Billionaire's Contract Engagement (Kings of the Boardroom #3)(42)

Evan smiled. “One and the same.”

Henry nodded approvingly. “Good place for you to be then. Miss Cece will show you a good time.”

Someone else signaled for Henry and he nodded at Evan and Celia. “I’ll be back later on to check on you, Miss Cece.”

She smiled and patted Henry on the arm and thanked him for the hot dogs.

When she turned back in her seat, Evan leaned over to take his hot dog from her lap.

“Do you have everyone eating out of your hand,Miss Cece? ”

She actually blushed and ducked her head.

“Henry is an old friend.”

Evan chuckled, delighted at the rosy bloom of her cheeks.

“Do you have any other surprises in store for me today?”

“Maybe,” she mumbled around a bite of hot dog.

The Tide took the field, and the very first batter walked. Celia groaned her dismay along with the rest of the crowd.

“Our pitching has been what’s let us down in the past,” she whispered to Evan.

He didn’t have the heart to tell her that not only did he know, but he could quote the stats for every one of the Tide’s pitching roster.

“This year should be better,” Evan consoled.

She nodded. “Soren is our best. He usually starts cold, though. If we can get out of the first inning, he’s awesome.”

Again Evan grinned and sat back to watch. Celia bolted from her seat when the second batter grounded to second and Noah scooped, tossed to the shortstop who turned the double play to first.

Evan could swear that Noah looked straight at Celia and winked. He looked between the two and finally shook off the absurd notion.

Soren struck out the next batter and the Tide was up to bat. Celia clutched her hands like an anxious mother. Todd Cameron, the lead off, looked up at Celia as he headed to the plate, grinned and waved.

Celia waved and blew him a kiss.

Evan stared but didn’t say anything. Things just got stranger and stranger. He was willing to put the first off as a fluke, but when the third batter came up and gave Celia a thumbs-up, he wondered what the hell he was missing.

After the batter flied out to center field, advancing the two runners on a sacrifice, Evan leaned over, intending to ask Celia exactly what he was missing out on, but she put her hand on his arm and squeezed hard.

“Just a minute. Noah’s up!”

Her fingers dug into his arm like little daggers, but he didn’t pry her away. He was too interested to see what would happen when Hart came up. And, too, he was interested to get a close up glimpse of what he hoped would be his company’s golden PR boy.

Noah’s face was drawn in concentration as he began the walk to the plate. He swung the bat a few times then stopped, two inches out of the box. He turned and glanced first to the right of Evan and Celia and dipped his head in acknowledgment. Then he turned and scanned behind home plate until his gaze lighted on Celia.

He lost the look of intense concentration, and his face relaxed into a smile. He gave her an exaggerated wink and then held up his fist.

Evan’s mouth fell open as he glanced between the two. Celia’s hand tightened further on his arm when Noah took the first strike.

“Come on, come on,” she whispered.

The next two were balls. Then he swung at the second strike. If he didn’t hit soon, Evan was going to lose the feeling in his arm.

The next pitch, Noah fouled back. The next was a ball, making it a full count.

“I can’t watch,” Celia whispered.

The pitcher wound up, threw a fastball and Noah swung. The bat connected with a sweet crack that to anyone listening signaled a smash hit. The ball sailed over the center-field wall into the upper deck.

Three-run homer to start the game.

Celia lunged to her feet and screamed at the top of her lungs. “Did you see?” she yelled at Evan. “Did you see?”

“I saw, I saw!”

He laughed as she continued to bounce up and down. Noah rounded the bases, taking high fives from the first- and third-base coaches. He met his teammates at the plate, where the group jumped up and down and pounded on Noah.

Noah looked up at Celia and pointed. She leaped to her feet again and pointed back, her smile so wide Evan was sure she’d hurt something.

Then she glanced over in the direction that Noah had first looked when he’d come up to the plate and then back down at Evan.

“I’ll be right back, okay? I’ll just be a second.”

She hurried up the row of seats and then cut over to the section that adjoined the home-plate area. Evan watched as she hugged two younger looking men and an older guy. They glanced over in Evan’s direction once but then didn’t look back as they chatted with Celia.

A few minutes later, she returned and took her seat beside Evan again. He was beginning to think he’d been dropped in an alternate reality. Was there anyone here she didn’t know?

When she’d offered Noah to him on a virtual silver platter, he’d only assumed that she’d contacted him through his agent and offered him a deal he couldn’t refuse. He hadn’t considered that she had such a connection to his team. And what connection that was had Evan insanely curious.

He leaned over so she’d hear over the still insanely celebrating crowd. “What am I missing here?”

She smiled. “I’ll explain later. Just enjoy the game.”