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“What you said. That the Saints were in trouble. That your offer was too good to refuse.”
Somehow he didn’t think that was the whole story. Trouble was, he wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea to press her at this point. He didn’t know her well enough to know when to push and when to back off. He let her hit a few more balls.
“Anything else you want to talk about?” he asked.
“Should there be?”
“You tell me.”
“I—” She swung at the ball and missed. It thudded into Alex’s glove with a soft smack.
Maggie turned, mouth rounded in surprise. “What are you doing down there?”
“Catching.” He stood and hit the control on the machine so she didn’t get taken out by the next ball.
“It’s a cage, you’re meant to stand outside.”
“I don’t always do what I’m meant to do.”
“No kidding.” The bat swung loosely from her hand, the silver-colored aluminum glinting under the lights. She didn’t look as though her mood had improved much.
“Want to hit a few more? Or do you want to talk about it?”
She frowned at his glove. “That glove is pretty old. Did you take it from the practice room?”
“No, it’s mine.”
“You really play ball?”
“Used to,” he corrected. “A long time ago.”
“What level?”
And this was the conversation he didn’t want to have right now. Which meant he had to turn the topic back to the things she didn’t want to talk about right now.
“We were talking about you and your dad. Are things okay between you two?”
“Why do you care?”
“Honestly? Because I’d rather not be in the middle of a family feud. I need you functioning.”
“What makes you think I can’t function?”
“I didn’t say that I thought that. But that bat was getting quite a workout, and I don’t know you that well yet but I’m guessing that means you’re angry. No one makes good decisions when they’re mad.”
“Not even the great Alex Winters?”
“Especially me.” It wasn’t entirely true. One of the best decisions of his life had been made when he’d been enraged and grieving and wanting to tear the world a new one. But since then he’d tried to let his head rule most of the time. It had stood him in good stead for quite a long time. Until he’d been unable to convince his heart that he didn’t really want to buy a baseball team. Which only went to show that emotions only got you into trouble. He loved the Saints but they came with a whole bucketload of problems. Including the woman standing before him angrily twirling a baseball bat.
“If you want to keep hitting, we should get you another bat.”
“I was doing okay with this one. Though I prefer wood.”
He bit back a grin. “Me too. I have a collection of old bats. Maybe I can show you sometime.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Is that the Alex Winters version of ‘come up and see my etchings’?”
“Nope. The bats are on display in the range at the Ice Inc. headquarters.”
