“Hi, I got a call from the office that they’ve upgraded my ticket.”
She gave the man behind the glass her name and he whistled when he pulled out her ticket. “This is one of the best seats in the stadium.”
She grinned at him as she thanked him for the ticket and headed into the stadium. It had been a really nice surprise when she’d found out she was being upgraded to a better seat as a thank you for her help with the fundraising event. She didn’t get out to the ballpark much, but she never missed the one day each season when dogs and their owners were invited to enjoy the afternoon together.
It was a perfect day out, full of bright sunshine and blue skies with soft clouds moving slowly overhead. Even better, dogs were absolutely everywhere. How could she not have a good time?
She sighed as she scanned the signs for the section her seat was in. For the past couple of days she’d been dragging. Sleep was hard won and even her favorite chocolate truffles had lost their appeal. She’d been putting in double time between the office and the finishing touches on the fundraisers, but her output wasn’t even close to half as good as it had been the week before.
Maybe she was coming down with a summer flu. Or maybe her friends were right and she was working too hard.
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Another sigh followed the first as the childish phrase played on repeat in her head. She knew exactly why she was bumming out.
She missed him.
Somehow, Zach Sullivan had wormed his way into her head. She didn’t regret giving her time to the animal shelter, but on Thursday at 5 p.m. when she’d been down at their headquarters working out the final details for tonight’s event and Saturday night’s auction and party, there was somewhere else she had wanted to be.
Joking with Zach. Laughing with Zach. Being impressed by how well he worked with his temporary puppy.
Finally finding the right section, she and Atlas navigated their way down the stairs past the other dogs. There were six empty seats in her row, and as she took hers, she looked up and realized she really was in the best seat in the house, right behind home plate.
Firmly reminding herself that this was her chance to relax and enjoy herself for a few hours, she closed her eyes to lean back in her seat and soak up some sun, when Atlas started quaking and shivering. Not the bad kind where he was scared, but with pure excitement.
It was the way he acted whenever Cuddles was—
“Great night for a baseball game, isn’t it?”
As the low voice she hadn’t been able to get out of her dreams rolled over her, through her, finally settling deep down in her fluttering belly, Cuddles and Atlas had an ecstatic reunion before beginning to happily root around on the cement for remnants of smashed hot dogs and popcorn.
In a millisecond she went from dragging and tired to abundantly alive. At the same time, her unstoppable pleasure at seeing Zach made her mad.
Mad at herself for not having any self-control, even though she knew better. And mad at him for outmaneuvering her time and time again. Because all the things that hadn’t made sense about her ticket upgrade, suddenly did.
“I can’t believe I forgot—your brother plays for the Hawks, doesn’t he?”
Zach settled into the seat next to her. Too close. Close enough that she could feel the heat of his thigh against hers. Why had she worn shorts instead of jeans?
“I’ll introduce you to Ryan after the game.”
She ignored the offer. “You switched my tickets, didn’t you?”
He grinned at her, actually had the nerve to look proud of himself as he leaned closer and lowered his voice, his breath warm and far too seductive by her ear as he said, “You’re welcome.”
She rolled her eyes. “Most people wait to hear the words ‘thank you’ first.”
Just then, a beautiful pregnant woman stopped at their row and said, “Zach, what are you doing here?”
* * *
Damn it, thought Zach, his sister Sophie had told him they were planning on skipping this game because they had to deal with one of Jake’s out-of-town pubs.
Sophie’s husband, Jake, quickly zeroed in on Heather before looking back at Zach with a clearly amused expression on his face. “Isn’t this one of the biggest NASCAR races of the year? Never thought you’d miss one of those.”
It was, but Zach had barely given it a second thought when he’d bailed after Wednesday night’s dinner with Heather. Sullivan Autos sponsored one of the racers, but his staff could handle the event.
“Heather, this is my sister Sophie. And Jake.”
His old friend pulled Sophie closer and clarified in a possessive voice, “I’m Sophie’s husband.”
Heather stood up to say, “It’s so nice to meet you,” but as she reached out to shake their hands, Atlas decided to make his move on a popcorn seller who was almost within reach.
Sophie gasped as Heather’s feet were yanked out from under her by her oversized mutt. All three of them reached for her, but Zach got to her first, pulling her down onto his lap before she could hit the cement.
Pleasure shot through him as she instinctively wound her arms around his neck and breathlessly gazed into his eyes. “You keep saving me,” she said softly enough that he was the only one who could hear.
Eighty thousand people and their dogs ceased to exist as her warm curves shifted against him. He was stunned all over again at how beautiful she was with her hair falling out of her braid, in a long-sleeved T-shirt and shorts that shouldn’t have done anything to showcase her figure, but managed to all the same.
“You’re welcome.”
This time, instead of forcing herself to remain irritated with him, she let herself give in to a smile.
It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“Thank you.” Another small smile before she frowned. “I don’t know what’s come over Atlas lately. Maybe it’s the puppy energy rubbing off on him.”
Hell, thought Zach, forget her dog. What had come over him? It was one thing to enjoy the feel of her curves pressing against him because she was a beautiful woman.
It was another entirely to want to hold her just because.
Unfortunately, Heather obviously remembered that they had an audience as she too quickly pushed out of his lap. He was impressed with how well she played off what could have been an awkward moment by joking with Sophie and Jake about the dangers of owning a dog who was twice as big as she was.