Payoff Pitch (Philadelphia Patriots) (26 page)

“Yes.” She’d obviously recognized who he was.

“I’m Dr. Sarah Clark.” She stuck her hand out. “You’re the Patriots’ pitcher, aren’t you?”

Noah flicked a glance to Teddy who was already rolling her eyes. “Guilty as charged.”
Can we get on with the examination, please?

“Toby has diarrhea, is lethargic and has cloudy eyes,” Teddy intervened in a crisp voice. “I’m guessing he’s feverish, too. He was fine four hours ago when I fed him, but when I returned home, he was like this. We thought it would be prudent to get him checked out by a vet, especially since he’s quite an elderly dog.”

Dr. Clark glanced at the clipboard again. “Yes, Mrs. Cade, I see from the chart that he’s almost eight. You definitely did the right thing.”

Noah almost chuckled at Teddy’s reaction to being called “Mrs. Cade”. Her lips opened wide for maybe a second before she clamped them back shut.

“Ms. Quinn,” she finally managed in a strangled voice. “I take care of Mr. Cade’s dogs when he’s not there.”

The vet nodded. “I see. Well, if you’d like to lift Toby onto the examination table, I’ll see if I can figure out what’s going on.” She reached into a box of clear latex gloves and pulled a pair on.

Noah hoisted Toby gently, supporting the dog’s chest and back legs. Teddy reached in to help make sure Toby found his footing on the slick metal table.

Dr. Clark stuck a thermometer up Toby’s butt, which made the poor guy’s legs tremble. Noah murmured soothingly to him while Teddy stroked the dog’s head. The vet then put her stethoscope on Toby’s chest. Noah took the opportunity to slide his arm around Teddy’s waist and give her a light squeeze. He supposed she might interpret the gesture as gratitude for taking care of the dog tonight, but whatever she was thinking she didn’t wriggle out of his light grasp. Instead, she gave him a faint smile, possibly from relief that he’d backed up her decision. Whatever, he relished the feel of her slim, strong body against him.

In truth, much of what he felt for Teddy right now
was
gratitude, but he felt a hell of a lot more for her, too. Just being with her at the vet clinic, working together to make sure Toby was okay, seemed to draw him even closer to her. Teddy was so competent, so calm, and so down-to-earth. So
real
. And so different from most women he’d wound up dating in the past.

And, damn, he wanted her back in his house. Back in his bed.

“Do you think he could have swallowed something that upset his system?” the vet asked as she examined Toby’s eyes. “Something in your trash or something outside?”

Though Toby wasn’t entirely solid on his legs, the dog was cooperative as she examined him, standing on the table like a trouper. Noah rubbed one of his ears in the precise way Toby adored.

“I never see Toby go near the trash,” Teddy said. “And he’s not one to go around licking up everything he comes across on the ground. But of course I don’t know what happened in the time I was gone from the house. The housekeeper would have let him out into the back yard at some point, so there’s always a chance he could have gotten into something.” Her mouth pursed unhappily. “Though I can’t imagine what.”

“Me neither,” Noah said, giving Teddy a reassuring smile. “We try hard to keep it pristine back there.”

“I’m sure.” Dr. Clark removed the thermometer and examined it, then nodded. “His heart and his breathing are fine, but his temperature is a slightly elevated. He’s a little dehydrated, too, which is normal after a bout of diarrhea. I’d suggest we keep him here overnight so we can get some fluids into him. We’ll have his blood checked, of course, and his stool for parasites.”

Noah flinched at the word
parasites.

“It could be a virus and not parasites, right?” Teddy asked anxiously.

“Yes, but whatever it is, we’ll be on top of it.” Clark opened the door and called out to someone. A couple of seconds later, a blue-smocked young woman came in. “Our vet tech will take Toby to the back now,” Clark said, “if you’re okay with leaving him.”

Noah hated the thought of the poor dog being there all night, stuck in a crate and poked and prodded for blood and God only knew what else. He figured he should trust the vet but wanted to hear from Teddy first.

He met and held Teddy’s gaze. “Teddy, are you okay with leaving him?”

She nodded. “As much as I don’t like to have to do it, they do need to run some tests to make sure it’s nothing serious. I think we—I mean you—should do it, Noah.”

Noah turned back to the doctor and her assistant. “Well, if she’s okay, I’m okay.”

The words were barely out of his mouth before Teddy slipped her hand in his and squeezed for a brief moment before pulling it away quickly.

Teddy turned into Noah’s driveway keeping her engine running and her hand on the gear lever. The short trip up from center city had been punctuated by long periods of silence. Searching for something innocuous to talk about after they’d thoroughly covered Toby’s situation at the vet clinic, Teddy had asked Noah about tonight’s game. His answers were clipped and revealed little, all but shutting her down. For the rest of the ride he just stared at the darkened landscape while she kept her eyes grimly on the road.

She still couldn’t believe she’d slipped her hand into Noah’s as the vet assistant took Toby away. Given everything that had happened between them, it had been a stupid thing for her to do and must surely have sent him some kind of message that she still wanted to be with him.

Well, hell, she
did
still want to be with him. Or at least her idiot body did. The evidence was all too plain in the way her heart rate kicked up whenever she even thought about him, much less touched him. When he’d slid his arm around her waist in the examination room, it had been all she could manage not to collapse against all that male hotness. And damned if she didn’t get a little fantasy thrill out of the vet calling her “Mrs. Cade”, too. How pathetic was that?

And then some instinct had made her slide her hand into his warm, strong grip. She’d been trying ever since to put the move down to her distress over the dog, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that there was a lot more to it than that. She could only wonder exactly what Noah had made of it.

Not much, if his continuing silence was any indication. And right now he was just staring at his house, an abstract expression on his face. Was he ever going to get out? Was he going to ask her to come in? And what would she say if he did?

Cripes, she was beginning to feel like a teenager again, wondering if her junior prom date was going to kiss her goodnight or not.

Finally, Noah unbuckled his seat belt and shifted so he could more or less face her. It was no easy feat considering he was an extremely tall and brawny man folded into what was for him a pint-sized SUV.

“Teddy, I’ve been thinking a lot about those arguments we had.”

Oh, no. We’re not going to go at it again, are we?
She had no problem holding her ground against Noah or anybody else when it came to talking about the environment, but tonight was surely not the time or place for it. Besides, hashing those issues over and over with him would accomplish nothing other than to further endanger their relationship and her job.

“Uh, huh,” she said, trying for a neutral tone.

He obviously sensed her reluctance to re-engage. “Look, I probably came on a little strong about that stuff. I don’t want you to think I don’t get your point of view and appreciate it, because I do.”

Well, that’s a little progress.
“Okay,” she said.

“Actually, though, I have to admit that I don’t really understand it. I’m a ballplayer, and I lived a lot of my life in Texas where oil and drilling are right up there with God, guns, and apple pie. What the hell do I know about Pennsylvania valleys and dairy farms?”

She smiled. “Absolutely nothing—clearly,” she said, gently mocking him.

He gave an exaggerated wince. “Ouch. Well, more or less nothing, anyway. But I’m willing to learn. And maybe the company would be, too—if they got the message in the right way.”

Teddy eyed him, trying not to let her skepticism show. She felt pretty sure that Baron Energy’s top executives didn’t gave a damn about people like her but wasn’t about to voice something that cynical. Not when Noah seemed to be trying to reach some understanding with her. “What are you thinking?”

“Well, what if I were to get you a face-to-face with the head man at Baron Energy? That way, you could tell him exactly how fracking is affecting your land and your people. And you could hear what he has to say, too—directly from him, not filtered through company spokesmen.” He grimaced. “Propagandists, you’d probably call them.”

Teddy’s stomach dived and she found herself scrambling to answer his startling proposal. Though she wasn’t dumb enough to think she could make the slightest dent in Adam Cade’s plans to frack the hell out of her county, how would she look if she rebuffed Noah’s offer? She’d lose all credibility with him, wouldn’t she? He’d be even more convinced that she was just another closed-minded, overwrought activist who preferred protesting to engaging in real dialogue.

He had her over a barrel. Though just the thought of confronting a corporate titan like Adam Cade—her employer’s father, for God’s sake—made her a little weak in the knees, when would she or anybody like her have that kind of opportunity to voice her concerns to one of the biggest players in the entire oil and gas industry? If nothing else, at least the man would get an earful from her.

She pressed a hand against her stomach. The damn thing felt like it was dancing the tango. “Exactly how were you thinking of making such a meeting happen?”

Noah was so big that even with the console between them, Teddy felt like he was right on top of her. She wanted both to shrink away and to throw her arms around him, drawing in his intoxicating, masculine heat.

“Easy. My father and brother are in town right now. We’re going to meet for breakfast tomorrow.” He hesitated for a moment, as if considering. “Maybe you could join us for coffee right after. If that works for you, I’ll call Dad first thing in the morning and let him know you’re coming.”

Tomorrow morning!

Now Teddy felt like throwing up for sure. Noah’s idea had gone from a theoretical possibility to an immediate problem in the space of a few seconds. “Did they take in your game tonight?” she said, stalling for time.

“Oh, yeah. Levi called to commiserate when I was driving home.” His mouth turned down. “I hated for them to see me pitch like that.”

“I’m sure they understand that you can’t be perfect every time out.” At least she hoped so, for Noah’s sake.

He wiggled his hand back and forth to indicate
so-so.
“Dad’s been great about my career. But after I blew out my arm last year, he started making it clear that he thinks it’s time for me to hang up the cleats and take my place in the company.”

Teddy bit the inside of her lip to hide her shock. Did that mean Noah was closer to Baron Energy than he’d given her to understand?

Don’t go jumping to conclusions.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to learn the answer but forced herself to ask the question anyway. “But what do
you
think, Noah?”

He shrugged. “I just want to play baseball for as long as I can.”

Well, that was a non-answer if she’d ever heard one. Still, she decided not to press him. Not now. Not when she still hadn’t said yes or no to meeting his father.

“After we talked the first time, I called my dad and told him I was working for the scion of Baron Energy,” she said. “He hadn’t made the connection about you either.”

“Scion, huh?” He barked out a gruff laugh. “Yeah, not many people get the connection. Baron is a big enough company, but nothing remotely like the Exxons, Chevrons and Chesapeakes. And it usually flies under the radar, except of course for that unfortunate bribery incident you reminded me of the other night.” He shot her a little grin. “But since you’re still here, I’m assuming your dad didn’t threaten to disown you unless you quit your job with the enemy.”

Teddy had worried that the conversation with her father about Noah might be a difficult one, but he’d taken the news in stride and his calming words had helped her to throttle back her anger.

“I don’t suppose it would be right to blame the son just because we don’t like how the father conducts his business, would it?” her father had said in a mild voice after Teddy explained the situation.

“I suppose not,” she’d replied. “But you’re such a diehard Patriots fan that Noah could probably never do anything wrong in your books.”

“That’s not true, Teddy,” he’d countered. “Because I’ll tell you this—if Noah Cade ever mistreated my little girl, he might just find out what a hay baler looks like—from the inside.”

Teddy had laughed, and the strain she’d been feeling had eased. “So, I think you’re saying I shouldn’t quit over the Baron connection.”

“Hell, no. Not when he’s paying you the kind of money you told me about, and not as long as he’s behaving himself with you. You let me worry about Baron Energy—you just take good care of those Cade Poodles. Just do your job, honey.”

Her ever-practical father.

Noah gently poked her in the shoulder, pulling her out of her brief reverie. “Well, what do you think? Will you come tomorrow? It would be great for you to meet Dad and Levi, and giving them holy hell would be a bonus, right?” The reflected glow from the porch lights revealed Noah’s faint smile even though his gaze remained intent.

She peered at him, torn about what to do. There were a whole lot of reasons why the meeting might be a good idea—starting with the fact that it would please Noah—but there were just as many reasons why it might be the worst idea she’d ever heard.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound like a coward. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the opportunity, but things could go downhill pretty fast, don’t you think?”

Noah gave his head a quick shake. “Look, I get that the discussion has the potential to go thermonuclear in about five seconds flat, but I’ll make sure it doesn’t. Dad can be a hardass, no doubt about it, but he’s not some cartoon character or a stereotype of the evil corporate mogul. He’s a smart guy and a good businessman, and I think he’ll listen to you.”