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“Sorry, hon, I heard the swing of the bat and the rest was history. Hey, Gia, sorry if I kept you waiting.”
“Gia, your mom’s dating Duke Rodriguez?” one of the kids said to her.
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p; “Uh, well...” Gia fumbled to find the words. She looked down and around, then toward her mother for help.
“We’re very good friends,” Macy supplied.
“Cool.”
Duke wanted to say they were more than just friends, but he was a bit preoccupied watching Gia and another boy. Obviously, the two awkward teenagers wanted to talk to each other. The boy shuffled his feet in the dirt and twisted his body left and right in his letterman’s jacket. Since he’d begun spending more time at the Cuomo household, Duke hadn’t heard Gia mention anything about a boy. She talked about school, her media teacher and some of her girlfriends. But not a boy, not a boy in particular.
A sudden surge of protectiveness crept over him.
Duke remembered the boy’s name was Jimmy and he was the only freshman on the varsity team. He was tall and lanky, but that was typical for a fourteen-year-old. He seemed like a good kid at first, but now that he was blushing the same shade of red as Gia, Duke wasn’t too sure. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped wide open.
Duke wrapped his arms around Macy’s and Gia’s shoulders. “Well, I’ve kept my two favorite ladies waiting. Guys, have a great season.”
There was a bit of protest from the guys, including the temporary coach. Duke promised he’d try to come to one of their practice games before he left. Jimmy stepped over and tugged Gia’s arm. She went with him to the side so they could speak privately. Duke kept a watchful eye out for them, just in case.
“Any time you want to come by,” Bob said, shaking Duke’s hand, “it would be perfectly fine with me. We could really use some pointers out here.”
The team backed the coach up on his open offer. Duke started to shake his head no. He already had a job to do, and when he was done at the station he was rushing to spend time with Macy. “Well...”
“I’ll be honest with you, I could use some help here,” Bob said. “I’m the media pro. Ask Gia.”
“You should,” Macy encouraged him with a smile.
“I’ll have to see what my schedule is like and I’ll have Gia let you know. She might not like me being around.”
Jimmy and Gia rejoined them, some of the boys already pleading with Gia. Duke tucked Macy closer to his side as he said goodbye to everyone and walked off. When they got closer to the car and, more importantly, out of sight and earshot of the team, Gia did some odd skip move toward the car. She spun around at the locked door and faced them. Duke still had the keys and unlocked the door with them in his hand.
“Oh my God!” Gia squealed. “Jimmy actually knew my name! He’s the first freshman to be on the varsity team! The varsity team! I am so excited! He wants to take me to the Christmas dance this next week! Can I, Mom? Can I? Oh my God! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Duke, for coming to pick me up!” With that, Gia pulled out her cell phone and began Tweeting as she entered the backseat.
Duke hadn’t realized that Macy slipped her fingers into his as they walked toward the car until she squeezed his hand. “I think she’s an even bigger fan of yours now.”
“Oh yeah?” Duke beamed, aware of the crush Gia had had prior to meeting him. “How do you know?”
“She actually told you the news before you heard it on Twitter.” Macy looked up and smiled. Seconds later, her phone was chirping, indicating a Tweet.
They stopped walking once they reached the back of the car. Duke turned her toward him and took both hands in his and smiled down at her. “That’s progress, right?”
Her lashes batted against her cheeks as she looked down at his chest to contemplate his question. He liked the way her eyes turned a golden brown when the sun hit them just right. She was smiling, but the smile hadn’t gone to her eyes. It reminded him of the first time he’d laid eyes on her and she wouldn’t really look at him. Something was wrong.
“It’s progress,” she agreed.
“I hear a ‘but’ in there somewhere.”
“The kids and I have really enjoyed spending time with you with this week. I just fear that they’re going to get too close.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“You still have a contract in DC.” Macy looked down. “That means you’re leaving once the New Year rolls around.”
“Yes and no.” Duke gave a long sigh. He hadn’t shared his thoughts of staying on with the DC station with Macy. How crazy did it sound that he didn’t want to leave Tallahassee? He enjoyed being able to sleep through the night and not have to get up at all kinds of hours to get a story. Macy and her children had helped him get ready for his upcoming party, and since last week, he absolutely looked forward to getting off work and finding out what they’d been up to all day. Family. He missed being a part of a family.
But what did he have to offer them? Macy wasn’t interested in his fame. The children were over being starstruck. Without all that, was he still enough for them? When he returned to Mao last summer, his father thought Duke was crazy for taking a break from the career he’d worked so hard to build. His mother had stood up for Duke in her own way and reminded him that even with all the accolades he received and parties he attended, they did not mean as much without his own family. Duke half agreed. He did want a family, and one was waiting for him in DC with Kristina, but it wasn’t the one he wanted. More and more, each day he saw himself with someone like Macy. He just didn’t want to scare her off too soon. “Does that mean that we have to stop seeing each other when I leave?”
