“Because you just bought a piece of raggedy cowhide for twenty thousand dollars, Drake!” she nearly shouted, but caught herself. The last thing she wanted was to get rolled in the parking lot of a charity event – especially now that they were surely financially ruined.
“Cowhide? Cowhide? Woman,please. This is exquisite leather from the finest… cows. Fine. It’s cowhide, but it’s pure craftsmanship and not the least bit ‘raggedy’. Sheesh. No taste whatsoever, I swear. This is a Rawlings glove, broken in over time – do you know what I’m saying? This, right here, is the Ferrari of baseball gloves... so don’t make it sound cheap.”
“It’s not cheap. It’s a year’s worth of salary – if I hadn’t been fired.”
“Is that what you’re sweating?”
“Uh, yeah!” she yelped, waving her hands at him and ignoring the limo door that was open and waiting for them. “You bought a piece of worn-out leather…”
“Bite your tongue…” he hissed in mock-horror.
“Twice – you bought ittwice,” she pointed out, shoving her finger in his face, and he pretended to bite at it while clutching the glove against his heart. The driver looked alarmed, like he wasn’t sure what to say or do in this moment – and firmly decided that ‘statue’ was the right move.
“Steffi, get in the car.”
“Can we even afford the car now?”
“Babe, I’m gonna say this once…”
“And here we go with the macho-beat-on-my-chest stuff…”
“I love you. I’minlove with you… But you are irking me - and I need a moment with my glove,” he crooned, stroking the glove and winking at her. Steffi flung up both hands in disbelief as Drake ignored her, climbing into the limo.
“Ma’am?” the driver said, hesitating, as another car pulled up nearby. “Do you need help getting in?”
“I need Midol, Advil, a Jack Daniels, just something to deal with him…” she muttered – and the driver nodded, pointing.
“Alcohol is in the side caddy, ice is in the fridge, and I might have ibuprofen in the center console up front that I can give you,” he explained, giving her a sympathetic look before whispering behind his hand. “Mr. Walker is kind – and unfortunately not all my clients are.”
“He’s a dork,” she shot back and hesitated. It would not do to badmouth him or make a fool of herself at an event. The money was spent. Now it was time to figure out how to recoup such a staggering loss. “I’d love some ibuprofen – thank you.”
“Of course, ma’am.”
Steffi climbed inside and saw Drake watching her carefully.
“You’re mad,” he said simply – and she rolled her eyes as she saw the glove was lying on his lap suggestively over his pants. “It fits like a glove.”
“You are infuriating.”
“Finish your sentence – ‘infuriatinglyadorable’…”
“Nah – let’s just leave it at infuriating.”
“Steffi…” he groaned, rolling his eyes, and then pressed a button, shutting the window between them and the driver.
“Open that – I want my ibuprofen. You’ve given me a stress headache.”
“We’re loaded. Okay?”
“We’re drunk?”
“No, honey. Loaded-money-loaded, not drunk ‘loaded’. We’re disgustingly comfortablefinancially. The house is paid off, the cars are paid off, no credit cards, no loans – nothing. I make a ton of money on endorsements, which is why I act like a nitwit on the field… and then I investeverything.”
Steffi swallowed, staring at him in shock.
“The glove was a drop in the bucket, love,” he said quietly. “I rolled up the window because money is not something we should talk about publicly. If you never wanted to work another day in your life, we’d still be comfortable for a very long time. In fact, our great-grandchildren’s college funds would be established long before we ever had to worry.”
“Are you serious?”