Page 139 of Hard Hitter

Rae swiped the hat off his head and pulled it onto her own, then pressed her lips to his cheek. “Oh, there’s no contest.”

Quinn cupped her jaw and rubbed his thumb across her cheekbone before meeting her mouth with a deep kiss. His heart was racing as he breathed her in and he wondered if she would ever stop having this effect on him. It seemed unlikely.

“Great team there, kid,” Charlie said, his friendly and sonorous voice cutting through the commotion around them. Quinn broke away from Rae to face him and smiled. “You know, you could just stay here and coach. I’m sure your old school would hire you in a heartbeat.”

“You want me to retire from the majors to coach high school baseball?” Quinn replied, his crooked grin showing his skepticism.

“Sure, why not?” Charlie shrugged. “You’ve got enough money to put away to be more than comfortable. Why do you think we wentthrough all the trouble to get you on travel teams and make sure you could play ball any chance you got? You think we wanted you to be in the majors?” He shook his head. “No, no, we wanted you to stay right here in your own hometown. LA is overrated anyway.”

“Oh my gosh, Dad,” Rae said, rolling her eyes, and Quinn couldn’t help smiling at how much she sounded like her teenage self. “Why don’t you just adopt him and get it over with? Trade me for Quinn like you’ve always wanted to do.”

Charlie gasped theatrically. “Raelyn Elise, how could you think such a thing? I just don’t want him takingyouaway from me.”

“Uh-huh…”

“We’ll come back during the off season,” Quinn assured Charlie as Margaux now sidled up to her husband. “We can even stay at your house again and make you get sick of us. You’ll be ready for the season to start up again.”

Charlie replied “Perfect!” just as Margaux and Rae shook their heads and gave an “I don’t think so” in unison.

“Well, I’m still out for the rest of this season, and probably part of the next. While Rae’s traveling with the team, you can come stay in LA. We’ll have a men’s weekend. Jett and Chris can come, too. Although, I suspect Jett might ditch us while he’s there,” Quinn said, eyes wandering back over to his friend and his publicist still sitting together, smiling and laughing amiably.

“Wait, wait!” Rae put a hand on Quinn’s arm. “I took a job so I could be with you, so that we didn’t have to be away from each other again, and you’re going to ditch me as soon as we get back to spend time with mydad?”

Quinn shrugged. “I’ll have the guys keeping a close eye on you on the road. They’ll make sure you stay out of trouble.” He did his best to hide his grin at her responding scoff and eye roll.

The baseball field and stands were clearing out and people from both teams were scattered, parents of players talking to one another, teammates making plans and talking about the upcoming school year and next baseball season. The field was empty now and Quinn took ina slow steadying breath, reimagining for the ten-thousandth time that day when he’d given Rae batting lessons.

Chris and Victoria, along with their young daughter, came down from the bleachers and greeted Rae’s parents. Margaux doted on Sophia while Chris and Charlie exchanged comments about the game.

Chris turned to Quinn finally and said, “Celebratory dinner at Trojan? We’ll open it up to the kids for the evening. It’s a special occasion so they can stay past nine.” After the bar had gotten so much recognition for being a place Quinn frequented while everyone was buzzing about his new relationship, they’d put in place a rule that those under twenty-one weren’t allowed inside past nine o’clock.

Nodding, Quinn said, “Yeah, I’ll tell the coach. Just give me a minute. I wanna do something first.” He then grabbed hold of Rae’s hand and lifted his chin toward the empty ball diamond, “C’mere, I have to show you something.” He tried, and failed, to not meet Charlie’s gaze before pulling Rae toward the field. Charlie’s eyes went wide, then crinkled in a knowing grin, and it made the task of keeping his own smile and emotions under control that much more challenging.

“You’re not going to make me run bases again, are you?” Rae asked as they stepped out onto the field.

“No,” Quinn laughed. Holy shit, his heart was thumping so hard in his chest, he could feel it reverberating through his entire body. He was nervous and excited and anxious, but also somehow completely content that he was exactly where he wanted to be.

He stopped at home base and brushed his foot across the plate a few times before shifting his gaze to look at Rae. This woman was his entire life. She was his center, his constant, his best friend, his soul mate. He’d known it for so long, and how could he not? The proof was everywhere. In the way she looked at him, how he looked at her. The way he’d always felt so calm and grounded in her presence. He’d never wanted or needed anything more than he needed her. He tried to work out what to say, even though he’d rehearsed it several times, the words suddenly felt as though they weren’t enough. There were absolutely nowords, no script he could go off of that would accurately depict how deeply and desperately he loved her.

Finally he grinned playfully. “I have one more fantasy I want to make a reality.”

Rae was grinning, but her eyebrow ticked up and she glanced sideways at the small crowd of their friends and family gathered just outside the dugouts. “Okay, but you do realize my parents are here. And your mom. And I think Jett would absolutely implode if he saw me naked.”

His laugh let loose the tension and anxiety that had knotted in his chest, though his heart was still pounding like an eight-oh-eight drum. Catching her gaze he asked, “Do you trust me?”

She grinned. “Of course.”

He placed his hands on her shoulders and directed her to a specific spot just off the plate, concentrating hard on where her feet were placed. He then walked behind her and grabbed her hips, pretending to care where they were placed, though it was really just for show and being reminiscent of his favorite memory here with her.

Walking back around to face her, he tried to poke her lower hip at her ticklish spot, but she was prepared and swatted his hand away. He smiled down at her, meeting her gaze from beneathhisball cap. “Rae…” he began, and was suddenly caught up in emotion. A million memories of them together swarming in his mind. He swallowed hard, reached into his pocket and knelt in front of her and produced a small square box.

Quinn watched her face as her expression changed from wide-eyed surprise to absolute delight, her bright beaming smile lighting up her face.

“Yes!” She exclaimed before he could say or do anything else.

Laughing, he looked at the box that was still closed in his hand, “Rae, I haven’t even asked you anything yet.”

“Yes!”Rae repeated, hands on either side of her face.

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