Fielder's Choice (33 page)

Before they sat down for dinner, Alana walked to the far side of the pond to where her stepmother stood alone, looking back at the party.

“I’m so happy for you,” Patrice said as she hugged Alana.

“
I’m
still nervous about my upcoming stepmom duties. I mean, look at what we Tavonesi kids put you through.”

Patrice shook her head. “You three were no trouble. Well, except for, let’s see...” She laughed. “Shall I make a list?” She took Alana’s hand in hers. “You’ll do fine, honey. Just remember we’re all here to help.” She nodded across the pond to where Sophie was crouched, showing one of the ranch worker’s kids a secret of the butterfly garden.

“The adage that it takes a village to raise a child is true,” Patrice said. “It doesn’t matter whose child it is. Anyone who doesn’t think so has never been part of raising one.”

The sound of arguing voices broke through the gentle music of the wedding quartet.

“That’s Zav,” Alana said, gathering the flowing skirt of her wedding dress and heading toward the arbor. “Sounds like he needs reinforcements.”

She found Matt standing between Zav and Iris. Zav looked ready to spit fire, and Matt had his best referee face on.

“Iris is trying to fix me up with one of her flower-lady friends,” Zav protested to Alana.

“She’s a landscape designer, Zav,” Iris said. “She just wants to wander through your gardens,” she said with a laugh.

Zav scowled at Iris’s not-so-subtle metaphor, and Alana bit back her smile.

“Maybe we’d better warn you about Sophie’s matchmaking,” Matt said, patting Zav on the shoulder. “Your sister’s efforts pale in comparison.”

Alana looked over to where Damien crouched with Parker and Sophie, both men apparently engrossed in Sophie’s fairy village. “I think we’d better warn Damien and Parker, maybe Simon too. We Tavonesis are proving to be no match for a Darrington on a mission, even if she is a pint-sized pixie.”

“Alana!” Chloe shouted as she and Scotty charged up the path. “Settle a bet.” She slid a sly smile first to Matt, then to Alana. “Which of you was the hardest won?”

“That’s easy,” Alana answered. “I was a can of beans.”

Matt laughed and squeezed Alana’s waist. “She means a can of corn,” he said, referring to the phrase used to signify an easy catch for a fielder. “She’s still working on her baseball lingo.”

“Mr. MVP of the League Championship Series has a baseball-illiterate wife,” Scotty teased.

Alana punched him.

“Ow! That’s my pitching arm!” Scotty said as he rubbed at his tricep.

“
Mrs
. Baseball Illiterate just happens to
know
that,” Alana gloated. “You’re lucky I held back fifty percent.”

Matt took her by the hand. “If you’ll excuse us, I need a word in private with my wife.”

He drew her up the path and behind a hedge of honeysuckle.

“Is this about my pathetic use of lingo?” she asked.

“No, it’s about this.” He dipped down and closed his lips over hers. “Just this,” he murmured between kisses. “Forever.”

She tugged the collar of his tux and pulled him closer.

Forever sounded just right.

THE END

Thank you!

Thanks for reading
Fielder’s Choice
. I hope you enjoyed it!

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You've just read the third book in the
Heart of the Game
series. The other books in the series are:

Love Bats Last
(Book #1, Alex and Jackie)

Thrown By Love
(Book #2, Chloe and Scotty)

Love on the Line
(Book #4, Cara and Ryan, available May 2104)

Aim for Love
(Book #5, Kaz and Sabrina, available summer 2014)

·
        
You, the reader
, have the power to make or break a book’s reputation. Reviews help other readers find books they love. I appreciate reviews from all perspectives and would love to hear your opinion. If you have the time, please leave a review and let me know what you think about Fielder’s Choice.

I write so that readers may enjoy the experience of reading my books. I hope you enjoy every one!

Thank you
so much for reading and for spending time with me.

In gratitude, 

Pamela Aares

Another winner in Pamela Aares' Heart of the Game series. Get ready to enter the fast-paced world of alpha male, All-Star athletes and the top-of-their-game women they come to love.

Aares deftly weaves together the desires and strategies of world-class sports with the equally charged realm of the heart to create a fast-moving tale you'll wish would never end.

Mary Beath, award-winning author of

Refuge of Whirling Light

And don’t miss…

Book One in the Heart of the Game series

A stormy night changes their lives forever...

The baseball diamond isn't the only field for all-star player Alex Tavonesi; he also runs his family's prestigious vineyard. What he can't seem to run is his love life. He's closing in on the perfect vintage and the perfect game, but so far the perfect woman has eluded him.

Veterinarian Jackie Brandon is eluding her aristocratic past and memories of a soccer star who jilted her just before their wedding. She devotes herself to a marine mammal rescue center on the northern California coast, where hundreds of seals and sea lions are washing up dead.

A chance meeting in a midnight storm brings Alex and Jackie together to rescue a stranded whale. Watching her work, he realizes she's the passionate, courageous woman he thought he'd never find--he just has to overcome her deep distrust of jocks. Jackie’s passion and courage lead her to discover what's killing the sea mammals. The culprits want to silence her, and Alex is the only one standing in their way. What will he sacrifice to save the woman he loves?

Love Bats Last is available online as a print or eBook at all of your favorite booksellers.

Book Two in the Heart of the Game series

A kiss in a dark alcove triggers the greatest challenge of their lives...

Ace pitcher Scotty Donovan has been traded from his longtime team—and hates it. But to his surprise, he now finds himself in the sweetest game of his life: winning the heart of smart, sexy physics professor Chloe McNalley.

Chloe loves teaching, but she's never fit into academia. When she falls for Scotty, she discovers his arms and heart are where she belongs. They share a passion for the game, a fascination for the mysteries of the universe and an increasing love for one another.

Then Chloe inherits Scotty's new team. As player and team owner, they shouldn't be dating. They try to hide their passion, until a blackmailer threatens them personally and professionally. Exposure could be the end of everything--Scotty's career, Chloe's team ownership, and their new love—unless they find a way to transcend the taboo standing between them.

Thrown By Love is available online as a print or eBook at all of your favorite booksellers.

Book Four in the Heart of the Game series

Hiding her identity was a small price to pay for freedom . . .

Heiress Cara Barrington fled the opulent world of her rich and famous family to carve out an idyllic existence on the California Coast. In the sleepy town of Albion Bay, she’s embraced the simple way of living she's always craved. No one knows her identity, and she’s free from the pressures of wealth . . . until her sexy new neighbor threatens the unpretentious world she’s worked so hard to build.

All-Star athlete Ryan Rea enjoys his high-profile status. He’s used to charming his way into the heart and bed of any woman he desires while keeping his own heart secure behind a steel wall. When he meets Cara, she throws him a curveball—she’s unlike any woman he’s ever met, and he has to have her.

Cara’s growing attraction to Ryan endangers her hard-won anonymity, and when she inherits the family business, she must choose between the world she left behind and her new life in the community she’s come to cherish. But facing up to her responsibilities could destroy her freedom and cost her the greatest love she’s ever known.

Love on the Line is available online as a print or eBook at all of your favorite booksellers.

About the Author

Pamela Aares is an award-winning author of contemporary and historical romance novels and also writes about fictional romance in sports with her new baseball romance book series titled the
Heart of the Game
.