Page 31 of Diamonds & Deception

“You’re really adorable in your hat,” I say, running her ponytail through my hand.

“Adorable?” She scrunches her nose. “That makes me sound like a child.”

“Babe.” I straighten her hat and whisper in her ear. “If I told you how I really feel, I’ll need to find us a back alley and take you against the wall. I can barely contain myself as it is.”

Her gasp does me in. I give her earlobe a tug between my lips, then straighten. I take out my credit card and hand it to the kid behind the register. “Two hats, please.”

“You’re a man full of surprises.” Nora reaches for my hand the moment I have my card tucked away.

We stroll around the city, not venturing too far from the park. Thirty minutes before the start of the game, we head in and find our seats. I find myself completely at ease and enjoying Nora’s company.

We talk a little about baseball. She tells me about her time at Boston College and is hesitant when talking about her family. Her parents and sister live in Connecticut. She’s not exceptionally close with any of them and doesn’t seem to want to talk about them. I don’t push.

At the seventh inning stretch, we stand and sing “Sweet Caroline.” I stop a vendor and buy us a bag of popcorn and two waters. We cheer, we talk, we sit in comfortable silence. I’m thoroughly enjoying justbeingwith Nora.

The Sox lose by one run, but it doesn’t even matter. I didn’t come to see a win. I wanted to come to do something normal with Nora. To see if my attraction to her is more than sexual. Our breakfast, our time at the game, and even my helping her through her hangover cements my feelings for her.

I’d planned on taking her out to dinner andthengetting her naked, but she throws me off balance.

“Want to come back to my place and we can order takeout?”

“Yes,” I say too quickly, eliciting a laugh from her perfect pink lips.

I’m not imagining it. I haven’t put Nora high up on a pedestal because I’m desperate for a woman’s company. I’m truly falling for her.

When we get back to her apartment, she takes out a stack of takeout menus. It’s not what I expect from a food critic.

“Chinese, Mexican, pizza, burgers? What’s your poison?”

“Pizza. It’ll be the true test to see if we’re compatible.”

She tucks the other menus away and folds her arms across her chest, giving me the side-eye. “You’re not one of those weird pizza eaters, are you? Or a boring one who only likes cheese or pepperoni?”

“Is it cliché to ask you your opinion on pineapple on pizza?”

She opens her mouth to respond, then does that biting on her lower lip thing that makes my dick twitch.

“I asked you first.”

“There isn’t anything I don’t like on pizza. Wait,” I say. “I take that back. It seems like more and more eccentric places are popping up, putting godawful things on pizza. If we go back a decade, you can pull out any pizza combination and I’ll be happy.”

“I’ve heard some places have crickets on their menu.”

“If you tell me they’re a delicatessen, I may have to rethink inviting myself to stay over tonight.”

Again, I stun her. “You want to sleep over?”

“Babe.” I step into her space and gently pinch her chin between my fingers. “I don’t want tosleep.”

“Oh.”

The teeth. The lip. My dick.

I can’t hold back anymore. I tangle my fingers in her hair and bring her face to mine. Our ball caps touch, and I whip hers off so I can take the kiss deeper. I lead us to the couch and sit, bringing her with me.

She doesn’t break the kiss and straddles my legs, making me fall even deeper. The woman is pure perfection. She rubs her breasts against my chest and kisses me with a passion I’ve been trying to hold back on.

Only because I want her to know how much I respect her. “Nora. You do things to me,” I say into her mouth.

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