Page 24 of Second Chance for the Single Mom

“BRAN!” I shouted. I knew I was making a scene, but didn’t care.

“Mommy!” Bran said.

I fell to my knees and wrapped my arms around him, squeezing tightly. I’d gotten a taste of that dread before when I’d lost Bran in a grocery store for less than a minute. It was the worst feeling in the world.

“I told you to stay in the car!” I hissed at him.

“I wanted to play baseball,” Bran said, holding up a glove and ball. “I was having fun!”

An adult behind me chuckled. “Thisis your mommy? Small world.”

I stood up and whirled around.

Standing there staring at me was a man I’d only seen once in the past seven years. The other night at Lucas’s place.

Jordan Mayfield.

14

Haley

I gasped when I saw him. “Jordan?”

The golden light of the setting sun caught his blond hair, turning it almost copper as he leaned against the chain-link fence. He was wearing work clothes similar to what he’d had on at Lucas’s place the other night—slacks and a button-down shirt with the sleeves shoved up to his elbows—but his tie was gone, and his shoes were dusty from the infield dirt. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, the same one I remembered from the other night, lazy and knowing.

“All right,” he announced, eyes still glued to me. “Everyone run poles. Two laps. First one done gets extra batting practice.”

The kids groaned, but dropped their gloves and began jogging across the field.

“What are poles?” Bran asked.

Jordan tore his gaze from me and crouched down to speak at Bran’s level. “That’s where you run from one foul pole to the other. Across the entire outfield. You don’t have to do it, though.”

Bran looked up at me. “Coach Jordy was teaching me about baseball!”

“You let a strange boy join your practice?” I demanded.

Jordan stood up. “I don’t know where he came from. He just appeared and started asking questions. I figured a parent would show up eventually.” He cocked his head. “It’s good to see you again, Haley.”

“You know Coach Jordy?” Bran asked.

“Kind of,” I said.

“I ran into your mom the other night,” Jordan said with another knowing smile. In the blink of an eye, I was bombarded with images from that night.

Jordan taking off his shirt in the living room.

The way his fingers tightened in my hair while I went down on him.

The moans of bliss as he came down my throat.

“Were you on the play date?” Bran excitedly asked.

Jordan blinked. “Play date? Is that what we’re calling it?”

I felt myself blush. “I’m so sorry he interrupted your baseball practice.”

“Don’t be. He’s actually—”

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