Page 71 of Nailed at Home Plate

Jamie said it.

Heactuallysaid it.

I never thought I’d hear the words, even though I imagined it a zillion times. My brain scrambled. How does someone respond to something like that on the fly?

Before I could manage any kind of coherent verbal response, my body flew into action. I launched myself at him. The net hampered my efforts but with the mutual effort between us, we managed to get our lips locked through an opening in the netting.

“I love you too,” I mumbled in between our ravenous kisses. His mouth slanted against mine ashe did his best to grab onto me. I grinned and laughed into the kiss while he hummed his delight. It was fuckingmagical.

Well, itwasmagical until I was manhandled off of Jamie by two members of the security team.

“Ma’am! Ma’am! You can’t do that!” One shouted as they managed to pull me away. I didn’t want to get thrown out of Jamie’s first game back.

“Yo, guys!” Jamie’s firm voice made them pause. “She’smine.”

Oh, fucking hell.

Bye-bye panties. It was nice knowing you.

If these guys hadn’t been holding me up, I’d be a puddle on the platform.

“Mr. Rheems…?”

“She’s mygirlfriend, guys.”

Oh, this was too much all at once for my body to handle. Between the gifts and the “I love you” and now the“girlfriend”title? This was a grand gesture of epic proportions. I was just…shocked. With my mouth agape, Jamie’s eyes found mine once more. “That is…if you’ll have me?”

I used the loosened hold of the security guys to launch myself back at Jamie. His huge grin matched mine as I managed to steal one more kiss. The safety net still kept me from doing everything in my power to tangle my body around him. Only now it was Jamie’s turn to be dragged away by his teammates so they could start the ball game.

Oops.

“This game’s for you, Cady!” Jamie shouted with one last grin as he dipped into the dugout. I was smiling from ear to ear as I turned to go back to myseat. That was until I realized I had the curious eyes of theentireDiamond Club section on me all at once.

With a blush, I avoided every last one of them as I slinked back down into my seat. I couldn’t stop grinning. My shit day turned completely upside down in the most unexpected way. Decked out in myboyfriend’sgear, I was ready for a hell of a ball game. Win or lose. This time I could watch and ogle Jamie and know that he wasmine. And I was his.

How the hell could I concentrate on the game after all that? Had Jamie not been starting, my eyes would have been firmly fixed on the dugout. Instead, I had a front-row seat to the man’s glorious ass as it was bent behind home plate throughout the first half of the inning. The way that man winked at me each time he went up to take his position on the field made me swoon almost clear out of my seat.

Jamie was a completely changed man from the last time he was on this field. Gone was his typically stoic demeanor. He ran out onto that field with a spring in his step and an extra bounce to that booty I loved to squeeze. Instead of treating the game like it was all business, he was ready to have fun. And he learned all that by playing with the Sillys.

And me.

After a quick three outs, it was the bottom of the first. The coach must have been ecstatic to have him back as he slipped Jamie back into his coveted second place in the batting lineup. His usual walk-up song blasted over the ballpark speakers. I couldn’t help but do a happy little dance from my seat. This was the fucking greatest.

With his first at-bat, I held my breath. He walked out onto that field with purpose to the roar of thehome crowd. They were so happy to have him back. He was amazing. He was incredible.

He was mine.

Jamie lifted his bat, pointing it at me with a tip of the brim of his batting helmet before he stepped into the batter box. Baseball games were going to have a hell of a new meaning if I always got this special treatment when Jamie was in the starting lineup. After all the years I fantasized about the man maybe it was just my heart telling me that he wasthe onefor me.

The crack of the ball against the bat jarred me from my tumble of happy thoughts. Around me, the stadium cheered as Jamie made a beeline for first base. But there was no need. I slowly rose from my seat, squinting to see the ball against the fading light of day. That ball was long gone. Clear over the fence in right field and into the first few rows of the second level, which only made the crowd cheer louder.

I screamed at the top of my lungs. What a hell of a return to his home field. My heart was in my throat as I watched him run the bases with the biggest grin on his face, playing it up for the crowd. As his cleats hit home plate, I rushed back to the safety net.

Jamie made a beeline for me but kept his respectable distance. I could tell the security guys were sending their warning stares at me. With all eyes on Jamie, we had to keep it at least PG-rated. Not that I wanted to. Nor did my mouth. When he was at the top step of the dugout, I slipped him a quick promise for later that was for his ears only.

“I hope for a repeathome runtonight, Slugger.”

The look he shot me told my vagina that it was on likeDonkey Kong.

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