Page 10

Chapter nine

Danae

A fter locking the front door, I turn around to peruse the parking lot.

I’m looking for whatever sort of outlandish, expensive sports car I’ll have to ride in tonight.

My perusal yields no obvious vehicle discovery, and I wonder if Griffin parked a long distance away in order to protect his precious car.

“So, where does your book club meet?” Griffin asks as he begins walking along the sidewalk. I hurry to follow him, which results in me bumping into him when he stops much sooner than I expected. He motions to a large, black Jeep and says, “This is me.”

“Oh,” I say, flustered after colliding with his rather muscular back. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting a Jeep.”

Griffin grins as he holds open the passenger door. “Expecting a cherry red sports car?” he asks before closing the door behind me.

I can’t think of a good way to dismiss my assumption in the five seconds it takes for him to walk around the car and climb into the driver’s seat. “I mean . . . yeah, I was,” I sheepishly admit.

Chuckling, Griffin starts the ignition. “I was obsessed with Jeeps when I was a teenager. Begged my dad for a Jeep to be my first car. Of course, I wanted one of the off-roading versions at the time, which was a hard pass from my parents. I bought my first Jeep when I got called up to the Crowns, and they’re all I’ve driven as an adult. ”

“But not the off-roading type?” I clarify, gesturing around the vehicle.

He smiles again. “Turns out I’m not much of an adrenaline junkie. I went off-roading once with a friend in college and spent the entire time gripping the panic bar and praying he wouldn’t roll the Jeep. I was too afraid of getting injured to enjoy the ride.”

I hum, returning his smile.

He looks at me expectantly. When I don’t say anything, he asks, “Where are we headed?”

“Oh, right. Sorry,” I say, flustered all over again. I was so massively unprepared to see this man standing outside my door tonight. Even though I know Samantha is planning to babysit as often as I need her, I still assumed I’d never cross paths with her brother again.

“The book club is at my favorite local bookstore in Overland Park. Here’s the address,” I say, showing him my phone screen. He quickly puts the address into the GPS, and I buckle my seatbelt.

I wish there was a proverbial seatbelt to buckle around my nerves. I’m not sure how to handle a conversation alone in a car with Griffin West.

The past few days, Jason has continued showing off his encyclopedic knowledge of Griffin’s baseball career, sharing far more statistics than I could ever care to know (or understand).

I’ve resisted the urge to Google Griffin’s name because I am not curious to know more about him.

And I’m certainly not interested in analyzing photos to figure out how to classify his gray-blue eye color.

The baseball cap he’s wearing tonight makes it hard to study his eye color at all.

Griffin glances over at me with an air of expectation. I must have completely missed him saying something.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” I ask, sensing my cheeks turning pink.

Even in the dark, his profile lights up with his warm smile. “I asked what book you’re talking about with the club tonight.”

“Oh, yes,” I say. Stop saying the word “oh,” for goodness' sake, Danae. “We rotate genres each month, and this time it’s a historical fiction novel set during World War II. Well, it’s a dual timeline, so I suppose only half of it was set during the war.”

“Did you like it?” he asks as he glances over his shoulder before changing lanes on the highway.

“Loved it. Everything about the book was incredible. It was so thoroughly researched and well-written. There was a huge twist that made the entire story so much more emotional. It was incredibly moving, and I cried my way through the ending,” I reply with growing enthusiasm.

I may be mentally struggling with how to interact with this famous athlete, but even he can’t smother my passion for talking about literature.

“It’s one of those books that you know is going to stick with you, that you’re going to continue thinking about for a long time.

That someday you’ll be standing in line at the grocery store and think about a particularly poignant moment from the story and feel the urge to reread the whole thing all over again.

I can’t wait to discuss it with the book club tonight. ”

Looking over at Griffin, I see his smile has grown wider. “Big fan of books, huh?” he observes.

I huff a small laugh. “You could say that. I suppose being a fan of books is a prerequisite to becoming a librarian,” I say, letting go of some of my apprehension. “Do you like to read?”

Griffin’s smile tightens. “Can’t say I’m a big reader.”

“Oh,” I say before pursing my lips. “I suppose you don’t have a lot of free time with your baseball schedule. Do you ever listen to audiobooks?”

“Nah, I prefer music or sports podcasts,” Griffin replies.

The apprehension starts welling up again. There goes my one easy topic of conversation . I turn to stare out the window.

“How long have you been a librarian?” Griffin asks.

“This is my fourth year, but I was a classroom teacher before that for five years.

I started taking master's classes immediately during my first year of teaching because I knew my goal was to become a librarian,” I say.

Griffin is nodding and glancing over at me as often as is safe while focusing on the road.

“I was lucky that the librarian at the school where I was teaching retired and they offered the position to me. A lot of librarian hopefuls have to wait a lot longer for positions to open up.”

“What made you want to be a librarian instead of a classroom teacher?” he asks .

“Clearly, I love reading. Books have always been my most faithful and trusted companions,” I reply quickly, then back away from walking further down that deeply personal explanation path.

“I know how much books shaped my childhood, and I’ve always loved the idea of instilling that same love for reading in young kids.

Time spent reading as a child is one of the biggest indicators of success later in life,” I say, watching Griffin’s reaction.

He’s focused on the road, but every glance my way is filled with genuine interest, encouraging me to continue.

“But library isn’t only about loving books—it’s about teaching critical thinking skills, even research tools.

And it’s about providing a safe space for all kids, no matter what they have going on in their lives outside of the school walls. ”

“That’s how you met Jason, at school? At least, he told me you were his teacher before you were his mom,” Griffin says. My heart seizes at the thought of Jason saying those words.

“Yes. I wasn’t his classroom teacher because his first year at our school was my first year in the library.

But we bonded right away when he visited the library almost daily to exchange books.

Most first graders only come in on their designated library day, but Jason was there every day that his teacher would let him come.

That first year, when the staff began noticing some of his behavior struggles, I started taking him on a weekly walk around the school hallways during one of my planning periods.

It was a good way to give him a break from the classroom setting and ask him questions about how he was doing.

He always came bounding out of the classroom when I stopped by to pull him out.

” The corners of my lips turn up at the memory, and when I look over, Griffin quickly turns his eyes back to the road. His lips mirror mine, though.

Ask him a question, Danae! You were brought up with better social skills than this!

“So, um, how long have you played baseball?” I tentatively ask.

Griffin laughs. “I’ve played almost all thirty-three years of my life,” he says, still chuckling.

He glances at me, a tease in his expression.

“But that’s probably not what you were asking.

This will be my seventh season starting for the Crowns.

I played on their farm team for four years before that. ”

“Is that a long time to stay with the same team?” I ask .

He shrugs a shoulder. “Yes and no. Some players get traded around a lot more frequently, but it’s not unheard of to stay with one team for your whole career.

I’ve loved my experience with the Crowns, so I’ve always asked my agent to come to an agreement on contract extensions.

He hasn’t been thrilled about my lack of desire to chase the highest paycheck, but I’d rather have the stability and camaraderie of sticking with the team.

Plus, I really like living in Kansas City. ”

We pull into the shopping center where the bookstore is located, and Griffin finds a parking spot.

“Um, so, I’m not sure what you’re planning to do while I’m here, but . . .” I trail off.

Griffin twists in his seat to face me. “I figured I’d come in with you and join the discussion,” he says evenly.

My heart leaps in my chest. “Oh, please no,” I reply, my voice breathy.

Griffin’s face breaks out in a wide grin. “I’m just kidding. How long is the meeting?”

I exhale. “I’m sorry—that was so rude of me. I didn’t mentally prepare myself to see you tonight,” I say, then blush further at my confession. “We usually talk for about an hour and a half. I can come out and look for you in the parking lot, I guess?”

“I’ll find you,” he says, eyes locked on mine.

I swallow hard and open the door. My heart is still racing as I mumble, “See you.”

Why are you acting like such a bumbling idiot, Danae? Just because the man is famous doesn’t mean you should be falling all over yourself. You don’t like baseball. You don’t care about this man.

My body needs to stop acting like I care about this man.