Yay! Author’s Choice. Only, I’m struggling to figure out which new release to choose from. I have three, you see. Keep It Together is the one that just came out. Trouble In The Making comes out next Friday, the 3rd. Batter Up will come out on May 14th. And Wait For Me is targeted for May 31st.

There’s a lot going on in my small corner of the writing world. And I’m very excited for all these releases. But as for today, author’s choice? Let’s go with Batter Up. It’s part of Loose Id’s Spring Fling line and will be available exclusively through Loose Id.

“And this is police business?”

“If I find someone to arrest, yes.”

“Been there, done that,” she muttered, but loud enough for him to hear, and he laughed.

“Yes you have. So, what’s been going on? I caught some of it on the radio, but when the announcers are biased, it kind of takes some of the fun out of it.”

“Yeah, that’s what takes away the fun. Whatever you have to tell yourself to feel better.”

Her sarcasm wasn’t lost on him, and he nudged her shoulder. “Shut up.”

“Fat chance. As you can see, the Phillies are really what sucks in this town. Third game in the series, and y’all can’t get a batter on base.”

“They were waiting for me to show up. They knew I couldn’t be here for the first two games, and they were waiting for me to be here before they turned it on.” Two could play the smartass game.

“Oh. Well, by all means, work your magic then, Officer, but be forewarned, my Braves are still going to kick your butts all the way back to Pennsylvania.”

Much as he loved his team, she was likely going to be right. “Just watch the game.”

“Oh come on now. You’re not a sore loser, are you?” Her sarcasm was not lost on him, and she knew it.

“You know better than that. You should just keep your eye on the ball. I don’t need any further comments from the peanut gallery.”

“Or what?”

“Or seventh-inning stretch, I’ll give you something to be sore about.”

“Are you threatening me, Officer?”

“Only if you take it that way. I prefer to look at it as more of a promise. Less incriminating that way.”

“Ah.”

She said nothing further, only smiled slightly. They settled in and watched as the Phillies struck out twice, were walked once, and had a ball ground out at second. Michael fought the urge to bury his face in his hand or poke his eyes out.

Holli leaned her head close to his. “So, exactly how sore?”

“What?”

“You said you were going to give me something to be sore about. How sore?”

“Really? My guys are down four nothing heading into the bottom of the sixth, and you want to have a conversation about how sore I can make your behind?” Michael shook his head and smirked. He wasn’t bothered by the conversation or that she talked near constantly during a game. He didn’t mind the running commentary. That he’d found a woman who loved baseball as much as he did thrilled him.

“Well, I wanna know, and it’s not as if us talking is going to change anything happening on the field.”

She was right about that. “Very,” he answered. But he had to have a little hope left. “And you never know. It’s not as if the Braves haven’t been known to give a game away every now and then.”

“But at least we try. How sore is very?”

He pressed his lips to her ear. “It’s you-won’t-be-able-to-sit-still-in-your-seat-if-you-don’t-cut-it-out sore.”

“Oh.”

Batter Up is a short story continuation of my book Arrested Holiday.

Please take some time today and read through the following blogs for their choice of snippets:

Caris Roane
Eliza Gayle
McKenna Jeffries
Shiloh Walker
Taige Crenshaw
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Lissa Matthews
Myla Jackson
Lauren Dane
Jody Wallace
Leah Braemel
Mandy M. Roth
Felicity Heaton
Mari Carr
Selena Blake