Playing the Field: A Diamonds and Dugouts Novel by Jennifer Seasons Page B

celebrity. Just the thought was sobering.
    With that reminder, Sonny released a slow breath and took a step back. The air had gone hot and stuffy, and she suddenly needed to be outside in the fresh breeze. She needed some space, period. Being around JP made her brain stop functioning and her hormones take over.
    Leaving him standing in the middle of her work kitchen, Sonny strode outside and inhaled deep. Damn her libido. Why did it have to crop up at this moment? The first time she’d noticed it had been at the charity event when she’d caught sight of JP. Before that, it’d been mostly nonexistent. What was it about the shortstop that brought it roaring to life?
    And why now?
    Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice he’d joined her outside until he spoke quietly, startling her. “Everything okay, Sonny?”
    Not at all. “Yep. Just peachy. Why do you ask?”
    He seemed to settle in comfortably next to her, his arms crossed casually and his feet spread. She was tall, but he had a full head on her. He’d put his glasses back on and had taken a page from her book, staring out over her property.
    “You hightailed it out of there like your ass was on fire, that’s why.”
    Oh. “It was hot in there.”
    Humor warmed his deep voice. “True that.”
    He didn’t push her and they stood together companionably in silence. And it felt surprisingly good and comfortable. Like maybe they were becoming friends.
    And if they were becoming friends then JP deserved some honesty. “I’m shit at relationships.”
    He just kept on staring at her yard. “Is that a fact?”
    Why didn’t her admission bug him? He acted like she’d said the sky was blue. “I mean it, JP. Charlie is the only relationship in my life that I haven’t fucked up in some way or another.” And it pained her to admit it.
    She’d half expected him to cut bait and run at that—maybe even half hoped he would—so she was taken aback by what he did next. He leaned down until his mouth was level with her ear. Sonny stilled, her breath caught in her chest as she waited for his move, anticipation racing under her skin.
    It didn’t take long.
    Light and sweet as whipped frosting, he kissed the hair above her ear and whispered, “Lucky for us, I don’t scare easily.”

 
    Chapter Eight
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    F OR THE NEXT week, JP made excuse after excuse to drop by Sonny’s place to see her. And after he’d returned from an away trip to St. Louis and swung by again, his fridge was so full of cheese rounds and milk that there was barely any room left in it for a six-pack of beer.
    His strategy was working though. Each time he was around her he kept everything easy and low-key, and Sonny was loosening up degree by degree. The last time she’d even nearly kissed him. Charlie walking into the room with a friend had stopped her though.
    It was about time, too, because he was running out of excuses. There were only so many scenarios he could come up with that sounded plausible for why he’d needed to buy goat cheese. And he still had to figure out what to do with all the milk before it went bad. Probably Drake would take it if he offered. That dude drank more milk than anybody he’d ever seen. Said it was for his growing bones.
    Or his neighbor’s cat probably wouldn’t protest over being given it, either. It might be a way to actually get the feline to shut up. His condo shared a bedroom wall with the neighbor’s place and for hours on end that damn cat yowled like it was being tortured. He’d knocked once to talk to the owner about keeping it down, but had been told by a woman watching the place that the neighbor and the feline who owned her were off at a cat show.
    Which just figured, right? Crazy Best in Show people. Apparently the cat yowled so much because she was a pedigree Siamese and hadn’t been fixed for show purposes. JP had pleaded with the owner the next time he’d run into her to just let the frigging cat get knocked up so that he could have some