Captivated (22 page)

The first game
against the Rattlesnakes after his suspension couldn
’t
have gone any better. His teammates were happy, the fans were happy, and he was
riding high. Best of all, Irisa sat in the stands.

Dom crouched just off
second base. Marc Platt, his nemesis, cast him a sneer. In response, he gave
him a thumbs-up, but wished he could show his true feelings with a different
digit. No matter what, today he wouldn
’t get dragged into
anything with Platt. He refused to give the guy the satisfaction. And ignoring
him for several innings seemed to get under the jerk’s skin even better than a
cutting remark.

Bottom of the ninth. He
was the lone man on base and the potential winning run. The crowd
’s
cheers rose. He focused on Slade at bat, then back to Mendez on the mound.

Marc edged closer.
“I
see you cleaned your jersey.”

Really? The idiot was
going back to the stupid incident from Spring Training? Man, he was reaching
…
Dom bit the inside of his lip to keep from laughing. “With the five errors
you’ve had this past week, I think you’d be focusing on your game, not my
uniform.”

Marc
’s
chest puffed up, but Dom blocked out his next words. He crept toward third
base, less than ninety feet away.

Mendez looked at second
base, then looked at home, looked back at second, then looked back at home. Dom
kept his gaze on Mendez
’s feet. His right foot stepped off the
rubber, and as soon as he started to twist his body toward second base, Dom
took off running for third. The crowd exploded in cheers. Coach Celeski at
third base jumped with an excited grin, then yelled, “Keep going! Keep going!”
and pointed toward home plate with one hand, his other arm swinging in circles.
The ball must have gotten by Marc the Asshole and gone into center field.
Good
.
He kept running.

He rounded third, as fast
as he could. And ran like hell toward home. The ball would be coming. He needed
to beat it.

Cheers turned into a
roar. At home plate, the catcher angled himself toward Dom, in position to
catch the ball and tag him out before he could reach the plate. He ran faster.

The ball came in high
from the outfield. The catcher leapt for it. Dom needed to slide on the outside
of the plate to avoid the tag. He slid under the catcher just as the ball
popped into the guy
’s mitt. By the time the tag came, half of
Dom’s body was already over the plate.

Game over.

He
’d
done it.

Riptide win.

A tidal wave of noise
thundered through the stadium. Fans jumped up and down. His teammates ran from
the dugout and piled on top of him.

“You did it!” Adam hugged
him.

Slade jumped in.
“We
won!”

Liam threw himself into
the mix.
“Game winner by Torres!”

Through all the
celebrations taking place, he searched the crowd for Irisa. Her gaze met his as
she made her way down the stands. Security let her onto the field.

Her
Torres
t-shirt
hugged her in all the right places. Grinning, she slid her arms around him and
lifted her lips to his.
“Nice moves.”

“Yeah? I have a lot more
of them.” Ones he couldn’t wait to show her when he finally got her alone.

“I love all the ones I’ve
seen so far.” She held him tight, as though she’d never let go. Her smile, as
bright and dazzling as the diamond adorning her finger, sparked something so
sweet inside him and filled him to bursting.

He spun her in a slow
circle. Lights from cameras flashed, fans still cheered, and his teammates
celebrated around them.
“You gave this back to me. Because of you,
I’m playing the game I love.”

“I had to help you. I
only did what was right.”

“You were there for me.
You were my support, my champion.”

“I’ll always be that for
you. You do it for me.”

Unconditional love and
unwavering support. He
’d never thought he’d experience it at
all, and it all came to him in the form of the woman who’d brought color and
sunshine to his world.

With her, more than
anywhere else, he felt like a winner.

Thank you so much
for reading
Captivated
! I would appreciate it if you would help others
enjoy this book too! Please recommend to others and leave a review.

Don’t miss the
previous book in the
Game of Love
Series:

Rekindled

More
Game of
Love
stories to come!

Sign up for my newsletter and stay
informed!

Riptide members Liam
and Slade will have their stories told in 2016.

Also, stay tuned
for Zander and Jayne’s story, as well as the rest of The Fury –

Coming soon in the
Rocked by Love
series.

Email:
[email protected]

Website:
http://www.susanscottshelley.com

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First and foremost, thank
you to my amazing husband. Whether it’s plotting or helping design a book cover
or making me another cup of coffee, you’re always there for me. Your support
and sense of humor keep me going and I love you more than any romance novel
heroine could ever love her hero. You know you’ll always be mine.

Thank you to my
incredibly wonderful beta readers: Kate F., Kate H., Beth, Tina, and Heather.
You all rock!

Thank you to my readers.
I’m so thrilled every time I hear how much you’ve enjoyed my stories! Your
support means the world to me.

SUSAN SCOTT SHELLEY is an award-winning author of contemporary romance. 
For as long as she can remember, she has been in love
with Love and all the sweeping grand gestures, heart-sighing moments, and quiet
comforts it entails.

In addition to writing romances, she is also professional
voiceover artist and enjoys lending her voice to a wide range of projects.

An unapologetic optimist, she believes life should be lived with
laughter and a sense of wonder. Her favorite things include
running, sports, hard rock and old Hollywood movies. 

She lives in Philadelphia with her very own Superhero and spends
her days writing about tough heroes, smart heroines, and love being the
strongest magic there is.