Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 102185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
He nods a few times, his attention glued ahead when Savvy finally reaches us. “This kid can run. As soon as he reached the stadium, he took off as if he knew exactly where you were.” She sits next to me and blows out a breath. “How are they looking today?”
“Incredible.”
“And did you get the contract signed?”
“Not yet, but I’ll get it done after practice.” As if on cue, Coach Barth claps his hands to bring everyone in for the day.
“Looks like this is your chance.” The players file off the field into the dugout, which will take them to the locker room. “Go get ’em, tiger!”
Dread suddenly fills my gut, which makes me more resolved than ever not to let that man win this round. “Thanks.”
When I take Jacob’s hand, he says, “Savvy said I could run the bases.”
She adds, “I did promise him, and I don’t mind waiting at the car afterward for you.”
I kiss his head again. “Be good for Savvy, okay?”
“Okay.”
This little boy is my world and all that really matters. So paperwork schmaperwork. I’m not afraid of confronting a Greene and feel more emboldened to do it. If I can raise Jacob on my own, run a winery, and manage operations of a regional baseball team, I can deal with a former pro ball player.
I march down the stairs and wait inside the tunnel for Mr. Greene with the allegedly gorgeous blue eyes. A few of the players walk by, saying hi as they pass.
It’s been a while, so I check to make sure his truck is still parked out front. Is he the last to leave or what? Since I’ll never forget the sight of it coming toward me yesterday, it’s hard to miss. When I turn back, I run into that wall of muscle that’s quickly becoming too familiar, considering we’ve never actually met.
“Are you stalking me?”
“You wish.” I shove off him, backing up just enough to get caught in his gaze. Oh . . . My heart stops with a hard thud in my chest.
Jaco Beach.
Costa Rica.
Those unforgettable blue eyes.
There’s no way . . . I even remember asking him where he was from that night.
“I’m not sure we should travel down that road when we know it leads to a dead end,” he replied.
It was a dead end, but I’d know his face anywhere. I still see it in my dreams sometimes.
But being in his presence now, a man I never thought I would see again, words elude me as my mind scrambles through different scenarios of how this could play out. And knowing that I walked away with more than his cowboy hat as a souvenir that night.
Jacob.
My sweet boy.
I back up to a nearby railing, clinging to it as the foundation of the life I’ve built begins to crumble beneath me. A night I’ll never forget is a nightmare four years later. There is no mistaking that face, or the man standing in front of me.
Griffin Greene wasn’t just a good time in paradise. He’s the father of my son.
CHAPTER 4
Griffin
“Do I need to call security?” I ask, looking her over again, since I had clearly underestimated what I was dealing with. She’s got a tight little body wrapped in denim and a V-neck T-shirt. Her hair falls over her shoulders in waves of brown and deeper golds, but she’s been staring at me with a slack jaw like she’s meeting a celebrity for the first time. I’m sure she’s starstruck.
Although her eyebrows squeezing together command their own attention, it’s that damn V-neck that draws my gaze downward. Can’t say I wouldn’t have sex with her, even if she is currently a potential threat. It’s not like I haven’t hooked up with a fan before. Looking that good, she makes it hard . . . and has me forgetting the rest of what I intended to say. But even her curve appeal doesn’t keep an all-star distracted for long, so I continue, “You show up two days in a row and just so happen to run into me like it’s a coincidence when we both know it’s not.”
“First of all, my eyes are up here.” I drag my gaze over her collarbone and then higher to be greeted with a scowl. She crosses her arms over her chest, her knuckles whitening from holding on to herself so tight. “Second, you’re insufferable, you know that?”
“That’s rich, considering I’m the victim in this situation.” Her scoff echoes through the tunnel. Grimacing, I say, “And if I’m so insufferable, why are you hiding around every corner of this stadium in hopes of seeing me again?”
Shifting her weight to the other hip, she snaps, “I wasn’t hiding—”
“Look, I don’t know what kind of game this is, but I’m not playing, lady.”
“Lady?” Offense jerks her head back so fast that she might need to seek medical treatment. Hopefully somewhere away from me. She’s quick to straighten her shoulders. Coming on strong with the defense, she balls her fists at her sides as if she’s squaring up to me, which is kind of cute, coming from her. I mean, she can’t be more than five-three, five-four tops. She’s spunky for such a little thing. “I’ll have you know—”