Free Double Play by Jen Estes
Authors: Jen Estes
on the shoulder. “Before he straightened out, my brother was
quite the troublemaker, too.”
The very sight of
James’ smarmy smile made her nauseated. Cat tore her eyes
away.
“ Quinn
can be a handful but believe me, he feels awful about last night,
too.”
“ I’m
sure he does.”
She nodded and
turned to Roger. “Well, I don’t want to interrupt your meeting any
further. I was just heading out and wanted to say sorry
again.”
“ Thank
you, Catriona.”
“ I’m
on my way out; I’ll walk with you.” This man’s voice came from the
couch behind her. Cat recognized his voice as she turned
around.
“ Spencer?”
She took a quick
inventory of the other faces in the room to make sure there weren’t
any other surprises in this bunch. Finally she focused back on her
friend, trying to hide her dismay at his presence in the Billionaire Boys Club.
Roger gave
Spencer a jovial pat on his shoulder. “Spencer missed the presser
this morning so he brought me a bottle of Jameson to bribe me into
answering a few questions.”
“ Anything for a scoop. I’m sure Cat can relate. Right?” His
pleading eyes begged her to play along.
She nodded and
finally relinquished a smile for his benefit. “Jameson is
Journalism 101.”
Spencer edged his
way toward the door, backing Cat out of the room as he did so.
“Thanks again, Roger. Gentleman.”
“ Nice
weather we’re having today, isn’t it, Cat?”
“ It
is. I hope we have a similar day tomorrow for game one.”
“ Oh
that would be—”
Once they turned
the corner and she knew they were out of earshot, she smacked his
arm. “Spencer, what the hell?”
“ I
know. Damn, I know, Cat. I saw it on the news when I woke up this
morning and your cellphone was going straight to voicemail so I
called your apartment. Your brother filled me in and told me to
keep quiet about being there earlier. Why’d you cover for
me?”
“ It
was Quinn’s idea.” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why I
listened to him.”
“ Well,
thank you, I guess. I can’t imagine the hell I’d be going through
if you hadn’t.”
“ You
don’t have to imagine it. I can give you the play by
play.”
He frowned and
stopped her, pulling her over to a bench in the hallway. “I’m so
sorry.” His brown eyes
locked on hers , shining even
more vibrantly through the lenses of his black-framed
glasses . “Please tell me you don’t hate me.”
“ Of
course I don’t.” Cat scooted back a few inches. She didn’t need any
more guilt today. “But I think we should just ’fess up. I lied to
the cops and the detective’s still asking a lot of
questions.”
“ No!”
He looked around and lowered his voice to add, “If they find out
you lied, they’re going to think there’s something to
hide.”
“ There’s not, though. You left before anything
happened.”
“ You
know as well as I do nobody’s going to care about that. Won’t it
just make things worse if they find out two reporters were
there?”
“ So
I’m supposed to take the heat all by myself?”
“ No,
of course not.” He exhaled and leaned back against the wall. “The
thing is, you’ve got Roger on your side but I don’t have anybody
like that at the News Herald . If my editor finds out I was
there, she’ll fire me faster than you can say unemployment
line.”
Cat took a deep
breath and weighed his request. The lifeboat only had room for one
and she was already sinking. Her colleagues began to file into the
hallway. They always left early on non-game days, and she had to
follow their lead. She had an errand to run before this nightmare
of a day was over. She turned back to Spencer.
“ Okay.
I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway.”
Spencer threw his
arms around her. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
She inched out of
his clingy grasp. The twosome
quite the troublemaker, too.”
The very sight of
James’ smarmy smile made her nauseated. Cat tore her eyes
away.
“ Quinn
can be a handful but believe me, he feels awful about last night,
too.”
“ I’m
sure he does.”
She nodded and
turned to Roger. “Well, I don’t want to interrupt your meeting any
further. I was just heading out and wanted to say sorry
again.”
“ Thank
you, Catriona.”
“ I’m
on my way out; I’ll walk with you.” This man’s voice came from the
couch behind her. Cat recognized his voice as she turned
around.
“ Spencer?”
She took a quick
inventory of the other faces in the room to make sure there weren’t
any other surprises in this bunch. Finally she focused back on her
friend, trying to hide her dismay at his presence in the Billionaire Boys Club.
Roger gave
Spencer a jovial pat on his shoulder. “Spencer missed the presser
this morning so he brought me a bottle of Jameson to bribe me into
answering a few questions.”
“ Anything for a scoop. I’m sure Cat can relate. Right?” His
pleading eyes begged her to play along.
She nodded and
finally relinquished a smile for his benefit. “Jameson is
Journalism 101.”
Spencer edged his
way toward the door, backing Cat out of the room as he did so.
“Thanks again, Roger. Gentleman.”
“ Nice
weather we’re having today, isn’t it, Cat?”
“ It
is. I hope we have a similar day tomorrow for game one.”
“ Oh
that would be—”
Once they turned
the corner and she knew they were out of earshot, she smacked his
arm. “Spencer, what the hell?”
“ I
know. Damn, I know, Cat. I saw it on the news when I woke up this
morning and your cellphone was going straight to voicemail so I
called your apartment. Your brother filled me in and told me to
keep quiet about being there earlier. Why’d you cover for
me?”
“ It
was Quinn’s idea.” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why I
listened to him.”
“ Well,
thank you, I guess. I can’t imagine the hell I’d be going through
if you hadn’t.”
“ You
don’t have to imagine it. I can give you the play by
play.”
He frowned and
stopped her, pulling her over to a bench in the hallway. “I’m so
sorry.” His brown eyes
locked on hers , shining even
more vibrantly through the lenses of his black-framed
glasses . “Please tell me you don’t hate me.”
“ Of
course I don’t.” Cat scooted back a few inches. She didn’t need any
more guilt today. “But I think we should just ’fess up. I lied to
the cops and the detective’s still asking a lot of
questions.”
“ No!”
He looked around and lowered his voice to add, “If they find out
you lied, they’re going to think there’s something to
hide.”
“ There’s not, though. You left before anything
happened.”
“ You
know as well as I do nobody’s going to care about that. Won’t it
just make things worse if they find out two reporters were
there?”
“ So
I’m supposed to take the heat all by myself?”
“ No,
of course not.” He exhaled and leaned back against the wall. “The
thing is, you’ve got Roger on your side but I don’t have anybody
like that at the News Herald . If my editor finds out I was
there, she’ll fire me faster than you can say unemployment
line.”
Cat took a deep
breath and weighed his request. The lifeboat only had room for one
and she was already sinking. Her colleagues began to file into the
hallway. They always left early on non-game days, and she had to
follow their lead. She had an errand to run before this nightmare
of a day was over. She turned back to Spencer.
“ Okay.
I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway.”
Spencer threw his
arms around her. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
She inched out of
his clingy grasp. The twosome