Page 49 of Nailed at Home Plate

“Not in the slightest.” He busied himself cutting off a piece of his grilled chicken. “Well, I get along with my team just fine. But some days they are the max capacity of people I can tolerate.”

“I feel the same exact way. The Sillys…they’re alot. As you now know.” I chuckled with a shake of my head. God love the guys, but they were always a bit much.

“I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to have someone say that.” Jamie’s steely gaze looked at mein earnest. Heat rose to my cheeks. I took a quick bite of my steak salad in a vain effort to quell it. “Aside from my family and some childhood friends, it seems that everyone wants a piece of the spotlight. It's like they see me on TV and automatically think it's their ticket to stardom. That I’m now their best friend.”

“That’s honestly the last thing I’d ever want.” The words came out a bit muffled as I swallowed down my bite of salad from behind my cupped hand. “I happen to like my quiet life. I don’t know how you guys do it. To go out in public and have someone chase you down because they recognize you. Sounds like my worst nightmare.”

Jamie let out another laugh as he speared a few sprouts of broccoli onto his fork and slipped it into his mouth. How the hell did he even make eating broccoli look sexy? It made my heart so happy to know that he was the down-to-earth guy I always suspected. He really was my dream, well…everything.

“And that’s just another reason why I keep falling harder and harder for you, Cadence Andrews.” The words were so soft and earnest that I honestly thought my heart would burst at the seams. My eyes darted over to him as I lowered my fork. How the hell could anyone eat at a time like this? “It's like…somehow the universe took every single beautiful thing that I ever loved and created…you.”

Blinking, I pulled my gaze from his. Tears of excitement and joy stung at the corners of my eyes. My heart soared in my chest. It took everything in my power to remain in my seat. Meanwhile, everything inside me was shooting off like fireworks all set off at once. It was going to take every ounce of strengthI had left to not say something stupid and ruin the moment.

“I think you’re more than alittleromantic, Jamie.”

I chanced a look across the table at him only to see him dip his gaze bashfully to his plate as he nudged some food around with his fork. How could we be so explosive in the bedroom and yet dance around each other like timid teenagers in public? Whatever kept us humble, I suppose.

“I think I’m just a simple guy. All I need is my girl wearing my jersey cheering me on and I’m content.”Immediate swoon.

Sir, I want that too. So much. You have no idea.

Chewing on my lower lip, I hesitated to share a personal story on the off chance that he’d think it was weird. But if I wanted this to be a genuine connection, Jamie had to like me.Me, me. Quirks, weird fantasies, and all.

“You know…back in high school, I wanted to date this one football player. He was so cute. Their girlfriends always got to wear their jerseys on Fridays for game day. I just wanted to…you know, be that important to someone.”

There was a long moment of quiet between us. I was worried that I made it awkward. But maybe we were getting way too close to a much more serious conversation for being only a few weeks into this. A soft smile danced across his lips.

“You a football fan too?” I let out a slow breath through my nose. Thank god he changed the subject. At least for now. We kept tiptoeing along the water of serious emotions even though I wanted to dive in, head first.

“Who isn’t? Go Birds!” I said a bit too loud and enthusiastically to cover my fluster. Jamie outright laughed. A few others in the restaurant echoed my sentiment right back.Fuck, I loved Philly.

“Go Birds.” He replied with a laughing grin. After all, it was the greeting and response in the greater Philadelphia area during the season. Or whenever you saw someone wearing team gear. It was an unwritten law as a Philly fan.

“I grew up with all the Philly sports. My dad has always been a big fan. I suppose I was reluctantly indoctrinated over the decades.” Our laughter mixed and danced in the air between us.

“Yeah, my dad is the same way. Although he’s more of an ‘all sports’ kind of guy. If it's a sport and it's on TV, he’s watching it.” Jamie added. More than anything I wanted an afternoon of us sitting with our dads watching football in the baseball offseason.

My cheeks were hurting from all the smiling I’d done over our meal. We talked about our likes, our dislikes, our families, and what we liked to do in our free time.

Like clockwork, his hand took hold of mine as he drove me back home. It was a reflex. I smiled to myself as I watched the sleepy city fly by. While the sexual attraction had been rampant the first few days, this was something more tender.

Being the gentleman he was, he walked me to my place. But what surprised me was that he stopped by the main front door instead of escorting me inside to my apartment door. I turned to invite him up, with only innocent intentions.Mostly. Instead, he silenced me with a kiss, the first kiss we’d had since he left that morning.

My toes curled in my heels. I was frozen in place from the sheer intensity of it. I felt my knees buckle a bit, but Jamie’s hands were right there on my lower back to keep me steady. How was he simultaneously my rock but also putting me on my knees?

“Good night, Cady. Thanks for going out with me.” Jamie murmured the words against my mouth as I tried to get my brain back in order after that kiss.

“Don’t you want to come up?”

Jamie smiled before trailing slow kisses from my mouth to tickle against my ear. His words sent a heated prickle down my spine. “As much as I would give up my favorite catcher’s gear to do so, I’m afraid I wouldn’t leave until you’re a…puddlein your bed.”

Pulling away, he sighed. “It's a 4 AM wake-up call to report for the bus. It's better…it's better if I cut thetemptationoff here before I throw you over my shoulder. Being away from you for a whole week is gonna bereallyfucking difficult.”

I stood there in my stupor for a hot second. Did my super-hot crush seriously just say that he was going to miss…me…? Thank fuck that he still had a hold on me because I would have wafted away with the summer breeze. It gave me a sudden burst of confidence.

“I’ll tell you what.” My voice dropped to a husky murmur as I pressed back in close to him. “I have an idea. A bit of motivation while you’re on the road. To make sure you stay on this hitting streak of yours.”

It was a rather devious idea, but perhaps it might continue this little streak of his even though I wasn’t there. My hands slowly smoothed their way up Jamie’s crisp dress shirt.

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