Playing for Hearts (19 page)

She stiffened as his thumb brushed over her. Her body squeezed around him. Then he stroked her again and she exploded, moaning his name, her body melting under him.

He murmured his pleasure near her ear, letting her ride out her orgasm, draining the last shudder from her. Then, when she was satisfied, he allowed himself to lose control. His thrusts became wilder, stronger, and more urgent. She stroked his chest, moving under him, encouraging him. He plunged deeply one last time and laid his forehead on hers, his breath coming out in a heated rush as he climaxed.

He was dead weight on her as he seemed to struggle to gain strength to remove himself from her body. When he finally stirred and started to push himself off, she stopped him.

“Not yet,” she said.

He pressed his pelvis back between her legs, and braced himself on his elbows, smoothing the hair off her face. “I'm too heavy.”

“You're perfect.” She smiled into the darkness. “I want to ask you something.”

“Sure.” He stifled a yawn.

“Is everything okay? I mean, between us?”

He kissed her forehead, and hauled himself off her. “Yeah. Why?”

“I don't know.” She sat up. “Maybe it's the stress of hosting the event that's getting to me. I just wanted to make sure.”

Friday morning seemed to arrive the minute after Shauna placed her head on her pillow. After staying too late at Grayson's house the night before, she'd set her alarm clock for an hour earlier than normal and arrived in the park as the maintenance crew finished roping the area off.

Long tables lined the closest side of the field where she'd scheduled Dominic to perform during the day. There were trash bins, portable outhouses, and enough signs erected to direct the people on where to line up for the activities, and keep chaos from taking over. She spotted Dominic standing with a group of men all dressed in black near midfield. She bit her lip to keep from laughing. He'd told her he'd come with his own security team, but seriously? Suited men with darkened sunglasses? In Cottage Grove?
Yeah, nobody will notice them.

“There you are, beautiful.” Dominic stepped around the table, leaned down, and kissed Shauna's cheek. “I want you to make sure the children are placed first in line. We must keep their safety our top priority.”

“O … kay.” She raised her brows. “Although, I imagine kids will be coming throughout the day, because it's Teacher In-Service Day, and there's no school.”

“It doesn't matter. It's the women.” He nodded, and gave her an indulgent smile as if she was slow on the uptake. “You'll see.”

“I know we've only known each other less than twenty-four hours, Dominic, but really? Give us women a little respect. Not everyone is going to turn into a nymphomaniac today. This is a public area and females do have self-respect. Look at me. I'm able to hold myself back from stripping my clothes off and jumping you right here.” She laughed, but her amusement cut short at noticing the seriousness etched on Dominic's face. “You know what I mean.”

He straightened and gazed down his broad nose at her. “I do not understand. There must be something wrong with you. All women find me attractive. This is not natural.”

“Normal or not, you wouldn't want me. Trust me.” She patted his arm. “Let's walk over to the field, and you can see how you'll be making shots with a hockey stick and a rubber ball. I'm sorry about not having an ice rink at your disposal, but this was the closest I could come up with in such a short time.”

“It is fine.” He approached the stack of hockey sticks, grinned, and struck a pose. “I look good, yes?”

She rolled her eyes. “I've seen better.”

“You tease.” He winked before putting the equipment away.

Dominic's entourage surrounded him on all sides, their arms folded, their faces void of emotion.

She tilted her head and studied the one closest to her. “Um, Dominic?”

“Yes, beautiful?”

“Are they wearing some kind of listening devices?” She stared at the almost transparent wire that traveled from the inside of the guard's ear, down his neck, and disappeared inside the collar of his black suit.

“Yes.” Dominic lifted his leg, pulled up his jeans, and displayed a small box strapped to his muscled calf. “Along with being able to hear me wherever I go, I'm also implanted with a tracking device.”

“Shit.” She stared in horror. “Is that in case you run off and someone turns you in at the dog pound?”

“I do not understand what this pound place you talk about is but yes, if I am kidnapped, they will find me.” He shrugged. “Don't worry though. We've only had that happen once.”

She blinked several times. “This is so bizarre.”

Loud voices reached them. She turned, but before she could say anything, Dominic's x-team picked her up and set her to the side out of the way, and then took up their positions around Dominic. She huffed, a little put out with their rude behavior.

Everything happened faster than she could react. Women — more women than she ever thought she'd see in Cottage Grove — rushed the field. Mothers left children unattended, yards away in strollers. Older children turned in a circle, searching for their mothers, lost. She scanned the mob. There were women screaming, crying, and pushing and — oh my God, did that woman faint?

Shauna turned around and sought Dominic. Safely tucked behind the wall of bodyguards, he appeared seemingly unperturbed about the fanfare. He shrugged his large shoulders and mouthed
I told you.

The security team held the women back, but they couldn't keep it up for long. They were severely outnumbered. Where had all the women come from?

She'd have to act fast. A catastrophe was the last thing she needed on the opening day of the event.

Shauna jogged over to the picnic table and climbed on the top. “Can I have your attention?” She cleared her throat. “Excuse me!”

No one paid her any mind. They dedicated their pursuit to push and jump and scream in their need to get closer to Dominic. She stuck her fingers in her mouth and sent a deafening whistle over the crowd of females. They froze and turned to her without uttering a sound.

“Dominic is willing to challenge everyone, one at a time, to try and get a goal past him.” She inhaled deeply. “That means every single woman, I mean person, will have his whole attention, but to do that you'll have to listen. Dominic has requested that children go first.”

The ladies groaned. She held out her hands and motioned for them to calm down. She'd never seen mass hysteria at this level over one male in her life.

“If you all will line up, we can start organizing the event. Remember, its two dollars for one shot. The more money you spend, the more tries you'll get.” She caught a group of women sneaking in front of the kids. “Children first!”

Fifteen minutes later, she breathed a sigh of relief. The games had begun, and the women watched quietly, if not stubbornly, from their place in line. The cash box overflowed with money, already exceeding her projected goal. With more people heading toward the field, she walked toward her car to grab another container when she saw Diana.

“Look at this crowd. Where did they all come from?” Diana gazed past Shauna.

She hitched her thumb over her shoulder. “Dominic Chekovsky, professional hockey player, and apparently a babe magnet of mega proportions.”

Diana groaned. “Ugh. Muscles wasted on the dumb.”

“Do me a favor. Will you help the others keep control of the group? I need to find something else to hold all the money that's coming in on this event. Those women are not going to stop paying until Dominic calls an end to his day. It's insane. There are even women who I know are married making fools of themselves over him.”

“Sure.” She smiled. “It'll give me time to check out the eye candy, and make fun of our friends.”

Shauna grinned. “Enjoy.”

On the way to the parking lot, she dug her phone out of her jeans and checked her messages in case Grayson had called. Nothing.

Not surprising, because Grayson had promised to help Bruce set up the trout pond at the lake and it was still early. An inflatable three-foot swimming pool stocked with fish from the closest hatchery would provide a guaranteed catch for the kids twelve years old and under. Bruce would divide his time between motivating the children and handing out fly-fishing tips to the adults.

Shauna threw herself into keeping chaos from happening around Dominic and the rest of the day flashed by her in a blur. She'd missed lunch and dinner, and still Dominic continued to challenge the community. Her pockets bulged from the amount of money Dominic brought in, and she could only hope that the other athletes would do so well.

A familiar laugh brought her gaze up and she smiled. Her dad stepped out on the field with a hockey stick in his hand. She stood up, moved to the front of the crowd, and whistled, happy he took time off from fixing cars to have a little fun.

“Come on, Dad. You can win!” She clapped.

Dominic raised his brows. “Oh, beautiful, you wound me. I always win.”

She laughed. “You're going down. That's my dad, and he's the best.”

As Dominic lined up to shoot the ball into the goal, Tony turned around, smiled, and sent a wink toward the crowd. Shauna followed his line of vision and found her mom clapping on the sidelines a few yards away from her. She scowled. The thought of her dad enjoying the day with someone else, particularly the woman who'd left her own family, left her nauseous.

When was the last time she'd convinced her dad to take time off and go out to dinner with her or see a movie? She swallowed hard. Her new job took so much of her time, she'd put off connecting with him since she got back home.
Shit. I'm the worst daughter.

She studied her mother. While she'd been gone, the years hadn't been kind to her. The soft, young face Shauna remembered was replaced with lined wrinkles around tired eyes and a thinner mouth. She'd cut her long black hair short, and there were gray streaks through her bangs. The smile — she glanced away — was the same.

Not able to face how disconnected she felt around her family, she took her box to another worker to oversee, and made her excuses. She hurried through the park to her car. In the safety of her vehicle, away from the memories, she called Grayson. He picked up on the first ring.

“Hey, you.” She let her head fall back on the seat. “I'm so glad you answered.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” She swallowed. “I'm starving, and thought I'd stop and pick up a pizza. What do you think about having me deliver it to your house? I won't even ask you to tip me.”

“Sounds delicious.”

She smiled. “Great. I'll be there in a little bit.”

“Oh.” Shauna groaned loud and long. “Yes!”

Grayson moved lower. “Right here?”

“Mm hm.” She waited, braced for the pressure, and clawed at the floor as Grayson lunged against her. “That. Feels. So. G-good.”

The door slammed. Grayson never stopped. She turned her head to see who came in and groaned out in pleasure.

“Hey, Dominic. How did the — ” She moaned, and waited until Grayson finished messaging her back and moved off of her. “How did your event go?”

“The women are insane. They are still there. I can't get rid of them.” Dominic rubbed the back of his neck. “I'm afraid they won't leave the park. It took my security team a half hour driving down a lot of roads before they could sneak me back here without any of them following us.”

She clicked her tongue and stood up. “Poor baby. Come here and lie down on the floor. My back is killing me. I can only imagine how you're feeling after facing so many challenges all day long.”

Dominic stepped over and lay down on his stomach. Shauna reached for Grayson's hands for leverage, and then stepped barefooted onto Dominic's broad back. He groaned, and she grinned at Grayson. “We could go into business together. You could do messages, and I could take my frustrations out on people by stomping on them. Tell me again why we're busting our asses making money for Cottage Grove?”

“It's our home.” Grayson leaned over and kissed her.

“This is good.” Dominic closed his eyes. “Are you sure you're not fantasizing about me? You don't have a foot fetish, do you?”

“Nope.” She laughed. “I might as well be your sister for how much I'm not attracted to you.”

“Strange,” Dominic muttered. “I think something is wrong with your woman, Grayson.”

She dug her toes into Dominic's ribs. “Hey. Watch it. You're not in the position to make insults.”

“You're hurting his feelings.” Grayson laughed.

A few minutes later, soft snores floated in the room and Shauna gently stepped off Dominic's back. She motioned Grayson to follow her. In the kitchen, she put the extra food left over from dinner in the fridge.

“Make sure you wake him up in a little bit and send him to bed. Dominic worked harder than I ever expected. He deserves a full night's sleep.” She closed the fridge. “Is it always like that for him? The women, I mean … they're savages around him. They treated him as if he's some sex slave come to earth to please them. Some of their comments made me want to slap them. I can't imagine how he keeps his cool. They have no idea what a nice man he is. They only see him for a sexy jock, and that's wrong. I don't think he enjoys all the women's attention.”

“That's why he was hiding out in his home country of Russia. He's told me before that back there, the women ignore him and he can live normally. Staying in the States is hell for him. He can't escape from the fanatics.” Grayson leaned against the counter. “No one really understands what makes women go crazy around him. He's had a company hound him for the last couple of years, because they want to bottle his sweat. They believe he emits more pheromones than the average man.”