Page 4 of Taking the Pitch (Love & Baseball #2)

CHAPTER THREE

amelia

TWO WEEKS LATER

“Length or girth?” Hazel asks, handing me my as large as you can get, pumpkin spice cold brew and apple cider donut. Hazel opened Latte Daze three years ago, and I have been a regular since day one. We hit it off right away, and the rest is obviously history. While I love almost everything Hazel makes, her fall and winter menus are my favorite.

I love fall, and these seasonal sweet treats are just a bonus to the reasons why. Walking in the crisp air, watching the leaves change from green to vibrant, yellows, reds and oranges, honestly what’s not to like? I don’t even mind the ridiculous amount of rain we get, because on days like this, when it’s sunny, beautiful and cold…the rain is worth it.

Taking a sip of my coffee, I hum with delight. “Hazel, you are a godsend.” I just got back from a two-month book tour two days ago and jet-lag is still kicking my ass. Taking a bite of my donut, I moan in ecstasy. “Neither–everything is disappointing compared to this delightful, confectionary blessing,” I tell her around a mouth full of donut.

Hazel snickers, “You can’t fuck a donut.” She wrinkles her nose. “Well, you can’t.” She pauses and looks over my shoulder at the only other person in the café at the moment. I follow her gaze, looking at the guy with a plain black baseball hat pulled low over his eyes, earbuds securely in his ears. He’s messing around on his phone and doesn’t seem to be paying attention. She looks back at me. “Anyway, answer. Which is it?”

I finish my donut and tip my head back and forth in thought. “As long as it doesn’t have me questioning if it’s in yet and faking my way through the whole thing, I’m not picky.”

The guy behind me sputters and starts coughing. I turn around and see him mopping up what I assume is his coffee he spit out. I shrug and turn back around. Guess he was listening, after all.

“Such high standards,” Hazel says dryly.

“Hey, it’s not like I’ve been having mind blowing, make you forget your own name, sex like someone else,” I tell her, giving her a pointed look.

Hazel smirks and pops a shoulder. “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”

I laugh, rolling my eyes. I glance at my watch and realize if I don’t take off soon, I’m going to be late. I’m going to the library early to meet with Gladys and Irene and the person who is supposed to help bring more eyes to my program. “Hey, can you put two more in a bag for me to take to Gladys and Irene? I’m sure they would appreciate it.”

“Sure thing,” Hazel says, popping two donuts in a bag and handing it to me.

“Thanks, Haze.”

Taking the leash out of my belt loop, I look down at Bruno, my four-year-old blue merle Australian Shepherd I adopted when he was six months old. “Ready to go, buddy?” Bruno’s ears perk and he looks up at me with his one blue eye, one brown eye. “Come on lazy bones, time to work.” Bruno stands up and arches his back, stretching like a cat. He extends his neck up in another stretch, then sits back on his haunches with a grumble and a yawn.

“Oh, poor Bruno, do you needs a cookie to make it all better?” Hazel baby talks to him.

I roll my eyes and laugh. “You spoil him. No wonder he has such a complex.”

Hazel reaches into the smaller case next to the main one and pulls out an oatmeal and pumpkin flavored bone shaped cookie, because not only does she serve humans, she caters to our four-legged friends too.

Coming around the counter, Hazel stands in front of Bruno, whose attention is now one hundred percent on the redhead holding his delectable treat.

“At least make him do something to earn it.”

“He is. He’s being undeniably adorable,” Hazel argues, handing Bruno his cookie. Bruno takes it gently in his teeth, like the gentleman he is, and munches happily.

I shake my head but laugh. “Alright Bruno, we gotta beat feet. See ya tomorrow, Hazel.”

Hazel waves and we head out the door, turning left in the direction of the library. It’s only a few blocks away, and it’s a nice enough day so we can walk.

A block in and I get the feeling of being followed. I glance over my shoulder and notice the same guy who was in the coffee shop is only a few feet behind me. He’s looking down at his phone again and not at me, so why do I get the feeling he’s following me? There’s plenty of reasons he would be going the same way as me… right? Trying not to let my overactive imagination get the best of me, I keep trudging ahead.

When I finally reach the library steps, I take a quick look over my shoulder to see if the man is still following me. Not only is he behind me, but he’s climbing the steps, too.

“Can I help you?” I ask, raising both my eyebrows at this man who seems to be following me.

He stops a couple of steps down from me and looks up. Forest green eyes meet my gaze. “No, but it sounds like you could use some help,” he replies, not affected one bit by my attitude.

“Excuse me?”

“I heard you talking to your friend in the coffee shop back there. No one should settle for mediocre sex.”

My cheeks instantly heat, and I take in the stranger in front of me. Dark-brown hair the color of espresso, curls out from under his baseball hat, like he’s in need of a trim. His eyes have a tired appearance to them, like he’s had a few sleepless nights lately. Join the club. Dark-brown scruff matching his hair covers his face, long enough to not qualify as a five o’clock shadow.

Who the fuck does this guy think he is? I’m about to ask him as much when he steps forward and offers me his hand.

“Judd Davis.”

I look down at the hand he offered and see ink peeking out at me from beneath his sleeves. I stare back at him, but don’t take his outstretched hand.

This is Judd Davis? Wow, he looks… different out of uniform–hotter, if that’s possible.

“Did you follow me here to…offer me sex?”

The guy… Judd…snorts and drops his hand. “Honey, you would know if I was offering you sex.”

What a cocky asshole.

“Don’t call me Honey.”

“You’re right, honey is sweet.”

Over this conversation and this guy, I turn and stomp up the rest of the steps. Bruno trotting happily at my side like nothing is wrong. Before I reach for the door, a body appears out of the corner of my eye and Judd moves past me and opens the door instead.

I stop and pop a hand on my hip. “Seriously, are you following me?”

“Don’t think so highly of yourself,” he says dryly. “I’m supposed to be here for a reading program.”

A puzzle piece slides into place, and it dawns on me. “You’re the ball player Charlie told me about.”

Surprise passes through his face. “How do you know Charlie?”

I lift a shoulder and walk through the door he’s still holding open for me. “Charlie and I have been best friends since college.”

He follows me in, then stops, looking around. We’re standing in the vestibule where the library branches off into different sections. He’s obviously never been here before. I internally roll my eyes and take pity on the man. “Follow me. The children’s area where my program is ran is this way.”

His eyebrows raise in surprise before following me down the short hallway. “Your program? I thought this was the library’s program.”

I pause at the entrance and turn to him. “The library runs it, but I’m the one who created it.”

He reaches past me and grabs the handle, opening this door for me too. His scent smacks me in the face, making my insides do a little flip.

Jesus, he smells good. Like coffee, cinnamon, and something else I can’t quite put my finger on–pine maybe? Whatever it is instantly brings Christmas memories I’ve long forgotten rushing back to me.

“You okay?” he asks, staring down at me. At 5’ 3”, I’m an average-ish height for a woman, but the fact that I have to tilt my head up as far as I do says something.

A big, tall, hot something.

Bruno’s cold, wet nose bumps against my hand, knocking me out of my trance. Giving myself a mental shake, I tear my gaze away from his and walk through the door. Needing to create some distance.

Get a hold of yourself Millie, he’s just a man.

A very attractive man.

I can feel his gaze on my back as we make our way to the desk that’s in the middle of the open room, where Gladys and Irene are prepping for the weekly reading session. Reaching the desk, I set the peach pastry bag down between the two women.

Gladys’ eyes light up. “Is that what I think it is?” she asks, reaching for the bag and peering inside.

“Two apple cider donuts made fresh this morning,” I announce, reaching down and unclipping Bruno’s leash so he can wander about.

“You are a godsend,” Irene says, peering over her sister’s shoulder.

Gladys and Irene have been running the children’s section of our town’s library for the last six years. Both women are in their 60s and decided that they didn’t want to retire and do nothing. So, when the library was threatening to close the children’s part of the library due to the lack of funds and interest, Gladys and Irene stepped in and contacted me, hoping as a local and successful author, I’d help drum up interest. Which it did. The children’s section became even more popular after I founded RUFF, Reading with Furry Friends. Don’t ask what the ‘U’ stands for, it just sounds better with it.

A throat clears from behind me and both women look up from the pastry bag, eyebrows shooting up.

Judd comes around from behind me and offers his hand to the women. “I’m Judd Davis. Charlie arranged for me to come and help out here.”

I suppress a groan. The funding for my program has been less than normal. Donations are down and one of the major grants we rely on just went to a different program. It’s not cheap to take dogs from the shelter and put them through a training program so they can come read with kids. There are several factors that go into it, and while it makes them more adoptable, the shelter can’t afford the training without our program.

So unfortunately, the ridiculously attractive man standing beside me is a necessary evil. When I confided in Charlie about my program not only unexpectedly losing funds, but my hesitation to continue with expanding said program, I never expected her to do something about it. I was coming to her as my best friend, not Charlie the PR goddess. So when she texted me a couple of weeks ago saying she had a solution that will not only hopefully solve my problem, but hers as well… I jumped on it, no questions asked.

I should have asked questions.

“Well, hello there,” Gladys says, taking Judd’s hand and giving it a shake. “I’m Gladys; this is my sister Irene. We run the children’s part of the library and Millie’s program.”

Blushing, Irene moves up and takes Judd’s hand after Gladys finally lets go. “Thank you so much for doing this, Mr. Davis. When Millie told us she might have a solution, we never thought it would be you.”

That makes three of us, Irene.

“Please call me Judd,” He says, releasing Irene’s hand. Turning to me, he gives me a devilish grin. “Millie, huh?”

“My friends call me Millie. You can call me Amelia, or better yet, Ms. Morgan.”

His grin grows wider, and I don’t like what it’s doing to my insides.

“Now Millie, I know you’re stressed about this, but that doesn’t mean you need to be rude to Mr., uh, Judd. He’s here to help us,” Gladys chastises me.

Knowing Gladys is right, I take a deep breath and let it out. “You’re right,” I tell her.

Plastering a smile on my face, I look up at Judd. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me. Let’s try this again.” I hold out my hand to him. Still looking amused, he takes it, and a tingle shoots up my arm and through my body.

Whoa .

A surprised look appears on his face, and I imagine it mirrors the one I’m currently sporting. Mentally giving myself a shake, I continue, “Hi, I’m Amelia. You can call me Millie. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to help us save RUFF.”

I try to keep the sarcasm out of my voice for that last part. I know he’s in his off season and probably has nothing going on. But Gladys is right, we do need him and his “celebrity status” if we’re going to save RUFF. This program is too important to me to let my snarkiness get in the way.

Still holding my hand, Judd replies, “Pleasure to meet you, Millie .” Amusement twinkles in his stupidly beautiful eyes. “I really hope I can help bring some attention to your program.” Even though he’s a smart ass, I also know he’s serious about helping the program.

An unspoken truce has been called between us, and he finally lets go of my hand when Irene clears her throat. “Now that we have all the…pleasantries out of the way. Shall we go over things before the kids and dogs get here?”

After going over the brief history of the program, and answering all Judd’s surprisingly thoughtful questions, there’s about ten minutes left before the dogs are scheduled to arrive. When we first started, the kids and dogs arrived at the same time and it took both groups so long to settle down, it cut into their actual reading time.

So, after a few tweaks, we decided the dogs should arrive first and settle in and then the kids follow suit about a half hour later. It seems to work better for both parties this way.

“I’m going to let Bruno out before the other dogs get here.” I tell no one in particular, standing from my chair and stretching. Hearing his name, Bruno’s ears perk up and he jogs happily over to me from where he was laying and sits nicely in front of me, waiting for me to clip his leash onto his collar.

Once he’s sniffed and done his business multiple times, we head back to the side door just as the van from the shelter shows up. Hoping out of the front of the van and greeting me with his megawatt smile is Jeremy, who runs the shelter side of the program. Without him, we wouldn’t have the dogs we need for it.

“Millie! You’re back!” he says excitedly, kneeling down and giving Bruno some attention. “How was the book tour?”

“It was great, but we’re happy to be home,” I tell him, watching Bruno continue to lap up the attention he’s getting. “Some of us more than others, apparently.”

Jeremy laughs his deep baritone laugh, bringing a smile to my lips. I’ve always thought Jeremy was attractive with his sandy-blond hair that always looks like it’s in need of a trim, and his cornflower-blue eyes. He looks up at me, giving me his boyish smile, and I expect the butterflies I normally feel when he smiles at me. But nothing takes flight.

Must be the jet lag .

After giving Bruno one last pat, he gets up and heads to the back of the van and opens the doors, revealing six dogs waiting excitedly in their kennels to be let out.

Letting Bruno back into the fenced area, I walk over and grab two of the dogs Jeremy just put leashes on and take them to sniff around and do their business. Hearing the side door open behind me, I turn to hand the dogs off to Gladys or Irene, only to see Judd standing at the entrance.

“Need some help?” he asks, holding his hand out for the leashes.

“Uh, sure,” I say, handing off the dogs. “Just let them sniff around for a few minutes. If they go number two, bags are there,” I tell him, pointing to the bags near the gate to the fenced area.

Judd nods and takes the dogs. Returning to the van, I grab the next two dogs Jeremy hands me and he follows me out with the remaining two. When we enter the little grassy area, I see Judd kneeling down and giving belly rubs to Ruby, a beautiful tan and white 3-year-old pitty-mix and my favorite dog of the group.

My heart stutters at the sight and my feet freeze. While Ruby is a complete mush ball for the kids, she has a hard time trusting men. It took Jeremy months to get her to come to him without her cowering with her tail between her legs, which is why she hasn’t been adopted yet.

Something slams into my back, and I stumble forward, almost tripping over the dogs, knocking me out of my trance.

“Oh shit, sorry Millie!” Jeremy exclaims, reaching out and grabbing me by an arm before I tumble to the ground.

Righting myself, I huff a laugh. “Thanks Jeremy. Sorry, I shouldn’t have stopped so quickly.”

“That’s…” he starts, but the words die off as he looks ahead of me. “Holy shit, is that, is that Judd Davis?”

“Unfortunately,” I mutter, letting the dogs pull me ahead.

Jeremy follows beside me, still in awe over the baseball god, his words not mine, in front of us. When we reach Judd, he looks up at me and smiles a wide, carefree smile, and my heart does a little flip-flop.

Stop that.

His eyes flick to Jeremy and he stands, much to Ruby’s disappointment. He towers over Jeremy, dwarfing his almost six-foot frame. Holding out a hand, he introduces himself. “Jeremy, right? Judd. Nice to meet you.” Realizing she’s not going to get anymore belly rubs, Ruby rolls back to her feet and shakes.

Jeremy snaps to his senses and returns the shake. “Jeremey, uh, I guess you already knew that, though,” he says with a little chuckle. He nods down to Ruby. “That’s impressive. She’s never let a strange man pet her, let alone rub her stomach. It took me months to earn her trust.”

“I have a way with the ladies,” Judd says, looking right at me and giving me a wink. A fucking wink. Who the fuck does this guy think he is?

Rolling my eyes, I turn and head back toward the door. Needing to be far away from this man.