Page 11 of Steamy Diamond
"Do you want to go to dinner?" he asked.
"When?"
"Now." He kissed her shoulder again. "I thought I could show you around the neighborhood."
She spun around and stared at him. "Really?"
Quinn shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, my intention was to take you out for a drink. But you said you haven't eaten yet, and then you fucked me senseless. So now I'm finally getting around to asking you out to dinner."
Ella gave him a skeptical look. "If you were just here to get drinks, why did you have a condom ready to go in your wallet? And why did you specifically wear the baseball pants?"
He stepped into her personal space and looked down at her. "I was hoping I would get lucky, especially after seeing that picture of you."
Quinn gently kissed her on her forehead, then grabbed his shirt off the floor and pulled it over his head. Then he leaned down to get his sneakers off the floor and she noticed they were dark green and matched his uniform.
"Get a shirt on," he told her. "There's a great Italian place nearby that you need to try."
She watched as he walked his gorgeous ass out of her bedroom before finding something appropriate to wear out in the neighborhood. Her red cabled sweater that hugged her curves in all the right places seemed like a good option. Then she went into her bathroom to brush her hair and clean up the mess of lipstick on her face.
By the time she got to her living room, Quinn had already pulled himself together as well. He looked up to see her walking in, his eyes roaming her body.
"Apparently, you look amazing in anything," he said. "You mind if I leave my bag here?"
She smiled. "Yeah, you can get it later if you want," she said in a teasing tone that earned her a big smile from Quinn.
Ella grabbed her keys and phone from the table next to the pictures Quinn had brought over for her. Would it be too presumptuous to ask him about it? Even after he had his way with her?
"Quinn, can I keep that picture of you?"
He gave her a mischievous smile. "Only if I can keep that one of you." He leaned down and gave her a determined kiss. "Or maybe I could see more of you in person."
"I would like that very much."
Chapter Six
Ella had a passing interest in baseball over the years. Sure, she knew home runs and batters and pitchers, but she wasn't one to check sports websites early in the morning to see the standings or look over the scores, and she didn't have a favorite team.
All that changed when she met Quinn Thatcher.
Now she watched away games when the Detroit Sturgeons were on the road or tried to go to the stadium to watch home games in person. It helped that the Sturgeons' home field was within walking distance of her place -- and Quinn's place too.
Tonight was one of those home games.
She walked down the hall she had become familiar with the past few months to the friends and family lounge deep in the stadium. It was a great afternoon game that saw the Sturgeons rally late to finally get the win, but it had been a bit of a nail biter that afternoon. Luckily, Big Buck Bert lived up to his name and hit a huge home run in the eighth inning to give the Sturgeons the lead. And yes, Ella was particularly proud that her boyfriend caught the final out to end the game and secure a win in Detroit.
The room was buzzing with people including a few wives and girlfriends that Ella had met in the past few months. Contessa was a lifelong Detroiter so she was always giving Ella new restaurants to try or places to visit. Abby's boyfriend playedcenterfield and owned a bar in the city with a baseball theme where all the players would hang out. Gwen's husband was a veteran who had just announced he would be retiring at the end of the year, but Gwen promised everyone they could still get a discount at her clothing boutique in the suburbs.
Ella bought a little black dress there two weeks ago for date nights with Quinn. And like her other dresses, he requested she keep it on when he had his way with her in her bedroom.
A few of the players started wandering in and meeting up with friends and family while Ella hung back and talked to Gwen's daughters about the new bracelets they made for their friends.
"I hope I'm not interrupting."
Ella smiled and looked up from her spot on the sofa with the girls to see Quinn standing next to her, a drip of water threatening to fall from his damp hair after getting out of the shower.
"We were actually on our way out." Gwen came swooping in with two hands outstretched for the girls to take. Then she leaned in and loudly whispered to Ella, "I have a beautiful emerald green dress that just came in. You should stop by the store this week."
Then she gathered up her family with her husband and girls in tow and glided out of the room. Ella had to wonder how Gwen kept everything running so smoothly.
