She wasn’t sure yet if she believed that he’d had no idea she was his coach’s daughter. His insinuation about his being sure she knew all the players very well had left her so stunned and brought back ugly memories of being accused of that by Clair’s donor. Ironically, it was the only thing that had her believing AJ didn’t really know who she was. As close as her dad had described his relationship with the guy, she couldn’t imagine him wanting to insult his coach’s daughter and his best buddy’s mom that way.

Addison hadn’t been able to believe her luck, but then she should’ve seen it coming. The one player she’d known would be her biggest challenge was the one whom her daughter had immediately become closest to. Her best buddy? Really? Only Addison would have such stupid luck.

After today’s insightful moment that confirmed what she’d suspected all along—that even thinking about becoming friends with her daughter’s new best buddy would be a bad idea—she couldn’t chance it. Arrogant or not, the man was a sight to behold. Addison hadn’t been able to believe how much bigger he was in real life than what she’d imagined and seen on television.

Her father and Clair had warned her. Still, she hadn’t been ready for it. And, Jesus, did he have to be even better looking in person too? Those perfectly plump lips she’d stared at too often in magazines and online photos, often wondering if they hadn’t been photoshopped to perfection, were even more luscious up close and in person. As strong as she’d like to think her resolve would be about not allowing so much as a little crush on the guy, she wasn’t so sure after having met him in person. One thing was for sure. Addison would be sticking to her rule from here on. She’d be staying far, far away from her dad’s and now Clair’s world of baseball. She’d watch the games from the safety of her own television—at home.

One the biggest reasons her social life was almost nonexistent was because of her other big fear. Clair’s condition required meticulous attention. She’d read horror stories of what even a simple slipup or mistake could mean to people with allergies. Even leaving her with her parents, who assured her they’d take the utmost caution with her, made her nervous. So did the thought of becoming distracted with a social life. Even just a friendship with someone who she’d been so fascinated by for years would be too distracting and out of the question. She planned on staying away from all the players on the team—especially him.

But today was an exception. This was for Clair. Like so many of the other exceptions she’d made in her life, Clair was absolutely worth all of them. Addison’s father was right. Clair was going to love this. He’d done the same or similar rather for Addison a few times when she was a little girl, and those birthday celebrations were the most memorable she had to date. She’d get through this day and move on, unscathed by any temptation

They arrived at the zoo, just the four of them as planned. Clair was far too perceptive to not catch her papa getting directions to where her surprise would be. So he asked about the latest exhibit Clair had talked about on the way there in the car, the one she’d seen on the television commercials. He handed the lady behind the booth the note explaining about the surprise party, and the lady was on it.

As expected, Clair was thoroughly surprised when they opened the door to the birthday room and the whole team was there. So surprised her little face had scrunched and she cried. Since Clair had never been your typical little girl, it wasn’t often that she cried. Seeing her do so made Addison a little emotional too, until AJ approached them and her heart began to get a workout for other reasons.

“Don’t cry, Clair Bear,” AJ said as he squatted down and hugged her. “This is all for you because you deserve it. Besides”—he smiled sweetly, wiping her tears away gently with his thumb—“you know there’s no crying in baseball.”

Clair laughed. Of course even though the movie was way before Clair’s time, A League of Their Own would be one of Clair’s all-time favorite movies, one she’d seen so many times she had a lot of the lines memorized. It was no surprise she’d let her best buddy in on that. Addison’s heart had also swelled a little when she heard AJ call her daughter Clair Bear. It was what her papa called her. Surely AJ had heard him. She now saw that Clair hadn’t jumped ahead of herself when she’d told Addison AJ was her best buddy. She could see why too. Despite the arrogant first impression he’d made on Addison, seeing how incredibly sweet he was to Clair had her thinking twice about him. This was also so different from what she’d heard about his ticking-time-bomb personality. Addison’s dad mentioned he’d come a long way since he first stepped up to the big leagues years ago.

One of the things that had most worried Addison, even before formally meeting him, was she’d known about Andrés long before the whole world knew about him. He was also by far her father’s most intense apprentice. Her father had kept her up to date with everything about him. In the past year, her father had often invited her to come out and meet him. While tempted, Addison made zero attempts, but when Clair told her about meeting him, Addison had been even more worried. She knew it was just a matter of time. The closer Clair got to him, the surer Addison was she’d have no choice but to meet him sooner than later. Now here she was watching him give her daughter the royal treatment.

It felt as surreal as it felt nightmarish.

Another thing that was just a well-known fact was that he was single. He’d even recently made Sports Illustrated’s list of America’s most eligible bachelors, no matter what Miranda, who curiously wasn’t here with him, was trying to insinuate earlier.

For the most part, and Addison knew this from the time she was a kid, professional athletes had very busy schedules. It was why, when she was so young and clueless, part of her plan was to homeschool any kids she might have with her dream baseball-player husband. She’d hated how often her father was gone.

As the party continued, Addison watched the zoo attendants take charge of the party, moving things along: the lighting of the candles on Clair’s giant giraffe cake, passing out the cake, and then the games and shows they put on for everyone.

No surprise the young female snake handler, who’d brought out a few for the show, chose AJ from the audience to come up and volunteer. She’d already tried in vain to get the birthday girl up there, but while Clair could be ahead of her time when it came to many things and she loved animals, she was beyond squeamish when it came to the slithery kind.

The snake handler placed one side of the huge Boa she was carrying on her neck and arms on AJ’s shoulders, assuring him he’d be okay. The other players laughed nervously, watching AJ’s animated expressions as the giant snake’s tail curled, nearly touching his face.

“I’m gonna need another volunteer,” the snake handler announced, already surveying the crowd of players.

Clair lifted Addison’s hand. “My mom will!”

Addison’s hand recoiled fast enough, but the players, who were all likely relieved they hadn’t been picked, were already chanting and cheering her on. She glanced at her dad, who shrugged with a smile; then she glared playfully at Clair, who was giggling into her hands.

“You little stinker!” Addison said, kissing Clair’s forehead as she stood up then turned back to an uncharacteristically too giddy daughter. “But only because it’s your birthday.”

Unlike the lethal glares she’d initially gotten from AJ, he smiled at her as she approached him. Breathing in deeply, she smiled back, trying not to gawk too obviously at his big arms and shoulders holding up the snake. She’d always known that seeing him in person would wreak havoc on her will to resist giving into so much as a crush. Meeting him finally had confirmed it. Seeing him in his uniform and catcher’s gear had been impressive enough. But with him in jeans and snug T-shirt now, AJ’s tanned muscled arms and shoulders did strange things to Addison’s body. Things she hadn’t felt in years.