Maid For Beckett Catching The Baseball Legend’s Heart novel Chapter 20

I wasn’t planning on thinking about Carter today, ever. But when did the universe ever ask me what I wanted? Never, right? It would give me a sense of peace for two seconds, only to have it explode in my face.

My ex, the one who claimed we merely had sex, stood before me as if he had the right to breathe the same air as me, as if I were the one invading his peaceful life. He smiled like he had any right to be there, like he wasn’t the one who wrecked me, and my knees nearly buckled. All the memories I’d buried under shifts, silence, and survival clawed their way back.

Late–night calls. His voice in my cars as he whispered promises. His breath on my skin. The way he used to look at me – like I was his whole damn world.

And then Sarah on TV. Sarah on his arm, Sarah smiling for the cameras like she belonged there.

I would’ve walked out if Siobhan hadn’t been in the fitting room. I wouldn’t just walk; I would run to safety before my heart jumped out of my chest in a suicide attempt.

“Andi,” his voice cracked. He actually cracked. “I… I missed you.”

God, I hated how my chest reacted before my brain did. I had been too busy surviving at Beckett’s estate to nurse my broken heart, and now here Carter was, picking at the sloppy stitches I had used to keep my heart intact.

I crossed my arms, not because I wanted to face him head–on, but because I felt my world trembling. “Well, I don’t. I hadn’t even thought about you, not for a measly second.”

His jaw ticked. My defiance had been something he liked, he once said, yet it was also something he found amusing. He stepped closer, hands raised as if I were something fragile. “I know I said mean things to you, and I’m here to take it all back. I’m here to start over.”

I laughed a short, ugly sound. “Start over? What is this, some kind of game? I know about Sarah.”

His smile fell. His jaw flexed. “That–Andi, that was publicity. Nothing more. It was for the media, for the team. My manager handled it. You know how this works.”

“No,” I said, and a lump was growing fast in my throat. This conversation was affecting my body more than I let on. “I don’t. And I don’t wanna know or be part of it. So you can leave me alone, hm?”

He shook his head, desperate. “When you stopped answering my texts and returning my calls, that’s when I realized how much I.. how much you mean to me.”

I felt it choking me, the gaslighting. This was his specialty, and I had been addicted to it for over a year. He had been my poison, my weakness, and I had only been sober for weeks, yet I already liked this version of me. I was not tasting another whiff of his venom.

I took a step back. “Leave me alone, Carter. I don’t wanna talk to you anymore. I’ve had enough.”

“Andi, please-”

“No.” My voice came out sharper than I intended. “You don’t get to show up and pretend you’re the victim.”

His expression shifted–hurt, then anger, then back to pleading. “I can fix this. I swear I’ll do anything to get you back.”

I shook my head, my façade cracking. My tears were on the brink of spilling, and I didn’t want him to see that. He couldn’t have that power over me again. I wouldn’t allow it.

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2:17 pm

Chapter 20

TO Vouchers

Before I could answer, the fitting room door clicked open. Siobhan stepped out. Her heels sounded like gunshots in the tiny

store.

Her expression? Pure frost.

“Why are you still bothering her?” She demanded, her brown eyes blazing, and her target was Carter.

It always amazed me how Siobhan’s classy tone could be a double–edged sword. Her voice was a sound that would gain attention, whatever she said.

Carter whipped around, eyes questioning. He blinked as if he couldn’t process why a woman like her was here, why she walked and stood beside me as though she was shielding me from him. He watched Siobhan and me like he was watching a baseball game keenly–calculating, observing, figuring out what would be our next move.

“Who are you?” Carter asked, defiance thickening his tone. He was never one to listen.

“Andi is my friend,” Siobhan said calmly. “And she made it clear she wants nothing from you anymore, so go away.”

Carter stared between us, confused as hell. “Friend?” He turned to me. “You don’t have friends, Andi. I am the only one you have.”

Siobhan lifted a brow. “Clearly, you don’t know Andi, and she doesn’t need someone like you in her life, so shooo, go away, mutt.”

For a second, Carter looked like he was ready to rip Siobhan’s neck off. Her words offended him in ways he never thought he would hear when he walked up to me. “What did you just call me?”

“Mutt,” Siobhan said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Only mutts have this kind of attitude. Demanding, clingy, and you know what else you have in common with them? They have a pea–sized brain.”

I snorted. I never thought I would hear Siobhan say words like that, and clearly Carter never expected anyone to insult him

like that.

“Shoo,” Siobhan added. “Go away or I’m calling security.”

Carter’s gaze was as dark as a starless, stormy night. He was one second away from snapping. The girls‘ laughter as they came in snapped him out of his trance. He tipped his chin up and stared deep into my eyes.

“This isn’t over,” he said quietly. “I’m going to do everything I can to get you back.”

Then he walked out. The bell above the door chimed like it was mocking me.

Silence settled over the store. Heavy. Hot. Awful.

Siobhan turned slowly, eyes laser–focused on me.

“Andi,” she said. “Explain.”

I froze, blinking innocently at her.

“Explain what?” I deadpanned.

“How do you know Carter Benette?” There was no hint of judgment in her eyes, just mere curiosity “That’s Carter Benette, the best rookie Hawthorne Bay Mariners has had in five decades!”

Siobhan really liked baseball, and if the situation had been different, I bet she would even fangirl over Carter, Maybe she’d gotten his number by now and snagged him as one of her clients.

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2:17 pm

Chapter 20

10 vouchers

Lost for words, I merely blinked at Siobhan. She was someone I considered my friend, and I really wanted to tell her about Carter–how he broke my heart–but how did I explain something I was legally not allowed to talk about? How did I explain an entire relationship erased from the world by a damn contract?

She stepped closer. “You know Carter personally?” Her eyes were alight with excitement.

I sighed. I can’t lie to Siobhan. “I can’t tell you anything.”

She blinked at me, confused. “Why?”

“He made me sign an NDA.”

“Oh.”

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