Within seconds of-stepping into the outdoor bar, the typical Florida humidity wafted around her and destroyed whatever soft waves she'd managed to create in her hair.
She pulled up a chair and joined a group of players sitting at a rectangular table. "Hey, guys."
"Micki," they all chimed in at once.
She smiled at their welcome. "At least you're not disappointed you got me instead of Annabelle."
"We'll miss her," Ricky Carter said raising his glass, tipping it her way, "but I hear you're single."
Micki didn't take his cocky attitude or his interest seriously but he earned an A for sheer arrogance alone. She pierced him with a scowl. "Doesn't mean you're getting any action, hotshot."
He just smiled and took a slug of his beer.
"With Annabelle married to Vaughn, he would kick our asses if he caught us drinking and hanging out like this with his wife," said Joe Caruso, the third baseman.
"He might kick your ass for giving his sister-in-law a hard time," Micki replied.
"Micki, Micki, that's what I love about you. Your sense of humor." Roper grinned, his gaze zeroing in on her made-up face.
She had no doubt he'd also noticed she was wearing a dress, a definite change from her normal black-and-white uniform. At least he hadn't said anything aloud.
Uncomfortable beneath his scrutiny, she was glad Damian wasn't here to make her discomfort even worse.
"I live to amuse," she said wryly. "Someone want to buy me a drink or at least call the waitress over?"
Roper gestured for the nearest waitress.
She walked over, tray in hand. "What can I get for you?" she asked.
"An iced tea would be great, thanks." Micki wasn't much of a drinker. College had taught her she didn't hold her liquor well, and the hangover the next day, even from one glass of alcohol, wasn't worth whatever fun she might have while intoxicated.
"Lightweight," Roper said, but she heard the joking affection in his voice.
She glanced at his highball glass with the cherry floating in it and rolled her eyes. "You're hardly one to talk. What's that you're drinking, a Shirley Temple?"
He leaned back and laughed, then smoothed his neatly cut blond hair. "It's a mai tai."
"Anything for anyone else?" the waitress asked.
The rest of the guys called out their orders and the waitress left to fill them. A minute later, Ricky Carter excused himself and sidled up to the waitress, obviously flirting as the woman worked.
Micki ignored him and made small talk with the players who took turns coming by and getting to know the publicist for the Renegades. By the time the waitress returned with their drinks, almost all of the team was present and accounted for-except for Damian.
Her uncle had let her know about his wrist injury and extended stay on the DL, asking Micki to keep an eye on him while she was in Florida. Uncle Yank worried about Damian's frame of mind and Micki understood. His absence told her he'd either wanted time alone or he'd found comfort elsewhere. She wasn't sure she wanted to know with whom and she knew better than to ask and call attention to any interest she had in Damian Fuller.
Instead she focused on food. The waitress arrived a second time carrying buffalo wings and nachos with jalapeno peppers. Since Micki hadn't eaten anything except airline food all day, she indulged immediately.
Next to the jalapeno nachos, the wings were the spiciest things she'd ever eaten and she burned her tongue badly. Her mouth was on fire and before she knew it, she'd finished her whole large iced tea in an effort to cool it off. Nothing worked and eventually her tongue grew numb.
"Hey, Roper-" As she looked around the table for her friend, who she thought was sitting next to her, the guys appeared blurry and a sudden rush of dizziness assaulted her. She blinked and put a hand on the nearest arm.
"What's wrong?" John asked.
"Oh, you are sitting there."
"Have been all night. What's wrong?" he asked again, narrowing his gaze. "You don't look so hot."
"What a rude thing to say to the woman paid to make you look good." Was it her imagination or was her speech slurred? She tried to move her lips but they felt rubbery. "Actually I'm not feeling like myself." If she didn't know better, she'd think she was drunk.
"I'd think not after consuming two Long Island iced teas in the span of ten minutes," Carter said.
She shook her head. Big mistake, she realized immediately when the room began to swim. "Long Island ked teas? Impossible. I don't drink alcohol." To prove him wrong, she took a final sip from the second glass, but between the way she'd killed her taste buds with the hot food and the complete fuzziness wrapped around her brain, she couldn't tell what she was drinking.
"I ordered a regular iced tea," she insisted.
"I asked them to spice it up for you a bit. And I made sure you got another one when you finished the first, doll." Carter wedged his lean body between her chair and Roper's and placed an arm around her shoulder.
When Micki had begun her transformation, attracting a man like Carter had never been on her agenda. She shook him off, annoyed. "Watch what you call me or you'll find my fist in your mouth," she said, disliking the man even more than her initial impression had warranted.
"Anyone want to hit Lacie's?" Joe Caruso asked.
Roper slid his chair back and rose from his seat. "Hell, yeah. I'm not gonna waste a night off."
The rest of the guys were equally enthusiastic, ready to head off to their next stop.
"What's Lacie's?" Micki stood along with them and immediately grabbed the back of her chair in order to steady herself. "Whoa," she said, laughing. Giggling really, but she hated to admit that the alcohol had dulled her inhibitions that much.
"Easy," Roper said.
"I got her." Carter remained by her side, trying again to slip his arm around her waist. "I like my women feisty."
"I'm not your woman." She jabbed him in the side. "And I like my personal space."
"You heard the lady. Back off," a masculine voice said, coming to her defense.
Damian. Oh hell, Micki thought.
Carter scowled at his captain but surprisingly he listened, keeping his mouth shut before he turned and walked away.
Micki glanced at Damian who'd unexpectedly joined them. In faded jeans and a black silk T-shirt that clung to his gorgeous body and defined his muscles and physique, he looked sexy as hell.
On a good, sober day it would take all of Micki's energy to hide her desire for the man. On a drunken night she didn't stand a chance. Better to get away fast.She took one step and tripped, falling toward him. Roper caught her first. Embarrassed, she steadied herself and as she did, she got her first look at the bimbo on Damian's arm. Even in the Florida humidity, she sported silky smooth hair, perfect makeup and impossibly large boobs.
Micki tried to swallow but thanks to the unrequested alcohol, her mouth had grown dry.
"So, where are you off to?" Damian asked.
“Lacie's." The word fell from Micki's lips before she could stop it.
He let loose a loud laugh. The woman beside him stared at Micki with a pitying expression and chuckled as well. It wasn't just a laugh at Micki's expense, but one with a perfect lilt no man could resist.
"What's so funny?" Micki asked, defensively.
"Someone needs to look after her," the big-breasted woman said about Micki as if she were a child in need of a babysitter.
"Quiet," Damian said when he took in Micki's glassy eyes and heard her slurred speech. He would never have pegged her for a drinker, but separated from her uncle and sisters, who knew?
Still, Lacie's? He'd bet his entire savings that Micki was clueless about their destination.
"You didn't tell her?" he asked his teammates.
"Tell me what?"
His companion squeezed his arm. "Excuse me, sweetie, but I need the little girls' room" she said, obviously bored by Micki and a conversation that didn't revolve around her.
To Damian's relief, Carole, the legal secretary he called whenever he was in town, excused herself.
He'd seen her on and off during spring training and again over a month ago. By then his interest had already died out. She'd been distracted as well, as if she'd already mentally moved on. He hadn't intended to call her again, but between his injury and Carter's mouth on the flight over, Damian had needed a diversion and had picked up the phone. Now he wished he hadn't. With Micki here, he was definitely sorry he hadn't just joined up with the team instead.
From the moment he'd seen Micki's reaction to Carole, the flicker of surprise followed by dismay in her expressive face, he'd felt an unfamiliar pang of guilt and self-loathing. Micki managed to work his emotions as well as his sisters did, which merely pissed him off and reminded him of all the reasons Micki wasn't good for him when he needed to focus on his career plan.
A plan he'd been working on successfully for years. He'd party with the team tonight and when he still showed up first for the camp stint tomorrow, he'd prove to everyone that not even an injury could get him down. End result, nobody would wonder whether age was catching up with Damian Fuller, nor would they worry too much about whether this injury would sideline him from the postseason and the playoffs. They would merely speculate on how soon he'd manage to return.
But where Micki was concerned, Damian was torn. As much as he resented Micki's emotional pull, he also desired to let things play out between them. Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair. Man, he thought, if he ever let himself get tangled up with Micki Jordan, she'd tie him up in knots so tight he'd never get them undone.
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