Foul Pole by Tina Gallagher
Chapter Two
Leo
I lookedaround my empty basement, reminding myself that this whole house is a work in progress. Under my sister Angie’s supervision, the first and second floors were remodeled while I was on the road during the season so at least the main living areas are complete. For the most part anyway. But I want to manage this space myself.
Right now it’s all white walls and concrete floors, but eventually it will be my man cave. Not that I live with anyone I need to escape from right now, but since I’m on the road so much, it’ll be nice to have a comfortable space to decompress in when I am home.
My cell buzzed and I glanced at the caller ID, smiling as I answered.
“I was just thinking about you,” I said, then added. “Actually, I was thinking about your girlfriend.”
“First of all, she’s my fiancée,” Trey said. “And second, be careful what you say next.”
He tried to sound menacing with that last sentence, but didn’t quite pull it off. Trey knows I’d never disrespect Nori or him. He’s my brother from another mother and considering I have two brothers and three sisters from my actual mother, I wouldn’t have added him to the mix if I didn’t want him there.
“I’m standing in my empty man cave, looking at the blank walls, wondering when you’re bringing Nori up here to plan a mural and give me some color suggestions.”
Trey’s fiancée paints the most amazing murals and I’m hoping she’ll transform my basement into something spectacular. The walls anyway. I’ll be in charge of everything else.
“Come on, the season ended a couple weeks ago. You can admit that you miss me. It can’t be easy being in Scranton without me. You’re probably sad.”
“I lived here without you when I played for the RailRiders and somehow survived,” I said referring to my years with the AAA Yankees affiliate based in the Scranton area.
His chuckle echoed through the line.
“I haven’t been back there since graduation. How is it?”
“Pretty much the same. But you know, I like it here.”
Trey Youngman and I met in this city over a decade ago when we both attended Lackawanna College. He was an arrogant prick and the fact that we were not only roommates, but also teammates meant we were with each other almost all the time.
I grew up with a big, loud, nosy family, so I know how to deal with a lot of personalities. But he was more than even I could handle at first. Then one day I heard his father yelling at him. I couldn’t believe the awful, berating things the man was saying. And I realized that despite the fact he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Trey’s life wasn’t all that easy and it definitely wasn’t as perfect as it looked from the outside. One night, I said something to him about that and he opened up about his family. We’ve been best friends ever since and he was made an honorary member of the Marakis clan.
As if he read my thoughts, he said, “Maybe I projected all the shit I had going on in my life when I lived there on the city. If you like it, it can’t be all that bad.”
“People say the same thing about you,” I said to lighten the mood.
“Nori said that exact thing about me.”
Trey’s laugh punctuated his thought.
“See, you have me to thank for your fiancée.”
“That’s not totally untrue. If it wasn’t for you and Crispin playing matchmaker, who knows if Nori and I would have gotten together?”
“I’m sure you would have figured it out.”
“See, that’s why I keep you around. You have faith in me.”
“Uh oh, you must want something if you’re saying stuff like that.”
“Nope, just speaking the truth,” he said. “But I actually am calling about coming up there. You must have psychically transferred your thoughts to Nori because she texted and wanted me to call you. She just had a commission pushed back so she has a break in her schedule the third weekend of the month. Will you be around?”
“Absolutely. Other than the time I spend with Clay kicking my ass, I’m pretty free.”
“How is Clay?”
“He’s doing well.”
“No lingering effects from the accident?”
“No, and he credits that to yoga.”
Clay was one of our teammates in college and he was a kickass pitcher. Like Trey and me, he was drafted after graduation but during his first season playing Minor League ball, he was in a horrible car accident. He got pretty banged up, but thankfully healed after a few months, for the most part anyway. Unfortunately, his right knee and left elbow suffered some lingering effects and his pitching wasn’t as sharp. He played the following season but got lit up every time he took the mound so he hung up his cleats.
“Is he gonna fix you?”
“If he doesn’t kill me in the process,” I said. “I’ll admit, my lower back feels looser than it has in a long time, but seriously, he’s killing me. Stretching and holding poses doesn’t seem that hard but it is. By the end of the hour, I’m dying.”
“Come on, it can’t be that bad.”
“I’ll tell you what, you can come to a class with me while you're up here.”
“Challenge accepted,” he said. “We’ll have to figure out a good bet so that when I breeze through class, you’ll owe me something.”
“It needs to be something I’ll be able to enjoy when I win.”
“You wish.”
Before I could answer, my alarm chimed.
“I don’t have time to debate, yoga calls.”
After getting a few more digs in, we hung up and I left the house and headed to the studio. I was just halfway through the fourth song of my 80’s playlist when I approached my destination. The box truck I’d been following through town pulled over and blocked the entrance to the parking lot, so I pulled into a space on the street. But not before I spotted a white Honda Pilot that had been in front of the truck turning into the lot. And just my luck, my red-haired goddess sat behind the wheel.
Anjannette
I pulledinto the space next to Clay’s truck, happy to see it was the only other vehicle in the parking lot. I’ve got a lot to do and the last thing I need is to see a certain sexy ballplayer. It’s bad enough when he creeps into my thoughts, which he has been quite often since I met him the other day.
My phone rang just as I shifted my car into park.
“Hey.”
“I’m stuck in traffic,” Keera said. “Like really stuck. This highway is bumper-to-bumper and I haven’t moved an inch in ten minutes.” She let out a long sigh. “So I’m gonna be late.”
“No worries.”
I grabbed my purse, duffle, and laptop case off the passenger seat and slipped my wrist through the straps. Tilting my head to hold my cell against my shoulder, I opened the car door.
“I came up with some ideas for our routine. While I’m just sitting here, I’ll text you what I have in mind.”
“Sounds great.” I bent my elbow to hold the bags in place and slid out of the SUV then kicked the door closed.
“I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
After hefting the straps onto my shoulder, I locked my doors, and returned my hand to the phone to give my neck a break.
“Just be safe,” I said as I walked toward the building.
“Will do.”
I slid the phone into my purse and looked up, then froze. The Greek god stood there holding the door open for me.
Cheese and rice.
“Hi.”
His voice is pure, velvet perfection, just like I imagined it would be.
I’m totally gobsmacked and instead of offering an intelligent response, I looked around the parking lot. As if the fact his vehicle isn’t present matters. The man himself is and he’s even hotter than I remember.
I looked back in his direction and he smiled, displaying straight, white teeth and just a hint of dimples on each side of his perfectly-shaped mouth.
“Are you going in?” he asked.
“Oh um yeah. Thanks.”
I stepped forward, turning slightly to avoid hitting him with my bags as I stepped over the threshold. He followed me inside and hovered a few steps behind as I fumbled with my keys and unlocked the studio door. His fresh, clean scent filled my nostrils as I turned to face him and I fought the urge to curl up against his chest and inhale.
“I didn’t get to introduce myself the other day,” he said. “I’m Leo Marakis.”
I looked down at his extended hand and blinked. Just being in his presence has made my libido come to life after its two-year hibernation. I really don’t want to know what actually touching him will do, no matter how innocent it may be. But, it would be really rude to leave him hanging, so I reached out and placed my hand in his.
As soon as our palms touched, I felt like I stuck my finger in a socket. I sucked in a sharp breath and let go of his hand, taking a half a step back. Shifting my rounded eyes to his face, I couldn’t help but notice his confused look. Whether it’s because he’d felt the electric current arc between us or the fact that I dropped his hand like it was a hot potato, I’m not sure. Either way, he composed himself pretty quickly and blew me away even more with his next words.
“I wanted to apologize for watching you dance the other day. I’m not a creep, I swear, but I just couldn’t look away.” He offered a nervous smile and seemed to consider his next words carefully before speaking. “That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. At one point, I wasn’t sure how you were staying on the pole. It was like you were glued there or something. How’d you do that?”
His warm brown eyes stayed on mine as he spoke and I felt mesmerized. So much so that I continued to silently stare into them, even after he finished speaking. I have no idea how long I just stood there gawking at him, but I’m pretty sure it was longer than is socially acceptable. And while I’d love to say I snapped out of it on my own, the spell wasn’t broken until he raised his perfectly-shaped brow.
“Oh. Oh, um…” I shrugged then gestured lamely before getting my hands under control by grabbing onto the straps of my bags. “Practice.”
“How long have you been dancing?”
Looking up at the ceiling, I did the mental math before meeting his gaze again.
“About eight years.”
“That’s it?”
“It?” I blinked. “I think eight years is a pretty long time.”
His low sexy chuckle had tingly vibrations pinging between every one of my erogenous zones. Which seem to have multiplied since the last time they were awakened.
“I’ve been playing baseball for twenty-five years and have never done anything nearly as impressive as what I watched you do in there,” he said, pointing to the open doorway of the studio.
My mouth dropped open. Through the years, I’ve pretty much heard it all. Comments from guys who have varying degrees of fascination and criticisms from prudes who think I’m over-sexualizing and objectifying myself. But aside from the few men who’ve frequented the studio, I’ve never had one show such frank admiration for what I do on the pole.
“Good, you’re here.” Clay’s voice broke the spell between Leo and me before I had to comment. I looked over my shoulder and watched as he descended the last couple steps and walked over to us. “Hey Anjannette.”
“Hi.”
“What’s up?” Leo asked Clay.
“I have a box in my truck and I was hoping you could help me carry it up. It’s not heavy, just big and awkward for one person to handle.”
“Sure. Just let me run my bag upstairs.”
Clay’s eyes shifted between us and he nodded.
“I’ll meet you outside.”
After he left, Leo looked over at me.
“So I just wanted you to know that I wasn’t being a perv, I was just really impressed.” His mouth slowly curled into a smirk and he added, “Anjannette.”
I swear I dropped an ovary at the sound of my name coming out of his beautiful mouth in that low, sexy tone.
“T-thank you.”
He took a step closer.
“So do you have a last name, Anjannette? Or are you like Cher or Madonna or Prince and just use one?”
For some reason that question struck me as funny and it snapped me out of the Leo-induced trance I’ve been in during our whole exchange.
“I’m flattered that you’d mention me in a question adjacent to those greats, but to answer your question, I have a last name. It’s Peach.”
I held out my hand to formally shake, figuring it should be safe now that I've regained my wits. I’ve never been more wrong about anything in my life. As soon as Leo’s hand touched mine, that spark of electricity zinged again.
“It’s nice to formally meet you, Anjannette Peach.” His eyes shifted to the plaque next to my door. “Now the studio name makes total sense.”
I looked over at the logo and smiled. When I decided to open my own studio, I’d wracked my brain trying to think of the perfect name, but nothing seemed right. Then one taco Tuesday, after way too many Margaritas, Keera suggested Peaches & Pole and it stuck.
But I don’t want to discuss that with Leo. I don’t want to discuss anything with him. I mean, I do and that fact makes me not want to. He’s not only good-looking, he’s also charming as hell. Time to shut this down.
“You better go find Clay before he thinks you got lost.”
“Oh shit, you’re right.” He flashed a killer smile. “I got distracted.”
I rolled my eyes and chuckled.
“You can leave your bag there,” I said. “I only have one person coming here tonight so it’ll be safe.”
He dropped his duffle bag right next to the stairs. I turned and stepped into the studio and placed my bags on the floor.
“See you around, Anjannette Peach,” he said as he walked across the foyer and exited the building.
I closed the door behind me and leaned back against it. Taking in deep breaths, I let them out little by little, trying to slow my heartbeat and calm the myriad sensations coursing through my body. Leo Marakis is potent, I’ll give him that. One conversation and I’m more hot and bothered than when I got to second base with some other guys. Which is definitely a problem, especially if he’s going to regularly be in this building.
I’ll just have to keep my door closed at all times.
My laugh echoed through the empty room at that last thought.
As if a standard door is any kind of defense against that man’s charms.