Leveling The Field (Gamers #4) (7 page)

He couldn’t stand to look at that guy. He hated that guy.

Pacing in his living room, he ran his hands through his hair. His nerves were shot after the conversation with Chloe and the close call of watching his old videos.

He needed something to calm him, to make him forget. To make him fucking happy for once. And all he could think about was Lissa.

Her laughter and the smell of her skin, and that silky voice. He’d been trying to stay away from her, worried they’d both get too involved, but fuck it. He wanted her.

He stared at his cell phone on the coffee table, just sitting there, daring him to pick it up.

He could call, just to feel her out. Maybe after he’d left so oddly from her studio, she’d be cold. Or maybe she’d be happy.

The sex had been amazing. She’d be happy. Right?

He snatched the phone up and dialed the number he had memorized from her business card before he chickened out. Sweat beaded on his temple and he ran his hands through his hair, gripping the strands and squeezing until the pain in his scalp centered him.

One ring.

Two rings.

Then the click of someone picking up. Ethan sucked in a breath and held it.

“Memories by Lissa, how may I help you?”

The voice was decidedly male and decidedly not Lissa. All the bravado Ethan had managed to cobble together fled like leaves scattered in the wind. He exhaled sharply. “Um, yes, I’m just wondering your hours.”

There was a hesitation. “We’ll, we’re open until five, but we work by appointment only.” Of course, Jesus, this wasn’t Target. He floundered, but before he could speak again, the man on the other end of the line beat him to it. “Would you like to make an appointment? Are you interested in Lissa’s services?”

Hell yeah, he was interested in Lissa’s services, but he didn’t think this man—probably her assistant—wanted to know exactly which services he wanted. Because they didn’t involve a camera.

He cleared his throat. “Is Lissa available today?”

“No, I’m sorry, she’s doing some family portraits over at Willow Park.”

Ethan didn’t know what else to say. “Right, er, thank you. Let me check my schedule and call back.” He ended the call as the man was in mid-sentence.

He let his head fall onto his fireplace mantel, where he banged it a couple of times, then he lifted it and rubbed the abused skin on his forehead.

At this moment, he wished he had a dog. A dog that needed a walk. A dog that needed a walk at Willow Park and just happened to leap to the attention of a certain photographer with a great laugh and perfect ass.

Ethan loved his imaginary dog already.

He rubbed his chin. He didn’t have to have a dog to go to the park. He could just…go. And walk, or do whatever it was people did at parks. And if he happened to see Lissa, then that was just a bonus.

He grabbed his jacket and was out the door before he lost this resurgence of courage.

Chapter Eight

Lissa smiled at her client and ruffled the hair of the boy at her side. “You want to try one more shot? The little bridge over there makes a really cool photograph, especially with the colored leaves behind it.”

Amanda, her cli
ent, perked up. “That would be great!” She looked down at her son. “Can we do one more, buddy?”

The six-year-old had been a trooper and even though his shoulders sagged, he nodded. The park was nearly empty this afternoon, so Lissa had been able to work with Amanda and her son, with minimal distractions. Lissa enjoyed the work, and capturing this moment in time for families meant a lot to her. She wished she had more pictures of her and Rona.

They’d been blessed with an overcast sky for most of the day, which was perfect for portraits, but by the time they made it over to the bridge, the sun had emerged, bringing its crappy light with it. Lissa grabbed her sun shade out of her bag and bit her lip as she thought about where to place it to best shield her clients. She preferred to control the light, and the sun didn’t work well with that plan. Also? There was no one to hold the shade. Usually that job was handled by Daniel, but he’d had another appointment back at the studio.

She heard the beep of a car locking and turned around, spotting a black SUV but no person in sight. Something about the SUV was familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

“Lissa?” Amanda asked. “Everything okay?”

She focused back on her client. “Yeah, I’m going to need to shade you from the sun, but my assistant isn’t here to hold the shade.”

Michael peered over her shoulder. “Can we ask that man?”

Lissa turned around to see Ethan Talley leaning against his SUV, arms crossed, sunglasses hiding his eyes.
What is he doing here?
Her curiosity didn’t stop her from noting that he looked imposing. And fucking hot.

Lissa turned back around, hoping her face wasn’t turning red. “Um…”

“That man is dressed nicely,” Amanda said. “We probably shouldn’t bother him—”

“Mister!” Michael called, waving his hands. “Could you help us?”

Lissa closed her eyes briefly, muttering under her breath, hoping Ethan said he was busy, that he had to get back to work, but, try as she might, she couldn’t drown out the sound of his footsteps swishing through the grass as he made his way toward them.

When he sounded close, she plastered a smile on her face and turned to him. “Hi.”

She couldn’t see his eyes, and maybe that was a good thing, because he stared a moment longer than was acceptable. She swore she could feel the heat of his gaze burning through those sunglasses. “Hello,” he finally said. “How can I help?”

God, this was embarrassing. Stupid goddamn sun. She cleared her throat and held out the shade, extending the pole attached so he could hold it out over the clients. “I need you to hold this. Please.”

He took it from her, and she opened her mouth to direct him where to stand, then figured that was a waste. Easier to show him.

She gripped his biceps, the expensive fabric of his jacket soft on her palms, and moved his body where she wanted it, positioning his arms so they were in the right place. He accepted all this with a small smile of amusement. Right as she was about to walk away, he muttered, “I could get used to you manhandling me.”

She shot him a glare. “I already have an assistant.”

His lips quirked up. “Right, but I’d do it for free. Or at least, you wouldn’t have to pay me in money.” He waggled his eyebrows and it was so ridiculous and corny and out of character for the stone-faced Ethan Talley that she laughed. Loudly.

“Do you two know each other?” Amanda asked.

Lissa cleared her throat, ignoring the smug look on Ethan’s face. “Um, we’ve met briefly. Through friends.”

Amanda turned to Ethan. “Well, nice to meet you. And thanks for your help.”

“Anytime,” Ethan said.

Lissa sighed and worked on ignoring Ethan’s presence and getting her shots. Michael had been patient for a long time, but it was clear now that he was tired and cranky. He was making faces and slumping, and Lissa feared all of these bridge photos would be a waste. She did notice that the boy kept sneaking glances at Ethan. And he must have noticed, too. He took off his sunglasses and slipped them into his pocket. “I know pictures aren’t fun, but this is a nice thing you’re doing for your mom.”

Michael straightened his shoulder slightly. “Yeah?”

Ethan nodded. “Of course. It says something about you as a young man that you’re doing something nice for the woman who is raising you.”

Michael’s shoulders went even straighter, and he visibly gathered himself—all four feet of him—and smiled the brightest smile Lissa had seen yet.

She shot Ethan a smile, and he nodded in her direction, his lips curving, and that did something weird and warm and liquefying to her belly.

Once she was satisfied with her shots, she directed Ethan to drop the shade, which he did with a roll of his shoulder. He walked up to Michael and shook his hand, like they were equals, and the little boy looked up in awe.

She walked up and stood next to Ethan. “You did great.”

Michael ducked his head and shuffled his feet, peeking at both of them out of the corner of his eye.

Lissa stepped forward and shook Amanda’s hand, ever aware of Ethan’s presence at her back. “I’ll have these edited and proofs sent to you in two weeks.”

“That’s great, Lissa. You were wonderful to work with. You came highly recommended, and I see why.”

Lissa stuffed down the burst of pride. “Well, you haven’t seen the photos yet, they could be really horrible and blurry.”

Amanda laughed. “I don’t think they will be.”

Lissa shook her head. “No, I don’t think so, either.”

She held out her hand for Michael to high-five, which he slapped with a burst of energy. Amanda patted his back and directed him to her car. “I need to get him home. Thanks again!”

“Anytime.”

Lissa watched as they walked away. Then she slowly turned to face Ethan, who pierced her with those light blue eyes of his. She motioned to his shoulder. “Is it sore from holding the shade?”

He scoffed. “No.”

“You did a great job with that little boy.”

A shimmer of unease over the compliment flitted across his features. “I could tell he was kind of over it for the day. But where you had them standing was beautiful, so it seemed important those pictures come out well.”

She cocked her head, studying him, and his gaze shifted away. That meant something to her, that he’d cared about her job and those family pictures. Especially when he’d been so anti-pictures himself. “Does that mean you see value in photographs?”

His expression hardened a minute, and although he seemed about to snap out a retort, he hesitated. When he spoke, his voice was soft. “I see the value. I just don’t see the value in photographs of myself.”

She took a chance. “What about if your mom asked?”

She was on thin ice, his sharp blue gaze told her that much, as well as his flinch and the words spoken through gritted teeth. “She knows better than to ask.”

Lissa filed that away and decided to change the subject before she angered Ethan further. Also, he’d done her a favor, so what kind of asshole was she if she repaid him by prodding at his soft spots?

She tilted her head and smiled. “So, Daniel’s going to be disappointed when I tell him he’s fired.”

Ethan’s expression softened when he realized she wasn’t going to keep up with her line of questioning. “I’m sure Grant can manage the magazine on his own, so I can pursue my career in sun shading.”

She laughed and began to put her camera and supplies away. When she was finished, she stood up and tugged the strap of her bag over her shoulder. “So are you going to tell me it’s coincidence you’re here?”

He shook his head. “Nope, I called, and your newly-fired assistant said you’d be here.”

She wasn’t sure how to answer that, so she started to walk toward the parking lot. Ethan fell in step beside her. After the wedding, she’d given up hope he’d call, and she’d been trying to find a way to contact him about her project. At least, that was what she told herself, not that she craved to feel his hands on her body again.

She nodded. “Okay, and so why are
you
here?”

His answer came quick. “Because this is where you are.”

Heat pooled in her belly as they reached his SUV. She stopped as he leaned against it, watching her. “And why do you want to be where I am, Ethan?”

He looked away, his jaw shifting. She watched his profile, waiting with rising anxiety on his answer. Finally he turned to her, and those ice-blue eyes froze her in place. “I want you.”

He wasn’t within touching distance and yet she could still feel the heat of his fingers on her skin, the sound of his voice in her ear, the fullness of his cock filling her. She shifted her weight from foot to foot. She hadn’t expected that, and even though her brain was screaming at her to knock this off, to cool down and focus on what she wanted from him, her body was demanding attention first, and it wanted him in a totally different way. “I want you, too.”

His hand shot out and gripped her wrist. In the next second, she was pressed against the side of his car, his big body blocking hers, preventing her from moving. Which was fine, because she didn’t want to move. He placed her camera on the hood of his car, slid his hand around her neck, and then kissed her.

She opened for him immediately, gripping his biceps and digging her fingernails into the thick material of his jacket.

His thigh nudged between her legs and rubbed against her. She rutted against his leg, unable to help herself, because after the pent-up frustration of the last couple of days, she was ready to combust.

She pulled away from the kiss and laid her forehead on his shoulder. She was thrusting against him, and in the back of her mind, she wondered what the hell she was doing at twenty-fucking-nine years old, dry-humping this cold bastard in a public park, but their cars were the only two in the lot.

No one was around and she was so desperate to come, she didn’t care.

He gripped the back of her neck, keeping her pressed to him, and nudged his thigh closer, changing the angle so she was hitting just the right spot every time she rolled her hips into him.

“Oh God,” she muttered. “Did you plan this? Wanting to make me so fucking horny I’d come like a teenage girl in the back of a limo after prom?”

He laughed softly, his voice husky. “It’s taking every effort not to push you to your knees. Does that sound like your prom? That doesn’t sound like mine.”

She couldn’t even laugh, because now she was salivating over sucking him off. She shoved her face into his neck, rooting until her lips found skin under his collar. “You want that?” she muttered against him as she chased her orgasm. “My slutty mouth around your dick?”

He was thrusting against her, too, his breathing ragged. “You come and we’ll see if we can put those lips to work, punish you for teasing me.”

“Yes,” she moaned.

He spoke in her ear, his words a harsh whisper. “I’ll keep you there, on your knees, my cock in your mouth until you swallow me. All of me. Would like you that, Lissa?”

Her face heated, her spine tingled. She was right there, just another push…

“That red lipstick would look great on my cock, you think?”

That was it. That was all she needed, thinking about leaving her mark behind on his skin. She came with a cry as she thrust against his thigh, the hard metal of his car at her back.

She was still trembling when he pulled open the back door and guided her inside with a firm hand on her arm. He sat on the black leather and looked her in the eye. “On your knees.”

She sank down somewhat gracelessly because her legs were jelly. Cocking an eyebrow, she said, “I didn’t hear a please.”

He clenched his jaw, but his lips twitched. “Please.”

She reached for his fly. “I always reward good manners.”