By the time they reached the state park, her nerves had calmed considerably. Their time in the shuttle had served as a bit of an ice breaker. The man was still bigger than life and breathtaking in every way, but she was able to at least convince herself he was just human.
Talking to him felt easier, especially with everyone around; though they still had plenty of moments when their eyes had met that left her breathless. It happened so often she had to wonder if he just caught her every time she was unable to stop glancing at him or if what she thought she’d noticed could possibly be true. She had to be imagining it. Was he feeling just as incapable of keeping his eyes off her?
Determined to not do what she’d done in the past and jump to delusional conclusions, she decided to focus on their trip. Just as she remembered, the falls were spectacular. Thankfully, most of the day, they were too engrossed in the sights, the boat rides, and other attractions for there to be too many butterfly-inducing moments of anxiety.
Fortunately, she’d also finally begun to feel much more comfortable around him. Addison knew her daughter could talk nonstop about the things she loved, but on the tour she’d been quieter than normal as she listened intently to the tour guide talking about the history of all the different points of interest they drove by. With Clair sitting between them on the tram, there hadn’t been any heart-stopping moments for a while.
Something else had begun to gnaw at her. As they exited the tram, their eyes met once again, and damn it if every moment she spent around him wasn’t making it harder and harder for her to keep the mindset and rule she’d moved out here with—no falling for baseball players! Especially one who would likely be a huge distraction from her number one priority—Clair’s well-being.
Despite Addison’s protest that her parents had already given Clair enough for her birthday, they insisted on letting her pick something out from the gift shop where the tour so conveniently ended.
AJ waited outside with Addison while her parents continued to spoil Clair. “So I guess that Jet Ski the coach bought Clair is his way of trying to make sure you and Clair stay in California,” AJ said with a smirk. “He mentioned when you two first moved back you weren’t entirely sure about making it a permanent move.”
Addison smiled, annoyed that, despite having managed to calm her heart considerably, she was still so easily caught up in his gaze. She nodded. “Yes, I told them that in case I changed my mind. Technically, if I ever want to, I can always transfer back.”
“Any particular reason why you moved so far away from your parents in the first place?”
Glancing away from his inquisitive eyes, Addison gulped in an effort to think of how best to answer that. “Not really,” she said as he watched her intently. “I just got offered the position out there and it was a good one. I’ve never liked my parents thinking just because I was so young when I had Clair that she was their responsibility.”
AJ was doing what he’d done so often all day. He had this way of staring at her, so acutely concentrating. She’d observed it even on television when she watched him play. But she’d always thought it was just his game face. No one could be that intense all that time. Right? Yet, here he was doing it again, and it made her strangely nervous. She swiped at a strand of hair as she glanced away from him before she continued.
“I made my bed, and I was determined to be the one to lie in it. Not them. They helped me enough by watching her while I finished college. Once I did and had a good enough job where I could afford to support us without their help, I wanted to.”
“Well, I’ve known others who’ve become single parents unexpectedly. Sounds to me like you’re doing better than most. Clair’s proof of that.” He smiled, finally easing the intensity in his eyes a bit. “I’ve never met such an amazing kid. You should be proud.”
“I am”—she smiled big—“very proud. She’s the precious center of my world.”
“Coach said he’s never met her dad,” AJ said, noticeably glancing away when she lifted her brow.
One thing Addison knew for a fact was that her father created very strong bonds with his apprentices. So it didn’t really surprise her that he might’ve shared some of the more personal stuff about her and Clair. What did surprise her was that AJ would see fit to ask her about it after spending just one day with them. This wasn’t just personal; it was one of the most private things in her life, and she intended to keep it that way.
“No, he hasn’t,” she said, turning back to the gift store, suddenly wondering what was taking them so long. “He’s never been a part of Clair’s life, so we never talk about him.”
“Guy doesn’t know what he’s missing out on,” he said as his expression hardened a little.
Instinctively, the words nearly jumped out of her mouth. You’re right. He doesn’t and he never will. He doesn’t deserve to. But it was too damn personal and she hardly knew AJ. Just because he didn’t seem to hold back whatever he was thinking or wondering about didn’t mean she’d be doing the same.
“Yeah, well, she’s been fine since day one without him.”
“Sorry if I touched a nerve there,” he said as she turned and their eyes met again. “I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to mention how inspiring I think it is that, not only did you earn such an impressive degree in something I can’t even pronounce while raising such a brilliant kid, you’d done so on your own. That’s all.”
“No worries.” Addison smiled, feeling a little silly that she’d made his touching a nerve so obvious. “Stats have always been my thing, so it’s not that impressive that I chose it for a career. I sort of always knew what I wanted to be.”
“From the time you were Clair’s age,” he said, smiling smugly.
That surprised her. “Did my dad tell you that too?”
He smiled such a beautifully sweet smile she couldn’t help but breathe in deeply. “Nope, I just figured as much. Clair told me she wants to be one too. For baseball though.”
Addison nodded, not surprised by that. “Sta . . . tis . . . ti . . . cian,” she said slowly.
His expression was a confused one at first; then he smiled but shook his head. “No way, I’m not even trying.”
“Why not?” She laughed. “It’s only four syllables.”
She sounded it out again for him slowly as his smile flattened, and his eyes closed in on her lips. “Yeah”—he lifted and dropped a big shoulder—“you and Clair say it real easy.” His eyes widened suddenly, and to her relief, the intensity she’d begun to get caught up in again morphed into a broad smile. “Like my full name. She rolls those r’s better than most grownups I know.”
“Andrés Josiah Romero,” she said with a gulp as his smile dissolved once again and his eyes were suddenly gazing into hers.
“So that’s where she gets it from.” He continued to gaze at her in that same way that made her insides go nuts. “You two make my name sound so . . . beautiful.”
Her heart was racing now as she willed him to stop feasting his eyes on her that way, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away either. “Yeah, well”—she smiled, stunned at what a wild ride her emotions had been on during this conversation alone—“your name is beautiful, and Clair”—she cleared her throat—“she does a lot of things better than most grownups.”
AJ was looking at her a bit oddly now—quizzically—and his head tilted a bit. “I know my full name is out there. It’s not a big secret or anything, but I’m pretty sure some of my own cousins don’t even know it. Why do you? And Clair?”
Feeling her face heat, she smiled. When she realized she’d inevitably be meeting AJ, she figured eventually she might have to tell him about this. She just hadn’t anticipated it’d be this soon. “When I was younger, I also did a lot of scouting. Informally that is,” she clarified when she saw his eyes widen. “My dad had me look into certain minor league players—catchers specifically—check their stats, and report back to him. I came across an article on a local web news site. Your school was in the fin
als that year, and I guess there was a brawl during one of the playoff games. You made one of the headlining photos.”
The curious expression he’d held the whole time as she spoke flattened and he frowned. “I remember that.”
“They had your full name in the paper. I started reading all about the team, gathering stats, you know, what I normally did. After you guys won the state championship your junior year, I kept following you as you progressed . . . among all the other catchers I followed for my dad.”
She smiled when he smirked at her weak attempt to back pedal. If he only knew the truth . . . From the first photos she’d found of him and stared at for the longest time, she’d been almost obsessed, especially because he was just a year older than she was. But even back then before he was a famous player, she could only fantasize. As young as she’d been at the time, she was already knocked up by the time she’d convinced her dad to really look into AJ.
“My dad went out to see you your senior year and suggested they call you up to the Padres farming system.”
His mouth fell open. “You’re why I got called up?”
“Of course not.” She laughed nervously. “You’re why. Over the years, I’d made plenty of suggestions about young and undiscovered talent. Most of those times I’d overrated them, but you blew my dad and his scouting team away.”
Aside from what his gaze did to her throughout the conversation, she’d noticed those same eyes do something else the whole time too. They roamed inconspicuously and sometimes not so inconspicuously. Almost as if he wanted her to know he was taking in everything about her. It made her crazy nervous—like how she’d felt way back when she’d gotten her first taste of capturing the attention of boys. Only AJ was an impressive beast of a man. The way he was gazing at her now made her belly flutter worse than it had all day. It felt like he was looking at her for the first time.
“So you knew me—about me—way back? And I’m just now getting the pleasure of meeting you. Doesn’t seem fair.”
Addison stared at him for a moment. Everything about him fascinated her. It always had. She’d always known plenty about the players; she’d been scouting for her dad long before she had the opportunity to meet them in person. She’d stayed away from AJ for good reason: she’d always known meeting him in person would be different from all the others. Her circumstances would never allow her to even fantasize about the possibility of a man like him gazing at her the way he was doing so at that moment.
“I’m glad you didn’t know me back then. I was a mess.”
Something flicked in his eyes, breaking through the intensity. Something playful or hopeful. It was hard to discern, but it felt strangely exciting, yet at the same time it scared her breathless. “What about now?”
Slippery slope, Addison. Remember the lessons learned. “I’m still kind of a mess.”
The profound way he gazed in her eyes was almost unbearable now. “Can I ask you something?” She gulped, almost afraid to nod but did anyway. “You ever gone out with Travis?”
It took her a second, but then she realized he was talking about Nick and shook her head adamantly. “Never,” she said, horrified that he’d think she might’ve, then added, “I don’t date baseball players.”
That sparked something else in his eyes, but it wasn’t a negative spark like she would’ve expected. It was almost a gleam. “So you’ve never dated any of the guys on the team?”
“Not one of them,” she said, trying to interpret the twinkle in his eyes.
“Good to know,” he said as the twinkle went smug, and her heart thudded wilder than it had all day. “Any particular reason why you don’t date baseball players?”
This was the last thing she’d imagined discussing with him today, and her mind raced to find the quickest least personal way to explain it. “Let’s just say I have in the past and haven’t had any luck. Not looking to get my heart, and especially Clair’s heart, broken. So I steer clear now.”
Mercifully, her parents and Clair finally came out, and they all got caught up, checking out the things they’d bought her. As exciting as her breathless moments around AJ had been, Addison was mindful of her too-eager heart. This was Andrés Josiah Romero, someone she thought would never live up to the expectations she’d held him up to for so long. Yet after spending just one day with him, not only had he done just that, he’d exceeded them.
Flirting, if that’s what she’d call what it began to feel like, was something that was probably the norm for a man like him. She would not, could not, allow herself to get swept away so easily again. She wasn’t that same weak little girl anymore. Any type of relationship she might develop between her and her daughter’s best buddy needed to be handled with the utmost caution.
Chapter 5
AJ
Normally, his time away from home was the only thing AJ had ever resented about his dream job. Now he appreciated it. Weeks after spending such a staggering day around Addison he still couldn’t stop thinking about her.
He kept telling himself there wasn’t anything extraordinary about her. He’d been around plenty of beautiful women before. This was nothing to get himself so worked up over or even consider the possibility of taking such a risk. She’d even made it clear she didn’t date baseball players. For weeks, it was a compelling enough argument. He’d actually thought he squashed any troublesome thoughts that he could actually be feeling anything for a girl he barely knew. Someone he was obviously physically attracted to but nothing more. He didn’t know enough about her except that she came with some major baggage. Albeit the most beautiful and amazing baggage he could easily get on board with. He still knew too little about her to care.
If he thought the feelings of protectiveness had been bad before, they only got worse now that he felt she was more of a friend than just the coach’s daughter and Clair’s mom. A lot worse. Her saying she didn’t date baseball players should’ve been a deterrent. Instead, it’d begun to feel like a challenge he was eager to take on, especially after hearing she’d never dated any of the guys on the team. Unlike in the beginning where he let a lot of the comments the guys made go, he knew he wouldn’t now and he’d been right.
He’d finally managed to stop thinking about her nonstop for at least a few days. They were in the locker room after a game a day before heading back to San Diego again. After his blow up at Biggs, while he’d been annoyed with himself for letting the guy get to him so quickly, he’d been glad he made a statement. Any disrespectful comments about Addison were not going to go over well around AJ, not then, but more than ever, not after the day he’d spent with her. Everyone knew how close he and the coach were, so it couldn’t have come as too much of a surprise that he’d step up and defend the coach’s daughter’s honor like he had. Only AJ knew there’d be so much more to it from here on.
AJ had been talking to Sabian and Parks, the pitcher who’d pitched and won that day. He’d already ignored a comment he’d heard earlier about the coach’s daughter being hot. There was more than one coach on the team, and while he thought these idiots should respect every one of their daughters, Lara was his mentor. He was the only one AJ felt that special bond with. Even though AJ was expected to be a leader, these were guys in a locker room. He couldn’t be checking them for every vulgar thing that came out of their mouths. He’d never stop smashing mouths if that were the case. It was what you expected to hear in men’s locker rooms.
Then he heard another comment coming from the same guy who’d made the “coach’s daughter is hot” remark earlier, the rookie outfielder Tad Sims—something about a MILF.
“What was that?” AJ asked, turning to Sims, interrupting his own conversation.
Sims turned to him, still smiling. “A MILF? It means a mom I’d love to f—.”
“I know what it means, Sims,” AJ said, standing up from the bench he’d been sitting on and taking few steps toward them. “Whose mom are you talking about?”
The locker room quieted, as if they all sudden
ly remembered the exchange he’d had with Biggs a few weeks prior. Even the guys who hadn’t actually been there had heard plenty about it by now. “I didn’t mean anything by it,” Sims said, holding up his hands as AJ stared the kid down. “I was just messing—”
“Let me tell you something,” AJ said, trying hard to keep his cool, then glowered at the rest of the guys staring at him now, some of them smirking. “All of you. Lara is my coach. He’s in charge of the catchers, so with the exception of you three,” he said, pointing at the three back-up catchers, “that makes me closer to him than any of you. I have more respect for the man than I ever did for my own father. And that little girl, his granddaughter, is my little buddy. If I ever hear any of you disrespecting my coach’s daughter, my buddy’s mom, again you’re gonna answer to me.”
There were some snickers and some eye rolls, but not one of them said a thing except for Sims. “I’m sorry,” the kid said, his face nearly white now. “It won’t happen again.”
Later that evening on the plane ride home, AJ took the window seat next to Sabian, who was already smirking before he sat down. “You know what I just remembered?” Sabian asked.
“What?”
“Clair mentioned you were spending the day with them at Niagara Falls a couple of weeks ago.”
AJ had a feeling where Sabian might be going with this, but he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, responding as indifferently as he could to his friend’s observation. “Yeah?”
“So I take it that means you spent the day with her and her mom.”
“Uh huh.”
“Is that what that little speech in the locker room was about?”
“No,” AJ said a bit too quickly, so he kept his eyes shut, careful to not sound so defensive. “It wouldn’t matter if I ever hung out with her or not. I meant what I said in there. I’d do the same if they were talking about Millie or Madge. It’s disrespectful and I ain’t having it.”
Millie and Madge were Sabian’s twin sisters. AJ may not feel for them what he was feeling for Addison now, but that was the point of him mentioning them. They were Sabian’s sisters and Sabian was a good friend now. AJ would be just as adamant if he heard anyone disrespecting them too. He also knew Sabian would do the same if any of them ever dared say something about one of AJ’s sisters.
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