Falling for Centerfield Read online

  “Now, I don’t give those out to just anyone, but you are really going to need them out there on the water, especially if we run into any whales.”

  She sucked in her breath. “Really? Whales?”

  He nodded. “We still see them, this late in the migration. All the time, actually.” He nodded toward the sunglasses. “Put them on. They’re polarized and colored just right with extra pigments. Once you wear them, you’ll never take them off.”

  She could have sworn he winked. “Is that why you don’t”

  He stared across the water. “I was going to give you my standard cool-guy answer, but I think instead I’ll just say this. They help me be who I need to be sometimes, help me get the crowd going or play a part.”

  She nodded. “I can see that.” They were mirror lenses just like his. She felt special, like he’d given her his letterman jacket in high school or something. When she looked around, she forgot all the sentimental reasons to appreciate the glasses and just gawked. “These are incredible. The water, it’s so blue, and green, and there, it looks like a sand bar or something.” She lowered the glasses. “Wow, I can’t see any of that without the glasses, and everything looks so light. I would have thought they were dark, but this is amazing. I can see why you don’t take them off.” She spent the next few minutes quietly exclaiming and looking at different ocean views with and without the glasses.

  Cole just chuckled beside her, and she felt his eyes on her in a delicious rippling sensation that she enjoyed while brushing against him now and again with the sway of the boat. Then she faced him. “I don’t know if I can give these up. Where did you get them?”

  “They’re my gift. In honor of your announcement of our plans to travel the world.”

  That’s not quite how she remembered her announcement about living on a yacht, but she would take it. How nice to fantasize about just taking off with him, leaving everything behind and hiding on a boat.

  “Thank you.” Then a scandalous idea struck her. “I’m gonna wear them to our dodgeball match.”

  He pushed his glasses back up into his hair and raised one eyebrow. “You’re gonna wear the signature Big Dawg glasses in public?”

  She pushed back her glasses like he had and raised the same eyebrow. “Can you think of a good reason why I shouldn’t?”

  He eyed her for a moment and then shrugged. “Nope. Sounds like we’re gonna have Big Dawg against Little Dawg next week, and may the biggest dawg win.”

  She laughed. “Haha, oh no you don’t. I mean, I could get the best hellions of the group on my team and then what will you do?”

  He draped an arm across her shoulder. “I’m just so happy about what this will do for those kids. Thank you for being the kind of person this could work so perfectly with.”

  She thrilled with his arm around her and she stretched her hand around him to rest at his waist. “It’s a good thing, what we are about to do.”

  They stood together the rest of the way out into the bay. The wind picked up and Cole said, “Come on, let’s go up into the bridge. The view is incredible, and it’s not as chilly.”

  She followed him along the side of the boat and through a door and then up a narrow set of stairs. His father was getting out fishing gear and setting up poles in stands along the side of the boat. Harlow pointed to him. “Do you think we’ll catch anything?”

  Cole shook his head. “Dad will, that’s for sure.”

  They entered the bridge, and a large wooden steering wheel filled the room. A white panel with instruments lined the front. Harlow stared at Cole, trying to figure him out. He was so calm out here, so real, so bare. She didn’t know him very well to begin with, but he was nothing at all like she’d ever assumed him to be, nothing like he acted when putting on his shows for the crowd. Right now, she felt like maybe she was seeing the real Cole Hunter, and if that were true, she liked what she was seeing, more than she should, maybe. And with that thought, a part of her went down a dangerous path, the path of opening up a sliver of her heart to hoping that maybe, just maybe she might see this side of him again, sometime. That she might see it every day.

  His Dad worked on the rods, lining the side of the boat. They were alone in the bridge.

  “You are a puzzle to me.”

  Cole looked up from the instruments. “Am I?”

  “Yes, you are nothing like I thought you’d be.”

  “And how did you think I’d be?” He held up his hands. “Never mind, I don’t think I want to hear that answer from you. But whatever it is you thought, may I ask, what you think of me now?” His glasses were still pushed up and the sincerity in his eyes was striking.

  “I love what I see. You’re open, real, fun . . . honestly, quiet.” She laughed. “Not that you should be quiet all the time, but this time to think, to just be, while standing next to you is nice. I don’t get that often with anyone.”

  He thought about it for a minute. “Today is the first time I’ve been with you without being totally tongue-tied.” He shrugged. “And I’m quiet, but you’re right, it’s a comfortable quiet.”

  “What?” She thought about all the times they’d been together. “You’re usually larger than life, talking to the whole world.”

  “Exactly. I can perform. But a real conversation with a smart woman like you, well, with you, that has me all tongue-tied and nervous, so I resort to what I know best.”

  She couldn’t believe it. She didn’t know what to say. The most confident guy she knew, full of swagger, felt insecure around her? Maybe not quite insecure, but unsure? Remarkable.

  Harlow shrugged then dipped her head. “And I thought for sure you didn’t like me.”

  “Well now, no one went so far as to declare I like you.”

  She stepped back, surprised, but accepting. “Right. I didn’t mean like, just—”

  He laughed then held his arm out, “Come here, Bonfire. I’m kidding. Of course I like you. More, I respect you, what you do.”

  She nodded, disappointed with such a platonic response when she was totally dying to be standing as close to him as she was, when tingles were running all over the skin his fingers had brushed when he put an arm around her. “Thanks.”

  He turned to search her face. She felt his eyes, and then he said, “But I’m into you, Bonfire, like I’ve never been into a woman before. I’m curious, intrigued, interested,” He held a finger under her chin. “Sincerely interested in getting to know you.”

  She froze, hoping their gazes would never leave one another as his deep greens shone back caring, and sparks of interest. If this was for real, she was in, so in. But she knew she had to guard her heart, he was an athlete after all. She’d been burned before. So she said, “I guess we’ll see.”

  His eyes clouded a little but he squeezed her shoulder before letting her go again. “We’re almost there. Put your glasses back down and keep an eye out for whales.”

  She missed his arm the minute it left, but she knew it was best to take things slowly. She could take a wary step closer but that’s about all she was willing to risk right now.

  A scan of the horizon showed no living movement that she recognized. Then a spout of water sprayed in the air. She pointed. “Is that . . . ?” It sprayed again.

  Mr. Hunter waved his arms and pointed.

  “Bingo!” He turned toward the spout. “There’s a kelp bed over there, that’s where we’re gonna see the fish.”

  She stared at the place where she’d seen the spout, hoping to see another, but nothing happened. They pulled in closer and closer until she looked down into the water and all round them were the floating bulbs of kelp. They turned off the motor on the boat and went out on deck to join his dad. He pointed out the floating weeds.

  Cole said, “These things are over eight hundred feet tall.”

  “That’s one tall seaweed.”

  “And they grow feet every day. The bulbs make them float. This is where we’ll find all the food that attracts whales, dolphins, seals, s
ea lions, and my dad.”

  She laughed. “Is this where we fish?”

  “Sure is, little darlin’.”

  Only Cole could get away with all his nicknames for women.

  He took her over to the side and explained all the equipment. Every time he pointed something out, his arm brushed against her, and she noticed. He leaned across her to reach for the railing. “Oh, easy there.” Then he chuckled when she grabbed hold of him to keep her balance.

  “Let’s show you how to catch us a fish.” He positioned them so that he stood directly behind her, his body pressed up against hers and showed her how to cast in a line. They reached back together, both hands on the reel, then stepped forward together in unison, watching the line and bait fly out over the water. Once the rod was secured in its holder at the side of the boat, he stayed close. Her body was flush with the length of him. He slowed his movement. Thick, still silence followed, and emotion flowed through her, a sense of him filled the air around them, mingling with the musky smell of his aftershave. He placed his hands on her shoulders and ran them down her arms.

  His voice, a whisper in her ear. “Are you cold?” Shivers raced up her neck.

  She shook her head, and then leaned back into him. The sensations that ran through them were beautiful—warm, real, enticing, peaceful, igniting, all at once. She wasn’t ready to face them so she just leaned her head back against him and let the swirling mix cascade all around inside her. He wrapped his arms across her front, and several thoughts clicked into place. Something about this moment felt important as they stood together, facing the open ocean. She couldn’t begin to guess what ran through his mind, but standing here with him, was just nice, more than anything. And she wished the moment would never end.

  Chapter 8

  Cole met his father’s gaze from across the deck, and his dad had the audacity to wink. Cole grinned back, his arms cradling Harlow up against him. He tried to calm the blood racing through him. He couldn’t tell if it was fear or desire or what, but he’d managed to have a normal conversation, flirt, have fun and now hold this amazing woman in his arms. This felt so different from any other time he’d had women draped all over him. Harlow impressed him more than any other woman he’d met. She worked hard, cared deeply and he couldn’t explain his sense that the woman leaning up against him was special. Precious. He was filled with desire to shelter her, to wrap her in his arms in the most careful way and then kiss her senseless. Her bare shoulders begged for his mouth, her hair, covering the curve of her neck, another place his lips would like to explore.

  His line jerked, and his dad shouted, running toward them. “You’ve got a big one!”

  Harlow jumped forward, and he started spinning the line, reeling it in, letting it rest for a minute, then reeling it in again.

  “You’ve got it, son!”

  Cole’s dad stood beside him, and they shouted and pulled in the line and laughed together. The thrill of a big fish on the line overshadowed everything, and he joined in the fun with his father. They pulled for at least ten minutes and then at last, something bumped up against the side of the boat.

  “Oh my word! It’s huge!” Harlow leaned over the side of the boat, pointing. “What! Is it a shark?”

  Cole grinned, loving that she was a part of this with his dad. They pulled up a four-foot leopard shark, flipping and flopping all over deck. “Look at those stripes. It’s a beauty.”

  “This is incredible!” His dad took picture after picture with his phone. “The guys are never going to believe this.”

  “What should we do with it?” Cole didn’t really want to filet it, but if his Dad wanted fresh filets, they’d have it frozen and shipped to him.

  “Let’s toss her back. This beauty has been around a long time. She deserves to live out her life.”

  “Until the next boat reels her in.” Harlow stood with hands on her hips. “You’d just throw that huge shark back into the water? After all that work?”

  His dad shrugged. “Now I like this woman, Cole. You’re something, Miss Harlow, but I don’t have a need for all that fish.”

  She considered him for a moment and then nodded. “I can see that. But first, can we get a picture of me with it? My friends are never gonna believe this, not in a million years.”

  “Sure.” Cole and his father took several pictures of Harlow with the fish then they separated out the hook and pushed it over the edge back into the water.

  Almost immediately another line on the opposite side started spinning out and the men ran over to work on that one. Cole’s dad called to Harlow, “Here, you do this one.” She jumped at the chance, and Cole found another reason to be fascinated with this new enticing woman. Her energy excited him, drew him close, and made him want to do more, do better.

  She grabbed on to the pole and did everything his father told her to, exactly. And pretty soon had a fish bumping against the side of the boat as well.

  They caught many more through the morning hours, until they floated too far into shore and then put down an anchor.

  Cole pointed to the shoreline. “Look there.” The cliff rose high to the left with a huge resort on the top of it, but out to their front was a sandy beach and a cave. “That cave appears in movies. It’s fun, goes back in about a hundred feet.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Want to go inside?”

  “What? Swim in?”

  “Sure, you afraid to get wet?”

  He watched her indecision, hiding his amusement. It was freezing, the March water in no way comfortable for a swim. But she almost agreed to go, he saw her open her mouth to do it.

  He opened his mouth to stop her, but she pulled her cover-up off over her head, and what he saw took his breath, every thought, and apparently all saliva out of his now dry mouth. Before he could stop her, she ran to the edge and dove in.

  “What are you doing, son? Go after her now!”

  “It’s freezing!”

  “I know. You can’t let her be out there too long in that water.”

  He ripped off his shirt and dove in after her. The shock of the temperature almost caused him to inhale. Icing his whole body in painful shards at once. But he kicked to the surface, popping his head up looking around for Harlow. She wasn’t anywhere nearby and he started to feel a little frantic. “Harlow!”

  Then she popped up and sprayed water into his face.

  “Ugh. Did you just spit that at me? I can’t believe you put this water in your mouth.”

  She laughed. “You deserve it. Now let’s get out before my limbs seize up, and I drown.”

  “What were you doing, jumping in?”

  “You said you wanted to. The cave looked in-interesting.” She kicked over to the boat. “Come on, where do we get up?” Her teeth started chattering.

  “Ok, ok, but you Massachusetts people aren’t as tough in the cold as I thought you’d be.”

  “Very funny.”

  His father had thrown down the ladder at the back of the boat and they swam over. He gave Harlow a hand up and then immediately threw a heated blanket around her shivering purple body and sent her below deck.

  Cole pulled himself up, feeling his muscles stiffen. This wasn’t his smartest move. But how was he to know she’d jump in? He thought about all he knew about Harlow Ember. “I should have known.”

  His father threw a heated blanket around him as well and urged him to go below after Harlow. “Known what? That she’d jump?”

  “Yeah, she’s something of a fireball.”

  “Is that why the guys call her Bonfire?”

  “Yup.”

  His father was thoughtful for a moment, then gripped his shoulder through the blanket. “Just take care of her.”

  He considered his father for a moment and wondered what he was seeing that Cole missed completely, but he nodded and said, “I will. I hope I know how.” He felt so out of his element where Harlow was concerned. She seemed a bit skittish, afraid to get too close. He’d have to tread carefully, guard her heart best h
e could.

  He followed Harlow down below, considering his father’s words.

  She sat in the corner by a gas heater, teeth chattering. “Th-th-that was much c-colder than I thought it would be.”

  “Oh, you are freezing.” He moved to sit beside her and tried to wrap her up in his arms, blankets and all. After an awkward moment he said what they were probably both thinking, “This will work better if I hold you up against my skin and we both share the blankets.”

  Her cheeks flamed a fascinating red which he took a moment to appreciate. Then she nodded. “I want to warm up.”

  He led her over to the back part of the room where two couches and lots of pillows filled the space. He adjusted the back pillows which gave them more room, then he took off their blankets and pulled her body up against his, lowering them to the couch where he cradled her back up against his chest. Then covered them both with both blankets. Immediately his temperature hitched up. And every bit of skin touching hers tingled with hungry anticipation. Oh boy.

  Then he did everything he could to distract himself from what they were actually doing.

  She snuggled into him. “Oh, this is so warm. Thank you.”

  “I’m sorry we didn’t see any whales, at least not yet.”

  She shrugged. “I saw the spouts. This has been an awesome day. I’ll remember it forever.”

  “Remember good?”

  She nodded. “Remember good.”

  They were quiet for a moment. “I’m getting sleepy.”

  “You can rest.”

  She yawned. “I just might.”

  He was quiet for a moment and within twenty breaths, her breathing had steadied and he thought she’d fallen asleep.

  The boat started up and he knew his father was taking them back toward the marina. They had about an hour until they docked. There was no way he would sleep. He smirked, chagrined. He could get used to this real fast.

  His interest was definitely piqued. She lived far away, but he went to Belltown all the time. No one knew how much. Maybe he would just have to see one more person on these trips.