Not Another Bad Date (11 page)

Don stuck crutches under his arms and hopped along on one leg. His mouth pulled into sullen lines. “I hate sittin’ out, not playin’ ball,” he grumbled.

“It’s only one season.” But in football that meant a lot, and they both knew it. “Just a few games, if you think about it.”

They passed Joe, chatting it up with Cindy Ann and Adele. From beneath the brim of his hat, Zach glanced at Adele, standing there in a pair of jeans and the same white sweater that zipped up her front she’d worn the day he’d seen her standing beneath his portico. Tonight, her hair hung down her back in sexy, wild curls, and she was doing a stellar job of ignoring him.

That was fine by him. He didn’t need some uptight woman from his past getting him all hot, then telling him nothing was going to happen between them.
Not ever.

“Careful now,” he said, as Don teetered. Hell, it wasn’t as if he had even been meaning to start things between him and Adele the other day. At least not there. Not in his office with twelve thirteen-year-olds outside. One of whom was his daughter. When he’d walked into his office that day, he hadn’t even thought about kissing her. Then he’d touched her cheek, her goddamn cheek was all, and he’d wanted more. In seconds, he’d turned hard as a rock, and the memory of the night he’d taken her to the La Quinta flooded his head. The memory of her naked body pressed to his had lowered from his head to his dick, and damned if he hadn’t wanted to relive that night. All five times and twice in the morning.

Slowly, he and Don moved through the gym as people called out to them. Zach nodded and smiled and waved and wondered how his life had come to this. Lusting after a woman who clearly wanted nothing to do with him. That had never happened to him before, and he didn’t know why it was happening now. Maybe his system had gone all peculiar because he was a full-time dad. Although, what that had to do with it he didn’t know.

Someone he didn’t recognize called out to him and he smiled and waved. “Hey there. How you doin’?” More than likely, though, the peculiarity to his system had something to do with his lack of a sex life. It was making him screwy. So to speak.

“Hey, Coach Z.”

“Hey there, Miz Owens,” he called out to Alvin Owens’s mother.

Maybe during the Christmas break, he’d drop Tiffany off at his mom’s in Austin and take a little trip to Denver and hang out with some of his buddies. He’d drink a few beers and get laid. A lot. That ought to take care of it. At least enough so he’d quit fantasizing about an old girlfriend who’d made it really clear she wasn’t interested in the likes of him.

Don stopped at the door to talk to a girl, and Zach continued through the halls of the school to the cafeteria, which had been decorated with paper cutouts of each boy’s jersey. The boosters had set up a table and were selling pennants and foam fingers. Zach grabbed a strawberry ice-cream cone and took a big bite out of the top. Baskin-Robbins might have thirty-one flavors, but he was a strawberry man. Always had been.

“Did you catch the game last Monday?” one of the boosters asked him, as he wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin.

He didn’t have to ask which game. Not in the heart of Cowboy country. “Sure did. Romo looks good in the pocket this year.” He shoved a hip into a vending machine and talked ball for several more minutes before Joe entered the cafeteria, followed by Tiffany, Kendra, and one of the other dancers. Cindy Ann’s girl maybe. Adele wasn’t with them. Not that he cared one way or the other. Just a mild observation.

He took a big bite out of his ice cream. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to give himself a brain freeze. “Denver is playin’ Pittsburgh Saturday night,” he said, as Joe walked toward him. Tiffany had some sort of dance-team sleepover that night, and pizza, beer, and a ball game with the guys sounded good to Zach.

Joe smiled and rocked back on the heels of his Tony Lamas. “I have a date Saturday night.”

“Good for you.” If anyone needed to get laid, it was Joe. Hell, maybe even more than he did. Zach took a big bite of his cone. “With Cindy Ann?”

“No, that writer.” Joe shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “The one with the curly hair and great behind. She was at your barbecue last weekend.”

“Adele?” Zach swallowed, and his brain froze, but he wasn’t sure it was from the ice cream. Adele couldn’t go out with Joe. She belonged to Zach. He straightened away from the vending machine as if he’d been jerked by invisible strings and threw the rest of his cone in a lined garbage can.

“Yeah. I think I’ll take her somewhere nice. Try and impress her.” Joe grinned, and joked, “Maybe get her good and drunk so she’ll come home with me.”

Normally Zach would have laughed, but he suddenly wasn’t in a laughing mood. No, he was in the mood to kick Joe’s ass, which was a strange feeling for Zach, who’d never been a particularly possessive guy. Adele wasn’t his, and he didn’t know where the feeling that he wanted to kick anyone’s ass was coming from. She could do whatever the hell she pleased. Joe could do whatever he pleased, too. They could do what they pleased together, and it wasn’t any of Zach’s business.

He clapped Joe on the shoulder as he walked around him. “Have fun.”

As Zach stepped into the hall, his gaze landed on Adele and Cindy Ann, the only other people around. He paused for several seconds before continuing toward them.

“That was the one and only year I was in flag corps,” Adele said, pointing to an old photo and plaque behind the glass. “My dad told me I looked like one of the soldiers from The Wizard of Oz.”

“I was in gymnastics most of my life,” Cindy Ann said, and glanced up at the sound of Zach’s bootheels on the linoleum. “Hey, Zach.”

“Cindy Ann.” Zach looked into Adele’s eyes. Those captivating eyes that sometimes turned a deeper blue. “Hello, Adele.”

“Zach.”

“Weren’t the Stallionettes great tonight?” Cindy Ann asked.

At the moment, he couldn’t recall. “They danced their little hearts out.”

Cindy Ann turned to Adele. “Well, I’ll let you go so you can get to work.” She adjusted an armadillo bag hanging off one shoulder. “And remember, if you ever decide to write more books about the Brannigan fairies, I’d love to read them.”

“I’ll think about it. Thanks for taking Kendra home.”

“You’re welcome.” She walked toward the door, and said over her shoulder, “Bye, Zach.”

“See ya.” He lowered his gaze from Adele’s face, down her throat and the round swells of her breasts beneath her thin sweater to the lower right side of her belly. “Are you still into fairies?”

“Not so much these days.” She moved to step around him, but his hand on her arm stopped her.

“That’s too bad,” he said, and looked back up into her face. With no more than the touch of her arm beneath his hand, a hot ball of lust hit him behind the button fly of his jeans. “I have a few fond memories of kissing that fairy you have tattooed just above your panties.”

Her lips parted and color rose up her cheeks. “That was a long time ago.”

“You keep saying that.”

“It’s true.”

“True but memorable. Right up there with winning the Super Bowl. Or throwing that fifty-yarder to DaShaun Wilson in the last three seconds of the game against Chicago. And, honey, that was the perfect spiral. ESPN still shows that clip.” If they’d been somewhere more private, he would have given serious thought to falling to his knees and getting reacquainted with her fairy, but she was right. It had been a long time ago. Several lifetimes, and he looked into her face, seeing the resemblance to the girl he’d once known and the differences, too. Her mouth was a little wider and her lips softer than he remembered. Her pale skin was still smooth and her hair wild, even when she tried to tame it. Her eyes were the same. The same blue that did things to his insides when she looked at him.

“Joe tells me you have a date.” Zach couldn’t recall ever feeling so possessive before. Not over a woman. Any woman.

“That’s right.”

“First the redhead, and now Joe.” He moved his hand up her arm and shoulder to the side of her neck. Beneath his thumb, he felt the quickening beat of her pulse. “Why?”

“They must think I’m nice and want to spend time with me.”

They didn’t think she was nice. They thought she was hot, and the time they wanted to spend with her was in bed. Maybe he was projecting his own wants, but he didn’t think he was alone. “I know why they ask you out. I’m not so clear on why you say yes.”

Her brows lowered as if he was crazy. He felt crazy. “Why wouldn’t I say yes?”

“Because you don’t really want to be with them, Adele.” There were a million reasons, all of them good, why he shouldn’t want Adele Harris again. At the moment, none of them mattered. He didn’t give a rat’s ass as his hands cupped her face. “You want to be with me.”

The corners of her full mouth turned downward. “You’re still as arrogant and full of yourself as you ever were.”

He smiled. “Probably.”

“That wasn’t a compliment!”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m right.”

She wrapped her hands around his wrists. “No, Zach. You’re mistaken. I don’t want to be with you.”

If she’d wanted him to stop, she’d said the exact wrong thing. He looked into her eyes, a subtle shade darker then they’d been a moment ago, and felt her pulse kick up a notch. “You’re not any better a liar now than you used to be.” He turned his face to the side to keep the bill of his hat from hitting her forehead and kissed her. A nice soft kiss that belied the savage lust beating his chest, pounding his groin, and urging him to push her up against the trophy case. Instead, he lightly pressed his mouth into hers, and his thumb brushed her cheek. Her lips parted with a little gasp, and she pulled his breath into her lungs. She put her hand on his chest, and the warmth of her palm spread fire across his skin and twisted his belly with pleasure and pain. She exhaled against his mouth, a slight puff of warm air that turned the pleasure and pain into an almost mindless need.

Adele pulled away, and Zach’s hand fell to his side. Within her chest, she felt her heart pounding, and she could hardly breathe. She looked into Zach’s sexy, sleepy eyes and she remembered his sneaky ways from fourteen years ago. How his light, teasing touch had ruthlessly made her want him even more. “You’re slick.”

He actually smiled as he reached for her. “Thank you.”

She took a step backward, out of his reach. “Again—not a compliment, Zach!” Every cell in her body was on fire. All he had to do was touch her, and every nerve ending twisted into a ball of yearning.

His hand fell to his side. “Honey, come here.”

She shook her head and took another step backward. “I don’t trust you.”

“Baby, you don’t trust yourself.”

That was true. She didn’t trust herself not to give in to his sneaky, slick ways, and that just made her mad. “What’s the matter, Zach? Can’t you find a willing woman to harass?”

Instead of getting angry like she’d intended, he laughed. “Finding willing women has never been a problem for me.”

“God, you can’t help yourself. You’re a pathological bragger.” She held her hand up and took another step back. “Not a compliment.”

“Arrogant. Slick. Pathological bragger. Anything else wrong with me?”

“You don’t have all night.”

“I’ve got ten minutes.”

“Not enough time.” She took another step back and stopped by the sign to the girls’ bathroom.

“That’s where you’re wrong, sweetheart.” He hooked his thumbs inside the front pockets of his jeans and drew her attention to the huge bulge beneath his button fly. “The right man could have you in the zone and screaming Hail Marys in ten minutes.”

He turned her insults into foreplay. Worse, it was working. She licked her lips and her brain went kind of fuzzy. “I’m not Catholic.”

“Doesn’t matter.” He shook his head and moved toward her. “Everyone has a come to Jesus moment on fourth and goal.”

“That’s something only a dumb jock would say.” Then, like the mature woman she was, she spun to her left and practically dove into the bathroom. She moved to the sink and placed a cool hand on the porcelain and one on her hot cheek. That was real adult. Call him a dumb jock and run away.

The door swung open and banged against the wall. “Stop running, Adele.”

She spun around and gasped. “You can’t come in here.” He closed the door and leaned back against it. She pointed to the tampon dispenser and stated the obvious, “This is the girls’ bathroom.”

He glanced about at the six stalls and two sinks before his gaze returned to her. “So it is.”

“You’ll get caught in here.”

He pushed away from the door. “It won’t be the first time.”

“You’re crazy.”

“I wasn’t until you came back into my life.” He moved across the floor toward her and took off his hat. “I see you, and I remember kissing you and touching you and making love to you. I want you more than I think I’ve ever wanted any woman.” He tossed the hat on the counter between the sinks. “I can’t help but wonder why you’re back in my life.”

“I’m here because my sister needs me.” She placed her hands on his chest and, for every step he took, she took a step back.

“I need you.”

“No. You want me.”

“Same thing.”

“No. Oxygen is something you need.” Her back hit the wall next to the last bathroom stall.

“Just be still,” he said, and placed his hands on her shoulders. “And stop running from me.”

“Stop coming after me.”

He shook his head as his brown gaze stared into hers. “I’m beginning to think I need you like I need oxygen.”

She knew the feeling. From beneath his cotton shirt, his hard, defined muscles warmed her palms, and instead of dropping them to her sides like a smart girl, she slid her hands up his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck.
What the hell. The curse will kick in.
She lifted her face as he lowered his mouth to hers. His hands on her shoulders tightened, and for several long heartbeats, he remained perfectly still. Then he groaned deep in his throat and slid one hand to her waist. He brought her against his chest and kissed her. Like always, soft and sweet, creating a yummy suction as he drew her tongue into his mouth.

Adele dropped her purse to the floor, then plowed her fingers through the sides of his fine hair. Heat radiated from his chest and warmed her breasts. Her stomach felt light, her breathing heavy, as her nipples puckered into excruciatingly hard points. While his mouth made love to hers, she tried to remain still. She tried to keep her hands on the sides of his head and not roaming the hard contours of his chest and back, but then he slid his fingers beneath the bottom edge of her sweater and pressed his thumbs into her stomach, and she let her fingers do some walking all over him.

She pressed her legs together against the hot need pooling between her thighs. She reminded herself that they were standing in the girls’ bathroom at Cedar Creek High, and she could not pull his shirt from his Levi’s and feel his bare skin. She definitely couldn’t run her mouth all over him and eat him up like a hot fudge sundae, but until the curse kicked in and put an end to this madness, she was going to feel sexual desire pour all over her.

His thumbs fanned her skin and the tingling sensation spread up her chest. She turned her head to one side and turned up the heat. She gave him long, feeding kisses, and he pressed his erection into her pelvis.

“Mmm,” she moaned into his starving mouth, and wanted more before it all had to stop. He shoved a knee between hers as one hand moved from beneath her sweater to the top of her zipper. While his tongue plunged into her mouth, his fingers pulled the zipper down until it came free at the bottom. Then his hands were on her breasts, cupping her through her white satin bra.

He slid his mouth to the side of her throat, and her head fell to one side. “You don’t know how much I want you,” he groaned, as his hands slid to the back of her bra.

“Hooks in the front,” she whispered. Actually, she did know how much. He felt enormous and so hard that the pressure against her pelvis was almost painful. She lifted her knee up his thigh and wrapped her leg around his waist. He unhooked her bra and she rocked against him, feeling the hard pressure through her jeans and his.

His harsh breathing lifted his chest, and he pushed her sweater and the straps of her bra from her shoulders and down her arms. He pulled back to look at her, down at his big hands filled with the weight of her breasts.

“You’re the same as you were in college,” he said, his voice a harsh whisper.

“I’m older.” She gasped as his thumbs lightly stroked her puckered nipples, and she recalled the book about quarterbacks in his office and the quote about his “skilled hands.”

“Better.” He turned one hand and slowly brushed the backs of his knuckles across the aching tip of her breast. “Perfect.”

Adele looked up into his face, at his parted lips and brown eyes drugged with desire. Somehow she’d lost control of him and her and the situation. She’d waited for the curse to kick in. It hadn’t, and she’d lost the will and good sense to stop. She tore at the sweater and the straps of her bra, holding her wrists at her side, until they fell to the tiled floor. Then she slid her palms over his hard chest and shoulder and leaned forward to kiss him. He tasted good in her mouth, like hot, turned-on man. It had been three years since she’d felt anything so wonderful as Zach’s hands, his hot mouth, and his hard penis shoved against her.

Like the flash point of an escalating fire, the kiss ignited and turned all carnal and feeding, with hungry mouths and tongues. He rocked against her, rubbing the wet, aching places and stroking the fire. Her skin tingled, her breasts felt heavy, and her nipples painfully tight. It had been so long since she’d felt such delicious pleasure.

“Stop,” he groaned, as his hands moved to her behind and he shoved into her, pinning her hips to the wall. The wall felt cool against her back, and beneath her hands, his muscles turned hard as stone, and he froze. His lungs expanded as he inhaled a deep breath, and he whispered into her hair, “Tell me no.”

“No?”

“Sound more convincing.” His warm palm slid up from her waist, and left a hot trail up her bare stomach. “Slap my face.” His thumb brushed the underside of her breast. “Tell me we can’t do this here.”