The Perfect Play (36 page)

“What don’t you want?”

“I don’t want all the media attention, all the models and actresses and movie premieres and the other stuff.”

“What do you want?”

“I want to play football for as long as my body will let me, and for as long as I can do a good job at it. And I want a wife. A son. Maybe another kid.”

She swallowed. “Ready-made family, huh?”

Her voice had gone hoarse. There were tears in her eyes. He moved to the couch. “I’ve known what I wanted since that night several months ago when I met this beautiful woman in a ballroom. She was perfect for me.”

She blinked, and her eyes went soft and dark. “Is that right?”

“Yes. I knew then there was something special about her. I didn’t exactly know then that I wanted to marry her, but I know that now. I love you, Tara.”

Tara lifted her gaze to his. “I knew that night there was something special about you, too. But I was scared. I’ve never been lucky in love.”

He tipped her chin with his fingers. “Time for your luck to change.”

He brushed his lips against hers, and she sighed. He gathered her against him, so damn happy she’d come to him that his heart felt like it was swelling inside his chest.

He wasn’t a guy who was used to emotion, but he felt tears pricking his eyes. He shut them out and concentrated on the way Tara made him feel. Happy. Perfect.

And when her body touched his, all he felt was heat. Her hair brushed against his arm, and he lifted his hand to sweep along its length, tangle his fingers in it, and tug on it a little. She moaned against him and pulled her lips from his.

“I love you. I’ve missed you. I’ve been so stupid.”

He put his finger against her lips. “That’s over now. The past is always over. You only have to think about the future.” He pulled her onto his lap. “I’m going to make love to you, then we’re going to talk about that future. I’ve missed being inside you.”

She held on to his arms. “God, I’ve missed that, too.”

He pulled her sweater off and dragged her T-shirt over her head, laid her on the couch, and licked over the swell of her breasts. The taste of her set him on fire, the need to feel her hard nipples against his tongue overruling his desire to take things slow. He unclasped her bra and pulled it away, then took her nipples in his mouth, rolling his tongue over the hard buds until she arched and fed them to him. He sucked and licked her, and she writhed against him until his cock was about to bust the zipper on his pants.

He drew her jeans off, already inhaling the sweet smell of her desire.

“You wet for me?”

She looked up at him. “All I’ve been doing is thinking about you, dreaming about you. All I want is for you to fuck me until I come.”

He left her only long enough to get a condom, tossed it onto the table, but first he needed to taste her. He drew her panties off, her moisture glistening in the overhead lights. He used his thumb to trace the seam of her pussy lips, loving that she shuddered at his touch. When he slid his finger inside her and bent down to capture her clit between his lips, she cried out, bucking against him.

“Oh, God, Mick, I won’t last long.”

He didn’t want her to wait. He wanted her to come, wanted to taste her as she let go and came against his mouth and tongue. He pressed down with his tongue against her clit and dragged it across her soft lips, keeping his finger inside her pumping away, then brought his lips over her clit and sucked.

“Oh, God, oh, God, Mick.” She rocked against his mouth while he lapped up her come, removing his fingers to suck up all her juices while she shuddered against him. Then he pulled away only long enough to drop his pants and put on the condom. He spread her legs apart and inched inside her, needing to fuck her hard but needing to savor this moment, because he loved her now, and it was like the very first time.

With Tara, it would always be like the first time.

It was perfect.

 

 

TARA WATCHED THE PLAY OF EMOTIONS ON MICK’S FACE, from passion to near pain as he entered her. She was so filled with love for this man she could barely contain her joy. The pleasure he brought her held no bounds. She lifted against him, still pulsing inside from the orgasm he’d given her. Her pussy tightened around him, gripping him as he swelled inside her and dragged impossible sensations from her with every thrust.

She held on to his arms as he moved slow and easy at first, then quickened the pace, rolling his hips over her clit and grinding against her until she climbed that precipice again. He took her right to the edge, then pulled back, giving her that wicked smile that told her he knew exactly where she’d been, but wouldn’t let her go just yet.

“Bastard.”

“You love me.”

“Yes, I do. Now let me come.”

He dropped down on top of her and kissed her, a bone-melting kiss, his tongue sliding over hers, his fingers buried in her hair, his body connected to hers in the most intimate way. There wasn’t a part of him that wasn’t touching her, from his cock to his mouth to his heart.

It was perfect.

And when she came, she cried out against his lips, and he groaned against hers, and it was the sweetest sound of love that left her laughing and crying and thinking life was just so damn good, and she’d almost thrown it all away.

After, they ate pizza and curled up together on the sofa.

“You want a big wedding?”

She turned to look at him. “I have no idea. I’ve never thought about it.”

He arched a brow. “You’re a woman. All women think about stuff like this. And besides, you’re an event planner.”

She shrugged. “I just never thought I’d get married.”

“You’re getting married. Plan a big wedding.”

“I don’t have any family. Except Nathan, of course.”

“You have my family. They’re now your family. And they’re huge. And then there’s the team. Also huge. And lots of friends.”

“Guess I should start a guest list.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “Guess you should.” He grabbed his drink and took a long swallow.

“Do you really want a baby?”

He shifted his gaze to her. “Do you?”

She smiled at him, remembering the feel of the baby she held. “I’ve thought about it.”

“I’d love another kid like Nathan. Or maybe a little girl like you.”

Her heart warmed, and she snuggled against him. “I have no idea what I did to deserve someone like you.”

“Just lucky, I guess.”

She shoved her shoulder into him, and he laughed.

“I’m the lucky one, Tara. I have you; I have Nathan. I have the perfect life. Thank you.”

She lifted up and kissed him, a long, lingering kiss.

“Mmmmm, pepperoni. Perfect, indeed.”

GAVIN RILEY KNEW ELIZABETH DARNELL HAD BEEN avoiding him for the past several months. And he knew why.

She was afraid he was going to fire her just like his brother Mick had.

Oh, sure, Mick played in the NFL and Gavin played Major League Baseball, so in a lot of ways they were similar. And since Mick was Gavin’s big brother, many people thought Gavin followed Mick’s lead, especially in business matters. After all, Mick had hired Elizabeth first and Gavin had followed suit.

But people would assume wrong. Gavin made his own decisions about business and didn’t do everything his brother did. Even if Liz had messed with Mick’s personal life, hurt Mick’s girlfriend and her son, and had done just about everything humanly possible to piss his brother off. And she might have apologized and set things right with Mick, Tara, and Tara’s son, Nathan, but it had been a case of too little, too late.

There were things a sports agent did that were valuable to an athlete’s career. But screwing with an athlete’s love life could be the kiss of death for an agent.

Liz had never once touched Gavin’s love life. In fact, Liz threw women at him like a pimp. Beautiful women. Actresses, models, the kind of women that made Gavin look good. Gavin had no complaints. In fact, Liz had done the same thing for Mick until he had fallen in love with Tara Lincoln and put an end to Liz coupling Mick with the latest and greatest starlet on the cover of whatever magazine would get him the most exposure. But Liz had tried to get Tara and her son out of Mick’s life, which had resulted in Liz getting fired.

And that’s why she’d been avoiding Gavin, no doubt afraid Gavin had sided with Mick and was ready to do the same—which Gavin found pretty damned amusing. Elizabeth watched over her clients like a hawk, and for her to go to complete radio silence was like giving up and letting the vultures swoop in and take over her prime real estate.

Not that Gavin was the best player around, but she’d sat on him since she signed him, not letting any other agents get within talking—or signing—distance.

Maybe it had something to do with that night Mick had fired her.

Mick had walked out of the locker room, leaving Elizabeth alone with Gavin.

Liz had come up to him looking all teary-eyed and vulnerable, two things that were totally uncharacteristic of her.

Then she’d kissed him. And walked away.

Not that he’d thought about that kiss much over the past months.

Much.

Except she’d avoided him, which was also uncharacteristic of her. So had it been the kiss that had sent her into hiding, or the fear he’d fire her?

It was time for her to come out and face the music.

She couldn’t avoid him forever, and especially not at this sports banquet where she had several clients, Gavin included, though she was doing her best to steer clear of him.

He’d laid low most of the night, letting her flit around and focus on a few of his baseball peers. He always enjoyed watching her work a room full of hotshot jocks. Elizabeth commanded attention. It didn’t matter whether a room was filled with the hottest females around—a guy would have to be either limp dicked or dead not to notice her. Hair the color of his favorite red sports car; incredible blue eyes; creamy, soft skin; and legs a man could only hope to some day have wrapped around him. And she showed it all off with practiced precision. She was a walking sex bomb with a wicked brain. Lethal combination.

Gavin would be lying if he didn’t admit to being tempted by Liz. But he never mixed business with pleasure, and he took his opportunities elsewhere. Liz had been a great agent, had locked him up tight with the St. Louis Rivers Major League Baseball team right out of college, and she’d worked her ass off to make him rich, get him product endorsements, and keep him in his position at first base. He never wanted to do anything to change that.

Besides, he doubted Elizabeth was his type.

Gavin was pretty damned particular about the women he chose. And ballbusting women like Elizabeth? Definitely not his type.

But they needed to get a few things straight, and she could only avoid him for so long.

The banquet was winding down and most everyone was leaving. Liz was with Radell James and his wife, walking with them toward the main ballroom doors. Gavin shot out a side door and hung back, unobserved, while she said her good-byes.

She looked good tonight in one of her usual business suits. Black, which seemed to be one of her favorite colors, and tailored to within an inch of its life. The skirt hung just above her knee, and those shoes she wore played up her toned calves, too. She walked through the front doors of the hotel and outside with Radell and his wife.

Gavin stepped outside unnoticed while Liz talked with Radell. He stood in the background and watched until Radell and Teesha’s taxi arrived.

After they left, Liz leaned against the brick wall and closed her eyes. She looked tired. Or defeated. Her guard was down.

Time for Gavin to make his move. He stepped in front of her.

“You’ve been avoiding me, Elizabeth.”

Her eyelids shot up and her eyes widened with shock. She started to push off the wall but he pinned her there by placing his hand on the wall by her shoulder. There was a planter on the other side, so she had nowhere to go.

“Gavin. What are you doing here?”

“It’s the sports banquet. You knew I was here. In fact, I’d say you danced around tables doing your best to not see me tonight.”

She blinked. Her sweetly painted mouth worked, but nothing came out for a few seconds. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her at a loss for words. Her eyes darted from side to side like a cornered animal looking for escape.

But she finally relaxed, her gaze warmed and the old Elizabeth was back. She tipped her finger down the lapel of his jacket.

“I wasn’t avoiding you, sugar. I picked up a new client so I had to babysit him a bit and introduce him to all the right media people. Then there was Radell and we had a few things to discuss that were important. I’m so sorry we haven’t had a chance to catch up. Did you need me for something?”

“Yeah. We need to talk.”

In an instant, the warmth fled. Her expression narrowed. “About what?”

“You and me.”

Something flashed in her eyes, something hot he’d never seen before.

Or maybe never noticed before. As soon as it was there, it was gone.

Maybe he’d just imagined it. But Gavin didn’t imagine things, and what he’d seen caused a tightening in his balls. It was like the kiss that night, throwing him for a loop and making him second guess everything he thought about her. He’d always maintained his distance from Liz because they had a professional relationship. Besides, she didn’t pay much attention to him. She never fawned over him in the same way she did with Mick and a lot of her other clients. She’d always maintained her distance. He figured she never had any interest in him, which suited him just fine since he had no problem finding women, and women had no problem finding him.