Anna checked the watch on her wrist and growled. She was supposed to be meeting with a client in less than five minutes and judging by the grid-locked traffic she sat in, she was not going to make it on time. The neighborhood she lived in was picturesque and ideal for a single woman like herself, but this time every year, all the streets became parking lots due to the extra bodies and cars trying to get from one point to the other, causing her otherwise short ride to the office to be a hassle.
She sighed when realization dawned on her; Spring Training had officially taken over Arizona and today was Opening Day. And it didn’t help that she lived less than a mile away from the San Francisco Giants spring training field.
After running one red light and cutting off two very lost motorists, Anna had finally made it to the office. She hurried in to find her client sitting in a chair at her desk, fingers flying across the screen of his phone.
“I can’t apologize enough for my tardiness, Mr. Sanders. It’s a madhouse out there.” She dropped her tote and laptop bag on a nearby table.
“If you keep calling me that, I will be forced to start addressing you as Miss. Freeman, and we both know how much you hate that,” he chuckled. “And forget about it. I should be doing the apologizing, anyway. You’re a busy woman and it’s my fault you had to drag yourself away from your personal life to meet me here on a Saturday.” Seeing Ethan’s grin and kind eyes made Anna breathe a sigh of relief. As the owner of one of the largest marketing firms in the Phoenix area, he had every right to be angry with her for wasting what little time he did have.
She had been working closely with architects, electrical engineers and contractors for almost six months now trying to redesign his ten thousand square foot house. His eagerness to have his home finished so he and his family could move in made him a little grumpy and short tempered. Even with his high demands and extreme neediness, Anna still considered him one of her favorite clients. He constantly raised his voice to the men working on the property, but he saved his smiles and kindness for her, which she appreciated.
“Don’t you worry about that, Ethan. Besides working with you, I don’t have much of a personal life.” She winked at him and proceeded to unload fabric samples from her tote. He laughed his hearty laugh, and she began to giggle.
“Well, if the only personal life you have is hanging out with an old man like myself, then you need to get yourself a boyfriend,” he declared, moving to her side.
“If I had a boyfriend, I wouldn’t have any time for you.” Anna loved to tease him. The man called himself old, but he was only seven years older than her, and he wasn’t hard on the eyes, either.
“Hmm, I’m not sure how I’d feel about that.”
She looked up at him and smiled at the comment. “As your interior designer, I strongly suggest you take down that pony wall we discussed last week. I know your architect would rather keep it and I understand his motive, but wanting to hide the bottles of liquor from the rest of the room while you entertain guests is not a good enough reason.”
She pulled a notebook from her laptop bag. “Adding a floating countertop here with shelving and cabinets,” she pointed to the page, “would separate the room from your liquor wall, and you’d be able to entertain and pour drinks at the same time. Your back would never be towards your guests.” Anna sketched seating on the page. “Barstools and dimly lit accent lighting would add to the design, making it look inviting and festive. Hopefully my sketch can help you visualize.”
Ethan took the notebook from her hands and studied it. She watched his face, trying to decipher whether he was impressed or disappointed, but he remained passive. “I agree.”
She looked up at him in surprise. “You do?” Ethan wasn’t always so amenable, so Anna had come prepared with a strong argument to get him to agree with her. She frantically spent the night creating drawings to help him picture her idea and gathered all her granite samples so they could finally choose the countertop that would best match the paint chosen for the entertainment room. All in preparation for this last minute meeting.
“Of course I do, Anna. I never doubted you.”
“Oh…” She paused. “Your message stated that you and your architect made some last-minute changes, so I automatically assumed we would be discussing the entertainment room.” She started to grind her teeth, a nasty habit she had when she was nervous or agitated.
“You shouldn’t grind your teeth like that.” Ethan tucked a strand of hair behind Anna’s ear and drew his finger down the length of her jaw line. He paused under her chin. “You are a beautiful woman, Anna. You wouldn’t want to lose them.”
Anna shuddered. A vision of her past popped into her head and suddenly the caress seemed too intimate for her comfort. Their eyes met and she could see a hunger there she had never seen before.
“Uhhh, Mr. Sanders?” Anna stood there dumbfounded, unable to pull her gaze from his for fear of offending him.
He blinked a few times and cleared his throat before resting his arm at his side. “Ah, yes. We were discussing the entertainment room. Like I mentioned before, I never distrusted you. I, too, think it’s a great idea to lose the wall. Not sure where Kevin was going with his plan. It didn’t exactly scream social atmosphere.”
Anna smiled, pushing the moment of intimacy to the back of her mind. She couldn’t afford to lose this job, and she knew it would be imminent if she read too much into his compliment. “I’m glad you agree. Once you and Mrs. Sanders have decided which fabrics you want the furniture upholstered in, we’ll be able to coordinate something for the barstools.” She turned and pulled the granite samples from her tote.
“If you would like, you can take these and compare them to the chosen paint samples you have at home. Whatever granite you like best will be used for both the bar and the mantle above the fireplace.” Anna handed the bag containing the samples to Ethan, and he wrapped his hand around hers. He had a longing look in his eyes, and it suddenly looked like he was lost in thought. It felt like a whole minute before he realized that he was lingering, and he pulled his hand and the bag away from hers. Ethan began to fidget with the bag’s handle. He was obviously uncomfortable.
“It’s getting late and I’ve kept you too long already.” He turned to leave. “I’ll see you next week!”
When he disappeared through the door, Anna waved a confused hand and added, “Goodbye, Ethan.” She fell into her chair. “Well, that was awkward,” she said aloud to herself. Anna thought of all the playful banter exchanged between the two of them the last few months and started to regret it. It had all seemed so harmless; he was married to a beautiful woman named Cara, and he often teased Anna in front of her. Looking back, it was probably more inappropriate than it was innocent.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, she thought, smacking her forehead. Her phone rang, interrupting her from her silent punishment.
“Karlie!” she nearly shouted. “Why didn’t you return my texts last night?”
“Sorry, mom, but some of us actually go to bed at a decent hour,” Karlie declared.
“Ha! Sorry about that. I didn’t realize it was so late.” Anna leaned in her chair. “What’s up?”
“Please tell me you’ve accepted my invitation to come to a baseball game with us?”
She groaned. “I totally forgot about that. Do I really have to go?”
“Why would you not wish to go? Men in uniform, drinks with the girls and glorious sunshine!”
The vision of Ethan touching her face popped into her mind and she cringed. “Actually, yes. I am in dire need of a drink. I should be leaving the office shortly. Where do you want to meet?”
“Your house is perfect. It’s close to the stadium and we can Uber.” Karlie paused. “I’ll let Cassie and Nadine know. Game starts at one o’clock so we’ll come around noon?”
Anna checked her watch. “Good timing. That’s an hour away.”
“Sweet! We’ll see you then!” Karlie hung up.
Anna arrived at her house to find Karlie waiting in the driveway. “Eager, are we?” she asked, getting out of the car.
“Not so much eager. I was bored.”
Cassie and Nadine pulled up behind her and she waved. “Let me just run inside really quick to change!”
She slid on a pair of blue jeans with holes in the knees and pulled on a short-sleeved shirt. Anna rushed out and found her friends already sitting in the Uber when she stepped through the front door. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the Giants spring training field to watch them play against the Diamondbacks.
“Tell me again where these tickets came from?” Anna asked, standing in the will call line fanning her face.
“I met a guy last weekend who plays in the minor leagues for the Diamondbacks, and he said he was invited to play in today’s big league game.” Karlie explained, enthusiastically. “When he asked me if I wanted to come watch him play, I said sure, as long as I could bring my three best friends.” She smiled brightly, knowing the phrase was a quote from one of the Sex and the City movies. Anna giggled. The two of them often spoke to each other in movie quotes.
They followed her to their designated seats, which happened to be front row behind the Diamondbacks dugout, and sat down. Cassie and Nadine took drink orders and headed to the concession stands, leaving Anna and Karlie to watch the players throw the ball back and forth. It wasn’t long before a very attractive man caught her eye.
It didn’t matter how far away from her he was. His smile was so bright, it nearly matched the glare of the sun and she found it contagious. The white baseball pants he wore were snug against his ass and she wondered how it would feel if she gave it a squeeze. When the handsome man threw the ball back to his teammate, she witnessed a bulging bicep flexing beneath the seam of his jersey. Anna wasn’t sure if it was the tattoos peeking out from under his sleeves or the perfect way his uniform fit, or if it was even the goofy demeanor that radiated from him, but something about that man had her squirming in her seat.
She ogled, almost trance like, and when he looked her way, their eyes met. Embarrassed at having been caught gawking, she quickly looked away and pretended to say something to Karlie.
“What’s wrong?” Karlie asked.
“Nothing, pretend you’re talking to me,” Anna spat out quickly.
“But I am talking to you.” She turned towards the field and spotted her player. “Look! There’s the guy I’m talking about. That’s Nate.”
Anna followed the path her finger was pointing and her stomach sank. Nate was standing next to the man she was just staring at, and they were both smiling and walking towards the dugout, eyes on her and Karlie.
She fidgeted in her seat. “I think I’ll use the restroom before the game starts.”
“Wait! I want you to meet Nate. He’s coming over here.” Sure enough, the men were close enough for Anna to get a better look at the man she had been eyeing, and he was even more handsome than she imagined he would be.
“Glad you could make it!” Nate hollered.
“Thanks a ton for these seats. They’re incredible!” Karlie smiled flirtatiously.
“Don’t thank me. Thank my buddy here, Ben Whitley. I had to beg him to give up his family passes so that I could impress the pretty girl I met last week.”
Unwanted laughter bubbled to the surface and burst through Anna’s lips. She hurried to cover her mouth, mortified that it had come out as loud as it did.
“This is my friend, Anna. Apparently, she’s easily amused.” Karlie elbowed her lightly in the side.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Anna,” Ben said casually. “Since you find compliments so amusing, I’ll refrain from telling you how breathtakingly beautiful you are.”
Anna felt her face grow hot. She attempted to come up with some witty retort, but the men waved and disappeared into the dugout.
“Uhh, what was that?” Karlie questioned, taking her seat.
“I have no idea. Let’s just call it a moment of insanity.” Anna shook her head.
“He’s cute, isn’t he?” Karlie asked. Anna looked at her friend, realizing that she was talking about Nate.
“Yeah. He’s sweet. How old is he? He looks young.” She really wasn’t that interested in Nate’s age. She was trying to distract her thoughts from the good-looking gentleman standing beside him.
“I think he’s like twenty-five or something. Who cares, anyway? He’ll be fun to have around for the next month or so.” She winked and joined the stadium in clapping when the Giants players entered the field.
Half of the first inning flew by and before she realized, it was the Diamondbacks turn to take the field. Anna immediately spotted Ben running to home plate and sighed when he crouched into his catching position, giving her an eyeful of his sweet, tight ass.
“F those lines!” Nadine yelled over the crowd. “I almost had to elbow an old man who tried to cut in front of me.” She reached across Karlie and handed a cold glass of white wine to Anna.
“Nadine, it’s spring training. What did you expect?” Cassie took her seat and sat down beside Karlie.
The rest of the girls’ words were lost on her ears. Anna was captivated by the way Ben caught the ball and communicated with his teammates. He ran to the pitcher’s mound after a wild pitch and her heart melted when a bright smile erupted across that chiseled face of his. She had to scold herself silently since her perverted eyes wandered to the lower region of his body as he ran back to home plate. She knew there was most likely a cup in his pants, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he was all cup, or all man.
“Earth to Anna?” Karlie waved her hand in front of Anna’s face.
“Sorry. The client I met with today has my head spinning.” She wasn’t about to let the girls know that the catcher and what he had packing in his pants was what was really preoccupying her mind.
“Well, snap out of it. You’re missing out on girl time!” Nadine finished what was left in her cup and stood. “Who’s up for another drink?”
“What happened to ‘F those lines’?” Cassie asked, giggling.
Nadine shrugged. “It’s Saturday, it’s hot, and I need another drink.”
Cassie stood with Nadine and together they made their way back to the concession stands.
“Grab a drink carrier and just order eight glasses of wine. That way you don’t have to go up for another after we finish our second!” Karlie hollered behind them. Cassie turned and gave her a thumbs up.
The inning had come to an end and Anna watched the team jog back to the dugout. Ben came in last and peered up at her. The smile in his eyes quickly disappeared when he missed the last step leading in to the dugout and tumbled to the ground, landing flat on his face.
Unable to contain herself, Anna burst out laughing. She felt Karlie’s elbow in her ribs again so she pressed her lips together. Teammates flocked to his side obstructing her view of him, but when they parted, he locked eyes with her once again. Anna smiled and bit down on her tongue. The poor man must feel humiliated, and she didn’t want to further his embarrassment by letting him see her laughing hysterically.