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  I nod in agreement. “That sounds like fun. I haven’t bowled in forever as well. Okay, my idea is going to Laguna Beach. It’s one of my favorite places ever and I’d love to show you around there.”

  “Okay, Danielle. Heads, we go bowling. Tails, the beach. Flip away.”

  I send the coin flying as high as it will go in the cab of the truck as it hits the ceiling and then bounces back down on the console between us.

  I grin and look up to see Jake shaking his head at me.

  “This game is rigged,” he scoffs as he puts the truck in drive and heads to Laguna Beach.

  Chapter 17

  Jake

  “I’ve yet to go here since I settled in,” I say as we find a place to park and stroll down to the shore.

  The salty air hits my nose and a slight breeze sends Danielle’s blonde locks flowing outward from her face. The smile she’s displaying is mesmerizing as I realize she’s in her happy place, making me grateful I get to witness her in this calm state.

  “A few of the other players and I went to New Port Beach before the season started, but that’s it. I guess living in southern California has its perks.”

  I shift the bags containing our lunch in my hands to remove my sandals to trudge through the sand easier. Before we arrived on the coast, Danielle and I stopped at a Whole Foods to gather some sustenance for a lunch on the beach. It was my idea, instead of sitting in a restaurant, and she loved it. We grabbed some sandwiches, salads, chips, and drinks, and I happened to have a blanket in the back of my truck. So we gathered up our stuff and headed for the sand.

  “New Port is nice, but there is something about Laguna. The little shops, the sidewalk right next to the water, the art galleries on the road leading down to the beach---it has its own little vibe different from anywhere else. It’s one of the reasons I love it here so much.”

  Danielle and I find a spot on the sand away from families and groups of people, tucked up against some rocks for a little privacy. I admire her long legs sprawled out on the blanket as we spread the food out in front of us and start to feast.

  “I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I smelled all this food,” she declares as she gorges in front of me. Her ravenous appetite is charming. She’s not afraid to eat, which I find sexy as hell.

  “Me too. Go easy there, tiger,” I tease as food is bursting at the seams of her mouth.

  She chuckles around her mouthful of food. “Sorry. I swear, I have manners,” she explains as she swallows and takes a sip of her iced tea.

  “So tell me more about growing up in southern California. It’s very different here than it is up north.” And that’s the truth. Southern California is known for the stigma of everyone living at the beach and celebrities brimming everywhere you turn. But it’s nothing like that. At least from what I’ve seen.

  “Well, growing up here was pretty normal, until my parents died. I went to a good school, got good grades, and stayed out of trouble when other girls went boy crazy. And then when we moved in with my grandpa, I guess I had to grow up pretty fast. I was thirteen and now had more responsibility on my plate than most girls my age. I know I’m not Conner’s mom, but I’m very protective of him and felt the need to look out for him. And Gramps is wonderful, but without my grandma around, he couldn’t monitor everything and manage a house with two kids all on his own.”

  “I’m really sorry to hear about your parents. I know you told me they were gone. But if you don’t mind me asking, how did they die?” I don’t want to pry, but that thought of growing up without my parents terrifies me. I’m very close to them and couldn’t imagine what that was like.

  Danielle’s energy and demeanor shifts as her body follows suit, adjusting her legs to cross over one another while she sits up tall in preparation of her story. “It was a car accident. They went away for the weekend for the first time after Conner was born. He had just turned two a few months earlier and they wanted some alone time, like parents always need. A drunk driver hit them head-on, killing them both instantly.” I watch her hang her head, trying to hide her emotions.

  I reach out to tip her chin up so her eyes are on me. The sadness and loss clouds those dark brown eyes with flecks of gold that I’ve become so reliant on. “I’m sorry. That’s horrible, and I didn’t mean to make you cry,” I apologize as I wipe a tear from her face.

  “It’s okay. Talking about them actually makes me feel better.” She reaches for her necklace again just as she did at the mall, her slender fingers grasping the metal in a tight fist.

  “I don’t mean to sound creepy, but I noticed you touched your necklace before and now you’re doing it again. Is that something you do when you’re nervous?”

  She lets out a shaky breath, followed by a smile. “My dad gave me this necklace for my thirteenth birthday. It’s the last gift I received from him before he and my mom died just a few weeks later. Whenever I speak about them or think about them, my hand gravitates toward it. Most of the time I don’t realize I do it, and then sometimes I’m fully aware. I’m surprised you noticed.”

  I lock eyes with her. “There’s a lot about you that I’ve noticed, Danielle.” I watch her swallow hard, her eyes moving down to my lips before reaching my eyes again.

  “You’re not hard to miss either, Jake,” she responds in a soft voice.

  “So,” I say, trying to move past the intensity of our conversation, “Your grandpa raised you and your brother by himself? Where was your grandma?”

  She takes a bite of her salad and finishes chewing before she answers. “She died when I was two. It was cancer they caught too late, and she was gone within weeks. Her and Gramps were so in love, at least that’s what my dad told me. It was his mom, and it hit him and my grandpa pretty hard. But Gramps has the best outlook on life, and he bounced back and took me and Conner in without question when he had to.”

  “So your grandpa lost his wife and his son? My God, that’s tough.” My heart aches for her family, knowing how close I am with mine. To experience that kind of loss has to be life-changing. And yet, they all seem to keep a positive outlook on things. I can’t imagine how.

  “Yeah, but the three of us together are a family and we’ve made the best of it. What about you? What’s your family like? What was it like growing up in Chico?”

  “Well, my entire childhood was centered on baseball,” I state obviously while munching on a salad. “My older brother was more into music, and my little sister is the artist and dancer, so I got the athletic gene, I suppose. My parents supported all three of us in everything we wanted to do. I swear I don’t know how they did it. My dad is an electrical engineer and my mom stayed home, so she carried the brunt of the responsibilities with us kids. The five of us are close, really close. I mean, there was always fighting and disagreements, but my parents taught us that family came first, so that’s what we believe. Honestly, it really sucks being this far away from them.”

  I shock myself with how easy it is to open up to her. I guess since she was transparent, it helped me to be too. But I’m usually not one to share so much of myself, particularly with someone I don’t know well. And even though I technically just met her, Danielle feels like someone I’ve known for years. There’s a comfort I get with her that gives me the confidence to be honest.

  “So how did they react when you signed to the Rays?” She places her plate to the side and wipes her mouth with a napkin, drawing my focus to her lips, the same lips I was dying to kiss earlier but talked myself out of doing it.

  “Uh, they were thrilled for me. Playing in the MLB was always the goal, so they supported me 100%. But they feel bad that they can’t make it to every game.”

  She laughs. “Yeah, I think that’s impossible. I have a hard time sometimes just making it to the home games.”

  “Yeah, it’s a lot. But I wouldn’t do it unless I love it.” It’s the honest to God truth.

  She reaches for my hand and places hers on top of it, stroking my skin with her thumb. �
�I can tell you love it, Jake. It’s amazing watching you play---the focus you have, the way you interact with your fans. It’s exhilarating watching someone have that much passion for their job.”

  I hear myself swallow as my heart thumps in my chest. Who is this girl? And how does she get me this soon? I survey the beach around us, looking to see how many people are around, wary of prying eyes and cameras--- because I feel like if I don’t kiss her now, I’ll regret it.

  I lean into her, scooting a bit closer, closing the distance between us. I sense her reluctance as I move into her, my hand gripping her hip while the other comes up to cradle her face.

  “Jake… what are you doing?”

  “What I should have done a few hours ago.”

  I watch the bob of her throat as she swallows hard and inhales deeply with a hint of lust in her voice. “And what was that?”

  “I’m going to kiss you, Danielle,” I state confidently, pulling her even closer to me.

  Her head twists as her eyes dart rapidly around us. “Here?”

  I nod. “Yes, here. I wanted to kiss you back at the mall, but there were so many people. And I know we aren’t fully alone here, but if I don’t taste your lips in a second, I think I might self-destruct.”

  She giggles and then seductively smiles at me. “Well then, we can’t have that now, can we?”

  She leans into me this time and when our lips meet, I swear the world stops spinning. My eyes close as I sink into the feeling of her lips on mine---soft, wet, and pliable as I lightly suck on her bottom lip before focusing on the top one. I keep my lips closed, not wanting to devour her quite yet, and I feel her melt into me as we continue to brush our mouths together.

  My grip on her hip tightens while my other hand moves to the back of her head. My fingers weave through her hair and tug just enough to direct her to tilt her head more to give me more control. As soon as she does, her lips part and I take that as my invitation to lap my tongue with hers, feel the silky movement of her lips and tongue with mine, the groan escaping from my throat signaling the pleasure I feel of our bodies connecting intimately.

  She pushes herself into me, the feel of her chest on my chest spreads heat across my skin, signaling my dick to harden painfully fast, even though he was already halfway there since this morning when I picked her up.

  I get lost in the feel of her, her soft curves against my hard lines, her lips trembling against mine, the shaking of her whole body as our hands follow the lead of our mouths and explore each other’s bodies. And I feel it too. I feel it all. I feel a need and a hope that startles me and makes me question my reality.

  I slowly bring us to a stop, pulling away reluctantly and opening my eyes to find Danielle sitting there with her eyes still closed.

  Slowly her eyelids raise and the chocolately browns I’ve come to memorize meet my deep ocean blues. I can see she’s still trembling and her hand reaches up to stroke her lips with her fingers.

  “Wow,” she says on a long exhale, instantly making both of us laugh and relieve some intensity from our kiss.

  “Yeah, I agree. I’ve never had a first kiss like that.”

  She shakes her head. “Me neither.”

  “Well,” I look around us at the food we didn’t eat and start to pack it away. Danielle joins me instantly. I think we both need the distraction from that kiss before we start to peel each other’s clothes off in public.

  “What’s next?” She chimes in as we stand and she hoists the bag of groceries over her shoulder and I grab the blanket after it’s folded.

  “Let’s take this back to the truck and then walk around a bit.” I need some distance from her and the blanket before my dick starts to take the lead on the rest of this date.

  “Yes, that sounds great.”

  We return our stuff to my truck, and then hand in hand, stroll down the street, stopping in small shops that offer everything from clothes, gifts, and small knickknacks. Danielle buys me a refrigerator magnet that says ‘Laguna Beach’ on it, and I buy her a light sweater since she’s shivering. It’s only the beginning of May, so the air on the coast is still cold.

  We walk back to my truck and then Danielle gets out her coin. She looks at the clock on the dashboard and then back at me.

  “So, it’s almost five o’clock. I wasn’t sure how much time you planned on giving me today, but if you’re down for one more flip of the coin, I’m game.”

  I can’t help but smirk at her. She’s so playful, yet sincere. Honest and charming. Sexy and mind-numbingly beautiful. And God, her lips. One taste and I think I’ve found my new favorite flavor of any and everything.

  I still can’t believe I’m here with her right now when all I did was look in the stands during ONE game and our eyes locked. One look was all it took.

  “Oh, I’m definitely down for one more game.”

  “Okay, so what’s your idea?”

  I pause and think for a minute, playfully putting my finger under my chin in thought.

  “Okay, in the spirit of fun, I say we find a park and play on the playground equipment.”

  She sinks back into her seat in shock and then a grin slowly spreads across her face. “Wow, I didn’t expect that,” she says finally with a crook of her eyebrow, putting the coin back in her pocket.

  “Wait, what about you?” I gesture to the quarter.

  “I’m just so impressed that you came up with that idea, and since the coin obviously was on my side today, I say we trust your brilliant moment and make it happen. What do you say?”

  I stare at her and feel the unnamed emotion come over me. I don’t know what it is, but my chest feels heavier and yet lighter at the same time. This girl, who sat beneath the stadium lights as only a stranger just a little over a month ago, has now become my own beacon of light in my life, and I feel like I can’t ever live without it again.

  “I say let’s do it. Which park?”

  “Well, there’s one down the street from my house. What do you say we go there so you can drop me off afterwards?”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  I take off for the freeway, making the lengthy drive back to Irvine. While we’re in the car, we chat about music, movies, and favorite foods, leaving the heavy topics of earlier behind. But that sexual tension is still there, especially every time she reaches over and touches my arm or holds my hand.

  We arrive at the park just at sunset. As I let Danielle out of her side of the truck and watch her walk away from me, I grab my phone out of my pocket for the first time today. I ignore the texts and missed calls, opening up the camera and snapping a picture of her just at the same time she turns to look at me over her shoulder. She’s smiling, her hair is flowing in the breeze, her long cream sweater I bought her wrapped around her body, and the sunset behind her makes her look like she’s an angel, glowing in the orange and yellow light cast by the sunset. Holy hell, I’m falling---hard.

  “Did you just take a picture of me?” She teases as I catch up to her, skipping along the sidewalk.

  “Yeah, I did, and you are breathtaking,” I declare while holding out my phone for her to see.

  “Wow, that is a great picture. I feel like I should get one of you now too,” she says when she stops, admiring my photo.

  “How about one of the two of us?”

  Her smile lights up instantly and reverently. “Okay.”

  We walk over to a bench on the sidewalk, sitting close to each other when we take our seats. She holds out her phone and snaps a selfie of the two of us, beaming from ear to ear. Then one of us with more subdued expressions. The next with silly faces. And then she turns to me and leans in for a kiss, which I willingly oblige to, while she snaps the final picture.

  “Sorry, I just want to remember this day,” she explains embarrassingly as she slides through the photos for us to approve.

  “Me too,” I agree as we browse through the shots.

  Damn, we look good together. She’s gorgeous. I’m ruggedly handsome if I do say
so myself. We make a very attractive couple. And then the idea that the press would think the same flashes through my head.

  “Hey, not to put a damper on the evening, but I think it would be best if those pictures stayed between us for a while.”

  She looks up at me, her expression hard to read.

  “Of course, Jake. I understand. Believe me, I’m not ready for people to know about this yet either. I remember you told me about your reservations about dating right now, and I respect that. But the idea of dating someone famous is a bit much for me to comprehend as well.”

  I let out a sigh of relief. I knew I needed to talk to her about this, but I’m grateful she broke the ice.

  “I appreciate your understanding more than you know, Danielle. I promise you, I’m not ashamed of you. I just want to keep this a secret for as long as possible.”

  She laughs. “You’d better not be ashamed of me. I’m a catch,” she states proudly, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

  I pull her into me, resting my forehead on hers. “Believe me, I’m realizing that. I felt that way just talking to you through text before. But now, having met you, I’m sure that’s the case.”

  “So what is then, Jake?” She whispers like she’s afraid of the answer, our foreheads still pressed together.

  “I know that I want to take you out again. See you. Talk to you. Really, just see where this goes. Are you okay with that for now?”

  She nods. “I’d like that very much.”

  “Okay then,” I whisper back to her. “Then let’s go play!” I shout, breaking the intensity of our conversation before I take off for the swings as she laughs and follows me.

  We swing, we laugh, we climb, and fall down on our asses as we shoot off the slides that aren’t made for people our size. I laugh harder than I have in years, watching her every move and memorizing her face. Her smile is infectious, her energy contagious, her body is mesmerizing, and I just know that I need more of her, in every way.

  Once we’re both a sweaty mess and the daylight has left the sky, we jump back into my truck and make our way to her house. When I pull in the driveway, I let her out and walk her up to the door.