Caught (Men of the Show Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

was tall to begin with, but her height didn’t stop her from adding a few additional inches with heels. He liked that. He hadn’t dated any tall girls in his past and now he wondered why. He didn’t miss having to slouch down all the time.
    Shannon glanced up and her gaze caught his, giving him a shy smile in return. She excused herself from the group and headed his way with a flirty look on her face.
    “What are you doing tucked in the corner all by yourself?” she asked as she approached him.
    Matt shrugged. “Just chillin’. Taking in the scene.”
    “And?   See anything interesting?” she teased.
    He smiled back. “You could say that, yeah.”
    Her face flushed a pretty pink, making his mouth go dry as he imagined her skin holding the same blush in the heat of passion, before she cleared her throat. “It was too bad the season ended the way it did. I thought for sure you guys were going to go all the way.”
    Great . He didn’t want to talk about one of the biggest failures of his career, but he put on his game face.
    “We all did, but we just couldn’t pull it out at the end. It sucks, but now there’s next year,” he said, striving for nonchalance even though his stomach tightened with disappointment as the final catch replayed in his mind—again.
    Shannon tilted her head as she studied him, concern in her eyes. “It still bothers you.”
    It wasn’t a question, but he nodded, being honest. “Somewhat. Did you see it?”
    She shook her head. “No, but Jerry told me everything. You did what you could,” she insisted. “It wasn’t just you.”
    He let out a huff of frustrated laughter. “I got out. It was pretty much all me, but there’s next year,” he repeated again, wanting to move on.
    “You like your chances?”
    “Of course I do. With the likes of Smutty and Chase, plus we’re adding my buddy Kirby at short. He’s got a good bat and speed, not to mention a hell of an arm.”
    “And your…bat,” Shannon added, keeping her expression neutral.
    Matt studied her before a slow grin grew. “And what do you know about my bat?”
    Her lips twitched. “You swing a big one.”
    He laughed and shook his head as his face heated. “Now you’re embarrassing me because I’m not sure what we’re talking about.”
    Shannon raised a brow as she reached for a glass of wine from the tray of a passing waiter. “Of course I’m talking about your almost three hundred batting average including your forty home runs last year. What are you talking about?”
    “Of course that,” he replied dryly. She managed to stay serious for a couple of seconds before starting to laugh and he joined in.
    “Do you play any sports?” he asked.
    Her eyes traveled down the length of herself and back up again, making him take another sip of his beer when his throat suddenly parched. “Are you seriously asking that?”
    “Well, I didn’t want to make any assumptions,” he said with a chuckle. “Besides, it could be volleyball.”
    “Basketball would be the correct assumption. Played until college.”
    “You didn’t want to play there?”
    Shannon shrugged. “I didn’t love it enough to put the dedication into it. You play basketball or only baseball?”
    “Yep, and football until I settled on baseball later in high school.”   He eyed her shoes. “Too bad we can’t have a pickup game now. I’d like to see your game.”
    She gave him a smirk. “I bet you would.”
    Matt hid his wide smile behind a drink of beer. Yeah, it was definitely too bad she lived in Chicago and he was in a fucked-up situation with his ex-girlfriend. Otherwise, he’d be stupid to let this opportunity pass by again. But, for the second time, that’s exactly what he had to do.

Chapter 5

    The day of the wedding was a blur and had Shannon running in a million different directions without accomplishing anything. Even though Karen had planned every single detail, scheduled everything down to the exact minute, they still were