Drive You Wild: A Love Between the Bases Novel Read Online Free

Was she from here? But she’d said her car was a rental, and it definitely had the lived-in feel of a long road trip.
    “Are you an out-of-town player?” she asked him.
    “Nope. I’m a Catfish. Go Kilby.” She reacted to that information with an almost invisible flinch. Interesting. “I live at the Days Inn. I rent by the week and own a bunch of take-out menus. Home sweet home.”
    “Wouldn’t it be cheaper to rent an apartment?”
    “That’s a big commitment.” Not only that, but he’d be easier to find. Motel rooms worked just fine for him.
    “Oh, please. Let me guess, you’re one of those .” She tossed her tangle of hair away from her face. “The ‘don’t fence me in with your pesky apartment leases or marriage contracts’ types.”
    “Maybe. And you’re the ‘give me two minutes and I can slap a label on you’ type.”
    Surprised, she looked over at him, and he caught a glimmer of respect along with the laughter. “Touché.”
    As she turned the car onto Alamo, the neon Days Inn sign loomed ahead, illuminating the misty night with its yellow glow. The sight brought an odd sense of reluctance—surprise, surprise, he didn’t want this encounter to end. Paige didn’t seem one bit intimidated by him, or awed, or flustered. The change of pace was . . . well, like he’d said, she’d caught his attention.
    He looked at her sideways, wanting more details impressed into his brain. Now that he got a good look at her, he saw that she was on the quirky side of beautiful, with lean lines and a wide mouth. Her hair tumbled around her shoulders and halfway down her back, the curling strands picking up glints of light, copper and red and gold. She wore a pendant on a leather thong around her neck, and woven bracelets marched up her wrist. Her yoga-ish outfit might be casual, but she had a sexy body under those leggings, he could practically guarantee. Whoever Paige was, she was suddenly front and center on his radar screen. It made no sense, considering the craziness of the past ten minutes, but he wanted . . . well, more. More conversation, more of that sweet apple fragrance, more of those looks she shot him.
    He wanted to hear her laugh some more. It made him feel halfway human.
    She pulled into the driveway of the Days Inn and stopped under the overhang at the entrance. “Nice place you’ve got here,” she said, all cheeky.
    “Thanks. It’s even nicer inside. Why don’t you come in and tell me all about Jerome, or why you were at the stadium, or where you learned to drive? I have a fully stocked kitchenette. My specialty is midnight snacks.” He unleashed his most potent weapon—his smile, which had slayed every woman he’d encountered since the age of twelve.
    Not Paige. She tilted her head, giving him a long, serious survey. “Anonymous sex with a stranger is not the right way to process a trauma.”
    The word “sex” on those full, upturned lips amped up the strong attraction he already felt to her. “What makes you think I was talking about sex?”
    Her gaze immediately flashed to his bare chest, and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.
    “I get it,” he said. “ You were thinking about sex.”
    When her cheeks went pink, he bit back a satisfied smile. Now that the word “sex” had been spoken aloud, it sounded like a great idea to him. “Besides, there’s nothing like a near-death experience to make you want to live life to the fullest. Shouldn’t that include sex? Or at least a midnight snack?”
    He offered another smile, aiming for charming this time. She drummed her thumbs on the steering wheel, looking at him from under her lashes, the garish Days Inn glow sliding across her skin. Had he tempted her? Finally she shook her head. “I’m supposed to be somewhere right now. I got sidetracked rescuing you, but I really need to go.”
    “Wherever you’re going, I bet there isn’t a famous baseball player ready to satisfy your every desire.”
    Her head jerked back and