Just a Kiss: The Single Girls Wine Club (A Wine Country Romance #1) (21 page)
Read Just a Kiss: The Single Girls Wine Club (A Wine Country Romance #1) Online
Authors: Kate Kisset
Danica nodded her head up and down, not knowing what to say to the hunky Bat Boy and counted her blessings the strings on the back of her hospital gown hadn't come undone. She stared at the top of his head when he bent down and reached for her feet.
Tenderly taking off her slippers, he said, “let’s put them next to the bed in case you need them when you get up later, okay? They’re right here.”
“Okay.” Danica liked his bedside manner much more than that nurse.
“Here, careful now.” He leaned over, sheltering her in the safety of his broad chest. “Let’s slip this off so you’ll be more comfortable.” His rippling biceps were inches away from her nose as he reached around her and carefully removed the bathrobe from her shoulders. He deftly slipped the bottom of the robe out from under her and guided her under the covers.
Danica hid a totally inappropriate smile. “I’m sure you didn’t mean to hit me with your baseball.”
“
Of course, I had no intention of hitting you. What do you think I am?" Sitting sideways on the bed, he shifted to face her, resting his hands on either side, surrounding her.
She nonchalantly examined his dark green eyes and brown tousled hair. Bat Boy had a little stubble on his Amazing Jaw Line, and something about his mouth begged for attention. She leaned back against her pillow, studying his upper arms first and following the muscles all the way down to his taut forearms and sculptured hands.
She marveled at how quickly Danica’s very bad awful day had turned around. How did she get so lucky to be hit in the head by the sexy Bat Boy sitting on her bed, two feet from her face?
“I couldn't see you, Danica.” His lips narrowed. “I’ve already called your parents to apologize.”
“You talked to my mom and dad?”
“Your father answered, but I’m sure he gave your mom the message,” Bat Boy said grabbing the bathrobe getting up from the bed. “I only hope they can forgive me.”
He moved to the closet like a big sinewy tiger and found a hanger. What a body. She’d lay money on Bat Boy having a whole section of bleacher babes entirely devoted to cheering only for him.
He hung up her bathrobe, carefully smoothing it on the hanger and turned back to her. “I hit you,” he said penetrating her with a gaze that would not stop. “God. I hit you ...in the head.”
She didn't know anything about baseball players and had no idea Bat Boys could be so sensitive. “I’m going to be okay. Really, I am,” she offered.
“I called from the dugout,” he said moving to the foot of the bed, shaking a strand of dark brown hair from his eyes. “I couldn’t leave the game, but I called the hospital to make sure you weren’t… hurt worse. That ball was moving.”
“I guess that’s what they call a foul ball. Super foul.”
Danica stuck out her chin, happy to crack even a stupid joke in her condition. It was unbelievable what a man like him could do to rally her spirits. She almost laughed at the word “rally” and decided whatever meds they gave her made her punchy. She could be hallucinating.
“It wasn’t a foul ball,” Bat Boy said, leaning over her on the bed and shocking her with a flash of perfectly straight teeth.
Shit, she hadn’t even seen him smile until now. His full mouth and white teeth against his tan skin combined with those sparkling eyes lit up his face, making him even more tantalizing. She took solace knowing that she’d be perfectly safe in the hospital bed in case she passed out.
“The ball was good, in perfectly fair territory.” He moved away from the bed and mimicked swinging the bat all the way through. “It was my best hit. My first home run of the season, and I hit it out of the park.”
“And I caught it.”
He turned to Danica, the light in his eyes disappearing.
“And I’m going to make it up to you.” Bat Boy leaned over the bed again and reached to touch her legs over the thin hospital blanket.
“Alrighty
Slugger, time to get your buns in gear and out. I promised you five if she was awake, and you got fifteen.” The tall nurse stood at the door holding a big metal tray.
Danica’s stomach rumbled in response to the mouthwatering, aroma emanating from one of the plates. Her nose played “name that paradise on a dish” and she inhaled so deeply she got even woozier. Could it possibly be steamed mussels from her favorite restaurant The Girl and the Fig?
Bat Boy grinned as his eyes went from the nurse to Danica and licked his lips.
“No worries, you can go now. I’ll feed her.” He gave a hopeful wink to Tall Nurse.
“Nice try Mr. Danny Deep but that’s not happening.” The nurse heaved a loud sigh and smirked.
“I better go.” He eyed Danica with the naughtiest expression. “Will you miss me?”
“Danny Deep! Move on out, visiting time is over,” the nurse scolded again from the doorway and shifted the full tray of dishes in her hands.
“Your name is Danny Deep. Really?”
Danica asked.
“That’s what they call me.”
“Do you have a card?" she asked. "I’m doing a story on your team, and—”
“Your brain needs a rest.” Tall Nurse marched into the room. “Just settle it right down here. I’m serious. He’s got to go.”
Danny Deep’s delicious gaze didn’t move from Danica’s face but traveled from her eyes to her mouth and back. He reached into the back pocket of his without breaking his stare, pulled out his wallet and took a card from it.
"You know where to find me if you lose this card, Danica." He waved it from across the room and placed it on the table next to the straw bag. Instead of heading to the door, he winked at her and strutted to the bed just as Tall Nurse set the tray in front of her.
“Time’s up.” The nurse swatted at him. “Get away,” she said in a half scolding, half teasing voice and leaned over the bed straightening the tray and blocking him from Danica.
“Just one more thing, it’ll only take a sec, I promise.” He flashed a suave smile at the nurse that he must always have in his back pocket to use in case of emergencies because it worked like a charm. The nurse stepped away from the bed and motioned with her right hand.
“Go ahead.” She folded her arms watching as he leaned over the bed and maneuvered around the tray to get very close to Danica.
She pulled the covers up to her neck hiding from Bat Boy, what was he going to her now? Danica didn’t have the strength for this and pulled a deep breath. He had a fiery gleam under his black lashes that made her melt, and he kept moving closer.
When his breath caressed her cheek, she closed her eyes. It was too much for a girl with a head injury to take.
“Now don’t forget me, Danica.” His voice rumbled through her, and he brushed his nose against the side of hers. Her heart suspended in midair when his lips moved slowly up from her mouth, over her nose and landed with a kiss on her forehead.
Yeah right, as if she could ever forget something like that.
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Kate Kisset’s
Newsletter
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I wouldn’t have finished the first book of the Single Girls Wine Club without the help and encouragement of so many people.
My Love Train of thanks:
To my incredible sisterhood of friends in Sonoma and Napa who fill me with love, wisdom, giggles and gratitude every time I see them.
To Cindy Sue for celebrating life’s “little wins,” and for “having my back” in so many ways.
To Jackie S., Mary J. and Pam J. C. for listening to me go on and on about Jamie and Sarah during our walks. Special thanks, to Mary J. for insisting I learn about Pinot Noir by tasting, and for sharing her wine world with me. To Victoria M. for her business acumen, support and friendship. To digital goddess Pamela Snyder, for her sage advice. To Julie C., Marilyn Doss and the gang for cheering me on.
Many thanks to authors: Belinda Riehl, Ana Manwaring and Maria E. Monteiro. Cheers to the Napa-Sonoma Chapter of Women for WineSense,
Sonoma Visitors Bureau and the Sonoma Valley Wine Organization.
To Facebook friends and followers, and the dynamos at Chick Lit Headquarters. I’ve learned so much from you. To my Instagram family of beauties including: Kristi @Kristivitale
, Monica
@Nightreads, @Thepaintedpetunia, Jennifer Connolly @awellstyledlife, and to @Rachealhairstonphotograpy
for supplying me with endless photos of all things beautiful in Wine Country.
So many of my days start with all of you.
To one of my all-time favorite authors Marina Adair. Thank you for being as fun in person as you are to read. Special thanks for that day at the writer's conference when you encouraged me to write about the grape growing regions we both love and for arranging that secret surprise. You have no idea how much that meant to me.
To Bartholomew Park and Buena Vista Wineries, thank you for your beautiful hiking trails, I might not have had the inspiration for the story without them.
Love and thanks to my family including my furry baby girl, Luciana Parmigiana, who stayed on my lap or by my side while I wrote the story.
Playlist
I always love finding a playlist tucked at the end of a book. It's almost like discovering a secret gift. Even though I’m not on the radio in San Francisco anymore, music is still one of my greatest passions. My trusty Sony MDR-7506 headphones are never far from me.
In
Just a Kiss
, several songs became part of Sarah and Jamie's story and are mentioned by name. Many tunes, however, played behind the scenes, running in the background on auto-play in my mind and are only mentioned here.
If
Just a Kiss
were a soundtrack, from start to finish, in order, here’s how it would sound to me:
“Everybody Loves Me” —One Republic
“I Saw The Light” —Todd Rundgren
“Just a Kiss” —Lady Antebellum
“As Lovers Go” —Dashboard Confessional
“A Change Would Do You Good” —Sheryl Crow
“Roll With it” —Steve Winwood
“Edge of Desire” —John Mayer
“Freeze-Frame” —The J. Geils Band
“Drunk Off Your Love (feat. Sky Blu of LMFAO) —Shwayze & Cisco
“I’ve Got You Under My Skin” —Frank Sinatra
“Kiss Me Slowly” —Parachute
“Whatever It Takes” —Lifehouse
“I Was Wrong” —Sleeperstar
“Thinking Out Loud” —Ed Sheeran
“Sara Smile” —Jimmy Wayne, John Oates, Daryl Hall
Listen to Sarah & Jamie: “Just a Kiss” on
Kate Kisset’s Spotify Page.
The Single Girls Wine Club doesn't stop here. Danica's story is next! Get a Sneak Peek of Danica’s story in
Napa Crush
here
.
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Napa Crush
and other Kate Kisset books by joining her private club here:
Kate Kisset Newsletter
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About the Author
Former San Francisco radio disc jockey Kate Kisset
has a passion for telling great stories. After playing thousands of Pop, Country, Rock and Oldies tunes, for her primarily female fan base, she changed her tune and became an author.
Just a Kiss
is the first book in her wine country romance series, The Single Girls Wine Club.
She lives in Northern California and Santa Barbara with her family and rescue pup “editor” Luciana Parmigiana, where she hikes, reads, listens to music, and drinks wine.
For exclusive updates, including story excerpts, and secrets from wine country, reach out to Kate:
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http://www.katekisset.com/
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Table of Contents
