Lucky 13 (Deadlines & Diamonds) (7 page)

***

Ricky couldn’t believe all the lovey-dovey shit he’d just spewed. He’d have t
o cut the corner off of his man
card when he got home. He really needed to get away from Shayne before he started quoting Shakespeare.

He stood.
“Hey, I’m gonna hit the bathroom. You okay?”

Her smile
knocked
his socks off. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’ll round up Matt so we can head home.”

It was then he realized the restaurant had started stacking chairs on top of tabletops. He glanced down at his watch. 11:00.
Holy crap!
They’d been here for four hours. It had only seemed like a couple. Time really did fly w
hen a guy was having fun
.

He hurried to the bathroom, did his business and headed back to find Shayne and Matt waiting by the front door, their heads together.

“You need to go for it, Mom.”

“Go for what?” Ricky asked, smile firmly in place.

They jumped apart, looking guilty as sin.

Matt waggled his eyebrows. “Ya know,
it
.”

Shayne cuffed him in the back of the head and turned a thousand exquisite shades of pink. Matt raced out the door, his
amusement
trailing behind him. Ricky fell into step next to her and put an arm around her waist, guiding her into his side.

“Sometimes I just don’t know about that kid. And I’m his mother.”

Ricky chuckled. “He just wants to see you happy.”

“And in his twelve-year-old mind, he thinks getting laid will do that. How warped is that? I’m his
mother
!”

Again Ricky couldn’t help but laugh. “If getting laid would make you happy, I’d be more than happy to help you with that.”

She hip-ch
ecked him and stumbled away
,
giggl
ing until she da
bb
ed at the corners of her eyes.

The drive back to their house
was quiet. Matt had slumped
against the door in the backseat. Ricky doubted he was asleep, even though he so obviously tried to pretend. Ricky held onto Shayne’s hand, but neither of them said anything. He wished he knew what kinds of thoughts tromped through her beautiful head. He hoped someday he would be able to read her like a book.

As he pulled into the parking garage, she reached over the seat and jiggled Matt. He sat up, rubbed his eyes and yawned. A lit
tle too wide
.

The three of them got on the elevator and only the ridiculous soft music filled the silence. They strolled down the hall, Shayne’s hand once again firmly held in his. Butterflies flitted in his stomach. Although he’d kissed Shayne before, a goo
dnight kiss differed and held a certain amount of importance
.

Shayne slipped the key into the lock and Matt raced inside. He plopped down on the couch to take off his shoes. “Thanks for taking me with you guys. I had a
really great time.” He yanked off
his sock. “I can’t believe how good I hit the ball. You’re a really great teacher, Ricky.”

Holding the World Series trophy couldn’t have made him feel more victorious than the kudos just given him by Shayne’s son. He walked over and held up his knuckles. “You did real good, Matt.” The solid bump of fists warmed Ricky’s heart. “I’m glad you decided to come with us.”

“Me, too.” He flopped back on the couch and flipped the TV on.

“U
h-
uh, young man.” Shayne pointed down the hall. “Bed. Now.”

Matt
hmmphed
,
but the TV went off and he sulked away.
“Night, Ricky.”

“Night, man.”

As soon as the kid’s door closed, she
stepped closer to Ricky. His heart hit the back of his throat, his pulse racing. She held out her hand. He took it, shaking it slowly, letting the
W
hat the
hell
?
go unspoken.
She entwined their fingers.

“I had a really great time today.”
 

He wrapped his other arm around her waist and brought her in nice and tight. “Me, too. Best date I’ve ever had.”

The stretch she pulled brought her lips close. He leaned down to capture them. She had other plans though. As soon as they met, she dropped back down
, breaking the contact
. Her hand burned his chest through his shirt. Surely she could feel the hammering going on beneath his ribcage ‘cause he sure as hell could see her pulse
thumping out a cadence
at her temple.

“Well, thanks.” Her breathy gratitude told him more about her body’s reaction to him. She took a step back. “Goodnight.”

He backed into the hall, wondering what the hell had just happened. The door closed and he had to shake his head. Each step trudged toward the elevator cemented what he had to do.

Not giving himself time to decide better, Ricky turned on his heel and ran back to her door. His fist met the wood of her door with a steady
Bam! Bam! Bam!
He grimaced, hoping the sound didn’t scare her—or bring Matt racing to answer the door.

She did look surprised when she whipped the door open a moment later. He didn’t give her time to ask what he was doing back. He steppe
d over the threshold
, threade
d his fingers through her hair
and
pushed her backward, trapping her body between the wall and his body. Their breath meshed. Her chest rose and fell. He stared into her eyes for a heartbeat, giving her the chance to fend him off with a single flash of fear.

No fear from his Shayne, though. Only the glimpse of a smile
flashed
before she grabbed the back of his head and smashed their lips together.

He’d fully intended on taking control of this goodnight kiss, but as she slipped her tongue between his lips, plans changed. He would let her
set the pace.

Her hands moved over his back, sliding under the hem of his t-shirt. The moment
they touched his bare skin, h
e growled into her mouth, tangling his tongue with hers. Slanting his head, he plunged and retreated, playing cat to her mouse.

He reached down and lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his waist. The back of his shirt bunched to his shoulder blades.
Her nails bit into his skin, scoring him, marking him.

A toilet flushed
down the hall
.

They both froze.

She pulled back and kissed each corner of his mouth, his cheeks, his nose. Her breaths hit his face in short, minty puffs.

“We gotta stop.”

“Yeah. Okay.” His body bellowed its unresounding
Nooo!

She uncrossed her legs and slid down his body, every inch of her moving over his painfully aroused groin. He dropped his head onto her shoulder and groaned.

“Sorry.” She bit her lip to
stifle her giggle
.

“You’re not a bit sorry.” He swooped in for another quick kiss, taking her bottom lip between his teeth. He bit down and she squeaked.

“
I gotta admit
—” Her eyes dropped to
the front of his jeans
an
d she smiled. “
I like that I affect you like that.”

“You affect me a
l
l
right.” He stepped away from her, willing himself under control. “And now I’m gonna be payin’ for it all night.”

She smiled and his crotch took notice
, pulling a little
pay attention to me
of its own
.

“You gotta stop doin’ that.”

“Doin’ what?”
She stalked him. He backed up until his butt hit the back of the couch. She came up and put her hands
on
his hips. She leaned into him, only allowing their lips to touch, gentle pressure.

He moaned against her mouth. “I’m gonna need a few minutes before I’m able to walk.”

“Take as long as you need.” She tipped her head toward the door. “Lock up on your way out.” Another press of lips, a quick swipe of her tongue over the seam and she backed up, her eyes shining with evil, unfulfilled promise. “Goodnight,
Ricky
.”

And with that, she turned to s
ashay
down the hall. He nearly lost it in his
boxer
s when he heard
a
shower turn on.

7

Today would either be awesome or atrocious. There would be no in between. Ricky, in all of his planning, had managed to put together all the makings of a grea
t time or a complete cluster fu
—
…

The doorbell rang and he hustled to let in the first of his guests. He’d purposely told Shayne and Matt to arrive an hour early with the hopes of
having a few minutes of peace and calm before the thunderclouds showed up.

Matt raced in, basketball under his arm. “Tell me you got a hoop.”

“Sorry, man, but I do have a batting cage.”

“Shut up!” Matt looked around like he might find the cage in the family room. “You got a bat.”

“I’m
sure he’s got an extra long one,
”
Shayne said.

Ricky choked.

Matt snorted
.

Ricky forced his mouth closed, but couldn’t tear his eyes from the amused face of Matt’
s mother. Her chocolate eyes swam with the laughter her pursed lips kept at bay.

Damn, if she whipped off a one-liner like that in front of the guys, he’d be toast! X would probably castrate him in his own kitchen.

“Um, Ricky?”

The headshake
was meant to
clear
his thoughts, instead it sent them on frappe. He blinked and focused on Matt instead of all the very naughty things he wanted to do to Shayne. “Yeah, kid?”

“Batting cage
?”

For a split second, he thought of Shayne dressed in only a helmet and cleats
,
sandwiched betwe
en his body and the chain link with h
is bat…

“Ricky?”

“Yeah.”
Maybe he should call the guys and cancel this little meet and greet. Having Shayne under his roof for the very first time affected him in ways he hadn’t expected. Every time he turned around
,
he saw her pressed against something. Or bent over it. Or…

“Ricky!”

“Sorry, dude. I’m having a hard time thinking.”

“On where the batting cage is?” Matt rolled his hazels.

“It’s right out back.” He motioned for Matt to follow him. “Come on, I’ll get you all set up.” Never would it have crossed his mind for Shayne to keep her distance, but he prayed
she wouldn’t
touch him. He was coiled so tight, a single touch from her and he might
boooing!
clear into next week.

Walking up to the French door, he swu
ng it open wide, holding it
for them to walk outside. Matt shot through, oohing and ahhing about the huge yard, the built-in barbeque, the swimming pool, the batting cage.

Shayn
e, however, didn’t ooh or ahh. S
he stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Aren’t you going to say hello?”

Some date he was.
“Absolutely. Come here,
mujer bonita
.”
He bent down to put his mouth on hers. He tasted. He consumed. He welcomed. “Hi.”

“Nice place you got here,” she said a little breathlessly.

“Thanks.”

Bats clattered to the ground, interrupting their moment.

Shayne
snort
ed softly. “I think that’s his way of reminding us he’s here.”

“I gotta admit
I’m a little distracted.” He ran his hands through his hair.

Shayne watched the action
then put her fingers to his scalp. “You kinda made a mess of it.”

“You’ve kinda made a mess of me.”

Her full lips turned down. “I’m sorry. We can—”

“You’re not goin’ anywhere.” He kissed her cheek. “But you gotta promise you won’t talk about the length or width or weight of my
bat
when the guys get here.”

She laughed, choking on it when he scowled.

He put his lips to her ear. “The things I wanna do to you…” He let the phrase drift into a growl.

She swayed and gripped tighter to his shoulders. Her breasts brushed his chest with every breath. After a few moments of not saying anything, she retreated from his embrace, brushed her hands over the front of her tank top, smoothed down her shorty-shorts and stuck out her hand.

He glared at it, but took it anyway.

“I promise
,” she said with a shake, “to be on my very best behavior. I will not talk about your bat if you will refrain from telling me the things you wanna do to me.” She shivered. Her eyes closed for a brief second. “Deal?”

“Deal.”

She sighed. “Now what do we need to do?”

“Can you make hamburger patties?”

“You got eggs, bread crumbs and onions?”

“Yes.”

She nodded, grinned. “My hamburger patties are so good, you’ll never let another woman ever make them for you ever again.”

He saw the
holy-crap-I-did-not-just-say-that
flash across her face. Unacceptable. “You’re probably right. I’ll show you to the kitchen.”

“You should probably show Matt around the batting cage first.”

Matt!
Damn, he’d forgotten all about the kid.
He currently stood at the gate to the cage, helmet on, bat resting on his shoulder, frown on his face.

“Be right there, my man.”

Matt jerked his chin.

Shayne smiled. “Point me in the direction of the kitchen. I’ll figure it out.”

“Kitchen’s right through the archway. Hamburger’s in the fridge along with the eggs. Onion and bread crumbs are in the pantry. Doorway as you walk in.” He looked back at Matt, who was picking a weed out of the pavers. “Holler if you need anything.”

“Will do.”
She strode off toward the kitchen.

Ricky went outside and closed the door. “Sorry about that, my man.”

Matt shrugged. “No big. She’s the reason we’re here. I’m just the afterthought.”

Ricky put hard hands on narrow shoulders, got in tight. “You listen to me. You are
not
an afterthought. I may get a little distracted by your beautiful mother, but you are not just along for the ride. I like you. You’re a great kid. And I want to hang out with you.”

Matt’s face lit up like The Strip. “Really?”

“Yeah, really.” He
rapped his knuckles
on the
top of the
helmet
. “Now let’s hit some balls. You remember what I told you?”

“Yep.”

“Let me see your stance.”

Matt crouched down, put the bat in the right position and scrunched his features into what he probably thought made him look fierce.

Ricky thought it closer to constipated. “Good. Okay, get in there.”

Matt went inside, closed the gate, and stepped into the batter’s box.

Ricky stayed on the outside. “See the box on the gate. Press the button and wait. They’re not timed perfectly with the same amount of time in between, so you have to be paying attention.”

Matt nodded. “And watc
h it all the way to the bat.”

***

Shayne made herself at home in Ricky’s gorgeous kitchen. All the state of the art had her drooling. Heck, the pantry could double as a bedroom. A very organized bedroom, full of everything a girl mig
ht ever need.
Ricky probably wouldn’t mind if she slept next to the
sugar and salt.

She found the bread crumbs and an onion, and with a bit of effort made herself leave her new favorite place on earth to enter a newer one. It only took opening one cupboard to find a bowl, two drawers to find the wax paper, and another cupboard to find a baking pan. The guy thought just like she did, put things exactly where she would have.

Unless he didn’t put them where they currently resided to begin with. Shayne’s thoughts went to the priors in his life and her stomach went wonky. They’d only been out a couple of times. Two to be exact. With lots of phone calls in between. She felt like she knew everything about him, but there were a lot of holes. Like,
they hadn’t
agreed to be exclusive. For all she knew, he planned an event like this three times a week with four different women. The thought made her blood freeze.

“Easy there.”

“Huh?” She glanced up into the humored eyes of the man in question.

“You’re beating the shit outta that burger.”

“Oh.” In the bowl, she placed the ingredients and was taking her frustration out on it. Poor stuff was already dead.

“What’s got you hot under the collar?”

She plucked hamburger off her fingers. “I guess you’re kinda makin’ a mess of me, too.”

“How so?”

She shook her head. “We’ve been out twice.”

“Three times.” He grinned. “I’m counting today.”

“Okay, three times.” She
squished the eggs and mea
t together. “I don’t want to sound jealous or anything, but—”

“I’m not dating anyone else, Shayne.”

Relief, unlike anything she’d ever felt before, warmed her better than a down quilt.

“And I don’t wanna be.” He came over to stand directly in front of her with the counter between them. “I don’t care if I sound jealous—”

“I don’t want to date anybody else either.”

“Shayne, you wouldn’t be meeting my friends if I wanted to date anybody else. This is a big deal.” An enormous shoulder lifted and fell. “At least to me it is. Dominic Kane and Mason James are my best friends. Their opinion matters.”

“What if they don’t like me?”

“They can go screw themselves.”

His answer surprised the laugh right out of her. “Are you nervous for them to meet me?”

“No
pe
.” He shook his head. “I’
m nervous to make our relationship
public to your brother, though. I kinda wish you hadn’t invited him.”

“Is that why we got the Pierce’s showing up?”

His cheeks flushed. “Pierce is the only guy I know who can chill X out.”

“Besides Frankie?” Shayne smiled, thinking of her brother and his wife.

“Yeah, besides Frankie. Maybe Pierce wasn’t needed, but it sure as hell couldn’t hurt.”

She took a glob of meat and molded it into a patty. “I think you’re exaggerating.”

“You’re his sister, and he doesn’t like me.”

“I like you.” She laid the patty on the wax paper and set out to make another one. “That’s all he needs to know.”

Even as she made her case
to Ricky, she knew X wasn’t over-the-moon ecstatic about the prospect of his sister dating Santiago.

The doorbell sounded.

“Will you grab that?” She held up her burger-covered hands. “I’m a little busy.”

He rounded the counter and kissed her. Hard. “I’ll be right back.”

***

Ricky opened the door and the Pierce crowd greeted him. He ushered them inside. Grayson gave him a handshake. Jane kissed his cheek.

“Thanks for having us.” She
put her hand on the back of a young girl. A very cute young girl,
about Matt’s age,
who was the spitting image of her
beautiful
mother. “This is Kamryn.”

Ricky shook her hand and thought of Matt. He’d never played matchmaker before, but he might rethink things. “Nice to meet you.”

Grayson put his hand on the shoulder of the middle-sized girl. “This is Sami.”

“Hi
,
Sami.” Ricky shook her hand as well. “How old are you, sweetheart?”

She giggled, blushed. “Nine.”

The littlest of the three tugged on his pants. “Do you have a dog? Everybody needs a dog. Except us. ‘Cause w
e don’t have a dog. My dad won’t l
et us have a dog. He says
dogs just hump legs and shit—
”

Jane put a hand over the little girl’s mouth.
“And this here is
Emma. Please accept our apologies for whatever she might say. Hey!” Jane jerked her hand away. She dropped to a knee to look the child right in the eye. “I told you not to ever bite me again.”

Big green eyes blinked. “And I told you not to cover my mouth ever again. Uncle Xavier!” She ran back out the door and
took a flying leap right
into the arms of his nemesis.

Ricky
barely kept the
Oh, great!
to himself.

Xavier scooped her up. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.
She glanced over her shoulder at Ricky.
“I met
him
.”