Tying You Down (5 page)

He scooped up a glove in one hand and picked up the bucketful of balls in his other before walking out a good distance away from where she stood.

“Here goes,” she said beneath her breath as she waited for the first pitch.

He didn’t pitch underhand to her as he knew she preferred a baseball pitch over a softball pitch. She swung at the ball and missed. That happened with the two pitches after that. The fourth she didn’t swing at but the fifth she hit. It popped up and Tate easily caught it with his glove.

“You’re doing great.” He got into position again and pitched the ball.

She grinned at him. “You’re just saying that.”

“Like getting back on a bike.” He returned her grin. “Come on. We’ve got lots more balls for you to hit.”

It didn’t take long before she was hitting pretty regularly. It was an exhilarating feeling.

When the bucket was empty, they went into one of the auto-pitch cages. She watched as Tate hit one after another. It was like he couldn’t miss and his form was incredible. From his pitching to fielding to batting, it was easy to see why he’d been recruited to play college ball. Not that she was an expert by any means. But she did enjoy watching a good game of baseball.

“You’ll have to join in on the McBride versus Johnson families games next summer,” Tate said to her. The McBrides and the Johnsons were the two biggest families in the area and their baseball rivalry was legendary throughout the valley.

“Hatfields and McCoys,” she said with a laugh.

His look was teasing. “Except for no dead bodies.”

“That we know of,” she said solemnly.

He shook his head with an amused expression. “Not yet.”

It was lunchtime when they’d finished. Jo felt more light-hearted and happier than she’d felt in a long time. Her cheeks actually hurt from laughing so much.

“Please tell me we’re going to eat now.” She held her hand to her rumbling belly.

“Yep.” He took her by the hand. “I’ve got just the place.”

His hand felt dry and warm, and his grip gave her a pleasant feeling in her midsection. He led her to the arcade side of the building and she grinned as they went up to the concession window.

“Chili dog?” he asked. “With onions?”

“Of course.” She smiled at him, refusing to think of calories and weight.

“Just one chili dog?” he asked and she nodded.

He turned to the man behind the concession window and put in an order for three chili dogs with onions, two orders of curly fries, two Pepsis and two pieces of wrapped chocolate cake. Jo bit her lower lip as he ordered so much. He’d probably expect her to eat everything he’d bought for her. They sat at one of the picnic benches outside the arcade once they had their order.

When she bit into her chili dog she closed her eyes. It tasted better than she remembered. She opened her eyes and he was biting into his own chili dog while he watched her. She ate a few curly fries, drank part of her Pepsi, and took a bite of the cake. He didn’t say anything about her not eating everything.

Even though she still watched what she ate, for once she didn’t have the bad feelings in the pit of her stomach telling her she was eating too much and she didn’t feel like purging. She just enjoyed herself. She was happy.

It wasn’t too crowded for a Saturday, but there was a birthday party going on at a set of three picnic tables that had been pulled together in one long line. Presents were piled on the table, bunches of red, blue, green, yellow, and orange balloons were tied to the benches, and a large birthday cake was at one end of the table.

Eight or nine-year-old kids ran in and around the arcade until a large woman in a loose yellow dress called for them to come to the table. While they ate, Jo and Tate watched the kids and the birthday boy who tore into his gifts after all the kids ate their hot dogs. Cake was served after the opening of the gifts.

After Jo and Tate finished eating and had thrown their trash into a big metal drum that had a black garbage bag lining it, they walked into the dim arcade.

The arcade had machines that ranged from video games to shooting galleries to basketball and to games where stuffed animals could be won. Tate and Jo went for the old pinball machines. Even though they’d grown up with all sorts of games, they’d always had fun playing pinball more than anything else when they were kids.

Jo found herself giggling as they played one of their old favorites, and realized she hadn’t giggled in longer than she could remember. She was surprised at how good and freeing it felt to just let herself go. She beat him at making baskets in the basketball game and he had her beat in the shooting gallery. They were neck and neck at winning most games.

It was late afternoon by the time they finished playing just about every game in the small arcade and had exhausted the last bunch of game machine coins Tate had purchased.

Still laughing, they walked to his truck and climbed in. “Had enough for a day?” he asked her.

She relaxed in her seat after she strapped on her seatbelt. “A great day.”

“I still can’t believe you beat me at PAC-MAN,” he said with a shake of his head.

She grinned. “I always was better than you at it.”

“Ha,” he said, but laughed.

“I could fix dinner at my place if you’re up for it,” she said before she even realized the words were out of her mouth.

“Sounds good to me,” he said and started the truck.

Chapter 5

Butterflies traveled through Jo’s belly as she and Tate headed back to her house. What was she doing, inviting him over for dinner? It was one thing to go out with him, another to have him over for dinner.

She let them into the house. It was a large home that she’d fallen in love with when she moved back to town. She set her purse on the table in the foyer and he set his ball cap there too, before she led him to the kitchen.

Hair had escaped her braid and she pushed it out of her face as she turned to face him. “What sounds good?”

He hitched his shoulder up against the archway into the kitchen and hooked his thumbs in the front pockets of his Wranglers. His T-shirt was pulled taut against his muscular chest and his hair was mussed from being under the ball cap. “Anything easy.”

She rummaged around in the pantry and pulled out a package of angel hair pasta and a jar of three-cheese spaghetti sauce. “How about spaghetti? That’s fast.”

“Great.” He watched her with an intense look that made her feel a little unnerved. “What can I do to help?”

“Stand there and keep looking sexy,” she said without thinking.

He grinned. “Sexy, huh?”

She shrugged and tried to hide a smile. “You have your moments.” She grabbed the large stockpot she used to boil water for pasta and filled it with water.

While the water heated, she washed up and then cut thick slices of the French bread she had recently bought and made several pieces of garlic bread with fresh garlic and olive oil. When the water was boiling, she put the angel hair pasta in then grabbed a package of pre-made salad from the fridge and put it into a bowl.

They talked as she put together the simple dinner and he set the table with dishes she got out of the cabinet and silverware from a drawer. He also set out the wine glasses and opened a bottle of Merlot from her wine rack. She kept wine on hand even though she only drank if she had company.

She was glad he was so easy to talk with and there weren’t any lulls in conversation.

When dinner was ready and on the table, they slid into their chairs. They sat at the small table in the kitchen rather than the large one in the dining room.

She served a huge pile of spaghetti in his pasta bowl before serving herself a much smaller amount. She was hungry, but she couldn’t help feeling like she was overdoing it today. She forced herself to shove aside thoughts of the chili dog, and bites of curly fries, and chocolate cake she’d had earlier. Spaghetti and a high-calorie day weren’t going to hurt her. It was something she had to remind herself all the time. Counselors had told her that her fear of eating too much was something she’d probably have to work through for the rest of her life, and she’d found that to be true.

“I had a great time today.” She smiled at him after she’d eaten some of the pasta and a piece of garlic toast. “I don’t know if I’ve had that much fun in a long time, especially on a date.”

He returned her smile. “There’s more where that came from.”

She took a sip of her Merlot then set her glass down. “Angling for another date?”

“Is it working?” he asked as he twirled the pasta on his fork.

“Maybe.” She felt a warmth inside her that she hadn’t felt in longer than she could remember. A sense of contentment that probably should have scared her, but right now it didn’t.

She thought about Tate’s old girlfriend and wondered how much time he’d spent with her at lunch and what he and Daphne had talked about. But that wasn’t any of her business and if she said anything it would sound like she was jealous. She wasn’t, of course. She had nothing to be jealous of and no reason to be.

As they ate, she took him in from beneath her lashes. He was an alpha male, large and virile, and he drew her to him for so many reasons. She enjoyed being around him and the fact was she was incredibly attracted to him, both mentally and physically.

If he was everything he seemed to be, he was a good guy, too, like Charlee had said.

After they put the small amount of leftovers away and loaded the dishes in the dishwasher, they walked out of the kitchen into the living room.

He looked at her when they came to a halt. “I had a great day, Jo. Thank you for saying yes.”

She slipped her hands into her back pockets to keep herself from touching him. She wanted nothing more than to feel his chest beneath her palms, his hair sliding through her fingers, his body tight against hers. And the way he was looking at her was enough to make her forget everything…forget every last hesitation she might have.

He reached up and skimmed her cheek with his fingertips, his green eyes studying her for a long moment. He cupped her face in his palms and slowly began lowering his head toward hers.

She caught her breath, a tangle of emotions whirling through her. Fear, excitement, even a little bit of shyness.

And then his lips were pressed against hers and he was kissing her, gently exploring her mouth with his.

It was perhaps the sweetest kiss she’d ever experienced. She found herself surprised that such a dominant man could be so gentle.

She slipped her hands out of her pockets and touched him like she’d been dying to do. She ran her palms over his hard biceps to his broad shoulders. Slowly she eased her hands down the firm muscles of his chest before moving back to his shoulders.

Wanting more and more of him, she clenched her fingers in his T-shirt and pressed her mouth more firmly to his. She became the aggressor, desiring him so much that her entire body ached for him.

He answered her with a groan and matched the strength of her kiss until he was dominating her. She loved a man in control when it came to passion and sex and she had a feeling that Tate could be everything she wanted and more.

She moaned as he grasped her hip with one of his large hands and pulled her tightly up against him as he slipped his hand into her hair and cupped the back of her head.

His erection was large and rigid against her and a thrill went through her from her belly to the place between her thighs that now ached to have him fill her. Her nipples were hard and tight as his chest pressed against her breasts.

She slid her arms to his neck, her hunger fierce, unbridled. He grasped her ass in both hands and then she wrapped her thighs around his hips and he was carrying her.

The next thing she knew, her back was up against the wall, his jean-clad cock pressed against her hot center. She wished her own jeans as well as his were gone and that he was sliding into her now.

Her mind spun from the kiss and she could barely breathe. He moved one of his hands beneath her top and his palm cupped her breast through the satin of her bra. She gasped as he fondled and pinched her nipple.

He broke the kiss and she tilted her head back as he moved his lips down the column of her throat to the V of her blouse. He shoved up the material and pulled down her bra, exposing her breasts to his gaze.

Her nipples tightened even more and she gave a loud moan as he ran his tongue over each of the hard nubs. She slid her hands into his hair, pressing him tighter to her breasts as he sucked and licked one nipple and then the other.

He moved his hips, rubbing his cock against her, mimicking what he would do when he took her. His cock was so rigid and hard that it felt like it could bruise her if he pressed any harder.

He stilled, his breathing ragged, and he put his forehead against hers. “I’d better go,” he said, his voice hoarse as he let her slide down so that she was standing.

She looked at him with surprise. “You’re leaving?”

He inhaled then raised his head and studied her. “I don’t want just a hop in the sack with you, Jo. I want all of you.”

Her lips parted as she tried to think of what to say. It was too soon. She didn’t even know that she wanted a relationship. What did he want from her?

“When can I see you again?” His words were soft as he spoke them.

“I—” She swallowed. “I don’t know.”

“Tell you what.” He stroked a strand of hair from her eyes. “I’ll stop by Jo-Jo’s late this week. We’ll talk about it then.”

She hesitated then nodded. “All right.”

“I’d better go because staying here is about to break my resolve,” he said softly.

She nodded and he gave her another light kiss before they adjusted her clothing, then walked to the front door. He opened it and she stood in the doorway as he looked down at her for a long, lingering moment. Then he headed down the sidewalk and in a minute or two he was driving away, leaving darkness in his wake.

Chapter 6

It was Thursday night and Charlee was waiting for David in a small Italian restaurant that had a cozy, intimate atmosphere.