The Practice Proposal by Tracy March Page A

he said breathlessly.
    She gazed into his eyes, feeling as if she were falling. Then reality gripped her
     by the heart and she stepped back.
    “You okay?” Cole gently squeezed her shoulder.
    What had she just done? She’d kissed Cole because of an auction date, Frank’s deal,
     and a bet . Not because she was in love or even hoping to be. Her breath hitched as she inhaled,
     the weight of guilt smothering her. Her eyes welled and she blinked quickly, willing
     herself not to cry. “I need to go home now.” A tear slid down her cheek, and she quickly
     swiped it away.
    It was all so fake and confusing. Because that kiss had felt so real .

Chapter Nine
    Liza went into her parents’ house through the back door, just as she did almost every
     Sunday morning the Orioles were in town and during the off-season. The smoky sweet
     smell of bacon and French toast filled the air. She inhaled deeply, thinking that
     no scented candle could ever match the real thing, and that Dorothy had been right
     in The Wizard of Oz …there’s no place like home. The feeling of a sure thing was comforting after she’d
     been so confused and emotional last night.
    “French toast today?” she asked, rounding the corner into the large country kitchen.
     Her mom stood at the stove, and her dad sat at the round kitchen table with newspapers
     spread all over it, a cup of coffee in his hand.
    She kissed her dad on the cheek, feeling like a little girl again when she did.
    “Mornin’, Slugger.” He’d given her the nickname years ago when they’d signed her up
     for softball and found she couldn’t hit.
    She crossed the kitchen and hugged her mom.
    “We didn’t know whether to expect you this morning or not.” Sylvia winked, a glimmer
     in her eyes. “You and Cole looked pretty cozy last night.”
    “Mom!” Liza shook her head quickly, blushing. “It’s not like that. Besides, I remember
     a time when you discouraged that kind of behavior.”
    Liza couldn’t help but think about kissing Cole last night—she hadn’t thought about
     much else since—and what a wreck she’d been afterward. He’d walked her back to her
     car and hadn’t even made a game of giving her back her keys.
    “I don’t understand,” he’d said as she swept more tears from her face.
    She’d shrugged. “I’m not sure I do, either.”
    Before she’d even gotten back to Baltimore, he tweeted.
    Cole Collins @ColeCollins
    @LizaSutherland Best bet I ever won. #piewar See you tomorrow…
    She had no idea what she was going to do about the mess she’d gotten herself into.
     But after today, he’d be gone for a week. She could use that time to try to figure
     it out.
    “You two made the Post and the Sun today.” Her dad held up two sections of newspaper.
    Liza joined him at the table and had a look. The Washington Post had a picture of her kissing Cole on the cheek. The mostly eaten Nationals pie still
     looked like a pastry chef’s creation sitting on the cart in the foreground. The headline
     read, “Collins Hits Home Run with Nationals Pie. ”
    Liza thought about that literally and smiled, kind of liking the idea of Cole’s pie
     being smacked to smithereens with a baseball bat.
    The Baltimore Sun had a picture of Cole taking a bite of Orioles pie, with Liza playfully looking on.
     They’d gone with the headline, “Orioles Pie Tasty, but Not a Hit with Nationals’ Collins .”
    Both articles detailed some of the funnier moments of the pie war, and gave Sweet
     Bee’s a shout-out, along with information on how people could order the pies.
    “Paige will be thrilled,” Liza said, happy that she’d gotten some good publicity.
    Her mom brought three plates to the table piled with sizzling bacon and golden-brown
     French toast. “It was a nice thing for Cole to do for her.”
    Cole’s nice… Cole’s crazy about you… Cole rocked your world with that kiss. Liza was inundated with reasons to take a chance with him. But memories of Wes