by Shaw, Rhonda
“It isn’t that easy,” Maddie sighed.
“It’s as easy as you make it.”
She leaned her head back on her chair. “Karen, you know if a younger man dates an older woman, everyone’s all over it. People say the woman has coerced him or something, or the guy’s only with her for sex, like it’s some sort of conquest. There’s nothing positive about it.”
“Julianne Moore,” Karen said as a triumphant look passed over her face.
“What?” She lifted her head and frowned.
“Geena Davis.”
“Is there a reason you’re reciting the names of actresses to me?” Maddie asked.
“Both of them married younger men and had kids with them.”
“Oh great,” Maddie said as she slouched back in her chair. “Now we’re comparing my life to movie stars. Like I want that drama.” She sat back up. “And I’m not going to even ask how you know this. I didn’t realize you were that up on your Hollywood gossip.”
Karen waved her off. “Look, all I’m saying is don’t close the door on something just because it isn’t the perfect scenario. Just because he’s younger doesn’t mean he isn’t the ideal guy for you. You never know, maybe you need to change things up.”
She thought her friend was just as delusional as she was as she eyed her wineglass suspiciously. It didn’t matter anyway. She had definitely misread the look in his eyes and if he ever knew what she was thinking, he would probably be embarrassed for her. There was no way a guy like him would ever be interested in an older, divorced mom like her.
Chapter Four
Chase sat in the dugout working on a mouthful of sunflower seeds as he watched his team try to make a comeback against the Texas Wranglers. It was the bottom of the eighth inning and the score was four to two in favor of the Wranglers, but the Rockets were currently threatening to score. They had two men on base and one of their best hitters up at the plate.
It was his turn in the pitching rotation the next night, but as he had watched each opposing batter, trying to get a gauge on what pitches they chased and which ones they hit with the most success, he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering. He found himself thinking about Maddie more and more frequently. He’d thought about her from time to time on the road trip right after meeting her, often just wondering about her and Bree, but after spending time with them at the park earlier, he was having a hard time pushing her completely out of his head. He didn’t have the time to put into a new relationship, but that didn’t seem to stop him from trying to figure out when he could see her again.
He was attracted to her, that much was obvious, but he was surprised to find how much he really wanted to get to know her better. So much so that he wished he had more time in order to pursue things, but the reality was that he didn’t. All of his focus needed to be on proving himself. He had too many critics out there, those so-called “experts” who had balked at the Rockets putting him in the starting pitchers’ rotation as a rookie, and the last thing he needed was to give them anything to build their case on. If he wanted his first year as a Rocket to be successful, he needed to limit the off-field distractions, which is why he had quickly stopped things with Sandy as soon as he saw what was happening.
He hadn’t realized how she’d been viewing the few times they’d gone out until he’d shown up at her house, believing it was simply a friendly invite for dinner when in reality, he was being showcased to extended family. He’d never been interested in her in that way. Since he lived in Delaware in the off-season and this was his first year in Detroit, he really didn’t know the area that much and he’d taken her up on her offer to show him around. It’s not as if he’d tried to kiss her or anything. They were always with a group of people, so he wasn’t even sure where she’d gotten her signals crossed, but it was better to nip it in the bud now rather than have a hairy situation later, especially since her mom had made it clear she had her eye on his money. If there was one thing that drove him crazy it was everyone’s interest in his monetary situation; it wasn’t any of their business.
Even as he tried to convince himself these were the only reasons why he wanted to put things to rest with Sandy, he knew there was another motivating factor for wanting the separation—her aunt.
Never before had he ever been this interested in a woman, never mind an older one. There was something about her; something that he couldn’t put his finger on and it kept her at the forefront of his mind, as much as he tried to ignore it. Her piercing green eyes struck straight through him and made him dream of making her writhe under him as he had his way with her.
He didn’t know how old she was, but he had to guess there was at least a decade between them. She probably thought of him as a kid, but he could swear there were a couple of times he’d made her blush, especially when she caught him checking her out. That didn’t seem like the reaction she would have if she were totally disinterested.
Then there was Bree. She was so cute and he had so much fun with her. He’d always wanted a younger sister when he was growing up, but his parents had stopped after his younger brother. They were close and they had fun together, but he would have liked to play that tough older brother role, protecting her and warding off all the boys vying for her attention. He could tell Bree desperately wanted some male attention in her life and he found himself wanting to do all the things with her that her father should have done. He couldn’t understand what kind of asshole ignored his own child, and he wanted to correct the injustice of that. He just didn’t know how far Maddie would let him go and, truth be told, he didn’t know how far he wanted to go. It seemed like a lot of responsibility to take on during his rookie season and he didn’t want to disappoint anyone.
The cracking sound of a bat smacking the seams off the baseball broke through his thoughts and he looked up in time to see one go out of the park. He jumped off the bench and rushed up to the fence as the ball sailed into the seats. His teammates rounded the bases as a deafening roar erupted from the crowd. Chase stepped forward to greet them, slapping each of them a congratulatory high five before returning to his perch on the bench. They were now ahead five to four. They only needed to get through a half inning more without letting Texas come back and they could record the win, going up another half game in the standings.
Chase caught some movement out of the corner of his eye and turned as his fellow starting pitcher and roommate Jerry Smutton plopped his long, lanky body down next to him. Jerry was the “Ace” pitcher of the Rockets’s organization, the best in the rotation, but there had been some quiet rumblings that Chase could quickly replace him in the top spot. Even with the unspoken competition between them, they were good friends and had become close during spring training. He looked to Jerry as a mentor, trying to learn as much as he could about pitching and about playing in the Bigs, how to deal with all the life-altering changes that came with it. He knew with the new spotlight came increased media attention and he wanted people to read about his game, not his off-the-field activities.
“Thinking about tomorrow night?” Jerry gave him a sideways glance as he grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and shoved them in his mouth.
Chase shrugged and spit some shells on the ground. “Not so much.”
“You’ll probably lose sleep over it tonight, Rook.”
“Definitely,” he replied dryly. His rookie status was a constant joke among his older teammates.
Both watched the game play out in front of them in comfortable silence. Their team was still up at bat, but there were now two outs and the batter currently had a full count on him with three balls and two strikes. If his recent performances indicated anything, he was going to strike out, giving the team the third and final out.
In many ways, Jerry was like a big brother to him. He could think of no one better to help him work through his situation with Maddie. Jerry would give him shit about it and tease him un
mercifully, but he would understand the need to weigh and consider all extenuating circumstances before making a decision.
Chase cleared his throat. “Have you ever been with an older woman?”
Jerry’s eyes bugged out of his head before he could contain himself and then he was laughing. “Where the hell did that come from?”
“Just curious.”
He removed his ball cap and scratched at his short dark hair. “You mean like having sex with an older woman?”
Chase shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. More than that. Dating one and stuff like that.”
“How much older? Like grandma-age or something?” he teased.
“Grandma-age...” Chase scoffed. “Give me a break. Does it matter how old? Just older.”
Jerry gave him a long look before turning his attention back to the field. “How much older is she, man?”
“I’m not sure. I would have to guess at least ten years, if not more.”
He tried to keep the shock off his face. “Wow,” he murmured. “What happened to that girl? What was her name? Candy?”
“Sandy,” Chase corrected. “And there was nothing with her. She offered to show me around town and that’s it. I was never interested in her.”
“Oh. Huh...”
“What?”
Jerry took his hat off again and scratched absently at his head before replacing it and pulling down on the bill. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just wondering if this is the time to be thinking about stuff like this.”
“Exactly. I can’t stop though.”
“That good, huh?” he asked.
Chase nodded, not taking his attention off the field. Both of them took a moment to spit more shells on the ground around their feet.
Jerry leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees as the batter at the plate finally struck out, ending the inning. Around them, their teammates were picking up their gloves and putting on their hats, getting ready to take the field in defense.
“Go get ’em, boys,” Jerry shouted as his teammates unloaded from the dugout. He bumped his shoes together, trying to knock some dirt out of his cleats even though he wasn’t wearing any. “Maybe you should just, you know, get some and walk away. Maybe that would help to get her out of your mind. You’re just horny,” he suggested with a wry smile.
“I’m just horny, huh?” Chase repeated with a chuckle before turning serious again. “No, it’s more than that. I wish it were that easy.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s got a kid. I really like her kid.”
Jerry tried to get a read on his buddy. Chase always exuded confidence in everything he did. It was the main reason, aside from his natural talent, that he was so successful at such a young age. The kid had his head on straight so it was a bit disconcerting to see him so unsure. “How did you meet her?”
“She lives in the same complex as us...” Chase broke off, not sure how to finish.
“And?”
He took a deep breath and let it out. “And...she’s Sandy’s aunt.”
Jerry was quiet for a moment and then broke out in hysterics. He was laughing so hard he fell over to his side and off the bench. His outburst caught the attention of others as they glanced up to see what was going on. Even their head coach looked down at Jerry on the ground and frowned.
“Everything all right down there, Smutty?”
He sat up, wiping at the tears on his cheeks as he tried to contain himself. “Sure...everything’s...great, Coach,” he said between snorts as he struggled to catch his breath.
Chase raised one brow when he’d finally righted himself. “You done now?”
He was having difficulty catching his breath and his eyes were still watering, but he seemed to be back in control. “Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry. You caught me off guard there.” He tried to be serious, but just ended up with a pained look on his face. “Seriously, man? Her aunt?”
“I know. It’s screwed up.” Chase stood and took his cap off to run his fingers through his hair in frustration. He paced a couple of steps away and then turned back. “I can’t get her out of my head and it’s driving me fucking nuts. It’s like I’m trying to decide whether to do something or not, but I don’t know what to do, or if I should, or...” he broke off in frustration.
“Well, I think you have your answer then, bro.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, look at you,” Jerry said as he waved his hand in his direction. “You’re all messed up about it. You have to go for it. If you don’t, you’ll always be wondering ‘what if?’ you know? If you don’t do something, you’ll screw up your concentration and your season will be over even before it has a chance to play out.”
He thought about how it would be if he tried to put everything with Maddie behind him. Chase knew if he didn’t do anything, he’d always be thinking about it and wondering what would or could have been. If he tried and she turned him down, well, then at least he’d tried and he could move on.
Chase nodded as he walked away from Jerry, the decision made. In the small amount of time he had between games and road trips, he was somehow going to make his case to her. It was going to have to be a good one.
* * *
A knock at the door on Sunday morning had Maddie’s heart jumping into her throat. She closed her eyes and gave a silent prayer, asking that the knock belong to a friend of Bree’s or a door-to-door salesman, someone she could brush off easily, but deep down in the pit of her stomach she had a feeling she wasn’t going to be so lucky.
She’d been cleaning the kitchen dressed only in an old, very thin Depeche Mode concert T-shirt that had long since seen its heyday and some boxer shorts. Her hair was in a messy bun and she had on absolutely no makeup. She was about to tell Bree to ignore it, but before she could even take a breath, Bree rushed to the door and opened it.
Maddie cringed, praying whoever it was would go away quickly. When she heard Bree cry out at the sight of Chase though, she knew her situation was hopeless and wondered exactly which God she had indeed pissed off. Her luck surely couldn’t be this bad.
Looking around, she tried to find a way out or a place to hide, but her only option was the back door that opened out onto the small patio and backyard behind her condo. Going out there, she risked her neighbors seeing her, but that seemed preferable to facing Chase at this point. What she couldn’t figure out was where she could hide once out there. With her luck, her neighbors would call the cops to report a crazy homeless-looking woman was lurking around in their bushes.
“I brought this for you,” she heard him say to Bree.
“It’s pink!”
“I told you I’d get you a pink one.”
“Oh, I love it! Thank you so much! Mom! Mom? Look what Chase brought me.”
Maddie stifled a groan. Forced out of her hiding spot, she had to get over herself. Who cared what she looked like anyway? It wasn’t as if he was coming over to get a date or anything. He probably expected her to look disheveled and homely, a stereotypical mom. Well, that’s exactly what he was going to get. She didn’t ask him to come over bright and early on a Sunday morning. Well, it wasn’t exactly early, but still. She quickly busied herself wiping off the counter and plastered a bright smile on her face when they entered.
“What did you get, honey?” She focused solely on Bree.
“It’s a pink glove, just like he said.”
Chase stood in the doorway as Bree proudly showed off her new pink mitt. Maddie felt his eyes slowly wander over her and when they landed on her red toenails, she swore she saw him smile.
“Thank you.” She straightened up and turned in his direction. “That’s very nice of you.”
“My pleasure.” He stepped into the kitchen. “I’m sorry if I caught you at a bad time.”
&n
bsp; “Oh, it’s no problem. I’m sorry I look like such a slob, but we got a late start this morning...” she broke off as she toyed with her bun.
“You don’t look like a slob.”
Maddie felt self-conscious under his intense gaze and stepped back, crossing her arms across her chest and then regretting it once she remembered she wasn’t wearing a bra. She hoped that little fact would go unnoticed by him, but her hope quickly deflated when she saw his eyes drop and darken. Heat rushed to her face and her boobs turned traitorous, with her nipples stiffening in response. She quickly turned around, pretending to wipe down the same counter she’d already spent the past ten minutes cleaning. To Chase’s credit, he made a hasty recovery and cleared his throat.
“Uh, I thought Bree and I could go to the park and break in her new glove.” At Maddie’s pause, Chase quickly added. “I can take her and you can meet us down there, if you want.”
“You don’t mind? I’ll only be a minute.”
“Take your time.” He held his hand out to Bree. “Come on, Bree. Let’s get some shoes on you.”
Maddie froze as she watched Bree take Chase’s hand to go looking for her shoes. She felt a lump form in her throat as she took in the endearing scene and, once again, cursed Kyle for never being a doting dad to his child. She stayed where she was, only letting out her breath when the front door closed behind them. She had to pull herself together. She could admit that Chase was an attractive young man and she could even admit that she was attracted to him, as wrong as that felt, but that didn’t mean that she had to act the fool whenever he was around. It also didn’t help that whenever he was with Bree, he did something that made her want to melt. She shook her head at herself and laughed. She was a piece of work. Her self-imposed celibacy was definitely working against her.
Chapter Five
Stepping into the walk-in closet next to her bathroom, Maddie quickly scanned through her clothes, all of which suddenly seemed boring and unflattering.
