Free Batter Up (Bachelors of Buttermilk Falls Book 1) by Robyn Neeley Page A

wing, more cats like Magic can be boarded and put up for adoption. I couldn’t be happier to support such a wonderful project.”
    “Your cat’s named Magic?” Jason chuckled. “Of course, it is.”
    “What?”
    “Nothing. Nothing at all. Just the name appears to be fitting.”
    She rolled her eyes. “It’s just a name for my black cat that I adopted on Halloween. Nothing more.”
    “Right.” He played with his straw. “So, this expansion means a lot to you?”
    “Absolutely.” She nodded without hesitation.
    “But you didn’t bid on any of the bachelors?”
    “I bid on you.”
    “Yes, but I was a walk-on. You didn’t know there would be one more.”
    Shoot. He had a point. She waved her hand in the air as if it was no big deal for her to drain her bank account on any given day.“I was planning on making a sizeable donation. Abby said it would look better if I bid.”
    “I see.” His smug smile was a dead giveaway that he wasn’t buying what she was saying for a second. He leaned back. “Well, lucky you did. Now you get to not only support your cause, but spend the rest of your summer with a handsome reporter.”
    She pointed at him. “Who, you? I thought you were only here a week. Shouldn’t you be leaving . . .” She tapped on her watch. “Like right about now?”
    “My plans changed.”
    Emma’s heart pounded while her head went into contingency plan mode. She’d purposely avoided running into Jason at home after Wednesday night until the week was up. Now what was she supposed to do? “Lucky me,” was all she could muster.
    He smirked. “Okay, hard-hitting question one. Have you always lived here?”
    Emma nodded. “Born and bred. My grandparents lived just on the edge of the lake. My mother still lives in the house I grew up in.”
    “What about your dad?”
    “Never knew him. He left before I was born.”
    “Oh.” He touched her arm. “I’m sorry.”
    She pulled away, but not in time to avoid the electrifying tingle his touch shot straight up her arm. “It’s not a big deal.” It was a big deal. So much so, she held onto the hope that one Sunday at two o’clock, her dad would step off a bus and back into her life. Jason would never know that.
    “Well, this is a beautiful area from what I’ve seen. Did you ever want to leave?”
    She shrugged. “Yes . . . no . . . I suppose in college. You know, you dream of places like New York City, Los Angeles, Miami.”
    He chuckled. “Been there. Doing that. You can throw Boston in there, too.”
    Emma slouched back in the swing. “So, Jason. Where are you from?”
    “From? That’s a hard question to answer. I’ve lived almost everywhere. Right now, I have a condo on South Beach.”
    “Oh, that’s right. The Miami Herald thing.”
    “Why, Emma, have you been doing your own investigation?”
    “When someone comes snooping around my bakery, I make it a point to find out why.”
    He looked over and they locked eyes, causing her heart to start racing again. Annoyed, she looked down at her chest. “Stop it,” she ordered.
    “Stop what?”
    “Nothing.” She sipped her coffee and stretched out her legs. Time to change the subject. “So, what made you decide to stay longer?”
    He grinned. “I think you know.” He paused. “Your mother’s chocolate chip cookies.”
    She’d completely forgotten about the gift she’d dropped off last Sunday. “I see you got her present.”
    “They were amazing. Why did she make them for me?”
    “Don’t think you’re special,” she retorted. “She does that for everyone visiting for the first time.” Everyone with a penis.
    “Well, I hope I get to meet her soon.”
    She raised an eyebrow. “Why? Do you want to interview her?”
    “I probably deserve that. How about we call a truce?”
    Emma shrugged. “I’m not the one digging for a story that isn’t there.”
    He fiddled with his straw wrapper, pushing it into his empty plastic cup. “I just thought maybe we could start over.