Read Online Center Stage: A Hot Baseball Romance (Diamond Brides Book 8) by Mindy Klasky - Free Book Online Page B
Book: Center Stage: A Hot Baseball Romance (Diamond Brides Book 8) by Mindy Klasky
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Authors: Mindy Klasky
Tags: Sports Romance, reunion romance, secret baby, alpha male hero, baseball romance, sports hero, instant family
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around to offer her a hand. She made the leap herself, though, grunting only a little as she joined him on the wooden path.
The town of Chester Beach was closed up for the night. The nearby shops were dark, and chairs were stacked beside rugged metal tables. She turned on her heel and began to walk away from the sleepy buildings.
Ryan fell in beside her. If he thought she was nuts, he didn’t say so. He didn’t say anything at all, just shoved his hands in his pockets and matched her pace easily, even when she hopped off the boardwalk and started walking through the sand toward the ocean.
She only got a few steps when her feet slipped inside her sandals. Her ankle twisted hard against the straps, but before she could fall, Ryan’s fingers closed over her elbow. His grasp was firm, steady. “Easy,” he crooned. He shifted his fingers as soon as she was stable, letting his palm rest against her forearm.
Her breath hitched, but she told herself she was being an idiot. So what, if she’d fallen? She would have looked stupid, but Ryan had a pretty good idea that she wasn’t some perfect cheerleader, the type of girl whose makeup was always flawless and whose life never slipped out of control. Hell, he probably wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d fallen on her butt and made sweeping sand angels with her arms and legs. So what if she lacked dignity? She hadn’t exactly been the queen of grandeur for the last forty-eight hours.
Anxious to break the tension, to say something to take his mind off her clumsiness, Lindsey asked, “What’s that?” She nodded toward a structure looming down the beach.
“A fishing pier. During the day, there are vendors on top, with balloons and kites and stuff for kids. There are benches at the end, where some guys sit for hours, telling lies about the fish that got away.”
She laughed, pretty sure he’d told some whoppers in his day. His hand was still warm on her arm. Something about his steady touch, though, made her feel off balance, like she was slipping through the sand, tumbling toward the soft waves that were breaking on the beach below them. Her heart fluttered like it was fighting for balance too, and she gave herself a stern admonition to get walking, to stop talking.
She focused on the pull of her thighs as she lengthened her stride on the shifting sand. She leaned her head forward, narrowing her eyes just a little to focus on the hulking pier beneath the moonlight. She stretched out her fingers, ordering some of her tension to flow away, to leave her forever.
It felt good to use her body, to shake away the last of the tingling vibration from the Ferrari’s thudding power. It felt good to gulp down deep breaths of ocean air, cool and sharp with salt. It felt good to see Ryan out of the corner of her eye, one pace behind her, two steps closer to the water, steady and quiet as they closed the distance to the pier. It felt good to have her life—even this little bit of it, even the next single hour of it—predictable and easy and under control, even if she’d broken the rules to get here.
~~~
Lindsey Ormond didn’t have the first clue what she was doing to him. She didn’t realize that every time she took one of those deep, determined breaths, her shirt stretched tight across her chest. She didn’t know that the moonlight emphasized the faded lines of her jeans, the curve of her tight ass as she marched down the beach.
She didn’t know that he was about one second away from jumping her, right then and there, from pulling her down to the sand and rolling with her, edging his knee between her thighs and supporting his own weight on his forearms as he bent over her and tested her full lips, tracing them with the tip of his tongue.
Yeah. Right. And then he’d head back to Raleigh and stand up straight against his locker, bracing his abs to take the pounding Zach would give him. Maybe he’d be lucky—get off with only a few broken ribs.
It was the code, after
The town of Chester Beach was closed up for the night. The nearby shops were dark, and chairs were stacked beside rugged metal tables. She turned on her heel and began to walk away from the sleepy buildings.
Ryan fell in beside her. If he thought she was nuts, he didn’t say so. He didn’t say anything at all, just shoved his hands in his pockets and matched her pace easily, even when she hopped off the boardwalk and started walking through the sand toward the ocean.
She only got a few steps when her feet slipped inside her sandals. Her ankle twisted hard against the straps, but before she could fall, Ryan’s fingers closed over her elbow. His grasp was firm, steady. “Easy,” he crooned. He shifted his fingers as soon as she was stable, letting his palm rest against her forearm.
Her breath hitched, but she told herself she was being an idiot. So what, if she’d fallen? She would have looked stupid, but Ryan had a pretty good idea that she wasn’t some perfect cheerleader, the type of girl whose makeup was always flawless and whose life never slipped out of control. Hell, he probably wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d fallen on her butt and made sweeping sand angels with her arms and legs. So what if she lacked dignity? She hadn’t exactly been the queen of grandeur for the last forty-eight hours.
Anxious to break the tension, to say something to take his mind off her clumsiness, Lindsey asked, “What’s that?” She nodded toward a structure looming down the beach.
“A fishing pier. During the day, there are vendors on top, with balloons and kites and stuff for kids. There are benches at the end, where some guys sit for hours, telling lies about the fish that got away.”
She laughed, pretty sure he’d told some whoppers in his day. His hand was still warm on her arm. Something about his steady touch, though, made her feel off balance, like she was slipping through the sand, tumbling toward the soft waves that were breaking on the beach below them. Her heart fluttered like it was fighting for balance too, and she gave herself a stern admonition to get walking, to stop talking.
She focused on the pull of her thighs as she lengthened her stride on the shifting sand. She leaned her head forward, narrowing her eyes just a little to focus on the hulking pier beneath the moonlight. She stretched out her fingers, ordering some of her tension to flow away, to leave her forever.
It felt good to use her body, to shake away the last of the tingling vibration from the Ferrari’s thudding power. It felt good to gulp down deep breaths of ocean air, cool and sharp with salt. It felt good to see Ryan out of the corner of her eye, one pace behind her, two steps closer to the water, steady and quiet as they closed the distance to the pier. It felt good to have her life—even this little bit of it, even the next single hour of it—predictable and easy and under control, even if she’d broken the rules to get here.
~~~
Lindsey Ormond didn’t have the first clue what she was doing to him. She didn’t realize that every time she took one of those deep, determined breaths, her shirt stretched tight across her chest. She didn’t know that the moonlight emphasized the faded lines of her jeans, the curve of her tight ass as she marched down the beach.
She didn’t know that he was about one second away from jumping her, right then and there, from pulling her down to the sand and rolling with her, edging his knee between her thighs and supporting his own weight on his forearms as he bent over her and tested her full lips, tracing them with the tip of his tongue.
Yeah. Right. And then he’d head back to Raleigh and stand up straight against his locker, bracing his abs to take the pounding Zach would give him. Maybe he’d be lucky—get off with only a few broken ribs.
It was the code, after
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