Playing the Field: A Diamonds and Dugouts Novel (3 page)

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the woman shift and place a hand on the kid’s shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. And he also saw her gaze slide over him for a brief moment. Was that interest he glimpsed?

The mitt was shoved under his nose and JP smelled leather and the outdoors. The kid explained, “I’ve been playing ball since I was in diapers. Least that’s what my mom says.”

JP grinned at the visual and took the mitt, examining it. “Is that so? Moms always say weird stuff like that, don’t they?”

The boy rolled his eyes with exaggeration.
“Totally.”

JP relaxed and cocked a hip, his cleats puncturing the outfield grass as he settled. “What’s your name, kid?”

The boy’s chest blew up like a puffer fish. “I’m Charlie Miller and this is my mom. Her name’s Sonny. She plays baseball pretty good for a girl.”

The look she gave her son had JP laughing out loud.

“What do you mean ‘for a girl’? Who schooled you and your friends last week at your birthday party with a homer that shot clear over the barn into the pasture?” She waggled her thumbs at her chest and JP couldn’t help scoping out her breasts for a second. “Oh, that’s right. It was me.”

The sound of her voice surprised him. She had one of those Katherine Heigl voices that was all smoke and sex. It sent a shiver through his belly and had him thinking naughty thoughts. If it was this husky now, what would it be like during a hot romp in the sack?

He caught her eye and their gazes connected, held. Something sparked, but before he could explore it she broke contact and looked away, her face a little flushed.

She cleared her throat and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Trudeau. Charlie is a big fan and plays shortstop too. We were at a few Rush games this spring when you’d first been traded. He watched the way you fielded and decided he wanted to try out the position. It’s been a lot of fun for him.”

JP reached out and ruffled the kid’s hair. “No kidding? You thinking of going pro someday, Charlie?”

The boy nodded emphatically. “Definitely. What’s it like? Is it as cool as I think it is?”

“It is, buddy,” he said after considering how cool his job would seem to a ten-year-old. “But it’s a lot of hard work and dedication too. You have to practice even when you don’t feel like it, and you have to be away from home a lot during the season.”

Charlie nodded seriously. “That’d be okay.”

“You miss your family some. And it’s hard to have a pet because you’re gone so much and don’t have time to take care of them properly.”

With a nose wrinkled in contemplation, the boy replied, “Well, I gots my mom and she could watch my dog. We have a farm anyway, so there’s lots of room.”

“Yeah?” He’d loved growing up on a farm. Couldn’t imagine a better place for a kid to roam. “I grew up on a farm too.”

With a grin full of confidence, Charlie said, “I know. I’ve looked up all your stuff.”

JP smiled and started to hand the glove back. “It’s about time for the raffle to start, so I’d better make my way to the stage.”

Charlie pushed the mitt back. “Would you sign my mitt for me, please?”

“Sure thing.” He reached in his pocket for a Sharpie and wrote his name across the thumb piece. “Here you go.”

“Thanks!”

JP figured he’d given her long enough and turned his gaze back to Sonny. “So you play some ball too?” he said, referring to the birthday ball game.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, “I played softball all through high school.”

Her voice was seriously erotic. “Yeah? You from Colorado?”

Sonny nodded. “Mostly.” A tentative smile cupped her lips. “I know you’re not.”

“Ever been to Iowa?” He liked hearing her speak so much that he was willing to make small talk. Even if he sounded like an idiot.

Her beautiful hair slid over her shoulders as she shook her head. “Nope. I’ve been exactly two places in my life. Here and California. But I imagine it’s humid and green and flat.”

“Pretty much.”

Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he glanced over to see a photographer settle into shooting position. Without thinking, he shifted to allow the guy an unobstructed shot of Sonny and her boy standing with him. Dealing with the media was second nature to him now and most of the time he didn’t mind. They were just part of the gig. He helped them out and they gave him good press, making his agent happy. It was win-win.

Surprise ran through him though when Sonny shuffled, too, until she was almost standing behind him.

“I’m just in the way of his shot,” she mumbled and turned her head to look behind her like she was searching for something, effectively shielding her face from the photographers.

Amused at her camera shyness, JP grinned as he said to her, “It’s okay. I promise they don’t bite.” Then he winked down at Charlie and added, “Not hard anyway.”

Over the sound of the boy’s giggles he barely heard her mutter dryly, “That’s reassuring.” Then she adjusted her shoulder bag and peered around him at the half dozen media personnel hovering nearby. “I don’t know why they’re interested in Charlie and me.”

He did. The woman was a breath of fresh air.

“Why don’t I stand over here?” he said. Obviously all the attention made her uncomfortable and for some reason he didn’t like the idea of her feeling uneasy. Taking two steps to his right, JP checked over his shoulder to make certain she was blocked and saw Kowalskin a few feet away. “Hey, Walskie. Toss me one of the balls you’re holding.”

The pitcher arched a black brow. “What do you want my balls for?”

“Ha ha, funny. For real. Give me one.” He had an idea to get the attention off of Sonny—or at least try anyway. Events like these were crawling with media and there was only so much he could do.

Peter underhanded him a shiny white ball and smirked. “Play nice with it, big boy.”

With a smile tugging at his lips, JP shook his head and caught the ball. Smartass. “Thanks.”

Turning back around, he noted the growing crowd of photographers with no surprise. They had an uncanny ability to sense when something was about to go down. Like the time they’d caught Pete with his pants down after giving Drake a well-deserved mooning. His bare ass had wound up on the front page of a big tabloid with some derogatory headline he couldn’t remember now. He just recalled how Pete had laughed hysterically and then had the thing framed and hung in his living room.

JP tried to be a little more publically reserved than that, but he still got his share of tabloid bullshit. It was just one of those things.

“Hey, Charlie. Want to see a magic trick?”

The kid nodded vigorously, “Yeah!”

Glancing behind him to make sure the photographers were watching, he held up the ball and announced, “Now you see it, now you don’t.”

That got their attention. Camera shutters started clicking as he went about amazing the boy with the one and only trick he knew. Even Sonny seemed to be fascinated. She kept leaning forward from her hideout a few feet away to get a better view. When he held out his hands in front of him and the ball had disappeared, Charlie’s eyes went wide.
“No way!”

“How did you do that?” came her sexy voice behind him.

Not finished, JP shot her a wink and relaxed his stance. “Magic.”

She gave him a face and he outright laughed. “I don’t believe in magic.”

Now that was really just too bad. Everybody needed a little magic in their lives. “Here, Charlie. Why don’t you take my hat for a second?” He took off his cap and handed it to the kid.

Thoroughly engrossed in the trick, the boy grabbed it eagerly and asked, “Where’d the ball go?” He’d been scanning the ground like he was hunting for Easter eggs.

Sonny stepped up beside him and added, “The real question is if you can bring it back.” The skepticism in her tone implied she didn’t think he could.

How wrong she was. “Thanks for holding my hat, kid. I’ll take it back now.”

Charlie handed it back and JP made a display of putting it on his head. “Ouch. Man, what is that?” Faking confusion, JP pulled off his hat and turned it over, inside facing up. And right there in the center of his cap was the ball, snowy white in the afternoon sun.

The boy practically shoved his face into the ball cap. “Holy cow! How did you
do
that?”

One of the guys from the
Post
piped up nearby, scribbling furiously on a tiny notepad. “Hey, Trudeau. Want to introduce us to your friends?” He glanced up from the pad and adjusted his eyeglasses. “You know, for the byline.”

JP flashed his best grin. “Sure. This here is Charlie Miller, shortstop for . . .” He trailed off and glanced down at the kid in question. “What’s your team’s name?”

Charlie puffed out his chest and stood as tall as he could. To the reporter he boasted, “I play for the Longmont Hawks.”

Sonny spoke up, her voice soft and kind of tense. “Is this just your normal? I mean, all these photographers and stuff?”

Glancing down, he noted she looked tense too. He was so used to being in the public eye that he forgot how uncomfortable it could be to some. “Yeah, it’s pretty much just part of life. You get used to it.”

She looked up at him and her gorgeous eyes shuttered. “I couldn’t do it.” He opened his mouth to respond when a
thump thump
on a microphone turned his attention toward the low stage. The event coordinator was almost ready to give her speech. That was his cue to get moving.

“Hey, I have to go. But it was great meeting you, Charlie.”

His gaze slid to Sonny. A lazy smile curved his lips. “It’s been a real pleasure.”

He watched color bloom in her cheeks and couldn’t stop the heat that started to coil in his belly. Didn’t particularly want to, if truth be told. He’d never dated a single mom before, but then again he’d never encountered one like her either. It was more than just her looks and the fact that he was seriously attracted to her.

She had something.

And he had the rest of the event to figure out what he wanted to do about it. Because she had a kid and if, deep down, he was just after a piece of ass, then he’d have to find it somewhere else. Unlike Drake, he couldn’t mess with that just to get naked with a woman. Guess he was old-fashioned that way.

Turning to leave, JP stopped when a slender hand touched his arm. He felt the zing of connection clear down to his toes. It was like a thread of electricity snaking a path through his body.

Beautiful blue eyes were waiting for him when he looked up, sparkling and a little cautious. “Thank you for taking the time with Charlie. It means the world to him.”

Just to test the waters, JP placed a hand on top of hers and squeezed a little. He let it linger before he slowly slid it away. Then he leaned in close. His gaze slid down to her kiss-me mouth and held. He felt his arousal grow with every passing heartbeat.

JP let it show. Let his interest be clear as day. And he saw the moment it registered with her, because her eyes went wide and unfocused.

That’s what he thought. “Any time.”

Chapter Three

“I
STILL CAN’T
believe I won the raffle, Mom. It’s so awesome!” Charlie yelled from his bedroom across the hall.

Neither could Sonny. But after her little run-in with JP Trudeau last week at the charity game it was all she could think about. And she was seriously irritated with herself about it. The guy was a friggin’ sports star. Flirting with women was probably just one of his favorite pastimes.

Man, he was
such
a celebrity too. The way he’d smiled and played to the media had made it glaringly obvious that he enjoyed the limelight. Not that it should have surprised her. JP was one of those incredibly gorgeous, gifted people that were all confidence because they had the world on a string. Rightfully so, in his case. But, still. Just thinking back to what it’d felt like having all those media people surrounding them, wanting to know their business made her skin crawl. Bad.

Privacy was essential to Sonny. Like breathing.

Still, the way those bedroom eyes of his had looked at her lingered in her memory. Thick, long eyelashes framed eyes a deep honey brown, and when he turned them on you there was such singular focus in them that it was totally disarming. Sonny’d been completely off balance after their exchange for a good two hours. And for the next forty-eight she’d marveled at her response. She wasn’t even in the market for a man, so why was she so fixated on him? Especially since she’d never even consider dating him with his lifestyle?

But if she wasn’t in the market for a man, why had it taken her over an hour and ten rejected outfits before she’d settled on one to wear to dinner?

Ugh
. Snapping the lid on her eye shadow box, Sonny huffed and placed it on the dresser with more force than necessary. She’d just put
eye shadow
on, for crying out loud. So what if it was a soft, neutral shimmer? It was the fact that she’d just
had
to put it on in the first place.

JP Trudeau was just a guy. Maybe an extra hot one. But a guy all the same. He didn’t merit all the fuss she’d put herself through. Besides, she had Charlie and her work and that was all she needed in the world.

Sonny took stock of her reflection in the mirror above her dresser. That’s right, she thought. She didn’t need anybody.

But why the heck wasn’t her hair cooperating?

Shoving a tousled mass over her shoulder, she hollered back at Charlie, “We’re leaving in five minutes, kiddo. It’s going to take an hour to get to the restaurant.”

The Mexican eatery they had reservations at was a landmark in Denver. Casa Bonita was everything a kid could want in a restaurant and more. Part theme park, it housed a thirty-foot waterfall, cliff divers, and good ol’ gunfights. One time she’d even watched a swashbuckling sword fight between pirates scheming for booty.

Shows were long enough to entertain, but not so long they disrupted the eating. And to cap the evening off, there was a gift shop to empty your wallet and leave you with an authentic imitation of
La Mexicana
.