Perfectly Planned (Perfectly Series Book 3)

Chapter 2

Chloe pulled into the parking lot at Fairfield Park at seven thirty on Friday evening and had her pick of parking spots. Surprisingly, since the park was actually quite busy. The baseball game was underway on the diamond in front of the parking lot. The stands on the right, along the third baseline, were almost full. Across the field, in a playground beyond home plate, adults watched the game as they pushed little ones on swings. More children (yes, all adequately supervised) made use of a giant play structure complete with climbing rungs and a slide.

A lot of people out enjoying the balmy August weather. They'd had an unusually rainy July, which had been good for turning the brown grass of summer a lush green. But now, in the third week of August, they'd had nothing but sunny days and warmer-than-average evenings.

Chloe grabbed a baseball cap and light jacket from the passenger seat of her car. She tugged on the hat and pulled her ponytail through the back. She adjusted her sunglasses, loving the extra daylight that made them necessary. After locking the car, she wandered over to the stands.

"Strike three. You're out." The umpire signaled the call as Chloe sat down. Fans clapped and the team in the outfield jogged toward the dugout. Players from the opposite dugout slipped on baseball caps as they ran out onto the field.

Chloe squinted and tried to read the third baseman's jersey. Poppa Pete's Knuckleballs. Ripley Logan's team must be at bat because his posted pictures were all about the Tried and TRU. She wrinkled her nose. Hopefully, that wasn't a sexual reference.

The first batter up had very good form. Well-toned arms, nice butt. Got a two base hit. She wondered if he donated sperm.

The second batter struck out. He had very skinny legs. Pass.

The third batter sauntered out like he owned the field. All the outfielders backed up.

"Bring me home, Rip," shouted the player at second base, clapping his hands.

"Let'er rip," added a voice from the dugout.

"Get'em on the board," a silver-haired gentleman sitting beside Chloe called out. A few fans joined the clapping.

Rip. Ripley Logan. Sounds like my man, Chloe thought and sat a little straighter. He was very attractive. A solid twelve out of ten. The navy T-shirt stretched across his broad chest and flat abdomen. Shorts showed off his muscular legs, and when he stuck out his butt to swing, Chloe raised her eyebrows. She could live with that.

He swung the bat on the first pitch and connected with the ball. It cracked off the bat and sailed into left field. Ripley dropped the bat and sprinted.

Heaven. A little taste of heaven on earth.

He was so pretty. Fluid, graceful, lightning fast. The player on second made it home, and Ripley made it to third. A silly man standing near the third base stopped him. Really, it was poetry in motion. Why would you stop that? Chloe shook her head.

It took two more batters to bring Ripley home. The inning ended and the Tried and TRU were up two runs.

She followed Ripley as the inning changed and watched him walk over to cover first base. He played it well. Very good hand-eye coordination. Nice long reach. Quick reflexes. Reasonable shoe size. Beautiful smile. Looked like he had straight teeth, but she'd really have to get closer to assess. All in all, she was pretty pleased. He hadn't said enough to check for the nasally voice, but it was looking positive.

She loved the atmosphere at the game. Fans clapped and stood with each exciting play. Between innings, music blared over the loud speakers. She really got into rooting for the Tried and TRU, and when the music played she sang along.

"Carrots and biscuits. Every day." She loved that song. It was so healthy. She joined in at the top of her lungs, but stopped when the gentleman beside her gave her an odd look.

"What?" she asked.

"Isn't that supposed to be 'Takin' Care of Business'?" he said, shaking his head.

'Taking Care of Business?' What kind of health food message was that? She frowned at her neighbor, who had shifted his attention back to the game.

After seven innings, Chloe went in search of popcorn. Actually, she had a craving for peanuts and Cracker Jack, but the canteen was limited to plain or buttered popcorn. No peanuts, the woman said with a horrified expression, mumbling something about risk and high taxes.

Whatever. Chloe took the bag of popcorn and found a seat in the stands closer to the Tried and TRU dugout. And the waves of radiating testosterone.

Really, with the exception of Skinny Legs, there was a stellar choice of sperm in that dugout. She munched the popcorn. Her talents were wasted as a receptionist at the sperm bank. They should hire her to recruit donors. She'd found a gold mine.

At the top of the ninth, Ripley came up to bat again.

Chloe smiled and set the popcorn bag down, ready to clap.

The pitcher wound up, and Ripley connected with the sweet spot. The ball soared in the air. The infield and outfield watched as the ball arced over them toward the parking lot.

Chloe sat straighter as the ball, almost in slow motion, fell dead center into the windshield of the only car parked in the north lot. The sound of glass shattering broke the silence.

"Who the hell parked there?"

Chloe looked over at Rip, a hand on his hip, a scowl on his face. A nasally voice wasn't going to be an issue.

***Hi there - I'm very excited to share the first few chapters of my latest release -Perfectly Planned, Book 3 in the Perfectly Series! It's available on www.amazon and I'll be posting more in the next few days. Happy reading!***