Read Online Thrown by a Curve by Jaci Burton - Free Book Online Page B

I stay at. We could use that one.”
    She arched a brow. “Really? You have a beach house?”
    He grinned. “I rent it from a couple I know. I don’t like hotels. It’s bad enough I have to deal with them throughout the season. At least during preseason I have the beach house.”
    “All right. I can work with that.”
    “Actually, you could stay there, too. There’s a guesthouse.”
    She pondered the idea. She’d figured she’d stay at the same hotel as the team, but this would make more sense, especially if there was a guesthouse. “Okay, that works. We can commute together to the team facility.”
    “Yeah, we can do that. But there’s also a gym room that has a lot of exercise equipment.”
    “Really?” She got out her notepad. “Tell me what’s in there. I’ll be sure to order in whatever else we need.”
    He gave her a list, and she made some notes.
    “This will work out great. I’ll need to call Max and get things ironed out for the delay. He was expecting us to make plans to head down there right away.”
    “Make the call.”
    “Now?”
    “I don’t see why not. If Max or Phil has a problem with me taking that trip to Oklahoma, they’ll let you know. And then I’ll talk them out of it.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Do you always get your way?”
    “Not always, but it’s nice when I do.”
    She grabbed her cell and dialed Phil’s number. As team doctor, he’d have the final say. As Garrett suspected, Phil was fine with the delay and was happy Alicia was going with Garrett to continue his therapy.
    She hung up and laid her phone down. “We’re all set.”
    “Good.” He leaned back in the dining-room chair.
    “What’s going to happen when you don’t get what you want?”
    “You think everything goes my way all the time?”
    “Seems that way.”
    He shook his head. “Honey, if I got everything I wanted, I’d be in Florida throwing pitches right now.”
    She laid her hand over his. “I’ll get you there, Garrett. I promise.”
    He looked down at her hand, so small over his. Hard to believe those hands could wreak so much pain on his shoulder. He lifted his gaze to hers. “I’ll keep trying to believe that.”
    She stared into his eyes. “You have to believe in me and trust me. I’ll do whatever it takes to get you back on that mound.”
    For some reason the low tone of her voice, the slight rasp in it coupled with the intimacy of her hand on his made his balls quiver. He wanted to make some quip about doing whatever it took, but hell, he wasn’t a teenager anymore and sexual innuendo would be stupid. He was already attracted to her, and now he’d invited her to spend the weekend with him.
    He pulled his hand away and started to clean away the remnants of their dinner.
    “You bought. Why don’t you let me take care of cleaning up this mess?”
    She gathered up their plates and the pizza box before he could object. And then she did the dishes, so he leaned against the stove and watched her.
    “I can do all that, you know.”
    She threw him a look over her shoulder then smiled. “So can I. There were only a couple of plates and salad bowls.”
    When she finished, she dried her hands on the towel and leaned her hands against the sink. “I guess that’s it.”
    “Thanks for doing the dishes.”
    “Thanks for the pizza.”
    She tilted her head back, and he wanted to kiss her. His dick quivered at the thought of pushing her against the counter and feeling her body pressed against his. He was hot with the sudden rush of desire, and he had no idea what to do with it.
    Her gaze hit his, and he knew then that she realized what he was thinking. She licked her lips, which only made his dick get harder.
    She took a shaky breath. “Well, I should probably go. I have a lot to do to get ready for both these trips.”
    She was obviously a lot smarter than he was, or at least more clearheaded.
    He took a step back. “Okay. Sure.”
    He’d never seen anyone flee the scene so fast. She