CHAPTER FOURTEEN

 

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A TANGLE OF arms and legs sprawled across the mattress. Where Jordyn ended, and Murphy began, she didn't know. And she felt too good to care.

"Don't move," she groused when Murphy rolled to his back. "I like you exactly where you are."

"My arm went to sleep."

Eyes closed, Jordyn heard him fluffing a pillow, and felt the whisper of cotton across her body as he adjusted the tangled bedding. She was about to complain over the disturbance to her liquid-like relaxation when Murphy tugged her up next to him.

"Better?" he asked.

Jordyn would concede the point. Murphy's chest was a damn fine place to rest her head.

"I may need water," she said as her fingers absently traced the ridges that formed his perfectly formed eight-pack abs. "Soon."

"Here you go?" Murphy handed her a bottle.

Always the gentleman, he'd opened the top.

"How did you—?"

"Don't you remember? About an hour ago, I went for supplies."

Downing half the bottle, Jordyn frowned. Where had she been? Then she smiled. Right. A post-orgasmic stupor.

"Supplies? As in more than water? The kitchen is only a few seconds away."

"Sometimes a few seconds is too much. Every time I thought about food, you would distract me."

"I distracted you?" Jordyn jabbed him in the ribs. "Think again, fella."

As though he hadn't heard, Murphy lightly kissed her, then continued.

"So, rather than starve to death while you have your way with me, I decided to pack a few essentials. The croissants. Grapes. Strawberries. And, I think a plum. But I'm not sure."

Jordyn eyed the bowl of fruit.

"Mango/nectarine hybrid."

"Huh." Murphy took a bite, chewed, and smiled. "I guess I should have come down from the mountain more often. I've missed a lot of new and interesting things."

"Including me."

"Nope." Murphy kissed her, the tart juice from the fruit still on his tongue. "You came to me, remember?"

"Mother Nature and an unexpected sinkhole conspired to set us up," Jordyn reminded him. "A weird, yet ultimately providential, blind date."

"I don't do blind dates."

"I recently shut down Blue when she tried to set me up," Jordyn chuckled. "Not my thing either. However, when I consider how successful our encounter turned out, maybe I should give her guy a chance."

"Or, you could just date me."

Jordyn had meant her remark as a joke. The last thing she expected was Murphy to respond in such a way. And with a straight face.

"I don't date baseball players."

"Because…?"

"Generally? I don't like to live in the spotlight."

"I understand." Murphy's voice had acquired a cool edge. "The spotlight on me is pretty harsh."

Jordyn pushed herself to a sitting position. She wrapped the blanket around her bare shoulders and looked Murphy in the eyes.

"The way I feel has nothing to do with your past."

"Right," Murphy scoffed.

"Damn right." Jordyn sighed. "At least tell me your side before you accuse me of something I don't deserve."

"Where do I start?"

"The beginning? Or, say whatever pops into your head and go from there."

Murphy scrubbed at his beard, eyes closed.

"I was a cocky son of a bitch."

"Was?"

Smiling, Murphy squeezed her hand.

"Comparatively speaking. I could play baseball at a level few men ever reach. But I didn't think of my abilities as a gift. Or a blessing. More of a God-given right."

"Yikes. Even at his most self-involved, Spencer never crossed the arrogant asshole line."

"I obliterated the line before I hit my senior year of high school."

Jordyn's first instinct was to object. Surely, Murphy was too hard on himself. But the story was his to tell. His recollections. She would save her editorial opinion for when he finished.

"What happened in high school?" was all she asked in the way of a prompt.

"The accolades started, and I ate them up. Like junk food without a few vegetables thrown in, a steady diet of praise without an ounce of censor isn't a good thing. What I didn't realize? What nobody could see? I'd started to rot from the inside out."

"You were a kid."

"True," Murphy conceded. But his expression remained grim. "Unfortunately, as my body matured, my attitude didn't. I did have one thing going for me. I was almost as good a ballplayer as I thought I was."

Jordyn wished she could erase the sadness from Murphy's eyes. She wanted to tell him to let his memories stay where they belonged. Buried in the past. But she had the feeling he needed to say the words. And, she needed to hear them.

"For years, I only drank socially." Murphy's gaze carried a faraway look in them. "Mind you, my idea of social varied greatly from an average person's."

"Did you drink before a game?"

"Never," Murphy spat out.

Jordyn hadn't asked because she doubted Murphy's integrity. She'd simply wanted to send him a reminder. No matter how black he painted himself, he'd always maintained respect for the game of baseball. And his teammates.

"I played fourteen years in the major leagues." Murphy shook his head as if he couldn't quite grasp the fact. "I only missed a handful of games. As my body started to wear out, my alcohol consumption increased. Plus pills. And cocaine. I really loved the blow. But I was one hundred percent positive I had everything under control."

Jordyn could feel the tension radiate from Murphy's body. She placed a hand on his thigh. A small gesture of consolation, but she didn't know what else to do.

"You weren't in control," Jordyn said.

"No. But I needed a major injury to drive home the point. After surgery, when I came out of the anesthetic, the first thing I heard was my mother. Sobbing. Over me. Because of what I'd done. What I'd become. I'll never forget." Murphy cleared his throat as he rubbed his chest. "The sound was like a knife through my heart."

Unable to stand Murphy's pain a second longer, Jordyn molded her body to his, her arms around his waist. She kissed his hand, then the spot above his heart, and for his sake more than hers, did her best not to cry.

"I don't deserve your tears."

"I agree," Jordyn said, proud of her steady voice. "You were an asshole. You'd alienated half the world—at least the part you occupied. But your mother never stopped loving you."

"Now I'm going to cry." Instead, Murphy chuckled. "Zelda Baldwin is tiny, yet she's fierce. After she'd wiped her eyes, do you know what she said?"

"What?"

"She told me, and I quote, 'I want to bounce my grandbabies on my knee long before I die. So, my darling son. If you don't get clean and stay clean, I will kick your ass until the day I take my last breath.'"

"I knew I liked her."

"And, she promised to do some ass kicking from beyond the grave."

Surreptitiously, Jordyn wiped away a single tear. She was only human.

"I officially have a girl crush on your mother."

Murphy laced his fingers with hers. He raised her hand to his lips and pressed a warm kiss to the back.

"Right then, I would have promised Mom anything. Keeping my word wasn't as easy."

"But you did."

Against her cheek, Jordyn felt his deep, heartfelt sigh.

"Mm. I suffered through a lot of bad nights. But Mom and Dad were right by my side. I think, I know, they saved my life. They didn't like my decision to live three thousand miles away, but they didn't argue either."

"What did they say when you decided to play ball again?"

"I signed my contract before I told them because I was sure they'd try to change my mind. But they didn't."

Jordyn raised her head so she could look into his eyes. What she saw was bemusement. And love. Absolute and unreserved.

"They wished me luck. Told me to take care. And the night of my first game, they were here to cheer me on. You know what I think?"

"Tell me."

"I think I'm the luckiest son of a bitch on the face of the earth."

Jordyn took Murphy's face between her hands.

"You get no argument from me." She proceeded to pepper every inch of him with kisses.

At first, Murphy was content to lie back and let her have her way. But after a while, he decided to take control. Jordyn found herself flipped onto her back, his naked chest pressed against hers. The position felt so good—so right—she wasn't about to complain.

"Do you have any questions?" he asked after a long and very satisfying kiss.

"Probably." Jordyn wound her arms around Murphy's neck. "But not off the top of my head. I'll write them down as they come to me and get back to you."

"Sounds fair." Murphy paused. "Earlier, I had a question for you."

Jordyn didn't know what to think. They were lovers. But should they date? The idea was appealing. Everything about Murphy appealed to her. Except…

"Don't give me an answer now. When I get back from the road trip will be soon enough. Speaking of which, I have to go."

The impulse to tug Murphy back into bed with her was so strong, Jordyn gripped the sheet with both hands. Two weeks was hardly a lifetime. She would miss him, but the time apart would give her a chance to think. Something she had a tough time doing when her body was wrapped around his.

Head resting on her pulled-up knees, Jordyn watched as Murphy fastened his jeans. She might be confused about where they were headed, but one thing she knew without a doubt.

"If I say no, the reason has nothing to do with your past."

"Baseball, huh?"

Jordyn nodded.

"Are you opposed to the game in general? Or just the men who wear the uniforms?"

"Baseball is the Kraig family religion. Don't get me wrong, my parents raised us to believe in God. But from opening day until the last pitch of the season, Sunday meant hot dogs and scorecards, not bibles and pulpits."

Murphy chuckled. "Sounds good to me."

"We had a great time. I was crazy for the game. Devoted. I even played for a while."

"Really?" Murphy sounded intrigued. "Which position."

"Pitcher." When he raised a surprised eyebrow, Jordyn bristled the same way she did when anybody doubted her. "I was damn good, fella. Damn fastball was my undoing. But I had my out pitch. I bet I could get you to swing and miss at my slider."

"Just a second while I step over the metaphorical gauntlet you just threw at my feet." Murphy didn't step, he hopped toward the bed. "Challenge accepted."

With a firm pump, Jordyn shook his hand as her old competitive spirit kicked in.

"Good grip. Nice muscle tone." Murphy ran a hand over Jordyn's bicep. "You might get a ball by me." His voice dropped to a sexy growl. "Or, I might knock the cover off."

"You sure you want to find out?" Jordyn placed her hand on Murphy's flat stomach. Slowly, her eyes locked with his, her caress moved lower. "Are you sure your ego can handle the bruise when I blow one past you?"

The heat in Murphy's eyes made Jordyn wish they had more time to play. But she would take what she could get. And from the feel of him in her hand, she would get plenty.

"My ego doesn't bruise easily," Murphy assured her. "How about yours?"

With a shrug, Jordyn slowly unzipped his jeans.

"I'll make you a deal. However, our little encounter turns out? I'll kiss yours if you kiss mine."

Grinning, Murphy tumbled her onto the bed, her sheet and his jeans quickly melted away.

"You're on. But as any athlete knows, we really should get some practice in ahead of time."

"I thought you had to leave." Jordyn's laugh turned to a sigh as Murphy's lips found the side of her neck.

"I have time." Murphy leaned over her, his blue eyes the color of a molten sky. "You'll be amazed by what I can accomplish in five minutes."

"Only five?" The kiss Jordyn gave Murphy was a slow, sexy promise.

"I might be able to manage ten." Murphy groaned when she bit his earlobe. "Okay, fifteen. But thirty minutes is my absolute limit. By the way?"

"Never mind the conversation. Get hopping and pleasure me, Baldwin. You're on the clock."

"I can do both."

"Fine." Jordyn rolled her eyes, her sigh exaggerated. "By the way…?"

"You don't want to date a baseball player. But in case you forgot, my contract is only until the end of the season. After October, I won't be a baseball player anymore."

Jordyn's eyes widened. Murphy was right. She had forgotten.

"Well, well," she said.

Murphy grinned. "Have the dating scales tipped in my direction?"

"Maybe. Probably. I'll tell you in two weeks." Absolutely, Jordyn added silently. But she still had a lot to consider. "Now, shut up and kiss me. The clock is ticking."