7. Zoe

7

ZOE

"Bag!" I shouted from the driver's seat as the passenger door slammed.

AJ, who had already sprinted halfway across the parking lot, spun around as I pressed the button to roll down the passenger window from my driver's side door. I twisted, reaching behind his seat, grabbing the duffle bag, and then pushing it through the window to him. Once it was in his arms, he ran to meet his team, who were already warming up on the field.

We were running late, as usual. I wished I was one of those perfect mothers who had orange slices in Tupperware, trail mix in zip-lock baggies, and Gatorade for her son's games. Instead, I was crumpling up Taco Bell wrappers from the dinner we'd just grabbed in the drive-thru.

Today, I'd been running an extra beat behind from the moment I woke up, thanks to sleeping past my alarm. Last night had been spent tossing, turning, and sheet twisting. My body was exhausted, but my brain would not shut off. All I could think about was Miles Ford after he'd shown up on my doorstep.

I told myself it wasn't my fault. He was a Hollywood star. He oozed charisma, charm, and sex appeal. But it wasn't just his appearance that had me flipping and flopping like a fish out of water in bed all night. It was his essence. His presence. The genuine connection he made when he talked with Walter and AJ. The sincere interest he showed in them as people. I had to keep reminding myself that it could just be part of his job since he was going to be playing Austin. But it felt so authentic.

My mind was more scrambled than the eggs in a Denny's All-American Grand Slam breakfast.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back on the headrest. As soon as I did, a scene played in my head. A replay of the night before when Miles' arm brushed mine as he helped me clear the plates. A thrill raced down my spine. It was the most innocent of contact but had me thinking not so innocent thoughts.

From the moment he walked into the house, even before that, when he was on the porch, his energy and aura overwhelmed me. He took up all the space in the room. My body was acutely aware of him in a way I'd never been aware of another man before.

When we sat down to dinner, my body tuned into the rhythm of his breathing. I could sense his stare without even looking in his direction. As I sat in my car now, I could still feel it on me like a physical touch. Every time his eyes landed on me; my body lit up like a slot machine that hit the jackpot.

Goosebumps rose on my arms, and a tickle spread in my belly at the memory of him standing at my sink, washing dishes. The pendant light that hung above the island highlighted his broad back and the lines of his chiseled forearms. We didn't make contact as we cleaned up after dinner, but somehow, it felt like foreplay.

Then, when he wiped the corner of my mouth with his thumb.

Holy hot tamale! Just thinking about it now had me on the edge of coming. How was a single touch that potent? Last night, when I'd crawled into bed, I hadn't even touched myself; all I'd done was think about that moment and squeeze my thighs together, and I'd orgasmed.

Why did the first man I was truly attracted to after all this time have to be my enemy? Or if not my enemy, the man who was playing my husband in a movie I didn't want to be made. It wasn't right.

If it was just attraction, that would be bad enough. But it was more than that. Last night in the kitchen, clearing the table and doing the dishes with him felt right. It felt more right than anything had in a long time.

When he said that I shouldn't have to cook and clean and I asked, says who, and he said, me …I mean, come on, I needed a freaking swoon couch.

When he was talking about his mom, I sensed his vulnerability. His realness.

When he told me that last night was the best night he'd had in a long time.

When he thanked me for sharing my family with him, my heart cracked wide open.

I just had to keep reminding myself; he was an actor. What if everything I saw and felt last night was a performance?

A loud knock sounded at my window, and I jumped an inch off my seat and let out a shriek. When I turned, I saw Nadia and Ashley's faces staring down at me. I wasn't expecting them to come to the game tonight. Dawson and Harlan tried to make it to home games, but Ashley and Nadia usually only sat on bleachers for playoffs.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked as I grabbed my purse, opened the door, and stepped out.

"Why didn't you tell us Miles Happy Trails Hottie Ford had dinner at your freaking house?!" Nadia was an inch from my face and had me pinned against the side of my car.

"And why haven't you been answering your phone?" Ashley's energy was less aggressive, but only slightly.

"Um, my phone must be dead." I pulled it out of my purse, and sure enough, it had no life. It was DOA.

"I didn't know he was coming. He just showed up," I said in the way of a very weak defense.

Nadia blinked several times at me. "That does not answer my question. I don't care if you had prior knowledge of his arrival. I want to know why our numbers weren't the first ones you dialed the second he left."

"It was a school night. I had to get AJ to bed, and I had to work today."

"Right. Like you slept after Miles Happy Trails Hottie Ford had dinner at your house," Nadia said.

She had no idea the bullseye her statement had just landed on.

"Are you going to keep saying that every time you say his name?"

"Probably." Nadia shrugged before demanding, "You have to tell us everything."

"Everything." Ashley backed her up.

I sighed as we started walking toward the baseball field. This was not going to go away. I didn't want to talk to them about Miles. I told myself it was because I didn't want to talk to them about the movie, but part of me didn't want to reveal the reaction I'd had to the actor. It had taken me completely by surprise, and I was not a fan of it. I wanted to ignore it and pretend it never happened.

"How did you even know he?—"

"AJ was talking about it at school," Nadia explained. "And it's Firefly. I mean, you didn't actually think the entire town wasn't going to find out, did you?"

I mean, I sort of hoped that was the case. I hadn't even thought about the fact that AJ would tell his friends. I didn't like that he had, even though I wasn't sure why I didn't like it. Maybe it was because it gave the impression that we were cooperating with the movie, which we weren't.

It was not authorized. Whatever version of Austin they portrayed was not going to be the man he was. It was that simple. There was no way to distill his life into ninety minutes.

"Here's what I know. Miles Ford is staying at Mrs. B's Boarding House," Nadia continued as we walked across the parking lot. "There were rumors that he was here with Rihanna, but after further investigation, it turned out it is actually his assistant, who is her doppelganger. He got into town yesterday evening and drove straight to your house. Okay, that's all I've got; you're up." Nadia motioned to me as we lowered down in the third row back from home plate.

I sighed. "He showed up at the house when we were eating dinner. AJ invited him to stay. He did. After dinner, he helped clean up. Then he left."

Nadia's face contorted as if she'd just bitten into a lemon. "What was that? How can you make having dinner with Miles Happy Trails Hottie Ford sound that boring?"

"Guys. Guys. Guys. Guys. Guys," Ashley repeated rapidly through a smile of clenched teeth without moving her lips as she patted my thigh. "He's here. He's here. He's here. He's here. He's here."

Nadia and I both turned our heads to the right, and sure enough, Miles was walking up the bleachers with Harlan and Daphne. Tonight, he was wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and a baseball cap. I wasn't sure if he thought that it might be some sort of disguise, but the cap somehow brought more attention to his sexy, stubbled square jaw.

The shirt might look plain on someone else, but on Miles Ford's torso, it looked like it was on a Roman Gladiator. And his jeans were worn in all the right places. His presence caused a wave of whispers and gasps from the spectators with two X chromosomes in the crowd. Miles either didn't notice or was very good at pretending he didn't notice. He continued speaking to Harlan and Daphne as if there hadn't been a shift in the atmosphere when he arrived.

Nadia's head spun back to me, her eyes as wide as saucers. "What is he doing here?"

"I have no idea. AJ mentioned he had a game tonight, and Miles said he wanted to speak to Dawson and Harlan while he was in town. Maybe he's killing two birds," I surmised.

"Is it just me, or is he so much hotter in real life?" Ashley spoke with reverence and awe.

"It is not just you," Nadia emphasized. "He's like a cross between Channing Tatum and Jason Momoa but exponentially sexier, which I would have thought was a physiological impossibility."

Once the men sat down at the top of the bleachers, Daphne kissed Harlan and then made her way down to sit with us. As she did, she mouthed OMG. Behind her, I could see Miles' eyes laser-focused on me. His stare heated me from the inside out.

I quickly turned back to face the baseball field.

Ashley leaned over and whispered in my ear, "I think he's looking at you."

"He's not," I snapped back.

I wasn't sure why I was denying it when he clearly was. It was obviously a case of the lady doth protest too much. I just didn't want anyone to know what was going on with me in regard to him. It was completely ridiculous. I didn't want to make a fool out of myself.

Thankfully, as soon as Daphne sat down, the game started, and I told the girls that I was there to watch AJ, who was pitching. Of course, they continued to make Miles Ford comments, but for the most part, I was able to ignore them.

For one game, anyway. If he stayed in town much longer, I wasn't sure how I would keep it up. Especially if he showed up on my doorstep again and I had food on my face that he needed to wipe off. His touch was dangerous. He was dangerous. The problem I was having was it seemed I liked dangerous.