Free Hope Flames: Hope Book 1 by Jaci Burton

take a road trip and catch one of the games this summer, then caught himself.
    What was he thinking? He wasn’t going to continue this relationship with Emma beyond today. He was taking her out to show her a good time. One-time thing, and then he was done. Where women were concerned, there were no repeat performances. Because when there were repeat performances, one thing led to another, and before you knew it, you were in a relationship.
    And after a relationship came marriage, and he knew what happened then.
    Kiss of death to anything fun.
    They settled in to watch the game while the dogs barked and wriggled and kept their eyes on the other dogs nearby. Lots of people had brought dogs, so it was fun to see them in the stands.
    “I love this,” Emma said, her sunglasses shading her eyes as she surveyed the stands. “I should have brought my business cards with me. I could walk row by row and hand them out.”
    He arched a brow. “Really?”
    She laughed. “No. I’m exhausted. It’s been a killer week, and all I want to do is sit back and watch the game. But it’s something my mother would think I should do to drum up business for the clinic.”
    “She wants you to do more advertising?”
    “Like you wouldn’t believe.”

    “Do you need more business?”
    “I can always use more, especially since I’m just starting out. But I’m not as aggressive as she’d like me to be. I think word of mouth spreads, and if you’re good at your job, the business will come your way.”
    “I can see that, especially in your line of work.”
    “She did have a good suggestion, though. She wants me to sponsor an adoption day at the clinic. I’d work with the local shelter and offer discount services to anyone who adopts an animal.”
    He shifted to face her. “That’s a brilliant idea. Are you gonna do it?”
    “Yes, I think I am. I’ve already been in contact with the shelter, and they’re interested.”
    “I could come by and bring Boomer. He’s always a hit with the kids.”
    “You’d do that?”
    “Sure. I assume you’ll do it on a Saturday?”
    “Yes. Jane Kline said she and Will—your friend Will? They’re thinking about adopting a dog. That might be a good time for them to look at some animals.”
    He leaned back. “Yeah, Will loves dogs. And I know Jane’s kids, Ryan and Tabitha, have wanted a dog for a while now.”
    “I guess I’ll make it happen.”
    “You should, Emma. I think it would be great for your business. Your mom’s pretty smart.”
    “She is. But if you ever meet her, don’t tell her I said that or she’ll come up with a hundred different marketing and advertising plans for the clinic.”
    He laughed. “Duly noted.”
    They settled in once the game started. Surprisingly, Emma knew her baseball, and she wasn’t afraid to show her pleasure—or her displeasure—as the game progressed.
    “Masters has a rocket arm at third base,” she said, hunkered down in her seat, her feet propped up on the back of the empty seat in front of her. “He’s fired off some killers to first. But they need a new second baseman. Twice now,their shortstop Alioto has scrambled for the balls that hit second, and you don’t need your shortstop trying to cover both his position and second base. It’s clear that he’s trying to cover for how slow Trainor is.”
    He looked over at her, studying her as she grabbed a handful of popcorn and shoved it in her mouth, then followed it up with two very large swallows of beer.
    “Is that right?”
    She pulled her gaze away from the game and looked at him. “Well, yeah. Can’t you tell? Trainor’s either hiding an injury or needs to lose some weight. And judging from the paunch in his belly, I’d say he needs to lay off the cheese-burgers.”
    Luke snorted. “Maybe you should have a talk with his conditioning coach.”
    “Somebody needs to, or he’s going to find himself booted down to Single-A ball.”
    “I had no idea you knew so much about