Thrown by a Curve
Page 9

“You’re fine. Let’s go.”
He was acting strange. Maybe it was the long drive. He might be uncomfortable. “We should get in a workout today, make sure we at least stretch out your shoulder.”
“Okay. We’ll do that later.”
“We’re burning daylight already.”
“I’ll make sure to whine and complain about how much I hurt so that you don’t forget.”
She laughed. “You can do that, but trust me, I won’t forget. That’s the whole reason I’m here, remember?”
“Right. Though Gray thought you were hired for another reason.”
She laughed. “Yes. Which I thought was wildly funny. Imagine someone like me, an escort.”
He gave her a long look. “You could pull it off.”
“Not in yoga pants with my hair in a ponytail.”
He stopped as they walked off the elevator on the first floor. “You don’t give yourself enough credit, Alicia.”
She gaped as him. “I’m not sure whether to be flattered or insulted.”
“Be flattered.” He placed his hand on the small of her back and directed her down the darkly paneled hallway, away from the main entrance. The bar was tucked just inside some doors that led outside to what she imagined was the golf course.
The bar was painted a rich burgundy and cream, separated by wainscoting along the wall. The place looked just as expensive as everything else she’d seen of the lodge, with wood tables and booths spread around, some pool tables, and televisions mounted above the bar and throughout the room showing various sports. It was kind of like Riley’s, her aunt and uncle’s bar, only way more upscale. There was a thick oak bar served by two bartenders wearing long-sleeved shirts and vests. Their shirts even had pleats. Fancy.
Definitely not the kind of bar she usually frequented. There weren’t even any peanuts on the floor. In fact, she was pretty sure she could eat off this floor.
Gray was seated in one of the booths in the corner, along with several other guys. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she wondered if she was being punked. They all stood up, and it was like walking into a cover shoot for a magazine. Several hot men smiled at her as she and Garrett approached.
Maybe she should have dressed up more. Dashed on some perfume or something. Because, damn.
“The ever-elusive Garrett Scott finally shows up,” one of them said, sticking out a hand.
“Surprised to see you here, Trevor,” Garrett said. “Figured you’d be stripped down to your underwear doing another photo shoot for a magazine or a billboard somewhere.”
Now Alicia knew why that guy looked familiar. Trevor Shay’s oh-so-hot body was plastered up . . . everywhere. On billboards, across magazines, on the sides of buses, and in commercials. He had been one hot commodity for the past few years, because he’d been playing football and baseball, and was very good at both of them. He was also a known ladies’ man.
Trevor grinned. “Yeah, well. I took the weekend off to drink beer with you assholes.” Finally noticing Alicia, he said, “Oh. Sorry. Didn’t mean to cuss.”
“It’s all right. I’m Alicia Riley.”
“Trevor Shay. Nice to meet you. So, you’re Garrett’s . . . girlfriend?”
“Therapist,” she corrected.
Trevor lifted a brow. “Therapist? Got Mommy issues, Scott?”
“Ha ha. She’s my physical therapist. She works for the Rivers.”
“Oh, yeah. You f**ked up your shoulder because you can’t throw for shit.”
Garrett shook his head. “I’m not even going to dignify that comment with a return insult about how some of us can’t make up our minds about what sports to play when we grow up.”
Trevor grinned. “Yeah, and maybe some of us are so damn good we get to play both.”
Garrett rolled his eyes. “You keep thinking that, buddy. Where’s Drew?”
“He can’t make it,” Trevor said. “He’s got a game tonight. Said to tell everyone to kiss his ass and not talk about him while he’s not here to defend himself.”
“So, that means we’re going to talk about him, right?” Garrett asked.
“You know it,” Gray said, lifting a glass in toast.
Garrett introduced her to a couple of other guys. Alicia was glad she was good at remembering names and faces.
“Make room, dickheads, so we can sit.”
They did, and Alicia slid over in the booth. Garrett leaned over. “I’m sorry, but these guys are all assholes. There’s going to be cursing and name-calling.”
“Yes. Feel free to join in, especially if you have dirt on Garrett,” Gray said.
Alicia laughed. “Oh, no. I plan to just listen. And make mental notes. Maybe write a tell-all book in the future.”
“I like her,” Gray said to Garrett. “She’s a smart-ass like us.”
Alicia just smiled, and when one of the waiters came over—impeccably dressed like the bartenders—she ordered a drink. A soda.
“Oh, come on, Alicia. You’re here to relax and have fun,” Trevor said. “Fun means hard liquor.”
“Hard for me to be clearheaded and take those mental notes if I’m fuzzy with alcohol. Soda it is for me.”
“Buzzkill,” Trevor said. “You being the only woman in the bunch, how are we all going to get you drunk and take advantage of you?”
“You aren’t,” Garrett said, and then ordered a beer.
“I thought you said she worked for the team?”
“She does. Which means hands off, Trevor. I mean it.”
Alicia kind of liked the firmness of his statement, even though she was fully aware Trevor was just kidding and Garrett was only protecting an employee of the Rivers. Not someone who belonged to him.
“Maybe it’s not just a work thing.” Trevor picked up his beer and slanted a look toward Gray and the other guys.
“Maybe it isn’t,” Gray said, tipping his beer toward Trevor. “But if it is, that means Alicia is available. So, are you seeing someone?”
How was she supposed to answer that? “Um . . . no, I’m not.”
Garrett turned to her. “You should run now while you still have a chance. A weekend with these jokers and who knows how you’ll end up.”
“She’ll be in love with me by the end of the weekend,” Trevor said, waggling his brows. “I’m irresistible, you know.”
“Hey. I’m the one with all the money. And the charm,” Gray said, giving Garrett a smug smile. “A couple of days around me and she’ll dump you like toxic waste.”
Alicia couldn’t help but laugh. “Remember, guys, I’m just a therapist. There is no one to dump.”
“Uh-huh.” Trevor tipped his bottle to his lips, his gaze shifting from Alicia to Garrett as he took a long swallow of his beer. “You say that, but I’ve got my eye on you two.”
She lifted her gaze to Garrett. “Help.”
He held up his hands. “What can I say? These morons are my friends.”
But she caught the wink.
This should be a fun—and interesting—weekend.

* * * GARRETT HADN’T WANTED TO COME THIS WEEKEND for a lot of reasons, the primary one being he felt less worthy because he wasn’t a player right now. And many of his friends were hotshot players, all successful in their games.
He should have known better. He’d been tight with Gray, Drew, and Trevor in college. They’d bonded from freshman year, and nothing had changed in the four years before graduation. Sharing the suite had made them like brothers, and since he hadn’t had brothers of his own, these guys had known all his secrets—both the good and the bad.
He missed spending time with them, but that’s what adulthood and pro-sports careers did. Not all of the guys from his dorm had ended up in pro sports, but all his roommates had, something that had surprised the hell out of all of them. Garrett and the guys never failed to appreciate how lucky they had all been, but it had also caused them to scatter in different directions like leaves on the wind. With Gray in auto racing, Drew in hockey, and Trevor juggling both football and baseball, finding the time for all of them to get together was nearly impossible. Just getting this weekend together meant sacrifices for at least a few of the guys.
“So, how’s the injury coming along?” Gray asked as they gorged themselves on juicy steaks in the lodge dining room.
“You should ask Alicia that question. She’s the expert on my recovery.”
Alicia looked up from her soup. “He’s progressing nicely.”
Trevor snorted. “That sounds like a pat answer. How’s he really doing? Is he going to pitch this season?”
“I think he’s an amazing pitcher, and he can be one again if he works as hard at his recovery as he did at pitching.”
“Ohhh,” Trevor said, shifting his attention to Garrett. “That sounds like she’s laid down the gauntlet, buddy.”
“Yeah. She pushes me. She’s told me I’ve had my head up my ass about my recovery and I haven’t worked hard enough.” He lifted his fork and pointed it at her. “She even came to my house and banged on the door one morning when I tried to blow off therapy.”
“No shit,” Gray said, with something that looked an awful lot like admiration in his eyes.
“No shit,” Garrett said. “She’s tougher than she looks.”
“I could use someone like you on my auto-racing team,” Gray said. “My crew needs a kick-ass motivator at times. And I pay well. Interested in defecting?”
“Hey,” Garrett said.
Alicia laughed. “No. I’m happy where I am at the moment, but thanks, Gray. I’ll keep you in mind.”
“Seriously?” Garrett arched a brow at Alicia, who smiled sheepishly and shrugged.
“I have to keep my options open, you know.”
“Ooh, she’s cutthroat,” Trevor said. “I might be in love with her.”
“You don’t know the meaning of the word,” Gray said. “You’re more a woman-of-the-week type.”
“True. But if I was going to fall in love, it would be with someone like Alicia. Beautiful, smart, talented, and vicious. My kind of woman.”
Alicia laughed. “I’m hardly vicious.”
“I don’t know about that,” Garrett said. “I’ve been on the receiving end of one of your therapy sessions.”
“Now you’re going to give the guys the wrong idea about me, Garrett. I’m a marshmallow. Really.” She batted her lashes.
“Somehow I think she’s a mixture of both,” Trevor said, studying her. “Which just makes me like her more.”
“You should keep a tight hold on her, Garrett, before someone sneaks up and steals her right out from under you.”
Garrett slid a piece of steak into his mouth and didn’t answer Gray’s comment. It was unlike his guys to be so taken with a woman. In fact, he would have sworn they’d be pissed off he’d brought Alicia with him. Instead, they’d been welcoming and seemed downright enamored by her.
He couldn’t figure it out. Oh, sure, he knew she had a killer body. And a beautiful face, silky hair, long legs, and a perfect ass. She was smart and had a dry sense of humor that men would naturally fall for.
He took a long swallow of his beer and reminded himself that Alicia wasn’t his girlfriend, a woman he was dating, or even ha**g s*x with. She was a professional, and she was here this weekend to torture his shoulder.
Nothing more.
 
 
SEVEN
“WE SHOULD WORK OUT YOUR ARM,” ALICIA SAID AS they made their way back to the room.
It was past midnight, and they’d hung out in the bar after dinner, trading stories of college life. Garrett had a good time and several beers, and after a long day, he was exhausted.
“I don’t think so. I’m beat.”
“Uh-huh. And the reason I came along was so you wouldn’t miss a day of therapy. I’ll bet your arm is tight.”
It was, but he’d be damned if he’d admit it.
“I realize it’s late, and I’m not talking about a full-blown workout. But if we don’t at least stretch it, you’ll be even tighter in the morning.”
“Okay.”
“Unlock the adjoining-room door after you change clothes, and I’ll get you loosened up.”
After she shut her door, he went into his room and changed into a pair of sweats, leaving his shirt off. He unlocked his side of the adjoining-room door, then stretched and sat on the edge of the bed.
Alicia came through a few minutes later. She’d changed into her yoga pants and had put on a T-shirt that fit snugly against her breasts.
Not that he would notice what his therapist was wearing.
But he definitely noticed everything Alicia did. Or wore. And as she leaned over him, he breathed in her scent, something musky that made him want to grab her hair and bury his face in her neck.
“I’m glad you left your shirt off. I can put some massage lotion on your arm and really work into it after I stretch it. Then I’ll go down the hall and fill the ice bucket and ice you down.”
He grimaced. “Sounds fun.”
She smiled. “No, it won’t be, but it’ll loosen your shoulder.”
“Let’s get this over with.”
“Lie down on your back on the side of the bed so I can get to your shoulder. We’ll put some heat on it first, and then I’ll stretch you.”