Page 95 of Designs on You

He winked at her and she rolled her eyes. “Okay, heartbreaker. I can see getting an in-depth look at your growing-up years will take even more time than I imagined.”

He took his coffee cup and leaned back. “We haven’t even hit my high school years yet.”

She gave him an affected grimace. “Not sure I even want to know.”

“Oh, come on. Surely you were popular. I mean, look at you. You must have had boys chasing you from early on.”

“Hardly.” She paused while their server brought their food. Then they dug in and started eating, and the conversation was momentarily halted. But Eugene hadn’t forgotten, so once they had finished, he took a sip of water and put his empty plate to the side.

“What did you mean when you said, hardly?”

She frowned. “What?”

“I had asked you about boys being after you and you said hardly.”

“Oh. I was awkward and painfully shy. Boys weren’t interested in me and I wasn’t interested in them. Not until high school, anyway.”

“Really. No early crushes?”

“Nope. I was into book crushes.”

“Huh. Who?”

“Oh. Well. Where do I even start? Nancy Drew. Mr.Darcy fromPride and Prejudice. Also Elizabeth Bennett fromPride and Prejudice. Lestat fromInterview with the Vampire. Meg Murry fromA Wrinkle in Time, Jamie Fraser fromOutlander. Aragorn fromLord of the Rings. I mean, I could go on for hours.”

“It’s good to have crushes, ya know.”

She lifted her fork to her lips and paused, smiling. “Indeed, it is.”

The way she smiled at him never failed to cause his stomach to tighten and his heart to feel swollen with…with something.

They finished eating and headed back up to the room to freshen up before heading out for the game. Natalie wore team-color capris and a short-sleeve shirt, along with tennis shoes. And she looked damned beautiful—like always.

“Very game appropriate,” he said.

She walked over to him and slipped her hand around his neck, drawing him in for a kiss. After she pulled back, she said, “And you look hot.”

He looked down at himself. He wore a T-shirt, jeans, and his kicks, so nothing special. But if Natalie thought he was hot, he’d make a note to dress like this more often.

Since parking was a nightmare, they’d ordered a car to take them to the stadium. They made their way to their seats along the first base line.

“These seats are amazing,” Natalie said, looking around. “It’s incredible here.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” Eugene loved baseball. He’d always been a huge fan of San Francisco’s team, but as long as it was baseball, he’d enjoy it. No matter what city he traveled to, if itwas baseball season, he’d find time to go see a game. So he was excited for their plans today, even more so knowing that Natalie was also a fan.

As the stadium filled, he noticed Natalie eyeing all the women wearing the Miami team’s jerseys and T-shirts.

“I’ll be right back,” he said.

She nodded, her focus on watching the players warm up.

He went to the concessions and sales area and surveyed the T-shirts. It didn’t take him long to choose one that he thought Natalie might like. He paid and headed back to their seats.

“For you,” he said, handing the T-shirt to her.

Her eyes widened as she lifted the shirt up to inspect it. “Really? Eugene, you didn’t have to do that.”

“But I wanted to. And you were salivating over everyone wearing theirs, so I figured you might want one.”

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