Worth the Trade. Kristina Mathews

he have to lead the league in RBIs? Batting average? He’d already been named an all-star. Just not for their team. But there was only one thing she wanted from Marco. From her team.

      “MVP?” Clayton suggested.

      She laughed. No one had ever won the most valuable player award after being traded. She wasn’t going to fall for a sucker bet.

      “Nice try. It would be quite an accomplishment, but not likely enough to give up a percentage of my team.” She narrowed her gaze. “I want something more. I want the division. I think Santiago will help us get there.”

      “L.A. has picked up several big names.” He was still pouting about losing out on one of the megastar free agents last winter. Even though he hadn’t quite justified his enormous salary. “It’s going to be tough to win the division outright.”

      “But it can be done.” She folded her arms across her chest. She couldn’t back down. For one thing, her partner didn’t know shit about what it took to put together a winning team. But more importantly, she had absolute faith in her new left fielder. He would contribute to the team’s ultimate success. “Marco Santiago is the key. I would bet five percent, no make it ten, that the Goliaths will make it to the postseason.”

      “The division title. Not a wild card berth?” He gave her a shit-eating grin. “That sounds like a definitive measurement.”

      “Looks like we have a deal.” She leaned across the armrest and shook on it. She got a shiver down her spine at the contact. But it wasn’t the good kind of shiver. Not at all like the kind of tingling she felt when she touched Marco.

      That kind of tingling must have short-circuited her brain. She’d just bet ten percent of her team—her legacy—on a player who didn’t want to be there in the first place. A man who was more interested in hitting on her than hitting a baseball.

      What could possibly go wrong?

      Maybe she wasn’t ready to run the team. No. She was ready. She’d been doing it long enough. Marco Santiago was a good acquisition. He was a good player and once he had a chance to settle in with the team, he could be a great player. One she could count on. What she hadn’t counted on was the crazy attraction between them. It had thrown her off her game, but she’d shake it off. She had to.

       Chapter 3

      After his last at bat, Marco glanced over at the empty seat behind home plate. Even without her sitting there, he still felt the overpowering presence of Hunter Collins. He wanted her. Wanted her more than was good for him. Or the team.

      The Goliaths had a six game road trip coming up. He was already packed, ready to head straight for the airport after the game. He hoped getting away for a few days would give him the space he needed to get his head on right. To work out the flaw in his swing. Yeah, sure, the flaw was in his swing. In the swing of his head toward Hunter’s seat. Then up toward the booth, where he imagined the owner’s box was located.

      A road trip was just what he needed to clear his head. To get back in the game. And every other cliché guys like him used to excuse their poor performance.

      Hunter believed in him. Or she had until he got one look at her, and he’d somehow forgotten everything he’d ever known about hitting a baseball. It couldn’t come at a worse time, either. Not when his contract was up at the end of the year.

      This was supposed to be his chance to sign the big deal. He hoped it would be here, in San Francisco. In the short time he’d been in the Goliaths clubhouse, he’d noticed the guys had something special. A camaraderie that he hadn’t found anywhere else. Instead of a collection of players, all doing their own thing, they were a TEAM. They backed each other up. And not just when the spotlight was on them. It was like they were more than teammates. More than friends, even. It was like they were a family.

      But he was still the outsider. The new guy who wasn’t quite cutting it. Wasn’t pulling his weight. And that was one more reason he needed to stay as far away as possible from Hunter. He didn’t need to sleep his way onto the roster. That wouldn’t do either of them any good.

      He needed to forget about her. Starting now. He’d board the plane for Atlanta, and when he returned, he wouldn’t be bothered by her presence behind home plate. Wouldn’t even think about unbuttoning her stuffy shirts or unpinning her uptight hairdo. He wouldn’t wonder if she was as soft underneath as she pretended to be hard on the outside.

      And he damn sure wouldn’t worry about her partner, married or not, sliding up next to her in the luxury suite, laughing at what a mistake she’d made in bringing Marco Santiago to San Francisco.

      No. He couldn’t let that happen. Couldn’t let him put her down. Couldn’t give him the satisfaction of saying I told you so.

      Marco would just have to work harder. Smarter. And better than anyone else on the team.

      * * * *

      Six days later, Marco was the last one to board the plane back to San Francisco. He’d improved his batting average, gotten his first extra-base hit, and two more RBIs. But he still wasn’t in his groove. Most of those hits were just plain lucky. Weak ground balls that squirted through the infield. Bloopers that fell just short of the outfielders. He wasn’t making real good contact, and he had far too many strikeouts.

      His concentration was still shot.

      It helped a little that Hunter wasn’t sitting behind home plate. But she was sitting there in his head. Tormenting him. Tempting him. Torturing him.

      He’d never let a woman come between him and his game. Not in high school, college, or the minor leagues. Especially not when he’d made it to the majors. He’d always kept his personal life separate. Any time a woman even got close to coming between him and baseball, it was always easier to let her go than try to juggle her needs with the needs of his team.

      Ever since he stepped into that limo with Hunter, he couldn’t get her out of his system. Must be pheromones or something. How else could he explain an intense sexual attraction to a woman who was not only his boss, but was sending seriously non-sexual signals?

      The way she dressed, for example. He couldn’t think of one thing he liked about her wardrobe. She dressed like she was going for a job interview at a funeral home in a black-and-white movie. He’d only seen her in black and gray. Conservative. Boring. Like she was trying to hide something. Her femininity. Her passion. But he saw right through her. Or rather, he felt something, an underlying sensuality that she couldn’t quite keep hidden. Not from him.

      And he wanted to uncover that sensuality in the worst way.

      But despite their mutual attraction, she’d made it very clear she wasn’t interested in him.

      Time to let it go. To take the advice of the master of control. The man. The myth. The Monk.

      “Hey Johnny, I’ll bet you’re looking forward to getting home.” Marco sat down with an empty seat between him and his teammate.

      “Yeah. It wasn’t a bad road trip.” They’d won four out of six games in Atlanta and Milwaukee. “But I’m definitely ready to sleep in my own bed.”

      “For me, one hotel is the same as the next.” He wasn’t complaining, just stating a fact.

      “You’re still at the hotel?” Johnny shook his head. “Man, you need a place of your own.”

      “I haven’t had time to look.” He was too busy trying to get Hunter out of his head. Trying to get his swing back. “Besides, at this point I don’t even know how long I’m going to be here. Kind of hard to find a decent place willing to rent for only two or three months.”

      “You could sublet my apartment,” Johnny offered. “It’s right across the street from the ballpark. Now that Alice is over her morning sickness, we never stay over. It’s just sitting there. Vacant. It would be perfect for you, if you’re interested.”

      “That