Over the Fence: Lyssa Layne's Baseball Romances (58 page)

Grey hands me a few helmets. “You hanging out with my mom tonight?”

I shrug, trying to play it cool, although the kid is smart and I know he’s noticing all the extra time I’ve been hanging around. “Yeah, we need to finish that table we started a few weeks ago. You alright with that?” I don’t want to piss the kid off, his blessing is just as important as Coach’s, although I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

Grey nods, trying to hide a smile. Before he can answer, a male voice calls to him and we both look up. I’ve never met his father before but I know the tall, dark haired man in a full on suit in the ninety degree weather has to be the asshole.

I glance down at Grey. “He picking you up tonight instead of Ash?” Usually Ashley picks up all the boys on the days Grey goes with Adam, but no one told me any different about today.

“Yeah, we’re having dinner with my future stepmonster’s parents tonight.”

I laugh, although I know as an adult, I shouldn’t encourage the name calling. “Sounds thrilling,” I tease and roll my eyes.

“I wish I could hang out with you and mom,” Grey says, his eyes pleading for me to make it happen.
Kid, I wish I could.

“Greyson, come on. You’re going to make us late!” Adam yells, not even looking up from his phone.

I clench my jaw to keep from screaming at him. “Go on, Grey, don’t want to piss off the beast.”

Grey giggles and runs over to his father. Adam finally breaks his attention to send Grey to his car on his own. I shake my head and pick up the last couple bats. When I throw the bag over my shoulder and walk out of the dugout, Adam Darbis stands before me.

“Jace Richards, right?”

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. Everyone in town fuckin’ knows me whether I want them to or not. “Yeah, that’s me.”

He nods, a wicked grin on his face. “So you’re the one screwing my ex-wife?”

His words stir up anger and I clench my fists, trying to keep control of my temper. “I don’t think it’s any of your business.”

“Well sure it is. I mean a guy like you has slept with what? Hundreds? Thousands of women? I may not still be married to her, but I care enough about Laurel to make sure she doesn’t catch anything from a manwhore like you.”

I throw down the equipment bag, pissed at his insinuations although there might be truth to some of it. “If we’re using rumors as fact here then I think she should be just as worried about you.”

He laughs and points his finger at me. “So you know where I’m coming from then? I like you, Richards.” He claps his hand on my back and I stare at it, wanting to break his fingers. “I just wanted you to know that I’m the only other man she’s been with so you have a lot to live up to.”

Adam saunters off, still laughing as he walks away. His words claw at my brain. There’s no way a woman like Laurel would want to be with a sex-crazed man like myself. I may have tested clean but somehow, my brain has become delusional because I actually thought I might have a chance to be Laurel Darbis’ lover.

Laurel

I check the clock one more time only to confirm that Jace is almost an hour late. He said he didn’t have anything going on after practice and would come over right away. I told him not to bother with taking a shower first, letting him know he could shower here. My stomach’s been in knots ever since the words escaped, hoping he didn’t think I was trying to imply anything more than our regular make-out sessions. My body is screaming at me to get laid but I’m completely self-conscious because of his smooth skin comment.

From what I’ve seen, the man is completely hairless on every part of his body. Granted, I haven’t seen ‘down below’ but I can imagine it matches the rest. While I keep things neatly trimmed down there, I can’t bring myself to go to the spa and bare my nether regions to a total stranger while they rip the hair off my most sensitive skin.

Standing in front of the mirror, I pull my white blouse off my shoulders, trying to get the perfect off the shoulder look. I glance at my phone one more time then grab my keys and make the drive to the Purser house. When I pull up the long road, I’m shocked to see the house freshly painted, the broken boards replaced, and the roof halfway restored. It actually looks like someone lives here and it’s not the eyesore that it used to be. I stop my car beside the SUV Jace has been driving. Stepping out of the car in my denim shorts and cowboy boots, I frown that he’s here and didn’t call. I glance at the house and see a few lights on inside. My stomach sinks as the thought that maybe he brought home a woman hits me.

I have no claim on Jace Richards, he’s not mine. I should get in my car and go home to save face… and heartache. Tears threaten and as I pull my door open, I hear a loud thud in the back of the house. Standing still, I hear another then another, each one sounding louder and less time between each one. Curiosity getting the best of me, I walk around back and see Jace pitching to a mattress leaned up against a tree. He’s muttering under his breath and from the looks of things, he’s not happy.

I slowly walk up behind him and place my hand gently on his back. He startles as I do and spins around. “What the hell are you doing here?” Anger seethes in his words.

I pull my hand back, placing one on each hip. “I
thought
we had a date.”

Jace laughs and walks toward the mattress to retrieve the balls he threw. “Who are we kidding, Laurel? You’re way out of my league so just stop playing nice. I’m a grown man, I can handle the rejection.”

I pick up a ball and hurl it in his direction, barely missing his head. He spins around and shouts, “What the fuck was that?”

I walk toward him, my chest heaving as anger takes over my body. “You tell me! Where did this self-loathing come from? I thought I told you I make up my
own
mind so don’t try to do it for me.”

Jace hangs his head in shame and rolls a ball between his fingers. “Your ex picked Grey up from practice.”

“What’d he say?” My heart pounds in my chest because there’s no telling what Adam would lie about to ruin something good I’ve got going on.

“That he cared enough about you to make sure you didn’t catch anything from me. I told him from the sounds of things that you should be worried about the same thing from being with him. Then he told me he’s the only man you’ve ever been with.”

I let out a nervous laugh for too many reasons to list and Jace continues. “I don’t know, Laurel, it just made me start thinking. Why would a good woman like you want to be with a guy who's slept with more women than I can count? You deserve so much better.”

I relax as Jace admits to his own fears. I walk until I can put my hands on his cheeks. “Are you with anyone else right now?”

He wrinkles his forehead. “What? Hell no! I haven’t been with anyone in the last ten months.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “Do you get tested regularly?”

He nods. “I may be horny but I’m not an idiot.”

I smile and run my fingers over his hair. “Then we’re good. Adam’s always looking for a way to hurt me, whether it be by taking more time with Grey or trying to push you away, he can’t stand for me to be happy without him.”

Jace’s hands lock behind my back and our bodies are pushed together. “Laurel, you’re too fuckin’ perfect.”

I laugh and shake my hair over his arms. “I’m far from it and I hate to break it to Adam, but he’s
not
the only man I’ve been with.”

Jace laughs. “I would love to be the one that got to tell him that.”

I bite my bottom lip. “One might have been his cousin…”

Jace’s laughter increases and he scoops me into his arms. “Forgive me for being a pussy?”

“Tell me why you were scared,” I whisper, looking into his eyes.

He stares back at me and drops his voice. “Because I’m afraid of losing you.”

My breath hitches and I bite the inside of my cheek.

“I’m not leaving Florida until you tell me to. This is my home now.”

No words come to my lips so instead I kiss him and he kisses me back, carrying me upstairs to his bedroom. An hour later, I’m wearing nothing but my panties and he’s in his boxer briefs as we lie in bed together for the first time. My fingers walk over the compass inked on his inner bicep.

I roll over so I’m half on his chest, half on the bed. “Tell me about this one.”

Jace glances down and smiles, his fingers playing with my hair. “My grandfather gave me a compass for my tenth birthday. He told me it was so that I could always find home. When I got signed my rookie year, I got it inked so I’d remember my roots.” He shakes his head. “So much for that,” he mutters.

I kiss the compass and lean up to kiss him over his heart. My finger moves between the south and east points. “Addresses change but home is where your heart is and right now, it’s right here.”

Jace leans down and kisses my forehead. “Thanks, babe.”

My finger swirls around his nipple ring and he moans softly. “Is it okay if I stay the night?”

Jace nods. “I’d like nothing more than to hold you tonight.”

I snuggle up to his chest as he reaches over and turns off the light. We may not have had sex but on another level, we were so much more intimate. Jace said he’s not going anywhere so there’s nothing to keep me from holding back anymore and that scares the shit out of me.

CHAPTER 18

Jace

After the best night of sleep and an even better wake-up call, Laurel left this morning so she could meet Adam when he dropped off Grey. Good Lord that woman knows how to work a nipple ring and as easily as she can get me off just by dry humping, my cock is begging to be inside of her. I messed that up last night and I’m willing to wait, but this is the longest dry spell I’ve ever had and the most I’ve ever wanted a woman so I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out.

As soon as Adam was gone, she texted me and I jumped on the chance to spend more time with her and the boys. I told her last night that I wasn’t going anywhere and I meant what I said. We’ve been spending the afternoon poolside at Ashley’s, her son and Sam are having a blast in the pool but Grey’s not feeling it. He kicks the water with his feet, making small splashes as we sit on the edge letting our feet dangle in the water.

“How was the stepmonster’s?”

Grey shrugs. “Fine, I guess. She talked the whole time about their new place in New York and kept trying to convince me of the cool things we could do like the art museum and the Empire State Building. It all sounded lame to me. I mean what’s so cool about riding an elevator in a really tall building?”

Thinking back, I recall my loft in New York. I only had it so I had a place to bring women home and screw their brains out. Then I found Colie again, who happened to need a place to live, and Laurel’s right, home is where the heart is. I may have spent the majority of my time in D.C. where my team was but I only felt at home when it was just Colie and me in that loft, laughing like we did back in college when no one was watching us. I thought I’d lost it all when Colie walked out of my life but now that I’ve found Laurel, I understand it happened for a reason. I know Colie is happy now but at some point, I need to find her and apologize for the shitty things I did to her. Power and money, it’s a dangerous combination.

“Yeah, Empire State Building is only cool for about ten seconds when you first get to the top but the art museum is pretty wicked. Don’t knock it until you try it.”

Grey shrugs, kicking his feet some more. I know it’s not any of my business and hopefully if Laurel knew, she’d clue me in but she hasn’t yet, so I ask, “Did your dad say anything about how often you’d visit?”

“Not to me, but I overheard Bianca telling her mom that I’ll have to wear a uniform.”

That son-of-a-bitch, he plans on having Grey during the school year. There’s no way that Laurel would agree to that. If she did, I’ll have to try to talk some sense into her because then we’d never get to see him.
Wow, where did that come from?
The man unable to have kids is getting pissed because he’s not going to see his girlfriend’s son enough. Laurel and Grey Darbis have definitely worked some kind of magic on me.

“Hey, Jace?”

“Yeah, man?”

“If I have to move to New York, will you stay here with my mom?”

“I told her last night that I planned to stay here for a long time.”

“Good because you make her really happy and I don’t want her to be sad when I’m gone.”

“Want the truth?” I push my sunglasses on top of my head. He may be a kid but he needs to be treated like a man, that’s what my father always told me.

He nods and swallows. I put my arm around his shoulder. “She’d be heartbroken if you were in New York, nothing I could do would make her feel better.”

Grey gets teary eyed and he nods. “I know, but my dad is an asshole and always gets what he wants. I don’t want to go to New York.”

I cradle his head in my arms, hugging him tightly and kissing his forehead, completely uncharacteristic of me but it feels right. “You’re not going to, not if I have anything to do about it.” And like that, I know what it feels like to have a father’s love.