Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
He jerked to a halt and gazed down at her. Emma’s heart lurched at the raw vulnerability in his eyes. He hadn’t had time to hide it from her. Without a word, he sank to his knees before her and skimmed a hand down her bare calf to the strap on her open-toed heels. He removed them for her and held them in one hand as he pushed to his feet. Then he grasped her hand once more and led her off down the hall.
After slipping out the rear door, they stuck to a path which curved around the back of the building. The moment she saw it, she realized where they were going.
The batting cages.
Her heart surged at the prospect of watching him swing a bat again. The man had been magic on the field.
Again, he shocked her. Rummaging through the gear, he brought out a hat for her and placed it on her head, the corners of his mouth twitching. Then he pushed a bat into her hands. Turning her, he nudged her into one of the cages.
“Seriously? You want me to bat at night, in a dress, and without shoes?”
“Want your shoes?”
She glared at him as the lights slowly came on around them. His long, dark fingers curved against the fencing and she couldn’t help but think of those same fingers stroking her pale skin, sending her to heights of pleasure she’d never known.
“Or help removing your dress?” Linc tipped his head and dragged his gaze over her before meeting her eyes once more.
Her core temperature rose and she squeezed her hand around the knob before she shifted down to hold the handle. “Not even in your dreams.”
“Freckles, in my dreams you’re not even allowed any clothing. So removing that dress wouldn’t be an issue. Personally, I think you’re going to be adorable naked with a batting helmet on your head.”
“Why am I here? Why aren’t you holding a bat?”
“I’ll be next door. I wanted to get you set up first.”
She faced away from him, digging her toes into the hard packed dirt. “I’m ready.”
“Sure you don’t want some hands-on instruction? I’ve done it once or twice and look how I helped with the bowling.”
“Helped me work through some batteries, more like…”
“Fuck, Freckles. You can’t say things like that to me. I’m trying to be a gentleman.”
His breath fanned along the back of her neck as his chest pressed into her.
Knowing this man was attracted to her blew her mind. “To be fair, it was supposed to be an internal thought.”
“Wasn’t.”
She flushed again, hating how hot this man could make her cheeks. “I got this. You go swing over there.”
He didn’t move. Not true—he didn’t move away. He came closer. Linc wrapped his arms around her, bending his form around hers. Emma had never felt more protected than she did at that moment.
“One day you’re going to take me up on my offer.” A small bite along her neck that made her want to shift shamelessly as she offered up more of her skin for him to enjoy. “And I cannot wait for you to be ready for that step.”
She felt the loss of his heat before she registered that he’d stepped away from her. Linc watched her through the fence separating them.
“Ready?”
Not really. She nodded.
“Set your knob and be prepared.”
She quirked her lips. “Bet you say that a lot.”
He choked up on the bat and clucked his tongue at her. “You have a dirty mind, Freckles. I love it. And only Tully and Mitchell got me to say that to them. Until you.”
“Maybe it’s not just an ear doctor you need to visit but an ophthalmologist as well. I definitely don’t have the equipment they do.”
“Thank God for that.” He waggled his eyebrows. “I love what you have.”
She flushed and shook her head. “Pay attention to your own balls.”
His chuckle filled the air. “Back to the balls again, Freckles?”
Setting the machine for herself, she ignored Linc’s comment and braced herself for the first ball to come flying at her. The whirr let her know it was prepping to lob one at her. She licked her lips, lying to herself that she was ready.
She wasn’t a ball player. She hadn’t done any sports in school, but she’d watched enough games—yes, mostly Linc’s—to get the concept of the batting cage. And since working at the center, she knew each cage had two pitching machines: one for baseball and one for softball. They each offered a variety of speeds. She had hers set at forty miles per hour. Emma figured Linc would be doing the fastest for baseball: sixty miles per hour. Which was still far slower than he’d had careening at his head during his professional career.
There was another cage, way down by the end, but the children had been strictly forbidden to enter that one. She’d not even ventured down to it.