His Illegitimate Heir by Sarah M. Anderson Page B

it.”
    â€œA hell of a surprise,” Zeb whispered in her ear. The closeness of his voice was so unexpected that she jumped. But just then Marco came back with her order.
    â€œGotta say,” Marco went on, ringing up her total, “it was good to see a brother up there, though. I mean...he was black, right?”
    Behind her, Zeb made a noise that sounded like it was somewhere between a laugh and a choke. “It doesn’t really matter,” she said honestly as she handed over the cash, “as long as we get the beer right.”
    â€œAh, that’s what I like about you, Casey—a woman who knows her beer.” He gave her a moony look, as if he were dazzled by beauty they both knew she didn’t have. “It’s not too late to marry me, you know that?”
    Hand to God, Casey thought she heard Zeb growl behind her.
    Okay, that was not the kind of noise a boss made when an employee engaged in chitchat with a— Well, Marco sold beer. So with a colleague of sorts. However, it was the sort of noise a man on a date made.
    Not a date. Not a date.
    For the first time, Marco seemed to notice the looming Braves fan behind her. “Come back and see me at the fifth?” Marco pleaded, keeping a cautious eye on Zeb.
    â€œYou know I will. And have Kenny bring me a stout in the third, okay?” She and Dad didn’t have the super-expensive seats where people took her order and delivered it to her. But Kenny the beer vendor would bring them another beer in the third and again in the seventh—and not the beer he hawked to everyone else.
    She got her nachos and her beer and moved off to the side. It was then she noticed that Zeb’s eyes hadn’t left her.
    A shiver of heat went through her because Zeb’s gaze was intense. He looked at her like...like she didn’t even know what. She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out, because what if he could see right through her?
    What if he could see how much she was attracted to him ?
    This was a bad idea. She was on a date with her brand-new CEO and he was hot and funny and brooding all at once and they were drinking their chief competitor’s product and...
    Zeb glanced over at her as he paid for his food and shot another warm grin at her.
    And she was in trouble. Big, big trouble.

Seven
    Z eb followed Casey to the seats. He tried his best to keep his gaze locked on the swinging ponytail that hung out the back of her Rockies hat—and not on her backside.
    That was proving to be quite a challenge, though, because her backside was a sight to behold. Her jeans clung to her curves in all the right ways. Why hadn’t he noticed that before?
    Oh, yeah—the lab coat.
    Which hadn’t shown him the real woman. But this? A bright young woman with hips and curves who was friends with everyone and completely at home in the male bastion of a baseball stadium?
    Who’d said—out loud—that it didn’t matter if Zeb was black or not?
    She turned suddenly and he snapped his gaze back up to her face. “Here,” she said, notching an eyebrow at him and gesturing toward a nearly empty row. “Seats nine and ten.”
    They were eight rows off the first baseline, right behind the dugout. “Great seats,” he told her. “I didn’t bring my glove.”
    She snorted as she worked her way down the row. “Definitely keep your eyes on the ball here. You never know.”
    He made his way to seat nine. There weren’t many people around, but he had a feeling that if there had been, they’d all have known Casey.
    â€œWhat did you get?” she asked once they were seated.
    â€œThe Percheron lager.”
    â€œOh, that’s such a nice beer,” she said with a wistful sigh.
    â€œYeah?” He held out his plastic collector’s cup to her. “Have a drink.”
    She looked at him for a long moment and then leaned over and pressed her lips against the rim of his cup.