Catching Lily (Spring Training #2)
Author: Becca Jameson
Chapter One
"Nice balls." Lily meandered around what Dominic referred to as his library. Lily would have called it more of a trophy room than anything else. She was afraid to touch anything, so she clasped her hands behind her back.
Dominic chuckled. "You like those, huh?"
"Sure," she lied.
"I tend to collect important ones." He stepped up next to her and pointed toward a row of them. "My first major league win. My first pitch in the minors. My … " He turned his face toward her. "You don't give a shit, do you?"
"Nope." She grinned. "Sorry. But I'm sure there's a logical man-thing going on here."
"Have you ever even been to a game?"
"Of course." She lifted her hand, pretending to look at her nails. "I went to two games with Zia this past summer. They were … interesting."
He laughed again, shaking his head. "You want a tour of the rest of the house? Or are you happy just looking at my balls?"
She finally dropped her hand and giggled. "Sure. Lead on."
Holy smokes, this man was hot. Built. Sexy as hell. It was extremely cliché for her to flirt with him and consider all the sinful things she'd like him to do to her, but she didn't really give a fuck tonight.
The entire day had been an insane series of events. The asshole she'd been dating for two years finally pushed her last button, so she officially kicked him to the curb. Her best friend, Zia, had gotten engaged to Brett Michelson, Dominic's teammate and second baseman for Miami. And then Zia and Brett had dragged Lily to this party.
The irony? The party was to watch Monday Night Football. The only sport she cared less about than baseball was football. But she'd agreed to come with Zia and Brett. It was better than moping around feeling sorry for herself. And she figured at the very least there would be plenty of eye candy.
She was not wrong on either count.
Dominic was the best eye candy in town. The party was at his house, and it seemed he was one of the few eligible bachelors in attendance.
He was also too young for her. But again, she didn't care. He was smoking hot, freakishly built, and currently flirting with her.
She needed the ego boost. If he thought she was cute enough to pay attention to, she wasn't going to argue. Evidently he did, seeing as the football game was currently in the second quarter, and he was giving her a tour of his house.
If you could call it a house. This younger twenty-something guy was already so wealthy that he had a palace, not a house. She thought she might get lost in it. Apparently major league pitchers made a bit of money.
Not that she cared about money. She lived a comfortable life. Owned an art gallery, her own home, and a nice car. Too much money would just buy trouble.
Nevertheless she enjoyed the way Dominic Cordes looked at her, how he set his hand on her lower back to guide her through the house, and the fact that he kept licking his lips.
Any sane woman would find the attention a huge boost to her self-esteem, no matter where it lay on the spectrum. Lily had perfectly fine self-esteem, or she did until Luke Vandergriff got his hands on her and trampled it with the sole of his shoe for two years.
It was time to put him out of her mind and concentrate on someone who appreciated her.
Like Dominic. The pitcher.
Even his hands were big. He was over six feet tall.
She was a foot shorter than him, although she had on heels tonight that made her closer to five-six. She followed him up a set of stairs near the back of the house behind the kitchen. Did he have two sets of stairs? Lordy.
They definitely weren't on the majestic stairs she'd seen when she first arrived through the front door.
"You live here alone?"
"Yep. Well, no. Not during the week. I have a woman."
She flinched. That was a weird way to put it.
He laughed. "Not that kind of woman. Brenda's about fifty. She cooks for me and takes care of the house."
"Ah." Relief washed through her. It was one thing to fantasize stripping down and letting Dominic Cordes have his way with her. It was another thing entirely if he had a revolving set of women he fucked in his bedroom. The idea gave her the chills.
He laughed harder. "Don't worry. I'm not a total playboy. Not every woman I meet gets a tour of my house." He winked.
She should have been leery. She should have stayed in the basement in his gigantic game room or his media room. She should have kept her ass on the stool she'd occupied at his amazing bar with the other women at the party.