by Duncan Leigh
His heart thudded faster when Courtney stared up at him, indecision playing across her face.
“It’s only a dance,” he whispered, trying without much luck to put them both at ease.
“Why not?” She nodded at last.
His hand at the small of her back, he steered her toward a clear space before either of them changed their minds. He told himself a single dance didn’t mean anything, but the minute he slipped his arm around Courtney’s waist, Travis knew he was lost. As he took her in his arms, her head rested perfectly below his shoulder. When she leaned into him, it felt so right that he never wanted to let her go. Enveloped by her spicy floral scent, he drank it in, unable to get enough of it. Of her.
For the first time since the day the slender blonde had walked into Bob Morgan’s office, Travis couldn’t think of one good reason why they shouldn’t explore their feelings. The children were no longer the stumbling blocks he’d thought they’d be. Addie already had him wrapped around her little finger. As for Josh, he was a great kid on his way to becoming a better one. And while Courtney might never enjoy baseball, she’d shoved her own doubts and concerns aside to help her son.
He bent so low that her hair tickled his chin. It stirred an urge to brush a kiss through the soft strands. He indulged himself, only to realize it wasn’t enough. He wanted—no, he needed—he needed to feel the press of her lips on his. If for no other reason than to know whether she felt the same way.
He whisked her through the open doors and onto the porch, where volunteers had strung twinkling strands among the ivy. Earlier he hadn’t seen the point of all the decorations. Now the lights shone for Courtney, and she’d never looked more beautiful.
She peered up at him, laughter dancing across the lips he meant to claim. As he met her gaze and held it, an altogether different emotion darkened her blue eyes. When she shifted marginally closer, Travis suppressed a moan.
“Courtney, I—” His voice failed him.
“Yeah, I know.”
Her fingers trailed across his jaw. He captured them in his hand and pressed a kiss into her palm.
“Whatever this is, I don’t think I can fight it anymore.”
He didn’t wait for her response. Instead, he slowly lowered his head until his lips met the smooth skin above her eyebrows. He swept across it, barely making contact. Hunger roared within him to have more of her, but he forced himself to go slow, to give her time to back away if she wanted.
She didn’t resist. He dipped lower. And lower still. Finally reaching her lips, he rained tiny kisses across them.
Was that his imagination, or had she kissed him back?
Taking a chance, he pressed more firmly. Her soft sigh let him know he was on the right track and he angled closer, reveling in the heady sensations that her touch sent through his body. Unable, unwilling, to stop himself, he swept his tongue against her mouth. She opened to him, and the move sent a surge of pure pleasure down his spine.
Travis smiled without breaking contact. She tasted sweet with a hint of flowers and spice. He threaded one hand through her hair. The other, he slipped around her waist, drawing her to him until his legs pressed against hers. He melted into her as music drifted through the open doorway and lights twinkled among the vines overhead.
He could have gone on for hours, lost in that one kiss. Would have…if the song hadn’t ended. But the moment the DJ’s booming voice announced the next number, Courtney broke away. Abruptly, she stepped out of his embrace.
“I— We— I can’t,” she said, breathless.
In an instant, she had slipped through the doors and disappeared into the crowded room.
He watched her go without making a move to stop her. He understood. Or at least, he thought he did. He ran a hand through hair she had disheveled, blotted her lipstick from his lips. Discovering he had fallen for her had hit him so hard he couldn’t blame her for running. For cutting things off in the middle of the most incredible kiss he’d ever experienced.
He could hardly wait for the next one but told himself there was no need to hurry. Tomorrow was the start of the Little League baseball season. They had six weeks or more to get to know each other better. Determined to use the time to learn all he could about Courtney and her children, he turned toward the parking lot and headed for home.
Heaven help her.
When Travis’s lips had brushed hers, it was as if someone had thrown a switch. Her heavy burdens had slipped from her shoulders. The worries that kept her up most nights had melted away. His touch had ignited a rush of wondrous sensations she hadn’t felt in longer than she dared remember. For a few minutes, she’d lost herself in his caresses, his heady blend of desire and strength. She’d wished those feelings could last forever.
But no sooner had Melinda and the babysitter toted the sleepy Markham children down the stairs than reality came rushing back to confront her.
Her life was in shambles because of a baseball player. No matter how different Travis was from her late husband, his life was still devoted to the sport that had destroyed her marriage. Worse, at his first chance to coach in the pros, Travis would leave town. While her children, her life, remained in Cocoa Village.
She stared at a thin crack in the plaster ceiling. As attracted as she was to Travis, there’d be no more kissing. No more long, lingering looks. No wishing for a second chance at love. Friendship—that was all she could afford to give him. Friendship and nothing more.
Could she do it? Could she back away from Travis?
For her children, for her own sanity, she didn’t have a choice. Calling a halt to whatever this was between them wouldn’t be easy. From the way Travis had whispered her name as his fingers skimmed over her bare shoulders, she knew he was drawn to her. But pursuing a relationship when they couldn’t have a future together made no sense.
With that thought, she punched her pillows, closed her eyes and willed herself to lie still, even if sleep was impossible. It wouldn’t do to show up at the ball field with dark circles under her eyes, fatigue written on her face. Not the way a certain hunky coach paid attention to details.
“Six weeks,” she whispered on her way to the opening-day ceremony the next morning. “Just six weeks.”
She could smile and guard her heart against Travis that long. In less than two months, she’d have fulfilled her part of the bargain she’d made with Principal Morgan. Once she’d secured her son’s place at school, she’d never see Travis for coffee in the morning, never look into his bedroom eyes, never be alone with him and in danger of succumbing to his kisses again.
Six weeks. She could stay strong that long, couldn’t she?
She had to.
At McLarty Park, “Put Me In, Coach” blared from the score booth. One by one, teams of young players marched onto the field. Their jerseys created a brilliant kaleidoscope above blindingly white pants. From her seat in the bleachers, Courtney spotted Josh, standing a half head taller than his teammates. She smiled and waved, determined not to let her decision about Travis spoil her son’s big day.
Bouncing Addie on her lap, she pointed. “See Josh, honey? Wave to him.”
“Chosh! Chosh!”
The little girl struggled to climb out of her lap, but Courtney made a game of hugging her daughter close. This wasn’t a practice, where she and the other moms could rely on one another to look out for their youngsters. Today hundreds of parents, assorted relatives and complete strangers filled the stadium. Letting her baby out of her grasp wasn’t an option.
She ducked as Addie’s arms flailed the air. The baby ratcheted up the volume. “Cosh Oak!” she squealed. “Cosh Oak!”
Courtney braced herself for the disappointed wails that would surely come when Travis turned his back on her child. Not that she blamed him. He was, after all, in the middle of a ball field. Not the ideal place to play with a toddler.
How he managed to pick her daughter’s voice out of the din, Courtney didn’t know, but somehow Travis did. His stride acro
ss the field to his team broke. She stared, disbelief sending a flutter through her when he made a show of catching Addie’s imaginary kiss. He slipped the treasure in his pants pocket and gave the baby a jaunty wave before he rejoined his team.
The sensation of being in Travis’s arms flooded back. Her tummy tightened, and Courtney stifled a groan. In the wee hours of the morning, her plan to stay away from the coach had made perfect sense. But getting through an entire baseball season without giving her heart to the man would be harder than she’d thought.
Soon after the teams marched out of the stadium, the crowd thinned. Over the loudspeakers, an announcer encouraged the few lingerers to clear the field for the start of the season’s first game, pitting the Hornets versus the Sluggers. Off to one side, Courtney glimpsed Travis leading his team through their pregame warm-ups. A short time later the umpire called, “Play ball!”
Fighting an urge to bite her fingernails, Courtney plastered on a bright smile. Inside, though, her body thrummed with a nervousness she’d never felt in a major league park. When Josh trotted onto the infield, she scooted forward. By the time Tommy Markham threw the first pitch, she literally sat on the edge of her seat.
For two innings neither team scored a run. But at the top of the third, the Hornets managed to get runners on all the bases before the end of the inning. With an out remaining, the opposing coach signaled for a substitute.
Unease rippled through the Sluggers’ stands when a big kid, easily twenty pounds heavier than anyone on their team, lumbered out of the dugout. In the batter’s box, he hit his bat against his cleats. Thud, thud, thud. The noise echoed through the silent bleachers.
On the mound, Tommy’s face bore a decidedly worried look. Courtney risked a single glimpse at Travis, but if the coach was concerned, he hid it well. Taking her cue from him, she summoned some encouragement.
“You can do it, Sluggers!” she cheered.
The batter shifted his weight, settling in over the plate as if he owned it.
Tommy went into his windup.
Courtney held her breath. Her stomach churned. “Oh, please,” she whispered.
Please what? Please let Tommy throw a strike? Please let us get out of this inning? Please let us win the game?
Surprised by how much she wanted the latter, she braced for the pitch.
Thwack!
The ball sailed off the end of the bat. A high pop-up, it drifted down toward Josh. He reached up, neatly trapping the white leather in the glove Travis had given him. Stunned, Courtney added her own cheers to those of the rest of the parents as Josh ran toward the dugout with his teammates.
Play resumed, but the Hornets had lost their momentum and the Sluggers easily won. Afterward the players and their coach lined up at home plate, where they shook the hands of their opponents before they walked off the field. Now that the game had ended, Courtney felt a sudden need to put some distance between herself and all things baseball. Especially a certain tall, handsome coach. One who personified sportsmanship during the game, not even raising his voice when things looked particularly bad.
If Josh had to play baseball, he was lucky to have Travis for his coach.
Even if she didn’t want him for herself.
Much.
“Great game!” she exclaimed later as she helped Josh load his gear into the trunk.
“Did you see my catch, Mom? I didn’t get a hit, but Coach Oak said that’s okay. He said the other team gave up after I caught the ball, and one player can’t do everything.” Excitement and little-boy sweat filled the car when the boy slid onto the seat beside Addie. “We’re s’posed to follow everyone else. Coach Oak is taking the whole team for pizza. The guys said he does every Saturday. There he goes.” Josh jabbed a finger toward Travis’s Jeep. “Let’s go. I don’t want to be late. Tommy said I could sit beside him.”
“Really?” Courtney tugged her Sluggers baseball cap from her head and tossed it onto the passenger seat. “I don’t know.”
“We have to go, Mom! The whole team will be there.”
She studied her son’s eager face in the rearview mirror, drew in a fortifying breath and started the car. She pulled in behind the line that followed Travis’s Jeep to a family-owned restaurant. Walking past festive banners and helium balloons that wished someone a bon voyage, Courtney told herself it wasn’t as if she and the coach would be spending time alone. They’d be surrounded by parents and other players. In a group that size, surely she could keep her distance.
Or not.
She gritted her teeth when Melinda waved her toward a seat she’d saved next to the one man Courtney wanted to avoid.
“I need a high chair for Addie.” Courtney eyed tables that had been pushed together and covered with red-checked vinyl. Players at one end, coaches and parents at the other, people sat elbow to elbow.
“No problem. I’ll get it.”
Before she could protest, Travis disappeared. He returned minutes later with a high chair, which he placed next to his spot at the table.
“Here you go, Addie.” He plucked the all-too-willing baby from Courtney’s arms and plopped her onto the seat.
Courtney watched in amazement as the coach deftly belted Addie in.
“I ordered breadsticks.” Travis’s grin tilted dangerously. “And ketchup.” He rubbed Addie’s head. “I hope that’s okay.”
More than okay, it was perfect. He was perfect.
Her hard-won determination to maintain a safe distance from Travis shuddered as Courtney slid into the chair next to his. She glanced around the room. Her daughter looked up at Travis with adoring eyes. At the other end of the table, Josh thought the coach walked on water.
And she, what did she think?
She thought she should have been paying better attention because, while she wasn’t looking, Travis had stolen a piece of her heart.
Chapter Eight
Travis slowed, his thoughts spinning like a well-thrown curve. He should stop. Turn around. Get in his car and drive home, to school, to a batting cage. Go anywhere but Coffee on Brevard. There was too much at stake for him to take things with Courtney beyond a few stolen kisses—a few stolen amazing kisses. Not unless they were in it for the long haul. Unless he was in it for the long haul.
Was that what he wanted? Did he want to have it all with Courtney? The house, the white picket fence, the two—maybe three—children playing in the backyard?
Josh and Addie didn’t deserve an Uncle Travis in their lives. A man who stopped by between road trips. No, they needed a real dad. Someone who would teach Josh how to handle long division and throw a slider. Who wasn’t afraid to play dolls with Addie but would put the fear of God into anyone who tried to hurt her.
Was he willing to be that man? To settle for teaching school and coaching Little League for the rest of his life?
For the first time ever, saying no to the Cannons didn’t feel like settling. It felt right.
Stunned by the insight, Travis came to a dead stop in the middle of the sidewalk. He stared at gulls that flew so low over the river their wings nearly skimmed the water.
He gulped, his shoulders squaring.
Let’s not be too hasty here.
He and Courtney had a long way to go before he considered giving up his dream job. They still had a lot to learn about each other. And then there was her dislike of all things baseball. There was still room for improvement on that score. He crossed his fingers, hoping the trip to Twister Stadium would erase her final reservations about the sport that defined his life.
He put his feet in motion again. The bell over the door jingled as he stepped into the café. His stomach protested its current empty state the moment he sniffed a delicious mix of coffee and fresh cinnamon buns. He scanned empty tables and Courtney’s vacant spot behind the counter.
Where was she?
He wove through the café until he spotted a dead-to-the-world Addie sprawled in her pack ’n’ play. When she was awake, she kept them all on their toe
s. Knowing the tyke had put a goofy smile on his lips and not caring, he poked his head through the open doorway of Courtney’s office.
“Mornin’,” he called. “Where is everybody?”
Her head swiveled up from her computer screen, the deep V between her brows thinning when she smiled.
“You missed the rush when I opened the doors. A big cruise ship docked overnight in Port Canaveral. Today it’ll offer an excursion to quaint Cocoa Village, so most of the shops will be open, even though it’s Monday.”
“Is that why there’s enough sweets in the display case to give the entire town a sugar high?” He noted the fatigue lines around Courtney’s mouth and wondered how late she’d worked last night or how early she’d had to start baking. He summoned a supportive smile. “That must be good for business.”
“Yes, but…” With a soft sigh, she tilted away from her desk. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for the sales, but these people are only here for a couple of hours before they go back aboard and disappear. What would really help are some long-term repeat customers.” She cast a worried look at the computer screen.
“Everything all right?” he asked, eyeing neatly organized piles of bills and receipts.
“Not exactly.” This time her sigh came out as a low whistle. “You ever see that old cartoon with the guy in the leaky rowboat? The one where he’s trying to bail with a slotted spoon? That’s me.”
Her voice carried an ominous ring he didn’t like. “Business not going well?”
“That’s an understatement. Most days, it costs more to keep the doors open than I bring in.” She tucked a loose curl behind her ear.
Travis considered all that Coffee on Brevard had to offer—the perfect location, food like his mama wished she could make, great coffee.
“Just hang in there,” he offered. “Once people discover the café, they’ll come back again and again.” Trying to lighten the mood, he grinned and pointed to himself. “Like I have.”