“To Mitchell’s.”

She smiles. “Oh, great! I’ve been wanting to eat there but was saving all my money to pay for the window.” She puts a hand on my arm and looks me directly in the eyes. “And since I ended up not paying for it, I’m buying.”

“But—”

“Don’t give me your shit, Caden. I don’t care that you make a gazillion times what I do. I’m buying or no baseball lesson.”

I laugh quietly. She’s kind of sexy when she’s mad. “Gazillion?” I ask.

She rolls her eyes.

“Fine,” I say, pouting. “You can buy lunch. You drive a hard bargain, Murphy’s Law.”

~ ~ ~

An hour later, with our bellies full, we walk through Central Park on the way to our destination.

“I wanted to ask you about something you said to Tony earlier,” she says.

I was wondering if she was going to bring it up. “Okay, shoot.”

“You said you saw him kissing Kirsten at the hospital. And you said you overheard him say he was going to break up with me.”

I nod my head. “I did.”

She lets out a huge, frustrated sigh. “Why didn’t you tell me, Caden?”

“I did. Well, I sort of did. I showed you the video of when you got hit, and then you came to the same conclusion.”

“You should have told me. I don’t like deception.” She kicks a mound of dirt on the sidewalk.

“Deception? No, it wasn’t like that. I didn’t even know you, Murph. I wasn’t about to walk in there and tell you your boyfriend was a lying, cheating scumbag. You would have thought I wanted in your pants. It wasn’t my place to do it. But I got the job done in a way that didn’t make me the prick. People do tend to kill the messenger, you know.”

“I guess you’re right. But please don’t keep anything from me again,” she says, looking me straight in the eyes.

I hold my hand out to shake hers. “Deal. And we’re here.”

I open the gate to one of the many ball fields and wave her through. Murphy narrows her eyes at me. “Aren’t we going to get into trouble? I mean, I’m not sure we should be here. Are we trespassing?”

“It’s fine. I reserved it.”

“You reserved an entire baseball field?”

I put my bag down by the dugout. “I did.”

“What, like there is some on-line signup sheet to use the Central Park baseball fields?”

“Kind of. You need to get a permit to use one,” I explain.

“A permit?” she asks, surprised. “That sounds like it would take a while, yet you only asked me about coming on Sunday.”

I shrug. “I know people, Murph.”

“Who are you, John Gotti?” She laughs at her own joke about the infamous mobster.

“Come on,” I say, grabbing some gear and pulling her to home plate. “Let’s get started.”

She looks at the bat in my hand and pales. “I know you don’t think you’re going to throw a baseball at me.”

“Relax.” I raise my other hand and show her my catcher’s helmet. “You’ll be fully protected.”

“I’m not wearing that, Caden.” She takes it from me. “It’s ugly.” She examines it closely, turning her nose away. “And it smells.”

I laugh. “I’ll remember to spray it with my cologne next time.” I take my hat off and put it backwards on her head.

She takes it off and turns it around, placing it on her head with the bill facing front. “Why did you put it on the wrong way?”

I remove it once more and place it back the way I had it. “Because this is how you have to wear it under a catcher’s helmet.”

“Ewww,” she says, crinkling her nose at the smell as I carefully put my helmet over her head.

I pat her on the top of the helmet. “Looking good, Slugger.”

She laughs. “Did you know that’s what Murphy Brown’s co-worker called her?”

I smile and wink. “Kind of apropos, don’t you think?”

I can’t be sure, but I think I see her blush. I stand back and admire her. Then I take out my phone and snap a picture of her before she can protest. Somehow, I know this will be one of my favorites.

“You better not show that to anyone. I mean it, Kessler. I will hang you by your toenails until the life drains out of you.”

She stares me down through the facemask of my helmet and I realize how much I like the way she looks wearing my gear. I realize I love the way my last name sounds coming out of her pouty lips. And as wrong as it is, I realize I love the tiny scar under her eye. It’s as if she’s been branded by me. Something inside me shifts. I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. I all but double over when it hits me.

I want her.

I want her like I want baseball.

Chapter Twenty-six

Murphy

Lexi and I stroll down Fifth Avenue, window shopping. I’m pushing Ellie in a stroller and Lexi is wearing Beth in a baby sling.

I love spending time with her kids, especially Ellie. Caden has been teaching me a few signs every time we’re together. I know how to tell her she’s pretty. I can ask her if she’s hungry or sad. And I can understand some of the basic signs she does.

I’m impressed by how proficient Caden is at sign language. He loves his nieces and would go to the ends of the Earth for them.

As if thinking of him has caused some cosmic shift in the universe, I look in a storefront window and see a life-sized cutout of none other than the very man who has been invading my dreams. I don’t even realize what I’m doing when I stop and stare.

“What’s the story with you and my brother?” Lexi asks, looking between me and the cutout.

I peel my eyes away from the likeness of him. “There is no story,” I say. “We’re friends, Lexi. Same as you and me.”

She giggles. “Yeah, except I’m pretty sure you don’t want to get me into bed.”

My jaw drops. “Who says I want to get him into bed?”

“The drool on your chin, maybe? Or how about the way you couldn’t take your dreamy eyes off him at Mason’s game. Or the way your face lights up every time we talk about him.”

I turn my back to the window and lean against it, closing my eyes. “God, Lexi. Am I that pathetic?”

“No, Murphy, you aren’t pathetic. It’s just that my brother is that awesome.”

I shake my head. “You won’t say anything, will you? I don’t want him to know. It would ruin things.”

“How would it ruin things?” she asks. “I think it’s wonderful.”

“We’re friends, Lexi. Good ones. We have a great time together. If he knew I was having feelings for him, he’d run in the other direction.”

She smiles at me. “I think you’re wrong. He’d run straight into your arms.”

“What? No. He’s not looking for a relationship, Lexi. Plus, he’s dating other women. Your brother does not like me. Not in that way.”

“I think you’re both living in denial,” she says. “He looks at you the same way you look at him.”

“He does not.”

She nods emphatically. “He does. And he only dates to be social.”

“But Kate, the girl I met last weekend, she seemed so nice. Definitely girlfriend material.”

“No way,” she says. “You know she won’t make it past the third date. No one does.”

I cock my head and look at her. “What do you mean no one gets past the third date?”

Beth starts fussing and Lexi fishes a pacifier out of her bag for her. “He hasn’t told you?”

“Told me what?”

“About his three-strikes rule?”

I furrow my brows. “What’s his three-strikes rule?”

She rolls her eyes. “Caden never takes a girl out more than three times. He claims it’s because he doesn’t want to get trapped by anyone, so I guess he never keeps a girl around long enough to fall for her. He’s afraid people won’t like him simply for who he is underneath his celebrity.”

I nod remembering how he told me something like that in the hospital. Then I turn around and study the pseudo-Caden in the window. “Still … it’s a stupid rule. How will he ever find out if anyone likes what’s underneath? You can’t possibly get to know someone after only three dates.” I look back at Lexi. “Never?”

She shakes her head in affirmation. “Not since he’s been with the Nighthawks.”

I give her a confused look. “Well then knowing he has this three-strikes deal, why in the world are you encouraging me to tell him I like him?”

“You’ve already answered your own question. Caden can’t possibly get to know someone in three dates. But you he already knows—and very well by the way he talks about you. There would be no reason for the rule when it comes to you, Murphy.”

I look up at the fake-Caden. “It would be too big a risk. I could lose him as a friend. I care too much for him to do that. Plus, I think you’re wrong about how he feels. In fact, I’m going on a triple date with him and one of his teammates tonight.”

I can tell Lexi tries not to laugh. She locks her lips together to form a thin line. Then she asks, “What do I have to do for an invite? I’d pay good money to see that go down.”

“I’m sure Caden won’t mind if you come. He’s always saying he wants more people along when he goes on dates.”

“I’m kidding, Murphy. I’ve got plans with Charlie and Mallory that involve kids, pizza, and a sleepover. We often do it when Chad is out of town and Kyle is working an overnight shift.”

“Sounds like more fun than my triple date.”

She laughs. “We’ll invite you the next time we get together. So, which one of his teammates did he set you up with this time?”