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“Actually–” He stood just a little taller, and she strained her neck to keep him in focus. “You’d be surprised about that.”
An unbidden shiver seized her. Had he been watching her? It didn’t matter. She stepped back, but her heel caught on the edge of a long wooden bat. Her foot slipped from under her, propelling her forward… right into him.
Like before, he wrapped his arms around her, the twin bands of power tightening in an instant. They pressed her into a body as hard as granite, along a solid length of pure steel. The world disappeared as he held her firmly, tightly, possessively.
His eyes darkened to sapphire shards. “Is this a test to see if I stay appropriate?” he murmured.
The world faded, any and all focus centered on one man. Heat flamed, stoking fire through every limb. Endless desire seized her, fueled by the passion in his eyes. Who moved first, she didn’t know, yet suddenly they were a breath away. And then…
Their lips matched.
His mouth was firm and heated, his body solid muscle, as he locked her in an intimate embrace of challenge and desire. She fought to stay impassive, but he stole her breath and her resolve, as she surrendered, pushing into the kiss, suddenly starving for a taste of the forbidden. The kiss deepened, strengthening into the intensity of a category 5 hurricane. They parried back and forth, each taking and giving, bold, challenging, delicious. The hold around her tightened.
“Jason, are you there?” With the coach’s voice, reality awoke, crashing through the mental haze of what remained of her mind. She gasped and pulled back, or at least tried to. Captured in powerful arms, she could barely move.
Why wasn’t he letting go?
They stared at each other for an endless instant, neither moving, neither talking, when he finally released her. Icy coldness stole her relief, and any explanation she may concoct. What had she done?
“Jason, you’re needed in warmup.” The voice came louder.
“Coming.” Jason didn’t take his eyes off her, even as he responded. A thousand words lived in his gaze, but he voiced none of them. She pivoted, darting around him, fleeing the room and consequences from a kiss that never should have happened. Yet his words reached her through the thickened air. “Still claim it’s just business?”
Not even a little.
He missed the ball. Again. Thank goodness it was only practice.
This wasn’t like him. Of course, neither were his actions toward Dara. Despite her assumptions, he took pride in being a gentleman, especially with members of the opposite sex. Yet she affected him in ways he couldn’t describe, triggered emotions he didn’t understand. Every time she touched him, sparks went off. And that kiss…
“Do you want to play a game of catch?”
Jason straightened at the wry voice of his teammate. Andy was throwing the ball into his glove with repetitive thumps, sporting the same expression as when Dara burst into the locker room.
Caught again.
Jason held up his glove and easily caught the ball. Even as he instinctively threw a perfect ball to the first baseman, Dara infiltrated his thoughts. She’d misinterpreted Crystal’s statements, yet there was more to her anger. She denied jealousy, but he’d seen the flash of green in her eyes. Even more surprising was the inexplicable urge to stay close, to learn everything and anything about her. He’d never felt this way about a woman. Never wanted to explore this much, and not just physically. It was undeniable and irresistible.
It was time to do something about it.
Jason’s voice drifted through the air long before Dara hit the dugout, sprinkled with feminine laughter. The latter was high-pitched and pure, and as she imagined the beautiful woman accompanying it, she quickened her pace. How could she reform the team’s image if Jason broke every rule?
She stomped into the dugout just as the announcer started the pre-game rituals. The scent of grass whirled as her feet sunk into the soft ground. The men looked up in surprise, but they faded into the background as she finally got her first good look at the dugout and its inhabitants.
She stopped.
As always, it was impossible to miss the towering catcher. Jason stood tall and straight, his expression relaxed and genuine. Yet the source of the feminine laughter was absent, until she stepped out from behind Jason. By the glitter-encrusted name tag, this was Crystal. Yet besides the name, absolutely nothing else was as Dara imagined.
Crystal was indeed beautiful, but she was not a woman. She was a child, not more than seven years old, with a brilliant smile and rosy cheeks. She was all smiles and sweetness in a slender frame, brilliant with youthful exuberance. And yet there was a far more poignant difference from the woman in her imagination and the child before her. Instead of buoyant curls, not a single strand of hair poked out from under a bright pink hat embroidered with a children’s cancer charity.
Dara’s heart shattered just a little.
Jason wasn’t inviting women to the dugout. He was making a little girl’s dream come true. He noticed her now, waving her over. Dara took a deep breath, then walked to the pair, blinking through blurry emotion. “Hello there,” she said softly, bending down to the cherubic little girl. “Who is this lovely lady?”
As the little girl beamed, Jason rubbed her back. “This is Crystal, our newest pitcher.”
Crystal giggled as Dara adopted a comical expression. “This is the new pitcher? You’re kidding.” The girl laughed again, and Dara fought to keep her voice serious. “I could have sworn you were the first baseman.”
Now Crystal squealed in glee. “Of course not,” she said with exaggerated gestures. “I’m just visiting.”
