She took a bite of pizza, studying him as she chewed. “I knew that kiss made you uncomfortable.”

“I wouldn’t call it uncomfortable.”

“What would you call it?”

He looked into her eyes and had to take a breath. “Turned on as hell.”

She smiled. “Good.”

“You’re direct.”

“It was just a kiss, Pace. And just a hug.”

A hug that had involved having her strain up against him, all warm, sexy, curvy woman. “I know.”

She cocked her head. “Do you? Because it seems like maybe you’re having some trouble with it. Need me to back off? Am I scaring you?”

“No.” He shook his head at her smile and had to let out one of his own. “Okay, yes. Yes, you’re scaring me.”

“Aw.” She slung a friendly arm around his shoulders and squeezed. “I’ll be gentle.” She went back to her pizza with gusto. “I loved watching you play tonight. You looked good out there.”

She was looking good, too, but he kept that to himself, as well as the fact that she was messing with his head without even trying. Both heads.

“So when you’re out there on the field, can you hear us cheering you on?” she asked, catching a string of cheese off the tip of her pizza with her tongue.

“Yes,” he said, staring at that tongue. “But it’s more like white noise if I’m in the zone.”

“Well, I made plenty of white noise today.” She laughed at herself. “I really lost myself.”

He was feeling a little lost himself, in both the sound of her laughter and the warmth of her eyes.

“What?” she asked.

“Ignoring you is going to be a hell of a lot harder than I thought.”

She didn’t point out the obvious, that he was a grown-up, that he could chose not to ignore anything, but she simply sat there and ate her pizza, easily becoming the most enigmatic, intriguing woman he’d ever met.

The next morning the news was buzzing about what had happened after the Atlanta game with those wild fans. The story had gotten exaggerated, with some of the papers reporting that Sam had been beaten and nearly raped. The Heat flew home, where they were met by Sam’s entire family, all of them royally pissed off and ready to kick some ass.

While Sam cooled their jets and assured everyone she didn’t have a scratch on her, the players got ready for their game. Pace wasn’t pitching, but his shoulder felt good—okay, not good but not bad—so he still dressed out, as he’d be practicing in the bullpen while watching the game.

Which they lost.

As well as their next three games.

At the end of that week, the players chaired a 4 The Kids auction, raising $250,000 before facing another home game, this one against the Colorado Rockies.