Anything but sneaking glances at a particular shortstop whose ass looked like it was made from granite. When the game finally ended, we offered polite claps to hide the groans from another crushing loss. The other team and their fans celebrated while the majority of Star Harbor packed up their chairs and blankets and headed toward their cars.
As I packed the bits of discarded snack wrappers and sucked down the remains of a half-finished juice box, my eyes flicked up and landed directly on Austin, but he was already looking at me.
My spine stiffened as he winked and started walking directly toward us.
Winnie also noticed and began waving wildly. “Hi! Hi!” She turned to me. “Mom, it’s our neighbor.” Then she turned back to Austin. “Hi.”
It was the moment that my soul left my body.
My pulse hammered in my throat as Austin draped his forearms on the fence beside the dugout, his wrists crossing. “Hey, neighbor.” His grin stretched across his face.
Think, think, think.
All I could do was blink at him until something sharp pinched my side—Kit.
“Hi,” I choked out.
A throaty chuckle vibrated between us as his grin widened. “Are you ladies sticking around for a few rounds at the Lantern?”
It was common knowledge that the softball team celebrated wins and losses with beers at the local dive, the Lady’s Lantern.
I had glanced at my sisters, hoping for any type of rescue, when Kit hopped off the bleachers. “Nope,” thePpopped effortlessly as she landed on her feet.
“Maybe.” Elodie smiled as she moved away from the bleachers and wrapped herself in Cal’s arms with a giggle.
“What about you?” Austin’s eyes raked down my front, and I could feel every smoldering inch of his gaze.
“I have Winnie.” I adjusted my attention to my daughter, occupying myself by fixing the hair behind her back. “No fun for me,” I joked.
“I’m sure you get to have alittlefun.” His voice was thick and dripped with innuendo.
Oh god, he remembers.
He had to remember. He was smiling like he knew exactly what I tasted like and was dying to bring it up right in front of me.
“Of course we have fun, Mama,” Winnie exclaimed. “We go to the beach and dance with the waves. We bake cookies and plant flowers.”
I softened and smiled down at my daughter. “You’re absolutely right, Win.” I scrunched my nose at her. “We do have lots of fun, don’t we?”
At that moment Brody jogged over to our little group, a towel around his neck, and handed Austin a Gatorade. “Hey, have you two officially met yet?”
“No.”
“Oh yeah.”
Our voices tangled over each other as my eyes flared in Austin’s direction. He had the decency to wipe away his smile with a swipe of his hand.
Brody either didn’t hear or chose to ignore our awkward interaction as he finished half of his Gatorade in one chug. “You should consider asking him for help with Winnie,” Brody said. “He lives right next door, helps out with the construction stuff, and is good with kids. His schedule with Wes is flexible, so both mornings and evenings shouldn’t be a problem.”
My jaw and my stomach dropped. I nearly laughed, but instead the sound was more of a panicked, unhinged hack.
“Are you okay?” Brody asked.
“Fine. I just, um,” I stammered.
“Just a thought.” Brody shrugged. He slipped the towel from around his shoulders and snapped it, whipping Austin in the butt hard enough to make him yelp.
I finished packing our things, doing whatever I could to steady my breathing as my heartbeat danced wildly out of control.
