Page 42 of Angel In Armani

He pouted. “I’m wounded.”

“You’ll survive.” She studied him for a moment. “I take it you’re on the team.” She waved a hand at his uniform.

“You don’t know who I am?” He sounded genuinely surprised.

That made her smile. “Sorry, not a big baseball fan.”

“Then what brings you to spring training, Sara Charles?” He pulled his glasses off, as though he wanted a better look at her. Well, non-baseball fans were probably a rarity in his world. His eyes were a very dark brown and smiley. Which didn’t make him any less attractive. “You didn’t tell me why you’re here.”

“No, I didn’t,” she said. “You’ll just have to live in suspense for a while.”

“Ah, that means you’re going to be around for a bit,” Ollie said. “There’s hope for me yet.”

“You don’t want me,” she said. “I’m sure dating a girl who doesn’t like baseball would be terrible for your ego. After all, I wouldn’t swoon appropriately when you murmured your stats in my ear.”

“It’s true,” he said, “I do like a good swoon.”

She smiled again. She had to give Ollie points for being entertaining, no matter what else he might or might not be. And maybe he could teach her a bit more about baseball so she didn’t sound like a complete idiot in front of Lucas. “So who are the guys out there?”

Ollie shrugged and pushed his glasses back into place before assuming a bored expression she thought was at least partly for show. “Rookies, mostly.”

She lifted her eyebrow. “Eloquent, aren’t you?”

“You want chapter and verse?”

“How about just a couple of verses. In non-baseball-speak?”

He shrugged. “Okay. I’ll keep it simple. The guys out there are trying out for the team. When we got sold—you know the team changed owners, right?”

She made sure not to look at Lucas. “That much I know.”

“Well, when the terrible trio took over, some of the guys got traded and some wanted out. That’s why we’re down at spring training earlier than usual. We have more gaps to fill than we normally would.” He jerked his chin toward the field. “Those guys are pitchers. Couple of guys from the Preachers—that’s our minor-league team—couple of kids from colleges, and a couple of guys from other teams who’ve been dropped.”

“Why do you want them if they’ve been dropped?”

“Means they’re cheap,” Ollie said. “We at the Saints have a proud history of not having a lot of cash to spend.”

“Aren’t the guys who bought you gazillionaires?”

That got her another shrug. “Alex Winters is definitely a gazillionaire.” For a moment his mouth tightened, and she got the distinct impression that he might not be a fan of Alex Winters. “Lucas Angelo—” Another chin jerk, toward Lucas. “—well, he’s got family money and he’s a hotshot surgeon so he’s not hurting for cash. Neither is Mal Coulter, the other guy. But I don’t think they’re quite as rich as Alex.”

“But rich enough to buy good players.”

“It’s a business,” Ollie said. “I guess they’re playing things carefully. They could spend a lot of money upfront but it’s not going to guarantee a good solid team. They say they’re in it for the long haul, so I guess they’re being smart. Seeing if they can find some undervalued talent. Build from there.”

He seemed to think it made sense. She didn’t know anything about baseball strategy so she’d take his word for it.

“Are you a pitcher, too? Is that why you’re here today?”

“Nah, I’m first baseman. Reasonable batter. Can’t pitch for shit, though. I’m here to run around a bit and pick up balls once they start trying out. Start getting my hand in, so to speak.” He leaned forward as he spoke. Toward the field and the action. Like a puppy eager to be let off the leash so it could go join in the fun.

“Am I keeping you?” she asked.

“No, the coach is still putting the fear of God into them,” Ollie said, relaxing a little. “They won’t start getting into it for a bit longer.”

Sara looked down at the field at the three young guys again. They were all looking seriously tense now.

“Surely that makes it harder for them to do well? Getting them wound up, I mean.”

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