Part 6 (1/2)

”I wasn't sure that I would,” Sam replied. ”But my friends, Molly and Bill, mentioned that they were coming, so I decided to tag along.”

She motioned up to where she'd come from, and I waved at the curly-haired woman I'd seen her talking to. I guessed that was Molly, and that the dark-haired dude next to her was Bill. They were trying to entertain a couple of kids with crayons and coloring books.

”Cool,” I responded. ”They have cute kids.”

Sam's face closed up a bit as she nodded.

”Well, good luck today,” she said. She turned to walk away, but I put my hand on her arm to stop her.

”Thanks. I had a great time the other night. Would you like to go out again sometime?” I asked, less than thrilled with the nerves that plagued me as I waited for her response.

”When?”

”Wella” s.h.i.+t, I guess I should have thought it through before opening my mouth. I just wasn't ready to let her go yet. ”My teammate's sick, so I want to go check on him todaya What about coffee tomorrow, and we can go from there.”

”Sounds good,” Sam said, suddenly looking at me more closely. She reached out a hand, like she was going to take off my ball cap, before she pulled it back. ”Did you cut your hair?”

”Yeah,” I replied, taking my hat off to show her my shorn hair. ”The coach likes us to be clean-cut during the season.”

”Oh,” she said, looking almost regretful. ”That's too bad.”

”You liked it long?” I asked.

Sam nodded, looking like she wanted to say something, but kept quiet.

”It'll grow back,” I a.s.sured her.

”It's just that I thought about touching it the other night, and now I'm sorry that I won't get a chance to,” she admitted.

Desire punched me in the stomach at her words. s.h.i.+t, she'd been thinking about running her hands through my hair? That was f.u.c.king hot. It meant she was thinking about me in the same way I'd been thinking about her.

A haze of l.u.s.t blurred my vision and I didn't think, just reacted to the urges she brought out in me.

I took a step toward her, closing the gap between us, and put my hand in her hair. I fisted my hand, pulling back on the strands, causing her head to tilt with them. Her eyes opened in surprise and she gasped slightly.

”Like this?” I growled softly, before claiming her mouth with my own. The kiss started out soft, turning wild when she opened her lips and thrust out her tongue.

Cheers from the crowd brought me back to reality and I pulled away, but not before I brushed my lips against hers again.

I let go of her and stepped back. The look on her face made me want to really give the crowd something to cheer about.

”See you tomorrow then?” I asked when I heard the coach calling my name.

Sam just nodded.

”Thanks for coming out,” I said with a smile, and then turned to meet my team in the dugout.

I wandered slowly and dazed back up to my seat. d.a.m.n, that was hot.

”d.a.m.n, that looked hot!” Molly exclaimed, mirroring my thoughts. ”I'm a.s.suming that was Judd.”

”Yeah,” was all I could muster at the moment. I sat down next to Molly and looked over to Karrie and Thomas, who were oblivious to the world around them as they colored. Thank G.o.d Karrie hadn't seen Judd kissing me. That would have been an interesting conversation to have with a two-year-old.

”From up here it looked like you guys had a good date the other night,” Bill said with a chuckle.

Molly was still looking at me expectantly.

”What?” I asked, looking back out at the field as they began to announce the lineup.

”You know what,” Molly said in my ear with an exaggerated whisper. ”How was the kiss? Was it as hot as it looked?”

”Hotter,” I stated simply.

”d.a.m.n,” Molly said, sitting back in her seat.

”Calm down,” Bill interjected with a laugh. ”You act like you don't get kissed like that every day.”

”Don't I wish,” Molly muttered dryly.

”Oh yeah?” Bill said in mock anger. ”Ole Judd ain't showing me upa” Bill grabbed Molly and kissed her pa.s.sionately, causing the fans around us to cat-call and whistle.

”Whew,” Molly said when Bill pulled away. ”Don't forget that later when Thomas goes to bed.”

Molly turned to me and said under her breath, ”I'm going to have to thank Judd later.”

I laughed and slapped her on the knee, then turned to watch as the first pitch was thrown.

It was a great game. Our team crushed the opposing team and Judd proved his talents on the field. He was a skilled ballplayer, and I felt a little proud as I watched him hit a double and get countless players out at first. I knew he wasn't my boyfriend or anything, but there was definitely something between us.

When the game was over, we gathered up our tired kids and went home. I left without speaking to Judd again, but figured it was better that way. I didn't want him getting a closer look at Karrie and figuring out she was mine. I wasn't ready for that confrontation yet. I was enjoying how carefree and flirtatious our relations.h.i.+p was, and I didn't want that to change.

I thanked Molly and Bill when they dropped us off and took Karrie inside. I knew there were tons of homework and housework that I needed to do, including figuring out what to make for dinner, but I sat down on the couch to cuddle with Karrie instead.

”MommyaDowa,” Karrie said in her tired little voice.

I got up to put Dora on, grabbed a blanket, and headed back to the couch. I laid down and settled Karrie on top of me, running my hands over her blond curls as the music began to play.

It didn't take long until we were both asleep with Dora and Boots singing softly in the background.

I woke up to a knock on the door. I tried to sit up without waking Karrie, but she must have woken to the knock as well.

”Dowa, Mommy,” she said sleepily.

I kissed her on the head and pressed play again on the DVD player before answering the door.

”Hey,” I said to James as I opened the door to let her in. ”What's going on?”

”Not much,” James replied. ”Just wanted to check on my favorite girls and see if you would share this pizza with me.”

James walked in and pulled the pizza box out from behind her back.