Chapter 10
Zariah
I could have lied and said I was completely surprised when Nolan walked up behind Perry during dinner. But the reality was, I’d been anticipating it—and more than a little excited about it. All evening, from the moment Tony had pulled out of the gates at the compound, my blood had been singing at the possibilities of what was to come.
Maybe I should have felt bad for using Perry to make Nolan jealous and then embarrassing him even more when he just stood there turning as purple as an eggplant with anger, hissing like some tomcat wanting to spray his territory. Instead, I was just annoyed. After the way he’d acted before Nolan’s arrival, using such vulgarity and leering at me like he wanted a piece of me for dinner rather than the steak he’d ordered, I figured he deserved being knocked down a few proverbial pegs by my ex.
The way Nolan shooed him away, like swatting away a pesky fly, was kind of sexy. Not that I would willingly admit that out loud. From Nolan’s smirk alone, it was beyond obvious he was already too pleased with himself. And even that was sexy.Damn it.
I’d always been a sucker for his confidence, especially on the pitcher’s mound.
He finished the last bite of the salmon. It wasn’t his favorite, but he was lucky I hadn’t ordered the chicken. This place had some of the most delicious food in the city, but the chef always made the chicken way too dry. Nolan hated dry chicken. But even that would have been better than all the red meat he tended to consume.
Growing up, he’d told me his mother was of the mind that a growing boy needed beef. Apparently she knew what she was doing because her son was six feet, five inches, with shoulders wider than the table we were sitting at. But all that red meat was bad for his heart and, I didn’t doubt, his liver as well. I wasn’t going to sit there and watch him add to his risk of cardiovascular disease.
Pushing his plate away with one hand, he lifted his linen napkin with the other to wipe his mouth, before turning his hypnotic eyes on me. “Now, let’s talk about all those dates you’ve been on over the years, Miss Donati.”
I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest, taking up a defensive position. “I’m not going to apologize for going out with anyone. Especially when I wasn’t doing anything wrong. You and I weren’t dating. Then or now. Which gives you zero right to complain, let alone get angry over it.”
“Dating is one thing,” he grumbled, the jealousy bright in his eyes once more. Fuck, why did that turn me on? With every other man in the world, their possessive bullshit was a huge turn-off. But one little spark of jealousy from this man and I had to focus on not squirming in my seat. “I want to know how many of them you fucked.”
At the table directly beside us, Tony nearly choked on the piece of cake he’d ordered. He always overindulged on my dates if they went well enough. His husband would be pissed at him when he got home and he smelled the chocolate on his breath. Tony was just as cavalier with his nutrition as Nolan was with his.
I side-eyed my bodyguard. “Keep your mouth shut, T.”
He took a swallow of his coffee and turned his face just enough to hide the biggest part of his grin. It was the most emotion I’d ever seen out of the usually impassive guard in all the years I’d known him. Hell, he’d all-out laughed a few times earlier. I didn’t even know the man could do that.
Apparently he liked Nolan.
Or rather, he liked Nolan and me together.
Once upon a time, I had too.
Nolan’s smirk only turned into a full-on grin. “Good to know I wasn’t the only one celibate.”
“Fuck off,” I gritted out, hating the burn of heat as it filled my cheeks.
“Admit it, Red. You were just as miserable without me as I was without you.” Grasping my hand, he pulled it toward him, his face completely serious now. “We belong together. You and I, we were meant to be.”
If he knew how badly I wanted to believe him, he would already have the bill paid and we’d be halfway to his place. But just because it seemed like we were perfect for each other, didn’t mean much of anything when there was one glaringly obvious obstacle in our way.
I was the type of girl that needed to come first with the man in my life, and Nolan had already proven repeatedly that he couldn’t accommodate that need.
“Let me put a scenario before you, ballplayer.” I watched him play with my fingers, trying and failing to be unaffected by his callused touch to my soft palm.
He pressed his lips into a firm line, but he nodded for me to go ahead.
“You’re minutes away from leaving for your next road game, and I come down with the flu. What do you do?”
He blew out a heavy sigh. “It doesn’t work like that, Zariah, and you know it. This is a job, not a hobby. I’m under contract. One that you made airtight, in case you need reminding. My coach isn’t going to let me miss a game just because my girlfriend has the flu.”
I knew he was right. Unless it was life-or-death, he couldn’t not show up for his games, especially if he was scheduled to pitch. But that wasn’t the answer I wanted. Pressure filled my throat, but I refused to let the lump suffocate me as I gave him a tight smile. “Even hypothetically, you can’t pick me over baseball, Nolan. You won’t even consider it. And that is why this will never work.”
Frustration filled his handsome face. “All your life, you’ve been surrounded by money and security. You’ve never had to worry about anything—never gone without. Baseball has been my only chance at a life like that.”
My choked laugh filled the air. “You think I’ve never had to worry about anything?” I sensed Tony shift beside me, but I kept my gaze on Nolan’s face. “You honestly think I would have picked the life I grew up in if I’d been given a choice at birth?”
“Wouldn’t you have?” he demanded, his frustration only growing.