Game for Anything (2 page)

Unbidden, the thought
She's still here
popped into Ty's head. He couldn't believe that a woman he hadn't seen in more than a decade actually figured into his plans to leave.

"Besides," Jay continued, "I hear Julie Spencer is the best in the business. I'm thinking it wouldn't be too bad to have her hanging around for a few weeks."

Ty blinked hard.
Julie Spencer?
He knew she was an image consultant, but it had never crossed his mind that they might work together one day.

Jay drooled. "And I hear she's sizzling hot too."

They should be playing hardball with Bobby Wilson right now, but a sudden image of Julie's long, silky legs wrapped around him and her perfect breasts in his hands pushed aside all rational thought.

"Fine. I'll do it," he said, tossing his empty cup into the trash. "But she's the only image consultant I'll work with. If she won't do the job, I'm heading out of town—permanently. Let the Outlaws know for me, will you?"

CHAPTER TWO

Julie stood on the front steps of her newly purchased office building, feeling proud yet nervous. As she blew on the steam rising from her nonfat latte, she gazed at the Bay Bridge, the fishing boats motoring into their docks, the new mothers pushing strollers along the Embarcadero, and smiled. She was going to have to work like hell to make the astronomical monthly mortgage, but buying the narrow, stone-faced building along the water had been the right decision. She felt it down deep in her gut.

She'd just have to be a little less picky about which clients she took on for a little while, and take on as much work as she could handle. No big deal. She'd done it before and she'd do it again. Julie knew how lucky she was, loving her job so much. She thrived on the challenges of being an image consultant; got a huge rush from growing her company. She'd just hired two more part-time assistants and she planned on being a fixture in the big leagues inside of ten years. Amy, her soft-spoken best friend from Stanford— and first hire five years ago—poked her head out of the bright red double doors. A feng shui consultant— a gift from her mother—had recommended the color to bring extra business energy to Julie's door. Julie was a sucker for letting her mother feel included in her life, and fortunately she liked red.

"Sorry to bother you before you're even in the door," Amy said, "but I think you should take this call."

"One of our clients?" Julie asked. "No," Amy said, clearly excited. "Not yet, anyway." Big clients meant big money! Maybe her financial worries were going to be put to rest.

"The general manager from the Outlaws is holding for you on line one," Amy finished. Unease shivered through Julie. Even though her office was just blocks from the new stadium beside the Bay, she'd never gone to an Outlaws game. She couldn't—not when her biggest mistake was the team's star quarterback.

The latte curdled in her stomach with a sick premonition. She'd have had to be blind to miss Ty's failures with the media.

Julie stood beneath the safety of her door frame as if taking cover from an earthquake, unable to think, to move.

She could only remember the most important— and disastrous—night of her life.
It was high school graduation night, and Julie's teachers had all congratulated her on beinghonored as valedictorian. She would be attending Stanford University in the fall; and even thoughshe'd be less than two hours from home, she was excited about the chance to get away, to becomesomeone new.

Somehow she'd made it all the way to eighteen without ever being really kissed. Sure, a drunkguy at a party had once slobbered all over her before she shoved him away, but that didn't count.No one would believe her if she confessed the truth. Not that she'd do that, of course. What wasthe point of carefully constructing her image over the past four years if she was going to blow it byannouncing to the world that she couldn't attract a guy if her life depended on it?

Especially not a super-hot guy like Ty Calhoun, she thought as she stood on the fringes of theout-of control graduation party and sipped the slightly sour punch. For four years they'd passed eachother in the halls, but she'd never spoken to him. She was in honors classes, while he barely scrapedby with tutors. The best high school football player in the county, Ty was constantly surrounded by histeammates and cheerleading groupies. His entourage. And she'd bet her trust fund that he'd done itwith every one of those girls.

She could hear him laughing as he danced in a circle of fellow students. There was an edge tohis laughter that went down her spine and then sat in the pit of her belly. Julie wasn't a social outcast,but she'd never been comfortable at wild parties, never had a taste for alcohol, never been temptedby pot or cigarettes.

She didn't intend to lose hold of the control that she'd built her life around. If her tongue grewloose from booze or drugs, who knew what she'd say? What she'd admit to? Too quickly, the house ofcards that was her life could come crumbling down, and everything would be ruined.Still, she was impossibly, horribly tempted by Ty, a bad boy with a capital B.Fortunately, the sinful temptation that Ty embodied was way out of her league. If there was sucha thing as a babe magnet, Ty fit the bill. No high school boy should be that tall, have shoulders thatbroad, or dark eyes so wicked.

But she wasn't going to spend her last night in high school drooling at some guy from thesidelines, watching with senseless longing as Ty did the bump and grind with some slutty classmates.It was too pathetic. She found the nearest exit and pushed through it.Mere seconds after the door shut behind her, she heard it open again. A chill ran up her spinethat had nothing to do with the breeze ripping across the Bay. She whirled away from the view of theGolden Gate Bridge. Backing into the deck's metal rail, the bar cold against her overheated skin, shewatched the boy she longed for stalk her, slowly, steadily.

She'd fantasized about this moment so many times. The one where Ty finally noticed her, wherehe asked her to be his girlfriend, where he said he couldn't live without her anymore. She couldpractically choreograph it.

But now that he was standing in front of her, now that she was looking into his incredible browneyes, close enough to touch his arm if she wanted to, she didn't know up from down, black from white,could hardly even remember her own name.

"I'm Ty," he said, and she nodded stupidly.

"I know."

His gorgeous lips turned up in a perfect curve. He was even more beautiful up close, like someGreek god come to life.

"You're Julie," he said and she said, " I know," again, sounding like a complete moron.

"Do you know what I want to do, Julie?" he asked, and she could only stare at him. Her lipsparted slightly as she held her breath, waiting to hear what he was going to say. His eyes held hercaptive and her longing was just short of desperation.

"I want to kiss you." His voice fell to a whisper. "Actually, I want you to kiss me."She blinked at him, suddenly afraid. She didn't know how to kiss. What if he laughed at her?

She'd die if he laughed at her.

"Don't you want to kiss me, Julie?"

His voice was silky and hot and she forgot everything except how badly she wanted him.

"Yes," she said. "I do."

"Good."

That one short word rocked through her with its intensity. He said it again, "Good," and somethinghot settled in between her thighs. She wanted him more than she'd ever wanted anything her entirelife.

She moved closer to the boy she had a crush on and went up onto her tippy toes to get closer tohis sinfully perfect mouth. He tilted his face down and she reached one hand up to caress hisbeautiful, angular jaw, running her thumb over his cheek, touching the light shadow of hair dusting hischin.

She was so overwhelmed by just the merest touch of skin on skin that she forgot she wassupposed to press her lips to his.

It was a good thing that Ty was no stranger to lust, because he didn't wait for her to come out ofher trance. Instead, he went about taking what he wanted—and she loved that she was what hewanted.

He turned his face into her hand, his lips brushing against the sensitive skin, and she shivered atthe delicious sensations running through her. She wanted to touch his full, perfect mouth with hers,and her need was raw and desperate as she found him with her lips. With her tongue.He tasted like wild summer nights, a hint of some unidentifiable alcohol, and passion.Intense pleasure roared through her as they kissed, his tongue finding a sensitive spot in thecorner oj her lips. Pushing closer, she instinctively rocked her hips into him, his erection cradledagainst her belly.

"Enough messing around," he growled, taking her mouth rough and hard. The more he gave her,the more she wanted. She laid her tongue and teeth and hands into him with a fury that matched his.He lifted her up in his arms, wrapping her legs around him, and even though anyone could walkoutside and see them, Julie gave herself up to heaven.

Ty's tongue danced with hers, finding more sensitive spots that Julie hadn't known existed. Shecupped his jaw again to give herself better access to his delicious mouth. And then her hands wereripping at his shirt and it was falling open.

"I'vegot the keys to a boat."

"Let's go."

Slowly, he released her from his arms, her soft contours pressing against his hard muscles. Hereached for her hand and she could have sworn they were flying down the dock to the marina.Everything felt so surreal, so perfect and magical.

They boarded a huge yacht and his large hands circled her waist in her pink strapless partydress.

"God, you look good," he said as he picked her up and carried her down the short hallway to thestateroom. He kicked open the door and a huge king-size bed dared her to look away. But she wasn'tgoing to back down from what she wanted. Not tonight. She kicked off her heels and let him lay herback on the bed, let him look at her like she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.Sweet Lord, his chest was a masterpiece. Her fingers ran across his bronzed skin, and when hermouth grew jealous she ran her tongue along his pecs, over his nipples, which hardened beneath herlips. He groaned and threaded his hands through her hair just as she brought her teeth down on him.She slid her hands down the back of his shirt, pushing it off his broad shoulders, and then he waskissing her eyelids and her chin and biting her earlobe.

In seconds his shirt and pants were on the floor, even though he never once stopped kissing her.Wearing only his boxers, his bare leg hot against hers, he hooked his thumbs under the bodice of herstrapless dress.

And then—could this really be happening to her?— his mouth was on her nipple, hot and wet.Sweet Lord, how could she have lived for so long without feeling this?

She pressed her hips into his thighs, and wetness seeped through her panties, through her thindress.

Somehow she wasn't embarrassed; being with Ty was the most natural thing in the world.He slid her dress off, past her hips, and his hand moved to the concave lines of her stomach. Hetoyed with the elastic edge of her panties and her thighs spread in a clear invitation for him to takeany—and every—thing he wanted.

His warm hand moved down, past her pubic bone. Slowly he ran one finger, then two, over hermost private, secret spot. She'd touched herself before, but it had never felt like this. Never felt likeher entire world was turning inside out, like blue was green, and yellow was red. He sucked her moanof ecstasy into his throat, sliding his fingers down farther, farther still, finally slipping one inside her.His touch was a sensual invasion of every wall that Julie had ever built around herself, her body,her heart. She wanted him inside of her then, no more foreplay.

More than anything, she wanted him to love her as much as she had always loved him from afar.

"Please," she begged.

But instead of taking her right then and there, he moved his mouth along the same path as hishand, kissing her on her belly and the lacy edge of her panties.

"Please," she whispered again, wanting him to know that she couldn't stand it anymore. She bither lip hard enough to draw blood and still she could barely keep a scream of erotic frustration frompouring up from her throat. At the final moment, when she'd given patience all that she had, he slidthe lace away from her mound and covered her with his mouth.

She cried out then, a long, low sound. Julie had no defenses anymore. Not from the way histongue circled her clitoris. Not from the way his finger moved in and out of her. She could go insanefrom the rush of pleasure taking her over, body and soul. She would have promised him anything justthen; all he had to do was ask. But thankfully he wasn't talking, he was sucking and licking and kissingbetween her legs.

Her hips bucked up off the bed, and as she exploded against his teeth and tongue, she moaned,

"Ty!" And just as she found herself wishing that his mouth was on hers, that she could taste himagain, he was taking her lips in a kiss that said she was his. Forever.He slipped a condom on and then the thick head of his penis pushed at her wetness, where hisfinger and tongue had been.

She wanted to touch him, wanted to feel if his shaft was as hard—as hot—as she thought it wouldbe. Everything about Ty was made to drive her crazy.

"Please," she said again, "I want to touch you. I want to taste you like you tasted me."He groaned and took her lips again, pushing his thighs between her legs.

"I need to be inside you. Now."

And she was ready for him, desperate to take him inside. With a groan that was half pain, halfpleasure, Ty pressed the head of his penis against her.