Playing Fastball, page 1
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PLAYING FASTBALL
MEN OF SPRING, BOOK 4
RACHELLE AYALA
HTTP://RACHELLEAYALA.NET
MEN OF SPRING BASEBALL SERIES
Playing Without Rules
Playing Catch
Playing for the Save
Playing Fastball
* * *
Playing the Rookie: A Novella
DESCRIPTION
Tina Lee is fresh out of jail and trying her level best to make it on her own. Returning home late from work, Tina discovers an abandoned puppy, skin and bones and blind.
Timmy Li is the Rattlers’ star young pitcher and he’s wary of women making moves on his billionaire father who’s newly single. When he discovers Tina palling around with his dad, he’s determined to derail her—by dating her.
When Timmy rescues Tina from a gang of abusive men, he has a hard time hating her—especially since she has a soft spot for Donut, the blind double dappled dachshund puppy. Besides, she’s pretty cute herself. When the puppy cuddles up to Timmy, he takes him along on their date as the perfect chaperone—blind and partially deaf.
Can Tina trust the wealthy and privileged pitcher with her bruised and fragile heart? Especially since he believes she’s from the wrong side of the tracks.
Men of Spring Baseball Romances are contemporary, dramatic, and hot. They combine romance with recovery. The heroes and heroines encounter real life problems and work together to strengthen their bond as well as recover from past traumas. Love enters into the solution, and the happy ending is heart warming and well deserved.
Each book stands alone, but characters from one book may reappear in other books. One thing’s for sure, everyone roots for the Rattlers baseball team.
Book #1 - Playing Without Rules (Marcia & Brock, third baseman)
Book #2 - Playing Catch (Jeanine & Kirk, catcher)
Book #3 - Playing for the Save (Jamie & Ryan, pitcher)
Book #4 - Playing Fastball (Tina & Timmy, pitcher)
Novella (prequel) - Playing the Rookie (Jessica & Jay, pitcher)
CONTENTS
Welcome
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Epilogue
Playing the Rookie (Excerpt)
Roaring Hot! Excerpt
Excerpt - Writing Asian Romance Characters
Reading List with Heat Levels
Rachelle Ayala Books in Other Languages
Many Thanks
Meet Rachelle
Copyright © 2018 by Rachelle Ayala
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real events or real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
All trademarks belong to their respective holders and are used without permission under trademark fair use.
* * *
Contact Rachelle at:
http://smarturl.it/ContactRachelle
WELCOME
I invite you to explore my world of over seventy romances, from dangerous suspense to sweet family drama, featuring hot, steamy flirts, brainy, strong heroines, and hunky men with big, gigantic hearts and melty, warm hugs.
For book descriptions, go to the Reading List with Heat Levels section or check out my Reader’s Guide at:
http://rachelleayala.net/books/
Don’t forget to download my Free Books from your favorite bookstore:
Deck the Hearts (sweet)
Christmas Lovebirds (sweet)
A Father for Christmas (sweet)
Going Haywire: Sapphire Falls (steamy)
Bad Boys for Hire - Ryker (steamy)
Playing Without Rules (steamy)
Broken Build (romantic suspense)
Intercepted by Love: Part 1 (steamy)
Hidden Under Her Heart (sweet)
For updates and two more free books, sign up for my newsletter at:
http://smarturl.it/RachAyala
To chat and read new works in progress, join my Reader’s Club at:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/ClubRachelleAyala/
Thanks for coming into my story world and letting me take you on an unforgettable excursion. Turn the page to begin.
Bon voyage!
To those who believe love overcomes all.
To my readers, who get it.
To you.
ONE
The monster truck bounced and jumped all over the desert terrain, its gigantic wheels independently bobbing and spinning.
“Woohoo!” Tina Lee yelped as she jammed the accelerator and wrestled with the steering wheel.
The truck roared up a ridge, splattering gravel, then bounced nose up before flopping down on its front tires. Tina’s head lurched as the suspension bottomed out and the truck jostled over a ditch filled with large rocks.
“Hold that wheel steady,
“Crashing is half the fun!” Tina squealed and revved the engine. The tires spun, kicking up sand in its wake as she tilted the steering wheel sharp left.
The large F-250 body spun around and around, doing donuts. Sand and dirt showered the truck, and the roar of the engine was deafening.
“I’m getting sick,” Yan shouted. “Too much for an old man’s heart.”
“You know you love it.” Tina floored the accelerator and threw her head back, laughing at the dizzying spinout.
At twenty-five, she was going to conquer all her fears and get on with life.
No more cages. No more jail. No more limits.
“Ahhhhhhh,” Yan screamed. “My heart. My heart. I can’t take it anymore!”
Abruptly, Tina straightened the wheel and eased off the accelerator. What if her friend were seriously having a heart attack? He was, after all, a sixty-five-year-old man.
The truck lurched to a skidding stop, bouncing to the beat of the idling engine.
“You okay?” Tina put a hand on Yan’s shoulder, her voice catching in her throat.
“Uh, uh, uh.” Yan sounded choked. His eyes bulged, and he clutched his chest.
“Oh, crap.” Tina patted him all over, panicking. “I don’t know CPR. I have to call for help.”
The choking sounds turned into chuckles and soon, Yan was doubled over, slapping the dashboard.
“Ha, ha, gotcha,” he said between guffaws. “You thought this old goat’s going to die on you? Now, move over and let me drive.”
“Ah … I wanted to crush the cars,” Tina complained. Now that the danger was past, she wasn’t about to relinquish the wheel. “I never got to crush cars before.”
Yan Li was a retired billionaire from Taiwan, and one of the fringe benefits of hanging around with him was that he could rent just about any experience he wanted. Crushing cars in a monster truck park was a luxury reserved for those who could pay and promised not to sue.
“Okay, you go first,” Yan said, pumping his fist. “See if you can jump all of them.”
Tina took a deep breath as she spun the truck around and pointed it toward a row of junk cars. She backed up, revved the engine for good measure, and then raced toward the cars.
The truck accelerated, tires spinning across the dirt. Tina gritted her teeth, her hands tight on the steering wheel. The front tires hit the first car with a creaking thud.
The nose of the truck rose straight up, and they were airborne. Tina’s heart leaped out of her throat, and her stomach dropped.
Crunch.
The rear wheels slammed onto the rooftop of a car, and the truck bucked sideways. It landed on the two driver’s side tires, and all Tina saw was dirt.
They were going to crash. She didn’t know whether to turn the wheels right or left. If she leaned any farther left, she’d get scraped on the dirt and the road burn wasn’t going to be pretty.
“Hold on!” she screamed over Yan’s hollers.
He was sliding into her and the truck was going down.
“Turn left, left, easy.” Yan nudged the wheel, and then miraculously, the truck righted itself and bounced back on all four wheels.
Tina’s screams turned to whoops, and Yan threw his head back and laughed and laughed.
Her heart lifted like an overinflated birthday balloon now that the danger was over.
“Woohoo! That was awesome,” Tina said. “I want to do it again.”
“Go, go, go,” Yan said, bouncing in his seat and slapping the dashboard. “You’re the shits!”
Tina turned the truck and zoomed up the ramp leading to another pile of car bodies. Again, they went airborne, but this time, she relished each sickening crunch.
She’d always been a scaredy-cat.
But that was then and this was now.
The new Tina was the badass at the wheel of a monster truck.
Crushing cars sure beat getting crushed.
In Tina’s short life, she knew all about being smashed with her teeth eating dirt underneath a heavy boot heel.
Timmy “Wildcard” Li swiped his long hair into a ponytail and frowned at his image in the mirror. He was twenty-five, a starting pitcher for the Phoenix Rattlers baseball team, and he’d just pitched a no-hitter.
What was wrong with this picture?
Everything.
His father didn’t show up for the game.
Wasn’t in the stands.
Was nowhere to be found.
Baba’s dog, Blondie, a golden Labrador, followed him around as he wandered room by room through the luxurious mansion he shared with his father: eight thousand square feet of Italian stone floors, granite countertops, and rosewood cabinets with panoramic views of the desert from the infinity edge swimming pool, hot tub, and firepit on the stone terrace deck.
“He could have at least left a note,” Timmy grumbled after touring the entire compound.
Blondie looked up at him, wagging her tail, as if to say, Your Baba has lots of chicks.
“Right, lots of old chicks.” Timmy scowled to himself as he counted off his father’s dates. There was Doreen, the dowdy mother and grandmother who hated water but loved to camp out in the dirt. In contrast, he was also catting about town with fancy Frances with her color-coordinated outfits and country club membership, attending symphonies and garden shows. Lately, however, he’d been at the downtown dojo every evening.
There had to be something female going on there, since his father hadn’t done martial arts for over thirty years.
Timmy banged his way back to the kitchen and poured himself a tall glass of beer. Dang it. He should have gone to The Hot Corner where all his buddies were hanging out to celebrate his no-hitter.
Sure, it was only spring training, but this was the year he was winning the Cy Young Award. Had to be because he was the guy in the league with the fastest fastballs—consistently clocking over a hundred miles per hour.
Timmy patted Blondie and threw her a couple of doggie biscuits. “Looks like it’s me and you, old girl.”
He winced as a slight pain shot from his throwing shoulder, and he rotated his arm to ease out the kinks.
The dog crunched on the biscuits and peered at him as if to ask, What? No chicks tonight?
“No chicks.” Timmy was frankly tired of the American hook-up scene, having already bedded women from all corners of the world and all colors of the rainbow. It had been three years since his rookie year, and chicks were no longer as important as the Cy Young Award.
A couple minutes later, laughter and footsteps reverberated from the showroom garage where his father kept his collection of sleek sports cars.
Timmy’s lips curled up in a snarl when he recognized the young, squeaky female voice. It was Tina, his Baba’s “pet,” taking advantage of his dad again.
“Where’ve you been?” Timmy slammed the beer glass on the counter and squared his shoulders toward the kitchen door.
Two dusty figures shuffled through, dragging dirt with their sneakers.
“I crushed them, didn’t I?” Tina’s face glowed as she slumped her backpack on the kitchen chair—the expensive leather-backed chair.
