Getting Wound Up: A Sapphire Falls/Love Between the Bases Novel-- PART TWO (6 page)

Caitlyn moved her arm, circling Eli’s back and spreading her palm over the hot, firm muscles along his spine. She ran it up and down, loving the feel of his smooth skin and strong body. Then she let it travel lower. To the magnificent ass that looked so, so good in baseball pants. She squeezed lightly and was rewarded with a soft groan from him.

She tipped her head but saw he was still asleep, his gorgeous mouth centimeters from her nipple. In fact, if he tipped his chin just a bit…

But instead, he suddenly took a deep breath and rolled to his back, trapping her hand underneath him.

She almost giggled. It wasn’t that she minded having her hand stuck between the mattress and one of her favorite body parts of his. Besides, when he was on his back, the sheet slipped slightly, exposing his rock-hard abs and the lines on either side that every woman on Facebook agreed made girls stupid.

The sheet clung to another of her favorite parts and she was gratified to see that it wasn’t entirely immune to her touch, even if Eli’s other brain was asleep.

Since she couldn’t go far in the other direction with her hand underneath him—darn it anyway—she slid closer. She put her hand on his chest to start. For a moment, she held it there, feeling the rise and fall of his breaths and watching his face.

She really did love him. If she hadn’t known it before, the soul-deep happiness she’d felt for him when he first got the call from Kilby, and then the intense pride she’d experienced for him today at the ballpark, had cemented it. No matter what it meant for her, she wanted him to be happy and successful and confident and to see all his dreams come true. Because she loved him.

Caitlyn moved her hand so it was resting over his heart and she absorbed the feel of the strong, steady beats there before stealing down over his rib cage to the ridges of the ab muscles. She traced each one with her fingertip, marveling at the power there.

Then her fingertip trailed lower, following the path of the silky hair that ran from his belly button to his—

Suddenly she found herself scooped up on top of him.

“Oomph,” was her sexy response.

Eli grinned up at her. “Taking advantage of me while I sleep?”

She blinked innocently. “I was trying to wake you up.”

“Uh-huh.” He slid her up his body until her breast was right above his mouth. “And to think I held off on this because I really thought you were just stretching.” He fastened his lips around her nipple.

Caitlyn gasped. It took her a minute—and Eli letting go of her nipple—for her to realize what he’d said. “You were awake when you were lying with your head on my chest?”

He grinned unapologetically. “Let’s take a shower. This icing is getting itchy.”

“But I thought…”

“That I was going to make love to you until you’re a little pile of quivering goo that can only manage three words? Yep, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

Even though she was still draped over him like a favorite blanket, Eli managed to sit up and swing his legs over the side of the bed, holding her to him. Then he slid his hands under her ass and stood, striding toward the bathroom.

Caitlyn’s heart was pounding and she wasn’t sure if it was from that delicious display of alpha strength, the promise of lovemaking in the shower, or the three words he’d alluded to.

He let her slide down his body until her feet touched the bathmat and he leaned in to turn on the shower.

Okay, it was all of the above.

“What three words would those be?” she asked lightly.

I love you. Say it, Eli. Tell me. Say it out loud.

He gave her a grin. But instead of the madly-in-love grin that would flip her heart over, it was a bad-boy grin that still made every inch of her body tingle.

“Eli you’re amazing.”

She blinked at him. Then she laughed. She couldn’t help it. “I can already tell you that,” she said honestly.

He put his hands on her waist and lifted her into the shower, then joined her, crowding her up against the wall under the warm water spray. With his big, hard body against hers, both growing hotter and slipperier with the water, he said, “Then how about these three—more, harder and yes?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. They would get to the I love yous. He’d written it in icing after all. Everyone knew once you put it in icing, you couldn’t take it back. It was as good as Happy Birthday or It’s a Girl!

Icing mattered.

“Oh, I can manage those three.” She kissed his cheek. “And maybe an
I need you
thrown in there.” She kissed his lips. “And an
I want you
.” She put her lips against his ear. “And a
please fuck me.
”

He growled, picked her up and went about making her use all of those word trios. A few times.

When they finally made it out of the bathroom, Caitlyn felt boneless.

And hungry.

Her stomach growled as she climbed back up onto the bed.

“I heard that,” Eli told her. “Let me grab you some stuff from the other room.”

But she had a better idea. At least, she hoped it was a better idea.

“Let’s go out.”

He stopped in the doorway and turned back. “Out?”

She nodded, clutching the ends of the huge, fluffy white towel between her breasts. “I’d love a tour of Kilby. That way, when…” She trailed off.

He wrote I love you on you in icing
, she reminded herself. Still, she felt presumptuous.

“That way what?” he asked, walking back to the bed.

She bit her bottom lip, watching him. But he just looked curious. She took a breath. “That way, when we’re talking on the phone and you tell me where you are or where you were that day, I’ll be able to picture it.”

Something flickered in his eyes. But finally he said, “Okay, let’s do it. I’d love to show you around.”

“Really?”

“Sure. It’s kind of a fun town. I haven’t been here long, but I’ve already heard some crazy stories. And yeah,” he nodded, “I get it. When I’m texting you and I know you’re at work, I picture the shop. Or when I know you’re at home, I picture your house.” He leaned in and braced his hands on the mattress, causing her to tip toward him. “And when we’re sexting and I know you’re in bed, I can picture your bedroom.”

Caitlyn felt her body heating. Again. The power this guy had over her hormones was astonishing. “We, um…” She licked her lips and loved how his eyes darkened as he watched the motion. “We haven’t sexted.”

“No. Not yet.”

So being away from him wouldn’t be
all
bad.

He leaned in closer, his lips nearly touching hers. “And when I was getting off thinking about you, I was picturing you spread out on that big table Adrianne has in the back room at her shop, with all the sugar and syrups and colored sprinkles. Just so you know.”

Then he leaned back and Caitlyn had to jerk herself upright to keep from falling over.

She was never going to be able to roll out cookies or make truffles on that back table again without getting hot and bothered.

From the smug look on Eli’s face, he knew it too. And had told her all of that very intentionally.

“Yes. Let’s go find some places for me to imagine going down on my knees, unzipping you and taking you in my mouth while
I’m
getting off.”

Eli made that sexy, deep growling noise that she loved so much and started to reach for her, but she scooted back on the bed quickly, laughing. “No way, Hotshot, you started this.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Okay fine. But I’m going to be sure you’re
remembering
being bent over and taken hard from behind somewhere in this town while you’re getting off too.”

She tingled the entire time she got dressed, put her hair up in a messy bun and slipped into her shoes. She hadn’t seen more than the hotel and the ballpark and Caitlyn already loved Kilby, Texas. With a passion.

* * *

Eli couldn’t describe exactly what he was feeling as he drove through the historic downtown district of Kilby with Caitlyn by his side.

It felt good. It felt…right. But it was even more than that. Like déjà vu about something that hadn’t happened yet.

“Kilby’s a little bigger than Sapphire Falls,” he said. “But it’s still a small town and everyone knows everything about everybody else.”

“The curse and the blessing,” Caitlyn said.

That it was.

“They’ve got a Starbucks here but I haven’t been yet,” he said. “I have, however, been to Sacred Grounds.” He pointed at a darkened storefront. “It’s an organic, New Age kind of café.”

Caitlyn laughed. “How’s it compare to Dottie’s coffee?” she asked.

Strangely, Eli’s heart squeezed a little at the name of the diner in Sapphire Falls. He already missed the fried green tomatoes. “Better,” he admitted.

Caitlyn wrinkled her nose. “Okay, I can believe that. But there’s no way they have better muffins than we do.”

Adrianne Riley had the best muffins in six counties. Probably more, but no one had taste-tested farther out than that. “Adrianne’s are definitely better,” Eli agreed. “Definitely.”

“Well, thank goodness. If they had muffins better than Adrianne’s I’d have to move here.”

Eli froze.

Caitlyn seemed to as well.

The weird déjà vu thing hit him at the same time the thought
I want her here so fucking bad
went skating through his mind. That was what that strange, feels-like-a-memory-but-it’s-not-yet thing was—he
wanted
to have driven down Main Street Kilby with Caitlyn beside him a hundred times in the past.

He wanted to be to the point where he could look back and remember the first time they’d done this. While they did it for the hundredth time.

Eli forced himself to take a deep breath and relax his grip on the steering wheel.

She laughed a second later, but the sound seemed forced. “I’m glad Adrianne’s are still better. I hate packing.”

He let it go.

For now.

“This is the road that leads to the Roadhouse, the main…social spot, I guess.”

Beer, bluegrass and blue jeans. That was the Roadhouse. He’d only been once. So far. The team did like to hang out there. But he hadn’t really let himself kick back. He was still getting to know the guys, trying to make a good impression and…well, old habits died hard. Back home, he’d go to the Come Again with friends, of course. But he usually kept to one beer and was home well before midnight. He had responsibilities, he had people depending on him. And he had to get up early in the morning.

But here…well, here his main responsibility was throwing strikes. It was strange to think that he could go out and stay out and have fun. He didn’t have to check in on the hardware store every hour, even though he’d been calling every day to make sure nothing slipped through the cracks. He didn’t have to go in early to do inventory. He didn’t have to stay late doing inventory either.

It was really nice. And he felt really guilty about that.

“Is it like the Come Again?” Caitlyn asked of Kilby’s bar.

He laughed. “A little rougher around the edges. Live music and rowdy ballplayers But beer, fried food and…yeah, basically.”

She smiled. “You want to go in?”

He thought about that. There was a part of him that did. He hadn’t spun a girl around a dance floor in a long time. He hadn’t even bought a girl a drink in a long time. He definitely hadn’t made out with a girl in a dark corner of a bar in a long time. He’d love to walk into the Roadhouse from now on and think about dancing and drinking and making out with Caitlyn.

But he’d be thinking about her anyway. He would be
not
dancing, drinking or making out with anyone else because of her.

This was his new home, his team, his dream. And she was his girl. His…love. Another dream. Did he want to combine the two?

Yeah, kind of.

But not yet.

Tonight he wanted to imprint memories of her all over town, not just with the team.

Even before he’d seen her in the stands and before the bacon bouquet in the locker room, he’d thought of her whenever he took the mound. She was part of all of it. She was the reason he was here. Literally. She’d kidnapped him. But she was a part of this because of her belief in him.

He’d been on the mound a thousand times before he’d had Caitlyn in his life. But now—everything, even the best things, were better. And it was probably crazy but he wanted her to touch everything else. He had a feeling even the best burrito he’d had would be better with Caitlyn there.

He already had her touch on the ballpark, stands and locker room. Now he needed her everywhere else.

He stopped the truck and reached over and cupped the back of her neck. He pulled her close and kissed her deep and hot and sweet.

“There’s more to Kilby than the Roadhouse,” he said after he’d fully tasted her. “Our tour is just starting.”

“Okay.” She seemed perfectly happy with that answer.

He continued down Main. Kilby was a charming mix of old brickwork and Spanish-style stucco architecture. The biggest landmarks were an old fort, a sort of wannabe Alamo, and a statue of Colonel Kilby on a rearing horse. But he didn’t care about either of those at the moment. “There’s the flower shop where I plan to send you flowers from,” he said, pointing to the shop with the sunshine-yellow awning.