Thrown by a Curve (17 page)

TWENTY

ALICIA WANTED TO DIE RIGHT ON THE SPOT. THE WOMAN
that had come in and interrupted them was gorgeous and smartly dressed in a business suit, her brown, chin-length hair perfectly coiffed. Alicia felt at a distinct disadvantage, especially being caught by surprise.

“Victoria,” Garrett said, obviously not shocked at all that someone had come into the house unannounced. But he did take several steps away from Alicia. “Ever think of ringing the doorbell?”

Victoria gave them a wry smile. “I did ring the doorbell. No one answered. I saw the car and figured you might be at the beach, so I came around back. Your slider was open, so I came on in. I didn’t know you were—uh—occupied in other ways.” She slanted that smile Alicia’s way.

Alicia’s face flamed with mortification. She had no idea who this Victoria was, but obviously, it was someone Garrett knew well.

“Well, since you’re here—” He turned. “Alicia Riley, this is my agent, Victoria Baldwin. Alicia is my physical therapist. She works for the Rivers.”

Victoria walked over, her hand extended. “Very nice to meet you, Alicia.”

Oh. His agent. Great. Just freaking great. The last person she wanted to catch Garrett and her nearly having sex in the workout room. She was doomed. “Nice to meet you, too, Victoria. Would you like something to drink?”

Victoria waved her hand. “Don’t go to any trouble. I just popped in to check on Garrett’s progress. I had no idea I was interrupting something else.”

Alicia heated all the way down to her toes. She wanted to disappear into the floor. “It’s no trouble. And you weren’t interrupting anything. I’ll go fix us some iced tea.”

They left the workout room and headed into the kitchen. It was obvious Alicia wasn’t going to vanish in a puff of smoke and avoid this rather embarrassing moment, so she was just going to have to deal with it.

“So, how’s the workout going?” Victoria asked Garrett. “And even more importantly—how’s the arm?”

“My arm feels great. Alicia’s doing a fantastic job.”

“Yes,” Victoria said with a wry smile. “It certainly looked that way.”

Alicia cringed as she filled a tray with drinks. This was what she was afraid would happen if she got involved with Garrett. She had no idea if they could trust Victoria, but the last thing she needed was Phil or Max finding out she was sleeping with one of her clients.

Doomed. She was doomed. Doomed and fired and disgraced, and she’d never get another job again.

Pasting on a pleasant smile, she turned around. “The tea is unsweetened, so I’ve put regular and artificial sugars, and some lemon on the tray. You can fix it however you like. Why don’t we go into the living room?”

Alicia set the tray down then swiped her sweaty palms on her pants, nervous as hell about Garrett’s agent being here. And she’d found them fondling and kissing each other in the workout room. Talk about bad timing.

Alicia wanted to throw up.

Victoria fixed a glass of tea and sipped it, her gaze alternating between Garrett and Alicia, all the time not saying a word. But she was smiling, in an I-know-exactly-what-you-two-are-doing kind of way.

Kill me. Kill me now.

Alicia needed to regroup, put on her professional demeanor, and panic later.

“Garrett’s shoulder is showing definite signs of improvement,” Alicia said, unable to bear the awkward silence. “He’s even thrown some pitches. With no pain. I’m really excited about how well he’s performing.”

“Is he now?” Victoria arched a brow. “I assume the performance you’re referring to relates to his shoulder?”

“Tori.” Garrett’s tone came out as a warning.

Victoria laughed. “Come on, Garrett. I’m just teasing.”

“Alicia doesn’t know you like I do.”

“It’s okay.” Alicia hated people talking about her like she wasn’t there, and she couldn’t handle the suspense. “I’m sure if Victoria has something to say, she can just say it.”

“Oh, honey. Whatever you’re doing with Garrett outside of working on his shoulder is absolutely none of my business. Garrett and I go way back. I signed him when he was an annoying kid with more attitude than talent.”

“Hey,” Garrett said.

Victoria ignored him, her focus remaining on Alicia. “And we’ve been close ever since. Whatever you have going on is between the two of you. My only interest in Garrett is in how his injury is progressing. I need him back on that pitcher’s mound.”

Alicia relaxed a little. “My main goal is to get him there.”

Victoria nodded. “Good to know.” She turned to Garrett. “And you’re sure the arm is good?”

Garrett wound his arm around. “It feels great.”

He told her about the different types of therapy Alicia had employed since they’d started. “Some of it’s been pretty unusual, too, including rock climbing.”

Victoria arched a brow. “You got him to rock climb with an injured shoulder?”

Alicia nodded. “It’s good for stretching the tendons and muscles. Often someone with an injury will favor that area. My goal is to make him use the arm, and not just with the average therapeutic exercises and weight lifting. I like to do activities like golf, swimming, and even rock climbing. It’ll make Garrett use the arm without realizing it.”

Victoria actually nodded and looked impressed. “I’m in awe of your talents, Alicia. He’s needed someone to kick his ass a bit.”

“Just doing my job.”

“I hope you do it well. We need to get our guy pitching.”

“That’s my intention.”

“That’s all I care about, then.”

So why did Alicia still feel so tense? And defensive? And scared to death that everything was about to change? She needed to get a handle on this situation and get her head screwed on straight again.

“You’re here to see other clients, too, Victoria?” she asked.

She gave Alicia a smile. “Yes. I have several playing down here. Then I’m off to Arizona to check out a couple of more.”

“You must have quite the client base. How many play for the Rivers?”

“Just two. Garrett and new outfielder Raul Hermosa.”

“I’ve heard great things about him. He’s got amazing speed and a hell of a throwing arm.”

Victoria grinned. “And he’s all mine. Well, technically, he belongs to the Rivers now, too, but I nabbed him first.”

“He’s a good kid,” Garrett said. “Gavin said he has a rocket arm and a killer bat. I can’t wait to see him in action.”

“Then get your ass back on the mound,” Victoria said with a wry smile.

Garrett leaned back against the sofa. “I’ll be there. No doubt about it.”

“You’re singing a much different tune than the last time I saw you.”

“Am I?”

“Yes. You were mopey and unsure about pitching a couple of months ago.”

“I’ve healed since then. And done a lot more therapy,” Garrett said, throwing a glance at Alicia.

“And he’s thrown a pitch or two. Now, he’s anxious to get out there with his team,” Alicia said, feeling a little more comfortable now that the topic of conversation had moved away from her and Garrett, and onto baseball and Garrett’s recovery.

“Do you think he’s ready for that?” Victoria asked.

Alicia shifted her gaze to Garrett, who looked as hopeful and expectant as Victoria.

“I think he’s ready to start working out with the team.”

Victoria stood. “That’s the best news I’ve heard today.”

“You’re worried about my contract,” Garrett said. “Or the continuation of my contract.”

“That’s what you pay me for, isn’t it?”

Garrett shrugged. “Yup.”

“Well, don’t you worry. First, your contract isn’t up for a while. And second, I have every faith in you—and Alicia, here—that you’ll be pitching this season, so your contract isn’t going to be an issue.”

Alicia liked Victoria. She put Garrett at ease about his contract and gave him confidence. The one thing he didn’t need was something else to muck up his head.

“Thanks, Tori. You’re right. I don’t want to be worrying about that shit.”

“That’s why you have me. And why you pay me so much of your hard-earned money.”

Garrett laughed. “You’re right there.”

“And now I have to get going so I can check on my other guys.”

“Already?” Alicia frowned. “You sure you don’t want to stay and have dinner with us?”

“That’s so sweet of you, but I can’t.”

“You sure we can’t convince you to stay?” Garrett asked. “I can throw some steaks on the grill. It’s not gourmet cuisine, but it won’t suck.”

“You’re so sweet. You’ve cooked for me before,” Victoria said. “It was burgers on the grill as I recall, and I don’t remember you poisoning me. Sadly, I can’t stay. We’ll catch up when you’re back in town for the home opener.” She laid her hand on his arm. “And I’ll be expecting you to pitch.”

Garrett gave her a grin. “I’ll do my best.”

“I’m sure you will.”

They walked her to the door. Victoria turned to Alicia. “It was nice to meet you.”

“You, too, Victoria.”

“Work his ass off, okay?”

“I’m doing my best at that every day.”

Victoria gave her the once-over. “You know, somehow I believe you really are. And I think he needs someone like you—in more ways than just the rehab.”

Alicia had no idea what Victoria meant by that, but she didn’t elaborate, just waved and headed out the door.

“Well. She’s interesting,” Alicia said after Victoria left.

“She’s a kick-ass agent. She wasn’t kidding when she said she plucked me out of obscurity. She got me my chance with the Rivers when I was just a kid. I owe her a lot. She’s a good friend.”

Alicia shut the door and leaned against it. “Your good friend almost caught us having sex in the workout room.”

Garrett grinned. “Yeah, she did. And she’ll be discreet about it, so you don’t have to worry about her saying anything to Manny or Max or Phil.”

He was like a mind reader. She pushed off the door and followed him back to the workout room. “I’m thinking she was probably concerned I was paying more attention to your cock than I was to your shoulder.”

“Believe me, if Victoria had a concern about that, she’d have voiced it. She knows I’m in a much better place now than the last time she saw me. And if she wasn’t relieved about how well I was doing, she would have stayed instead of making this a short visit. Then she would have grilled me—and you—for hours about every aspect of my therapy, which would have included conference calls with Max and Phil.”

Alicia stopped what she was doing to look up at him. “Is that true?”

“It is. She’s thorough as hell where her players are concerned, and she has no problem butting in if she thinks shit isn’t getting done. So trust me when I tell you, she has confidence in your abilities, and she doesn’t care what’s going on personally between us.”

She relaxed. “Okay, then.”

“Okay, then,” he reiterated. “Now, let me ask you a question.”

She paused at the pulleys. “All right.”

“Am I really ready to start working out with the team?”

She was expecting that question. “I don’t say things I don’t mean, Garrett. I would have never said something like that otherwise. When the team’s back in town tomorrow, we’ll start integrating your workouts with them.”

She saw the light flash in his eyes, the excitement on his face. She laid her hand on his arm. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up too fast, though. You’re not ready to pitch a game just yet. This will be just warm-ups and workouts.”

“I get that. But I’ll be with the team, and that’s a move in the right direction. I know I’ll be pitching soon enough.”

She hoped so, and she hoped her treatment plan was spot-on, because if she disappointed him, or if his arm wasn’t ready yet, he’d be devastated. And she wasn’t sure he’d recover from that.

TWENTY-ONE

GARRETT LOVED THE SMELL OF A BALLPARK. THE ONE
here in Florida wasn’t even a major-league park, but it was still a baseball field. The smell of the dirt and the feel of the grass under his cleats as he walked out onto the field reminded him of opening day, of what he’d spent the last eight years preparing himself for at the start of every season.

He’d been so afraid that he was going to miss out on this, that for the first time since he’d graduated college, he’d be left behind and be forced to spend the season sitting in the dugout.

It could still happen, but for the first time, he had hope, and that was the one thing that had been lacking all these months since his injury. At first he’d been scared, and then when his arm hadn’t healed right away, he’d been down and depressed, certain his career was over. All the therapy in the world hadn’t gotten into his head or kicked him in the ass, forcing him to work for the goal.

Alicia had, though. She’d known what it was going to take for him to get there, to reach for what he wanted, and to really work at it. All the tools had been right there in his grasp; all he’d had to do was put in the effort.

They were far from finished. He knew that. But for Garrett, it was more than just the chance to get back to work. It was being at the ballpark again, surrounded by his peers. And the crowd. God, he loved the fans, the sounds they made, even the boos when he had a bad game.

He’d been isolated for so long that he’d even take a rousing chorus of boos, as long as he could just be here.

Even better, Alicia was here with him, working with him on the sidelines. He might not be throwing warm-up pitches with his teammates, but he was at least throwing pitches today. They still weren’t the kind of pitches he wanted to throw, but he had to focus on his recovery and his arm, and not on Walter Segundo, the fiery right-hander who was his fiercest competitor and no doubt a lock to start on opening day.

Walter was currently throwing off the mound and firing bullets into the catcher’s mitt. His accuracy was off the charts, and his ERA was nearly as good as Garrett’s had been before his injury. Garrett knew he’d been the best pitcher the Rivers had—before he’d screwed up his shoulder.

Would he be that good again? That was the multimillion-dollar question, wasn’t it?

“Hey.”

He shifted his gaze to Alicia, who was kneeling with a catcher’s mitt in her hand. “Yeah?”

“Pull your head out of your ass and focus on me, not on Walter or the other players. You want to be here at the ballpark? Then eyes on me.”

He wanted to make a smart remark about how he’d rather have his eyes on her great ass or maybe it would be better if she was naked or several other completely inappropriate remarks, but there were other guys hovering nearby. So instead, he nodded and said, “Yeah. Got it. Focus.”

“Good. Throw a slow one at me.”

“I’ve been throwing slow ones at you for the past hour.”

“Good. Fling me a few more, and quit whining about it.”

He heard the snickers of his teammates, which didn’t bother him in the least. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d ribbed one another about a workout with a trainer. Hell, if Manny wasn’t chewing your ass out on a daily basis, you felt like he didn’t like you anymore. Alicia was a kitten by comparison.

Speaking of the Rivers coach, he made his way over to them when the rest of the team took a break.

Alicia looked wide-eyed and terrified at Manny’s approach, which amused the hell out of Garrett. He gave her credit for continuing with what she was doing, which was taking pitches from him.

Manny stood and watched for a while, then sauntered over to Garrett.

“I see she’s finally got you throwing some pitches.”

“Some weak ones, but yeah, I’m finally throwing.”

“They look like shit,” Manny said.

Alicia looked horrified. Garrett grinned. “Yeah, they do. But it’s more than I’ve thrown since the injury. And my arm feels great.”

Manny scrutinized Garrett, then Alicia. Garrett always thought Manny looked like an old grizzled pirate when he gave that squint. Manny finally nodded and slapped Garrett on the back. “Good enough. Keep it up.”

When he walked away, Alicia slumped and dropped her glove. Garrett walked down the field toward her then leaned over.

“Are you breathing?”

She lifted her head. “I can’t help it. He scares the crap out of me.”

“You? The one who stood in the therapy room that day and told me I had my head up my ass, then stood up in front of Manny, your boss, the team doctor, and the entire therapy team and told them all that their method of dealing with me sucked? And you’re afraid of Manny?”

She stood, kicked at the dirt. “I had a moment of madness. I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about.”

“So you’re saying you have no idea how to treat me.”

She lifted her chin and glared at him. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”

When her hackles were raised and she got defiant like that, he wanted to jerk her into his arms and kiss her. It was such a turn-on when she went all fiery and independent. “Good. Then quit letting Manny intimidate you.”

She blinked. “You know what? You’re right.”

“Of course I am.”

Alicia rolled her eyes and pointed. “Back to work for you. How’s your arm feeling?”

“Pretty good, actually.”

“Okay, throw me some harder stuff. And by harder stuff, Garrett, I don’t mean a blinding fastball or—”

“God, Alicia. I know what you mean. Put a little more effort into it but not game-situation strength. Just a little harder than what I’ve been throwing.”

She nodded. “Now you’re getting the picture.”

He turned and walked away. “You don’t have to draw me a fucking road map. I’m not a goddamn moron.”

“I heard that.”

He turned to face her. “I know. That’s why I said it loud enough for you to hear.”

She crouched down into position. “Are we going to talk all day, or are you going to throw me a pitch?”

More snickers from his teammates. He shook his head, wound up, and threw a pitch just hard enough that Alicia winced when it hit her glove.

That might shut her up for a while. She scowled at him but tossed the ball back without saying a word.

“Not quite
that
hard yet, asshole.”

More laughs from the other pitchers, but the laughs were still directed at him.

Good. Just where he wanted them.

*   *   *

GARRETT WAS OFF TALKING TO THE OTHER PITCHERS,
so Alicia took a moment to update her notes.

“You look all official and therapylike.”

She turned around and smiled at her cousin Gavin, then gave him a quick hug. “And you look all baseball-like. How’s it going?”

“Good. How’s rehabbing Garrett going?”

“Great. He’s coming along.”

“So I’ve heard. Among other things.”

Alicia cocked a brow. “Other things.”

“Oh, you know. Word gets around pretty fast in a ball club.”

Crap. “Tell me what you’ve heard.”

“Some of the guys talking about how easy it is between the two of you, a lot of laughing and . . . things.”

“Things? What things?”

“Look. I don’t pay much attention to gossip and rumor, you know that. But I did watch you two together today. It’s pretty obvious there’s some body language between the two of you.”

“Body language?” She knew all she was doing was repeating what he said, but she was sinking fast. She had nothing to say in her own defense, so the longer she could delay the inevitable, the better.

“I know it’s none of my business, but is there something going on between the two of you?”

There would be no use denying it to Gavin. He’d find out eventually from Liz, who told him everything. “Uh . . . sort of.”

Now it was Gavin’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “What does ‘sort of’ mean? This isn’t high school, Alicia. There either is or isn’t. You know I’m not going to tell any of the guys on the team. You can trust me.”

She knew her cousin wouldn’t talk. “Yes, there’s something going on between us. I just don’t know that we’ve really defined it yet, and I’d really appreciate it if you could do whatever you could to not promote any talk among the other players. I’m rather fond of my job.”

“Hey, you know I didn’t come over here to get gossip from you.”

She nodded. “I know. Which is why I told you.”

Gavin looked over at Garrett. “He’s a good guy, you know.”

“Yes, he is. But my primary focus is on his recovery, not on dating him. I mean, we’re not even dating. We’re just—”

She gave Gavin a blank look. “I cannot have this discussion with you.”

Gavin looked as horrified as she did. “Thank God. Because I do not want to discuss sex with you.”

She laughed.

“Good thing Liz is in town,” Gavin said. “It might be better if you talk to her about this shit.” He pulled off his ball cap and dragged his fingers through his hair. “Why don’t we get together for dinner? You can come to our beach house.”

“I’d love to see Liz.” Then she thought about it. “You’re not going to grill Garrett about our relationship, are you?”

“Uh, no. Because then the whole sex topic would come up again, and believe me, that’s the last thing I want to talk about with your guy.”

Her guy. He wasn’t really her guy. Was he? “Okay, I’ll talk to Garrett about it and call you.”

He kissed her cheek. “Later.”

When warm-ups were finished, they stayed and watched the game. She kept her eye on Garrett to see how he reacted to being relegated to watching rather than playing. Fortunately, as a pitcher, he wasn’t always in the rotation. He seemed to handle it fine, cheering on the players as the Rivers beat Atlanta, three to two.

He did great, even making his way down to the bullpen to rally the relief pitchers in the later innings while she stayed in the dugout.

While the crowds filed out and the team headed to the locker room, Alicia spent some time with the other sports-medicine folks, catching up on what had been going on. Annamarie was there, the only other female sports-medicine therapist. Alicia and Annamarie had been hired around the same time and had bonded as females in a sea of testosterone. Annamarie was tough and capable and also fairly gorgeous, Alicia had always thought. She had a saucy attitude to go with her Italian/Mexican/German heritage. While Alicia’s hair was sort of the same color, the two of them could never be confused. Annamarie’s hair was thick as hell, and she often braided it to keep it out of her way. Plus, she had gorgeous olive skin and beautiful eyes and the kind of lush body that couldn’t be hidden under the team’s hideous medical uniforms. She and Annamarie had become fast friends and would always commiserate about their bottom-of-the-totem-pole status.

“I’ve missed you,” Annamarie said, sitting next to Alicia in the dugout. “We haven’t had a chance to get caught up since you got assigned to Garrett. Lucky you. He’s a hot one.”

Alicia laughed. “Yeah. It’s been an interesting case.”

“How’s he coming along?”

“He’s doing well.”

“And you get all this one-on-one time with him as his specialist. What a great career move for you. It puts you front and center in the eyes of the team. I’m kind of jealous.”

“Yes. It also puts me front and center in the eyes of the team, if you know what I mean.”

Annamarie cocked her head and frowned, then said, “Oh. Right. You’re like a giant target.”

“Exactly. If I don’t get him up on the mound and pitching, it’s not going to look good for me.”

Annamarie half turned on the bench to face her. “Quit worrying. I’ve seen you work with the guys, Alicia. You’re very good. You have this almost sixth sense about therapy and rehab, and your outcomes are in the highest percentiles. Do you have any doubts that you’ll have Garrett pitching this season?”

That day in St. Louis when Garrett had asked her what her opinion was, she knew with certainty that she could fix him. She still felt that way. “No. None at all.”

“See, that’s where you and a lot of therapists differ, where you and I differ. I know there’s still so much I have to learn, but you’ve always had this ballsy confidence. You plunge headlong into whatever you’re doing with this uncanny conviction that the outcome is going to be a one hundred percent rehabilitated player.”

Alicia looked at Annamarie. “I’d never thought about it like that. I must be out of my freakin’ mind. There are no certainties like that, especially in this field, because there are so many variables, including the players themselves. You know as well as I do that their level of cooperation is paramount in their recovery.”

Annamarie laughed. “Of course I do, which is why I’m not as confident as you are. But I think your confidence stems from your ability to sweet-talk them into cooperating. Look how well it’s working with Garrett. You’ve made amazing strides with him so far, haven’t you?”

“I suppose I have.” She had. A lot of that had to do with Garrett’s willingness to cooperate and the way he approached his therapy. She’d been tough on him, but he’d been equally hard on himself.

“Then don’t change anything you’re doing. It’s working.”

She squeezed Annamarie’s hand. “Thank you. I needed this. It’s been a real confidence booster.”

Annamarie laughed. “That’s what friends and colleagues are for. Call me anytime. And when this crunch is over, we need to have lunch together. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too.”

After Annamarie left, Alicia thought about what her friend had said. It made a lot of sense, but it also freaked her out. Was she really that fearless in her treatment plans and the way she handled players?

She had been with Garrett. And so far it was working, so maybe she shouldn’t overthink it.

She looked around. Where was Garrett anyway? She realized she’d been talking to Annamarie so long that the stadium had cleared out.

“We’re about to shut out the lights, miss. You coming?”

She looked up to see one of the stadium crew members.

“Actually, I’m waiting for one of the players. I think he’s still out in the bullpen. Garrett Scott. He might be out there with one of the coaches.”