Playing For Keeps (4 page)

“Are you going to stop staring at me?”

He shook his head slowly. “No.”

She tilted her head to the side. “It isn’t polite to stare.”

He laughed. “Oh, so you do know the meaning of the word?”

Her eyes widened at his sharp remark. “You—
oh
!”

She jumped up from the table, knocking her chair over in the process. He knew he caught her off guard when he touched her leg.

Her look became even more irritated. “Why are you touching me?”

He stood and stalked around the table to her, like she was the prey and he was the predator. She backed up as he continued toward her.

“Why not? You didn’t seem to mind a few weeks ago.”

He didn’t stop until her back hit the fridge. There wasn’t any fear in her eyes, only anxiety. She licked her lips before she spoke, and he followed the movement with his eyes. “That was different.”

He stepped closer to her. “How?”

She shrugged, and he liked that she seemed to be so affected by his nearness. He couldn’t ever recall her being speechless around him.

“Are you afraid of me, Keirra, or is it the uniform?”

Her eyes widened as if he hit her conflicts dead-on. He leaned closer to her, and she shrank back before she seemed to catch herself. He watched her stiffen her shoulders.

“Neither.”

She tried to step away, but he wouldn’t let her. He brought his hands up and bracketed her body in between them.

“I think it may be both.”

She shook her head in denial, but he continued speaking. “I think you believe that I am too much of a man for you. That I will get inside your castle you’ve built and give you a little taste of everything you want before breaking your heart by walking away.”

A gasp escaped her, but he kept talking. “I bet that the men that you have dated have been weak minded and didn’t give you anywhere near the challenge that you need.”

As if it were possible, Eric stepped closer to her.

“I should tell you that I plan to challenge you. Challenge you beyond your wildest dreams.”

Instead of giving her time to answer, he stepped even closer to her. He couldn’t recall ever wanting a woman so badly. When he stood directly in front of her, he reached out and cupped the back of her neck to guide her mouth to meet his.

The moment their lips touched he felt it. Passion so thick you could cut it. And when he went past her moist lips and inserted his tongue inside her mouth, he knew he had been anticipating this very moment ever since the night they met.

He was surprised when her response was immediate, absolute and totally appetizing. The reason they were here might be incidental, but the sexual chemistry between them was as instantaneous and unprompted as it could get. The depth of her sensuality was enough to make him want to jump into Lake Mayers to cool off. A cold shower just wouldn’t work off the heat.

He had discovered ever since he had met her at Sam’s Cafe, that he desired her to the point of madness. And this was the result. He was getting a pretty good taste of her, and she was getting a good taste of him, as well.

He heard her groan low in her throat and knew if he pushed hard enough they would be making love right here, possibly on the floor, which wasn’t where he wanted their first time to be. The spectacle they would cause would be bail worthy. He knew she could feel how aroused he was from the way his body was pressed against hers. He wanted her to feel it. Get used to it.

He really did need to slow down, he thought, as he continued to kiss her. He would take things slow.

This is what he wanted. What she wanted. And he was struck by the enormity of just how much passion was in one single kiss. Of how much tongue action was required. He was enjoying sharing both with her. There was nothing gentle about the kiss. Far from it.

There was hunger, gluttony, and a desperation he hadn’t been used to before, but was getting familiar with now. For some reason she felt right in his arms. Right against his mouth. Right with her body pressed intimately against his.

It wasn’t easy, but he finally gained control and pulled back. She gasped for breath the moment their mouths separated. After pulling air into his own lungs he leaned back close to her, lowered his head close to her ear and whispered in a deep, husky tone, “I like you. I like you a lot, but I can’t force you to like me. All I can ask is that you give me a chance. Get to know me. The real me not the person that you think you know.”

She rested her forehead on his chest. At first he wondered if she heard him, then he felt her sigh.

“What do you have to offer me?”

He sighed. “Take a chance and find out. I promise you. I will make it worth every moment of your time. I promise we will go slow, very slow. Now let’s clean up, and you tell me what else you have planned for this evening.”

She gave him a real smile, something that didn’t happen often, and he felt like he had been kicked in the gut. Her smile was radiant and lit up her entire face.

“To be honest I don’t have anything else planned. The original plan had been to feed you and put you out.”

He chuckled when he realized she was serious. “I like your honesty,” he replied brushing the back of his hand over her cheek.

“Are you ready for me to leave?”

She shook her head. “Not yet. How about we watch a movie?”

He wasn’t ready to leave either. They hadn’t reached an actual agreement yet, but she hadn’t said no, and it was start.

“I like your idea.”

After they cleaned up the kitchen she led the way into the living room and turned on the television.

The first movie that she came across was
Pirates of the Caribbean
. She looked over at Eric.

“Is this okay?”

He nodded, and she put the remote down and settled in to watch the movie. They had only missed a few minutes of the movie. After the kiss they just shared he had to focus his mind to concentrate on the movie. Midway through the movie somehow they managed to become considerably close to each other. He smiled when she bravely removed the rest of the space separating them, and he automatically brought his arm up and placed it around her shoulder. She relaxed in his embrace, and it felt more natural than he thought it would, and they remained in that position until the movie ended.

Eric stretched as he looked at her. “I like that movie.”

She smiled. “So do I, but then again, there aren’t too many movies that I don’t like.”

He looked down at his watch. “Well hopefully we will have the opportunity to watch several more movies together.”

She studied him for a moment and looked away but not before he saw the indecisiveness in her eyes.

Her next words didn’t do anything to assure him that tonight had made much of a difference. “We shall see.”

Overall it had been a good night, and he wasn’t going to push. After the kiss they just shared he knew he had proved there was chemistry between them. He would give her a little time and space to figure out her thoughts, her feelings. Standing up her held out his hand to her and pulled her to her feet.

“It is getting late, and I have errands that I need to run in the morning. However, the ball is in your court now. Call me when you are ready.”

She nodded. “I will.”

Her tone wasn’t convincing, but he smiled. “Thank you for inviting me over. I’m not sure what made you do it, but I am glad.”

“So am I,” she replied softly.

He walked her to the front door before turning to face her. He leaned forward and gave her a brief kiss on the lips. “Good night and sweet dreams.”

“You too,” she whispered.

Eric opened the door and walked toward his SUV. When he reached it, he got in, and he saw that Keirra was still in the doorway watching him. He started the engine, and then Keirra closed the door. After backing out of the driveway, he made the short drive home.

It seemed strange to call it home, but it was. The time that he lived in Atlanta he had rented an apartment, but the move to Baxley made him want something more permanent. There had only been four houses available in Baxley that he’d been interested in, and the one that he bought was nice and had a homey feel to it. The house was also in a good position to be added onto or remodeled if needed. Right now, he liked it as it was. It was a one-story, four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom house. Large enough for the family size that he wanted.

He walked into his house and went to his bedroom. He tossed his keys on the dresser and undressed. Once he was down to his boxers, he walked back into the living room. Stretching out on the couch he flipped on the television. He settled in to watch a little until he became sleepy.

He hadn’t wanted to leave Keirra, but he hadn’t wanted to wear out his welcome on the first visit.

Also having her in his arms was almost more than he could handle, and the last thing he wanted was to make her anymore wary than she already was.

She was a character. Tonight had started out rocky but had quickly smoothed over. If he hadn’t known better, he would have insisted that she had switched places with one of her sisters during the meal. The good thing was that she would fit right in with the family. His sisters could be neurotic as well. Gaia was the oldest of the four of them. Irene was the second oldest. Marianne was the third in birth order.

Growing up the only boy had been a lot of fun in a lot of ways, and traumatic in others. Either way he had learned valuable lessons from his sisters. He missed them, but he was happy in Baxley, and he knew that his family knew that now. It had almost started a riot when he had informed everyone that he was moving to Baxley. Since then, he had only been home once, but he was getting ready to go home twice and almost back-to-back. Next weekend was his mother’s birthday, and Thanksgiving came around two weeks after that. Not to mention Christmas that would follow a month later.

Tomorrow was Halloween, so he had to get up and get some candy for the kids who would be on the hunt. Why he had waited until the last minute made no sense to him because he was normally more organized, but he was going to make the best of the situation. He would do a little last-minute decorating as well. By the time nightfall rolled around, he would be ready.

He turned onto the sports channel to catch the previews for upcoming games. Once the NFL

previews were over, he turned off the television and headed for his bedroom.

Pulling back the covers, he crawled into bed and closed his eyes. The image of Keirra appeared before him so clearly that he had to open his eyes to make sure that she wasn’t really there. He closed his eyes again. This time her image didn’t appear, but his thoughts of her flowed freely. There was so much that he wanted to know about her.

Walking through the Smiths’ house tonight, he had seen several pictures of the three sisters growing up. He had seen pictures of what he was certain were her parents and their grandparents as well, but he didn’t know a lot about either of them because there was hardly any mention of them, at least to strangers.

One thing that he did know was that they were all deceased. When the time was right, he would ask.

Keirra was a woman that he had to feel his way with. One wrong move, and he would be back to square one. He had made it this far, and he didn’t feel like starting back over. A yawn escaped him, and he realized that sleepiness had sneaked up on him. He exhaled deeply before relaxing.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and he needed his rest.

* * * *

“Okay, so what’s up with you and Eric? I heard the two of you had dinner last night.”

Keirra bit back a groan when Kristen asked the question as soon as they were seated at a booth in Sam’s Café. The way she and her sisters ate at the restaurant they ought to have part ownership.

Even so she had never eaten at Sam’s so many times in one week. The food was excellent and reasonably priced for those who wanted a cheap meal, yet there were enough pricey items on the menu for those who wanted it.

Tonight she and Kristen were splurging. Instead of going for their normal food, they had both ordered thick juicy double cheeseburgers with bacon, and crisp waffle fries. When their burgers arrived they were on nice oversized plates, but the amount of food heaped on them took away from the size. They looked at each other and laughed. Keirra reached for the ketchup. “I think we should have just gotten one and split it.”

Kristen shook her head. “Well, it is too late now. Besides I have a boyfriend at home who will finish what I can’t eat. You would too if you gave Eric a chance.”

Keirra took a bite of her burger and closed her eyes at the wonderful taste, and she took her time chewing giving herself time to collect her thoughts before she spoke.

“The man is sexy as hell, and it is irritating. I would love to go out with him, but I can’t lower my guard. Every time I look at him I see dad, and it eats me up inside.”

She wasn’t even going to tell her sister about how he had rocked her world with his kiss. When he first lowered his head to kiss her, she had been set to resist, then his lips came down on hers, and she forgot what she was going to do. The man was a good kisser. No he was an excellent kisser. He made her forget where she was. She had no choice but to close her eyes, and her arms came up around his neck. The kiss seemed to go on forever. He wasn’t aggressive, and he let her take the lead, but she realized that in several ways he still controlled the kiss.

When she pulled back and ended the kiss, she had felt different, different in a way that she couldn’t explain at all. The storm of emotions that had rushed through her had frightened her. When Eric stepped away from her, she had shivered from his lack of warmth. She missed it even as she sat across from her sister pretending as though she didn’t. She was way in over her head. This was starting to become more than a fear of Eric being an officer of the law. It was about what he could do to her if she let him.

Kristen stared at Keirra a long time before speaking. “You have to get over this unnatural fear at some point. I’m not going to lie. I do think about Randy getting hurt on the job, and when he is serving a warrant, I’m almost beside myself. I also think about what happened to dad a lot, but my love for Randy won’t let me turn away from him. I can’t.”