Winning Her Love (2 page)

Lana didn’t want to go out partying to pick up a guy. She didn’t want to leave Olivia. Lana would rather stay at home with her daughter and read a good book. She loved her book boyfriends. She blamed them for her high expectations. The chemistry she craved now. Lana wanted a man she could talk to, who was sexy, possessive, and who she could love forever, but most important was awesome with her daughter, because Olivia came first.

Lana knew the man in front of her wasn’t that man.

Tim touched her arm and leaned down, whispering, “Let’s get out of here. I have a hotel room above.”

“Ah…no.” Taken back at his forwardness, she backed up and looked around for help.

She spotted Chad, Steph’s brother and the reason she was there. He was surrounded by women, all vying for his attention, but his dark forest green eyes were staring at her. She winked at him, hoping to see him smile, showing his gorgeous dimples.

Chad was handsome, tall, six something, built like the linebacker he was, with hair so short it almost looked shaved. Lana could see some black regrowth coming through, which made his skin look a darker olive. Chad was model worthy, and even though his nose was crooked from being broken so many times, it didn’t diminish how hot he was.

He’d been the man of her dream fantasies for many, many years. But Chad knew he was hot, he always had women hanging off him or throwing themselves at him, and he never seemed to turn them down. Well, he might have started while she’d been away, but from what Steph had told her it didn’t sound like he had.

She shook her head and turned back to Tim who was now going on about how she wouldn’t do any better and he was a star and no one turned him down. Lana needed to get away from the idiot talking to her before she punched the dickhead in front of everyone. Grinding her teeth, she gritted out, “You’re a douche. I wouldn’t sleep with you if you were the last man on earth.”

Snapping her mouth shut, she rushed over to Chad, not caring about the swarm of women hanging off him for his attention. She was ready to go get Olivia and go home, or at least get away from this boring party. The women surrounding Chad glared at her, not eager to add another woman into their circle to share his attention. Lana shrugged and rolled her eyes as the women clung tighter to Chad. She hoped she was never that desperate for a man’s attention.

Chad untangled himself and walked toward her. Lana wondered if he could introduce her to someone decent, a man she could find a spark with and build chemistry, someone who could love Olivia and give her what she needed…a father.

Lana wrapped her arms around Chad, hugging him, and groaned as her body heated. She’d been without a male’s affection for way too long. Maybe she could call David and see if she could find a spark, that may be the safest bet. Chad Douglas was out of bounds. Not only was he a huge slut, he was her best friend’s brother, and he wasn’t the type to take on a kid.

* * * *

Chad leaned against the wall, staring at Lana, telling himself to go to her, to take her, but he’d been unsure of himself. He was never like that with anyone else—he was always confident and sure—but Lana had him in knots.

If at all possible she’d gotten even more beautiful. She had long, wavy, rich milky chocolate hair, light olive skin, and big, warm brown eyes with a small top lip and a bigger bottom one. He’d imagined those lips wrapped around his cock so many times he’d lost count. For the last six or so years he’d jacked off to mental images of her body—all curves, large breasts coming in and flaring out again. Lana was small. Without heels her head came just to his nipples, and he wasn’t super tall at six-three, but he was wide and muscular, he had to be as a professional athlete. Lana always wore high heels and never got intimidated by him or his brothers. She was sassy and always spoke her mind, or at least she had, and he hoped she hadn’t changed too much.

Chad had clenched his fist as Tim, his teammate who was talking to Lana, touched her waist and leaned down to whisper something in her ear. Lana shook her head and backed away from Tim. She turned, and when her gaze caught his, she grinned and winked. Turning back to Tim, she said something then almost ran over to Chad. He’d been happy that she wasn’t interested in his teammate. Untangling himself from the women who didn’t even notice he hadn’t contributed a word or paid them any attention, he walked to meet Lana, his body instantly coming alive at the idea of being close to her. Fuck, he wanted her.

“Argh, save me. You sport personalities think you’re so hot all you have to do is say who you are and what you do for a living then tell the girl you have a room close by.” She dramatically shivered. Lana wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him to her on a sigh. He gritted his teeth as his body became hard and ached with need for Lana. “Steph ditched me as soon as one of the new rookies cracked onto her. He wasn’t too bad looking and didn’t tell her that he was a superstar and whisper his room number. I know you have two new guys on the team. I like the other one better. Is he nicer than Tim? Does he like children? Want to introduce me?”

Chad was already wound up tight from staring at her and wanting her so bad. He was primed for a fight. He searched for the fuckwit Lana had been talking to so he could beat the crap out of him. How dare Tim try to get Lana to fuck him. She was his, and no one was going to fuck her ever again but him. What kind of idiot said stuff like what he’d said to Lana? A dead one, he thought as he spotted Tim chatting with a blonde by the bar.

“Wait here, Lana. I’m go—”

“No. Chad, don’t. Enjoy the party, it’s the start of your season. Come on, introduce me to another guy? A nice guy who likes kids and doesn’t want to take me to his room the first time we meet. I’m ready to find someone.”

He stared down at the small hands on his chest as Lana stood in front of him blocking his path. Her touch sent a burning need through him so much so his body ached for the petite bundle of fire who stood in his way. Fuck this shit. He needed to stop being a pussy and claim what he knew was his, and Lana was his. “No fucking way.”

Lana stepped to the side and linked her arm with his, moving them in the opposite direction from Tim who he’d been going to beat the crap out of.

“Fine, help me find your sister so I can tell her I’m out of here. I’m calling a taxi and going to pick Olivia up, and then we’re going home.”

“I can take you home.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and walked toward the exit.

“Nah, this is your party. Well, sort of, you are their star player.”

Chad rolled his eyes. He may be the star player but he was sick of parties like these, where he was the center of attention and nameless faces praised him and fawned over him. There was only one person’s attention he wanted, and she was currently in his arms with no idea how he felt. Lana didn’t care that he was a famous athlete, she didn’t care how much money he earned or what his fame could get her, she hung out with him because she liked him, Chad Douglas. He chuckled because he bet even after all these years Lana still didn’t know what position he played or how much he earned.

“I’ll stay if you can tell me what position I play.”

“Hey.” She playfully whacked his chest. “That’s not fair. You know I’m not into sports.”

He winked down at her, loving the easy banter they had between them. “If you don’t like Rugby League, why did you come to a Rugby League party?”

Lana sighed and tried to pull herself out of his hold, but he wasn’t giving her up. “I didn’t. Steph wanted to come, and at first I said no, but she nagged me. I still said no. I told her I had no one to look after Olivia, but the other day she stopped taking no for an answer and went on and on about how your parents were eager to meet Olivia and wanted to babysit. I still was unsure, but she went off her brain when I told her that I’d been on five lunch dates, as Olivia was in daycare then and I was ready to start dating. So she convinced me to come here, claiming it would be
the place
to meet men.” Lana rolled her eyes. “She twisted my arm and practically begged me. Steph’s words, and I quote, ‘we will go to my bro’s party and find you some hunk to get it on with.’ I didn’t have a say after that. You know Steph, so I thought I’d come and support you. If I found a hunk of a man all the better, but if not I knew I’d be happy just to see you. I haven’t seen you in years. So here I am for you.”

“Do you even watch my games?” He smiled, liking that Lana was there for him.

“Not on the TV.”

He laughed and walked toward the exit again. Lana had been to one, maybe two of his games when he first started but hadn’t come back again even though he had family seats. “You and Olivia are coming next week to my first game of the season.”

“Umm…we are?” She bit her bottom lip, sending a jolt straight to his cock as he homed in on the action. God, he wanted her. No more fucking around. Lana was going to be his.

“Yes.” Chad had loved Lana for years. He should have gone to England and brought her back years ago. He’d just been waiting for the right time to make his move. Well, at least that’s what he told himself. She’d broken up with her last boyfriend Richard over three years ago when he’d told her he was gay. She’d been devastated, and it had taken a while to convince her that she hadn’t turned Richard gay. In the end Richard had to come and explain that it wasn’t her, that he’d always been gay, and she was the reason he thought he might not be, because he found her so attractive—beautiful even. She had obviously gotten over it since she had a child with another man. It was the reason Chad hadn’t gone to England to get her, he’d been hurt that she could get over their night so quickly.

His thirty-first birthday was a month away and he wanted to have Lana at his side. He wanted the whole world to know that Lana was taken, that she was his and he was hers. Fuck, he wanted to brand her
property of Chad Douglas
. He wanted her name to be Lana Douglas. He was determined to have what he wanted. He was sure if Lana’s daughter was anything like her he’d love her just the same.

He spotted his sister Steph standing at the exit with her phone in her hand. As she looked up a huge grin came over her face. “Hey bro, Lana, I was just about to call you. I’m ah…heading out of here. Are you all right to give Lana a lift home, Chad? I spoke to Mum and Dad and they said Olivia was asleep and not to worry about her, Lana could pick her up tomorrow.”

Hell yeah, he was okay to give Lana a ride home. “Yeah, sure. I was just about to ta—”

“No. I can catch a taxi.”

“Nah, I already said I was taking you home. Go, Steph. I’ll look after Lana.”

Steph smiled at him. “You always do.” She winked at Lana. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” His sister turned and left the party.

“Chad, go have fun. I’m fine to get myself home. I might even call David. He’s the guy I’ve been on a couple of dates with, and he asked me out tonight before your sister bombarded me.”

Argh… Fuck no, he wasn’t backing down anymore. Who was this David? Dragging Lana along, he left the party. “I told you I was leaving. Let’s go.”

When they were in his car on the way to his house he cleared his throat and asked, “So who’s this David?”

“Um…he’s this hot cop that was going to give me a ticket but asked me on a date instead. I said yes and we’ve been on about five or so lunch dates and he came around for a late dinner once after I had Olivia in bed. He’s…nice.”

Chad grinned and relaxed when she called the guy nice. Even he knew if a girl was interested she didn’t call you nice. Chad knew he had to make his move. He wanted what his parents had, and he knew with Lana he could have it. He turned down his street.

“Want to tell me why we’re going to your place and not mine?” Lana raised her eyebrows at him and crossed her arms over her ample breasts.

He pulled into his driveway, opening his garage and parking inside. “Sure, because I want to show you something.” He was going to show her who she belonged to. Who she could love, and who she would spend the rest of her life with.

Lana frowned, opened her door, and followed behind him as he got out of the car. She waited as he unlocked the door and tapped in his security code. Lana looked around his house and placed her bag on the kitchen bench before she wandered toward the lounge room. He put his keys and phone next to her bag and followed her.

Unable to take the burning ache any longer, he made his move. Chad stopped her at the hall and gathered her to him, capturing her surprised mouth to his own. She recovered quickly, kissing him back and running her hands over his body. Her touch drove him mad, and he was so eager to have her he backed her against the wall and yanked her dress down. He was desperate to get her dress off so he could see the body he’d dreamed of. Shoving it to the ground, he moved away enough to appreciate the sight of her in only black lacy underwear and black high heels.

Wow, she was beautiful. Her hair was a mess as it fell over her shoulders, her warm brown eyes were wide as she stared at him, and her mouth formed an ‘o’. He tugged his own clothes off, dropping them to the ground to join hers, and stood before her naked, ready for the claiming he was about to give.

“What on earth are we doing, Chad?” she whispered in a breathless voice.

“What I want. I can’t hold back any longer.” He groaned as he pulled her to him, taking her mouth to his and letting his tongue explore.

He glided his hands over her body, resting on her breasts and caressing them before tweaking her nipples to hard, pointed tips. Eager to taste other parts of her, he trailed kisses down her neck, nipping, biting, and tasting. Fuck, she tasted sweet, like sugar, and smelled of the flowers she worked with all day.

He looked up at her from her breasts, eager to know she was with him and was okay with this. “Tell me you want this.”

Lana blinked and without saying a word nodded her head.

“Once I have you this time, I’m not ever letting you go, Lana. I lost you once, never again. You will be mine.” He smoothed his hands down her stomach, resting them between her thighs, and dipped his hand into her panties, sinking a finger into her wet pussy. “Ah, Lana, you naughty girl…you’re soaking wet. You want me as much as I want you.”