Page 20 of Legal

“Ouch! You’re squeezing my hand.”

I lessened my grip. “Sorry, sweetie.”

I darted my eyes upward to catch a tiny smile forming on his lips. Oh, no. He did not just bust me looking. Please, God. What was the matter with my cognitive processes? And how could I be so incredibly aroused and thoroughly disgusted with myself all in the same breath?

“Bye, Coach. See you next time,” Emily said. “And thank you.”

Chase gave her brim a tug and grinned. “You’re welcome, Emily. Great job today keeping your eye on the ball. And way to get your mitt dirty.”

He winked, and Emily beamed. His praise obviously meant a lot to her, and it was touching to see her face light up. If nothing else, at least I knew my first, and only, one-night stand wasn’t with a coldhearted bastard.

“Yes, thank you,” I said quickly, clenching her hand and snatching my purse.

“Jillian?”

I took a long breath and straightened, only to get an eyeful of lovergirl rushing straight toward us. “Oh, Chase. Since Willow’s dad didn’t show today, I thought you could use some help bringing the equipment back to school.”

“That’d be great. Thanks.”

“Anytime, Chase.”

His gaze was substantial, weighing down on me. Fortunately, his devotee balanced it out with her nails-on-a-chalkboard scowl, allowing me to keep my senses. I was interfering, and that was not my intention. If she could get a little something going with him, then who was I to stand in the way? They were much better suited for each other.

She touched Chase’s arm. “Rosa’s mom’s waiting for you. She really needs to talk to you before she leaves. Which she needed to do five minutes ago.”

“I’ll be there in a minute, Cassie.”

Cassie and Chase. Even their names together sounded like something you’d put on top of a cupcake and eat up. And then puke up later. I had to get out of there.

“No, please. I don’t want to keep you. We have to go anyway.”

To my relief, he didn’t protest. These unexpected meetings had to end. It freaked me out to no end, getting all hot and bothered by someone who could pass as my son. An icy shiver snaked up my spine.Now I’m really going to retch.

I may have been out of the dating scene for far too long. I may not know the correct etiquette for introducing my vagina back into society. But I wasn’t so daft to believe that hot, meaningless sex with the hardest man I’ve ever felt meant anything but.

I may not know everything, but I knew I wasn’t a damned cougar.

“Coach must like you.” I raised my eyes to view Emily’s reflection in the rearview mirror. “He never stops practice to talk to anyone.”

I smiled, not quite knowing what to say but not wanting to blow her off. “How do you like softball so far?”

“I love it. I have lots of friends, and Coach is really nice. And fun. He makes us laugh a lot.”

I nodded. “That’s good, sweetie.” I pulled my purse onto my lap. “Can you do me a favor? Give your mom a call and let her know we’ll be there in about five minutes.”

“Okay, Auntie Jillian.”

I dug around for my phone with one hand, not finding any flat objects. My fingers went nuts, feeling up everything as my heart started hammering.Oh, that’s right.I reached into my pocket, remembering I’d stuck it in there while I was swinging. I patted the other pocket. Shit. The walloping began again, stronger than ever.

I pulled off to the side. “Just looking for my phone,” I told her as I proceeded to check around the seats, ducking my head underneath. My throat was closing in.

No, no, no.

Think, Jillian.When did you last use it?Not since the swings. I’d pumped myself pretty high, loving the rush of going back down, marveling how good it felt again.

Damn, it must have slipped out.

I wasted a full minute deciding what to do. Go back to the park, or take Emily home first? We were much closer, so I took her home, crossing my fingers that her mom was finished with her appointment.

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