The Curve Ball (Indianapolis Lightning Book 2) Read online

  “Oh, good morning, I didn’t hear you get up,” Riley says as she turns to face me. I do my best to not stare at her tits, but god damn, they’re on full display in that tank top. I can see the slight color change where her nipple is pressing against the fabric. Evie is blocking the other one, so I only get a good look at the one, but damn do I want to see them out of that fabric. I quickly turn, pressing my hips and groin against the countertop to try and will my dick to get with the program that this isn’t the time to be popping out to say hello. I snag a cup and fill it to the top, leaving only a small amount of space for a splash of creamer.

  With my coffee ready, I bring it to my lips and take a tentative sip, so I don’t burn the fuck out of my mouth.

  “How was Evie last night?” I finally think to ask.

  “She did great. Only woke up once to eat around three this morning and went right back to sleep after a diaper change and a bottle. We’ve been up since around seven fifteen so far this morning.”

  “That’s good. You sleep, okay?”

  “Yep, you?” she asks as she walks over to place Evie in the swing.

  “Yeah,” I say, sighing. “I had a little trouble falling asleep, but once I did, I slept fine.”

  “I hate it when that happens. I just read until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore,” she says, taking a seat across from me. “What time do you have to leave this morning?”

  “Not until ten,” I tell her, looking over to the clock and seeing that it’s just after eight.

  “Perfect. While she’s content, I’m going to take a quick shower, if you don’t mind. I can take her in the bathroom with me if you need me to.”

  “I’m good. Go take your time,” I tell her, and watch as she pushes back and bounces off and down the hall. I wish I was a better man and could keep myself from watching her as she goes, but I’m not that strong, so I watch as her ass bounces down the hall and disappears into her room. I am so fucked.

  I finish my cup of coffee, then get up to refill it and make myself some breakfast. I pull out everything to whip up a veggie and meat-filled omelet. I look over at Evie, swinging away across from me, and can’t help but smile at her. She’s so content, looking around as the swing moves her back and forth. Once my food is done, I set it on the table and then pull the swing over next to me.

  “Who’s a pretty girl?” I ask my daughter as she starts to blow spit bubbles at me. I reach out and run my finger down her face, and she reaches up and grabs hold of it, pulling it into her mouth to suck and chew on. Maybe Riley was right in that she’s already teething. I can remember when Derek’s girls were babies, and they’d always be trying to chew on everything when they were cutting teeth.

  I let her chew on my finger for another few minutes while I do my best to eat one-handed. This isn’t as easy as some people make it look, and my respect for all the parents out there just increased tenfold.

  I finish up my breakfast, pulling my hand back from Evie so I can clean up my dishes. She doesn’t like that too much, and by the time I’ve got everything put away, she’s got a good cry going. I rescue her from the swing, and she immediately calms down once in my arms. “Is that all you needed, baby girl?” I ask her. She lays her head against my chest and snuggles in as I take her into the living room. I pull out the floor contraption thing that Jillian said was for tummy time and place her down on it as I lay on the floor next to her. She looks around, taking in her surroundings before letting out one hell of a wail of a cry. “Do you not like that?” I ask, swooping her back into my arms as I sit upon the floor. She once again settles down, so I back up until I’ve got my back against the couch and place her on my legs. I let her grab my finger once again, and she pulls it to her mouth, chewing on it with her gums.

  “How’s it going?” Riley’s voice fills the silence awhile later. I look up and find her standing a few feet away, just watching the two of us. She’s dressed in some shorts and a flowy tank top, nothing special, but damn does she look like a million bucks. She’s got her hair down; she dried it, as it’s cascading around her shoulders in perfect waves. I take her in from her bare toes and the cutest fucking feet I’ve ever seen on a woman. When have I started thinking feet were cute? My damn mind is going crazy. My gaze moves up her long legs, just beginning to show a slight tan to them, seeing that we’re just coming into spring and the hot summer weather hasn’t quite shown up yet. My eyes roll over her hips, thin waist, over her curves, finally landing on the smile that’s filling her face.

  “We’re good,” I finally croak out, realizing I hadn’t answered her question. “Just spending some time together that doesn’t include being shit on.”

  “Give it a little bit of time, and that will be a long distant memory.”

  “One I hope never repeats itself,” I say as I tickle Evie’s belly, getting a broad smile from her. I do it again and light up when she lets out a little laugh along with her smile. My heart cracks open at the sound, and I think I can get used to this whole dad schtick.

  I look up and see Riley has her phone out and pointed in our direction. She turns it around and shows me the picture that she snapped of Evie and me together. Looking at the image, you’d never guess that this was a new thing for me. I look like such a natural in the picture, and that scares the shit out of me. “Can you text that to me?”

  “Of course,” she says just as I hear my cell ding with the incoming text. “Hey, do you care if I send pictures of Evie to my mom? She wanted to see her, but I wanted to check with you first before I did so.”

  “Of course,” I tell her and let her question sink in. I’ve got a daughter to protect, and that means from the ugly that can be social media. “Thanks for asking first. I didn’t even think about sharing pictures of her, so maybe we’ll keep her off social media for now. Especially until we have the official test results and court orders.”

  “Absolutely, and I’m sure that once word gets out that you’ve got a kid, the media is going to be all over it. It will probably be hard to keep it all a secret once your attorney files anything with the courts. I’m sure your name coming up in court documents will flag some reporters’ search on you.”

  “Yeah,” I tell her, thinking about the media shit storm that will cause. “I might need to reach out to my PR rep to get ahead of everything, ask the media to give me privacy right now.”

  “That probably wouldn’t be a bad thing. Do you think that Erica would possibly go to the media? Try and sell her story?”

  “It’s possible, money will make most people talk.”

  “Justin, I just want you to know that I’d never talk to anyone or sell you out. I just wanted to be upfront with that right now. I know what it’s like to have a family member in the media spotlight.”

  “Thanks for that. The thought never crossed my mind that you would, but thanks for that reassurance.” I look back down at Evie as I take a few deep breaths. I need to get out in front of all of this. “Do you mind taking over here so I can go call my PR rep and lawyer to see what we can do to keep things out of the media and hopefully keep Erica from going to the media?”

  “Of course,” she says, leaning down and picking Evie up. “Hey, baby girl, did you miss me?” she asks Evie as she kisses the top of her head.

  I stand and grab my cell from the end table. I scroll through my contacts until I find my PR company's contact. I press the call button and wait as the line rings. It only takes a few rings, and a voice comes over the line.

  “Good morning, Executive PR this is Tracey, how can I help you today?”

  “Good morning, Tracey, this is Justin Johnson. I’ve got a personal matter that I wanted to discuss with someone that we might need to get ahead of with the media, is anyone available?”

  “Of course, let me get you in touch with Logan,” she says and then places me on hold or transfers the call.

  “Mr. Johnson, how can I help today?” Logan asks in the way of a greeting.

  I give him the rundown of what’s
transpired over the last twenty-four hours and my concerns to keep things quiet if the media was to get knowledge of things going forward, plus how we’d handle it if Erica were to sell a story to the press.

  “I’ll be in touch with your attorney and manager and draw up a plan. Depending on how things play out, it might be in your best interest if we release a press statement ahead of any court documents becoming public. Something simple that states you’ve recently become a father and are enjoying getting to know your daughter. We’ll ask for privacy during this time. Most of the time, the media is willing to accept blanket statements and give you the space you’ve asked for,” Logan tells me.

  “I’m fine with all of that, and at a later date, I might even be willing to sit down for an interview, but that will need to be down the road. I need time to adjust to being a single father.”

  “I completely understand, and when the time comes that you’re ready for something like that, I can handle setting that up with a trusted reporter who we know will allow us to vet all questions and control what is and isn’t shown, whether it be a print piece or one that is aired on TV. I’ll be in touch with the plan, possibly by the end of today.”

  “Thanks, Logan,” I tell him before we hang up.

  Knowing a plan is in the works to keep Evelyn safe, I head for my bedroom and get dressed for practice. Even with all that is going on, I can’t skip out on my responsibilities. I’ve got training today and a game tomorrow afternoon, and three days after that, we leave for a road trip.

  “All good here?” I ask Riley as I slip my shoes on.

  “We’re all good,” she says, smiling up at me from the floor where Evie’s lying on her belly on the tummy time mat. She isn’t screaming like she was when I tried it, but I realize now that I’d placed her on her back, and Riley has her on her stomach. “Have a good practice.”

  “Thanks. Have fun, and I’ll see you girls, later,” I call out as I pick my bag up and head out the door.

  “How’d the night go?” Derek asks, taking a seat next to me on the bench in front of our lockers.

  “Good. Riley said Evie only got up once to eat.”

  “She going to watch her full-time for you?” he asks.

  “Yeah, we discussed everything last night. I’ve got to find out if there’s an agency or something that I can pay her through that will handle all the taxes and shit that I’ve got no clue how to handle. We’re going to test it for a month and go from there. With it being the beginning of the season, it isn’t like I can just hire someone to work Monday through Friday, eight to five. I need someone that can be around when we’re out of town and late when we have evening games. You know how it is. This isn’t a normal schedule type of job.”

  “It sure isn’t,” he muses. “I’m sure she’ll do a good job taking care of Evie for you. Just stay away from her,” he says, giving me the evil older brother stare.

  “She’s Evie’s nanny. I don’t plan on fucking that arrangement up,” I tell my best friend, hoping that the words will sink into my own brain. If I keep telling myself that she’s off-limits, then maybe I’ll stop lusting after her.

  “Ready to hit the field?” he asks, standing and grabbing his glove from the top shelf of his locker.

  “I was born ready,” I cockily reply, standing and grabbing my glove and following him out of the locker room and into the dugout. I pull on my catchers’ equipment, and we get to work warming up.

  Ninety minutes later, I’m drenched in sweat and am ready to hit the weight room for an hour of lifting. “How’s the arm feeling?” I ask Derek as we enter the dugout.

  “Great. Like I’ll be on fire for my next start.” He smirks—such a cocky bastard.

  “You’d better be,” I tell him as we enter the weight room along with a few of the other guys on the team. The room is filled with grunts mixed with the music pumping through the speakers.

  I make it through the workout and am more than ready to hit the showers after today’s practice and workout session. We’ve got a team meeting before I can leave for the day, and I’m hoping that by the time that happens, I’ll have results from the lab.

  “You want to bring Evie over for dinner tonight?” Derek asks as we push out the doors and into the players' parking lot an hour later.

  “Sure, let me just make sure Riley hasn’t already made something,” I tell him, pulling my phone out of my pocket.

  “She’s cooking for you?” he asks, an edge to his voice.

  “I didn’t ask her to, she offered. No need to go all papa bear on my ass again,” I say, chuckling at his instant alerted awareness when it comes to anything I say about his sister. I’m almost surprised he brought her over and suggested she be Evie’s nanny if he’s so worried about the two of us being alone together so much.

  “Don’t get used to it. Riley can’t live with you forever, and she isn’t your fucking maid.”

  “I’m well aware of that,” I deadpan. “But I’m also not going to look a gift horse in the mouth and turn down a home-cooked meal when she does cook.”

  “All right, I’ll let Jillian know that the three of you might be joining us for dinner,” he calls out as he slides into the driver’s seat of his truck. I’m parked right next to him, and I sink into the driver’s seat of my sports car. Riley texts me back, letting me know she hadn’t started anything and that she can just put the chicken she has defrosting in the fridge and make it tomorrow. I roll down my window to call out to Derek.

  “We’ll be there. What time do you want us to come by?” I ask.

  “Five, maybe five thirty,” he says.

  “Sounds good, see you then. Want me to bring anything?”

  “Just my niece and sister.” He smirks. His words hit me straight in the chest. How easy he’s accepted Evie into my life and considers her his niece.

  I head home, still not having heard anything from my attorney or the lab on the results of the test. I pull into the driveway about ten minutes later and find myself excited to get inside and see how the day went for Evie and Riley. I grab my bag from the passenger seat and head into the house. It’s quiet, so I do my best to keep it that way. I find Riley in the living room watching TV and folding a basket of laundry. Looking around, I don’t see Evie anywhere, so she must be sleeping in the bedroom.

  “Hey,” I greet, pulling Riley’s attention to me.

  “How was practice?” she asks.

  “Pretty normal. Did my best to kick your brother’s ass out on the field.” I snicker.

  “He can use an ass-kicking every once in a while,” she muses.

  “Nah, he’s one of the best pitchers I’ve ever played with, and I’m not just saying that because he’s your brother and my best friend.”

  “I know, just don’t tell him that too often, or it will just make his ego grow. He’s already cocky enough as it is.”

  “I won’t argue with you there,” I say, laughing. “Evie sleeping?” I ask.

  “Yep, went down for an afternoon nap about thirty minutes ago. We had a fun day. Had some tummy time, some swing time, went for a walk outside, followed by a short nap in the late morning and now this afternoon one. The crib, changing table and car seat bases were all delivered today as well. The delivery guys got everything set up for us, so she’s napping for the first time in her crib. Exciting times ‘round here,” she says as she pushes the basket of folded clothes away from her as she stands and picks it up, presumably to put it away.

  “Sounds like a fun day. Did everything fit in the room okay?”

  “It did, you’ll have to go take a look at it once she’s awake.” She says as she walks down the hall, setting the basket down outside of Evie’s room. “As she gets older, she’ll start staying awake for longer periods, as well as getting more and more interested in playing with toys.”

  “Anything else I need to buy now for her?” I ask, knowing that Jillian picked up things she said would be essential to get us by for now.

  “I actually started a l
ist on Amazon of things that I’ve thought of that would be nice to get. I just add them to the list when I think of them so that I can show you, and we can order them when needed.”

  “That works, and I don’t mind you picking up anything that will make our lives easier. The cost isn’t an issue,” I remind her. I make upwards of fifteen million a year, so a handful of baby items will hardly put a dent into my bank account.

  “Any news on the test results?” she asks.

  “Nothing yet. I was hoping that we’d have something by now.”

  “I’m sure it will come through soon,” she assures me.

  “I hope so,” I tell her as she walks away down the hall. I head into the kitchen, grab a bottle of water and an apple from the bowl on the counter.

  “Did you get groceries?” I ask, not remembering apples being here earlier.

  “Just a few things. When Evie and I were out on our walk, we stopped at the little farmers market in the parking lot of the school and picked up a few items.”

  “Oh, nice. I didn’t even know they had that.”

  “The one vendor said that this was their first week back for the season. She said that as the summer goes on, they’ll get more vendors that come out and lots more things to choose from.”

  “Makes sense,” I tell her before biting into the apple. “Pretty good,” I say after swallowing my first bite.

  “They are, I can try and get some more next week if they have any left.”

  “I’ll try and remember to get to the bank and get some cash out to leave for you to have for things like that.”

  “I don’t mind buying a few things. I’d have to spend money on food if I wasn’t living here.”

  “I know, but I also don’t expect you to spend your money on food for Evie or me, so if it’s something that either of us would end up having, let me pay for it.”

  “Okay,” she concedes easily. “What time did you want to head over to my brother’s?”

  “He said to come over between five and five thirty.”