Chapter Fifteen

Chelsea

“And that’s the game, folks!”

I glanced up from my furious scribbling at the announcement. The game was over and the broadcasting duo of Mark and Don took over again. I spent most of it completely lost in my own world. Pages and pages of notes were spread out before me. Things were underlined, marked up in different colors, and half a dozen sketches lay on the floor beside my legs. With the sound of the game playing in the background it had all come together and I channeled it into my work. At the end, when I pulled back and took a breath, I felt like the guy from A Beautiful Mind. It all made complete sense to me, but if someone were to walk in and glance over my shoulder they’d probably think I finally lost my grip on the last of my marbles.

I laughed to myself, relieved at the light and airy feeling once the weight of finding a viable idea for the next Mr. Fish game was lifted from my shoulders. I could breathe again. When I walked into the conference room a week and a half from now, I’d have something solid and concrete to pitch.

Something pretty damn good if I said so myself.

After all, baseball is the American past time, right?

Granted, up until a few days ago, I knew nothing about it, but I planned on making up for lost time.

Purely for the sake of the Mr. Fish game of course. It had nothing to do with Cody. At least, that was my story.

I pushed back from the coffee table and leaned back against the couch. I worked and stretched my wrist and flexed my fingers. They were stiff from gripping the pencils and pens like a madwoman for the last three hours.

But it was done. I wouldn’t change a thing. Sure, there would be little tweaks and changes when I actually started feeding the code to the computer, but the details and rules were established and that was always the hardest part. The part that felt like giving birth. Or, at least what I imagined labor to feel like, accomplishment-wise.

A buzz startled me and I realized it was my phone. The only problem was it had become buried in the papers on the coffee table. I dug through the stacks and retrieved the phone. I didn’t recognize the number on the screen but it was a local number so I answered. “Hello?”

“Hey, pretty girl.”

My heart leaped from my chest up into my throat, the pulse banging frantically at the deep, sweet, slow drawl on the other end of the line. “Cody?”

“Yes, ma’am. You catch the game?”

I looked up at the TV and turned it to mute. The sportscasters were still there, obscuring the field. “Um…no. I didn’t. How’d you do?”

“Another rocking night.”

“Congratulations.” I pushed up from the floor and paced the living room. I went to the fish tank and then crossed back to the opposite wall. “Is that why you called? To tell me about the game?”

“Hell no. I just wanted to hear your voice.”

“Aha. How did you get my number?”

“Robby.”

I made a mental note to kick him in the shins next time I was at Paris’. “Fantastic. I owe him one…”

Cody laughed and I melted into the sound. Damn it. “Don’t take it out on him. You know you’re happy to hear from me.”

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help a small smile from spreading across my face. “You sure are a cocky thing, aren’t ya?”

“I’ve been called worse.”

“I’m sure,” I said with a laugh. I paced back to the fish tank and my free hand danced along the edge. Nervous energy took hold of me. I didn’t know what to say, and the sound of his voice was making my mind wade back into dangerous waters, filled with the echoed memories of the way we moved together, the sounds he made while I straddled his narrow hips, and the way he felt inside of me.

I closed my eyes and gripped the side of the tank. Get it together, Chels. Don’t let him know he gets to you.

“What are you doing tonight? If you’re not watching the best game on TV?”

I opened my eyes and smirked. “I was coming up with the idea for my next award winning game.”

“Aha. Sounds exciting. Wanna fill me in?”

I pursed my lips. “Like you really care about some children’s game.”

He laughed softly. “Do you care about it?”

“Yes. Of course I do.”

“Then tell me about it.”

“You promise you won’t laugh?”

“I would never,” he replied, actually sounding very serious.

I bit the corner of my lower lip. “All right, fine. The first game was bent toward teaching kids geography so it was called Lucky’s Big Adventure. Lucky is the name of my clown fish.”

“Like Nemo?”

I laughed. “Like Nemo. How do you know about that?”

“It’s a good movie.”

I laughed harder at the image of him sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn watching Disney movies. “It is. Anyway, the investors want the follow-up to focus on math. I’ve been struggling to come up with an idea and then tonight it kind of hit me. Why not baseball? So, Lucky Plays Fishball or something like that for the title, and he learns math as he learns baseball. Things like counting the bases, number of people…well, fish…on the team, different plays. I mapped it all out.”

“Sounds cool. If you need a baseball tutor, I’d be more than happy to come over and give you some instructions…”

I shivered at the way he said instructions knowing full well they’d have absolutely nothing to do with baseball.

“I’ll keep ya posted,” I said, trying to keep the quiver from my voice.

“Good girl.” He chuckled. “So, let me ask you, did this new idea have anything to do with me? I mean…you’re telling me you weren’t watching the game but you’re over there cooking up a new baseball themed game. I have to think that has something to do with meeting me.”

I grinned. “Or, it could be the fact that in the last week I’ve been dragged to two different games when I was supposed to be home working.”

Cody laughed. “Nah. I’m not buyin’ it, baby girl.”

“That’s fine. You don’t have to. If anyone is sitting around obsessing, I’d say it was you. I mean what, you just walked off the field five minutes ago and you’re already on the phone with me?”

Cody laughed. “I knew it!”

“What?”

“You were watching the game. Ya naughty girl, telling me lies.”

I spun around and looked at the TV, realizing my mistake. “Shit!”

Cody laughed harder and I couldn’t stop myself from joining in. “All right, fine. You busted me. Happy now?”

“More than you know, sugar.”

His low tone rippled through me and my skin flushed. I wanted him there, beside me, around me, inside me…

“I was brainstorming. That’s all. It really had nothing to do with you.”

“You tell yourself whatever you need to,” he said, the smile still lingering in his voice.

“Are you flying home tonight?” I asked before I could stop myself.

“I wish.” His tone changed, sounding more clipped, like something about the question, or perhaps the answer, irritated him. “Tomorrow afternoon.”

“Oh, that’s right. Paris told me.” Great, now I was doing that annoying teenage girl thing. Asking questions that I already knew the answers to in order to keep him on the phone.

“You saw her today?”

“Yeah, we had lunch. She’s all messed up because of an argument with Robby.”

“Trust me, I know. I got the man version of that the entire flight here.”

I laughed. “I’m sorry. I had an easy out. I don’t know if I could have handled that for longer than an hour.”

Cody chuckled. “It’s no sweat. What do you think? Those two gonna get their shit together?”

“They will.” I smiled. “They’re probably sexting right now.”

Cody roared with laughter. “Hot.”

I blushed at the blurted comment. “It’s kinda their thing.”

“What about you?”

“No! Not at all. The internet is forever…”

“Damn, I could use a couple naughty snaps to get me through the night.”

A lightning bolt of hot electricity shot through me and I tensed, all the blood in my body rushing between my legs. The idea of taking sexy pictures for Cody—and thinking about what he would do once he had them in his possession—made me hot and wet. I ached with desire for him.

“I thought I made it clear that what we did was a one-night thing, Cody.”

“You don’t believe that bullshit and neither do I. We’re too good together to only have one night.”

I wanted to argue, but everything died on my lips. He was right.

Damn him.

“Well, I’m not sending you naked pics, and I sure as hell am not going to get on video chat with you and get freaky.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“It has nothing to do with that and you know it,” I argued. I didn’t think Cody would blast my photos or videos all over the place, but he was a celebrity. Someone could get access to his computer and then I’d be ruined. “I make children’s computer games and apps for a living. It wouldn’t look good for me to be caught sending sexts and homemade porn to some famous baseball guy.”

Cody laughed. “I guess that’s true. It doesn’t matter. I’d rather have the real thing anyway.”

I sucked in a breath at the promise in his voice and wished I could see his eyes. I knew exactly what they would look like. Large dark pupils, a sparkling blaze, and a hungry, lusty desire. They would linger on me—every curve and hollow—making me feel exposed, vulnerable, and sexy all at the same time.

“I was thinking seven o’clock tomorrow night. That way I can get in a shower and wash away all that nasty ass airplane air. Gotta be fresh for my lady.”

I snapped back to reality. “Seven? Tomorrow? Wait, what?”

Had I agreed to a date while off in la-la land?

“You. Me. Tomorrow. Seven.”

“Cody, I—”

“Chelsea, come on, stop fighting me on this. You want me. I want you. There’s no reason to hide it. Okay? The cat’s already out of the fuckin’ bag and halfway down the street, all right?”

I squeezed my eyes closed. He was right, but damn it, I wished he wasn’t. It was easier to argue with him than it would be to keep getting close to him and try to keep my heart under lock and key. He was abrasive, demanding, arrogant, and cocky, but there was something else lurking under the bravado and ego. And that part of him had my attention and I knew that once I uncovered it—I’d want to keep it all to myself.

Which was probably a big mistake. It wasn’t wise to want things that you couldn’t have. It would only lead to heartache and disappointment.

“I have to work,” I said, my tone casual but with enough force, I hoped he’d back off. I couldn’t hold up my defenses forever.

“Chelsea, why do you insist on making this so difficult?”

“I’m not, Cody. I’ve actually made it very simple. You wanted a night with me, and I wanted one with you. We don’t need to go any farther.”

“We don’t need to, but why the hell shouldn’t we?”

I opened my mouth, but there weren’t any words to answer his question. He chuckled and I frowned. He knew he had me. “I have work to do, Cody. I’m sure I’ll see you at a game or with Robby and Paris one of these days.”

“Chelsea—”

“Goodbye.”

I clicked off of the call before he could convince me to part ways with my sanity and draw me back into his web. It was hard enough to get him out of my head. One more night in his arms and I’d be lost for good.