Page 49 of If We Never Met

"I'm supposed to be in Miami on the pitcher's mound, throwing strikeouts."

"One day at a time," she said with a smile.

Rita was a kind but firm woman in her early forties. He hated the platitudes she occasionally threw out, but he did appreciate her efforts. She stayed positive while she kicked his ass, and that's what he needed.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Rita said. "You might want to take it easy tonight, get a lot of rest."

That was exactly what he wanted to do, but he had a problematic girlfriend waiting to have drinks with him. He didn't think rest was in the cards.

He headed toward the locker room, took a quick shower, dressed, and then took the elevator down to the parking garage. When he stepped out, he was surprised to hear shouting, and the two people involved in the argument included Mark Langley and a middle-aged red-haired woman. They were having an animated and heated conversation. The woman put her hand on Mark's arm, and Langley shoved it off.

"You'll be sorry," she warned.

"I've been sorry for a long time."

"This isn't over."

"It is over. You just need to accept that." Langley then stormed away from her, jumping into a gray sedan before speeding out of the garage. The woman had her hands on her hips, her glare following his vehicle until it disappeared. Then she got into a white car and drove away. Neither one of them had noticed him at all.

As he got into his vehicle, he wondered what he'd just seen. The woman was not Keira's mother, that was for certain. But they clearly had some sort of relationship. Maybe Keira's instincts about Langley were not as far-fetched as he'd thought. There had been definite anger and dislike between the two of them.

But who was that woman?Was it the Mandy who had called him a few days earlier?

He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, then took out his phone.

Before he could call Keira, he saw several texts from Nikki. She wanted him to meet her for drinks at the Lakeshore Bistro. Damn. He didn't want to have a public argument with her, but he felt like that's where they were headed. He sent her a quick text asking her to just meet him at the inn, but she replied immediately.I came all this way. Just meet me for a drink.

With a sigh, he sent back a thumbs-up. She probably wanted to prove to the world that they were still together. Whatever. He could have a drink and they could talk after that.

He punched in Keira's number. While they'd agreed to stay apart, he needed to tell her what he'd seen. Unfortunately, his call went to voicemail. He didn't know if she was avoiding him, but he left a brief message. "I have some information on Langley," he said. "If you're interested, call me back." He'd leave it to her to decide.

Setting down his phone, he drove out of the garage, keeping an eye out for paparazzi, but there was no one around. He hadn't seen anyone on his trips back and forth to the inn, either. He'd like to believe the photographer had given up and gone back to whatever rock he'd crawled out from under, but that didn't seem likely. Maybe he was following Nikki around. He doubted she'd come into Whisper Lake under any kind of radar. She never went anywhere without announcing it on social media. She wanted people to follow her, especially the press. The more pictures, the better, as far as she was concerned.

It hadn't really bothered him before, but then he hadn't thought much about it. When he'd been on top of the world, the press and the photos had all just seemed part of his life, and he had nothing to hide. But while his injury was no secret and had occurred in real time on national television, his recovery was private and probably felt a little mysterious to a lot of people. Throwing in a hot brunette had given the press a new story to run with. They'd had a void to fill, and they'd found a way to fill it.

He needed to take back control, not just with the press but also with Nikki. He'd let her put him off and stall the hard conversation that she didn't want to have. He'd talk to her tonight and then he'd figure out what to do about the press.

Chapter Twelve

The Lakeshore Bistrowas set on a bluff overlooking the lake, with an interior dining room and a spectacular patio with an even more impressive view. He made his way through the dining room and onto the patio. Nikki sat at a table by the railing. In the seat across from her was Keira. His gut twisted.What the hell?

He froze, tempted to leave before either one saw him, but then Nikki's gaze swung toward him, and she waved. He had no choice but to walk over to the table.

"Sit here," Nikki said with a smug smile. She waved her hand toward the empty chair between them.

"What's going on?" he asked, looking at Keira.

"Ask Nikki. She set this up," Keira replied tersely.

"Nik?"

"It's all part of my plan to reframe the story," Nikki replied. "I told you to leave it to me. I know exactly how to play this." She slid her chair closer to his. "Now you both need to turn, face that way, and smile like we're the best of friends."

"What?"

"You heard me," she said through lips that were fixed in her trademark smile.

He turned his head toward the right as Keira did the same, only then realizing that there were several photographers standing just off the patio. Their cameras flashed continuously for a good minute.

---