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Several responses came to Katie’s mind:I love you more, Landon.Or maybe:No, I don’t want your help. I still want to make it on my own. I still need to prove that to myself.
Instead she said, "It’s getting late. You better start getting ready to head to the airport. I’m going to miss you."
She couldn’t bring herself to say the three words that mattered, but he’d told her he’d miss her once too and she hadn’t reciprocated on that either, so it felt like something
Landon understood and wrapped his arm tighter around her. "I’ll miss you too, baby. Are you anxious about talking to Lori?"
"No...Kind of, I guess...Yes, I am, actually. A whole lot. How are you not anxious? The Holts have money and power and good lawyers and I know you do too, but it's not all bullshit, like you say. You, you...what if he never walks again?"
"Good," Landon said, without missing a beat. "I have zero issues with that. He's less likely to hurt someone else."
Katie dipped her arm in the warm water to quell the goosebumps that ran down her skin. This violent side of him didn't sit well with her. She'd already been with one man who hid a dark side.
But this was Landon. He wouldn't hurt her. She'd felt that in the alleyway without even really knowing him and she felt it now, nestled against his chest, his tan arms draped around her.
Katie sighed. "What if the police find out we lied? That's a serious crime."
"We didn't lie to the police, just the media."
"What if the media gets ahold of the police report?"
"My friend is going to keep the report off the books for awhile until it all blows over, but who's going to be looking for it? No offense, but I don't think the press is doing much follow up on their forty-five second piece on two people no one has ever heard of."
Katie shrugged one shoulder, not offended, but also not assuaged.
Landon kept trying. "The truth is, who cares if the story does leak? My reputation's taken a worse hit. You've got to relax, baby. Everything's going to be fine."
"I don't know how to do that. How do you do that? How do you shut off that worrying part of your brain?"
"Because I'm a ballplayer, baby. Been playing since I could hold a bat. Hundreds of games in Little League and college. A hundred and fifty per season in Triple-A—though I got called up after game sixty-eight," he reminded her unnecessarily and Katie bit back a grin at his ego. "Then it's a hundred and sixty plus every year in the MLB, more when we make it to the post season."
"And? What's your point?" she asked.
Landon wrapped her up close to him until he'd almost,almost, squeezed out the last of her worries. "Baby, one thing becomes very clear after that much time on the field..."
"Yeah, what's that?" she asked, her eyes closing as she finally let her head fall completely back against him.
"No matter what happens today, tomorrow's a whole new ballgame."
Epilogue
If there were worse outfits to wear in a triple digit heatwave, Katie couldn’t think of one with the trickle of sweat dripping down the back of her neck. The long sleeved turtleneck and capri pants at least covered the majority of her bruises. They’d faded only slightly after only four days and she had enough explaining to do to Lori without adding on an unnecessary discussion about her injuries.
They had bigger fish to fry and Katie had come to the meeting prepared. She would quit her job with the excuse of a family matter back home that would take her out for the season. A recommendation would be out of the question, but at least she might not get black balled. If her and Landon were spotted together three to six months down the road, so be it.
Katie was also prepared to get fired. Despite Landon’s version of his conversation with Lori, the Dragon Lady made it her business to know everything that went on at JTM Industries Stadium, so she’d probably been investigating over the past week and who knew what damning evidence she’d come up with.
Katie was not prepared, however, to walk into Lori’s office and find another person. A small man in a suit with his back to her, hands clasped behind him as he admired the view out Lori's office window.
"Katie, you remember Stan Takahashi."
Mr. Takahashi turned around and Katie made the effort to come to him and shake his hand. "Of course, pleased to see you, sir."
Lori jumped right in. "Katie, I’ve had a whole lot of reservations about the extra personal time you’ve been taking, but Stan and I have been discussing the media liaison position and we're moving you into it effective immediately."
Katie's ears perked, her heart kicking up a notch.
"You’re going to finish out the season as my assistantandhelp with the legwork forLast First Kiss.We’ll need you to sign a non-disclosure agreement before we talk further, but Mr. Takahashi is going to be making a sizable investment into our new media conglomerate, and, let’s just say, a whole lot of big things are in the works. After this season,ifall goes well, we’ll move you full time over to our new office building and you will essentially serve as mine and Stan’s head assistant as we start rolling out Maverick Media. This is more responsibility, but your salary will essentially double."
