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Elle stuck out her tongue at him and then said, “Well, let me see what’s going on tonight.”
Pulling her phone out of her purse, she started to do a quick search when Jim asked, “Baseball? There’s a game tonight.”
“I probably won’t ever say no to baseball.”
“You just made my heart flutter, Elle,” Jim said, laughing. “Let me make a call.”
Paging through his contacts, he found Kent’s name and dialed.
When he picked up, Jim said, “Kent. Hey. Jim Conroy. How’s it going?”
“Not too bad,” Kent said. “Same shit, different day. What’s up?”
Laughing, Jim said, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, buddy. We need to catch up sometime soon. Can I ask a favor?”
“Hmm. You can ask,” Kent said.
“Were you planning on using your tickets for tonight’s game?”
“Nah,” Kent said. “Shelby has me going to some god-awful ballet thing tonight.”
Wincing, Jim said, “Ouch.”
“No kidding. Fucking Swan Lake. Why? Did you want to use ’em?”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” Jim said.
“Stop on by and get them. If I go out I’ll put them in the mailbox,” Kent said.
“Thanks, dude. I’ll call you sometime this week. We’ll get together and do dinner or something. You guys can meet my girlfriend, Elle.”
There was a slight pause on the line before Kent said, “Clearly I have missed out on some things. I’ll check with Shelby and we’ll put something together.”
“Thanks. I look forward to it. Talk to you soon.”
“Later, buddy.”
A moment later, he hung up the phone and said, “Tickets right above the dugout.”
“Fancy seats,” Elle said, looking suitably impressed. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to enjoy it if I’m not in the nosebleeds.”
“Of course you’ll enjoy it. There will be hot dogs and no beer,” Jim said, frowning. “Sorry. I didn’t even think of that.”
“Excuse me,” Elle said, slightly offended. “You know I only drink wine from the box. Though, I guess I’m off that for a while.”
“Yeah, I guess you are,” Jim said, smiling.
* * * *
Later that evening, Jim lay in bed, his body relaxed but his mind still racing. Despite the fact that the home team had been slaughtered, they’d had a great time at the game. They’d ended up heading back to Jim’s place at the end of the sixth inning, though. It had been 12–0 at that point. They’d bo
th been more than willing to leave early to beat traffic.
Neither of them had been particularly sleepy when they’d gotten back to his place. They decided to lie outside in the large hammock he’d strung up in his backyard next to the pool. They’d lain there under the stars, talking and making love until the early hours of the morning. Around three they’d finally moved indoors to his bed.
As Elle curled into his side, he acknowledged that they really had been making love. If he was being honest, he’d probably fallen in love with her that first night she’d come over to his house. It had only gotten deeper from there.
He wanted to tell her, but she seemed to get a little skittish when he talked about feelings. She had a tendency to deflect or change the subject. The last thing he wanted to do was to scare her off. Especially now.
