So it was with no little amount of annoyance and hurt that she crossed her arms and tried to remain unmoved by the sight of him in that damn brace and failed. “Are you okay?”

“Working on that.”

Okaaaay. “So what’s going on?”

“The Skip’s lost it.”

“Meaning?”

“His elevator isn’t going to the top floor. He’s playing a couple of cards short of a full deck.” He turned to face her and swirled his finger near his ear, whistling like a cuckoo clock. “He’s crazy.”

Which didn’t answer the question. “Talk to me, Pace.”

“Yeah. See that’s not what we’re supposed to be doing. We’re supposed to—”

The door whipped open and Gage poked his head in. “Hurry the hell up!”

The door slammed again.

“Jesus.” Pace shook his head. “Okay, listen. You’re not going to like this, but we have to kiss again.”

She narrowed her eyes. “But you’re not even pitching.”

A ghost of a smile twisted his lips. “Apparently winning has nothing to do my pitching and everything to do with your kiss.”

She laughed, but when he didn’t, she stared at him. “You’re serious.”

The door opened again. Gage’s head reappeared. “Serious.” The door shut.

Holly shook her head. “So I am supposed to just willingly kiss you even though you haven’t returned my calls?”

Pace closed his eyes and shook his head. He looked miserable and incredibly hot under the collar, and suddenly she got it. He was pissed for her.

He swiped a hand down his face. “Gage is convinced that we can’t sleep together until October, so he’s pretty much got me in lockdown.”

“From me.”

“Yes.”

“Are you telling me that a thirty-five-year-old man, a team manager of a major league baseball team, would actually believe that my kiss will win him a game?”

“I told you that you weren’t going to like this.”

“Ah.” She nodded as if she understood, but then shook her head because she didn’t. “Which part of kissing you again aren’t I going to like?”

“The part where you have to.” He grimaced and shoved the fingers of his left hand into his hair. “And then there are those press leaks.”

Her stomach went cold. “They think it’s me.”

“They don’t know. But I know, Holly, and I can’t—I won’t ask you to do this.”