by LuAnn McLane
“Okay,” she said, with a bit of question laced in her tone, but in fact she did trust him, and if she was being honest, she was giddy about spending the evening with him … for her protection, of course. Nothing more. Still, as she followed him she couldn’t help but admire his very nice butt.
When Cam headed to his bedroom to change, Mia couldn’t help but notice that his place was as neat as a pin. What she didn’t see was any pictures of family, and she had to wonder why. He was a visitor and not a resident, but still, one would think that he would have some personal touches here and there. But she told herself not to ask or pry. When he returned with a shirt she smiled but secretly missed the beauty of his bare chest. Odd, because she spent so much time around her pool or at the water she was often surrounded by shirtless guys, many of them in great shape. But the sight of his particular chest made her long to touch his bare skin.
“Ready?” he asked briskly, but when their eyes met, a hot shot of awareness passed between them. The heat hung in the air, making Mia wonder how she was going to fight something this strong.
“Yes.” She wanted to sound chipper, but her breathless tone sounded like a response to something other than an evening stroll to an ice cream stand. If he noticed, he didn’t give her any indication, politely putting his hand at the small of her back and urging her toward the door.
19
The Simple Things
CAM JUST ABOUT HAD HIMSELF UNDER CONTROL, AND then he had to go and touch her. His hand at the small of Mia’s back was meant to be impersonal and merely polite, but damn, if it didn’t make him want to drag her back into the condo and kiss her senseless. Not doing so took more control than not going after a high, hard fastball that was impossible to hit yet irresistible. He was acutely aware of everything about her, from the scent of her perfume to the lingering sunshine glinting off her hair. She appeared fresh and carefree in her casual shorts, making Cam smile for no real reason other than walking down the street with her.
“Oh, look!” Mia pointed across the street to the entrance to the park. Her laughter at the sight of two plump puppies rolling around in a patch of grass was infectious. A little girl chased after the puppies, followed by what must have been her father. “Aren’t they adorable?”
“Sure are.” He glanced at Mia and then back to the puppies. “I always wanted a dog.” Why he felt the need to add that little tidbit, he’d never know.
“Yeah, me too.” Her wistful tone drew his attention. “The closest I came was the dog at my mother’s house, but Toby actually belonged to my two half brothers.”
Ah, another nugget of information. “So, when did your mom and dad divorce?” He wanted to keep the information flowing.
Mia nodded. “When I was a toddler.” When a shadow fell across her face, Cam wished he hadn’t persisted. “Maybe I’ll have a dog of my own someday.”
“Hey, if you want a dog, you should get one. What kind would you get?”
Her expression brightened. “Oh, a mutt. Definitely a rescue dog.” She nodded firmly, as if she had thought about it more than once.
“Good decision,” Cam agreed and smiled. It seemed that whenever he was with her she managed to put him in a better mood. Although he reminded himself that it wasn’t, this felt like a date, and Cam found himself longing to reach over and take her hand. Crazy, since he was never much of a touchy-feely kind of guy. He shoved his hands in his pockets and fell silent.
“It’s a nice evening out,” Mia commented. “I just love summertime, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” he replied, deciding to keep his answers short. He told himself to keep his distance both physically and emotionally, but it was becoming a losing battle that in truth he wasn’t even sure that he wanted to win.
Mia glanced at him. “Silly question. Of course you love summertime. You’re a baseball player!”
“True, although summer in Florida can be brutal, you’re right.” So much for short answers, but damn, her smile was so hard to resist. Mia had a way of opening him up and drawing him out, and his resistance was fading fast. Why fight this snuck into his brain once more, and he was having a hard time remembering his reasons for pushing her away. Getting in the way of his career filtered into his brain but no longer held much clout, and he surely was wrong about her high maintenance. His rich-chick radar must be completely on the fritz.
“Did you like school?”
Cam arched an eyebrow at her question. “Uh, not so much. So summer vacation was always highly anticipated for more reasons than one,” he added with a grin. “I always managed to get just above having to go to summer school.” Cam really wasn’t one for small talk, but it helped to keep his mind off wanting to kiss her … well, almost. “How about you? Did you like school?”
“Oh, I pretty much loved school,” she said, and something in her eyes made him think that there was more to it than that.
“So you were a high achiever?”
“I always wanted to please my father, so getting good grades was important.” She frowned and then added, “I guess since my mother left I always had this fear that if I wasn’t good that he would leave me too.”
“I’m sure that wasn’t the case, Mia.”
“Oh, I know that, at least on an intellectual level, but the little girl in me still feared the worst.” When her eyes misted over, Cam wanted to draw her into his arms and hug her hard. She fell silent for a moment and then said, “And there were always people around at school, you know? My father was gone a lot, so the social aspect was something I looked forward to every day. About the only thing I got in trouble for consistently was talking too much.”
“I would never have guessed,” Cam said, drawing a slight grin from her. “My mother worked a lot, so I totally get where you’re coming from. Loneliness is a bitch.”
“So true,” she readily agreed, but Cam noticed that she didn’t mention her mother again. He wanted to know more, but she suddenly clammed up, though he sensed that she was deep in thought. He didn’t let her know it, but he was also keeping his eyes peeled for the sedan or any other indication that someone was watching her.
Cam remained keenly aware of his surroundings, but to his relief he didn’t really notice anything out of the ordinary. Cricket Creek was a throwback to the days when small towns were the American way of life, with the outlying area taken up by farmland and a few chain stores and restaurants on the main highway. To think that there was something evil lurking just didn’t fit, and Cam wondered if he was being overprotective, but then Mia suddenly stopped short. “What’s wrong?” Cam glanced at her and his senses went on high alert.
“Nothing.”
“Mia!”
“I thought I saw someone watching me over by the trees,” she replied but then chuckled. “For a minute I even felt like it was going to be my father. But the guy was wearing a baseball cap and had, you know, one of those silly haircuts …” She wiggled her fingers near her shoulders.
“Do you mean a mullet?”
Mia pointed at Cam and nodded. “Yeah, one of those. I must be crazy. My father and a mullet do not fit in the same sentence.” She shook her head, but her smile faltered a bit. “That was pretty weird, but I guess I just miss him.”
Cam hid his concern with a question. “Are you two close?”
“Yes, but we’ve had a bit of a falling-out,” she admitted, and she appeared so sad that Cam couldn’t resist and reached over and took her hand.
“I’m sure you’ll work it out.”
“I sure hope so,” Mia answered, so glumly that Cam squeezed her hand. He wanted to let go but just couldn’t bring himself to do so. He supposed that it didn’t help that families were milling around everywhere.
“Are you sad that you aren’t close to your parents?”
“No.” Cam didn’t want to elaborate but felt himself adding, “But I always wanted to be in a close-knit family unit.” When a young couple passed pushing a stroller, Cam suddenly wondered if he would ever be a father.
Wow, that sudden thought came from out of left field and shook Cam up a little bit. He knew it had something to do with walking hand in hand with Mia, but instead of letting go, he suddenly held her hand a bit more firmly. He had never felt this sense of longing before, and perhaps it was about time that he embraced something soft and good. Instead of trying to push Mia away, maybe he should do everything in his power to draw her closer. He knew one thing: It sure felt right being with her.
Cam had learned that when he was struggling at the plate, he should just relax and fall into a rhythm, allowing the ball to come to him. With that thought in mind, Cam decided to just let the evening take its course and evolve naturally.
“I haven’t had one of these in a long time,” Cam confessed after they’d ordered their ice cream cones.
Mia licked off the decorative top curl and then nodded. “Me neither, and it’s simply scrumptious.”
“Sometimes it’s the simple things in life.” Cam was sort of joking, but her eyes lit up.
“You know, you’re absolutely right.” She put a gentle hand on his forearm. “Just take a look around and you see the evidence everywhere.”
“True,” Cam acknowledged, but instead of looking around he gazed at her. There was just something so sweet about Mia, and Cam knew he was drawn to her gentleness because it was something that had always been lacking in his life. He had learned to be tough and independent. He had played when he had been hurt and shrugged off the pain. On days when he had come up lacking, there had been no one to pick him up with a pep talk, and there’d been no celebration at home if he had hit the winning run or made a diving catch. Report cards and achievements went unnoticed, and so Cam rarely tried to do more than the minimum in the classroom, figuring, Why bother? He had developed a very thick skin, but her light, simple touch made him melt as quickly as the soft-serve ice cream. “I had forgotten how good an ice cream cone tasted.”
“Me too!”
Cam had gone for vanilla, but Mia had opted for a vanilla and chocolate swirl that she called a zebra. “I lived for these when I was a kid.” He remembered saving his money so that he could get the occasional treat on his way home from baseball practice. It used to get to him, seeing families sharing the evening together while he consumed his ice cream alone. He often had to choose between an ice cream cone and a hot dog for his dinner. Once in a while some loser that his mother was dating would toss him a couple of bucks just to get rid of him for the evening and Cam could splurge on both. He never even asked his father for anything, since it was pointless.
Later on, when he was a teenager, getting out of the trailer meant looking for trouble instead of treats, and Cam knew that if it hadn’t been for baseball he would have slid down a much darker path. Coaches became his father figures and provided a sense of stability and encouragement that his home life lacked. If Cam ever had a family of his own, he vowed that it would be a much different story.
Wait, a family of my own?
Cam had never really thought about getting married or having children, unless thoughts of never wanting to go that route were considered. But he suddenly wondered how it would feel to push the stroller of his own child or to toss ball with his son. He glanced at Mia’s pretty profile and knew that she would look so cute with a baby bump. Then he shook his head and stared at his ice cream cone, thinking that it must be drugged.
“A penny for your thoughts.” Mia licked the side of her ice cream swirl and tilted her head to the side in question.
“A penny is all my thoughts are worth?” There was no way he was going to disclose what had been going on in his brain, not for any amount of money.
“Well, unfortunately, I don’t have much more than pocket change to my name,” she replied, but her tone was cheerful.
“Well, then, I’ll spring for the beer at Sully’s. I won’t even use Noah’s credit card,” he added with a grin.
“How can you think about beer when we’re eating ice cream?”
“I’m a guy. Beer goes with anything.”
Mia laughed and then had to quickly lick a drip of ice cream that was sliding down the side of her cone. “I had forgotten that there was an art to eating one of these,” she said and then licked all around the base of the cone. Cam watched in fascination, forgetting about his own melting ice cream until she pointed it out. “Cam! You’ve got some serious dripping going on! What are you doing?”
Watching you. “Oh … damn!” He laughed at his melting mess and went to work. They walked to Sully’s and fell into a companionable silence as they strolled past the city park once more. The sun was dipping low in the sky and the evening breeze was chasing away the heat of the day. Cam felt more at ease than he had in a long time and found himself smiling for no real reason. The urge to hold her hand returned, and this time instead of fighting it he reached over and did it. Mia looked at him in what seemed like surprise but then smiled. A soft blush crept into her cheeks, and she looked away, making Cam wonder what was on her mind. She was a mystery he wanted to unravel, but for now he chose to simply enjoy being with a beautiful woman on a warm summer night.
When they reached Sully’s, the younger crowd was starting to filter in. Cam held the door for Mia to enter and was surprised that the bar was already hopping. The jukebox played an upbeat Jason Aldean party song, creating a festive, energetic atmosphere. Laughter mingled with the music and a few people started to dance. Ice-filled buckets with longnecks sticking out of the top were being thumped down onto high-topped tables and carried outside. Cam suddenly realized it had been a long time since he’d had a night out on the town and hoped that Mia would want to stay for a while and not leave right after finding Bella and Madison. As soon as the season was in full swing, these carefree nights would end.
Cam used the loudness of the music and laughter as an excuse to lean close to Mia’s ear and ask, “What can I get you to drink?”
“Oh … um …” She glanced around as if to see what everybody else was drinking, making him wonder if a neighborhood bar was something she was used to, or perhaps something higher end would have been more familiar. But then he remembered her beater car and the fact that she was broke and shook off that notion. “A beer.”
“Should I get a bucket?”
“A bucket?”
When she seemed confused, he said, “It’s cheaper that way and stays cold.”
“Oh … sure. A bucket would be great.”
“Is Kentucky Ale okay? It’s a popular choice around here, and I like it.”
“Yes, that’s great. I noticed that it’s on tap at the Cougars stadium and Jessica has it at the diner. I like the idea of supporting the local businesses.” She smiled. “And I plan on hitting them up for a beverage huggie giveaway.”
“Smart idea,” Cam said, and then signaled for a bartender. Sully noticed them and lumbered over to the end of the bar.
“Well, hello there, sugar,” Sully said in his booming voice. He slapped the white towel he had in his hand over his shoulder and grinned at Mia. “You still stirring up trouble over at Wine and Diner?”
“Actually, I’m working as the promotions manager for the Cougars.”
“You don’t say.” Sully’s bushy eyebrows shot up. “Well, now.”
“In fact, if you’d like, we could sit down sometime soon and discuss some ways that you could promote your bar at the ballpark,” Mia suggested. “Maybe a T-shirt? If I can get enough interest from other establishments in town, you could all have your name on the back.”
“I like that idea.” Sully nodded. “I’ve done that for local softball teams, but this would be even better. Locals know about my tavern, but it would be great to get some of the out-of-towners over here before or after the games.”
“Super. I don’t have business cards just yet, but I’ll stop in for lunch this week and we can brainstorm ideas. Think in terms of having discounts for patrons of the games if they show a ticket stub—something like stub-and-grub night?”
“Stub and gru
b …” Sully tugged on his beard and then nodded. “Hey, I like that!” He appeared duly impressed and then turned to Cam. “Word is that you’ve been smacking the tar out of the ball.”
Cam nodded. “I’ve been making some contact.”
“Well, I’m sure looking forward to opening day. Ty McKenna stopped in earlier and had a few wings, and your name came up.” Sully leaned forward and said in a low but audible tone, “Ty sneaks in here for my special wings. I grill ’em and then bake ’em until the meat falls off the bones. Jessica begged me for the sauce recipe and the rights to use it at Wine and Diner, but it’s a highly guarded secret.” He puffed out his wide chest. “Pretty damned flattering to have a chef like her want a recipe from little ole me … well, not that I’m little, but you get the picture.” He gave Mia a wink.
“I’ll say,” Mia agreed but then quickly added, “About the being flattered part.
Sully laughed. “Hey, little lady, seems like I remember that I owe you a martini.”
Mia glanced at Cam. “We were going to order a pail of Kentucky Ale.”
“A bucket,” Cam corrected with a grin. “Have the martini if you prefer, Mia.” He was beginning to guess that she didn’t frequent neighborhood bars like Sully’s Tavern.
Sully put his big hands on the gleaming wood bar and tilted his head. “I can make the perfect martini, very dry and extra cold, but I also make a mean Chocolate Dream, if you’re interested.”
“Oh, all you had to say was chocolate and I’m in,” Mia admitted.
Sully grinned and reached for a generous-sized martini glass hanging upside down from a rack. “Jerry, get a bucket of Kentucky Ale for Cameron Patrick and give him the Cougar discount,” he called to another bartender, who nodded.
“Thanks,” Cam said. The players all loved it at Sully’s, and with good reason. It might not be the pros, but it was nice for the players to feel like celebrities, if only on the local level. There was a lot of hometown pride in Cricket Creek, and Cam liked the feeling.
“Watch the master at work,” Sully said to Mia, drawing applause from several patrons seated at the bar.
