Chapter Twenty

“What are you looking at?” Isla asked, coming up behind him, her hands circling his waist, her head leaning on his back. It was hard not to look out at the view of Nashville, especially since the apartment had a great one. But the one he found when he turned, tucking her closer to him, was infinitely better.

He was unfamiliar with the feelings swamping him.

“Just how much I love this city,” he said.

“I wish I’d seen more of it over the last couple of weeks,” she said, interrupting his thoughts. She rested her head against his chest, like he was made to fit her perfectly.

He wanted to be the one to show her everything he loved about Nashville. “Things will be tricky, but I plan to show you as much as I can.”

She leaned back with a sweet, sexy smile. “You showed me plenty last night.”

Liam got lost in kissing her for a moment before he pulled back and glanced toward the kitchen. “Has Addison left for work?”

Isla nodded, running her hands over his chest. “While you were on the phone. She’s on a mission to find a way to generate more ticket sales when the season starts. I think, like me, she feels as though a lot of the other stuff has to be put on pause until some of the…red tape gets loosened.”

Liam pulled her to the couch and sat down beside her, as close as he could without actually seating her on his lap. He’d never craved this kind of closeness with a woman before, and something about this particular woman told him he’d never get enough. Which meant he had some decisions to make.

Unable to help himself, he leaned in for another kiss and breathed in the scent of her—vanilla today. Sleeping next to her was like waking up in a damn bakery.

Her eyes lost their shine with her next words. “My father went back to Colorado for a bit when he didn’t get his way, but he’s here again, and he wants to meet with me. What are your plans for the day?”

Lowering his head, he touched his mouth to hers. Just the taste of her sparked a light in him that he worried only she could make burn. He was in pretty damn deep, and they’d barely started.

“I’m shooting a commercial,” he said. He needed to be on set in an hour.

Isla grinned, wide and bright. “I forgot you’re a big shot.”

He laughed, the back of his neck heating. “Me? I’m not the one who owns a baseball team.”

Endorsements were a part of the package. Not for everyone, he knew that. There wasn’t a day that went by, he wasn’t grateful for his position, both in life and on the team. He believed in the Slammers, and unlike the Twitterverse, he believed in Isla. She had something that the media was overlooking. The thing that made good players great. Great players phenomenal. Passion. Determination.

They were beating her down, he could see it. But they weren’t beating her. And from now on, he’d figure out a way to be by her side without damaging either of their reputations.

She dropped her hands to her lap, and though he missed having them on his body, he sensed that she was unsettled. Watching as she traced an invisible pattern on her pant leg, Liam waited.

“Speaking of owning a team,” she said, looking up and turning toward him.

His stomach clenched. “Yeah?” Don’t give up. Don’t give in. He didn’t want to hear her say she was selling to her father. Though it’d smooth the personal path a hell of a lot. But it would sacrifice who she was, at her core. He didn’t want to be wrong about her. About them. They could figure this out.

Isla pursed her lips and then sighed. “I have sole ownership because my grandfather wanted it that way. But what if I didn’t?”

Liam frowned and ran a hand through his hair. “Your dad doesn’t deserve a chunk of this, babe.”

Her laughter surprised him. “No. He absolutely does not. But I didn’t mean him. What if I gave up a small percentage? It would provide an influx of cash, but more importantly, it would generate a buzz that doesn’t involve memes of me carrying around cups.”

His anger came back in waves. “You need to drown that stuff out. Don’t listen to any of it.” There were other things he needed to warn her about. Things he’d never thought about, worried about. He’d kept his people close—his family and friends knew what to listen to and what to tune out. But he’d never had a woman in his life who mattered this much. He didn’t want reality twisted by things she’d see and hear despite his mostly positive media coverage.

As if she couldn’t handle sitting still, she stood and paced to the window.

“I’m tougher than I look. But I want your opinion. What do you think about me selling a piece?”

He got up and joined her, giving in to the endless urge to kiss her again, letting his hands roam over her body and wishing he didn’t have to leave.

“I think it’s a solid plan. Takes some of the pressure off you, especially if you’re partnering with someone who knows about baseball.”

An idea firmly planted itself in his brain. What would be better than playing for the team he’d always wanted to be part of? Owning a piece.

She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Also, Addie and I were talking about ways to generate more ticket sales. I have an idea, and I think it’s a good one.”

Grinning, he wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was.

“If we partner with Conroy Hotels, we could do all sorts of marketing things with booking a room in whatever town the Slammers are playing in and getting tickets along with it.”

Liam’s fingers flexed against her hips. He’d forgotten the mention of that guy’s name, and they’d had other things drowning out whatever jealousy he’d felt at the moment. Another unfamiliar emotion until Isla came into his life.

“That name is familiar,” he said, working to keep his voice steady and his hands loose on her hips. “They said it on the news.”

She smiled so innocently he wondered how he could feel the twinge of envy that poked him. “He’s an old friend. Despite my father downplaying it, the merger with his hotels and our fitness centers was a huge deal. I think he’d be interested in this.”

Liam dropped his hands, ignored the buzz of his phone in his pocket. “So, he’s just a business associate?”

He wasn’t looking at her when he asked, so he didn’t see her expression, but he heard the surprise in her voice. “Yes. What’s going on, Liam?”

Turning back to face her, hating the physical distance between them, he decided that they had enough to deal with. They didn’t need cat-and-mouse games. He’d never played them before, and he wasn’t about to start with the one who actually mattered.

“I just wondered if there was more between you and him. I don’t like feeling jealous. It’s not something I’m used to. If it’s all business, cool. I get that and respect it. But if you’re looking for a guy to turn to for anything else? I want to be that guy.”

Isla pulled in a shaky breath. She put her hands on his cheeks and smiled. She was so sweet it was going to undo him completely.

“How on earth could a man like you, one who, may I remind you, has his own group of Cruz Cuties, be jealous of anyone?”

Irritation pulsed inside him, but he couldn’t not touch her, so he pulled her close again. They had too much to discuss in the little time he had left today, but they needed a few things cleared up.

“Those are groupies, Isla. It’s not the same thing. I’ve never committed to a woman for a reason—the life I live makes it too hard. Not that other guys don’t make it work, but I always felt like if I couldn’t give a relationship everything I had, it wasn’t fair to the other person. But really, I hadn’t met the person I’d be willing to compromise for until you. And as stupid as it might sound, I’m jealous of any guy who’s owned a piece of your heart.”

The look on her face, the dreamy satisfaction, and the small hum that left her throat had him thinking about pushing back his call time. If she pressed her gorgeous body any closer to his while she was looking at him like that, he might forget he had a call time.

“There’s room for only you. Anything in the past is just that. Jonathan is nothing more than a business partner and one of the few men in my life who’s treated me as an equal.”

He ran a hand down her hair. “I would never treat you as less.”

She shook her head. “I don’t doubt that. It’s one of the things that made it so easy for me to fall for you. Swallowing down the fact that there’s an entire group of women dedicated to you isn’t easy, either. But if we’re going to make this work, especially below the radar for now, we have to trust each other.”

A buzz of happiness whipped through him. “So, we’re doing this? We’re not going to fight what’s happening between us?”

Her smile was so wistful, it tugged his heartstrings. “We need to keep it quiet for both our sakes. But I don’t know how to keep pretending. At least now, when I have to do it in public or when we’re in a room together, I’ll know that I have something to look forward to.”

Liam pressed his mouth to hers. “You can trust me. I know I can trust you. I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise.”

“So? What do you think?”

Stepping back, he shrugged. “It’s an idea. There are a ton of people who’d invest. Even with the team in a slump, owning a piece of it would appeal to a lot of people. Even players.”

Isla took a deep breath. “I haven’t even met most of the players yet. It was just an idea.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket and glanced at it. “I should get going. My dad is meeting me at the arena.”

He felt like a jerk. “It’s a good idea, Red. I wasn’t trying to shoot it down.” Other people did that to her all the time. “Just think about other possibilities of who could invest. You need someone who understands the kind of magic people feel when they watch a game.”

He meant it, but the back of his neck prickled, and he realized that the someone he was describing sounded an awful lot like him.

Whoa. Hold up. We’ve just decided to commit to each other under the radar. Owning a freaking team with someone is bigger than putting a ring on their finger. Right?

What did he know? He’d never done either. Still, the idea grew on him. One step at a time. He hadn’t even taken her on a proper date. And probably couldn’t for a long while. But while they were waiting, he could, and would, talk to some of his own people.

“Magic, huh?”

Liam shook his head, grinning. He kept forgetting she didn’t understand the magic. That was something he could change.

“I’ll be late doing the shoot tonight. This stuff takes forever. Can I meet you at the stadium when I’m done?”

Isla pulled her lip between her teeth. His stomach tightened, and he used his thumb to pull her lip free so he could kiss her.

“Is that a good idea?” She whispered the words against his mouth.

Probably not. It was bad enough he couldn’t take her out the way he wanted to. There had to be a way to work around it. She was worth finding a way.

It was the off-season, and she had a lot of eyes on her right now, but he could still get into the stadium without any fuss. He worked out there sometimes. It wouldn’t seem that unusual.

“It’ll be fine. I’ll see you tonight,” he replied.

Losing himself in kissing her again, he silenced the nagging voice in his head that told him they needed to be careful. That she had a lot going on and didn’t need more. But for the first time in his life, he was having a hard time keeping his focus on anything but the woman in his arms.