The Boyfriend Contract Read online

  “Okay, I’ll get something to deal with the glass and get the floor dried while you do that,” she said, trying to be useful.

  “Great,” he said, his back to her as he continued measuring the window. She was not going to stare and admire him. That would be rude. He was here because of her screw-up.

  She paused in the doorway. “Do you want a coffee?”

  “Uh, if you’re having one, I’d love one,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at her.

  “Definitely,” she said, before leaving the room. Buttons, her cat, bolted down the stairs, and Emily closed the living room door. The last thing she needed was the cat getting her paws cut on glass.

  She started a pot of coffee and went to find her broom and dustpan along with a garbage bag while the coffee brewed. She buzzed around with a nervous sort of energy. This afternoon had not gone the way she’d intended. She’d made a fool of herself, of course, but in doing so, she’d gotten a glimpse of the man Cooper was.

  As she poured the coffee into mugs, she tried not to let any of this mean more than it did. Like, what kind of person was actually excited by their contractor having to stay late and fix something? Especially damage she was responsible for. Maybe it was because said contractor had wrapped his arms around her and joked about his moves. Or maybe it was because he’d been all solid muscle and had smelled crisp and clean and oh-so-masculine. She covered her face and groaned. Get a grip. He was being friendly and making it clear that he was only helping with baseball and not coming on to her.

  Just focus on acting normal. She tucked a garbage bag into the back pocket of her jeans, tucked the broom and its attached dustpan under her arm, and then grabbed the coffees and made her way back to the living room.

  Cooper wasn’t back yet from cutting the wood in the coach house. She set their mugs on the radiator ledge and got to work cleaning up the glass. If she could finish before he came back, at least he’d have a clean place to work. Rain drizzled through the window and she was shivering by the time she’d collected all the glass.

  She stood as Cooper entered the room. He was holding a large wooden board and was disheveled and…something else she couldn’t quite figure out. Or maybe it was the look in his eyes. A nervous tremor ran through her that she knew wasn’t just a shiver from the rain. Maybe it was the flash of something in his eyes, or maybe she was just imagining that his gaze had flickered over her. She dragged the broom out of the window area. “Your coffee is on the radiator. I picked up the glass, but be careful, there might be some little pieces still there. I’ll be right back to finish,” she said, shooting him a smile.

  “Great,” he said, not sounding great as he walked back into the room.

  She left with the tension in the room increasing somehow. It was like things had suddenly changed. It was the wet clothes. Or maybe it was that he knew she was attracted to him. Had she stared? Had she given something away? No, of course not. She needed to keep it that way. Cooper had made it clear he was her contractor. He was also her new BFF’s brother. Which was why it was really ridiculous of her to stop in front of the powder room mirror and fix her hair.

  …

  Cooper cursed himself as he realized the board was about an inch too short. He just wanted to get the hell out of this house and the hell away from Emily and this crazy tension between them. Hell, he would have even welcomed one of his brothers here right now.

  Emily was currently wiping up the floor while humming. He was trying to get his head screwed on straight and his mind off the woman beside him. He had known she was attractive the minute he’d met her.

  But lots of women were attractive.

  But it was Emily who turned on a switch that had been turned off in him for years. She wasn’t what he’d consider his classic type, not that he’d ever really had a type. But she’d felt so damn good, like she fit in his arms. She’d smelled like spring flowers and he’d wanted nothing more than for her to turn around and kiss her. Today he’d been able to make light of it all, but it was getting harder to pretend that he wasn’t attracted to her.

  But she carried around some kind of hurt and vulnerability that affected him. Maybe because he understood hurt.

  But then she was independent and smart because she was taking over a massive project and building a company all on her own.

  But she couldn’t throw a ball to save her life.

  He took the board down and leaned it against the window. It was the only wood remotely close to fitting as a temporary fix. He didn’t want to just tarp the opening. That would make the house too easy to break into, and he wouldn’t sleep well knowing Emily was here by herself with only a piece of plastic as a barrier and Moose knowing where she lived.

  “Everything okay?” she asked, coming up to stand next to him.

  He glanced at her and tried not to notice how gorgeous she was, even when her hair was a messy heap around her shoulders and her clothes wet and clinging to her. He wished he hadn’t noticed that, but he had, as soon as it had started raining. “I’m going to need your help,” he said.

  “Sure!” Her enthusiasm was commendable, despite the rain coming in.

  “I need to drill into the window frame, which is fine, since these frames haven’t been restored yet, but the board is too small, so it’s going to fall out. Basically, all I need you to do is stand in front of the window and hold it in place until I can secure it. Then along the edges I’m going to use tarp and duct tape. What do you think?”

  “That sounds easy enough,” she said with a nervous smile.

  He moved aside so she could stand in front of the window, and she shivered as a gust of wind blew through the opening. “Do you want to go change first?” he asked. A part of him—his head—hoped she would go throw on some oversize, shapeless sweatshirt while other parts were happy to have her in clinging clothes.

  “Nope, I’m fine.”

  He hadn’t realized how close he’d have to stand to her, but as they were in the nook of the bay window and he hoisted the large wood board, she shuffled to let him pass. “Okay, can you hold that?” he asked, hating that it all of a sudden felt very intimate in the gigantic room.

  “Got it,” she said, spreading each hand on the top two corners. He picked up his drill and grimly realized he’d be standing almost directly behind her, so there would be inevitable body contact. This was the last thing he wanted with the woman he needed to avoid. They had already done this today. It was torture.

  “Okay, hold on,” he said, bracing himself against one hand and leaning in and up to drill into one side of the window.

  She moved her head and bumped into his chest. “Sorry, was just trying to see what you were doing,” she said, her voice laced with embarrassment.

  Embarrassment was the furthest thing from his mind. He was close enough that he could feel the shiver from her body, could smell the almost sweet scent of her perfume. “No problem. I’m almost done.”

  She nodded.

  He worked in silence, his awareness of her increasing every time his body brushed against hers. “Okay,” he said, clearing his throat and securing the last of the tape. “I’m done.”

  She turned around quickly, and her soft curves grazed his body enticingly, setting his teeth on edge. She stepped back, bumping into the wooden makeshift window. “You okay?” he said, taking a step back to collect his drill, needing to get out of there. Standing so close to Emily made it impossible for him not to notice her mouth or her eyes, or how much he wanted to kiss her.

  She rubbed the back of her head. “Yup. Thanks for setting this up. I, um, I guess I’ll see you at the game tomorrow?”

  He nodded and walked out of the living room. He needed to remember that a relationship wasn’t in the cards for him anymore. Emily was a woman who did relationships. “Sure. See you tomorrow.”

  Chapter Seven

  Emily took a deep breath of the fresh fall air while wishing for courage. She’d really love to be one of those people who didn’t care what oth
ers’ opinions of her were. But Cooper hadn’t ridiculed her—not when she’d put the baseball glove on the wrong hand, or when she’d been unable to catch…or when she’d overthrown by a mile and sent the ball crashing through her living room window.

  As she made her way from the parking lot to the baseball diamond, she tugged at her Maple Hill Warriors T-shirt in a futile attempt at not having it be so clingy and tried to look like she belonged at this game. She scanned the people in the dugout but didn’t see anyone she recognized yet. She pretended to tie her shoe and wished Callie would hurry and get here so she wouldn’t have to hang out with the guys on the team without her.

  “You’re Callie’s friend, right?” a male voice said.

  Emily looked up to see a guy around her age approaching her. She smiled then pretended to tie her other shoe. “Yup.”

  “You’re new in town?”

  She sighed and then straightened. “Uh, yeah. Nice to meet you, I’m Emily.”

  He smiled at her. He seemed nice, not creepy or anything. But he wasn’t Cooper. That was basically the only thing wrong with him. “John. So what position are you playing?”

  “Hopefully I’ll be warming the bench, if I get my way.”

  He laughed. “I’m afraid that won’t happen, since we’re short on players. Don’t worry. How about we get out there and throw the ball around while we wait for everyone to arrive?”

  She nodded. “I might as well. I need all the practice I can get.”

  She picked her glove up off the ground and walked with him out to the field. “I hope your team isn’t super competitive or anything.”

  “Besides Cooper and his family, the rest of us are pretty normal,” he said with a wink.

  Her stomach churned with dread at the upcoming humiliation. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, so she couldn’t even pray for rain. Though, they’d probably opt to play in the rain. She put Callie’s loaned glove on and moved away from John, mentally psyching herself up to catch. He tossed her a couple of easy throws while talking, and she missed four out of five, but he was very kind and kept reassuring her.

  “Emily!” She turned in the direction of Callie’s voice and waved to her friend, who was walking with Cooper. She tried to quell her nerves as Cooper gave her a wave. He looked…hot. His ball cap was pulled low and his T-shirt hugged his athletic form, as did his pants. How had she actually gotten herself into this situation? This was her contractor. Now she was joining their baseball team? Playing baseball was a childhood dream, now it was turning into some kind of adult nightmare.

  The ballpark started filling up and the other team started spilling out onto the field, and dozens of people started to crowd the stands. This many people actually came to watch an adult league play?

  She walked over and joined the rest of the team, and Cooper started reading off names and their various positions. When he came to her name he said, “First base or outfield?”

  Her mouth went dry. First base. Their conversation, when she’d said she’d always envisioned herself as a first baseman. Was it a coincidence? It couldn’t be; she was horrible. There was no way he’d give someone as bad as her first base unless…he felt sorry for her. But he was also giving her an out by offering outfield. First base would have so much action and would require her to make really fast plays she wasn’t good enough for. She’d be responsible for catching and making quick outs. Unless the team they were playing against had huge hits, she might be able to just fly under the radar in the outfield.

  She stared at him, a part of her wanting desperately to take first base, but also knowing it would be suicide. She’d also be letting the team down because there was no way she could play that position effectively. “Uh, I’ll take outfield,” she said, pulling her cap down a little so he wouldn’t catch the expression in her eyes.

  “Done,” he said and then turned to the rest of the team. His brothers were having some kind of an exchange, but he ignored them, and Callie was smiling at her as though she’d just won the lottery. “Okay, everyone, let’s do this. We’ve gotta beat these guys because if we don’t, we’ll have to listen to their obnoxious victory chant,” Cooper said.

  Everyone laughed. John walked with her out onto the field until Callie came running up to her.

  “My brother offered you first base,” she whispered, walking beside her.

  “Is that bad?”

  “No, it’s very good. Cooper is the most competitive person in our family. He’s, like, insane when it comes to baseball. Do you know he was the only team captain in this just-for-fun league that actually held tryouts? The fact that he was actually willing to put you on first base says everything about his feelings toward you.”

  She felt nauseated and excited all at the same time, which was a new one for her. “What?”

  Callie put her arm around her. “Yup. He doesn’t care that you’ll screw up the game and we’ll lose. That means he’s interested in you.”

  “Um, how do you know that I’ll screw up the game and we’ll lose?”

  Callie tilted her head and patted Emily’s arm. “Sweetie, you already told me you can’t throw a ball.”

  She narrowed her eyes on her friend. “Did Cooper say anything about the day he came to help?”

  Callie shook her head. “Why? Did something happen?”

  Emily stared down at her cleats. “Uh, I couldn’t catch a ball and then made one big showman attempt at a throw, and it went right through one of the Gothic living room windows, which he then had to repair.”

  Callie slapped a hand over her mouth, but not before Emily saw her laugh. Tears formed at the corners of her friend’s eyes, probably from repressing her laughter.

  “Hey, Callie, we’re playing a game out here!” Cooper yelled from the pitcher’s mound. Callie gave him a salute, and then the two of them ran to the outfield. Emily said a hysterical prayer that no balls would be thrown her way, that she wouldn’t have to throw any balls, and that she’d be at the bottom of the batting lineup and would hopefully only have to go up to bat once.

  “Well, good luck,” Callie said as she walked out to center field. “Drinks are on me tonight for forcing you to do this!”

  Emily nodded and forced a wobbly smile. This whole having female friends thing was proving to be a lot more problematic than she’d imagined.

  …

  Cooper had known this was going to be bad, but he hadn’t realized just how bad until now.

  Thankfully there hadn’t been too many plays in right field, so the five balls that Emily missed weren’t too deadly for them. They’d been getting runs in, and he just hoped that Emily’s last at bat might yield at least one hit for her. She was standing in the dugout, her fingers coiled around the metal fence.

  “How the hell did you get such a hot fill-in?” John said, standing beside him.

  Normally he liked John. Today…not so much. “She’s Callie’s friend.”

  “Oh, well, that’s good. I assumed she might have been dating you. Now that I know she’s not, I’m going to ask her out.”

  Cooper looked up from his chart and frowned. “I didn’t say that she’s not dating anyone. Like you said, she’s hot. I’m sure she has a boyfriend.”

  Josh glanced at the stands. “Well, there’s no harm in asking.”

  Cooper tried not to let his irritation show. “She’s from Toronto. I’m pretty sure there’s someone back home.”

  Josh shrugged and looked over at Emily. Cooper knew exactly what he saw in her; she was gorgeous, and despite her obvious discomfort, she’d managed to be nice to everyone, to cheer along with every at bat, and to engage in conversation. She also filled out the baseball uniform really nicely. Her Maple Hill shirt clung to her full breasts and small waist, the white pants highlighting her curvy hips. Not that any of that should matter. He was team captain, not the team player—that was Austin’s role. Or, evidently, John’s.

  He clenched his teeth and stopped that line of thinking. “I’ve got to go see if anyone need
s help,” Cooper said.

  Despite needing distance from the conversation, he glanced at Emily, who was putting on her batting helmet. She walked over to where the bats were leaning against the dugout fence, and he knew she was scoping out Callie’s.

  He moved closer to the diamond and clapped for Emily as she approached home plate. He fought the urge to remind her of the pointers or how to avoid getting hit by a pitch, but that would only embarrass her. She tapped the end of her bat on the ground, a very common image of the major-leaguers. She got into position, exactly like they’d practiced, and like someone who watched baseball. Her lack of confidence out there was her biggest problem.

  Emily raised her bat above her shoulder. The pitcher threw a fast one and she shut her eyes when she swung, missing it by a mile. The pit in his stomach grew until it was the size of a cavern. Her timing at bat was horrible and they were in a bases-loaded situation, where a strikeout would be awful and also embarrassing.

  Maybe what bugged him the most was that she seemed to care. It would have been different if she’d brushed off yesterday’s lesson or hadn’t been interested, but her vulnerability had been palpable, and it had triggered his protective side. But she’d toughed it out, she’d held her chin high…and she’d trusted him with her ego, and he’d felt strangely protective of her, like he’d do anything not to be the person that knocked her down. He’d assumed at first she was this privileged, rich, educated woman without any vulnerability, but the more he got to know her, the more he sensed it was just an image she projected.

  “Strike one!” the umpire yelled, a little louder than necessary.

  Emily rolled her shoulders, stepped out of the batter’s box, and took a practice swing before getting back into position, her eyes on the ball. Then she struck out…again.

  This time the idiots in the bleachers on the opposing team’s side clapped and cheered. He caught a tremble in her chin as he picked up his own bat and got ready, because he was next in the lineup. He tried to focus, but the gnawing in his gut prevented him from turning away.