Page 80 of Angel In Armani

“Well,” Maggie said. “Last time I asked him, Mal hadn’t lined up a date, either. You could use him as a smokescreen.”

Beside her, Lucas made a noise deep in his throat.

“No, don’t go all caveman on me,” Maggie said with a flip of her hand. “Think about it. Mal can escort her through the press and out again at the end of the night. Once she gets inside, she’s all yours. Cinderella can go to the ball!”

“Cinderella doesn’t really want to go to the ball,” Sara muttered, but she had a feeling that once Maggie Jameson got the bit between her teeth, getting her to back down from an idea was about as easy as landing a helo in a storm. “And Cinderella thinks that there will be a whole lot of people at the ball who know Lucas, so if he hangs out with me there, everyone will know anyway.”

“Cinderella doesn’t know what’s good for her,” Maggie retorted. “Admit it, you must want to see Lucas in a tux.”

“I’ve seen him in a tux,” Sara said. “I survived.” Of course, it had also been the tux that had led her to the moment of madness that was her jumping his bones. Lesson learned. Avoiding Lucas in a tuxedo was the sensible thing to do.

“Oh really?” Maggie said. “When did you see him in a tux?” She tilted her head at Lucas. “The only tux-worthy event you’ve been to lately was that fund-raiser in the Hamptons.”

“You don’t know my every movement, Maggie,” Lucas said. “I have events for the hospital as well.”

Maggie pursed her lips. “Yeah but that was one that Sara flew you to, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Lucas said. “Now stop bullying Sara. If she doesn’t want to come to the ball, she doesn’t have to.”

“Everyone wants to go to a ball,” Maggie said. “Especially when I’m throwing the party.” She shot a sideways glance at Sara. “I throw excellent parties. And besides, it would be nice not to be the only female dealing with the terrible trio.” She shook her head at Alex who stuck his tongue out in response.

Sara bit back a laugh. “Are they really so bad?”

“Only when they’re being difficult,” Maggie said. “So basically all the time.”

“Not letting you have your way about everything doesn’t constitute being difficult,” Alex said with a teasing tone in his voice. “Don’t forget we employ you.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’d be lost without me,” Maggie said. Then she turned back to Sara. “See what I mean? I’m outnumbered. There’s far too much testosterone around here.”

“What about the players’ wives and girlfriends?” Sara asked. “Can’t they help you out?”

“They try. But they have to be nice to the terrible trio so they don’t trade their boys to other teams.”

“Oh yeah, they’re so intimidated by us,” Lucas said. “That’s why I had Hana on the phone for half an hour yesterday demanding that I let her husband come home for the weekend. Hana’s Brett Tuckerson’s wife,” he said to Sara as an aside. “Who is a former Olympic tae kwan do medalist and one of Maggie’s pals. I’m not sure she’s ever been intimidated by anyone in her life. She definitely didn’t have any trouble telling me it was unreasonable for our starting pitcher to have to be in Florida for all of spring training.”

Maggie laughed. “Well, that may be true but Hana’s married to Brett, not one of you three. It’s not the same thing. I need an ally.” She made puppy-dog eyes at Sara. “You have to come help me out.”

“Stop harassing the poor girl, Maggie,” Alex said. “Let her think about it for a few days. After all, you haven’t even asked Mal about this. Maybe he has a date by now.”

“He would have told me,” Maggie said. “Malachi is the sensible one.”

“If you think that, then you really haven’t figured Mal out yet,” Lucas said. Sara’s curiosity spiked a little. Mal was clearly the strong, silent type. There was a story there. But she wasn’t going to try to pry it out of him.

If she stayed with Lucas then there’d be time to figure it all out. “I’ll think about it,” she said to Maggie. “Thank you for asking,” she added. “But I need time to think.”

Maggie opened her mouth to reply and Lucas held up a hand. “She said she’ll think about it, Maggie.”

He stood and planted a quick kiss on the brunette’s cheek and then straightened and held out a hand to Sara. “We’ll see you all later.”

The silence when they got back to her apartment seemed to weigh a ton. Sara let Dougal off his leash, and he nosed around his food bowl hopefully. When no early dinner magically appeared, he flopped down in his dog bed and closed his eyes. He had the right idea. Ignore the whole situation.

Sara stowed her purse and keys and shed her jacket. Lucas hadn’t made a move to take off his yet.

He’d been quiet during the drive back from Deacon. She wasn’t sure she’d pinned his mood down, though. He didn’t seem to be actively mad about anything, but he did seem … distracted. Distant. Almost how he used to be during those first few flights.

Was he upset because they’d run into Alex and Maggie? Upset about being outed? Upset that Maggie had invited her to the ball? Upset that she hadn’t immediately accepted?

She took a deep breath. Too many options. Given that she wasn’t a mind reader there was only one way to find out and that was to ask. But first it might be a good idea to restore some goodwill. She made her way over to Lucas and put her arms around him, tilting her head up to look at him.

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