Playing the Field: A Diamonds and Dugouts Novel (16 page)

Charlie raced by, tell-tale streaks of unblended sunscreen drying across his thin bare chest. He was holding the tube in both hands and hit the water running. When he was in to his shins he dove forward onto the tube, his feet suspended behind him as it skidded off, carried away by the current.

Sonny called out, “Don’t go anywhere yet, boy-o.”

A group of college kids floated by just then and waved, the simple joy of floating on the river putting them in a jovial mood. One of them nearly collided with a fallen tree branch and overturned the tube just in time to avoid injury. The guy came up sputtering in the waist-deep water and got a ribbing from his friends as they continued downstream.

JP stepped into the shallow water with his tube and the small ice chest attached to it by a short rope. Sonny gave him a quizzical look. “What’s in the chest?”

With the current swirling around his legs he adjusted the tube behind his thighs and sat back, smiling. “Beer, baby.”

Nice.

Deciding it was time to get in, she ran back to the truck and tossed her shoes in the bed. The last time she’d worn flip-flops she lost them in the current within five minutes, and she didn’t want a repeat performance. Glancing back at Charlie to double-check that he’d buckled his life jacket all the way, Sonny was satisfied to see he had and waded into the river. Not that she was worried. The kid was a stellar swimmer. But safety first and all that.

The water caressed her legs, cool and tantalizing. The guys had moved away from the bank and were chatting while they waited for her. Her boy shot JP a mischievous look and splashed him, water drenching the front of his T-shirt. Sonny stopped dead and gulped, taken totally off guard. JP was transformed into a wet T-shirted Mr. Darcy and he looked
good
. All biceps and sculpted shoulders and glistening, bronzed skin.

Charlie’s shenanigans started an old-fashioned round of “splash,” and the kid gave up using his hands and went straight to his feet, kicking with all his might. Their laughter filled the air and Sonny felt something inside her shift and get all gooey.

JP and her boy had a connection. She couldn’t deny that. They genuinely liked spending time with each other. And it wasn’t forced. If anything, Sonny had to say that there was just a chemistry between them. And it did funny things to her insides knowing that.

Just then JP called to her, water droplets dotting the lenses of his sunglasses. “Are you coming or not, slowpoke?”

Taking the plunge, Sonny jumped onto the tube and moved away from the sandbar. The tree cover faded behind her and she drifted into the open water, the sun reflecting off the glassy surface. “Keep your pants on, Trudeau.”

“Hey, Mom,” said Charlie, his hands treading against the current, holding him in place. “Do you think there’s water snakes here?”

Jesus. Why did he have to go and say that? “I hope to heck not, dude.” Now she wanted to pull her feet up. Maybe if she flexed her butt she could arch it out of the water too. She really, really hated snakes.

Charlie knew it too. He had this rubber snake that he scared the crap out of her with a few months back. He’d coiled the toy on her seat one day when they’d been running late for an appointment. All she’d seen when she whipped open the driver side door was a wound diamondback snake, and she’d screamed loud enough to be heard two counties over.

He’d laughed so hard about scaring her that he’d doubled over and got a stitch in his side. Which had served him right for pulling such a prank. For weeks he’d teased her, proud as could be at his own cleverness.

Obviously he wasn’t done milking that one just yet.

Drifting on the gentle current, Sonny used her hands as rudders and maneuvered close to JP. Once she reached his side she said, “Can I get something from the cooler?”

JP reached behind him for the rope and pulled the bobbing cooler up beside him. “Sure thing, sweetness. What would you like?” Inside were a few different beverages, not just Fat Tire.

But that’s what she wanted. “Beer me.”

The shortstop reached inside and came out with two frosty cans. He handed one to her and popped the lid on his. Then he held it up in a toast. Sonny leaned toward him, pitched off balance, and was nearly dumped from the tube. Flailing, the beer can slipped out of her hand and fell into the water. It swept downstream and around the bend, out of sight.

She sighed. “Shit.”

Charlie began paddling like mad after it. “I’ll get it!”

JP handed her his can and called after her boy, “Beat you to it!” He looked back at Sonny real quick. “Meet you around the bend.” With that he took off, racing to catch up to the renegade beer can and Charlie.

Who said chivalry was dead?

Feeling absolutely no need to join in the chase, Sonny relaxed into the donut hole and dropped her head back against the tube. She closed her eyes briefly and just drifted along the lazy current. The warmth from the sun lulled her into that dreamy place between awake and asleep. That place where all the weight lifted and everything was completely, utterly peaceful.

It felt oh so good.

JP
WATCHED
S
ONNY
round the bend on her tube as it wandered aimlessly along the midsummer current. From the distance she looked fast asleep. He knew she wasn’t, though, because every so often a hand would sift the water back and forth in a lazy pattern.

It felt good seeing her so relaxed like that. He imagined that she hadn’t received many days like that since Charlie had come along. It had seemed like the right move when he’d thought of it on the drive back from Utah. He’d wanted to spend some time away from her place with the two of them, see how it went. Now he was glad he did.

And he had to admit that he was having a great time. The more time he spent with Sonny and her boy, the more he liked it. They had an easy way of being together that wasn’t cliquish or exclusive. So it felt like there was room for him, contrary to what she’d claimed when they’d had their first date. Well, it hadn’t really been a “date,” but it had pretty much become so in his mind. It was easier to mentally file that way.

JP stood up in the water and moved off toward shore. Charlie was across and a little downstream from him at a picnic structure that the Parks Department had erected under an enormous poplar tree. It gave tubers and kayakers a place to rest if they tired and wanted a break. Another kid was up there that Charlie had said he knew from school before he’d taken off to talk to him. The kid’s family was taking a breather in the grass and shade, munching on Clif Bars.

They’d brought a portable stereo and Taylor Swift was coming through the speakers quietly like irritating background noise to the much more enjoyable sound of birds and moving water. Why that girl was so popular he just couldn’t figure.

Reaching the river bank, JP dug his toes into the sandy shore, enjoying the way it squished beneath his feet. When he hit mostly dry land he tossed the tube down and planted his ass in the sandy dirt. A row of aging poplars crowded the shoreline behind him, the branches of a huge one arching far out over him, casting the rippling water in dappling sun and shade.

It was a perfect day.

Still holding the beer, JP brought it to his lips and took a slow pull. A pale yellow butterfly flittered in front of him and a blue jay perched above him on an overhanging branch. The heat was buffered by the lush leaves rustling on the old trees, and a bee buzzed just off to his right.

And there was Sonny, peaceful as could be, drifting slowly toward him. The current was directing her over to shore and her body was printed with the sun dapples that filtered through the branches. Her curves were displayed deliciously as she lounged on the floating device.

She looked like a picture in the delicate light and his throat seized up tight, emotion hitting him unexpectedly. Longing like he’d never known welled up inside of him as his gaze held steady on her.

He wanted that woman like he wanted to breathe.

It was a live ache inside him. He didn’t care what she thought her hang-ups were. From where he was sitting she looked pretty much perfect. And, for those few moments that she floated toward him in slow motion, beautiful as a dream, he wanted so much to blurt out all of his feelings to her like a fool.

Light as a feather, Sonny glided onto the shore in front of him. Her hat had fallen back and strands of her hair curled around her face. Sunglasses hid her eyes from view and she had a satisfied half smile upturning her full lips. The woman looked like she’d found paradise in that inner tube.

He wanted to kiss her so bad his lips buzzed.

Sonny Miller had a hold on him like no one ever had before. And if he didn’t get to make love to her soon he thought he might go crazy.

The water lapped quietly against the shore, her tube rocking back and forth with gentle motion. If he leaned forward a foot she’d be close enough to kiss. Going on instinct, JP bent toward her and pressed his lips lightly to hers.

He heard a little hum come from her and she melted against him, her skin sun-warmed and fragrant with the scent of summer. Lost in the experience, he moved closer still and deepened the kiss a degree. His tongue ran along the seam of her lips, seeking admittance, and when she opened for him and wrapped an arm around his neck his chest went so tight it was hard to breathe.

Taking his time, JP tasted her slowly. His tongue moved against hers in a leisurely, intoxicating rhythm. Sonny took over his senses and she was all he could see, feel, taste. All he wanted.

He felt her fingers dive into his hair as she moaned softly and arched into him. Her breasts pressed against his chest and her hard nipples branded him, made him burn. Needing to, JP slowly slid a hand up her waist, relishing the contours of her curves, until he came to the plump roundness of her breast. Her quick intake of breath aroused him further, had his erection straining against its confines.

With a finger he traced the underside of her breast back and forth until she arched against him, wordlessly asking for more. Teasing her, he slid his finger up the inside curve of her and then trailed lightly down to circle her nipple until it became a peak of sensitivity. When she groaned and kissed him more urgently he smiled against her lips before giving them a gentle nip.

“God, JP,” she moaned as her head fell back.

The graceful line of her throat was exposed, and JP kissed a leisurely path down to her collarbone, exhilarating in the feel of her. Her skin tasted sweet like honey and hinted at something darker, smokier. And he wanted it. Wanted her.

Suddenly hungry, JP rolled her nipple between his fingers, pinching impatiently. Her gasp was like gasoline on his already burning fire and he growled low in his throat. Feeling urgency beginning to claw at him, JP tore his lips from her and inhaled.

She made him burn. Her kiss-swollen lips had turned a deep pink and her skin was flushed when he looked at her. Her hat had fallen to the ground and her hair tumbled out, a tangled mess. Behind her sunglasses, she watched him silently. JP had never seen anything like her in his life.

Lowering his head, he kissed her lips softly and said against her mouth, “You are so beautiful.”

At that moment it was the only thing he could think.

I
N THE COVER
of the trees behind them hid a slender, ambitious man who smirked as he lowered a camera with a giant zoom lens and whispered smugly, “Gotcha, Trudeau.”

Chapter Fourteen

S
ONNY SNUCK A
glance at JP out of the corner of her eye as he held the door to Beau Jo’s pizza place open. Housed in an old sandstone building in downtown Fort Collins, the pizzeria was a town staple. The pedestrian-friendly area where it was located was known as “Old Town” and was comprised of narrow Victorian buildings painted bold colors. It was brimming with funky shops and an interesting assortment of bars. Every style, from trendy to mountain man, was represented within a few walkable square miles.

“Thanks,” she said as she passed through the door. Ever since he’d kissed her on the river he’d been acting strange. Not like crazy-strange or anything, but just different. Thinking about what he’d said to her and how it had sounded still made her blush. He’d called her beautiful. And by the way he’d been looking at her so intensely and seriously, she knew he meant it. And now she was in very real danger of diving headlong into bed with JP. Because the truth was he’d snuck behind her defenses and gotten a hold of her heart even though she’d known they couldn’t go anywhere.

It was everything he’d done, from getting Charlie the batboy gig to the wildflower he’d picked on the sandy river bank and placed behind her ear earlier. Two hours later it was still there, even though she was sure it was wilted, because she had refused to let it go. It was such a simple token of affection from a good man.

It’s not like men such as him came along every day. Sonny was starting to suspect it was more like once in a lifetime.

Charlie bumped into her from behind and apologized. “Sorry, Mom.”

Sometimes that kid had depth perception issues.

The heel of her foot stung from where he’d stomped on it, but Sonny ignored it. “No worries, hon.”

Once they were seated outside on the patio and Charlie had checked his glucose levels, Sonny leaned back in her chair and people-watched. Every time she came to Fort Collins she did it. There were so many young families and college students that there was always something entertaining to see.

Like the young outdoorsy-hippie couple on the bicycles with their dogs in bike trailers that were passing by. Who does that?

Across the street in front of a narrow three-story shop painted a bold purple, a group of Asian tourists were busy taking turns snapping pictures of each other in front of some twisted metal sculpture. Down from them were a couple strolling who had to be in their eighties, both with cotton fluff hair, holding hands and drinking Starbucks.

A bunch of college boys stopped on the other side of the metal patio fence and stared hard at JP. The one in the green CSU T-shirt looked at his friends and then leaned forward and said, “Are you the shortstop for the Denver Rush?”