Free Breaking His Rules (Feeling the Heat #4) by Alison Packard Page A

“And
you
wouldn’t be gloating if Gentry had thrown a breaking ball and struck him out?”
    “No.” Jake rolled his eyes at her light snort of disbelief. “Maybe.” Melissa nudged him again. “Probably,” he admitted.
    She gave him a triumphant smile. “So where are we meeting J.T. and Angie for dinner?”
    “Kamu’s. It’s across the street from the ballpark.”
    “Kamu’s?” Her eyes widened. “I’ve read about that place. All the players hang out there. Have you been there before?”
    “A couple of times. The food is great and the owner has a ton of Blaze memorabilia on display.”
    “I can’t wait.”
    Jake’s breath hitched at the sparkling excitement in Melissa’s eyes. In less than two weeks he’d be sharing a hotel room with her. He’d told her it was no big deal, but suddenly the thought of being in such close proximity to her sent a spike of heat straight to his gut. And for the first time in two years, he was doing something he’d sworn he’d never do—seriously rethinking his no-fraternization rule.
    * * *
    Two hours later at Kamu’s, Jake sat across from his brother and sister-in-law at a leather booth not far from the bar. The atmosphere in the place was upbeat. Matt Scanlon’s walk-off home run in ninth had won the game for the Blaze and left the Braves stunned. At the bar, Trey Gentry and the Blaze’s Cy Young award-winning pitcher, Dave Rizzo, were celebrating the victory along with Rizzo’s wife, Chantal. Gentry was currently without a girlfriend but, according to J.T., the young pitcher usually managed to score with a cleat-chaser after almost every game.
    “Where’s Jordan tonight?”
    “With my mom.” Angie reached for her beer and took a sip. “We’re going to pick her up after dinner.”
    Surprised, Jake looked from Angie to J.T. then back to Angie. After what Angie’s mother had done on Christmas Eve last year, reconciliation was the last thing he’d expected to hear. “I thought you and your mom were on the outs.”
    Angie set her mug on the table and brushed back her thick wavy hair. “We were. But I couldn’t let things stay the way they were. Despite her faults, I love my mom and I want her to be a part of Jordan’s life. We’ve made a lot of progress in the past few months. At first, I called her every week and then she started calling me. Now we talk twice a week, and when J.T. was on his last road trip she and my sister drove to Sacramento and stayed the weekend with me.”
    “She’s still leery of me though.” J.T. grinned. “I’m sure she thought I was hooking up with cleat-chasers in every city.”
    Angie laughed. “She didn’t say a word. She knows better now.”
    J.T. reached for Angie’s hand and they shared a lingering glance. J.T. was crazy in love with his wife; it showed on his face every time he looked at her. Envy wasn’t an emotion Jake felt too often, but every time he was around J.T. and Angie, he wished he could find what they had. Like his father and his brother, he wanted to find the woman who would be his partner in life. The one whom he would make memories with
and
grow old with.
    “So what’s the deal with Melissa?” J.T. looked back at him with a puzzled expression. “I thought you didn’t date your clients.”
    “I don’t.” Jake frowned as J.T. and Angie exchanged sly grins. They’d both been surprised to see Melissa with him but hadn’t questioned him about it until now—after Melissa had excused herself to use the restroom. “Melissa and I are just friends.”
    “Are you sure that’s all it is?” Angie asked. “I mean, do you take all your clients to Blaze games?”
    “No.” Jake’s face warmed as he shifted uncomfortably on the booth’s padded bench. “But it’s not a date. We had some things we needed to discuss and it seemed like the best place to do it considering my hours at the gym and her work schedule.”
    J.T. let out an amused snort. “Better than your office? Dude, you keep telling us