Chapter 6

JOEY

God, she's cute. And gorgeous, intelligent, funny—the whole package. She's almost too good to be true.

And speaking of the truth, it's time to confess before I dig my hole any deeper.

The waitress comes back and sets our drinks in front of us, and I wait until she leaves to spill the beans. But Lynn raises her red Shirley-Temple-style drink, smiling at me in a way that hits me in the chest like a line drive.

"To Montreal crepes and North Carolina Cheerwine," she says.

I clink my glass with hers. "And first dates." I need to make my intentions clear before I go on. There's a slight flush to her cheeks at my words, which I find adorable as hell.

We each sip our drinks, and my lager tastes perfectly smooth and bitter. "So, I have to tell you something."

"Oh god." Her face falls. "I knew this was too good to be true. My brothers didn't get a hold of you, did they?"

I can't help but laugh at her panicked expression. "Brothers? No. Why?" This, I've got to hear.

She shakes her head and drops her drink onto the paper napkin on the table. "You know in movies and books, there's always a family with four or five burly older brothers and one little sister who they treat like a fragile newborn bird?" When I nod, she raises her eyebrows and finishes, "Tweet."

I drop my chin to my chest and laugh again, which only makes her scowl at me. "It's not funny. I'm the youngest in my family, and all four of my brothers are complete cavemen. I've literally been carried from a date's car in a fireman's hold by one of them."

"I think it's kind of nice."

"That's because you've never met them. They're overbearing children in men's bodies."

She tucks a lock of dark hair behind her ear, and I follow the movement. Her delicate fingers glide from her hair and back down to the table, where she wraps them around her glass. What I wouldn't give to have those fingers brushing across my skin, wrapping around my cock, doing all manner of things that would bring that flush back to her cheeks.

But I'd be happy spending all night just looking at her too. From her thick, shiny curtain of hair to those wide caramel eyes rimmed with dark lashes to that slender neck. She has a birthmark on her collarbone that I want to kiss and a gorgeous set of breasts that look like the perfect handful. I'm going to be sporting a giant boner under this table if I don't rein in my thoughts.

"So, what is it that you wanted to tell me?"

Well, at least my boner problem is solved. She's going to be pissed, isn't she?

I take another sip of my beer and keep both hands around the glass. May as well enjoy one last taste in case she throws it in my face. "It's just that… I wasn't completely upfront with you last night. When you asked me what I do at Ardent Park, I mean."

Her brow creases. "Oh? You don't work in landscaping?"

"No." I shake my head and take one more breath. "When I said I work on the field, I was being deliberately vague, and I should have corrected you when you assumed I was part of the grounds crew. I'm actually… well, I'm actually on the team."

"What team? The athletics and rehab team?!" She looks mortified, so I'm quick to explain.

"No. The team team. The Arrows. I'm a shortstop." I grip the glass almost hard enough to break it while I wait for her reaction. When it comes, it's not at all what I expect.

"A shortstop," she repeats back to me with a tilt of her head.

I try biting back my grin, but I fail miserably. Lynn is the furthest thing from a cleat chaser I think I've ever met. "Yeah, a shortstop. I play kind of between second and third base and stop hit balls from getting to the outfield."

Her responding nod isn't very convincing. "So, you're… a baseball player?"

"Yeah." There. I've confessed, and I'm not wearing my beer.

"Oh. Okay." She shrugs and takes another sip of her drink. Her pink lips are now stained red, and I want nothing more than to haul her across this table and get a taste.

"Okay." I nod instead and take her in, a feeling of complete contentment settling over me. I can't escape the sense that something big is happening here, but I refuse to analyze it in favor of simply enjoying the moment.

When we've watched each other in silence for a few beats, Lynn leans forward and lowers her voice conspiratorially. "This doesn't change my opinion on baseball, though, just so we're clear."

All I can do is laugh and thank fate for bringing this breath of fresh air into my life. No matter what happens from here.

* * *

"You're not luringme out into the middle of nowhere to chop me into little pieces, are you?" Lynn asks from the passenger seat.

"You probably should have asked that question before you got into my truck."

I glance over with a grin and see her shrug one of her bare shoulders. I need to write a thank you note to the inventor of short dresses with tiny straps. "Oh well. At least I know my brothers won't rest until they track you down and avenge me."

"See, I told you they were being nice."

She barks out a laugh. "Seriously, though, where are we going?"

I didn't want to say goodnight after our drink at the brewery, so I asked if she wanted to go for a drive. She accepted on the condition that she got to control the radio, so right now we're listening to a nineties throwback station and driving down a deserted country road. I lean forward in my seat and tilt my head up to the dark sky. Perfect.

"You'll see," I answer as I turn onto a dirt drive flanked by two soybean fields. I come to a stop about twenty yards in and put the truck in park, leaving the engine running for the radio but shutting off the headlights. "Wait there," I tell her, hopping out and rounding the truck to open her door. When I extend my hand, she takes it, a reluctant smile on her cherry-stained lips. I never knew until tonight what I was missing out on by not giving Cheerwine a shot.

"What are you up to?" Lynn asks, glancing around into the darkness before dropping her head back and letting out a gasp. "Oh my god."

I watch her face for another couple seconds before tilting my own head back and gazing at the clear night sky sprayed with a million stars, each one visible from our vantage point. "Not too shabby a view, huh?"

"It's breathtaking," she whispers. "We get some decent stargazing at my house, but nothing like this. It's incredible."

Her eyes stay rooted to the sky while I glance back down at her profile and step closer. When I take her hand in mine, she finally shifts her gaze over to me and smiles at me so soft and sweet it has my stomach swooping like a crazy pop fly.

"You are downright dreamy, do you know that?" she asks, her smile turning mischievous.

"And you're gorgeous." I pull her hand so she sways into me, and I use my other hand to cup her jaw. She smells like coconut sunscreen and flowers, and when I dip my chin to go in for a kiss, she meets me halfway.

The first brush of our lips is electric. I take her bottom lip between mine, then get a taste of the top one, grazing it lightly with my teeth in the process. Her lips are silky perfection, as I knew they'd be, and I can already taste the cherry from her soda. I draw back a fraction of an inch and feel her warm breath on my lips as she exhales.

"I love this song," she whispers before leaning back in and gently sweeping the tip of her tongue across my bottom lip. I vaguely register the song in the back of my mind as Counting Crows's "Round Here," but I can't give it any proper attention when every cell in my body is focused on kissing this gorgeous woman. I grant her tongue immediate entrance but can't help taking over the kiss as I slide mine against hers for a proper taste.

Cherries. Sugar. Heat.

My cock swells, begging for equal attention, and when Lynn lets out a little moan, I adjust to deepen the kiss. She slides both hands up my stomach to my chest, leaving a trail of fire along my abs and pecs that shoots straight down to my dick. I groan and snake an arm around her, my hand skimming up her back. The pads of my fingers glide along the silk of her dress until they meet dewy, bare skin, and I pull her into my chest, trapping her hands between us and feeling the length of her body flush with mine.

Fuck, she's addictive.

This kiss is making me feel drunk, and I want to push her against my truck and hear what she sounds like when she comes. But the timing is all off. This can't go anywhere tonight. I'm leaving early in the morning for a week, and the last thing I want is for this to be some cheap one-night stand.

When I tear my mouth from hers, we're both breathing hard, sharing the same air while the song on the radio switches to a raucous number from Nirvana. Lynn rests her forehead against mine as we catch our breaths. With our proximity, I can't make out her features, but I sense her smiling when she says, "Damn."

I let out a low chuckle, responding, "You took the words right out of my mouth."