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The star player with a troubled past…
Cash Greenwood escaped a difficult past by becoming a star baseball player. Now, one of the major league’s rare double threats, all his effort is thrown into the sport. He’s never had any interest in women, until he meets the one woman who wants nothing to do with him.
The daughter of baseball royalty…
Delilah Gray’s life revolves around numbers, research, and data. She has no time for anything messy like emotions or relationships. Especially not when they come in the sexy guise of a baseball player. She’s seen first-hand the devastation caused by dating a man obsessed with the sport, and that’s one risk she’s not willing to take.
She is one curveball he never saw coming…
But this is one pitch Cash is determined to hit out of the park. Sexual tensions run high and feelings start to develop, but will Delilah ever see that they could have a solid future together? Determined to make her his, she may just prove to be the hardest game of Cash’s life.
WARNING: The Long Ball features an obsessed jock with six-pack abs in tight pants determined to get his girl. If syrupy sweet romance and fiery passions appeal to you, then hold onto your panties because this one may just hit them out of the park.
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Delilah
“So I fisted her ass in both my hands, slammed her against my front door, and right there in the hallway, man, her hands go for my di—”
“Hey, boys,” I chimed in just before one of the players went into a graphic story about his latest sexual conquest. I rolled my eyes at Cash across the room, propped on a bench in the corner observing everyone.
“Ms. Grey.” The players’ eyes roamed up and down my body, sending a painful shiver through me. Baseball players are douchebags. I never thought I’d find myself here, behind the scenes and working with these rowdy, testosterone-injected jocks. But the coach was an old family friend and I couldn’t exactly say no, and for a former ball player he was a decent guy—married since he was twenty-one to a wife he adored—he kept his nose clean and was never known for any destructive behavior. I only wished that the other ball players in my life were like him.
“Prepared to play the best game of your lives tonight?” I stopped, nailing them with my eyes so they knew I meant business.
“Sure thing, hot stuff.” The player winked. I groaned inwardly just as my eyes landed on a soft, sympathetic gaze caressing mine.
“Show the woman some respect, asshole.” Cash socked him in the shoulder, then turned. His eyes nailed mine, and I felt my lungs empty like rapidly deflating balloons. I still didn’t know how I managed to keep my wits about me yesterday. Then last night while in bed, his dancing dark brown eyes and his cocky mouth ran through my head, the image so vivid that for a few moments I thought I could reach out and touch him.
The things Cash Greenwood made me feel didn’t at all sit well with me. He was arrogant, conceited, and without a doubt a total manwhore, just like all the other players on the team. I remembered the headlines when his buddy Rodriguez had been caught getting lucky with a fan in the locker room a few years ago. That was a shitstorm, and so was he. And considering they say like attracts like, I was pretty sure Cash enjoyed the same excesses. He was just lucky that his escapades were yet to be caught on camera.
“Mornin’.” Cash’s body pressed up against mine, his fingers trailing across the skin at my wrist like a kiss. His kiss. What would Cash’s kisses feel like? I could just imagine my fingers tracking along that rugged jawline, his broad palms splayed across my back when he pressed his lips to mine. I quickly snapped out of my reverie.
“All right, Ms. Grey?” Cash breathed against my neck and sent an explosion of flames through every last nerve ending I possessed. His breath was warm and tempting, almost intoxicating in its allure. “
I’m fine, thank you.” I swallowed, taking a single step back and averting my eyes from his. “And good morning, Mr. Greenwood.”
“Enjoy the game? ” His lips hovered just inches from mine, close enough to send waves of arousal pounding through my blood.
“I told you, I don’t like—”
“I know, I know, but I’m hoping I can change your mind about that.”
“Doubt it. I’ve spent too many hours of my life in the dugout. I know what to expect, and it’s not for me.”
“Spent a lot of time in the dugout, huh?” He tipped his head to the side, narrowing his eyes as he worked over my words.
“Grew up in one.” He arched an eyebrow. “So…you must have someone in the family who played ball?”
“Maybe.” I grinned, turning on my heel and retreating down the long hall that led to the field. I hadn’t meant to reveal that bit of information about growing up in a ball field, but that doesn’t mean I had to reveal anything else. I never told anyone about my childhood. The chaos that surrounded it was already too much for me to bear. I wasn’t interested in rehashing any of it.
We asked and Aria Cole more than delivered, giving us her first full length novel, in the shape of this deliciously written book, The Long Ball! I know I’ve said this before, but this was is my favorite by the author. What can I do she just keeps getting better and better, and this couple’s story was absolutely amazing, a serious home-run!!!
Cash Greenwood seemed to be, at first glance, every stereotype of successful ball player, which couldn’t be further from the truth (and I adored his little ‘secret curve-ball’), but Delilah, the new stats analyst brought in to help the team, can’t and doesn’t want to look beyond his profession. Too many childhood memories of the destructive behind the scenes of the famous world sport athletes have left her broken and resentful of the lifestyle, therefore not even Cash the time of day. Not even with her body begging her to give in to their sizzling attraction, that is palpable every time their in close proximity.
Fortunately, Cash is not a man to give in at the first (or second or third… LOL) obstacle, and he pursues her relentlessly, with made me love him even more. Swoon-worthy should be his nickname…
“I’ve never loved anything more than I love baseball, but damn you make me want to love you. Delilah, you walk into a room and you’re all I see. In that stadium of 60,000 people, it’s you I see. When I close my eyes at night, it’s your face I dream of.”
Of course he doesn’t give up easily, how could he, if from the moment he first set his eyes on Delilah, for the first time in his thirty years he wanted someone more than life itself, more then the sport that was his life until then? For the very first time he craved a woman, and he wouldn’t let anything stand in his way from conquering her, and showing her what an amazing life they could have together. Really, who doesn’t want a man like this? And his declarations? Wow… ‘Melting in a puddle on the floor’ inducing, that’s the only way to describe them! And to top it all of – I know, like he wasn’t dreamy enough, lol – the man had a seriously HOT sex talk!!! Lordy… So, welcome to melts-ville, because if you by then you aren’t melted in the floor with all this sweetness and alpha maleness (which I highly doubt) , when he lets loose his filthy talk, your panties are the ones guaranteed to melt! 😉
“Let them hear you, sweetheart. I want every goddamn man in this hotel to know you’re off limits. That you are mine, only mine from now and forever. I want you in the worst way, your scent, your touch, your smile. I want your face to be the last thing I see at night and the first thing I see in the morning. I want to mark you and I want you to mark me. This is it Delilah. This is our forever. ”
Delilah may have put a good, and justified fight, but really, how could she stand a chance???!!! I did love their sexy banter, which gave for some interesting and funny moments, and did Rod, even with his playboy manners, but the couple and their story really was the focus of the book. The length allowed here for the characters and their storyline to be given a more in depth and developed view on their thoughts and feelings, which made the storyline that much richer.
Delilah really proved to be a very strong and realistic female character, and I loved her strong spirit, and of course she ended up losing that battle, but gaining SO much more, because honestly, NO woman can resist all these attributes in one single man, specially when he comes in such an enticing, drool-worthy package?! I know I couldn’t, hence the 5 stars rating, because this one is one I won’t soon forget. Cash Greenwood stands for ‘Dream Man’ from now on for me!<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
“Loving you is everything, Delilah. You once told me that I wanted you because you played hard to get. But you baby, you don’t play hard to get, you play hard to forget. I am yours, I was yours yesterday, I am yours today and it won’t matter if you want me or not sweetheart, because Ii will be yours tomorrow and for every other day that I take a breath. You are it, the missing piece, my perfect half. Without you , I am nothing, I have nothing.”
ARC kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review
Aria Cole is a thirty-something housewife who once felt bad for reading dirty books late at night, until she decided to write her own. Possessive alpha men and the sassy heroines who love them are common, along with a healthy dose of irresistible insta-love and happily ever afters so sweet your teeth may ache.
For a safe, off-the-charts HOT, and always HEA story that doesn’t take a lifetime to read, get lost in an Aria Cole book!
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