Seduced by the Game (66 page)

“Okay.”

“I don’t have
time for you right now. That’s the bottom line. I wish things were different,
but they’re not. Here’s the very short version of my story.” She stopped to
take a cleansing breath, and, unconsciously lifted her chin before she
continued.

“There are a
few things I danced around when we talked about our childhoods. Here it is. I
don’t know who my father is. I grew up in Vegas, because my mother was an
exotic dancer. She did the best she could, but it wasn’t very good. When I was
thirteen, she was killed by her third—no, fourth husband. Apparently, she had
burned dinner one too many times.”

All Keith
wanted to do was gather her in his arms and comfort her. What strength she had!
To live through that and be the person she was today. “My God, Kelly.” He tried
to hold her hand, but she withdrew it. “Where did you go after that?”

“I was in
three different foster homes before I turned eighteen. And I know what you’re
thinking. You’re thinking I was rebelling and got into all sorts of trouble.
Nope. I was the good kid. See, I didn’t want to end up like my mother. I
excelled in school, but it just wasn’t ever good enough. The checks that came
from the state were the only things that kept foster parents from dumping me
out on the curb. But when the foster fathers became entirely too interested in
me, I ran away. Again and again. No one was going to rule my body. They may
have been in control of my food and shelter, but I was
not
going to be
violated.”

He had no idea
what to do, what to say. All Keith knew was that he wanted to wrap her in his
arms and never let go. Never let anyone or anything hurt her ever again.

Kelly shook
her head to clear it. “Wow. Sorry. Sometimes I forget that those times are
still lodged in here.” She lightly rapped her knuckles on her head for
emphasis. “Anyway, when I turned eighteen, I got a job as a waitress. I had
enough money hidden from odd jobs here and there to rent a disgusting trailer
for a while. It was okay, because I knew I’d be able to save more money if I
lived in a cheap place. As I began getting on my feet, I gave love a shot. It
worked for a while. Or I thought it would.”

Keith had a
very bad feeling about where this story was going. “One night, I gave in and
let him have sex with me. He liked it rough. After the second or third time of
him bruising me so badly that I couldn’t go to work, I left.” She let out a
humorless laugh. “Here’s the good part. He kicked me out of my own trailer, and
there really wasn’t anything I could do about it. So I moved to San Diego to
start fresh.”

Keith couldn’t
stop himself. He grabbed on to her and pulled her over to the ledge, still
holding on.

She allowed it
and smiled at him before she continued. “There’s more crap after that, but the
bottom line is that I’m good now. I’m independent; I have a couple of decent
jobs. My apartment isn’t too scary to walk to at night, and I’ll be finished my
bachelor’s degree in accounting in six months. Six months! I made it, Keith. I
made it. I don’t want to screw that up.”

To his horror,
she had tears in her eyes when he looked at her. “I just don’t have room in my
life for you right now. I’m sorry, I just can’t do it.”

What the hell
was he supposed to say to that?
Just tell her what you feel.
“Wow,
Kelly. That’s amazing.”

She actually
snorted at his statement. “Amazing? It’s pathetic. Poor little orphan girl. How
cliché am I?”

“Are you
crazy? You beat all the odds. Look at you! Look at all you accomplished. I had
no idea you were in school. Where do you find the time? You have two jobs that
I know of, volunteer at the animal shelter on weekends,
and
go to
college? Shit, Kel, all I do is pass a six-ounce piece of rubber around the
ice. I’m barely good enough to sit next to you.”

“Oh, you’re
good enough, Keith, but you scare the hell out of me. I’ve known you for how
long, a couple of weeks? And I feel things for you I’ve never felt before. It
scares me to death. There’s never been a man in my life who hasn’t disappointed
me in some way—not one. I know that’s a lot of pressure to put on men in
general, but that’s the way it is. I’m just not ready for a relationship, and
you need to know that.”

“That’s okay.
I’ll wait for you to be ready, but I’m not going anywhere. You might want to
resign yourself to my wanting to be around you, not to mention hitting on you.
Speaking of which, that suit is a total turn-on.”

“I purposely
wore this because it covers me up so much!” Kelly splashed him and swam away.

“Oh no, you
don’t!” Keith swam furiously after her, awed that she was able to put such a
large distance between them in a few short seconds. When he reached her, he
picked her up in his arms, spun her around, and threw her back into the water.
She came up sputtering her indignation.

“I can’t
believe you did that!” Laughing all the way, she swam back to him and put her
arms around his neck. “I’m scared,” she whispered.

“So am I.” In
front of everyone at that party, he kissed her. Right there in the water. Not
caring if the whole world saw them. Since she didn’t push him away, he took
advantage of being in the water where no one could clearly see his hands and
ran them over her hips and bottom, squeezing those plump globes in his hands.
He truly couldn’t get enough of her. He knew he was falling for her. She was a
ruining him for all other women.

Chapter 7

Sunday morning
rolled around and with it, some free time for Keith. The Scorpions had an
evening home game, so he had a few hours to kill. He was really missing having
a critter in the house and decided to go see Kelly at the animal orphanage.

“What are you
doing here?” Kelly’s smile lit up the dank hallway as she came out from the
back near the kennels.

“I want a
critter. I’m not even sure what kind.”

Her smile grew
brighter as she continued her walk toward him. “Yeah? We have a critter here
that isn’t as popular as the puppies. Care to take a look?”

“Hmm. It’s not
some mutant cat or something, is it?”

“You’ll just
have to wait and see. Follow me.”

“Gladly.” He
could watch her hips swing all day long. No hardship there.
Jesus, that ass!

They got to
the end of the hallway, and she opened a door to her left. Keith saw that the
room was full of a menagerie of animals. There were snakes, turtles, and even
frogs. “You have these kind of guys in the shelter? What the hell is wrong with
people?”

“Who knows? At
least they don’t kill them or put them out in the wild where they wouldn’t be
able to care for themselves anymore. I really try not to think about it too
much. It makes the job too hard. I want to take them all home.”

“So, which one
is my new buddy?”

Kelly walked
over to a cage in the corner of the room and came back with a huge ball of
black and white fluff. It had really long ears and big feet. “This little girl
is Daisy. She was hit by a car and had a broken leg. She’ll make a great pet, but
her leg will never heal well enough to make it back in the wild, so after the
vet set her leg, they brought her here to be adopted.” She handed Daisy to
Keith and studied his reaction. She was not disappointed by it.

“It’s a bunny.
Jesus, Kel. I just lost my man card. I’m in love.” He proceeded to give Daisy
little bunny kisses as Kelly’s face softened toward him.

“Wow. Yeah,
you did, but it works for you. You’ll take her?”

“Try and stop
me. But you’re going to have to teach me how to take care of her. I’ve never
had a bunny before.”

“Why don’t you
take her cage and water bottle for now? There’s food in there, and I’ll stop
over on the way home with her medications and instructions for her. Is that
okay?”

Keith was so
busy murmuring sweet nothings to his new pet that he didn’t hear what Kelly had
said. “Huh?”

She had to
laugh at his bonding with Daisy. “I’m going to stop over at your house with
stuff for Daisy and show you how to care for her, okay?”

“Yeah.
Absolutely. When? I have to leave for the rink around four.” It was only noon
so he had time.

“I’m almost
done here. I’ll be over in about an hour? I want to stop home and shower
first.” No way was she going over to his house smelling like wet dog. Even
though she wasn’t going to date him or anything, of course.

“Sure. We’ll
see you then. Wait—don’t I have to fill out all kinds of paperwork?”

“I think I can
vouch for you.”

“Thanks.” He
spoke quietly to Daisy as he gently placed her back in her cage. “Come on,
sweetheart. Let’s go home. You’re going to like it there. And I’m going to buy
you lots of carrots.”

* * * *

Keith had just
gotten Daisy situated after moving his furniture around so that he had a good
spot for Daisy in the living room. He wanted her cage up high enough and close
enough to the window that she would have something to look at. He’d also
stopped at the pet store and bought a huge, round, indoor pen so that he could
let her run around a bit in the house while he was home and not have to worry
about her chewing on electrical cords. That was where Kelly found them when she
knocked on Keith’s door.

“Come in!”

“Oh my God.
Aren’t you two cute?” Kelly looked at the sight that greeted her and felt her
heart constrict a bit. Keith was actually sitting in the pen, feeding carrots
to Daisy.

“Well, hell. I
already lost my man card, right? Besides, she likes me in here with her.” He
stood up carefully and climbed out of the pen. “Do you think she likes that or
is it stupid?”

“Not stupid at
all. I’m sure she loves to have some room to run around.” Kelly walked over and
gave him the remaining antibiotics for Daisy. “She’s only on them to prevent
any infection from the surgery to fix her leg. Other than that, she’s fine. And
I brought some food and some chews for her. Here are instructions about getting
her teeth filed and recommended vet visits.”

“Thanks,
Kelly.” He took the stuff from her and placed it all on the table. He closed
his eyes as her scent enveloped him. She smelled so fresh. It was a spring day
kind of scent, mixed with her own uniqueness. “You smell great.”

“Thanks. It’s
just my soap, I guess. I just got out of the shower a little while ago.”

They stood
there staring at each other, heat in their eyes. The only sound came from
Daisy, who was munching on a carrot. Keith took one step as Kelly did the same.

“What are we
doing, Keith?”

“I don’t know,
Kel, I just know it’s beyond my control.” He took the remaining step and drew
her body up against his.

“What is this?
This chemistry between us? I’ve never felt anything like it.”

“I think it’s
just that. Chemistry.” Keith put one hand on the side of her face. “If you
don’t leave now, sweetheart, I’m going to make love to you.”

She tried, she
really tried to leave. What came out of her mouth totally contradicted what her
brain was saying. “God help me, I’m not going anywhere.” Kelly’s hands slid
through his hair, tugging him down to her parted lips. It was like an explosion
of lust. There was no gentle kissing. Not this time. It was fire and brimstone.

His hands were
everywhere. Lips and teeth were rough against her mouth, and she wouldn’t have
it any other way. “Jesus, Keith.”

None too
gently, as he was too far gone, he fisted his hand in her hair, baring her neck
for the onslaught of his kisses. He licked and nipped her neck until she cried
uncle.

“Oh God. No
more. Please, Keith I need to feel you inside me.” She clawed at his shirt as
he lifted her in his arms. Sparing one glance for Daisy to make sure she was
safe in her pen, he strode down the hallway to his bedroom.

Even as she
was tearing at his clothes, she said, “This doesn’t change anything. I still
don’t want a relationship.”

“Uh-huh.” He
was too busy fighting with the button on her jeans to pay much attention to her
words. “Fuck, I can’t get these undone.”

Abruptly,
Kelly laughed and Keith joined her. “Let’s slow down a little.” Kelly led by
example, stepping back and calmly unbuttoning her jeans. When she looked back
up, Keith was standing there wearing only his boxer briefs, which were most
impressively bulging. “Or not.”

“Come here.
Let me finish that for you.” Keith pulled her over to him by her belt loop and
finished what she started. When he had her stripped down to her matching pink
lace bra and panties, he had trouble catching his breath. “You’re beautiful,
Kelly.”

“No, I’m not,
but thank you.”

“You’re wrong.
You
are
beautiful.” He caressed her arms, moving around to her back, and
down past her bottom to the tops of her thighs. With each touch on her skin,
his cock twitched. Slowly, he slanted his lips over hers. She willingly opened
for him and his tongue swept inside, absorbing the exquisite taste that was
uniquely her.