Playing the Field: A Diamonds and Dugouts Novel (7 page)

While she’d been lost in thought, Coors Field had filled with eager baseball fans. The sun had shifted position in the sky and the game was about to get under way. Glancing around for Charlie, she spotted him standing near JP by the dugout. The two were deep in conversation and she couldn’t help noticing how easy the shortstop seemed with her boy.

Men were one of those things in short supply in Charlie’s life. Most of the time Sonny was okay with it—she had to be. It was only times like this, when Charlie was so obviously eating up the male attention, that she had any misgivings about her decisions. But those misgivings were outweighed by the potential consequences of inviting someone into their life.

Whatever Charlie was missing now would just have to be because she wasn’t willing to risk the consequences. She wasn’t willing to risk screwing it up for him.

Heavy from the thoughts, Sonny inhaled and looked up at the sky. Beautiful blue and cloudless, it steadied her nerves and calmed her. It lifted the weight. Taking a moment to soak it in, palms against the sun-warmed denim of her jeans, Sonny let herself just feel thankful for what she had.

It smoothed the emotional waters and lowered the stress. Over the years she’d learned some effective ways to keep calm and in control. She’d had to, otherwise there was no way she’d have made it this far.

What she needed to do now was so simple: she just needed to utilize said coping skills. This thing with JP was nothing she couldn’t handle.

With one last look at the shortstop, Sonny settled in and prepared to watch the game.

JP
ENTERED THE
locker room, riding high on the win against the Brewers and feeling buzzy. He and the boys had played a helluva good game. Peter Kowalskin had pitched right up to the ninth inning, throwing heat until the end. The team’s catcher, Mark Cutter, caught a pop fly and executed a triple play. And he’d nabbed his share of doubles for the night.

Crossing over the thick rug depicting the Rush’s mascot, Goldpan Sam, and his pickax, JP headed toward his locker. He only had a few minutes before the media barged in. If luck was on his side, he’d be changed and out the door quick enough to find Sonny before she left with Charlie

“Hey, Trudeau.” Mark hailed him.

Scanning the room, he found Cutter undressing in front of his locker. “What’s up?”

The blond catcher eyed him as he unwrapped a bandage around his ankle. “Word is you got a woman thing going, bro.”

Drake walked by just then in nothing but a towel and slapped JP’s back, laughing. “It’s true. Our boy’s got a bad case of the hot and horny.”

JP raked a hand through his hair, leaving the soft brown tresses spiked and sweaty. He ignored Drake’s comment and replied to Mark, “I’m working on it, man.”

Mark tossed the bandage into the locker behind him and rolled his shoulders. “She’s got a kid, right?”

JP nodded.

“Are you up for that?”

Slicing a look at Mark, JP determined the question was one of genuine concern, not judgment. “He’s a good kid.”

Peter piped up from nearby. “Is the dad in the picture?” Apparently JP’s love life was an open topic of discussion in the locker room.

Thinking back to their conversation at the restaurant, he shook his head. “Don’t think so. Charlie said it’d always been just the two of them, so I get the feeling the dude punted when he was really young.”

Drake called from the shower, “A kid without a dad is a sad thing.”

JP frowned at the veteran first baseman. He sounded like a fortune cookie. “You got a problem with me seeing a single mom, hoss?”

Drake poked his head out from behind the shower wall, shampoo dripping down his neck. “Nah. Just stating facts, is all. We’re all different, brother. If this is your tale, then tell it.”

That’s right. It was his tale. “Who I date is my business.” JP looked at his teammates, irked at being poked about his personal life. “Anybody have something else to say about it?”

They all shook their heads.

For a bunch of raunchy baseball players they sure acted like a group of gossiping old busybodies. JP shook his head and headed to the showers as the doors opened and reporters filled the locker room. He made quick work of it and was dressed in no time. After answering a few questions, he grabbed his duffel and hit the corridor in search of Sonny.

He caught sight of Charlie and headed over. Sonny was standing next to the kid in jeans and a tight-fitting Rush T-shirt. JP had never seen his team’s logo look so good as it did splayed across her chest. The
R
and
H
pushed out real nice.

Charlie waved and JP wondered how he could finagle some time alone with Sonny. He figured that this was one of the issues with dating a woman with a kid—getting her alone. Some guys would be able to manage the inconvenience. Some guys couldn’t.

Sonny caught sight of him and seemed to stiffen some before giving him a smile. Something about the way she moved had him thinking that she was still pretty off from their kiss. And it fascinated him. She was turning out to be much more complex than he’d originally guessed. One moment she was ballsy as a bull with three gonads; the next she was blushing and unsure. It was like who Sonny thought she was and who she really was didn’t quite line up.

The discrepancy turned him on and had him curious as all hell. Who was the real Sonny? He was drawn by the challenge. But could he deal with some serious inconvenience on the way to finding out?

Sonny smiled as he drew close and said, “Congrats on the win. This puts you guys in good position heading into the All-Star break, doesn’t it?”

Glad that she seemed to have enjoyed the game, JP adjusted the duffle on his shoulder and nodded. He liked it a whole lot that she was into baseball. “Yeah it does. Especially if we sweep next week’s series against St. Louis.”

Her smile spread and her shoulders relaxed. “Thanks again for getting Charlie the gig. He had the best time, as you can see.”

The kid did look extra happy, now that she mentioned it. He was kind of hopping from one foot to the other with a huge grin, a bundle of youthful energy.

JP slid a look at Sonny out of the corner of his eye and smiled playfully. “Ten bucks says he’s passed out before you even hit the interstate.”

Her eyes warmed and she shook her head. “Nuh-uh. I’m not taking a losing bet.”

The way her eyes sparkled with humor lured him in and he found himself getting sucked into her. Ducking his head, JP leaned in close and whispered against her ear, “Coward.”

Though he felt her tense at his nearness, she didn’t shy away. Instead, Sonny gave a sexy little hum and murmured a reply. “Realist.”

Arousal pooled low in his belly. Her full lips were centimeters way, teasing him, calling him. He felt the energy charge between them—the awareness almost electric. The way her breath fanned across his collar bone set the skin on fire, every nerve alive and jittery.

Kissing her again had just become the most important mission he’d ever undertaken. Because he remembered the way her lips had felt against his—so ripe and luscious, like a juicy mango. And her tongue gliding hotly over his bottom lip had to be about the sexiest thing he’d experienced. It was the way she’d done it, with so much shy passion.

Sonny undone would be the stuff of fantasy.

JP grew instantly hard. Sonny was so close he could smell the clean scent of her skin and the underlying muskiness of sexual arousal. She wanted him.

Forgetting where he was, JP was about to kiss her when Peter walked on scene and said rather loudly, “Hey, Charlie. Why don’t you come with me for a second? We’ll find a ball and I’ll autograph it for ya.”

Tossing JP a knowing look, the pitcher hooked an arm around the kid’s shoulders, turning his attention away. They were out of sight in moments. That left him all alone with Sonny. Knowing that he owed Pete big-time, JP decided not to waste the opportunity.

On a low growl, JP captured Sonny’s lips in a hungry kiss. Pent-up arousal burst forth and he fisted his hands in her hair, holding her captive to his growing desire. Even when she moaned and gave into the kiss readily, he didn’t let up. All he’d wanted to do since the last time he’d kissed her was kiss her again. Now that he was doing it, lust slammed into him like a freight train.

Slender arms wrapped around his neck and she was kissing him back, her body pressing against him with awakened need. When her tongue rubbed seductively against his, he groaned and took the kiss deeper, darker.

All he knew was the scent and feel of Sonny. His erection began to throb for her.

Dimly the echo of Peter’s voice penetrated the sexual haze and JP stiffened. “And that is how Babe Ruth got his name, champ.”

Sonny melted against him, eyes closed, a dreamy smile on her kiss-swollen lips. He wanted to sink into them again, but the voices were getting closer. Louder.

Opportunity had knocked and now it was slamming the door.

Damn.

Chapter Six

S
ONNY CLOSED THE
trunk on her minivan and sighed. Gathering the wicker basket and linens, she made her way to the small outbuilding that housed her cheese-making equipment. Once a bunkhouse for hired help when the place had been a dairy farm, now the building held two extra-large refrigerators, a gas stove, a long counter for working, and various stainless steel pots and pans. Rennet, salt, and other ingredients were stored on rustic wooden shelves in attractive containers.

She loved her workspace. The scarred oak floor needed refinishing, but had a ton of character. And she’d painted the walls a cheerful citrus hue. Prints dotted the room, the scenes mostly bucolic to keep in theme with her business.

Although the giant hand-painted wooden giraffe in the corner didn’t fit the theme, it’d spoken to her at a flea market last summer and she’d had to bring it home. Now it had the lofty position of coat rack and currently sported a purple chenille scarf around its neck and a charcoal grey fedora.

Her work space was basically an oversized kitchen. Much of the business loan had gone toward renovating the space and decking it out with the needed equipment and curing rooms—otherwise known as her pantries. Always aware of the budget, she’d shopped refurb and thrift stores looking for what she needed.

That’s why her fridges were an awesome retro avocado color—they’d been made in the heyday of CFCs and extreme energy inefficiency. But instead of being dumped in a landfill, some environmentally conscientious business in Boulder had taken to stripping them down and rebuilding them to modern-day standards. The result was a new fridge at about half the cost.

It never failed to amaze her—all the cool, resourceful things people came up with.

Slipping off her pink flip-flops, Sonny strode to the long Formica counter and sat the basket down. With her weekly deliveries done and Charlie at a play date with Sam for the day, she had the chance to get ahead on work.

A warm breeze came through the open windows, bringing with it the scent of summer flowers and recently mowed grass. Busying herself with straightening, Sonny hummed a tune and pretended that the kiss with JP yesterday had never happened.

Life was normal. It was predictable. Nothing had changed.

She bobbled a mason jar and swore as it crashed to the floor. Why was she lying?

Everything had changed.

Two weeks ago JP Trudeau was nothing more than a name on a roster to her. He was the hot ballplayer with the badass moves on the field. That’s all.

Now he was the guy who’d kissed her stupid. Twice.

Janie, when she’d been a single mom, had been Frenched out of the blue by some college-bound eighteen-year-old who’d shown up at her door selling magazine subscriptions. She had called Sonny completely flabbergasted and out-of-sorts, convinced the world had gone topsy because some barely legal hormone factory had shoved his tongue down her throat after signing her up for
National Geographic Kids
—and she’d
liked
it. Sonny had laughed then, thinking that it was about time somebody rattled Janie’s cage.

She wasn’t laughing now.

It was a whole different kettle of fish being on the receiving end of things. And JP wasn’t a hormone-crazed teenager. Oh no. He was all man, and that made it so much worse. Saying no to him was getting harder, especially since her interest annoyingly seemed to grow after every kiss, regardless of how she felt about everything.

Plus, she was a barrelful of screwed-up when it came to men. She knew that. Her feelings about his fame aside, any relationship with JP was bound to become a mess. Once her fears got a hold of her it was all downhill.

Sonny shook her head and pushed a loose strand of hair back into her low bun, lost deep in the ocean of her thoughts. Self-denial had worked so well for her. Happiness and satisfaction hadn’t been hard to find with blinders on. All she’d seen was Charlie and her work. And it had contented her, that life of simplicity and minimalism.

So why did it all seem so constricting after two lusty kisses from a hot guy?

The cell phone in her shorts pocket went off, the theme song to
The Office
filling the room. Reaching into the khaki fabric, she pulled out the old flip phone and scanned the number.

“You got Sonny.”

“Hey, sunshine. I snagged your number from Charlie yesterday. Hope you don’t mind.”

Speak of the devil.

Of course she minded. She didn’t need this distraction. She didn’t need
him
. “I’m busy right now, JP.”

Her curt tone didn’t even faze him. “No doubt. But hey, I have a favor to ask. You’re going to be around in about an hour, right?”

“Yes. Why?” Suspicion crept up her spine.

If he knew how she felt, he didn’t sound like it. Or he didn’t care. The guy was totally nonchalant. “Because I thought I’d stop over and buy some milk, if you have it.”

Maybe he didn’t have an ulterior motive. “I have some, yeah.”

She was about to ask why he needed it when he cut her off. “Great. See you then.”

With that he hung up and Sonny was left with dead air. Frowning, she closed the phone and looked out the windows without really seeing. Her brain was fuzzy with speculation and she barely registered the expanse of grass and old maples and aspens dotting the landscape.