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“Excuse me.” Suddenly, Rick Raundo, the Italian-American right fielder on Luke’s team, was by their side. He was tall and dark, with a nose that was a bit on the large side and a sense of humor even larger. Katie liked him instantly and had talked to him through much of dinner. “They want Luke here for one last photo op,” Rick said, his hand coming down on Luke’s shoulder. “Grin and bear it, man. It’s with the president of the Leukemia Association.” Rick smiled at Katie. “I’ll stay behind and defend Katie from any media attacks.”
Luke grimaced and cast Katie a warning look. “Watch out for his wandering hands,” he said, and leaned close. “We’ll escape right after I finish up.” He surprised her by kissing her, a short, sweet caress of the lips, and he was gone before she could stop him.
Rick immediately turned his attention to Katie. But this wasn’t the Rick from dinner, all full of laughter and jokes.
“Look, Katie,” he said, his tone dark, his expression darker. “You seem like a nice person, and I get that you’re here to protect Luke and all. But don’t go getting him all worked up over these letters and screwing with his game. Baseball is everything to Luke.”
For the second time, Katie found herself blindsided. “Excuse me?”
“Do your job and beyond, for all I care,” Rick said. Beyond implying sex, without question. “But don’t try to freak Luke out.”
“Go back to the ‘while you’re protecting him’ part,” she ground out between her teeth, ignoring the couple crowding them. “What does that mean?”
“I know who you are,” he said. “He told me you—”
“Don’t!” she said, poking a finger at his chest. “Do not say it out loud. Don’t say it to anyone. Do you hear me?”
She was already storming away from Rick. Luke wasn’t supposed to tell anyone who she was or why she was here. She was furious with him. She couldn’t protect him when he wasn’t cooperating. And she couldn’t protect him when she kept thinking about getting him naked, either.
Rick caught up with her quickly. “Katie, dammit.”
She motioned him to a corner, away from the crowd.
“I want you to think about this,” Rick said, his voice low, terse. “But if someone is trying to ruin Luke’s career, bringing you in here to make this into a big deal is only making it worse.”
The only thing keeping Katie from wringing Rick’s neck was that she believed he had good intentions, no matter how misplaced. He was worried about Luke.
“I’m here to protect him, Rick, and yes, those letters might be about messing with his head and his game and that’s it, but—”
“What else could it be?” Rick challenged.
“If you’re wrong and there’s a real threat,” Katie said, “Luke could get hurt. Is that what you want? Luke dead because you were protecting his career?”
“Oh, man, Katie,” Rick said. “The ‘dead’ card is unfair.”
“So is the ‘guilt’ card,” Katie countered.
He scrubbed his jaw. “All I’m asking is that you keep whatever you do low-key with Luke. Be as intense as you want when he’s not around, but let him stay focused on his game.”
“What’s going on, you two?” Luke said, walking up beside them.
“Katie?” Rick asked urgently, ignoring Luke.
She shook her head. “I’ll do my best.”
Rick nodded. “I’m out of here,” he said to Luke. “See you later, man.”
Luke frowned. “Do your best at what?” he asked Katie.
She tilted her chin up. “Is there anyone else who knows who I am that I should be aware of, Luke?”
He scanned the room for Rick, who’d already pulled a disappearing act, and then turned his attention back at Katie. “I can explain—”
“Is there anyone else?”
“No.”
“Can we leave now?”
He opened his mouth to speak and then shut it. “Kissing you wouldn’t solve anything, would it?”
“Besides getting you that knee you’ve been asking for?” she challenged. “Nope.”
“It might be worth it,” he said, his hand reaching for her.
“Or it might just give Olivia something to explain to the press. I’d love to see how she spins it—‘New girlfriend knees Luke Winter in the groin, swears she tripped and fell.’”
He gave one long nod. “No kiss.”
Her agreement was instant. “No kiss.”
They started walking, and he leaned closer. “I think we should talk about this in the truck.”
“You can drive,” she said. “I’ll talk.” It was time for Luke Winter to understand this was business and she was in control. The kisses would have to wait until this assignment was over, and she planned to tell him so.
***
AS SOON AS they were safely tucked inside Luke’s truck, away from the crowd, Katie began her lecture, and Luke took his verbal bashing in silence, for the most part. He didn’t believe for a minute that she didn’t want him to kiss her again, nor did he believe they could be together and not do so. To pretend otherwise was setting them both up for problems better avoided.
