Caught Up (Windy City, #3)

by Liz Tomforde

“You’ve got a cute kid.” You’ve got a cute everything, is what I want to say in response.

“I know it’s weird to offer, but I can hold him if you wa⁠—” “No,” I snap. “Geez.” “I mean, no, thank you. He doesn’t do well with women.” “Wonder where he got that from.”

“Oh, well that’s good. I mean, that’s not good. Or maybe it is good? Who am I to say? Goddamn, this elevator is taking forever.” She slaps a palm over her mouth, her eyes darting to Max. “I mean, gosh dang it.” That finally makes me chuckle, a small grin sliding across my lips. She softens a bit. “He does smile.”

“Maybe he should loosen up every once in a while. He’s got a cute-ass kid and an even cuter smile when he shows it.”

“Violet, I haven’t been able to create a new dessert in three weeks.”

Emmett Montgomery rose through the baseball ranks quickly. As he deserved to. He was already on the fast track to making a name for himself in the sport when everything changed for us. He gave up everything to become my dad, including his thriving career, refusing to leave his local coaching job until I graduated from high school and was off doing my own thing.

I’m self-aware enough to know that I have an innate need to be the best at whatever checkmark or goal I’m chasing.

But everything I do, in some way, is an attempt to erase the guilt I have toward our situation. To repay a debt he paid by giving up his entire life for me when he was only twenty-five years old.

“And Ace,” he calls out. “Keep your dick in your pants. We all know how fucking fertile you are, and I’m too young and too goddamn attractive for someone to be calling me Grandpa.”

“He’ll be on his hands and knees most of the time.” “As all men should be.”

“If you’re as terrible of a listener in the bedroom as you are in real life, Miller, I can promise you this, you wouldn’t be allowed to come.” Those pretty lips part, jade eyes wide. “Two can play this game, Montgomery. Now, let’s go.” I nod toward the other side of the house once again. Her lips press together, holding back a grin. “You keep talking like that, Kai, and I’ll be ditching the ‘baseball’ part and just be calling you ‘daddy.’”

Flustered Kai is my favorite, and I seem to do a wonderful job of pulling that side out of him.

“Why are you hugging me?” He exhales, my body moving against his with the movement. “I don’t know. You seemed like you needed one. I’ve been told I’m a fixer so I guess it was instinct.” He might be onto something because I have a feeling if there were something that could fix me, it’d be the deep timbre of his voice accompanied by his stable hold.

Pulling away from his hold, I instantly miss the reassurance. With just that simple hug, I understand a bit of what it is about Kai that my dad likes so much. He’s solid. He’s stable.

“Country boy, huh?” The mental picture of him in Wranglers, much in the way he wears his baseball pants, is doing all sorts of things to my imagination. “Miller.” “Hmm?” “You’re sexualizing me in your mind right now, aren’t you?” “Absolutely.”

Impressive isn’t a strong enough word to describe Miller Montgomery’s career.

“He’s worried you’ll retire the same way he did,” she continues. It’s something I think about daily. It would take away a lot of the stress I carry. Sure, I’d be giving up a career I love, but it’d be to do a job I love even more. “Don’t,” she whispers. “Take it from the child of someone who gave up exactly what you’re thinking of giving up. Max will live with that guilt for the rest of his life.”

“Let me help you. Let me help you find the balance.” She’s serious about this, about the guilt she carries. But why? I know Monty. I know the kind of man he is. He’d give up everything for his kid, the same way I would. How does she not get that? There’s a different kind of love that comes into your life when you have a child. Monty didn’t sacrifice his career, he simply changed directions because of how much he loved that little girl. So much so that he carries her softball photo to every away game so he can place it on his desk to see her.

“I’m holding you responsible for this one, Montgomery. Here I am, spending one night with you and already getting in trouble.” “Trust me,” she chuckles. “I have plans to get you in a whole lot more trouble than that.”

“What is quitting going to do? Keep you home to make sure Max is happy? You know what makes a kid happy? Watching their parent fulfill their dreams. Baseball is still your dream, I know it is. Stop viewing it as the enemy and let yourself enjoy it. All of it—the team, the travel, the fans. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”

“I love both you and your son. You know that. You’re the best pitcher I’ve ever had on my roster, but I wouldn’t ask you to stay if I didn’t think it was the right thing for you both. I want you to have the opportunity I never had. You’ve got a hell of a lot of people in your corner.”

There’s not a single soul on this team or staff who wouldn’t go out of their way for me or my son.

“Ace, what was that hug for when you first came in?” I hold his eye contact, making sure he hears my words. “For taking care of Miller when she needed it. You’re a good man, Monty.” “Ah fuck,” he breathes out, chuckling under his breath. “You’re getting soft on me.” “I can’t help it. Something weird happens to your emotions when you have a kid.” “Tell me about it.”

My smile is painfully big as it covers my face, partly because Miller calling me hot in front of my brother does something stupid to my ego, but mostly because Max is here and he’s never been to one of my games.

“He’s never been to one of my games before,” I tell her, my voice a bit hoarse. “Thank you for bringing him, Mills.” A single brow lifts. “Mills, huh?” “Don’t try to ruin the moment with humor, Montgomery. I’ll call you whatever the hell I feel like.” “Yes, Daddy.” The woman next to her coughs into her fist, reminding us that she’s there. “Baseball Daddy, I mean.”

“If you’re going to start coming to my games, I better see Rhodes on your back and I’m not talking about my brother.” “Is this some athlete kink you got? Need to see a girl in your jersey?” The old flirty side of me that I’ve kept hidden and locked down for the most part since Max came into my life is itching to break free. I pop my shoulders. “I like to see pretty girls in my jersey. Like to take it off them too.” Miller’s lips part, a shocked and satisfied grin lifting on the corners. “Well, with that kind of promise, I’ll be sure to wear it next time.”

He loves her. It’s obvious in the way he looks at her, in the way he reaches for her when she’s near. She brings him a comfort he was missing, and she equally brings me the same, knowing how well they get along.

Find the balance. Enjoy it while you still have it.

Fuck my life. I thought my lingering glances were sly, but I can’t lie and say I haven’t found myself looking at her anytime she’s in the same room as me. The way she is with Max, the odd juxtaposition of her as a person—polished and put together in the kitchen then reckless and wild outside of it—makes me want to learn everything there is to know about her. It doesn’t hurt that she’s fucking stunning and her blatant statements about the way I look make me feel equally as desired.

But I don’t want to brush it off anymore. For one night, I want to pretend I can be the guy who can get a woman like her, the guy that doesn’t have a hundred responsibilities at home weighing him down.

For one night, I don’t want to think about whose daughter she is, and I sure as hell don’t want to think about her leaving in less than two months.

“Is that what you need to hear, Miller? That I think you’re hot? Do you really need to hear me say I can’t keep my fucking eyes off you when you’re in the room, or have you finally picked up on that?”

“No. I like watching you beat yourself up over wanting to look at me. It’s much more satisfying to know I piss you off than it would be to know I turn you on.”

“You flirting with me, Montgomery?” “Have been since we met. You gonna start flirting back?”

Fucking make a move, Kai.

“I’m taking off. Keep an eye on her for me and make sure she makes it back to the hotel, okay?” “What?” Isaiah turns around in his seat, giving me his full attention. “Don’t leave, man.” “I’ve been pounding beers to keep me from saying or doing something I’ll regret, so I think it’s time I go.” “Fuck, Kai. We were kidding. We just wanted you to be selfish for a second and go get the girl.” Palm to cheek, I tap my hand against him. “Love you. Don’t do anything stupid tonight. Let me know when you make it home safe.”

“Do you think I need your permission?” She laughs without humor. “You are not my father. I can do whatever I want with whomever I want, and I don’t need to explain any of it to you.”

“Kai, I am not your problem.” My attention dips to her lips. “Be my problem.” Swallowing, she tilts her head, testing me. “Then do something to make me your problem.” Fuck me. I’m so frustratingly into this woman, so I do just that.

I want her. I want her for a lot longer than she plans on being here, and if there’s any part of her that’d be willing to want me in return, I’ll be selfish as fuck and take her.

Vulnerability is a sensation I like to steer clear from.

“I want you to kiss me again.” Oh. He stares at my mouth. “I really liked kissing you, Mills.” My body moves toward his without hesitation and, like a practiced dance, his arm slips between me and the mattress, pulling me closer to him. Our bare legs slide against one another, and he lifts his over mine to bring me nearer. I lick my bottom lip, prepared for wherever he wants this to go. “I really liked kissing you too.” “But we can’t do it again.” Annnd never mind. “Because if I kiss you again,” he continues, “I have a feeling I’m going to want to do it every time I see you.”

I arch into him. “I don’t see the problem with that.” “The problem with me kissing you is it’s only going to lead me to wanting to fuck you more than I already do, and I don’t do the unattached fucking thing like I used to.” “But the unattached fucking thing is so fun.” He huffs a laugh. “Yeah, but ever since Max⁠—” “You don’t do casual.” “Nothing about my life is casual anymore. I’ve got someone else relying on me and my decisions now.” “Again.” Understanding floods him. “I have someone else relying on me again, and I don’t have the space to be selfish. You said it yourself, you’re leaving soon, and I’ve had too many people I counted on leave. I can’t put myself or my son through that again.”

“Cuddle with me, Mills.” “Get away from me!”

“Thank you for bringing Max to the field today. It meant the world to me.” “I can’t believe none of his other nannies ever brought him.” “I never asked them to. I never talked to any of them long enough to ask.” “But you talk to me.” His blue eyes are soft. “Yeah, Mills. I talk to you.”

I just wanted to talk to you because Miller has a life she’s going back to.” “Jesus, I know.” “Let me finish,” he says. “Miller has a life she’s going back to, a life she’s worked her ass off for. You two are adults. Whatever you do in your free time is between you two, but I’m asking—no, I’m telling you, if there comes a time where you find yourself wanting to ask her not to go back to that life, that you talk to me first.”

“It’s not like that.” Monty shrugs. “Keep it in mind. Come to me if that changes for you.”

“Trust me, if I ever kissed you again, it will be as my last and final resort to shut you up.”

It feels really fucking good to be looked at the way she looks at me, especially by a woman like Miller. Beautiful, successful, could have any man she wants but is looking at me.

“Kai,” she whispers. “Hmm?” “Are you going to kiss me?” “Thinking about it.” “What happened to your no-more-kissing rule?” “Wanting to break it.” She nods, the movement causing my thumb to tug at her lower lip, pulling it down, and fuck if I don’t want to slip that into my mouth and suck on it. “I’ve always hated that rule,”

“All I can think about is fucking you right now, but you’re out of your goddamn mind if you think any of this could be easily forgettable for me.” He shakes his head, running a palm over his disbelieving face. “I think I’m ruined by simply watching you come, so please, do me a favor and go to bed.” Fixing my shirt, he gives me one last quick kiss. “And for the love of God…lock the fucking door.”