Sliding Into Home
By:
Arlene Hittle
SYNOPSIS:
More than anything, Arizona Condors first
baseman Greg Bartlesby wants to make his own name in the big leagues. Too bad
being the son of MLB legend Jake “Big Man” Bartlesby makes that impossible.
Even worse? His failed attempts to differentiate himself from his old man
frequently land him in legal trouble. His latest brush with the law brings him
in contact with an attorney he’s met before — as a dancer at the club where he
was arrested for protecting her.
Jenn Simpson isn’t a stripper—not that she can
convince her idiot client her twin is the one doing the dancing. When Greg
offers her sister a job at his father’s Foundation, Jenn is the one who accepts.
She soon discovers she likes the work—and her boss—more than she should. The
closer they get, the more important it becomes for her to convince Greg she’s
not who he thinks. And when his father is hospitalized, compelling Greg to
fast-track his leap to the majors by capitalizing on Big Jake’s fame, it might
be too late to come clean.
Excerpt:
Jenn
waited for the judge to exit the courtroom and then did the same. She barely
noticed Greg was a step behind her.
When she
realized he followed her, halfway down the corridor, she stopped and turned. He
was watching her closely, his face nearly as severe as the judge’s had been.
She didn’t like the scrutiny. She didn’t much like him, either, for that
matter. He talked too much. “What?”
“You’re a
much better stripper than you are a lawyer.”
“I’m
not—never mind.” This spoiled man-child’s opinion of her was of no consequence
whatsoever. “Things would have gone much more smoothly if you knew when to shut
your big mouth.”
“Or if
you were as familiar with law as you are with the pole.”
Letting
him think she danced was one thing. Listening to him insult her sister’s
current livelihood was another. “You think you’re so much better? Have you
forgotten you play with balls for a living?”
With
that, she walked away. Folks with more money than sense always rubbed her
wrong, this one more than most.
He swore,
and soon his footsteps sounded behind her. He put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m
sorry, Jade. My comment was uncalled for.”
She
stopped and shrugged him off. She wasn’t about to apologize, even if her
comment, too, was out of line. He started it. “You have a right to be testy. I
certainly didn’t hold up my end of the bargain.”
“To get
me off?” One corner of his mouth lifted. “You sure didn’t.”
Ooh, that
half-smile was appealing. Too appealing. She stepped back, away from
temptation. “Judge Troxler is tough.”
“Believe me,
I noticed.”
Jenn
paused. She remembered the look on his face when the judge had mentioned he
should volunteer with his father’s foundation. “If you don’t mind my asking,
what does your father’s foundation do?”
“A little
bit of everything.” He shrugged. “But the main focus is helping underprivileged
kids.”
And that
had him out of sorts? Growing up with four siblings and an out-of-work father, she’d been
an underprivileged kid. They’d practically lived on sandwiches made from cheap
white bread and pale yellow government cheese. “You have a problem with helping
those less fortunate than yourself?”
“Of
course not.” His look was undecipherable. “I just don’t do well with kids.
Can’t relate.” “I’d think kids would love the chance to meet a famous
ballplayer.”
“I’m not
famous. My father is.”
And that
galled him. It was evident in his clenched jaw and drawn-up shoulders. Against
her
better
judgment, she found herself wanting to boost his ego. Since she’d had a few
minutes to read up on Greg Bartlesby, first baseman, before court, she knew
exactly how to go about it. “If you’re as good as the sportswriters say, you
won’t be in the minors for long.”
Advance
Reader Copy Not for Sale or Distribution
“Four
years and counting,” he grumbled. “And when they get wind of this, it’ll
probably be another four.”
“They
who? The press?”
“MLB
officials. Dad says no one’ll call me up to the majors until they have proof
I’m mature enough to handle it.” He scowled. “Right now, my ‘wild’ behavior
makes me too much of a risk.”
Far be it
from her to point out that brawling—even in defense of a woman—wasn’t all that
mature. Still, newscasts were full of pro athletes arrested for offenses far
worse. “Why don’t you use your community service sentence to show who you
really are to whoever you need to show?”
He looked
thoughtful. “That idea’s not half bad.”
“That’s
what I thought.”
Before
she realized what he was going to do, Greg swooped in to capture her in a bear
hug.
He was
all muscle, a solid wall of yum, and her body molded itself to him
effortlessly. She tipped her head up to look into his eyes, the color of the
summer sky right before a thunderstorm. Blue so clear and deep she could lose
herself.
She was
so caught up in the moment that the passerby registered as no more than a
shadowy shape—until he stopped, turned and stared. Her boss. Mr. Stull didn’t
say anything, but his disapproving frown spoke volumes.
Caught in
a clinch with a client? Oh God. How embarrassing. Even if the contact had
started out purely innocent, her response made it inappropriate.
She
squirmed out of Greg’s arms and took a few steps back. “Mr. Stull! What a
surprise!”
“No
doubt.” He pursed his lips. “Shall I assume you were merely celebrating the
case’s positive outcome?”
Jenn
grimaced. “Not exactly.”
Mr.
Stull tugged on his tie. “What do you mean, ‘Not exactly’?”
“We ran
into a snag. Judge Troxler heard the case.”
Greg
stepped forward. “That woman is not a randy old goat.” He shook his head,
bemused. “Immune to my charm, too.”
Her
boss’ face lightened two shades. “Dare I ask what happened?”
“Nothing
good.” Jenn hung her head, ashamed. In less than thirty minutes, she’d let down
the defendant, the client and her boss. Not a stellar way to start the
week.
“It was
my fault, not hers.” Greg’s hand settled on her back. “I let my temper get the
best of me and mouthed off to the judge.”
Doing her
best to ignore the way his fingers burned through her cotton shirt, she met her
boss’ eyes again. “I failed to adapt. I’m to blame.”
“I’m sure
there’s plenty of blame to go around.” Mr. Stull’s expression was sour. “Jake
Bartlesby will not be pleased.”
Greg’s
palm flattened against her back. “Leave my father to me.”
My Review:
This book is about a first baseman and a set of identical
twins. Greg meets Jade at a strip club
defending her honor against a grabby frat boy.
The cops are called and he is taken down to the station for questioning. The next day he is told to be in court. His father a legendary third baseman gets
him a lawyer. She meets Greg in the
court house a few minutes before they need to be in court. When he sees her he thinks it’s the girl
from the strip club, Jade. Its not it is
her sister Jenn. He doesn’t believe her
when she tells him this. He just thinks
that she is saying it because she doesn’t want anyone to know what she does to
pay off her student loans. Greg is
sentenced to 1000 hours of community service.
He goes back to the club that night to see Jade again. After closing she walks to her car and it
won’t start, Greg offers to help and tells her that he can get a better second
job and his father’s foundation. Jess
tells this to Jenn and Jess thinks it would be funny to mess with him a
little. So she tells Jenn she should go
and act like she is Jess. So Jenn does
except she really like the idea of working at the foundation. Greg still thinks she works at a strip
club. Jenn takes the job and gets to
know Greg better. They start to see each
and really like each other. When is a
good time to tell him that she isn’t Jade the stripper. How will he react when he finds out? Will he still want if she isn’t the sexy
confident stripper and just a lawyer with body issues?
I really liked this book.
It was funny and romantic and sexy.
Greg struggles with all these emotions about his relationship with his
father. He feels like he is always in
his father’s shadow and can’t find a way to get out from underneath it. Jenn is sweet and really like Greg. She wants to find a way to help him. They have great chemistry. The book was very well written and the
characters were engaging. I will
defiantly be reading the other books in this series. Greg’s dad was funny too. He has this overly manly way of dealing with
Greg. Almost like if he irritates him
that Greg will do what he wants. He
calls Greg Two all the time which Greg hates.
They respect and love each other immensely but they don’t know how to
tell each other and father and son how they feel.
Excerpt:
" …
You promised me dinner.” She dug her fingers into his knotted shoulder muscle
and started to work out the kinks. His bat dropped to the ground, wood thunking
against concrete. “I’m hungry.”
A low,
guttural sound—could have been groan or growl—rumbled from his throat as he
whirled to face her. He settled his hands on her waist and hauled her against
him. “Me, too.”
Then he
captured her lips.
Surprised
by his move, but not really, Jenn did more than let herself be kissed. She
kissed him back. Enthusiastically and without reservation. She’d spent the
better part of a month pretending not to be attracted to Greg, and she was
tired of faking it. Time to press her advantage.
Their
tongues tangled with a ferocity fueled by weeks of heightened awareness. Every
shared glance, every accidental brush of their fingertips poured into the
experience.
When she
pulled away, they were both breathless and his arousal pressed into her
stomach.
Looking
as dazed as she felt, he stroked her chin with his thumb. “Whaddaya say we call
out for pizza?”
She
leaned in to press her lips to his. That it put the rest of her parts in
alignment with his was a bonus, one she savored. He quivered when her lips
brushed his ear. “I say, ‘Mangia!’”
Arlene
Hittle is a Midwestern transplant who now makes her home in northern Arizona.
She suffers from the well-documented Hittle family curse of being a Cubs fan
but will root for the Diamondbacks until they run up against the Cubs. Longtime
friends are amazed she writes books with sports in them, since she’s about as
coordinated as a newborn giraffe and used to say marching band required more
exertion than golf. Find her at arlenehittle.com,
on Twitter or
on Facebook.
AUTHOR
LINKS:
Newslettersign-up (via FB)or http://arlenehittle.com/blog/ (sign-up in right top corner of my blog page)
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