Over the Fence: Lyssa Layne's Baseball Romances (55 page)

From the front display, Buddy lets out a low whistle. “Well, here’s one I never thought would be by to check you out.”

I roll my eyes and keep working, but his next words stop me dead in my tracks.

“Laurel Darbis never struck me as the type of woman who would be interested in a bad boy. You and her ex are as opposite as the sun and the moon. Good to know she’s still in the market for a little fun, I thought she’d sewn her legs together after Adam left her.”

I stick my head out from behind the boxes and sure enough, walking across the parking lot is Laurel looking like the temptress she is in a pair of cutoff jean shorts and a plain grey t-shirt that’s cut low enough to make a man want to see more, especially this man.

As Laurel steps on the sidewalk, I grab Buddy Dunn by his shirt and pull him to me. “You ever talk about Laurel that way again and you’ll see how bad I am.”

Laurel

My heart is racing as I open the door to Dunn Hardware Store but if I don’t do this now, I never will. When I step inside, tension greets me along with Jace and Buddy Dunn. Poor Buddy Dunn, another one that got trapped in our hometown by his wife and lack of birth control. The guy is worse than Adam and doesn’t even make an effort to cover up the affairs he has. However, in recent years, I think the extramarital affairs have diminished thanks to his receding hairline and growing belly.

“Uh, hey, guys…” The men break their staring contest and turn to me. “I needed some supplies for a project I’m working on.”

“What’d you need? I can help you find it,” Jace says, placing his hand on my back and walking us toward the back of the store.

I glance over my shoulder at Buddy who is giving me the thumbs up. Completely confused, I look back at Jace. “What the hell is going on?”

He turns us down an aisle and runs his fingers through his hair. “That guy is a real piece of fuckin’ work.” He shakes his head as though clearing his memory and when he looks at me again, his face relaxes and the start of a smile comes to his lips. “So what were you looking for?”

I’m too busy searching his face for clues about the man in front of me and being turned on by his cologne that it takes me a second to realize what he asked. “Oh, well…I told you about that project and truth be told, I don’t even own any tools. I borrow, well Ashley says steal, but I prefer borrow—”

Jace cuts me off, his lips fully grinning now. “So you need some tools, what kind?”

“Umm….saw, drill, screwdriver, that one that looks like it has teeth and—”

He moves his hand to my hair and runs his fingers through it. “So basically you need everything?”

Biting the inside of my cheek, I nod and my cheeks heat up.

“How about I bring over my toolbox before practice and you can pick out what you need?”

I smile and nod. “That sounds like a plan.” I turn to leave, chickening out but then Ashley’s voice haunts me and I know if I don’t do this she will so I spin back to face him. “Look, I’m sure you’re probably busy and don’t feel like you have to go. I mean, it’s not really a big deal—”

“Laurel.” Jace pushes my hair over my shoulder, his eyes twinkling and he’s enjoying this way too much.

I take a deep breath. “Ash is having a pool party at her house on Memorial Day. You’re welcome to come if you want.” There I asked so now she can leave me alone.

“So are you inviting me or Ashley?” Jace asks, one eyebrow raised and the pantymelting begins yet again.

I roll my eyes and give him a shove. “Whatever, she lives behind me and the party starts at noon.” Moving fast to get away from him and the possible rejection, I am halfway out of the store when he calls out to me.

“Let me know if I need to bring anything!”

I pause in my tracks then wave my hand before escaping out of the store. If I hang around Jace Richards any longer, I will have nothing left in my underwear drawer.

CHAPTER 14

Jace

Ashley’s house looks just like the place I imagined living with my own family one day, kids and all. Two stories, three car garage, privacy fence, pool, and the perfect neighborhood to boot. See I wasn’t always a money-hungry asshole. There was a time when professional pitcher or not, I wanted a wife and kids and everything that came with it but that was before I tore my ACL and almost lost everything. Ironic since in the long run, I did lose everything, even the potential of a family of my own.

“So, Jace, how are you liking town?” one of the baseball dads asks.

“Nothing like the flashy cities you’ve lived in before, huh?” another one chimes in.

I take a swig of my beer before answering. “Definitely not like anywhere else I’ve ever lived but I actually like it.” The reason I’m liking this place even more is across the pool.

Laurel walks along the pool on the opposite side of us wearing a plain black bikini that’s covered by a tie-dye shirt she made into a swimsuit cover-up with a braid down the back. She’s showing off the perfect amount of skin and judging from the way the dads stare at her, I think they’d agree with me.

When I look back at the group, I notice Kurtis, Ashley’s husband staring at me. Uh oh, I’m busted but why should he care? I take another drink, our eyes still locked on one another. The rest of the men begin a discussion on whether or not oysters really make women horny or not but we continue our staredown.

“Need another beer?” He stands up and drains his beer bottle.

“Sure.” I follow him over to the cooler, knowing this has nothing to do with beer. He opens the lid and I start talking. “Look, I know you probably don’t think I’m good enough for Laurel. Your wife is her best friend so I’m sure she told you to tell me to stay the hell away. Trust me, I don’t think I deserve her myself—”

Kurtis laughs as he pops the top on his beer. “You don’t know Ashley very well. She’s disappointed you aren’t shirtless yet, but I wanted to tell you thanks for not showing us flabby dads up.”

He wears a faded pair of red, now almost pink, swim trunks and his small pot belly hangs over the waistband. I glance down at my navy patterned board shorts and peach, white, and light blue tank top that hangs loosely off my body. If he wants to think I’m wearing my shirt to not show off, I’ll let him because I don’t need another reason for people to hold shit against me.

“Yeah, no problem.”

Kurtis slaps my back. “As for Laurel, she’s a grown woman who likes to follow her own rules so good luck with that.”

With that, he returns to the dads and I make my way around the pool where Laurel is dangling her feet in the water. I drop beside her and slightly elbow her. “Thanks for inviting me.” Luckily I have my sunglasses on so hopefully it hides my eyes that are fixated on her bare skin and the tattoo peeking out of her swimsuit on her ribcage.

“I’m glad you came,” she says, her shoulder leaning into mine. I’m not sure if it’s on purpose but I’ll take it. I lean my hands behind me and her body is now against my ribcage. Down below, I feel myself stirring and I start to panic. I was worried about embarrassing myself with my nipple rings but I think walking around, sporting a hard on would be much worse.

We sit beside each other, discussing the safe topics that we’ve unspokenly agreed on while the boys splash in front of us. Occasionally, a tidal wave will come in our direction and Laurel will turn into my chest, hiding her face and giggling. When she does, her hair tickles my chin and the scent of her strawberry shampoo hits my nose. I take a deep inhale before she turns around and she catches me.

“Were you smelling me?” Her eyebrows are drawn down into a V and her lips are pursed in the perfect position for a kiss.

Not even denying it, I take another sniff and nod. “Mmm, you don’t just smell like mint. There’s strawberries too.”

Laurel swats me as she laughs. “Whatever! I work a dentist’s office so toothpaste follows me around all day.”

“See, now we’re getting somewhere. You can tell me more about yourself, Laurel. We’ve talked about sports, movies, and Angry Orchard until we’ve beat it in the ground.” My hand moves to her cheek and she leans into it. “I want to get to know you, Laurel.”

“Hey, Laur, can you go grab that thing I needed from your house? Maybe Jace could help you.” Ashley hovers above us, her eyebrows almost in her hairline.

Laurel stands up, hands on her hips. “Can it wait ‘til later?” Her eyebrows are just as high as Ashley’s and I somehow have a feeling that I’m missing out on something.

Ashley’s head tilts toward the driveway and her eyebrows drop low to a V. “No… it can’t wait.”

Laurel follows her gaze and nods. “Come on, Jace, I need your help.” She grabs my hand, almost pulling my arm out of socket as she tugs me to stand up. Something isn’t right but as long as Laurel’s in my arms, I don’t have to worry.

Laurel

Walking quickly, I drag Jace across Ashley’s backyard. My flip flop slips off my foot and I bend down to pick them up, Jace runs into me and grabs me by the hips so I don’t topple forward. I know it’s not on purpose but I can feel his manhood grinding against my ass and I hear him holding back a moan. Glancing over his shoulder, my stomach drops and I grab his hand again.

“Come on,” I urge him and open Ashley’s back gate just as Adam steps onto her deck. Safely hidden on the other side of her fence, I relax but don’t let go of Jace’s hand. Having my hand in his gives me a sense of safety and comfort. We get to my backdoor and I slide it open, letting us in.

“You want another beer?” I open the fridge door and grab myself one.

“Sure.”

I hand him a bottle and jump up to take a seat on the counter.

Jace watches me closely as he opens his beer. “So…what was it that Ashley needed you to get?”

Shit!
“Um…” I open the drawer beneath my legs and pull out a potholder. “She needed this.”

He takes a long drink and I’m mesmerized by the way his muscles move as he swallows. Tilting the beer back up, he looks directly at me and says, “Bullshit.”

My cheeks flush red and my brain races, trying to figure out how to talk myself out of this. Jace sets his beer on the counter and closes the space between us, stopping two feet in front of me. “You don’t have to ramble, just tell me what that little unspoken conversation was that you two just had and why we had to get the hell out of dodge.”

I sigh and pick at the label on my beer bottle. “My ex, Adam, had just arrived.”

He nods. “The asshole who’s moving to New York?”

I smirk at his title for Adam. “The one and only, that’s him.”

“So was he always that bad or why were you with him?”

His eyes are so sincere when he asks. It’s almost as though he doesn’t want me to say Adam has always been a dickhead. “He was my first serious boyfriend. I was afraid I would never find someone again, that I’d be alone forever, not to mention I got knocked up. It only took a self-centered asshole and a horrible marriage for me to realize that being alone isn’t such a bad thing.”

“You really like being alone?”

I shrug. “I like not having to shave my legs every day.”

Jace’s eyes are alive at my comment and he steps between my legs. His calloused hands are on my thighs and my skin sears underneath his warm touch. He leans his head close to my ear and whispers, “Well, I’m glad you shaved today. Nothing turns me on more than the feel of soft, smooth skin.”

My swimsuit is drenched between my legs and I can feel my chest heaving for air. He takes my hand in his and slips it under his shirt. My fingers float over his bare six-pack, touching just the ripples and curves of his muscles.
OMG!
The man is probably smooth everywhere whereas my grooming habits include running a razor over my legs and armpits every other day. I will never be able to be naked in front of this man…
ever.
So much for possibly getting laid…

Letting my hand linger and explore the rest of his stomach, he moves his hand to the bare skin exposed by the cheap swimsuit cover-up I made out of an old tie-dye shirt. His rough fingers walk up my ribcage, pausing at my tattoo along my bra line.

His head still close to my ear, he whispers, “Tell me about this.”

My fingers continue to memorize the planes of his body as I talk. “I got it when Grey was six months, it was my eighteenth birthday present to myself. Adam’s team won the state baseball tournament the day Grey was born so the circle is made up of Grey’s birth stats and then the red lines of stitching is supposed to make it look like a baseball.”

His lips brush across my shoulder then they move to my neck. Next, he sucks my earlobe and whispers, “Is there anything else that’s so fuckin’ sexy on you that I should know about?”

I close my eyes, trying to swallow my nerves and slowly shake my head. “Tell me about your tattoos.”

Jace moves his hand to my cheek, tilting my head. “Later. Right now, I’m going to kiss you.”

Nerves make my hands tremble against his stomach and I pull them away. Jace takes his time, moving his lips against mine and igniting a spark that has my mind spinning. One hand moves to his shirt, grasping it and pulling him closer while the other caresses the back of his head. His tongue parts my lips and invades my mouth, not that I mind. Without realizing it, my legs wrap around his waist and I draw him closer to me.