Various States of Undress (28 page)

“You'll have to,” she said firmly. “Go play the hell out of that game, and when you're finished, I'll be waiting for you outside the clubhouse.”

He began to pace again, a happy grin on his face. “You gonna bring a microphone?”

“Oh, go suck it,” she retorted.

“Be happy to. And I'll do a thorough job too,” he said.

She let out a soft noise.

With a laugh, Brett hung up and walked into the hall. He leaned against the wall in relief and then sank down into a crouch. “Thank God,” he whispered.

“Hey, Knox,” a voice called from down the hall. “Conference's starting. Get your meat ass down here.”

Brett sprang up and jogged toward the locker room area of the clubhouse. When he walked through the doorway, several guys glanced his way. One of them frowned and pointed. “Look at him. He looks like he just won the damn lottery.”

Everyone turned and stared.

Brett didn't care because he didn't want to stop grinning. He found Joe in the group and nodded at him.

Joe grinned, too, and stepped forward. “Hey, Meat! Heard a rumor that you had the hots for the daughter of the president of the United States.”

“Bullshit,” Brett called out. “She has the hots for me.”

The guys groaned.

“It's true,” Brett insisted. “She's in love with me.”

More groans.

“And I'm in love with her.”

Several of the team members shook their heads.

“That's a hell of a thing to admit,” Joe said as he walked forward. “You know we're going to give you so much shit now that you won't know which way is up.”

“Bring it,” Brett said. “I can handle it.”

Joe pulled him into a hug. “Yeah, bro. You can handle it. I believe you can.”

Brett believed it too.

T
WO AND A
half hours later, Georgia sat in the Secret Service SUV and waited impatiently outside the gates of Busch Stadium. She and her agents had been there for twenty minutes already, and nobody would tell her what was taking so long.

She sighed. “Almost ready?”

Courtney, who sat in the driver's seat, twisted around and leveled a stare at Georgia. “What did I tell you sixty seconds ago?”

Georgia rolled her eyes. “You're always ready.”

“Damn straight. But we can't predict crowds, and there are thousands of people all over this place,” Courtney said.

“I want to see only one of those people.”

“And you will. Safely.” Courtney turned back around. “Why don't you occupy yourself with trivia or something?”

Georgia laughed. “Oh, it's on.”

Courtney groaned. “Why did I say that?”

“Look out the window at the Gateway Arch. You see it?”

“Yeah.” Courtney sighed.

“It's the tallest man-made monument in the Western Hemisphere. It tops out at six hundred thirty feet, and on a clear day, visitors can see thirty miles in either direction from the observation deck at the top.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah. I think I'll go up in there,” Georgia said with a grin.

Courtney turned around with wide eyes. “Like keeping you safe in open stadiums isn't enough? The Arch would be a security nightmare. You're supposed to be the easy daughter, you know. The careful one.”

“The boring one?”

Courtney shook her head. “Now, I didn't say—”

“You didn't have to, but it doesn't bother me a bit, because you know what?”

“What?”

Georgia laughed. “I'm not boring anymore.”

“You never were,” Courtney said. “It was all in your head, just like all the information you have crammed up in there.”

“You want to hear more trivia?”

Courtney held up a hand. “No.” She muttered into her wrist mic. “It's time.” Turning around, she waited until the gates opened and drove through, parking near a loading dock.

Suddenly, Georgia's stomach flipped. “Oh. I get to see Brett now.” She took a deep breath. “Oh God.”

“You're worse than Carolina was a couple of years ago,” Courtney said. “When I took her to see Jake, she was a hot mess.”

“Well, I didn't fall in love with my Secret Service agent,” Georgia replied.

“True. I'm happy for you. You snagged yourself a good man.”

“Thanks, Courtney.” Georgia glanced out the window at Ernie, who stood waiting by her door.

Courtney shook her head. “A hot baseball player—I don't mind admitting that I'm a little bit jealous.”

“Well, I hear that his brother is available.” Georgia winked as Ernie opened the door. Stan stood beside him.

“Ready?” Ernie murmured.

“Absolutely,” Georgia said. She grabbed her purse—a very small one because she was finished lugging around a giant bag. She slid out of the vehicle, trying to ignore the fact that her legs felt rubbery.

A few minutes later, after navigating a bunch of hallways with Ernie and Stan, Georgia heard the unmistakable sound of ball players—loud laughter, a few choice curse words, and a lot of chatter. Happy chatter.

She smiled, wanting to run toward the noise, but she forced herself to walk. When she reached the door of the locker room, she stood there, gaping.

A handsome group of men occupied the space, some of them kicked back on couches, shirtless. Others wandered around in their tight white baseball pants, slapping each other on the back and laughing. Another group stood in a corner, posing for a goofy selfie. One by one, they turned and looked at her, and, little by little, the room got quiet.

She searched for Brett, her gaze darting around—and then she saw him. He stood next to his brother, and both of them were smiling. She took a step forward. So did Brett. And then they were in each other's arms, and it was the best feeling in the world.

She kissed his cheek and then his jaw, her eyes closing in pleasure. “I missed you.”

Brett held her close, pressing her cheek to his chest. “Sugar,” he murmured. “I'm never going to let you go again.”

She tightened her hands around the back of his neck. “I'm never going to leave again. I promise.”

Brett gently pulled her away and gazed down at her, his eyes full of love. “Let's go.”

“Okay.” She leaned up to whisper in his ear. “That uniform is sexy, but I can't wait to get you out of it.”

Brett laughed.

“What did she say?” asked one of the guys.

Georgia glanced around at the men, all staring at her with curiosity. “I said, ‘It's nice to see you again, Knox.'”

The guys groaned. One of them cupped his hands around his mouth. “See, Meat? She doesn't have the hots for you!”

“Oh yeah?” Georgia grinned. She grabbed the front of Brett's Cardinals jersey and pulled him close. And then she kissed him for everything she was worth. Which, as she'd discovered, was a hell of lot.

When she let go of him, he looked stunned—but only for a second—because then he looked around the room, his face transformed by a cocky grin.

“Kiss my ass, fellas. I'm Knox the Fox,” he declared.

This time, the guys didn't groan—much. They began to clap, and Georgia grabbed Brett's jersey again. “Come on. You still want to show me the stadium?”

“Only one part. There's plenty of time for the rest.”

He took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers, and they walked with Ernie and Stan down a tunnel and into the dugout. Brett stepped onto the field and spread his arms wide. “What do you have to say about this, sugar?”

Georgia looked at the perfect diamond, the beautiful grassy outfield. She marveled at the size of the place. And then she turned to Brett. “Do you feel at home?”

He wrapped his arms around her. “You're my home.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder and looked up at him—her hero.

“You're mine too.”

He dipped his head and murmured against her lips, “Welcome home, Georgia.”

She smiled then, knowing that, with him, her future could be anything she wanted it to be.

“Kiss me, slugger.”

He did.

Epilogue

T
HE ROAR OF
the crowd was almost deafening, even in the tunnel near the home dugout, but Georgia wasn't bothered by it. She wasn't nervous, either, because she wasn't the one throwing out the first pitch at the first game of the World Series. Her dad was.

And the entire family, along with most of the world, would be watching. Virginia was here with Dex. Carolina was standing next to them, and Jake was in the stadium too—although not in the tunnel. Marie, ever the contentious First Lady, was going over her schedule with her aides. It was a rare moment for all of them to be together, and, though the craziness of a baseball stadium wasn't as idyllic as something like a Thanksgiving dinner, Georgia was grateful.

She squeezed her dad's arm and smiled. “Did you have a chance to practice? It's a good idea to make sure you can get the ball across home plate, you know.”

Patrick Fulton looked down at her. He didn't appear to be amused. “I don't need to practice. I'm the president,” he retorted.

She rolled her eyes. “You sound just like my fiancé—well, not the president part—but other than that, yeah. Pretty much the same cocky attitude.”

“Do you hear this, Marie?” Patrick turned to her. “She's trying to psych me out. Comparing me to Knox the Fox.”

Marie patted his arm. “So psych yourself back up.” She winked at him and reached up to smooth her gray bob, not that it needed smoothing. She looked every bit as polished in a casual blouse and jeans as she did in one of her signature flowing pantsuits. “But Georgia,” she said, “Quit picking on your dad.”

“Okay.” Georgia linked her arm through her mother's. “I've missed you.”

Marie smiled at her fondly. “I've missed you too. All of you girls are officially grown up, now.”

“We're all college graduates,” Georgia added. “And we all have jobs.”

“That magazine is lucky to have you as an editor.” Marie hugged her. “Even though we've technically been empty-nesters since we moved into the White House, it's strange to realize how much older—and wiser—you girls are getting.”

“I don't know about wiser, but I feel about a hundred years old,” Virginia grumbled. She waddled forward, dragging Dex along with her. “I don't want to give birth at a baseball stadium.”

“You won't,” Dex said quickly.

Georgia eyed her sister's enormous stomach. “You have two months to go, don't you?”

“Yes,” Virginia said with a sigh. “And until then, I'm stuck wearing maternity clothes.”

Carolina, who stood near the opening of the tunnel, turned around. “Didn't you tell me that dress is Chanel?”

Virginia shrugged. “Yeah.”

“Then get over yourself.” Carolina laughed.

“Hey!” Georgia said, “You better watch it, sister. Virginia's hormones are raging.”

Carolina shook her head. “You don't want to mess with me, Curious Georgia. I'm already mad at you.” She turned back around.

“What crawled up her butt?” Virginia asked.

Georgia sighed. “Oh, when she and Jake moved to St. Louis, I graciously agreed to work on her photography book about national monuments. But she says the copy I'm writing is way too wordy.”

“It is,” Carolina commented. “We don't need eight pages to describe one photo of Mount Rushmore.”

Virginia's eyes widened. “Eight pages?”

“She won't leave me alone about it,” Georgia said.

“Don't pay her any mind.” Virginia smiled. “She's nervous for Jake, I think. It's his first World Series as a major league pitching coach.”

“Isn't it Brett's first World Series, too, hon?” Patrick asked.

Georgia glanced at her dad. “Don't remind me.”

Dex chuckled. “Well, if it makes anyone feel better,
I'm
not nervous.”

“You're sexy Dexie is what you are,” Virginia said. She gave him a teasing smile.

“Okay, everyone,” Marie said. She folded her hands. “No more talk about nerves. We're excited. Not nervous. Excitement is a lot more fun.”

Georgia glanced at her dad, who dutifully held up his arms as Secret Service agents checked his bulletproof vest. “Well, I'm excited for you, Mister Baseball-Fan President. You'll be amazing.”

He grinned. “Thanks. It's a good thing you decided to be nice to me because I have a surprise for you girls.”

Carolina turned around. Virginia did too. “What is it?” Georgia asked.

Patrick chuckled. “Something you all love. So quit bickering.”

“Okay, Dad,” they mumbled.

“The national anthem is about to play, and your mom and I need to go. You girls will have the best view from the front of the tunnel, I think. But if you decide to freak out, kindly step back inside, won't you?”

“Freak out over the national anthem?” Georgia asked. She exchanged dubious glances with her sisters. “Okay.”

“Say, ‘Thank you, Dad,'” he prompted.

“Thank you, Dad,” they chorused.

“You're welcome.” Patrick took Marie's hand. He kissed each of his daughters on the forehead and then walked with Marie into the dugout, surrounded by agents.

When the door closed behind them, Carolina shook her head. “What the hell is he talking about—freak out?” she murmured.

Virginia wrapped her arms around her belly. “No clue.”

“It's just Dad being Dad,” Georgia said, but she was curious. She walked to the front of the tunnel and gestured for her sisters to join her, which they did. Georgia watched as the color guard assembled with the flags. She scanned the row of Cardinals players standing along the first base line, until she found Brett. Then she cupped her hands around her mouth. “Knox!” she yelled.