Sweet Spot Read online

  Sweet Spot

  Out of Left Field Series

  Alexis Anne

  Sweet Spot

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  By Alexis Anne

  http://alexisannebooks.com/

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  Copyright 2022 Alexis Sykes

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  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

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  Cover design by Alexis Anne

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  Contents

  Also By Alexis Anne

  A First Look at Sweet Spot

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Epilogue

  Sneak Peek at Summer Heat

  Thank You

  Also By Alexis Anne

  About the Author

  Also By Alexis Anne

  Steamy Baseball Second Chance Romances

  The Storm Inside (A Jake & Eve Novel)

  Reflected in the Rain (A Jake & Eve Novel)

  When Lightning Strikes (A Marie & Greg Novel)

  Never Let Go (A Jake & Eve Novel)

  Summer Heat (A June & Roman Novel)

  Night Games (A Carrie & Wes Novel)

  Last Fall (A Zoe & Erik Novel)

  Home Run (Hope & Rhett)

  Sweet Spot (Kate and Isaac)

  Caught Looking (Seth and Anna)

  Squeeze Play (Willa & Everett)

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  The Storm Inside Series Box Set

  The Wild Pitch Series Box Set

  Mantas Box Set

  Steamy Romantic Suspense

  The Heiress

  The Bastard

  The Professor and the Spy (a companion novella)

  Small Town Contemporary Romances

  Come For Me, Darling (A Ben Kaine Novel)

  Go Away, Darling (A Chris Kaine Novel)

  Kiss Me, Darling (A Scott Kaine Novel)

  Third Time’s the Charm (A Last Fall Crossover Novella)

  Erotic Romance (The World of Tease)

  The Callaway Chronicles

  Tease (An Adam & Elizabeth Novel)

  Want (An Adam & Elizabeth Novel

  King (a Race Car Driver Romance)

  Crave (An Adam & Elizabeth Novel)

  Naked (A Tease & Wild Pitch Crossover)

  Need (A King & Isa Novel)

  Vector Racing Box Set

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  The Sutherland Scandals

  Tempt (Allison Riley & Theo Sutherland)

  Burn (A Michael Sutherland Romance)

  Secrets (A Nicki Sutherland Novel)

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  The Price of Fame Series

  Stripped (A Rockstar Romance)

  Sins (A Rockstar/Bodyguard Romance)

  Lies (A Lily Lawrence Novel)

  Complete Tease Series Box Set

  Erotic Sports Romances

  Reckless Kiss (A Leo & Esme Novel)

  Reckless Love (A Leo & Esme Novel)

  Reckless Nights (A William & Matilda Novel)

  The Complete List of Alexis Anne Books

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  A First Look at Sweet Spot

  Kate James knows exactly what she wants: a mature, wise, ambitious and successful life partner. The hot guy with the gorgeous laugh at the bar is none of these things. Not with that t-shirt, unkempt hair, and scruff of a beard. And although his handsomness is unquestionable, he is definitely not the man for her.

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  Isaac Anson is out for one last drink before getting married…to his job. Years after walking away from baseball, his team has called him home. As the new manager of the Mantas he’ll only have room in his life for two things: baseball and his daughter. The last thing he needs is a distraction like the beautiful woman two tables down with the sexiest voice he’s ever heard.

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  The Mantas have a problem. New owner Eli Stirling has thrown everything into chaos. With the front office, players, and even the parking lot attendants ready to revolt, he hires the best corporate doctor around, bringing Kate and a freshly shaven Isaac together. All Kate’s excuses not to pursue Isaac are gone except for one pesky problem: he’s now her co-worker. And with the object of Isaac’s desires never more than a few feet away, it’s going to be torture resisting what he really wants.

  Prologue

  10 years ago…

  Willa

  It’s hard being the only girl in a group of friends. First of all, you had to really like guys—which I did, so that part was fine. You also had to be perfectly fine with fast food, cheap beer, really bad comedies, and sentences that consist of a single word. Things like “bro” don’t just mean brother. Based on the inflection and hand gestures that accompany the partial word it can mean anything from “what the actual fuck” to “I love you, man.”

  Luckily, I was well versed in all of these things. I liked fast food, cheap beer, and really bad comedies. I also enjoyed serving as interpreter for the women they dated.

  One of my very best friends, Seth Butler, had his arm slung around a slender woman with perfect blonde hair, perfect makeup, and the absolute latest “it” look. We all sat around one of those high-top tables next to the bar. While most tables were covered with pitchers of beer and wings, ours had pitchers of soda and burgers. Nineteen-year-old baseball players didn’t drink alcohol and consumed massive amounts of red meat.

  Seth’s free hand waved through the air. “And then the fucker threw a slurve. I swear I got a chubbie before it left his fingers. I knew that baby was gone.”

  Lori blinked, sitting frozen beside Seth.

  I leaned closer and lowered my voice. “He said the pitcher threw a pitch that Seth figured out immediately so he was able to adjust his swing and hit a home run.”

  Her perfect mouth with the perfect lip liner made a soft O. She nodded slightly and pulled at her sweater even though it didn’t need adjusting. “Are they always like this?”

  “Yes,” I said emphatically, leaving off the “hell yes” that I didn’t think she’d appreciate as much. I couldn’t tell if she wasn’t used to being around guys in general or ballplayers in particular. “So what’s your major?”

  “Fashion design.” She fingered the sweater again.

  Everett Anson, my other very best friend, started pounding the table with his fist while making a barking noise.

  Lori’s eyes rounded and she jerked back.

  All the guys started chanting “Isaac, Isaac, Isaac!” Then Everett jumped up out of the chair and threw his arms around a slightly older version of himself. His older brother Isaac was a former member of the same team Seth and Everett both played on now. The brothers had the same dark, shaggy hair and dark eyes. Both had straight, long noses and strong jaws. I knew that Everett was desperate to grow a beard, but it was still too patchy to be worth it. I suspected that one day, once he finally grew that first full beard, he’d never shave it again.

  “One night only,” Seth’s voice boomed like an annou
ncer, “the one and only, Isaac Anson!”

  Even though Isaac was now a minor league player for the Mantas organization, I knew him almost as well as Everett and Seth. I wouldn’t call him one of my very best friends, but I did consider him a good friend, especially because he was Everett’s brother.

  He took the open barstool on my right, across from Lori. “Hey, Willa. How’s it hanging?”

  “Good. How are the minors treating you?”

  “I play baseball for a living. I can’t complain.”

  “And how’s Amanda?”

  “Halfway through her graduate program already. No surprise there. She’s happy though.”

  A traveling ballplayer and a future member of the Foreign Service would never make it as a couple, but the two of them continued to pretend it wasn’t true. Love and relationships made people crazy, which was why I was carefully avoiding getting tied to anyone. At least not yet. I was enjoying college and freedom too much to do something stupid like that.

  French fries were thrown around, love disguised as insults were traded, a few arms were punched before Lori hopped up out of her chair and said she needed to “powder her nose.”

  Once she was out of ear shot Everett shook his head. “Who the fuck says that anymore? Willa doesn’t say shit like that.”

  “That’s because I know you morons don’t care if I have to take a shit.” Not only were the guys very open about their bodily functions, they were surprisingly aware of female bodily functions and very cool about it all. If I said I had my period, they bought me ice cream and pet my hair. If I needed tampons, they added it to the grocery cart without blinking. When I say they didn’t care about bodily functions, I meant they really didn’t care.

  It was part of why I liked them so much.

  “Willa’s too good for us.” Isaac said with a smile. “She puts up with all our shit.”

  The truth was I grew up with a single dad. My mom wasn’t anywhere in the picture. We were a team from day one, best friends for life and all that. I hung out with his friends, went to his ball games, and spent every weekend watching sports and cooking at the grill. I always felt more comfortable around guys because I understood them.

  It wasn’t a surprise when I got to college and found myself hanging out with the baseball team by accident. Honestly, I didn’t know that’s who they were when I met them. My roommate said she knew of a party. We went. Next thing I knew I was chugging beer with Seth.

  Almost two years later we were an inseparable group.

  I kicked Seth. “So what is it you like about Lori?”

  He made big eyes at me. “Have you seen her? She’s fucking hot!” Then he shrugged to cover the fact that he actually had some feelings. “She’s nice to talk to.”

  “Awww.” Everett cooed. “Sethy boy’s in love!”

  Some of the other ball players at the far end of the table batted their lashes at Seth.

  His cheeks actually turned pink! But before he could lash out at his teammates, Lori returned and he focused all his attention on her.

  It was clear Seth really liked her, but she was so uptight. I had trouble picturing them lasting long term, just like Isaac and Amanda. Although did anyone really last? It felt like no relationships went the distance anymore.

  “So,” Lori’s eyes lit up as she patted my hand, “who do you have your eye on?” She nodded to the table of ballplayers.

  I balked. “No one.” They were my friends! I didn’t think of them like that.

  She frowned. “Surely you don’t hang out with them for fun.”

  I swear I saw Everett cock his head like he was listening to us. Strange. “They’re my best friends. Do you hang out with your friends because you’re trying to bang them?” My gaze zeroed in on Everett’s hand, watching it become a fist. His knuckles turned white.

  “Absolutely not!” Lori sputtered. “I just, don’t you have friends who are girls?”

  “No.” And based on this conversation I never would. Girls were complicated. Guys were straightforward. I liked straightforward, even if it came with a side of farts and fast food.

  Lori stared at me for a while. Like I was a display in a museum. A rare and strange artifact for her to study.

  Meanwhile I studied Everett. Casually though. I was just curious. He hadn’t said a word since Lori came back to the table. He still had a fist clenched on the table. His soda seemed to be the most fascinating thing in the world. Seth and Isaac were engaged in a heated discussion about something called “the shift”. Something that normally would have drawn Everett in as well. Instead, he just sat there.

  “You okay?”

  He startled. His gaze locked with mine. He looked confused. Maybe he’d gotten so lost in his head he forgot where he was. “Me? Yeah. Oh, I’m fine. Just thinking.”

  Everett had a very animated face. Eyebrows, eyes, forehead, cheeks, lips, and chin all moving with each word as if each word had a position on his face. It made him very handsome. There was no hiding anything. Everything Everett thought or felt was always written all over his face.

  Except I couldn’t figure out what had confused him so thoroughly. I must have missed something.

  “Tell him, Ev.” Seth waved his hand through the air. “He’ll listen to you.”

  Everett dragged his gaze away from mine. “About the shift?”

  “No,” Seth groaned. “About Amanda.”

  Everett pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s his life. Let him live it.”

  My gaze darted between the men. What had I missed?

  “Wait.” Isaac balked. “You agree with him?”

  “I just said it’s your life. I mean that. You’re a grown man who can make his own decisions without a bunch of his little brother’s teammates mouthing off.”

  Except Everett didn’t sound convincing and Isaac caught on to it immediately. “What the fuck, Ev?”

  Everett sighed, his wide pitcher’s shoulders sagging. “Where is it going?” He shook his head as he spoke. “I like Amanda. If she were ever going to be in the United States, I would be the first person to tell you to put a ring on that finger. She’s wonderful. Smart and driven and so nice. But she’s about to spend the rest of her life living anywhere but the United States and your career takes you all over the States but never out of the country. You’ll never be in the same place.”

  Isaac’s mouth worked but no words came out.

  “You do you, man,” Seth said. “I just…you get your head in the clouds. You get comfortable. And I don’t think you can see yourself when you get like this.”

  Isaac stood up. “I need some air.”

  Everett put his hands up in question while shooting a glare at Seth. “Why’d you do that?”

  Seth sighed. “Because he still doesn’t see it. Isaac Anson is going to break every record and win every award. Ten years from now he’s going to be the most famous ballplayer in the game. But he’s still acting like they’re going to cut him from the team and send him home.”

  “What the hell does that have to do with Amanda?” Everett spoke through gritted teeth.

  I couldn’t figure out why Seth was so smug or why Everett was so angry. But most of all I didn’t understand why Seth gave a rat’s ass about Isaac’s love life. Actually, Seth had been unusually nosey lately. Not just with Isaac, but with everyone. It was a trend that seemed to have started not long after he started dating Lori.

  Another reason not to like her. I did not have a good feeling about Lori.

  “Mark my words,” Seth said, stabbing his index finger into the table. “If he doesn’t cut her loose and focus on baseball, she’ll ruin everything.”

  “You don’t know shit.” Everett stood up, too. “Amanda could change her mind and take a job in Washington. You have no idea what will happen in their lives. Or ours, for that matter.”

  I felt a little something twist in my chest when Everett’s eyes flashed. For some reason I was unusually aware of the vein throbbing in his forearm and just how w
ide and strong his shoulders were.

  That was weird.

  Then he held his hand out to me and my heart stopped. “Come on Willa. Let’s go check on him.”

  I stared at his very large, very strong hand. Something shifted. Something I couldn’t put back. And for some reason that made me sad.

  I hopped off the barstool and followed him anyway.

  1

  10 years later

  Kate

  The app said he was my perfect match. Of course an app couldn’t possibly factor in chemistry or desire, but on paper, Garrett Stephens was everything I was looking for. Which was why I was excited for our first real date. I didn’t count coffee at Grace’s Coffee Shop as a date. That was an assessment. One we both passed. The world didn’t flip upside down when he kissed my cheek, but it was exciting and exciting could lead to possibilities. I was nothing if not a hopeless romantic, absolutely sure that my perfect someone was out there waiting to be found.