Anything but Minor - Kate Stewart Page 0,59

it!” The Jeep came to a sharp stop, and seconds later, Rafe was in front of me. I had no choice but to stop and look up at him. His lips were quirked as his green-brown eyes sparkled down at me. He was amused. I was not. Well, I was, but I wasn’t about to reveal it.

“I have a shitty temper sometimes. It’s not something I’m proud of. I swear to God, when I saw that man touch you, I wanted to end his life.”

“Probably how he feels every time he’s forced to look at you.”

Rafe let out a breath. “I’ve dealt with the guilt over that. Alice, if you think I haven’t, you’re wrong.”

“I’m not asking you to pay for your mistakes or even regret anything. That situation has nothing to do with me.”

“So you don’t care?”

“Do you want me to? Do you want me to hold it against you?”

“The look you gave me,” he whispered as I stood my ground.

“Was disappointment,” I said honestly. “I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of causing a rift between us. You did that all on your own.”

Rafe peered down at me with a look I’d never seen. It was somewhere between confusion and admiration.

“You’re a baseball player, Rafe. I have to be able to trust you. You have groupies in every city and will be gone more than you’ll be here. It’s part of being a ballplayer’s girl. Combine that with the fact that you are so damned good looking...If I can’t believe the person you say you are standing in front of me, I’d lose my mind wondering.”

I stood, covered in light sweat, my feet aching as I watched him closely.

“Ballplayer’s girl?” He quirked a brow as a slow smile spread on his face.

“I’m going to bed,” I muttered as I tried to walk around him.

He swept me into his arms with a quick “Don’t you dare throat punch me” and slowly walked to his Jeep. He placed me sideways in the seat and stood between my legs, my dress hiked up to my thighs. I sat silently as his eyes and body language implored me to look at him. I finally lifted my head with a sigh.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not,” I said, still holding a grudge.

“I’m an asshole. I ruined your night.”

“You totally did.”

“Wow, you really are hell to please.”

“I don’t want to have bad days, Rafe.” I saw his expression soften as he cupped my face.

“Baby, I’m sorry.”

I nodded. “Okay,” I said as he stroked my chin.

“Here’s the thing. I will never be able to handle another man touching you, ever.”

“But the truth is, that’s up to me, isn’t it? Just like it’s up to you to make sure that doesn’t happen. We can’t try to control each other. I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure that won’t work.”

I peeled off my jacket as Alice showered off our shitty night—a night I’d ruined by acting like a jealous thug. Andy had stepped up to the plate the minute he saw my temper flare and kept me grounded. I hadn’t realized I was capable of the same type of anger anymore until I saw him put his hands on her. Possessiveness of the most lethal kind had raced through my every pore. I was too afraid of my reaction, and even when I’d managed to calm down, it was still severe.

For the second time in my life, I was scared I didn’t have a handle on my head or my heart. I wanted her in a way I never thought possible. I was falling hard, and though I’d asked for it, I never expected what I got, and it was a helluva lot more.

The idea that I could get the call to the big club and soon be forced to leave her struck next, and I braced myself on the counter.

I was already jealous of my time away from her, already desperate for her touch, her voice, her whisper, her every day.

Alice deserved so much fucking better than what I’d put her through tonight.

I grabbed a bottle of water from her fridge and spotted a card on her counter. The outside was glittered with a blue and white Happy Birthday, and the inside simply read: From all of us in your Boeing family.

FUCK.

I sat in the stands and couldn’t shake the smile on my face as I watched Rafe coach. Kristina sat beside me as Rafe knelt down to talk to Dillon, who was up to bat. Kristina’s son