wouldn’t be surprised to find a secret side of him. I mean, look at him. He’s young, successful, making a boatload of money, like you said, and you think that’s not going to change him? Not a chance. He’s going to milk it for all he can.”

  “Chase is young, successful and making a boatload of money, and yet look at him.”

  Karen shook her head as she glanced at the dugout where she knew Chase would be sitting. “Chase is an oddity. I love him dearly, but there’s something wrong with that boy.”

  Shannon laughed. “You’re right. I never would have guessed someone his age would be ready to settle down with someone twelve years older and with a kid, even as gorgeous as Maddie is.” She took a sip of her hot chocolate. “Well, maybe with the wedding planning, Jerry’ll be around more. I’m sure Chase will have him stand up with him since they’re good friends. And everyone knows you’ll shove your way into being maid of honor.”

  “And why wouldn’t I be maid of honor?” she asked with a scoff, ignoring the trill of excitement that passed through her at the thought of possibly spending time with Jerry.

  “I’m sure you will be, but I’m just saying it’s not like you’d give Maddie any choice about it,” Shannon said with a knowing smile.

  “Hmm, whatever. I choose to ignore your snarkiness,” Karen said. She studied Jerry with a contemplative look. “It might be better if I didn’t really get to know him.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I mean, I don’t want to ruin this,” she said, sweeping her mitten-covered hand toward the field. The first batter on the opposing team was stepping up to the plate to begin the game. “If I start spending a lot of time with him, he’ll just fall in love with me and I’ll eventually have to break his heart and he’ll act the fool and I’ll end up hating him and I’ll never be able to go to another Rockets game again until he retires. Probably just best to keep him as my favorite player and that’s it.”

  Shannon snorted. “Oh, good Lord. Break his heart...,” she repeated as she laughed and shook her head at her sister. “You’re a piece of work.”

  Karen laughed with her and sat back, settling in for a long game of watching Jerry do his thing and enjoying every minute of it.

  * * *

  “Where are we going?” Karen asked Maddie as she and Shannon trailed after her and Bree.

  After the end of the game, which the Rockets had won, they’d met up with Maddie and Bree in the concourse area and, after Maddie had flashed some badge to Security, were now following them down a long tunnel that appeared to never end.

  “We’re going to meet up with Chase,” Maddie said, glancing over her shoulder as she held Bree’s hand. “This is where we meet him after the game.”

  “Ooohhh,” Shannon teased as she hip-checked Karen. “Maybe Jerry will be there too and you can get up close and personal.”

  “Shut up,” Karen said as she shoved her sister, but didn’t miss the smile that Maddie threw them. “You too.”

  “Lips are sealed,” Maddie said. “No one will mention your little crush.”

  Karen sighed heavily. “I really hate you all.”

  They stood around for a few minutes, bouncing on their toes trying to keep warm as they waited for Chase to emerge from the tunnel. When they finally spotted his tall frame, Bree gave a little squeal as she ran and launched herself into his arms.

  “Hey, there. It’s nice to see you
back in town. Awesome win today.” Karen stood on her toes to give him a one-armed hug once he’d extricated himself from Bree and Maddie.

  “It’s good to see you, Karen. Hey, Shannon,” he said with a nod to Karen’s sister. “Smutty threw an awesome game today. Good way to start the season, that’s for sure.”

  “What are you making up about me, Patty?” Jerry asked as he walked over to them with the catcher, Matt Buck, on his heels. He glanced over at Karen and a huge grin broke out on his face. “Aunt Karen! Where have you been, my love?”

  Her eyes bugged out as he pulled her into arms and gave her a big bear hug, squishing her into his black North Face jacket. “What...” she sputtered as he squeezed her tight against his long, hard body. She was too shocked to enjoy being so close to him, but she caught a hint of his cologne. Woodsy, with a touch of amber, and that made her mouth water.

  He pulled back and his coffee-colored eyes sparkled down at her. His short, dark brown hair was still damp from a shower. “There’s no need to be embarrassed. We all know I’m your favorite and that’s why I’m so glad I could give you, my number-one fan, a good game today.”

  Before she could even utter a response, he cocked his head over his shoulder. “That’s Matt Buck. Bucky, this is Aunt Karen.”

  Matt laughed as he held out his hand, his cobalt eyes twinkling as they crinkled in the corners. “Somehow I find it hard to believe that you’re his aunt.”

  “He could only wish.”

  Jerry chuckled but then noticed the tall blonde standing behind Karen and straightened up. “And who are you? You have to be related to this one here. You look just like her, only taller.”

  Shannon smiled, despite hating the reminder that she stood out like an Amazon woman, and held out her hand as she walked over to him. “I’m Shannon and yes, she’s my sister.”

  He shook it with a firm grip. “Nice to meet you, Shannon. Jerry Smutton.”

  “Uh, yeah, I got that,” she said with a snigger. Her smile became shy as she met Matt’s eyes and gave him a little finger wave. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”