Rounding Third (Pit Bulls Baseball #3)

1. Liliana

Chapter 1

Liliana

“Knock, knock!” I rap my knuckles on the open door and wait. I’ve never met Macy Hayes before, but I’ve heard a lot about her from the guys.

She’s been dating Cord Powell, the first basemen for the Philadelphia Pit Bulls, and she’s the new PR person tasked with making sure the entire team is ready to face the media. That’s no small task.

A gorgeous woman with dark brown hair glances up at me with a big smile and kind eyes.

“Can I help you?”

“I’m Liliana Sweets. I’m here to speak with Macy Hayes.”

“That’s me. C’mon in and take a seat.” She shuffles around a few papers on her desk. She looks slightly nervous and I'm not sure if that’s because we don’t know each other or if it’s because she’s nervous talking to someone with the press. Both options are understandable.

“Please, don’t clean up on my account. You should see my office.” I wave my hand around in the air and shake my head. I'm the least organized person I know. “I swear, sometimes I don’t know why anyone would hire me. Half the time I can't find anything in there.”

“Well, this is worse because I just got this office and it’s already a disaster.” She chuckles and I watch some of her hesitation melt away. She’s slowly becoming more comfortable. If I do my job correctly, she’ll be at ease by the time we finish here.

I wait patiently for her to finish organizing things the way she wants it. I know that helps some people relax and I'm not here to rush her. If she needs some time to collect her thoughts, I’ll allow it.

“So, what can I do for you? You said you had a story you need mysteriously leaked?” I ask when she seems like she’s ready to talk.

“Yes. Stubbs is dragging everything Owen Powell has built through the mud and I don’t like it one bit. There are multiple pieces of footage showing how detrimental Stubbs was to this team and our players and staff. I want them leaked with no connection to us. Do you think you can help me with that?”

My face lights up with a smile. I was hoping this had something to do with Stubbs and the negative press he caused. Anything to keep that man from being seen as a good guy sounds great to me.

It helps knowing Owen Powell, the owner of the Pit Bulls’ team and what an amazing man he is. It doesn’t hurt that I have a personal relationship with Stubbs and know exactly what type of man he is.

Over the years, he’s gone out of his way to flirt with me and make me feel uncomfortable. He didn’t care if I asked him to stop or tried to walk away, he’d just follow me. Stubbs wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted, or I left. Thinking back, sometimes I'm surprised he didn’t follow me home and keep going.

“Of course! Is this an exclusive thing? I’d love to have something no one else has, at least for a day. I can make sure it gets shared with other reporters, but could I hold on to it for a short while? It would really earn me some brownie points at work.”

“I don’t care if you keep it forever, as long as people see it and stop believing Stubbs about Owen and the team.” She lets out a long breath like this has been weighing heavily on her mind.

“Oh, I could definitely do that. Give me all the dirty details. I’ll write up a story to go with the videos and make sure this is perfect.”

“Thank you so much for all of your help today, Liliana. I promise to keep you in mind for my future press needs.”

My smile spreads even wider. This is a dream come true. I’ve wanted to work with a specific team for as long as I can remember, but it’s hard to get that sort of position.

“That would be great.”

I stand and hold my hand out to shake Macy’s. She’s been so sweet with me throughout this entire meeting. She’s the type of person I could imagine hanging out with after work.

I’ve heard plenty of stories about her and Cord from Smithy, and Macy sounds like she’s fun to be around. Maybe I’ll have to see if she and Charlie want to meet for drinks some night.

“You’re really friends with Smithy?” She arches a brow.

“Yeah, we go way back. I don’t know what I’d do without him in my life. He’s always been a constant and someone I can lean on.” I smile wistfully, knowing he’ll never be mine. The shy girl doesn’t win over her professional athlete best friend. That’s not how the world works.

“I’m glad to hear that. Sometimes I wonder if the guys are really as sweet as they act when they’re here. I know some of them aren’t and they’re just trying to get my attention.” She rolls her eyes.

“Is it hard working here?”

I work with professional athletes all the time, but not in the same capacity Macy does. I’m sure things are a lot different for her. She’s seeing the bad and ugly, where the players only show me what they want the world to see. I get the dolled-up versions and she gets the just rolled out of bed versions of them.

“Nah, Owen’s a fantastic boss. He always makes sure you’re taken care of and have everything you need to do your job.” She leans forward, resting her forearms on her desk. She glances away for a moment and I know exactly where her head is going.

She knows I'm a reporter and she barely knows me. She has no reason to trust me and I can't blame her for that. I’d never twist her words to spin a story the way I want it to sound. I’ve watched bad articles come out about Smithy over the years and I know the type of impact that can have on a person’s life and career.

That’s why I'm here today. I know what Stubbs did to Charlie and Wyatt. I know he’s trying to shed a bad light on them, and I don’t want that to happen. From what Smithy’s said, Owen’s an amazing team owner and doesn’t deserve to have his name drug through the mud. It’s my job to help the world know what’s really going on.

“This is off the record, Macy. I get it. I'm the reporter and most of us are scum. I promise I'm not interested in ruining the Pit Bulls or anyone here. I met Stubbs a handful of times and he was such a piece of shit. I'm happy to help take him down, but only him. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt Smithy. He means too much to me.” I lower myself back into the chair and wait. She clearly wants to talk, even if she’s hesitant.

She nods her head and sucks in a deep breath. She blows it out slowly as she settles back into her chair and gets comfortable.

“Owen values his good employees. He’ll go above and beyond to help if you treat him with respect. He’s not just the bosshole everyone paints him as. Can he be a bosshole? Absolutely. But that’s not entirely him. He’s made this place feel like a family and I'm honored to have a place in it.”

“Damn, I wish I could find a position here.” I chuckle and shake my head. I hate my job, but there aren’t many people looking for a female sports reporter. “My boss is a jerk and I swear he wants to make my life miserable. He hates Owen and he keeps encouraging me to find out as much as I can about the team and write a big article on it.”

“Are you going to?” Macy’s brows raise and her eyes widen. I'm sure she’s terrified I'll do anything to keep my boss happy, but I won’t.

I can't blame her, she’s the head of public relations here. I'm sure she’s thinking of all the things Smithy might’ve told me over the years and how I could ruin the Pit Bulls franchise easily if I wanted to.

“No,” I say softly. “I’d never do anything to hurt Smithy or jeopardize his life and future. I don’t care if it would help my career. I don’t want to be that person. I want to be a reporter people can actually trust.”

“You care about him.” She watches me carefully.

“Of course.”

“As more than a friend,” she says slowly. She can tell I feel more than friendship for Smithy and I don’t really have the energy to fight that right now. Hell, maybe she can be someone I could talk to about this. She’s trusting me with information about her boyfriend’s family, I can trust her a little bit.

“It doesn’t really matter how much I care about him,” I whisper. “We’ll always be friends and nothing more.”

“Is that his doing or yours?” She pushes a little harder. I narrow my eyes on her and she holds up her hand with a chuckle. “Nothing you say is leaving this office. I’m just nosy and I love Smithy. He seems… broken though.”

“He is, but I'm working on putting him back together.”

“I hope he knows how lucky he is to have you.”

I open my mouth to respond, but someone knocks on the door. I glance over my shoulder and find Smithy’s face pressed against the small window of the door.

Macy rolls her eyes and motions for him to come in. She’s smart, if she doesn’t let him come in, he’s going to keep annoying us until we acknowledge him.

“You didn’t tell me you were going to be here.” He ignores Macy and focuses on me. “Lils, I haven’t seen you in forever.” He tugs me out of my chair and gathers me into his arms. He hugs me like we haven’t seen each other in years, not days.

“I saw you two days ago,” I squeal as he lifts me into the air and spins me in a circle.

“That’s like a lifetime. I told you, I need my daily fix of Sweets.”

“Oh, I'm so sorry,” I say sarcastically. I roll my eyes, but I can't hide the massive smile he brings out every time he’s around.

“You should be. My performance on the field was affected today because of it.”

“I'm sure you’re fine.” I pat him on the chest and grin up at him.

“Oh, I'm fine . All the ladies know that.” Smithy’s smile widens, showing off his dimples.

“Does anyone actually like this side of you?”

“The sexy one? The flirty one? Which one, Lils? I have a lot of sides and some are nicer than others. Some are really impressive too.” He wiggles his brows, tugging me closer against his body.

“Stop it,” I say softly as my cheeks flush with embarrassment. I place my hands on his chest and gently push him away. He loves to embarrass me and flirt, but I hate it. It gives me a little hope something could eventually work out between us and I'm just not sure that’s true.

Something flashes in Smithy’s eyes before he slips behind a mask with an easy smile. It’s a role he’s comfortable with and the one he goes to when he doesn’t know what else to do.

“You definitely have the most impressive abs on the team.” Macy winks at him, making a genuine smile spread across his face.

“What about my chest?”

“Nah, sorry, bud. Cord has you beat in the chest game.”

Smithy’s brows pull together and he opens his mouth to say something, but Macy holds her hand up, stopping him.“Wyatt has everyone beat for his thighs and ass. Leo holds the title for the most defined arms. Covey has the most amazing dimples. Wheeler has the most captivating eyes. Schmidt has the nicest hands. And Holden has the most defined back muscles I’ve ever seen.”

“You’re only giving Schmidt the nicest hands?” Smithy asks with amusement dancing in his eyes. “Really, Macy?”

“Well, he pissed me off. He’s lucky he got the nicest anything.” She waves a hand through the air, dismissing him.

“Who has the nicest hair?” I pipe up, more than entertained by this conversation. I love watching Smithy interact with people and the banter they have.

“Covey,” Smithy and Macy say at the same time, causing all of us to laugh.

“Cord has the best Adonis belt.” Macy grins, making Smithy let out a loud groan.

“It’s like that man was carved out of stone. I swear he has the best of everything. I don’t know if I can even compete with his abs.” Smithy lifts the hem of his t-shirt to reveal a perfect set of abs. Abs I think about more often than I care to admit.

“Sorry, handsome.” Macy lifts her shoulder in a shrug, not really caring either way. She isn't there to stroke his ego and I really like that about her, but I don’t want to watch Smithy fish for compliments from another woman.

“I’m going to get out of here,” I whisper as I grab my bag and sling it over my shoulder.

“Hey, wait. I wanted to talk to you. Let me walk you out to your car.” Smithy gently grabs my wrist to stop me, then his hand slides down until he’s threading his fingers through mine.

“Don’t you have to work?”

“I do, but I told the coach I had something to take care of and he flipped me off, then told me to go.” Smithy grins. “I didn’t want to miss you.”

“Thank you for meeting with me, Liliana. I look forward to reading your article and seeing what happens. I’m sure I’ll be in contact with you in the future over other jobs as well.” Macy stands and holds out her hand for me to shake.

“You’re welcome.” I give hers a firm shake. “I appreciate you giving me the exclusive interview. This should help me at work a lot.”

“You two can use my office to talk. I need to go find Owen to go over something for the start of the season.” Macy smiles as she gathers her notebook and a pen, then she’s gone.

Leaving me alone with Smithy.