Page 55 of Double Play

Dwight gave a tip of an imaginary hat to the blond girl whose radiant face filled the TV screen. “Nice, Nina. Didn’t know you had itinyou.”

“Oh, I did,” said Maggie. “She reads about fifty romance novels amonth.”

Nina and Jim were now locked in a wildly enthusiastic embrace, so the camera panned away from them. The reporter dashed a tear away from her face. “I’ve seen a lot of baseball proposals in my time, but this one might be the best. We’ll keep you updated on shortstop Jim Lieberman’s wedding plans—and of course Dwight Conner’s worrying mental condition—so stay tuned toChannelFour.”

Dwight slumped back in his chair. “Man, I don’t know whether to congratulate Beebs or kick his ass. ‘Worrying mental condition.’ It might actually come true if they keepsayingthat.”

Maggie laughed at him. “All you have to do is show up looking like your healthy, sexy self. Say you’re feeling all better and you’ll stay away from exotic cuisine from now on. You ate some bad blowfish orsomething.”

He looked right, then left, as if she must be talking about someone else. “Do I look like someone who eatsblowfish?”

Tilting her head, she looked him up and down. He was so beautiful, all muscles and warmth and strength. “You look like someone who can do and be whateveryouwant.”

A smile broke across his face and he leaned forward to take both her hands in his warm grip. “You know what I want? I want to be your man, MaggieBlythe.”

Her heart gave a slow, happy thump. “Is thatright?”

“You know it is. And I don’t need a TV crew to back me up, either. But if youwantone—”

“No,” she said hastily. “This is good, right here. Just youandme.”

“It’s you and me, baby. You and me. Watch out,world.”

21

The nightyou’d been proposed to by your dream man on national TV, you really didn’t want to crash at your brother’s place. So Nina and Jim booked a room in a fancy hotel near the ballpark. Visiting teams stayed at the Millennium, as well as management types coming for interviews, and now—two blissfully happy engagedpeople.

They shut the door, closed the curtains, put on the Do Not Disturb sign, and curled up under the covers. Fullydressed.

All that blissful happiness suddenly turnedawkward.

“Um…do you always sleep with your clothes on?” Jim whispered inthedark.

“No. I usually sleepnaked.”

“Me too.” In the warm cocoon under the covers, his breath feathered across her face. “So why do we have ourclotheson?”

Her heart kept doing a weird start-and-stop thing. She’d always known she wanted to wait until she found “the one” to have sex. They didn’t have to be married, but he had to be it. Now she was engaged to “the one.” And she wasn’t sure what came next in theirscript.

“Well, I have mine on because I’ve never been naked with a man before. What’s yourexcuse?”

“My excuse is that I want you to be one hundred percent happy and comfortable. I saw you get under the covers still dressed, so hereIam.”

They lay face to face for a few heartbeats. The concept of “being in bed with a man” faded as Nina reminded herself that this wasn’t just any man. This was Jim, the sweetest, most adorable, most caring man in the world. The man she loved with all herbeing.

“Well, I suppose we could take some of ourclothesoff.”

“Okay.Whichones?”

She thought about it. His nearness made her belly quiver in a truly delicious way. She breathed in the fresh scent of his skin, clean from his post-game shower. The tension in her limbs was easing with every moment thattickedpast.

“Everything except underwear,” she decided. That would leave one layer of protectionbetweenthem.

“Done.” They both twisted and turned under the bedspread to remove their pants—shorts in her case—and shirts. Nina kicked her clothes to the floor next to the bed. All the activity had made her heat up, and she considered shoving aside the bedspread, just for the sake ofcoolness.

But not yet. Instead, she cuddled back into their shared cocoon. Right away she felt the difference the lack of clothes made. The space between them felt electric and intimate. She shifted her leg so her knee brushed against Jim’s leg. At first its soft hairs made her giggle, but then the hardness of his muscles caught herattention.

“You’re really strong, aren’t you?” She rubbed her leg against his. The contact made her head spin with delight. She put her hand on his chest to feel the smooth, hard muscles there. His heartbeat thumped under her hand. “Wow,” she breathed.“Reallystrong.” Her hand slipped lower, over the ridges and dips of his abdomen, all the way to the waistband of hisunderwear.

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