Page 39 of Audra: The Prequel

“My hope is to retire as a Brave,” he said.

“I want to play baseball too.” Kerilyn directed the statement to Damon. She sat between Ethan and Thiago.

“What position would you like to play?” he asked.

“I like to throw the ball,” she answered.

“In that case, you’d like to be the pitcher.”

She nodded vigorously. “I don’t throw very far right now, but maybe I can throw far when I’m bigger.”

Damon smiled across the table at her. “You can do anything you put your mind to. Size doesn’t matter. Heart does.”

A grin spread across her lips.

From then on, the conversation remained relaxed. The Connor-Santanas learned about Damon, and he learned about them, as well. He found out that Audra’s Hispanic brothers had a connection to Colombia on their mother’s side and learned about Ethan’s dream of creating a multi-billion dollar residential development one day.

Maxwell’s siblings teased him about the many girls he dated, and Kerilyn added to the conversation by exclaiming that she was not looking forward to the end of summer vacation and going back to school.

When dinner ended, Damon said his goodbyes, and Audra walked him out. As soon as the door closed behind them, she flung her arms around his neck.

He hugged her back, laughing. “What’s this for?”

She gazed up at him. “You were great. They love you.”

“How do you know?”

“I know.” She couldn’t stop smiling. “Thank you for coming. I wanted them to see how great you are.”

“I enjoyed myself, but things were a little rough at the beginning.”

“That’s just Thiago.” Audra rolled her eyes. “He can be an ass, but if he’s on your side, there’s no one more loyal or who goes harder for you.”

Damon nodded. “I can see that. He’s got your back. Your whole family does.”

“And Kerilyn likes you.”

“She’s a cutie. Maybe… if you’re open to it, we could do something together with her one day.”

She looked immensely pleased. “I would like that.”

With one arm around her waist, Damon bent his head and kissed either side of her mouth. “I love being with you, Audra. Thank you for inviting me.”

She pressed a hand to his jaw and kissed his lips, and he felt his body stir. She barely had to touch him for him to become aroused.

“I’ll see you when you get back,” she whispered.

He’d be on the road for the next five days and had never hated travel more than he did now because it meant being away from Audra. “See you then.”

He gave her one more kiss and then jogged down the steps to his car.

Chapter Sixteen

Leaning back on her hands, Audra watched Kerilyn and Damon with the Princess Tiana kite he had bought.

He wore his cap backward and was dressed casually in a dark T-shirt and jeans for their afternoon excursion at the small park. Kerilyn was adorable in a shorts set, her mouth open wide in awe as she gazed up at the soaring kite.

He was so good with her. Patient. Friendly. Audra thought again about what a great father he would be.

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