Slamdunked By Love (One on One #2) (8 page)

She inclined her head. “Thanks for keeping it real.”

“Always.”

They shared a smile. Like they were the only two people in the room. A moment she didn’t want to end.

The next listener’s question jolted her out of her dreamlike state.

“So, Brady, where do you see this going? When are you going to pop the question?”

He coughed. “The question? As in, when am I going to propose marriage?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean,” the caller, Linda, with a thick Texan accent, said.

“Caitlin and I haven’t been dating that long.”

“Okay, sure, but most married men I know say that they knew early on in their relationships with their wives that marriage was in the equation.”

Caitlin held her breath. How in the world was he going to answer this?

Brady adjusted his headphones. “You’re persistent. I like that. I think. You’re putting me on the spot, but I’ve been there plenty of times before and I’ve always survived.” He boldly met her gaze. “Caitlin is the kind of woman any man would be lucky to have. It’s early days yet, but I like where things are and where they’re headed.”

Caitlin couldn’t think, let alone speak.

“T
hat was a fun first show, don’t you think?” Caitlin asked, shutting her office door behind them.

Brady snorted. “Oh yeah, women asking about my love life. Not what I expected, but it was cool.”

“No one can accuse you of not having opinions.” She gestured for him to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

He waited until she sat before joining her. “My mouth has gotten me in trouble more than once, but if people don’t want to hear the truth, they shouldn’t ask the question.”

It was Caitlin’s turn to nod. “I’ll remember that.”

He scoffed. “Like you need a reminder. You’re the queen of speaking your mind.”

She playfully punched his arm. “Hey, I try to be nice about it.”

“It’s not a complaint, trust me. When you turn pro, you think it’s great to hear ‘yes’ all the time, but it grows old when you realize they’re kissing your ass, because they’re afraid of getting fired or getting kicked out of the inner circle. You don’t do that and I like it, so don’t stop.”

A genuine smile, the one he loved to see, bloomed across her face. “Okay, I won’t.”

“Did you tell Noelle what was really going on?” The talk show host had been nice, nothing he could complain about, but he’d sensed a certain reserve in her interactions with him. She was still withholding judgment.

“Of course I told her. She’s my best friend.”

He frowned. “Is that smart? She’s trying to get a new show off the ground. No better way to do that than reveal an embarrassing piece of gossip about a famous athlete. I can see the headlines now. ‘Brady Hudson pretends to have a girlfriend because he can’t get a real one.’”

Caitlin shook her head. “She wouldn’t do that. I trust her with my life.” He remained silent. Too silent based on the way she eyed him. “Don’t you have a BFF?”

“No. Stop with the sympathy shit.”

“What? I didn’t say anything.”

“You didn’t have to. I can see it on your face.”

The sympathetic look didn’t abate. “You have trouble trusting people, don’t you?”

Yep, sure did. But how could anyone blame him? After everything he’d been through? He shrugged.

Caitlin sighed. “Fine. Be that way. But at least trust me in this. Noelle is my best friend for a reason. There’s very little I could tell her that she wouldn’t take to her grave if I asked her to.”

“Okay. You know her better than I do.”

“See. That trusting thing isn’t so hard, is it?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Silence fell. He glanced at his watch. “I guess I should go.” He didn’t want to leave her, if he was being honest with himself, but there was no reason for him to stay.

“Yeah. The show will be back in a few minutes. I need to be back before then.” She led him out of her office and down the hall to the elevator. He felt eyes on them the entire way, but Caitlin’s stride never faltered. “Nosy co-workers,” she whispered, squeezing his hand. “Ignore them.”

He could do that. In the elevator, he relaxed against the back wall, the adrenaline rush of being a guest host on live radio for the first time coming to an abrupt end. A few seconds later, they arrived at the garage level. Brady stepped out of the elevator and was immediately blinded by a light.

“Oh, my God, it really is you,” someone yelped.

Click
.

Brady held up a hand. “Yeah, it’s me, but I might not be me in a second if you don’t stop.”

“Oh, sorry.” The young woman, who couldn’t have been older than twenty, giggled and dropped her camera to her side. Her gaze skittered to where Brady held Caitlin’s hand. How had that happened?

“So, it’s true,” the woman said, drawing his attention back to her. “You really are dating her.”

“Yes, I am,” he said, stepping forward.

“Why don’t you give me your number?” the other woman said with another giggle like she hadn’t heard what he’d just said two seconds ago. “I’ll give you mine, and we can have some fun.”

Caitlin sighed. “Hello. I’m right here.”

Brady shrugged when the other woman looked to him like she didn’t understand why Caitlin was speaking. “She’s the boss. Whatever she says, goes.”

“Your loss. You’re too old for me anyway.” The woman flounced off.

Brady turned to Caitlin. “Staking your territory, huh?”

She glared. “Shut up, old man.”

He waggled a finger. “Tsk, tsk. That’s no way to treat your boyfriend, is it?”

“Keep on, and I’ll show you how I’ll treat you.”

“Can’t wait.” He squeezed her hand. “But seriously don’t let her bother you.”

Her gaze skittered away. “Why would I? We’re just playing pretend, right? There are a million more where she came from.”

“Come on. I’m not like that.” Except he had been once upon a time. Swapping women in and out every few months, never letting any of them get too close. Being okay with that.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Yes, it did. “I broke team rules by dating my last girlfriend only for her to use her connection to me to get a part-time job as a correspondent on an entertainment news show. She said it was a stepping stone to bigger and better things. I didn’t fully accept that I’d been used until she cheated on me with my teammate, who, like her, was on the rise. Then I knew. I punched him and got traded.”

Her eyes widening, she reached out to squeeze his hand. “Brady. I’m so sorry.”

Drawn to the support in her gaze, he entwined their fingers and stepped closer. “Thanks, but it’s okay.”

“Good to hear.”

Pounding sneakers on the pavement invaded the way-too-intimate circle they’d inadvertently drawn around themselves. Two guys, who looked to be teenagers, whipped their Stampede hats off and held them out to Brady. One of the boys thrust out a pen. “Can we have your autograph?” He sounded out of breath. “We heard you on the radio and took a chance that we would run into you if we came.”

Caitlin withdrew her hand and stepped away. He curled his hand inward, missing the connection. But he shouldn’t. Revealing his secrets, letting someone in, was a foreign concept to him. He didn’t do vulnerable. Even if it had felt good to have Caitlin’s support. He rolled his shoulders and took one of the hats and the pen. “Shouldn’t you be in school? It’s the middle of the day.”

The boys laughed. “We’re in college,” the one with curly brown hair said. “It’s the beauty of setting our own schedule.”

“Are you sure you’re not ditching class?”

The second teenager thrust out his chest. “In this case, we can honestly say no.”

Brady chuckled and scribbled his name on the brims of the hats. “Good to hear.” He handed the caps back to them. The boys looked at him expectantly. “Was there something else?”

The teens looked at each other. The second, the one who’d assured Brady they hadn’t skipped class, jerked his head toward Caitlin. “Can you introduce us to her? She’s hot. That photo was smoking.”

Brady curled an arm around her waist. “Yeah, this is Caitlin.”

“Nice to meet you, gentlemen,” she said with a small wave.

“Hi,” the boys said in unison.

“I guess we’ll go now,” the curly-haired one said. “It was nice meeting you, Brady.”

“It was
really
nice meeting you, Caitlin,” the other teen said.

The boys high-fived each other and headed toward a beat-up sedan.

Leaving Brady alone with Caitlin. Again. A situation that was entirely too cozy and rife with possibilities. His eyes drifted to her enticing lips. Too many possibilities. He withdrew his arm. “I have to get to practice.”

“Okay,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Oh, and I forgot to say it earlier, but you were great today. Thanks for doing this for me.”

“Strangely enough, I had fun.”

Her lips curved. “It’s always fun telling people what to do. Or so I’ve been told.”

“Yeah, you’re a bossy sort.” He tilted his head to the side. “Why don’t you have your own show?”

She shuddered. “Oh no. That’s not my thing. I like being behind the scenes, making sure everything works the way it’s supposed to.”

Interesting. Everything about her interested him. Something told him there was more to the story than she was letting on. But was it his place to dig it out of her? Their relationship, or acquaintance, or whatever the hell it was, wasn’t supposed to be that deep. So why was he having such a hard time biting his tongue?

He didn’t stop her when she headed back toward the building. When she entered the elevator, she turned and met his eyes. He didn’t move as the doors slid closed. Taking her away from him. Leaving him fighting the urge to go after her.

How was he going to keep
this
from getting more complicated than it already had? Did he even want to?

Chapter Six

C
aitlin collapsed against the elevator wall. What was she doing? How had she gotten involved in this—whatever this was? Keeping Brady at arm’s length was getting harder and harder. And every time she was reminded why that was a good idea—hello, groupie—she was presented with ten more temptations to pursue something more with him. And resisting temptation had never been her strong suit.

She straightened when the elevator bell dinged. No matter. She didn’t have time to think about her conflicted feelings anyway.
Noelle
Knows
was still on the air for another hour and a half, and Noelle would be nearly ready to start her post-midpoint monologue.

Noelle sent her a questioning look when she returned to the studio, but she pretended she didn’t see it and got back to work, determined not to think about Brady. Too bad listeners made that impossible by calling in and asking way too many personal questions about her love life and wondering when Brady was going to return. Which probably meant…no. Not going there.

At the end of the show, she and Noelle high-fived.

“We did it,” Noelle said, wonder in her voice. “Our first syndicated show. And we had callers who weren’t in Dallas
and
they said they liked the show.”

Caitlin grinned. “Of course we did. We’re us. Was there ever any doubt?”

The studio door opened, and Tate walked in. “Hi, ladies. Fantastic show.” He held up a bottle of wine and plastic cups. “We need to celebrate today’s momentous occasion.”

Caitlin zeroed in on the wine bottle. The “wine” was actually sparkling juice in deference to Noelle, who didn’t drink.

Noelle beamed. “Thanks, honey. Thanks for giving us the chance.” In addition to hosting a sports talk show, Tate owned the station and had proposed syndication.

“I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t know you would knock it out of the park, which you did.”

Caitlin gave it three seconds before they were making out like the love-struck, newly engaged couple they were. She made it to two. She left them to it while she tidied the studio. When Tate and Noelle separated, he poured the juice. “I wasn’t sure about Hudson, but he did great,” he said, handing a cup to Caitlin.

Caitlin peered at him over the top of her cup. “I do know a thing or two about producing a show.” No need for him to know that her nerves had been breakdancing from the moment Brady stepped into the studio until he offered his first bit of advice.

“That you do.” Tate held up his cup. “To the both of you and
Noelle Knows
. The best is yet to come.”

They clinked cups and downed the juice. Afterward, Caitlin waited outside the studio while Tate gave his fiancée just one more congratulatory kiss. If she wasn’t genuinely happy for them, she’d search out the nearest garbage can to throw up in from all the lovey-doveyness. Finally, Noelle joined her and they high-fived again.

“Hey, you two.”

Caitlin turned toward the woman who’d spoken and was heading their way. Deb Sanchez was a mentor to Caitlin, someone who’d been through the radio wars and come out on top. She was the station programmer of WTLK. She’d been the one to pair Noelle and Caitlin up, Noelle as a new host and Caitlin as a young, hungry producer ready to make her mark. She was enthusiastic, always scheming to make the station and its programming better. “Great show. Do you have a few minutes to talk?”

“Of course,” Caitlin said. She and Noelle followed Deb into her office and settled in the chairs in front of the desk.

“I like what I heard today,” Deb said. “I’m so happy for the both of you. I couldn’t be prouder of what you’ve accomplished. Great idea to get one of, if not
the
most talked about NBA player in studio as a guest host during launch week. He was a natural.”

Basking in Deb’s approval, Caitlin exchanged a grin with Noelle.

“I was thinking, however.”

At those seemingly innocuous words, Caitlin sat up straighter. Deb was notorious for her ideas—most of them good, none of them designed to make her employees comfortable. Successful yes, comfortable no.

“Yes?” Caitlin was pleased her voice came out strong. Sure.

“Brady giving advice was great, but no doubt the part the audience responded to the most was when he was talking about you and your relationship. When you two interacted.”

“Okay,” Caitlin said slowly, trying to delay the inevitable. She knew what was coming next.

“People are nosy. Y’all haven’t been dating that long, have you?”

Caitlin swallowed, panic tightening her throat. “No.”

Deb clasped her hands together, the gleam in her brown eyes dangerous. To Caitlin anyway. “Perfect. Wouldn’t it be great to extend his time on the show? You would still keep Love Letters to Brady as the focus of his segments, but what if you let the callers ask at least a few personal questions? Talk about what it’s like to be part of a new couple and how you navigate those waters. I think people would really respond to that. Brady was obviously smitten with you. You sounded crazy about him.”

Because we were acting
. But, of course, Caitlin couldn’t say that. So she forced the corners of her lips up.

“Doesn’t that sound fabulous?”

It did. If Deb was talking about someone else. Which is why the idea had occurred to her earlier.

“What do you think, Noelle?” Deb continued. “It’s your show.”

Caitlin turned to Noelle. Her best friend looked nervous, but excited. Because it was a great idea. Caitlin’s stomach churned.

“I’m not sure,” Noelle said. Noelle wasn’t into lying to her listeners. She considered her bond with them to be sacred. “I know you’re not at your most comfortable being on the air.”

“Well, it’s just an idea. Think about it,” Deb said.

“We will,” Caitlin said and escaped out of the office as fast as her legs would carry her. Noelle was right behind her. They didn’t speak until they’d reached the privacy of Caitlin’s office.

“You don’t have to do it,” Noelle said.

“Why not?” Caitlin asked, crossing her arms across her chest. “I know you’d love to have Brady back. It was written all over your face when Deb brought it up.”

“Because I care more about you than I do about having him on the show again. You don’t like talking on air much. Plus, I don’t want to mislead my audience since you’re not really dating.”

“Right. We’re not. Except we did have great chemistry, riffing off each other, didn’t we?”

“You did,” Noelle admitted.

Her pitching stomach didn’t matter. She wanted the show to be successful in syndication. She wanted to prove she was a successful producer. And she and Brady were dating. Sort of. Kind of. Not really, but close enough.

Caitlin took a deep breath and said what needed to be said. “I like Deb’s idea to continue to make Love Letters the focus of Brady’s visits, but allow one or two personal questions to sneak in, so I shouldn’t have to talk that much. People are going to continue to ask about us, no matter how much we try to steer the conversation elsewhere, and they’ll just get angry if we don’t talk about it for at least a little bit. Besides, it’s not like Brady and I aren’t spending time together, so when people ask, we can tell them about it. Keep it simple and straightforward. No need for exaggerations. I’ll talk to him. He enjoyed himself today, so I’m sure he’ll agree to it.” She paused. “So if you’re okay with it, I’m in.”

Noelle nodded. “I’m in.”

“C
hris, what’s going on with you?” Caitlin’s mom, Miranda, asked, striding into her dining room. Caitlin glanced up. Her mom wore black slacks and a stylish red sweater that highlighted the sienna skin tone Caitlin and her brother had inherited from her. Always put together, that was Miranda Monroe. Even when they didn’t have much, she’d made sure she and her children were never less than neat. Her mom peered over the basket of rolls she held out to her only son.

“Nothing much. Oh except for some of my students winning a contest for a video we produced in class,” he so immodestly offered, taking the basket and grabbing a roll.

“Oh, honey, that’s great. I’m sure the kids were excited,” their mom said. She turned to head back to the kitchen, so she should have missed the smirk Christian sent Caitlin’s way and Caitlin sticking her tongue out at her brother.

“I saw that,” their mom said. “Behave, you two.”

Caitlin met her brother’s eyes, struggling not to giggle. These dinners were sacred. It had been just the three of them for as long as she could remember. Her grandparents hadn’t been much interested in helping out their unwed teen daughter having babies. Though times had changed and they were all busy, they still were committed to dinner at least once a month, usually more.

Though she’d never voiced the thought out loud, she’d always felt like the lesser twin. Stupid, but true. She’d gotten great grades. Chris got stupendous grades. But she’d held her own. Until the embarrassing incident in college in which she’d openly defied her mom by dating a guy her mom disapproved of—an athlete—and the situation had blown up in her face. But that’s what happened when you dated a guy who told you he was divorced, but who so wasn’t. And whose wife decided she needed to sue you for breaking up her home. Ever since then, she’d felt like she was in catch-up mode to earn her mother’s respect. To make her proud.

She admired her mom so much. All she’d sacrificed to make sure her children participated in the activities they wanted to, showing up to their events even when she was dead tired from working and going to school. Always willing to offer a shoulder to cry on or offering up some tough love when needed. All she’d accomplished while raising two rambunctious kids on her own. Now that she knew why her mom had reacted so strongly to her mistake in college, she felt even worse.

“Cait, I noticed you were driving your brother’s Accord while he came in his Mustang,” their mom said, returning with a lasagna dish. She set it on the table and took a seat next to her son and across from Caitlin.

Caitlin became engrossed in slicing a roll open and applying a pat of butter. “Yeah, my car’s in the shop.” She braced herself for her mother to admonish her again for throwing good money after bad when it came to Hans.

Instead her mother said, “Hmm. How are things at the station?”

Caitlin breathed a sigh of relief. “Great. Syndication is going to take the show to a whole new level. We’ll reach more people and hopefully help and entertain them.”

Miranda beamed. “I can’t believe my baby is on a national radio show.”

She took a sip of water. “More like regional, but it is really cool to get callers from all over.”

“National is coming. The show is great. Other stations will be beating down your door to get you. Soon enough, Noelle’s name will be up there with Dr. Laura or Dave Ramsey.”

Caitlin inclined her head. “That’s the hope.”

“I’d like it better if it was your name under lights though,” her mom said.

Caitlin carefully set her glass down, old insecurities crowding in, tightening her chest. “Mama, we’ve discussed this. I get as much satisfaction from being behind the microphone as Noelle does being on the air.”

Miranda’s lips twisted. “Hmm.” They ate in silence for a few minutes. Caitlin started to relax. Then her mother spoke again. “Speaking of being in the limelight, please don’t think I didn’t see that photo of you kissing that basketball player.” She sent a mama-knows-all look Caitlin’s way.

Caitlin swallowed quickly before the piece of asparagus could get stuck in her throat. She maintained a death grip on her fork. “How did you know?”

“People couldn’t wait to show the photo to me. When I say people, I mean everyone.”

“Oh.”

Miranda’s eyebrows arched. “‘Oh?’ Is that all you have to say?”

“I didn’t realize you’d seen it. I’m kind of at a loss for words.”

“Let me help you out. Please explain to me what you were thinking. How do you even know him? Why are you on the radio practically declaring your love for him?” Her voice never rose, never changed inflection, but it never did for Miranda Monroe to get her point across. That same voice commanded attention in the boardroom as a successful attorney.

Caitlin took another sip of water while her brain worked feverishly. What to say to placate her mother? She didn’t want to betray Brady’s confidence. What was going on between him and Elise was no one’s business. And she couldn’t tell her mother about her plan to out Mack. Not yet. Not till the deed was done. She’d just have to get through this dinner. Temporary disapproval would eventually give way to praise. “I met him a few weeks ago.”

“He’s an
athlete
, Caitlin.” “Athlete” might as well have been “cockroach” the way her mom said it.

“Yes, I know,” she managed to get out of a tight throat.

“Do I need to remind you what happened the last time you went down that road?”

God, no. Her most embarrassing mistake had happened. A mistake her mother had had to extricate her from after telling Caitlin, more than once, that she didn’t like her boyfriend. But Caitlin had been going through a rebellious phase, thinking she knew everything and didn’t need to listen to her mom anymore. She’d been in love. What a joke. All of it. The pain had faded, but the embarrassment? That bastard continued to hang around like the last five pounds she wanted to lose.

“No, but Brady isn’t like that.” He wasn’t. Not just words to appease her mom, but the truth, she was realizing. He’d never been anything but upfront with her. Was he always easy? No, but neither was she.

“How do you know that? You said that the last time, and look how that turned out.”

Horribly. Embarrassingly. But Caitlin now knew her mom’s reaction was no longer just about the stupid mistake she’d made in college. She didn’t want her daughter to travel the same road she’d gone down. That didn’t make her mom’s disappointment any easier to take. Worse, actually.

“I’m older now and wiser. I know what to look for.” What she and Brady were doing was playacting to meet larger goals for themselves.

“I know he’s not good enough for my daughter.”

“How can you say that? You don’t even know him.” Would she forever be defending him? First to Noelle and now her mom. Two of the three people who meant the most to her in the world. Who knew her best. But they didn’t know Brady like she was starting to.