Charming the Shortstop

by Heather B. Moore

He chuckled, then he closed the distance and kissed her softly. Not moving his hands from her hips, not pulling her closer. Just his mouth against hers. Without words, he told her that she was becoming part of his heart.

  When he pulled away after a long, warm moment, he said, “Want to go for a ride on my motorcycle?”

  CHAPTER 25

  Axel heard the din of the cheers as he rounded second base. He skidded to a stop. The ball was on its way to third, and there was no way he’d make it. So he’d have to wait for a chance to steal. Ricky was up to bat.

  “Come on, Ricky, get me home!”

  Bottom of the eighth. Two outs. Sharks up three to two against the Arizona Falcons. With the early losses in the season, then their mini-comeback, the Sharks were on the bubble.

  When Brighton had come over to his place yesterday, he’d known from the moment he’d seen her walk down his mom’s front steps that he’d fallen in love with her. He hadn’t even known if things had gone well or not between the two women.

  But the fact that Brighton had taken the initiative had told Axel that she was willing to work through her past in order to have a future with him.

  “Strike one!”

  Ricky moved into his stance again, and Axel led off base. It had been only a week since his concussion, but it turned out that he’d been misdiagnosed. The second doctor appointment that Axel had gone to, after doing a bunch of research, had proved enlightening. So here he was, playing again in the Sharks stadium.

  “Strike two!”

  Axel returned to second base, then led off as the Falcons pitcher wound up.

  Brighton was sitting with his mom and sister. Gabe too. Along with Brighton’s mom and her husband, Phil. Apparently they weren’t getting divorced anymore.

  Crack.

  The ball sailed high and fast, spinning off Ricky’s bat. The crowd roared, but Axel was already running. Seconds later, he rounded third base, then headed for home. He didn’t even have to slide. The stadium erupted, and everyone was on their feet, cheering Ricky home. Axel stood aside and clapped and yelled for Ricky. The double home run had secured the Sharks’ lead going into the ninth inning.

  Axel waited outside the dugout to congratulate Ricky as he came off home plate. It was a good night, Axel decided. He felt good. The team was making its mark in the league. Brighton had ridden on his motorcycle last night. He’d never seen his mom and sister so excited about something as they were about Brighton. He was already fighting for time with her, and now he had more competition.

  Axel headed into the dugout as his teammates slapped his back or shoulders. He settled on the bench at the far end, guzzled some water, then rubbed the perspiration from his face with a towel.

  Tonight he was going to tell her that he’d fallen in love with her. He’d never felt this way before, and he couldn’t not tell her. He knew once the news got out to the Six Pack that Axel Diaz finally had a girlfriend, there would be no end to the razzing. But Axel was fine with that. His near concussion had taught him that putting things off did no one any good.

  He’d already dealt with inquiries from Big Dawg and Skeeter, so he considered that a sort of a warmup.

  Axel rose from the bench and watched the next batter swing. Willie hit a fly ball that the Falcons caught. Three outs.

  Axel grabbed his mitt and jogged to the infield. Beane had been put in during the seventh inning, and he was on fire tonight. The kid could take the heckling and bring the heat. Axel was impressed.

  Beane made short work of the downhearted Falcons. Three up, three down.

  The Sharks fans were on their feet again, cheering as Beane struck the final Falcon out.

  As the fans came onto the field to get balls and T-shirts signed, Axel couldn’t help but look for Brighton. After signing a couple of things, he finally saw his family and the rest. Silvia stuck close to Brighton, talking a mile a minute. He’d never seen her so open with someone, and it made him smile to see the two of them together.

  Gabe was talking to Phil, and Brighton’s mom and his mom were laughing about something.

  “Here you go, buddy,” Axel said, handing over a signed ball to a little kid.

  The next kid in line stepped forward. The kid had red hair and bright green eyes. “Hi, Mr. Diaz,” he said, his smile shy. “I’m part of Sports for Kids. They gave me and my mom tickets tonight. And they also paid for my baseball team.”

  Axel smiled. “What’s your name, kid?”

  “Kevin Wright.”

  “Hello, Kevin Wright.” Axel shook his hand. “Where’s your mom?”

  “Over there,” the kid said, pointing to a woman standing a few yards away. She was thin and had plenty of tired lines about her eyes.

  “Can I meet her too?”

  “Sure,” he said.

  Axel followed the kid and shook his mom’s hand. “You’ve raised a fine son here, ma’am.”

  Her smile was shy like her son’s. “Thank you, Mr. Diaz. We appreciate the work you do with the sports program.” She wrapped her arm about Kevin’s shoulders. “My son looks up to everything you do.”

  Axel blinked. “It’s an honor to meet you both.”

  Other kids had started to crowd around, so Axel eventually said goodbye to Kevin, then finished autographing. By the time he’d satisfied those who’d come onto the field, he searched for his family again. The only person left was Brighton.

  She stood, her hands in the pockets of the white capris she wore, watching him with a half smile on her face. Her hair was pulled into a loose braid hanging over one shoulder, and she wore a baseball cap with his number on it. Axel’s heart rate went up a notch as she started to walk toward him.

  “Nice job, Mr. Shortstop.”

  “Thanks, babe,” he said in a low voice. He held out his hand, and she slipped hers into it. This brought her closer, and Axel inhaled her sweet orange scent, so familiar now.

  “Where did everyone go?” he asked.

  “They’re going to wait at the restaurant,” she said. “They’ll save us a seat.”

  “Which restaurant?” he asked. He didn’t really want to go to a big dinner. He had things to talk to Brighton about.

  She shrugged. “Some Italian place that your mom said was really good. They’ll text me the location.”

  “So they’re all together, even Gabe?”

  “Yeah, Silvia has decided she wants Gabe to be part of our book club.”

  Axel groaned. “I think I’d better join too. Keep an eye on Silvia. She has a crush on your friend.”

  Brighton laughed. “He’s harmless, believe me.” She stepped closer so they were standing only inches away from each other. “But I’d love for you to join. We’re going to reread all the Twilight novels.”

  “Can I just watch the movies?” he asked, gazing into her violet eyes.

  “No... it’s not a movie club.”

  He lifted his free hand and ran his thumb over her jaw. “I want you to myself tonight. Tell our moms we have other plans.”

  Her eyes widened slightly. “What are we doing?”

  “You’ll see,” he said, sliding his hand to her shoulder. “I’ve got to shower first though. Wait for me?”

  “Okay,” she said. “Is your mom going to be mad?”

  “She’ll get over it.” He drew her by the hand, and they walked past the dugout and into the interior of the stadium.

  He left her waiting outside the locker room. Most of the players had showered and left. Axel made a couple of phone calls, then he hurried to shower and dress, then found Brighton still waiting.

  “Come on,” he said, grasping her hand, and leading her to the parking lot. “I hope you like Chinese food.”

  “Sure,” she said.

  When they reached his truck, he put his bags in the cab, then grabbed a blanket he’d stored there earlier. Just then a small black car pulled up.

  “Mr. Diaz?” the teenager who was driving said out his window.

  “That’s me,” Axel said, walking t
he few steps to the car. “Thanks for coming here.”

  The teen’s face flushed, and Axel gave him an extra twenty for following his instructions. The teen handed over two sacks of Chinese food and a couple of water bottles.

  “Thanks,” Axel told him, then he turned to face Brighton.

  “You got someone to drop off food to you here?” she asked.

  “There’s this cool app that lets you order food to be brought wherever you are,” he said.

  “So where are we going?” Brighton said, taking one of the sacks of food from him.

  “Back inside the stadium,” he said, leading her back through the tunnel.

  “Aren’t they locking up?” she asked.

  “Yep, but I’ve got a friend who’ll let us have a picnic.”

  “Of course you do,” she said with amusement. “You’re the Axe Man.”

  They walked into the stadium. The main lights were off, and only the auxiliary night lights remained.

  A completely empty stadium was a sight to behold. It was so quiet that it almost felt reverent.

  “It feels so different,” Brighton said. “Do you do this a lot?”

  “By myself,” he said. “But not with Chinese food, and not with a woman.”

  “So I’m the first.”

  Axel stopped where they’d reached the grass behind second base. “Yes.” He set down the sack of food, then spread out the blanket. Next he sat down and patted the space next to him.

  Brighton slipped off her shoes and sat down, the food between them. “My mom can’t stop talking about you, and baseball in general,” she said, pulling things out of the sacks.

  Axel leaned back on his hands and watched her.

  “She wants to know why you’re not a pitcher,” Brighton continued, “because they, you know, make more money. I told her that if everyone were pitchers, there’d be no more games. Just batting practice.”

  Axel chuckled. “Well, you could date Skeeter.”

  Brighton frowned. “That’s not funny. And you’d better not say that to my mom. Who knows what mortifying thing she’ll say.”

  He reached for her hand. “You’re worrying too much,” he said. “Don’t worry. I like your mom, quirks and all.”

  Brighton raised her gaze to meet his. “You do?”

  “I like her because she brought you into the world.”

  Brighton laughed. She picked up one of the water bottles and drank from it. “I like your mom too.”

  “That’s really good to hear,” he said.

  She shrugged. “She’s great. I was lame for being so nervous about meeting her.”

  Axel watched the emotions flit across her face. “Come closer,” he said, patting the area right next to him.

  “Don’t you want to eat?” she asked, looking from him to the food she’d set out.

  “I’m not that hungry,” he said.

  “Me neither,” she said.

  He patted the blanket again.

  So she moved aside the food and sat right next to him. He wrapped his arms about her from behind and pulled her against his chest.

  “Without all the stadium lights, the sky is beautiful,” she said, leaning against him and tilting her head toward the sky.

  “Mm-hm,” he murmured against her neck. He pressed a kiss on her warm skin.

  She melted against him a little more with each kiss. He took off her hat, then tugged the elastic from the end of her braid.

  As he undid the braid, she whispered, “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing,” he whispered back.

  She turned then, and he kissed her for real. He buried his hands into her hair and deepened the kiss. She moved her hands up his chest, then over his shoulders. “That’s not nothing,” she whispered against his mouth.

  He smiled. “You’re right.” Then he kissed her again. “Thanks for having a picnic with me.”

  She laughed, looping her arms about his neck. “A picnic neither of us is eating?”

  He kissed her jaw. “One we’re still enjoying, though.”

  She pulled him closer and ran her fingers through his hair.

  He could easily stay out here all night with her, forget that there was a world outside this silent stadium.

  “Your phone is lighting up like the Fourth of July,” she said.

  Axel had put the phone on silent and tossed it on the edge of the blanket, but the screen still flashed with incoming messages. “Probably the Six Pack,” he said. “They’re most lively after games. Both Steal and Grizz won tonight. Big Dawg lost again.”

  “Ouch.”

  Axel ran his thumb down the nape of her neck. “Don’t worry about Dawg; he always manages to come out on top. Has the golden touch in life.”

  “Yeah?” she said, drawing away slightly to meet his gaze. “You’ve got the same touch, Axel.”

  “You mean when I touch you?”

  Her cheeks pinked. “You know what I mean.”

  He smiled, his gaze dropping to the lips he’d spent so much time kissing. Then he gazed into those violet eyes of hers—eyes he’d seen both pain and joy in. And one more thing he hoped he hadn’t imagined—love.

  “Brighton West, I need to tell you something,” he whispered. “But I don’t want to scare you off.”

  She stilled, but didn’t pull away. “You can tell me anything, Axel Diaz.”

  “Good. Because it’s kind of serious.” He could see the question in her eyes. “I’m in love with you, babe,” he said. “And you’re the first woman I’ve ever said that to.”

  She blinked and didn’t move for a second. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

  He held her close, feeling the rapid beat of her heart matching his.

  “I love you too,” she whispered in his ear.

  He closed his eyes, memorizing everything about this moment. The empty stadium, the cool night air, Brighton in his arms, her soft-spoken words, the scent of oranges surrounding them. After a long moment, he drew away and said, “Hang on, I want to try something.”

  Without letting Brighton go, he reached for his phone. He opened the camera without reading any of the texts, then he drew Brighton close again. He snapped their picture and sent it as a group text.

  “That’s going to start a firestorm,” he said with a laugh.

  “You just sent that to the Six Pack?” Brighton asked, staring at him.

  “It’s time to make us official, babe.” Axel winked.

  “If you’re sure, Mr. Shortstop.”

  He drew her back into his arms. “More sure than I’ve been about anything.”

  “Even baseball?” she said, nestling against him.

  “Baseball doesn’t even compare to how I feel about you, Brighton West,” he said. “So you had better not break my heart.”

  “Never,” she whispered back. “I’m not going anywhere, Axel Diaz.”

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  Heather B. Moore is a four-time USA Today bestselling author. She writes historical thrillers under the pen name H.B. Moore; her latest thrillers include The Killing Curse and Breaking Jess. Under the name Heather B. Moore, she writes romance and women’s fiction. Her newest releases include the historical romances Love is Come and Ruth. She’s also one of the coauthors of the USA Today bestselling series: A Timeless Romance Anthology. Heather writes speculative fiction under the pen name Jane Redd; releases include the Solstice series and Mistress Grim. Heather is represented by Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

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