Welcome to Bluestone 1 - Bluestone homecoming (16 page)

The Bulldogs’ first batter hit a pop fly, the
second struck out. Max was third.

She gripped the arms of her chair. The kid
didn’t need this kind of pressure. No score for his team, two outs.
What was Leo thinking putting Max in this position? Above the
crowd, she heard Leo’s voice, soothing, calm, calling
encouragement.

“I can’t watch,” she murmured to Lily.

“He doesn’t look anxious at all.” Lily patted
her hand. “Leo has faith in him. That has to count for
something.”

The first pitch was a ball, and the call was
contested by a parent on the opposing team. She’d noticed Leo
hadn’t fallen into that trap, not yet. He kept his reasonable tone
as he encouraged Max to be patient. Max gave no indication if he
heard anything, just kept that steady gaze on the pitcher, who
threw another ball.

“Not the right pitch, good boy. Keep your
focus,” Leo said.

The next pitch was a strike, but Leo’s tone
didn’t change.

Trinity ducked her head to Lily’s shoulder,
unable to watch. The crack of a bat hitting the ball echoed off the
trees, and Trinity lifted her head to see the ball arcing between
second and third base, to an empty spot where no yellow uniform
stood. She rose, shouting encouragement as Max raced around first
base toward second, not even a third of the way there when the
third baseman fielded the ball and aimed toward the crouching
second baseman, who held out his glove. The ball flew, Max ran,
Lily squirmed under Trinity’s squeezing hand.

“Go, Max, go, Max!” she screamed.

Skinny legs pumped, a glove reached up—

“Safe!”

Trinity jumped up and down, squealing her
happiness, hugging Lily, then turning to see Leo’s pride beaming
from across the field as he grinned at his son, who allowed himself
a small smile in return.

The rest of the game didn’t go as well for
the Bulldogs, though they managed to get six runs. Max denied three
runs by catching the ball at home plate. Still, they lost by a
score of twelve to six. The gloating Wilson Warriors—another clue
there—didn’t help the team spirit, but Leo gathered his players
around. She couldn’t stop herself from drifting toward the group,
rimmed by other parents, to hear his words.

“You all made me proud today. We’ve only been
practicing a few weeks, this other team has been together for
years. You kept your cool, you did everything I told you to do, and
you did it with good sportsmanship. Now, we worked hard, so we’re
going to play. Who wants pizza?”

The resounding cheer had him grinning, and he
circled the group to Trinity. “Good thing about not having a pizza
place in Bluestone—it’s a treat to get it. Are you going to join
us?”

She wanted to, but Leo and Max needed this
time. “I’ll meet you at Quinn’s after. Two hours?”

He nodded, then dipped his head for a quick
kiss. A blush heated her cheeks, but he grinned and turned back to
his team.

***

Trinity’s heart thumped a little faster when
Leo walked into Quinn’s more than two hours later, with two of the
other parents who’d helped with the coaching. His gaze landed on
her right away, and he waved for her to follow them to the table in
front of the plasma TV.

She’d been sitting alone since Lily hadn’t
wanted to go to Quinn’s, and wouldn’t say why. Quinn hadn’t exactly
been great company either, so Trinity picked up her beer and joined
Leo and the other parents. Leo motioned for her to sit beside him,
close enough that his knee kept contact with her thigh as he talked
to the other coaches about the game, the schedule of the season and
baseball in general. Having nothing to contribute made her antsy.
She wasn’t accustomed to feeling like the dumb girlfriend.

Leo put his arm around the back of her chair
and turned the conversation to the concert series. She was
surprised when Helen Evans frowned and shook her head.

“I don’t know if that’s the best idea. Do we
really want people coming out here for music? I mean, are they
going to see the things we want them to see—the beauty of the lake,
the sportsman atmosphere? Are they going to be the kind to come
back here and spend money to fish?”

Leo reached for his beer. “It’s not like
we’re getting heavy metal or punk bands. Our headliner is Maddox
Bradley, and he’s a country star. And I think with the other bands,
the followers will come, appreciate, and remember. Maybe they’re
not interested in fishing or boating now, but they will be. Lily’s
planning on running specials those weekends, to lure people out on
the lake, get ‘em hooked, so to speak.”

“I still don’t think we are prepared for the
kind of security it’s going to take.”

“Quinn knows some guys who’ll come out and
play bouncer in exchange for free board at Lily’s,” Trinity
added.

“If all these people are staying at Lily’s
for free, where are the others going to stay? How is that going to
help the economy?” John Evans asked.

“There’s plenty of space, and then there’s
how it will boost Quinn’s and the diner and the bakery and the
sandwich shop.”

“So most of the benefit will be toward the
tourist places, Lily’s and Quinn’s and the restaurants,” Helen
said.

“Lily and Quinn are doing most of the work,”
Leo said reasonably. “This is their brainchild. Only stands to
reason they should profit from it.”

“What would you do differently?” Trinity
asked in an effort to appease the woman who may be speaking for the
rest of the town, though she hadn’t gotten wind of the discontent
until now. “Maybe there’s something we haven’t thought of.” Though
it was too late now, with Maddox confirmed.

“I don’t know. I’m just worried we’re not
targeting the right element. Maybe a fishing contest or a chili
cook-off would draw more the people we want to come to
Bluestone.”

“We tried the contest last summer,” Trinity
reminded Helen. “It didn’t really bring a lot of business and cost
us more in promotion than it brought in.”

Helen’s mouth tightened in a stubborn line as
she curved both hands around her beer bottle. “I think once isn’t
enough. We need word of mouth to build it up, make it annual or
semi-annual.”

“Maybe we could try that again as well, on a
non-concert weekend,” Leo said. “I know my dad would love it. I can
help with promotion but otherwise I’m stretched pretty thin these
days.”

Helen gifted him with a bright smile that
made her husband scowl. She pulled money out of her back pocket to
pay for their beer. “We need to get home to the kids. Destiny will
kill us if we make her babysit too long on a school night.”

And then they were alone. Trinity tried not
to squirm in her chair when he focused those blue eyes on her. He
folded his arms on the table, making no move to ease away, though
they had the whole table to themselves. “I talked to Max.”

“I know. He mentioned your trip.”

Leo nodded, his gaze shifting toward the
screen a moment. “You were right. It was important that he knows
more about her, that he knows that I haven’t forgotten her.” He
turned back with a smile. “He said you smell good.”

That surprised a laugh out of her. “Why would
he say that?”

“We talked about you, about me liking you. I
guess that was the only thing he could think to contribute.”

“Oh, good. Not that I’m nice or that I
listen, but that I smell good.”

“Yeah, I kinda thought he’d mention you being
able to catch, since that was what clinched it for me.” He pushed
his chair back from the table, reached for his wallet and tossed a
couple of bills on the table. “Let’s get out of here.”

She took a quick pull from her still-cold
beer. “And go where?”

“Walk by the lake or something.” He held her
chair as she stood, then leaned close. “I have to get my hands on
you.”

A thrill ran through her and she looked up
into his eyes, saw them darken with desire. Then she couldn’t get
out of the bar quickly enough.

They crossed the main street to the path by
the lake—the one she’d stopped running out of worry that she’d see
him and wouldn’t know what to say. He took her hand and led her
away from the landing, to where a group of trees offered shadows
from the moon. The next thing she knew, he’d turned her so her back
was against one of the wider trees. He stroked the hair back from
her jaw and kissed her, his mouth hot and hungry. She returned the
intensity, her arms around his shoulders, her fingers in his hair,
her body pressed against him as if just that could ease the ache
coursing through her. His hands molded her waist, bringing her
closer, his tongue stroked between her lips in a rhythm that made
every nerve sing.

More, more, more
.

She angled her hips into his. He groaned into
her mouth and pushed back, sliding his hands up over her hips to
her waist. Her breasts ached in anticipation of his touch, but he
cupped her face instead, his fingertips caressing her skin beneath
her ear, down her throat, until she arched forward, her breasts
against his chest. God, she needed—needed—

“Trinity?”

That wasn’t Leo’s voice. No, it was Cindy
Olsen, one of the ladies from her brother’s church, and Trinity was
wrapped around Leo, rubbing against him like a horny teenager, so
close to, well, doing something a preacher’s unmarried sister
shouldn’t be doing. Damn it, she didn’t want to talk to anybody,
not when her body burned.

“Come on,” Leo said, low, closing his hands
around hers and leading her away from the questioning voice, toward
the lake.

She couldn’t help the giggle that escaped as
he pulled her down the dock, staying in the shadows, guiding her
onto a fishing boat.

“My dad’s boat. A little musty, maybe.” He
fiddled with the lock to the berth, opened the doors and backed in,
drawing her with him.

“Leo.” Her heart thundered as he sat on the
berth and drew her between his legs, angling his head to kiss her
again.

She hadn’t done this in years, hadn’t been
with anyone since the father of her child. Was she ready to sleep
with Leo? He couldn’t understand the significance, not without her
revealing her secret and she couldn’t, not now. Not when her body
hungered for his touch, making all her other instincts retreat.

She curved her hands over his cheeks and
returned his kiss, letting the sensation of his stubble, his soft
lips, his hot tongue chase her doubts away.

For a moment she floated, and then the
mattress was under her back and he was over her, his knee sliding
between her thighs. She moaned when he glided his hand over her
ribcage, hesitating under the swell of her breast. She arched in
invitation and he covered her breast with his palm, but it wasn’t
enough, not enough. She dragged her hands down his back, over the
tight muscles. Her fingers crept under the hem of his T-shirt and
skimmed over the skin above his belt, making him gasp and press his
hips against her, his arousal apparent. She grew bolder, sliding
both hands under his shirt, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath
her palms. He lifted his head and looked into her eyes as he tugged
at her shirt, pulling it from beneath her, pulling it over her head
until she lay beneath him in her bra, and an insubstantial one at
that. His nostrils flared as he took in the sight of her in the dim
light, and he trailed his fingertips over the slope of her breast
to touch her extended nipple. She held her breath in anticipation
as he paused, then rolled it between his fingers. When he bent his
head, she closed her eyes, and let the heat of his mouth become the
focal point of her world. He drew and pulled and caressed until she
was on the edge of release, then he turned his attention to her
other breast.

But her patience was at an end. She reached
between them for his shirt and dragged it up, feeling his crisp
chest hair against her belly, the sensation only making her want
more.

She pulled at his shoulders until he was over
her, his weight pressing her into the mattress, his hips parting
hers, his arousal pressed against her where she needed him most.
His mouth covered hers again, his hips moving in an instinctive
rhythm, hers rising to meet it, each movement more desperate. God,
he felt…and he was right… She pressed his hand to her breast and
moaned into his mouth as pleasure swamped her, wave after wave.

He broke free and stared at her. “Was that
an—?”

Heat flooded her cheeks even as the last
twinges faded. “It’s been a really long time.”

He circled his thumb on her waist, bumping it
against the button of her jeans. “Should we stop?”

They should, but she didn’t want to. If he
could make her feel that good while she was still dressed…

She shook her head. “Make love to me,
Leo.”

He made short work of his jeans and hers,
then teased the skin of her thighs with light caresses before he
covered her with his hand. Without thinking, she pushed against his
fingers, her desire spiking as he stroked her, bringing her close
to release again.

Then he removed his touch. “Not yet.”

She moaned a protest when he shifted away,
but stopped when he removed his underwear. She turned onto her side
to admire him, and slid her hand down his chest to close around
him, hot and hard and ready. He drew in a breath, his head falling
back, the cords in his neck tense as if he was fighting for
control. Then he pushed her hand away and reached for his
jeans.

“This isn’t exactly how I pictured it,” he
said as he drew a condom out of his pocket. “But it beats the front
seat of my car. At least here I can get you completely naked.” He
looked at her a long moment. “Take off your clothes, Trinity.”

With shaking hands, she reached back to
unhook her bra, freeing her breasts, then wriggled out of her
panties. God, she’d never thought she’d be doing this tonight, or
she would have worn cuter ones. Still, her choice of boy shorts
didn’t seem to bother him. He scooped her hair back from her face
and kissed her, then knelt between her legs. He moved slowly,
dragging his erection against her thigh before sliding against her,
then into her.