Page 31 of Double Play

She drew in a shaky breath. Asking these questions took a lot more courage than inputting data into a program. Suddenly she felt very exposed, as if she’d just opened her chest to show off herheart.

“Baby, how could you even think any of that shit?” Dwight tugged her arm so she twirled up against him. “I think your degrees are sexy as sin. And if you can swing a bat with no problems, I’m not worried about sex. We’ll workitout.”

She noted the “we’ll” with a rush of excitement. He was talking as if it was definitely going to happen. But still, he wasn’t dragging her off to bed. Something was still holding him back. “Is it because you’re not sure how I feel? Because I’ve been told I can be hard to read. Mostly that’s because my brain gets distracted. So in case you’re in any kind of doubt, I…well, you shouldn’t be.That’sall.”

For a moment, she thought of Nina and her romance novels. If only she’d done her homework and come up with some better lines. Anything would be better than what she’d just blurted. She cast around for one of the examples Nina had given her. “What I mean is, I think you should throw me down and have your waywithme.”

First, she cringed as the words left her mouth. She squeezed her eyes shut, almost too afraid to see hisreaction.

But then his hand came under her chin, warm and firm, and he was tilting her head up so she would meet his eyes. “Let me ask you something, Maggie Blythe. You know I’m black,right?”

She stared at him. “Yes. I didnoticethat.”

“How would your parents feelaboutthat?”

Her breath caught in her throat. Was that what had been holding him back all this time? “First of all, I know it seems like I cater to my parents a lot, but notthatmuch. Second, this might be a shocker, but my grandmother’s black. She emigrated from Senegal to Britain. She was a mathematician, and she met my grandfather—who’s Scottish--at university. They had my mother, who’s biracial. She grew up in England, then came here and fell in love with my father, who’s white. So even though I don’t really look it, I'm actually one quarterSenegalese.”

Wide-eyed, he studied her face almost as if he’d never seen her before. “Maybe I do see a little black in you. Your hair’s got some frizz to it. Those lips ofyours…mmm.”

She ran her tongue across the seam of her lips, enjoying his reaction to that move. “The point is, neither of my parents would have a problem with your color. At least I don’t think they would. If they did, it would be pretty hypocritical. Would your parents mind that I’mwhite?”

He shrugged.“My high school girlfriend was white. No big drama. They leave me alone when it comes to mylovelife.”

She envied the fact that his family didn’t hover over him the way hers did. “If my parents have a problem with anything, it would be your relative lack of education,” shetoldhim.

He drew back, looking offended. “Lack? I have a completed college degree. That’s more than JimLiebermanhas.”

“Yes, but they both have PhDs. They consider me a slacker with my measly master’s degrees. And as for my choice to work in baseball, they really don’t approve. My mother had barely heard of baseball before she came here, and my father had some bad experiences being forced to play Little League. It’s the only thing I’ve really battled themabout.”

“So all I need to do to win their approval is get a PhD and quit baseball.” Dwight gazed into the distance, as if imagining that scenario. Then he turned back with a big grin. “Noproblem.”

She burst out laughing. “You’reridiculous.”

“Okay, so maybe I’m not going to quit baseball tomorrow. But I’m making a point here. The reason I haven’t swept you into my bed is that this is different, you and me. I’m serious about it. More serious than I’ve ever been about anything except baseball. Maybe even that, because you were right. Iamin it to further myself. I got a lot of ambition locked up inside me. I forgot it was there until I met you. You make me see things differently. With you, I feel like there’s something bigger out there waiting for me to go get it. Something great that I can do. And it’s all wrapped upwithyou.”

Maggie was having trouble catching her breath. This was so much more of a declaration than she’d imagined in her wildest dreams. But still, something didn’t quite add up. “So you’re saying you’ve been putting the brakes on things between us because it’s moreserious?”

He nodded, dropping his head and lowering his voice to a murmur. “You could break my heart, Maggie Blythe. Maybe you see this as a walk on the wild side of the street. Getting with someone who isn’t a bio-matho-statistician with a few extra degrees up his ass. I’m just a baseball player. Do your parents know I crashed and burned in my one Major League stint? What would they thinkaboutthat?”

Wonderingly, she shook her head at him. “I can’t believe you’re saying such crazy things. A walk on the wild side? That’s insulting. And do you really think my parents care how you did in San Diego? They don’t know a strikeout from a balk. It’salla stupid waste of time to them. Soyou’regood!”

They both burst out laughing at how absurd that sounded. He took her hands in his and interlaced their fingers together. “Maggie, I would give my left arm—not my right, that’s my throwing arm—to take you to bed. But I won’t do it unless you’re feeling the same way I am. Like this is something special. Something that could change my life. Change both of ourlives.”

As if hypnotized, she nodded. Electric currents of joy ran up and down her body. “I do feel that, Dwight. I want to be with you. I’ve never felt like this about anyone, and I don’t exactly know how to put it into words. When I’m with you, I feel like…I’m in Oz or something. Like the whole world has turned into a magical playground. Does that make anysense?”

He stepped toward her and dipped his head so his forehead touched hers. “I don’t know if it makes sense, but I do know that’s a damn good description. Now are you going to have your way with me or not? Because I’m dying over here, and I have been ever since I saw you hit that two-foot dribbler with mypracticebat.”

12

After all thedays of slow buildup, the drive to Dwight’s apartment seemed to take forever. They burst through the door, tangled up together, hands all over eachother.

“Nice place,” Maggie gasped, gazing around the nearly bareapartment.

“It has a bed. That’s all I need right now.” He closed the door and turned so they faced each other. Cupping her face so he could look deep into her eyes, he brushed his thumb across her lower lip. “I think I might be falling in love with you, Maggie. I always wondered what that would feel like. I think this is it. I just wanted you to know that before we go any further. And don’t say anything back. You take your own time figuring out how you feel. This is me, what I gottosay.”

Those kind dark eyes held so much tenderness, so much consideration. If she hadn’t already had feelings for him, that moment would have tipped her over the edge. But she’d had enough talking now. She wanted touch, she wanted skin. She wanted to lose her mind and stop thinkingforonce.

“Thank you,” she whispered. She slid her hand under his shirt to touch his bare skin. Closing her eyes, she took in the taut muscles of his abdomen, the ridges of bone and sinew that made up his spectacular torso. “Aboutthatbed…”

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