by Leslie North
“Hey, Michelle! Do you and Mollie want to come out this afternoon to the youth sports arena?”
She bit at her lip, re-reading the text a few times. She wasn’t sure if this was a date or not. Again, the suggestion skipped happily through the gray zone of platonic outing. And God, the more this indecision ran rampant within her, the more she wondered what it would be like if she really did date him. It had been so long since she’d been on a real date, since she’d had the chance to get excited over seeing someone and wondering whether they were excited to see her, too.
Maybe, if they kept taking it slow, she’d actually be ready to try? She was still hesitant to trust another man. She was still hesitant to trust herself, since her judgment had been so bad last time. But something about Blake made her want to at least see where things might go.
She wanted Blake, way more than she wanted to admit. Watching his quiet confidence, his smooth responses and his good-natured joking…it was all an aphrodisiac for her. He was friendly, easy to get along with, great with her daughter, and jaw-droppingly hot.
But with texts like these? She couldn’t find even a hint of sexual suggestion. Did he want her, or was he just being friendly? What was he really after?
Before she could respond, he sent another text.
“I’d love your professional opinion about the complex. You have an eye for this stuff. Let me know if you can make it.”
Aaaand there it was. The crushing confirmation. All of this was only about work, would only ever be about work, and would absolutely never lead to them both being naked in the same room.
Dammit.
Though, she supposed she should be thankful. Blake could have any woman in the world, so why would he pick her? And if he did pick her, what then?
Michelle was still recovering from her ex. The man who’d given her Mollie but taken away her self-esteem. He was completely absent from their lives, and they were both all the better for it, even though it was getting harder and harder to explain to Mollie why her daddy wasn’t around. Truth was, the man had only been interested in controlling Michelle.
And even though they’d broken it off four years ago, when Mollie turned one, he’d continued casually harassing Michelle, inserting himself into her life and making trouble for her every chance he got. She’d kept him away from Mollie, but she hadn’t been able to avoid him completely until she’d finally seized an opportunity to move out of state. In California, she and Mollie had a fresh start. What she wasn’t sure of was whether she had the energy to date again. There was still the lingering fear that she’d pick wrong for a second time.
It was better that she didn’t pick Blake, and that he didn’t pick her. So she’d have to just enjoy him for what he was: an impossibly handsome billionaire who valued her professional opinion.
Still, disappointment lurked inside her.
Michelle quickly tapped out a response. “I’d love to help in whatever way I can. What time should we be there? Mollie and I can be ready to go ASAP.”
His text arrived quickly. “Practice starts early and different teams go all day. We can meet there around noon, and I’ll show you both around!”
Even though there was no promise of romantic goodness on the horizon, she was still excited. She liked varying Mollie’s routine, especially with things like sports, which usually weren’t part of her day-to-day. She wanted to get Mollie into soccer this fall, but it was anyone’s guess if Mollie would take to it. At the very least, her daughter loved accompanying Michelle to the gym on her workout days, and counted the treadmill as her favorite activity there. So she was heading in the right direction.
Michelle leaped into action. The two of them had been working on a puzzle together after breakfast, with no real direction for their lazy Sunday, so this outing was a welcome intrusion. If they were heading to the youth sports practices, they’d better come prepared. While Mollie continued working on the puzzle, Michelle slipped into the kitchen to prepare a packed lunch for the two of them. She made a PB&J sandwich for Mollie, followed by a grab baggie of grapes, apples, and strawberries. Then she made a turkey and avocado sandwich for herself, with plenty of carrot strips and hummus to dip them in.
She got Mollie changed out of her jammies and the two of them hit the road by eleven thirty. She couldn’t imagine why Blake might need her opinion on the youth league training. The youth league had its own staff, and if Blake wanted the opinion of someone used to working at a higher level, there were two other trainers for the Seagulls, both of them more senior with the team, and more experienced in general.
So is Blake really taking his time to court you, get to know you, and eventually whisk you off your feet?
She sighed, tapping the steering wheel as she drove through the city toward the youth fields, which weren’t far from work. This type of thinking was not helpful and maybe even a little deranged.
But as soon as she pulled up and saw Blake leaning against his fancy, futuristic SUV, waiting for her, she couldn’t deny the very real butterflies in her belly. She also couldn’t stop grinning as she pulled up, relishing the look of him there, casual in sweats and a short-sleeve SEAGULLS tee. He had a Seagulls cap backwards on his head, with trendy sunglasses and a panty-dropping smile waiting for her.
Except for his insane car behind him, he didn’t look at all like a billionaire. No, he just looked like a regular guy. Waiting for his girlf—no, friend—no, colleague to show up. Michelle parked beside him and exited the car to stand on shaky legs. Mollie hopped out of the car a second later, rushing around to hug Blake.
Good thinking, honey. Mommy wants to do the same. Those thoughts were better left unsaid.
“You made it!” Blake said, laughing as he ruffled Mollie’s hair. “Hope I wasn’t interrupting any grand Sunday plans.”
“We were working on a puzzle, and Mommy couldn’t find the right edge piece for the waterfall and she laughed and said that the picture had a tree trunk in it that looked like something she wouldn’t say, and then—”
“Honey,” Michelle interjected, holding up a hand, “we don’t need to go into that much detail.”
But Blake’s grin already stretched ear-to-ear as he assessed Michelle. “I’m kind of interested in the tree trunk part.”
“It was an adult joke. Just for mommies,” Michelle clarified to Mollie. “Now. Let’s go in and see what’s happening, what do you think, honey?”
“Yeah, let’s do it!” Mollie skipped ahead, leaving her and Blake to fall into step as they wandered along the manicured pathway toward the fields. Already she could hear the crack of bats meeting baseballs, the distant cheers and shouts as kids and family members watched the games.
“To answer your question, no, there were no grand Sunday plans. This suggestion was a good way to get us out of the house. We can get cooped up this time of year.”
“And it’s a beautiful day. Especially to play some baseball.” Blake flashed her a grin.
“I’d rather take a long run in weather like this, but I don’t think that’s in the cards today.”
“You’re a runner?”
“Yep. As often as I can be, at least. I’d run a 5k a day if I had the time,” she said with a laugh. And it was true. Running was her go-to. It was the only thing that had gotten her through the darkest times with her ex.
“That’s awesome. I like running, but I’ve never bothered putting in the training for an actual race.”
“Oh, come on. You look pretty fit. Besides, you’re the owner of a baseball team, you must have some workout regimen.”
He snorted. “I wouldn’t call it a regimen…”
“No?”
“The occasional bunch of pull-ups. Two straight weeks of swimming. And then a fierce obsession with tennis. That’s just a small sampling of my workout life.”
She snickered. “Sounds fun, at least.”
“Fun, sure. A little haphazard, too. I’m not sure a professional trainer would endorse my approach.”
�
��You’d be surprised. As long as you like it, it works for you, it keeps you active on a fairly regular basis, and it’s not secretly tearing your meniscus, I think it should be fine.”
Blake snorted just as Mollie reached the black gates separating the stands from the outside walkways. She hopped up and down, holding out her palm as she waited for Michelle to join her and grab her hand. Together they walked inside the sprawling baseball complex, Blake leading the way through the front path bordering the dugouts. The practice fields had space for three separate events to go on concurrently. Two of them had games in progress, while the third seemed to be in use for a more open event. The risers were full of excited parents and family members, cheering for their respective loved ones and watching all the activity.
“Let’s head over here,” Blake said, just before a round of applause erupted above them. “Mollie, would you like to play today?”
Michelle clapped her hands together. “I would love to see Mollie play a game.”
“You think I should play baseball?” Mollie said, looking at her with wide eyes.
“Why not? This is a good time to try it out.”
Mollie looked out at the fields. “But I never played it before.”
“It’s okay. How about I come in with you? I’ll be close by while the coaches show you how it’s done,” Blake offered. To Michelle, he said, “It’ll be T-ball, anyway.”
Michelle’s heart melted as she watched the relief take over Mollie’s face. “You would do that, Mr. Blake?”
“Of course. Let’s go check out the schedule right now. I bet we can slide right in.”
Michelle followed them as they headed toward the gates. Blake spoke with a coach through the gate and a moment later he waved for Mollie to follow him inside.
“They’re doing open practice,” Blake said, sending Michelle a warm smile. “I think now’s the time.”
Mollie hopped after him, waving effervescently at her. “Bye, Mommy! Watch me play! I’m gonna get a touchdown!”
Michelle chuckled into her palm as Blake guided Mollie onto the field. One of the coaches helped outfit her with a helmet, as well as a bat. Each time Mollie looked toward Michelle, she was beaming. Blake stayed close to her, occasionally leaning down to explain something.
Michelle sat on the bottom riser to watch the open practice. This was the youngest group. T-ball stands were set up, with kids trying to hit the balls, all under adult supervision. Further out on the field, kids took turns throwing the balls toward the coaches. Michelle could tell that Mollie was loving it.
Michelle clapped each time something of interest happened, even if a kid just knocked over the tee holding up the ball.
By the time the event wrapped up and the kids began shucking helmets, Michelle met her overly-excited daughter at the gateway.
“Mommy, Mommy, did you see when I caught the ball?” Mollie demanded. Her grin was ear to ear.
“I did, honey. That looked like it was so much fun. Did you enjoy it?”
“I wanna do it all the time!”
Blake grinned, stepping through the gate behind Mollie. “We can arrange that, you know.”
“If you’re ready for a T-ball career, honey, I am obliged to support it,” Michelle said, smoothing her daughter’s flyaways.
“Mommy, I’m hungry,” Mollie said, wrapping her arms around her waist.
“Well, let’s go get some lunch,” Blake said, tipping his head toward the concession stands nearby. “My treat.”
“Oh, no, that’s okay,” Michelle began.
“Come see what they have, at least. I think you’ll be surprised,” Blake insisted.
“Oh, yeah? More salmon with capers options here?” she teased.
“Hey, that reminds me—I need to take you there,” Blake said, a sexy edge to his voice.
Heat rippled through her. There it was—the seed of doubt. The allusion to way more than just getting her professional opinion.
But she was hesitant to bring it up. She should let him bring it up. Because right now, the pendulum of speculation had swung back to the side of “there’s something more here.” And she kind of liked sitting here. If only for a little bit.
“I’m ready whenever you are,” she said, biting at her bottom lip as they walked under the bright sun toward the concessions stands. Blake pointed toward the menu.
“You have to admit, this is the only youth sports field that has pate on the menu.”
She snickered. “Is that your doing?”
“Surprisingly not. I only sponsor these teams. This complex isn’t mine.”
Michelle fought back the grin that threatened to split her face in two. She was impressed by how much he cared about the youth teams, and the fact that he would give so much money to foster sports development showed a charitable side that made him even sexier.
It made him just a smidge easier to fall for, which was worrisome.
Mollie tugged at her hand. “Mommy, I want French fries.”
“No, honey, I brought our lunch, remember?”
“You brought lunch?” Blake asked.
“Yes.”
“Let me buy your lunches. I swear, it’s no problem.”
Michelle frowned as she looked over the high prices on the menu. “I don’t want to waste our food. It’s fine if we eat what I brought. You go grab something, and we’ll just eat what we have.”
Blake pursed his lips. His displeasure amused her, though she wasn’t entirely sure why.
“Fine. Go pick a seat. Are you sure I can’t get you anything?”
This time, she couldn’t fight the grin. “How about a sparkling water?”
Blake winked and wandered off to get in line while Michelle herded Mollie over to a clean table underneath a big blue umbrella. She pulled the small lunch box out of her oversized purse and set out their food.
Mollie was munching on her peanut butter sandwich when Blake arrived with his lunch tray. He had a hot dog, a side of fries, and two sparkling waters.
“Madam,” he said, offering the sparkling water bottle as if it was a fancy wine.
“Why, thank you,” she said. “Look at you. That looks good.”
“It’s the lunch of baseball-loving Americans,” Blake explained.
“That it is,” she said before taking a bite of her turkey sandwich.
“Now, don’t go giving me your fitness trainer spiel,” Blake warned jokingly as he picked up the hot dog wrapper. “I see you eating your turkey sandwich on whole grain. I know your type.”
Michelle snickered. “I wasn’t going to give you a spiel before, but now I think I will.”
“Mommy, what’s a spiel?” Mollie asked.
“It’s a…well…it’s a long-winded explanation about something,” she said.
“In your mother’s case, I think she’s going to give me a long explanation about why I should eat differently, because her job is to help people be healthy.”
Michelle grinned over at him as Mollie nodded her comprehension. He was a natural with her. She hadn’t met many men who were so comfortable engaging with children.
And maybe that was the sexiest part about him. He could just hang out with her and her daughter, and everyone had a good time.
“You wouldn’t do that to Mr. Blake, though, right?” Mollie asked a moment later.
“No, of course not. He’s a grown man, with his own metabolic understanding and access to state-of-the-art gyms. He knows what he’s doing,” Michelle said, patting her daughter’s knee.
Mollie munched on a grape, squinting at her mother. “What’s metabolic?”
Michelle laughed, tucking back some hair behind Mollie’s ear. “We’ll talk about all this later, okay? Promise.”
Blake had a sparkle in his eye as they finished lunch. Yes, it would be far too easy to fall for a man like him, especially since he’d proven himself both charitable and great with her daughter.
But after her ex, Michelle wasn’t sure she should be trusted to choose a man.
Even if Blake seemed like the right man for the job…it could still be that he wasn’t even applying for the position.
5
Three days later, Blake was running around his penthouse with a knot in his gut.
The sensation was odd. It felt a little like he was getting ready for senior prom, mixed with the sensation of heading to his last exam of grad school, sprinkled with a healthy sampling of generalized anxiety.
And he knew why, even if he didn’t entirely want to admit it.
This was date number four with Michelle. Which meant a number of things, but the worst one of all was that he was actually excited to see her.
Blake didn’t go on multiple dates with the same person. It was a fact as old as time. Yet here he was, forced into a fourth date with a woman who was gorgeous, thoughtful, well-respected, and rapidly becoming a calm source of insight for him.
He’d thought he’d be dreading this—that it would be a dull slog to meet the requirements of the bet. Was it so wrong of him to be liking it?
This date marked the first actual date, if anyone was being technical about it, where he hadn’t lured her out on the promise of anything work related. And to be honest, their sweet and fun Sunday at the youth fields had barely involved work at all. Yes, she’d given him some good tips on training options for the kids, but it had been part of an easy, free-flowing conversation in which training had only barely been discussed. Most of the time, he’d simply enjoyed the day at her side.
And that was unprecedented.
So was the way that Michelle threw him off balance, even though she probably wasn’t trying to. In fact, he suspected that Michelle would never want him to feel anything but great about himself. But the truth was that her humble, unassuming nature sent him more off-kilter than he’d ever felt before. Yet somehow, she was able to center him, even when she destabilized him. Bring him down to the ground, when he was so accustomed to flying off into outer space.
It wasn’t just the fact that she’d gently and sweetly gotten him into her run-down car. It wasn’t just the fact that she’d insisted on eating her lunch on Sunday out of a cracked and stained Tupperware container. It was the fact that she didn’t want anything from him. She didn’t see his wealth and think cha-ching. She wasn’t impressed by his driver, or his limited model sports SUV, or the fact that he owned baseball teams and a record label.
