Free Worth the Drive by Mara Jacobs

usually confined to the first three or four holes until the players found their groove.
    He gestured for her to take the lip balm , but she stared at him, dumbfounded. Then she looked around the gallery and saw everyone staring at her and the most adorable flush rose up her neck and cheeks.
    Darío figured they could stand like that for hours. Taking matters into his own hands, he uncapped the tube, gently held Katie’s chin between his thumb and forefinger and applied the balm to her mouth.
    Her lips, slightly swollen from the previous day, absorbed the balm at contact, and he made several swipes to build up a good coat. He took his time, enjoying the soft give of her mouth as the balm made contact. Enjoying, also, the feel of her soft skin where he held her chin. Finally satisfied, he looked from her tempting mouth into her crystal blue eyes.
    Big mistake.
    She felt the connection as well and it shone in her eyes. Darío took a step back, so thrown off guard. He nearly tripped over his golf bag and was caught by a chuckling Binky. Darío ’s eyes never left Katie’s.
    He finally thought of something to say to break the connection, though he wasn’t sure he wanted to. “And are you feeling better this afternoon?” he asked.
    She nodded. “Yes. Thank you. Your remedy completely did the trick. Thank you for all the effort.”
    “It was no effort at all.” He knew he should turn back to the course. Others from the gallery seemed to be getting bolder, moving closer, yearning to hear the conversation he was having with this beautiful woman. He couldn’t seem to make himself move. “Are you enjoying the round?”
    Her head nodded enthusiastically. “Very much. Is golf like baseball where you can’t mention to a pitcher with a no-hitter going how well he is doing?”
    He was confused. “I am not familiar with that .” He quickly glanced at the green and saw that in the group ahead of him, one of the players was having trouble with the treacherous bunkers. Good, he thought, more time.
    “In baseball, if a pitcher has a no-hitter going, nobody talks to him in the dug out, or says anything to him, and they certainly do n’t mention that he’s doing so well.”
    “Ahh, I see, a superstition?”
    “Right. No one wants to jinx him. Is it the same in golf?”
    He thought on that for a second. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Chad and Barclay standing to the side of him, watching. Barclay made a move to join him and Katie, but Binky cut him off with some inane question about Barclay’s balls. Darío assumed Binky was referring to Barclay’s golf balls, but with Binky, one could never be sure.
    “In golf, you really only talk to your caddy during the round. Some to the other players and caddies. Never to the gallery…” he stopped as Katie raised her eyebrows at him. “Very seldom to the gallery,” he amended. “But, your caddy does not see it as a jinx to mention how well you are doing.”
    “Oh, okay,” she said. Then her beautiful face lit up into a huge smile and Darío heard audible gasps of delight from the men in the gallery who were positioned well enough to see her. “In that case, you’re having a spectacular round. Keep it up!”
    He did.
    An unfortunate bounce on sixteen kept him from tying the course record, but he ended the round on Friday in the lead of the tournament. A position he hadn’t been in for years. He motioned for Katie and Lizzie to meet him at the ropes at the finishing hole.
    “We must celebrate, eh? Let me take you and Lizzie to dinner tonight. You two seem to be good luck charms for me.” He added Lizzie to his declaration, but his eyes were solely on Katie.
    Lizzie smiled. “Thank you, but I can’t. I’m having dinner with Chad and his parents this evening. But it would be great if you would take Katie, that way I wouldn’t feel so guilty about dumping her.”
    “You’re not dumping me, Lizard. I’ll be just fine alone,” Katie said.
    “But there’ s no need