by Ann, Natalie
She rolled her eyes. “Can we order food? I’m starving, but I want to take my shoes off and put my feet up and just eat. I want something yummy and fattening and then I want you to throw me on that bed over there and help me burn the calories off. I’m so tired I’m almost energized. Not sure what I’m feeling,” she said. Her body had felt off all day long, like a buzzing from being around so much action. “Is that how it was every time you were in the stadium?”
He looked at her as if she’d grown two heads. She didn’t think what she said was anything that outrageous. “I love you,” he said.
“What?”
“You heard me. In the suite I thought it and I wanted to say it to you. I’ve been feeling it for a while, but it hit me hard. You always know the right things to say and do. From the first time I met you, you did. You never hold back, you give me shit, and then you make sure I’m fine after.”
She laughed at him. “Not everyone likes that trait.”
“I do. I love it. Just like I love you. And you’re killing me here by not saying it back.”
“Oh?” she said, walking forward and winding her arms around his neck, pulling his lips down to hers. “I need to say it back to you? You can’t see it in my eyes? You can’t tell when we’re together?”
“No. I’ve never felt this way before. I didn’t know what I wanted until now. But I do and it’s with you and I need the words back.”
“I want to give you what you need,” she said. “I love you right back, Harris.”
He kissed her on the forehead, ran his hand down her back, under her chin, his finger trailing down the V of her T-shirt. The chills that spread across her body just urged him on, she knew when he chuckled.
“If you want to give me what I need, it’s you.” He had her in his arms so fast she squealed, then found herself on her back, his body covering her. “I’m going to give you a workout before dinner. Then we can do it again after.”
“That sounds like one heck of a plan to me.”
“And because you always seem to know what I want, I think I’m pretty good at figuring you out too.”
His hands were cupping her breasts through her shirt, teasing her by not touching her skin the way she wanted. “You do manage to find a way to please me.”
He laughed. Then before she knew what he was about, the front of her shirt was ripped right off of her. A gasp escaped her lips, but no other sounds came out before his mouth crushed to hers.
This was a side of him she hadn’t seen yet and not one ounce of her was nervous or scared but rather turned on more than ever before.
Her hands were frantically trying to lift his shirt over his head, her nails scratching him in the process. He sat back and pulled it up and over his head, tossing it to the side while she tackled the button on his shorts and freed his growing dick.
She’d never grow tired of looking at him. Touching him. Feeling him.
It wouldn’t surprise her if he was in better shape now since he had more time to work out. She’d noticed the changes in his body. The more defined muscles as he got stronger. And the more defined he got, the more she loved it though she’d never told him. Not until now.
“I just love your body. I loved it before, but now, lately, it’s just like looking through a fitness magazine.”
“Don’t put that kind of pressure on me,” he said as he pushed the tattered remains of her shirt off her shoulders. “If I get one ounce of fat on me you might not want me again.”
“That is never going to happen. I’m just saying right now, you look good enough to eat.”
“Shit,” he said, then stood up and kicked his clothes off, reached for her shorts and helped remove them by tugging them down her hips fast enough he almost pulled her off the bed.
He started to crawl back on her, then stopped and reached for his shorts to get a condom, slipped it on, and then got on the bed. He didn’t enter her like she wanted. Nope, he flipped her over on her stomach, then popped her on her hands and knees.
“Now this is a view I’m talking about,” he said right before his hand came down on her bare ass cheek. She yelped at the sting, then burst out laughing. He hadn’t really hurt her as much as it was a shock he’d done it at all. “What is so funny?”
“You do that all the time with my jeans on and I’ve always wondered why you didn’t do it when we were fooling around. I guess you’re right and do know what I want without me asking.”
“I’m not someone that is into that. Not like you think, but you’ve just got the most adorable little ass and it’s right there in my view. I couldn’t resist.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” she said, wiggling her hips a little. “Is looking at it all you are going to do?”
“You are going to be the death of me,” he said, pulling her hips forward. He reached around between her legs, found her nice and wet and spread it around. “You’re always so ready for me.”
“What can I say, you just turn me on.”
“That’s what every man wants to hear,” he said as he entered her swiftly, filling her up like never before. Her muscles started to squeeze him and he pulled back out, only to slam back in. “Am I hurting you?”
“No,” she said, letting out a moan. “Do it again.”
He did. He pulled out and slammed back into her, pushing her higher on the bed. Then he found a rhythm with his hands on her hips and kept it up, the pressure building between her legs. She needed more but didn’t have to ask.
He knew, like he said he would. His hand went back between her legs, found her swollen sensitive bud of pleasure and started to flick at it. There was no yelping, no screaming, just a low hum in her throat.
“Right like that,” she said. “Don’t stop until I get there. I’m almost there.”
He was breathing pretty heavily behind her, but she didn’t care. She could feel the sweat dribbling down between her breasts that were hanging and swaying. Her body was getting one hell of a workout like she’d requested.
“Harris,” she said, her voice reaching the octave right before she let loose. He knew because he moved his hand back to her hip, buried himself so deep inside of her and held it there with little thrusts.
It was enough to send her over, her arms collapsing, her head going down while her hips stayed in the air and Harris gave her everything he had, his own groan following.
Her legs slid out flat, her body completely spent. He was lying on her back, the weight of him almost crushing her, but part of her didn’t care. She was too content to move.
A few seconds later, she said, “You’re kind of crushing me.”
“I know,” he said, rolling and switching to lay her on his chest. “Did I give you a workout?”
“You know you did.”
He kissed her forehead again. She loved all these sides to him. Aggressive, sexy, and now tender. But what she loved the most was his heart.
“Are you going to give me a workout after dinner?” he asked playfully, his hand tapping her cheek this time.
“I might give you one even better than this.”
He smiled and shook his head. “Yeah. I’ve been waiting a long time for this and didn’t even know I was.”
23
Unwanted Attention
On the drive back home, Kaelyn said, “I need to turn my phone on. I shut it off yesterday at the game and then last night you had my mind on other things.”
He laughed. “I turned mine off too. I didn’t want to be bothered by anyone while I was there. I like to unplug. I did it often when I was playing. Since the accident though I’ve kept it on so my family didn’t get worried. Not that there is anything to worry about.”
Most people didn’t ever shut their phones off, but he just needed the peace. Since he was often with the team or around players it didn’t matter if someone couldn’t reach him specifically, they always knew where he was. And because he traveled so much, his family didn’t expect him to talk often.
“I think too many people
are glued to their phones,” she said once she hit the button to power it back up and returned it to her purse. He did the same and put it on the dashboard.
“I’m glad we got this time away,” she said. “Are you bored during the days?”
“A little. I play with Nicks. I work out, play video games, watch TV. I’ve been spending some time now with the kids and I enjoy it. I’ve started to create spreadsheets and documents on information they should know, that I want to show them. Things like that. I’ve always been meticulous about notes and plans.”
“You should open up a clinic.”
“What?”
“Crap,” she said, reaching for her phone. It was dinging left and right. “Wow, that’s a lot of messages. I hope nothing serious has happened.”
His phone started to go off just as much. He glanced over and picked it up, scanned it quickly to see most from his parents. “Can you read these when you get a second?”
“I’m sure I know what they say,” she said. “Guess my face showed up on TV yesterday.”
He’d wanted to avoid that at all costs. Part of the reason he shut his phone off was because he fully expected to get all sorts of messages and calls over the interview. Most would just be people reaching out or saying good job, but others would want to know what he was doing. Where he was. Just being nosy. He wasn’t in the mood.
“I’m sorry. They must have shown you in the executive suite with me after the interview. I’ve got the game recorded at home and we’ll see what the big deal is.”
“I don’t think it’s a big deal as much as most of my messages are friends and coworkers wanting to know why I didn’t share with them who I was dating.”
“It will die down,” he said. He noticed most of it did with the kids too. People got used to him and his face and they moved on to bigger and better things. The faster the better in his eyes. He didn’t want anything to come between him and Kaelyn and unwanted attention was sure to arise now.
Thankfully the Paradise Place picnic was this past weekend and Kaelyn was able to go and support her family with none the wiser who she was dating. She probably would have avoided it if people saw her on TV prior though.
“I’m sure. I’m good at pushing people off. Most of these messages are from people I haven’t talked to in months. Nosy people looking for gossip.” She swiped her finger to the side. “That’s what I do with them. Delete, delete, delete. Goodbye.”
He laughed, liking that not much really seemed to bother her. “Good attitude to have.”
“I’m not letting anything bring me down.” She reached her hand over and laid it on his thigh, her fingers running up and down. “We had a great day and an even better night together. I know you want to see your baby, but I was hoping to cook dinner for you tonight at your house before I went back to my place.”
“Dinner would be nice,” he said. “Do you want to stop with me to get Nicks on the way back or have me go get him while you get some food?”
“We can split up,” she said. “We’ll be home soon enough and it’d be nice to just enjoy the peace and quiet of the ride.”
“Why don’t you lie back and close your eyes. You didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”
“I didn’t. Neither did you. I’d say it was a great joint effort on our part.”
He grinned at her. “I aim to please. But I get to nap during the week if I’m tired. You’ve got that job of yours and all.”
“Sure,” she said. “Rub it in. Not all of us are multi-millionaires and can chill for the rest of our lives.”
He winked at her, not knowing what to say. She had plenty of money, he was sure. And if she wanted to be a trust fund baby and show up at her family business a few hours a week, he was betting no one would say much.
It just wasn’t who she was any more than it was him. “What do you mean about a clinic?” he asked as soon as she tilted her seat back.
“What?”
“You said I should start a clinic before our phones went off like bells in a pinball machine.”
“A baseball clinic. It’s what you know. It’s what you love. Do you enjoy working with the kids?”
“I do,” he said, kind of surprised at that.
“You have the time and the money. You’re already setting up spreadsheets and documents. Probably training routines and so on?”
“Maybe,” he said. “I tend to get ahead of myself.”
“I don’t think you do. I think you are onto something. I’ve got to imagine a lot of professionals do this. They retire but want to stay in the game. They want to give back. This lets them. It’s just something to look into. You know this area, you’ve got the money to do this year round. You could build some place. I know some people in construction.”
He grinned and shook his head. “Trying to drum up more business for your family?”
“Just a thought. You know I’m kidding. But you should think about it.”
He wasn’t just thinking about it. His mind was running away with everything he could do and wanted to.
Two hours later he dropped Kaelyn off at her place. “I’ll see you back at my house shortly?” he asked.
“I’m just going to unpack and then run to the store for food. Anything special you’re in the mood for?”
“Not really. Why don’t you bring some clothes to keep at the house,” he said. She’d only been staying on the weekends, but now that their relationship was completely out in the open, he wasn’t sure what the big deal was if he suggested a longer time frame.
“For the weekend?”
“Or longer.”
She bobbed her head side to side and said, “If you don’t mind, I think I will. I have a feeling some of my neighbors might start knocking on my door tonight if I’m home.”
“Maybe stay the whole week?” he threw out there. “You might want to hide out too until it dies down.”
“I don’t hide,” she said, climbing out of his car. The minute she went to shut his door her neighbor’s front door opened. “Dang it. Maybe I will.”
He laughed. “I’ll see you soon.”
As he drove to his parents’ house he hoped that the attention didn’t get to her. That it didn’t bother her. He knew if they went to a restaurant last night, someone would have recognized him and come forward. So far she hadn’t experienced any of it. Not even the kids wanting autographs since she was always at work when he was at the field.
“That was a great interview,” his mother said to him when he walked in the door to get his puppy. “Your father and I got a little teary eyed.”
“Why’s that?” Nicks was jumping all over him and wanting attention. He got down on the floor and started to play with the dog. “Did you miss me, Nicks? Did you?”
“If it’s possible, that dog started to cry when he saw you on TV.”
“Really? I didn’t think of that. So I guess the world—or those watching the game—saw Kaelyn?”
His father snorted. “You haven’t seen it yet?”
“No, why? I’ve got it recorded.” What was he missing here? It wasn’t like they did anything scandalous.
“You’ll see when you watch it. Let’s just say, I don’t believe this is a passing fling,” his mother said. “So I want to know when I’m going to finally meet her. You know we’ve been wanting a family dinner and you keep pushing it off. Why?”
He wasn’t sure why. “No, it’s not a fling. I love her. I told her this weekend.”
“Oh, dear,” his mother said, her eyes misting up. “I’ve waited for this day. Don’t make me wait any longer to meet her or I’ll stalk your house.”
He laughed. “She’s out getting some food for dinner right now. I’ll talk to her tonight. Maybe you wouldn’t mind coming to dinner tomorrow. We can all see the commercial together. Besides, I think I’ve got an idea for something I want to explore. I could use your help and I’d like Kaelyn there since she suggested it.”
“Explore what?”
“I’ll fi
ll you in more tomorrow. I promise. I’ll get back to you with dinner details.”
He left a few minutes later and went home. The first thing he did was pull up the recording of the game from yesterday and fast forward to the interview. Nothing there that he could see. It wasn’t until about twenty minutes later that the camera zoomed in on him with Kaelyn standing at the glass cheering Johnny’s double.
Kaelyn against his side, her arm around his back, her head against his chest. They were looking into each other’s eyes, grinning, he ran his hand across her cheek, then leaned down and kissed her forehead.
It didn’t take much other than that move before Keith and Ron were commenting on what else he might have been doing with his time and wondering who the lovely lady was.
24
Meet Your Parents
Kaelyn didn’t think it was going to be that nuts that her picture was seen on TV. Maybe it wouldn’t have been if she wasn’t so well known in the area.
And though the Capital Region was big and she lived just outside of Albany and could come and go without everyone knowing her, there were plenty that did.
Her big mistake was going to the grocery store close to her house. She’d run into a neighbor, then a coworker, and an old patient.
She grabbed her food, paid, and drove to Harris’s house.
“Okay. I ran into three people in the store alone. I didn’t even know they were fans of baseball. How the heck could they know already?” she asked him when she carried the bags in.
“Once you see the recording of the game from yesterday, you’ll understand. I don’t think it was just that. My mother made a comment about Facebook.”
She groaned. “I don’t get notifications for it on my phone because it’d go off nonstop with people posting things about their lives I could care less about. I texted my mother I was back and I’d talk to her when I got to your place. I guess I should call her. She’ll have the scoop.”
“You should watch the recording first, then call.”