Free Soft Sounds of Pleasure by Eden Connor Page B

the house, trying to sort out what had just taken place.
    It was fair to ask her to explain a ball game, she supposed, as she heard the wrecker crank up. It wasn't as if she had much choice. She'd done harder things, she decided, than watch a game she loved. She'd just try not to cry. She didn't want to think about the ramifications had Colton not been willing to make that side trip by Jimmy's place. Grabbing up her clothes, she distracted herself from the impending pain by wondering where her game chairs had been stored and trying to remember where she'd put all the scorebooks after Charlie left for boot camp.
    Stepping into to the kitchen, her gaze lit on the beautiful Cattleya orchid in the middle of the table. She admired it as she puzzled over the man that had given it to her. He was in his prime: good-looking, sexy, and kind, a strong and capable man. Considerate, responsible, a hard worker, intelligent, yet easygoing. All of that, in her opinion, was a lethal mix. Why waste it on her? He could snap his fingers and have his pick of beautiful younger women.
    As she examined the soft pink blossoms with their ruffled, trumpet-shaped throats edged in cranberry, like the bits of glass she collected, she decided it had to be because she was safe. Those younger women saw what she saw. Saw it and wanted to hang onto it. He didn't want to be tied down. Lila wouldn't ask that of him, and he knew it. This "thing" was safe for both of them. It was just sex, but he was too decent to treat her that way. Her friend Amy had a term for this. She called it "hooking up". This wasn't about forming a relationship, it was about getting off.
    And, he likely did need an interpreter for baseball. As soon as he was up to speed, he'd move on. The season lasted six or seven weeks.
    "By then, you'll be dead and he'll be gone." Lila addressed the orchid. "And I can live with that."

Chapter Nine

    To Colton's consternation, Jonah barely spoke to Lila during the trip to Berry Field. Making no secret of the fact he hadn't wanted to sit in the small back seat, Jonah all but ignored her after that. The kid answered her questions with grunts and resentful shrugs, making Colton want to strangle his nephew. Before he even got the truck into a parking space in the lot outside Berry Field, Jonah flung the back door open, grabbed his equipment bag, and hauled ass into the stadium.
    Colton found a space, eased in, and put the truck transmission into park. "I'm sorry, Lila. He really is grateful, and he usually has better manners than this."
    Lila laughed with genuine amusement. "Been there, done that, Colton. Perfect manners from a thirteen-year-old? Unlikely. There's too much going on, from hormonal urges he doesn't understand to the battle that's about to take place in there." She gestured toward the solid rise of bleachers. "He has his head in the game already, don't take it personally."
    Meaning she hadn't , he realized, relaxing.
    * * * *
    Lila's stomach knotted as they walked across the old wooden bridge over the creek that meandered along the side of the ball field where Pete had once spent so much time.
    She prayed the eight-year age difference between Charlie and Jonah meant there wouldn't be many parents in attendance who knew her, but she feared anonymity was out of the question. She steeled herself for the thoughtless remarks of the well-meaning as she stepped through the gate into one of her favorite ball fields and got hit with her past.
    This wasn't a date. It was nothing more than accompanying a friend to see his kid play. She'd done the same a thousand times, but she saw censure in the eyes of the lady who ran the concession stand, a woman Pete had recommended for the position. But she introduced Colton as casually as possible and gritted her teeth when she replied that she was "fine".
    She recognized the umpires as well, but they were occupied with getting the game underway, so their greetings were brief.
    Did she owe them any answers if she