Page 75 of Stepping Up to the Plate

My jaw drops at her comment and Brady squeezes my leg reassuringly. “We’ve only been together a few months, but we are quite serious. I care about your daughter a lot. Lola is pretty active but I’ve yet to see any grass angels. You holding out on me?” He gazes down at me with a twinkle in his eye as he diffuses her rude implication.

“And the accountant?” She pushes.

Before he can say anything, I chime in. “Phil and I divorced. We weren’t a good match.”

“And a professional athlete is?” I can’t name the emotion in my mother’s eyes but it resembles jealousy or resentment. I don’t know why she is acting as if she knows anything about who I would or would not be a good match with. She never even met Phil, and this is her first encounter with adult me.

“Tammy,” Rick scolds, sensing the shift in mood.

“Miller, I did research into you. On top of your baseball career, you are quite the investor. Baseball’s Ryan Reynolds they called ya. I read that you are invested in a club and several startups in Nashville. Is that true?”

“It is,” Brady confirms cautiously. “I know the stereotype is that athletes blow their money and make poor financial decisions, but my parents taught me the importance of saving and making your money stretch. I want to ensure my future family and I are more than comfortable once I have to hang up my cleats.”

“You’re what, thirty-five? Won’t be too long before that happens,” Rick notes.

“I’m thirty-two, but you are right, I am on the older side for a player. However, my contract was extended last season. The team believes I have a few good years left in me before they need to put me out to pasture.”

“That’s nice,” Rick dismisses. “I can appreciate wanting to make wise investments. And I have a great opportunity for you. You heard me mention Tammy’s plants. We are getting set up to sell our product as soon as the government legalizes weed. You have the opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Maybe your girl here can even help with the marketing. She’s not as blessed as her mama in the chest, but in the right outfit, she could push the product.”

I am stunned at Rick’s proposition. I glance to my mother and see her staring between Brady and Rick with eager eyes. My gut instinct was right. This is about money. If I thought I was embarrassed before, my humiliation grows tenfold. Of course, she isn’t interested in a relationship with me. She saw the pictures of me and Brady together and saw dollar signs. She is using me to get to him.

I don’t even want to begin to process Rick’s comments on me marketing their product in the ‘right outfit.’ I have a master’s degree in journalism. The articles I’ve written have gotten hundreds of thousands of hits and my blog is steadily increasing in popularity yet here is he regulating me to weed model? Is that even a thing?

I freeze, having no idea how to react in this situation. Thankfully, as always, Brady takes control.

ChapterThirty-Six

• BRADY •

Igot the vibe last night that Lola didn’t want me to go with her to meet up with her mom and her boyfriend. But there was not a world in which I was letting my girl meet people she doesn’t know in a place she isn’t familiar with. This entire breakfast reaffirmed that decision.

Despite his opinion about Lola not being as blessed as her mother ‘in the chest,’ he hasn’t stopped leering at her the entire time we’ve been in this dingy restaurant. It has taken all my self-control not to snap at him to keep his eyes to himself.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Lola’s mom has been a grade A bitch to her the whole meal. She has constantly talked down to Lola and made snide remarks about her family. The comment about her Aunt Teresa did not go unnoticed. I felt her tense beneath my hand. I can tell she is embarrassed by her mother’s behavior – not that I would ever hold it against her.

I was counting down the minutes until we could excuse ourselves. I have to be at the stadium early today since we have an afternoon game. With Rick’s proposition, I invest in his Marijuana business, it appears the time to leave has come blessedly sooner.

As he finishes his spiel, I recite my canned response. You’d be surprised how often I am approached to ‘get in on the ground floor’ of some scheme or another. “Sounds interesting. I’m not looking for any new investments at the moment but if you want to send your business proposal over to my financial advisors, I can have them review it for consideration.”

“Oh, we don’t need all that,” the balding man retorts. “We’re family. Right, honey? I’m practically your dad!”

Lola cringes at that and shifts her gaze back to her mother. This man isn’t seriously trying to pretend he has any type of bond with her, is he? This is the first time they’ve ever met and my understanding is she hasn’t seen her mom in over a decade.

“Absolutely,” Tammy chimes in. “Any man who is generous enough to take on Lola is family in my book.”

What the fuck does that even mean? ‘Take on Lola?’ As if she isn’t the most incredible woman in the world. Did decades of drugs mess up her eyes as well as her brain? Lola is drop dead gorgeous and Tammy’s boyfriend clearly agrees. On top of that, she’s kind, smart, funny, and loyal. What more could she ask for in a daughter?

When I peek over at Lola, I can tell everything is starting to get to her. I need to get her out of here while I still have some time to remind her how amazing she is. Standing and reaching into my pocket, I grab cash from my wallet that will more than cover this shabby breakfast and lay it on the table.

“Thank you both for meeting us today. We are going to head back to the hotel. I have to get ready for the game this afternoon. Tammy, I want you to know how grateful I am that you brought this beautiful, intelligent, perfect woman into the world.”

I gaze into Lola’s eyes even as I address her mother and run my hand down her hair before offering it to her. She takes it like a lifeline and slides out of the booth behind me.

“Wait, you can’t leave yet. We haven’t finished discussing your investment. I know you want to get one in before the game, but the ass will be there afterwards,” Rick stammers. That has me turning back to face him.

“What did you call her?” I grit out.

“Don’t be so sensitive,” Tammy sneers. “We all know there is only one reason a guy like you would be with a girl like her and it ain’t her cooking.”

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