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Her frown turns into an instant smile. It wasn’t my idea to put Lucy on television, but Saylor said it would help change the public opinion about me if they see me as a family man. I told her that exploiting Lucy isn’t the way to go about that, and she promised me that isn’t what we’re doing. Saylor pointed out that I’m often with Lucy in public and that she was at my fund-raiser on Valentine’s Day, so having her participate today is a treat for the viewers who already love me.

“Will the man ask me questions?” she asks as she climbs into my lap.

I pretend to think, but the truth is that he won’t. “He might ask you who your favorite baseball player is.”

“That’s easy. Cooper,” she says, shrugging with her hands in the air.

“Cooper? What about me?”

Lucy shakes her head. “Cooper has the babies.”

“Ah, yes. I can’t compete with the babies.” In fact, no man can. We had a party once Saylor and Lucy moved in and invited everyone. The Baileys brought Cal and Janie over, and every female in my house went crazy. I was sort of hoping that Saylor would get baby fever, but she’s yet to bring up having children. Which, I suppose, is all for the best since we’re newly married, neither of us have said we love each other, and she’s launched a new career.

“The babies are so cute.” Lucy scrunches her nose, making her face squishy.

“What are you two talking about?” Saylor asks as she comes into the room.

“Babies,” I say, winking.

“Oh.” Saylor seems taken aback by my comment, lessening any hope I had that she might be ready. It’s okay, because we have time. The practice is fun, though, and we practice a lot.

“Is it time?” I ask, and she nods. I scoot Lucy off my lap and give her a kiss on the nose. “Wish me luck.”

Saylor kisses me quickly, much to Lucy’s delight. The catcalling she’s learned from Ethan Davenport is bar none. My stepdaughter makes a construction worker sound tame. I give her a sideways glance, which causes a fit of giggles.

“Remind me to teach Davenport’s future kids some bad habits.”

“You’ll do no such thing.” Saylor pushes me out of Lucy’s room and back down the hall. She knows I’m dreading this interview, mostly because I want everything to be done and in the past. And the only reason I’m doing this is because she set it up months ago.

I sigh and step into my living room, which has been made into a makeshift studio, and take a seat in one of the chairs they provide. People descend on me immediately, fixing my hair, adding makeup, and attaching a microphone to my shirt.

“Hey, Travis.”

“Paul,” I say, giving him a nod.

As soon as everyone is out of the way, he starts by speaking into the camera, telling the viewers what he’s doing and that he’s in my home, giving them a rare look at my private life. Saylor cautioned me on picking my nose during the taping, though, stating that other cameras will be angled on me throughout the interview.

Paul finishes his introduction and looks at me. “Travis, thank you for allowing us to be in your home.”

“You’re welcome.”

“A lot has changed for you these past few months. One of the biggest is that you married your publicist, shocking everyone and adding to the speculation that your marriage is nothing more than a business deal meant to protect your assets, especially without a prenuptial agreement in place.”

I bite the inside of my cheek and remember that Saylor approved his questions, so she has to know this is on the list. Rubbing my hands down the front of my pants, I look at Paul and give him a half smile. “Honestly, Paul, I’ve had a crush on Saylor for a while. I was always doing stupid shit that she’d have to come rescue me from in hopes that she’d give me the time of day.”

“It seems you finally won her over.”

“Only after I begged, and let me tell you, there was a lot of pleading on my part. She’s a tough nut to crack.”

“Spring training starts in a few days, and there have been rumors that you’re retiring. When will you make the decision whether to hang up your cleats and call it quits?”

“It’ll be a reporting-day decision for me, Paul. I love baseball and the city of Boston, but right now I’m not sure my heart is in it.”

“And that’s because of what happened in December?”

I nod.

“You were accused of rape and spent a lot of time defending yourself for something you didn’t do. How has that changed you?”


Tags: Heidi McLaughlin The Boys of Summer Romance