She grabbed a hair band and pulled her shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair into a pony-tale, fiddled with her bangs for a second and turned to view herself in the full-length mirror. She wore a pair of royal blue spandex running shorts that had a neon green stripe down the side and a matching sports bra. She grinned at herself as she fit a baseball cap onto her head. All this trouble to run a few miles, like she’s actually going to impress somebody. She turned and made her way down the wooden staircase of the old farmhouse she had made into her home. She sat on the living room floor and stretched her tanned legs. The sun had just begun to rise when she set out towards the park. Her small riding stables covered one hundred and fifty acres, most of which was wooded, the park actually ran along side of the Clover leaf stables and if she followed the outside edges of the park, her run would equal nearly 3 miles.
Twenty-five minutes into her jog, Jordan neared the playing fields. She slowed to a walk as she watched a group of men playfully taunt each other while playing a friendly game of softball. After a few minutes she took a seat on the damp grass near first base. She smiled as a handsome man in his late twenties slammed the ball into the outfields. She laughed as he raced around the field, stopping at each base just long enough to clown around with the basemen before darting off to the next base. He stopped halfway to home plate to pick a daisy. He then skipped towards the base holding his hands in a loose fashion, realizing almost too late that the ball was now in the hands of the second basemen. He raced ahead and slid safely home, bringing the catcher down on top of him. He scrambled to his feet and blew dust from the wilted flower that he still held and offered it to the large man in the protective gear.
The catcher threw off his mask and chased this obnoxious player across the field. Jordan soon realized that she was in the path and leaped to her feet. She tried to dodge him but he was looking over his shoulder at his pursuer and hadn’t noticed her.
“Stop!” She screamed as she covered her head. It was too late. Jordan squeezed her eyes shut as they all tumbled to the wet grass. Amazingly the ball player had some how managed to avoid landing on her with his full weight. He was standing and yanking her to her feet before she ever opened her eyes. He held her gently by the elbow, she placed a hand on his sweat dampened T-shirt to steady herself. He was staring at her, concern clouding his dark eyes.
“Are you ok? I’m really sorry, I was goofing off, I…” He shook his head, looking a little embarrassed.
“I’m fine, really.” She finally answered realizing that she still had her hand resting on his chest. She could feel the rise and fall of each breath. She was surprised he wasn’t a little more out of breath after all that running around. She pulled away and gazed at him, taking in his full height, he stood about six foot two. His muscles weren’t bulging but they were solid and well defined. His skin was lightly tanned by the summer and he had dark hair that was neatly cut, not short enough to look pretentious, but just long enough to add a boyish quality to his rugged features. Jordan felt butterflies in her stomach as she took in his deep brown eyes. She’d never seen eyes quite like them before, they had little amber colored flecks and they sort of reminded her of a puppy dog the way they sparkled when he smiled.
“Do you need me to take you home or anything?” He asked.
“No.” Yes. Take me to bed. Where did that thought come from? She giggled. “I just live over there.” She thrust her chin in the direction of Cloverleaf stables and started walking in that direction. “I need to get back. Enjoy your game boys.” She called over her shoulders as she picked up a jog. Wow. She thought, he had to be married, she should have looked at his left finger. Where did that thought come from? She stole a glance over her shoulder and bit her lower lip as she held back a smile. He was limping. He held onto that giant of a catcher as he limped towards the field. He had been concerned about her well being while he was hurt himself. He had to be married. Some girl had to be in love with that man.
