Page 124 of Elevator Pitch

“Vee? Sweetheart.” I tug at her arm, but she refuses to look at me. A tear escapes her eye. “Talk to me.”

“Sometimes I’m just overwhelmed by . . . us. By what you do to me. How you make me feel. The way my body reacts to yours.” She sucks in a breath. “And I guess . . . it’s just that . . . I’m in my forties, so that means I’m horny.”

I chuckle, but not in jest. “Sweetheart, you can be horny all you want with me.”

She drops her arm, smacking the bed beside her. “What are you doing with me, Ross?” Her question is asked so seriously, and on the tip of my tongue is an answer.

I’m loving you.

Instead, I say, “I’m horny for you, too.”

She huffs. Then chuckles. Then snortles, and we both break into the easy laughter that happens between us.

She overwhelms me too, in all the best ways.

Chapter 37

[Ross]

In the early morning, I leave Vee because of batting practice and warmups. And when I finally catch up to her in the restaurant of her hotel, she’s not alone.

“Look who I met.” When I lean into Vee and kiss her cheek, seated at the table is my sister and sons.

“Dad, you didn’t mention Vee would be here,” Harley states, displeasure in his voice, thinking I purposely held back this information. He stands to hug me.

Vee gives me a puzzled look. I hadn’t purposely omitted her visit, I guess I just forgot to tell the boys as I hadn’t seen them yesterday at my sister’s house.

Landon is watching me, and I take a seat at the table set for lunch, between Landon and Vee, squeezing his shoulder as he doesn’t stand to hug me. “I think the surprise is you guys being here. What happened to letting me know where you’ll be?”

The rule is to tell me if they leave their respective campuses.

“We wanted to surprise you,” Landon states, not a bit of menace in his voice.

“Well, I am surprised. In the best way. I have all my favorite people at one table.” I turn to Vee. “So, you’ve met Rena.” I nod toward my sister. “How did this happen?”

Harley answers. “Vee told me you were meeting her for lunch, so I asked if we could join you.”

I glance at Vee, my head spinning a little bit. “I gave my number to Harley when we first met. Being that you’re busy, and away a lot, I told him he could call me if he needed anything local.”

Harley is newly moved to Chicago, like me, but unlike me, he doesn’t remember as much about living in the city. I should be grateful for the adult contact. For Vee’s offering. However, I’m out of sorts that I didn’t know.

The restlessness of being in Philadelphia is back. Almost like an itch beneath my skin. I’m off.

Still, I say, “That was generous of you.”

I side-eye Rena, feeling her watching me, and catch her pinched expression. She doesn’t like my tone, and I clear my throat.

“So, what have y’all been talking about?”

“Vee’s career,” Rena excitedly states glancing at Vee before looking at me again. “You didn’t tell me she is V. C. Hux.”

I look from Vee to my sister, a bit surprised that my sister sounds like she knows Vee. I’m reminded that Vee’s husband wasn’t overly interested in Vee’s career, and I’m upset with myself that I haven’t bragged more about her success with my sister.

“Are you familiar with her books?”

“Aren’t you?” Rena asks, her puzzled expression back. “She’s amazing. I’ve read her Huntley brothers series, and now I’m working my way through her former rock stars collection.”

While Vee and I discuss her writing, I still haven’t actually read any of her books. We’ve fallen into more of me asking her if she’s written during the day, but not always the details of what she’s written. Like someone might ask me if I practiced pitching, back when I pitched, but not asking for an explanation of how I pitched. Only I’m not a pitcher anymore, I’m a coach. And I should have more information about what exactly my girlfriend is writing.