Page 6 of Double Play

She experienced another spasm of doubt about her own outfit, a simple emerald slip dress that she wore over leggings. She adjusted the silky dress, feeling it slide upherlegs.

Dwight claimed a glass and poured himself some wine from the bottle. Quiet fell between them. She wasn’t sure what to talk about. In some ways, she knew all about him, or at least all about his performance on a baseball field. But in most ways, he was a complete—but attractive—stranger.

Nina and Jim Lieberman were no help at all. They were having their own private conversation on the other side of the table. The way he was looking at Nina, as if the sun had just walked into the bar, gave Maggie a feeling she rarely experienced: envy. Mostly she was too immersed in her work to feel anythinglikeenvy.

Luckily, Dwight saved the day. “Where are you from,Maggie?”

“The Boston area. My father and mother are both professors at different collegesthere.”

“Brainyfamily?”

She shrugged apologetically. “I suppose you could say that. They’re both scientists. My father’s a linguist, my mother’s anastronomer.”

She waited for the inevitable joke abouthoroscopes.

He tilted his head and squinted at her. “Were you just thinking that you might have to explain the difference between astronomy andastrology?”

She jerked slightly, nearly knocking over her glass of clubsoda. “No.”

“I don’t believe you.” A wide smile spread across his face, a flash of white teeth in the dark expanse of his skin. “You were thinking that someone who hits a ball for a living might not know whatastronomyis.”

“I wasn’t thinking that. Upon my honor, Iwasn’t.”

“Upon your honor?” His amusement ripened into a laugh, a rich, flowing sound like melted chocolate. “That might be the first time I ever heard someone outside of a moviesaythat.”

“I’ve…read it in books and always liked it.” This always happened to her. Things slipped out that she’d read in a book and forgot that people didn’t say inreallife.

“I can see why. It’s old-schoolbutcute.”

Cute. A god-like baseball player had just called her cute. “By old-school I suppose you meananachronistic.”

“Damn, that’s cute too. I like a woman with a vocabulary. Maybe I’ll start working some of these into my lingo.” He put on a fake British accent. “‘Duke, upon my honor, if you don’t put me in the lineup you’ll regret it for the remainder of your days.’ It works perfectly with the name ‘Duke,’ right? That’s our manager, but you probablyknowthat.”

She laughed out of pure astonishment. It was kind of genius, how he’d deflected her awkwardness into something so hilariouslyperfect.

Still grinning, he started to pour her a glass of wine, but she put her hand over herglass.

“Sorry, this is water. I don’t drinkalcohol.”

He simply nodded and filled his own glass instead. No interrogation, no raised eyebrows, no insistence on changing her mind. His sensitivity made her relax, and she realized that Dwight was a perfect example of an “emotionally intelligent” person. Her parents and many of the people she’d known in grad school could learnfromhim.

A waiter brought a plate of marinated olives and salted almonds. The snacks drew Nina’s attention away from her conversation with Lieberman. Maggie felt stupidly disappointed by no longer having Dwight toherself.

She noticed the same emotion on Lieberman’s face, but he gamely followed suit and joined the generalconversation.

“Maggie was just telling me what a big reader she is,” Dwighttoldthem.

“Oh, me too!” Nina exclaimed. “Books always kept me company when Trevor was away. They’re like your best friends who are always thereforyou.”

“I can be your best friend,” Lieberman piped up. To her left, Maggie saw Dwight give a tiny shake of his head, as if warning Lieberman not to go there. But the shortstop didn’t notice. “Just because you’re a man and I’m a woman doesn’t mean we can’t—I mean—I’m a man and—” He came to astammeringhalt.

Dwight put the poor guy out of his misery by changing the subject. “I still want to know why Maggie here used to read so much. I thought you were a computer expert. Numbers, not words.” He folded his forearms on the table. His strong, muscled, mouthwateringforearms.

Maggie swallowed and dragged her gaze away. So Dwight already knew who she was? Maybe it wasn’t so odd. The Kilby Catfish was a small operation with only about fifty staff members who weren’t ballplayers. “I like both numbers and words, but I always had more of a knack with numbers. There was a time when books practically savedmylife.”

Nina’s eyes went wide. “Do you mean that literally,Maggie?”

“Oh no, it’s just a figure of speech.” She waved one hand, forgetting she held her water glass. Dwight steadied her arm so she didn’t fling liquid across the room. His rough, warm palm circled her wrist, making her skin tingle. He dropped the contact quickly, as if he was just as surprised asshewas.

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