“Look, man, just take the time to heal.” Tucker nodded at Pace’s surprise. “Yeah, I know. No one else is going to tell you that, not during the season—hello, you’re their moneymaker. But you have to do whatever you have to do to get healthy, or you’ll end up selling f**king vitamins.”
With a heavy weight on his chest, Pace watched him limp away, then searched the crowd.
“She’s not here yet,” Wade said, coming up to his side, nodding to the bartender as he handed Pace the two tall Dr Peppers.
“Who’s not here yet?” Pace asked.
“The woman you’re craning your neck looking for who. Your sexy rabbit’s foot. And what the hell, man. Double fisting this early in the night? I thought you gave those suckers up.”
“Past tense.” The twin Dr Peppers were cool and icy against his palms and calling to him like a pair of long-lost lovers. “And Holly’s not mine. We’re not . . . we’re not.” Dammit.
“Yeah. I bet all that kissing is a real drag then.” Wade accepted his drink from the bartender and leaned against the bar. “I think you’re making a mistake with her.”
His gut tightened. “She’s not the leak.”
“I meant you’re making a mistake waiting to go for it.”
“Yeah, well.” Pace downed one of the drinks. “I have strict instructions.”
“Bullshit. You’re only obeying Gage because it suits you to ignore this thing between the two of you, and there is a thing,” he said when Pace opened his mouth. “And honestly? I don’t get it. You stand on a mound directly in the path of baseballs flying at you at the speed of light, and yet you’re afraid of her. One woman. I get that there’s a reason you’re afraid. Love can suck golf balls, and we both know it. But taking the walk instead of the hit? That’s just stupid.”
Holly appeared in the doorway, and as she seemed to be able to do, laid her eyes right on Pace.
And damn if something didn’t shift inside of him. “I know,” he said to Wade. “I know it’s stupid to take the walk.”
“Then go for it already. Go get her and take her home. Get some fun of the naked variety. It does a body good.”
Someone handed Holly a cocktail. Her hair was down, loose to her shoulders, which was new. She wore a crisp business jacket over a matching skirt, which was not new.
And she was quite beautiful.
God, he’d missed her. “What if it’s not just naked fun? What if it’s more?”
“Then I’ll get to watch the mighty Pace Martin fall on his face for once.” Wade clasped Pace’s good shoulder, a wide grin on his face. “Hell, man, everyone should get something out of this.”
Holly saw Pace right away. It was that weird chemical vibe they had between them, and her own personal curse to be so hyperaware of him. She liked to think he was cursed with the same affliction when it came to her. He was at the bar with Wade, the two of them watching her intently, but only one of them stopping her heart in faded Levi’s and a button-down and with a day’s worth of stubble. With a careful breath, she headed over there, but was quickly sidelined by Samantha, who pulled her aside to stand with her and Jeremy.
“I don’t know how or why,” Sam said, “but per Gage, you’ve got yourself an unlimited pass to the clubhouse, with instructions to be there exactly one hour before the start of every game.”
Jeremy raised a brow. “Impressive, as Gage’s usually so tight-assed with those things that he squeaks when he walks. I had to beg for mine, and my own sister runs the PR department.”
Knowing exactly why she’d gotten the pass, Holly took it and slipped it into her purse. “Thanks.”
“What makes it the most interesting,” Sam said slowly, watching her face, “is that we have obvious press problems. They’ve revoked the other press passes.”
“Maybe it’s my articles,” Holly murmured, trying to deflect.
“Or maybe it’s how the saying goes,” Jeremy said. “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer . . .”
When he moved on to talk to someone else, Sam arched a brow. “Ignore my ass of a brother, he’s pissed because I wouldn’t give him some Heat privileged information he asked for. So what’s going on, Holly?”
“I’m not your leak.”
“Good. Can you explain the pass?”
“Turns out you were right about that whole superstitious thing.”
“Okay. More.”
“Pace has to kiss me before each game.”
The usually unflappable Sam blinked.
“The guys didn’t tell you?”
“No, they didn’t.”
Interesting that that hadn’t leaked like everything else. “Yeah. We have to kiss in the shower room.” She paused. Blushed. “Up against the tile wall.”
Sam choked out a shocked laugh. “Wow. Such a horrible sacrifice, having to kiss Pace Martin.” She stared at Holly. “So that’s it. The reason you’ve let your hair down, why you’re smiling more. You’ve been ferreting out secrets, while holding one of your own.”
“Hey, I smile.”
“Yeah, but this is more of a goofy I’ve-kissed-a-hottie smile. It looks good on you. So . . . where’s Pace on the kissing scale?”
Holly’s eyes locked on Pace. He was still watching her. “Off the chart.”