Hearts on Hold

by Charish Reid

  On his back for a third time, his arms extended, he looked into her shining face. She was perspiring heavily, but proud of her handiwork. He had to admit to himself that Victoria was much stronger and craftier than he could have bargained for. John told himself to remember this moment for the future. She’d have him in a similar position, with her body or her words, and he’d need to remember that she was not a delicate flower. Victoria could handle a little rough and tumble. As unorthodox as it was, this was her version of dropping her mask.

  “Have you had enough?” she asked.

  Never.

  From this position, his only option was to cheat his way out of the arm bar. While his hand was trapped in her grasp, he unclenched his fist and gently squeezed her breast. The gasp that escape from her lips was one of shock. She loosened her grip just enough for him to wrench his arm away and shift his torso from her reach.

  Victoria scrambled for her next move as John’s wrestling training kicked in. He flipped over and took her by the back of the neck, forcing her against his chest in a rear naked choke. With his long legs wrapped across her hips, Victoria’s arms flailed outward. She was a trapped turtle on her back with no hope of escape. John took care not to apply pressure to her throat, but his bicep wasn’t going to leave her upper chest. He’d learned his lesson three times already.

  “You’re a cheat,” she said. “And dare I say, a deviant.”

  “I’m a pragmatist,” John breathed in her ear. “I’m a lot better on the ground than I am on my feet.”

  She squirmed in his grasp, testing the weaknesses of his hold, and found nothing. “After two arm bars, I’m glad to see it.”

  The pleasant pressure of her ass against his groin wasn’t a normal part of his grappling sessions. He’d rolled around the ground with Chris for years without any underlying eroticism. Now that he had the professor on her back, in a public place, the fear of growing hard was real. “Ready to talk?”

  With nowhere to go, she sagged against him. “My boss confronted me about you today.”

  “Ahh, I see,” John said through the curtain of her braids. He shook one out of his mouth and took a breath. “What did he say?”

  Victoria wiggled her shoulder against his chest, still looking for a way to get out. “He basically accused me of sleeping my way to the top,” she sighed. “I mean he didn’t say it like that, but he suggested that I’d embarrass the department with shoddy work.”

  “Victoria Reese doesn’t do shoddy work,” he grunted. “Besides, our relationship is none of his business. The fact that he even brought it up was inappropriate.”

  “He’ll try to sabotage me.”

  John heard the doubt creep into her voice. She was retreating into her day planner brain where professionalism and schedules reigned supreme. If Victoria didn’t stop this tired self-flagellation, she was in danger of sabotaging herself. “Look,” he said, tightening his grip on her chest. “We’ve worked on this long enough for you to bring the president a finished product. Just skip ahead in the chain of command.”

  She planted her bare feet on the mat and pushed her hips upward, a vain attempt to pull away from his locked legs. “I could do that,” she grunted. “But I’m already doing a shitty job of tiptoeing around Kenneth. The man ultimately determines my future and I’m a constant thorn in his side.”

  “No man determines your future,” John said forcefully. He knew he certainly couldn’t. Even though she was stuck in his grip, Victoria still held all the cards when it came to his heart. “You’ve got good ideas. You don’t need his permission to voice them.”

  Victoria raised one of her free hands and touched the side of his face. “John.”

  His chest tightened at the sound his own name. She knew when to say it and what inflection to use. The way it rolled off her tongue made him want to release her and kiss her anxiety away. “It’s true.”

  She gave a light and breathy laugh as she blindly held his cheek. “I wish I had your confidence around my mother.”

  Behind them, the door opened and Chris cleared his throat. “Looks like the doctor is in a pickle.”

  “I’m not,” she called out. “It’s just going to take me a minute to get out of this.”

  John craned his neck towards the doorway. “It’s going to take her more than a minute.”

  Chris walked in and quietly assessed the situation. “Well, I’m not surprise she got you on the floor,” he addressed John. “She’s a lot faster than you.”

  “Exactly,” Victoria said in a strained breath. “I took him down almost immediately.”

  Chris crouched down. “I saw. You got him in a lock a couple of times. What happened?”

  “He cheated,” she muttered.

  John rolled his eyes as Chris nodded. “Sounds about right.”

  “Mr. Donovan ran out of cards and behaved like a cad,” Victoria said.

  His friend’s gaze slid over to his. “You can’t underestimate a desperate man,” he said with a smirk. He raised himself to full height and looked down at their embrace. “I’ll let you in on a secret, Dr. Reese. Johnny’s ticklish.”

  “Chris...”

  His boyhood friend betrayed him with a chuckle. “Nothing a little belly tickle won’t fix.”

  Before she could reach downward, John quickly released her and wriggled out from under her. “Okay, okay!”

  “I win,” Victoria shouted with glee.

  “Point to Dr. Reese,” Chris said with an extended arm in her direction.

  “This cad is done for the night,” John said through labored breath. “I don’t have anymore.”

  The three of them sat on the floor, John and Victoria taking a breather while Chris lounged lazily. “So what’s this about your mom?” John asked.

  Victoria wiped her brow and sighed. “My parents are throwing a blowout retirement reception for a fellow Marine this weekend. My mom called to remind me about it this evening. I don’t want to go.”

  “So, are you going?” John asked.

  Victoria nodded as she stretched her arm. “Yes, it’s a long and complicated dance we’ve had since I was a girl.”

  He exchanged a glance with Chris, who raised his brow in response. They understood long and complicated feelings regarding parents. John Sr. had been a complicated man who had become more of an enigma when he’d married Sandy. John hadn’t gotten to know him any better before his father died of a sudden heart attack. When the anger had set in, it had been a struggle to separate that anger from the grief. Jessi had helped him with some of that, but he’d made mistakes along the way. If he could save Victoria from half of that...

  “You need any company when you go home?” Chris asked.

  Victoria gave a mirthless laugh. “I need a full platoon when it comes to Katherine Reese. When she’s in ‘gala-mode,’ she’s relentless.”

  His friend gave a flippant shrug. “John should go with you. He’s a terrible fighter, but great with parents.”

  They both stared at Chris who smiled between the two of them. Chris appeared proud of himself for putting her in the awkward position of asking. John had just enough energy to throttle the fool. He had managed to pin him down with one idiotic suggestion. Galas in Chicago? John was a downstate guy who worked with books. But any excuse to be with Victoria was almost enough to grin and bear her overbearing mother. He just didn’t know if she wanted him.

  “I don’t think she’d want a guy like me at a fancy party,” John said. “I don’t want to frighten your mom.”

  Victoria caught his gaze and twisted her mouth. “You’d be busy with Becca anyway.”

  “I can stay at your place,” Chris offered. “I’ll take her to kickboxing class on Saturday and drop her off at your mom’s place afterwards.”

  John shot him a glare. He caught the fact that she hadn’t corrected him and it gnawed at his belly. “
It sounds like it might be a family affair.”

  She shrugged uncomfortably. “Kind of? It’s going to be a pretty large celebration at the Drake Hotel.”

  “Ooh, The Drake?” Chris whistled. “I’m sure Johnny can clean up for The Drake.”

  He didn’t need his friend to meddle like this. It was painfully obvious that Victoria wasn’t making any overtures about him accompanying her to the military ball. In fact, she was the first to stand and stretch her arms. “I’m going to grab some water,” she said with a fake smile. “In fact, I kinda need to head out soon.”

  From the floor, John tried to behave nonchalantly. “Sure. I’ll see you tomorrow for our appointment?”

  “Of course,” she said as she backed away. “It was nice to meet you, Chris.”

  “I hope to see more of you, Dr. Reese,” he said with a sly grin. “Your things are in my office.” She gave a breathless laugh as she shook her head and exited the room. Once they were alone Chris let out a sigh. “Now I get it.”

  “You asshole,” John said through gritted teeth. “I wasn’t planning to force myself on her little trip.”

  “Yeah, I noticed. And it’s a crying shame too. You’re exactly the kind of dude who could impress her parents.”

  “Did you see those moves?” John asked. “The man who taught her that would gut me if he knew I was banging his daughter.”

  “I saw everything, man. Dr. Reese, as you keep calling her, is a fine woman and complicated as all get out, but she’s into you,” Chris said in an even voice. “I’m trying to do what any good wingman does: set you up for a spike.”

  And he’d missed completely. “It’s too soon to take that step.”

  “Are you guys still in some kind of situationship?”

  “Maybe?” John was still learning new facets of her personality and every discovery was fascinating. It didn’t add up to a real relationship though. After a week of fooling around and one date, Victoria didn’t seem terribly interested in dropping the rigorous schedule of their sordid affair. But dammit, attending a ball with a handsome man seems like her style.

  John could be her duke.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  After such a vigorous workout, Victoria expected a restful night’s sleep. But she was nowhere near tired. Her mind was a super highway of rushing thoughts keeping her eyes open in the darkness of her bedroom. Between school stuff, Mom stuff, and John stuff, she didn’t know which to tackle first. School drama she could handle when she saw John tomorrow as their scheduled appointment was actually work-related. Victoria had hoped they could come together to compare notes on their proposal so she could begin editing the first draft. She had to trust what John had said when he had her pinned on her back that evening. She needed to skip the middle man, Kenneth, and have enough confidence to approach the president anyway.

  Victoria shifted in bed as she remembered the vulnerable position he’d put her body in. Pressed against his hard chest, staring at the gym’s ceiling, while his legs wrapped around her. John held her in place with a sturdy arm across her breasts and breathed hot against her ear. Victoria could almost feel it while she was in bed. As she exhaled a long breath, she whipped the covers off her and switched on her bedside light. If she couldn’t sleep, she would do some light reading to pass the time. There was no sense in watching a dark ceiling. She went through the pile of books on her nightstand and settled on a contemporary title that she recently picked up from Antonia Harper. It wasn’t her usual historical romance purchase, but Paula recommended it for its lack of p-words.

  She flipped to the last dog-eared page and picked up where she left off. “Okay, rough kissing in the back streets of Bangkok, here we go...”

  Victoria read the same sentence three times before her eyes left the page and she stared out into space. John was in her head and refused to vacate. His sweaty body moving over her, holding her still, keeping her safe. Strong arms wrapped around her, pressing her close. Even the way he playfully squeezed her breast lingered in Victoria’s mind. Her nipples stiffened with the thought. She remembered being slightly embarrassed that his friend, Chris, had walked in on their intimate grappling session. He was good-looking too... Not quite as serious as John, but he was similarly built with lean muscles and a broad chest. Victoria pitied the women who encountered the two of them at a nightclub. She found herself sweating at the sight of both of them. But as cute as Chris was, he was not her chief concern. She wanted John and she wanted him now. Victoria glanced at the clock on her nightstand and groaned. One in the morning?

  The book in her hands wasn’t going to help the urge that currently plagued her. She set it down and picked up her phone. Is it too much to call at this hour? She scrolled through her contacts until she found “Mr. Donovan.” Victoria realized she’d left him hanging without addressing Chris’s suggestion regarding her weekend trip. Honestly, she was desperate for someone to act as a buffer between her and her mother, not to mention some random divorced lawyer. But it was a pretty big ask of John. While he may have been good with parents, her mother was a whole other animal. Her father, Archie Reese, was a laid-back guy who could pal around with any prospective boyfriend. Katherine, on the other hand, would interrogate John into submission. It would be more painful than getting caught in one of her arm bars. After meeting his maternal figures, she’d determined that her own mother would send him fleeing in an instant.

  Boyfriend? That was the other problem: they weren’t in a relationship. If questioned by her mother, Victoria wouldn’t even know what to say. Certainly not the truth. I’m banging this hot male librarian and our plans are a lot more haphazard than I’d hoped. Victoria needed to keep these separate plates spinning on their own separate sticks. There was no need to muddle her life with John meeting, and possibly getting his head bit off by her harridan mother. Her thumb slipped and pressed John’s name. Or maybe it didn’t slip. Perhaps she wanted to call him on purpose. Rather than dwell on which one it was, she listened for several rings. Please pick up. And then what? What was she prepared to talk to him about if he picked up the phone?

  “Hello, Dr. Reese,” said a gravelly voice.

  “John, hi.”

  He hesitated before replying. “Hm. Formal or informal call?”

  Victoria sank against her pillows and closed her eyes. “Informal. I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

  “Nope, I was going to read for a while. What can I do for you, Victoria?”

  Yes, what can he do for me?

  “Um... I couldn’t get to sleep and I wanted to talk to you.”

  He paused again.

  “John, are you still there?” She was now worried that she had made a mistake.

  “Oh yeah, I’m here, darling.” His voice took on a different tone, something lower and warmer. “What would you like to talk about?”

  Jesus...

  “I was thinking about our time at the gym and I wanted to thank you for the workout.” She shifted again, trying to choose her words. “You were really...virile tonight.”

  She heard a dark and low chuckle and bit her lip in embarrassment. There was definitely a better way to describe him. This was one of those instances where she needed her friend’s assistance. Paula wrote this stuff for a living. Note to self: download a Paula e-book tomorrow. “Virile, huh?”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “You didn’t mind being caught in my hold, Victoria?”

  On a competitive level, yes, she definitely minded. She’d been close to winning that fight. On another, more erotic level, she wanted more. “No,” she said. “I liked it.”

  “Would you like a rematch?” His soothing voice probed further.

  “Very much,” she said.

  “What are you wearing right now?”

  In the soft glow of her bedroom light, Victoria looked down at herself. She was in the same outfit she wore nightly; an oversized
T-shirt from the college bookstore and panties. “T-shirt and underwear,” she admitted.

  “Mmh, I can work with that,” John murmured, huskiness lingering in his voice. “It’s going to come off anyway.”

  Victoria’s heart skipped a beat. They were doing exactly what she wanted. The anticipation made her breath shudder against the phone. “What are you wearing?” she asked timidly.

  “Boxer briefs,” he replied.

  She closed her eyes. “What color?”

  “They’re black with gray pin-stripes.”

  “Oh.”

  “Put me on speakerphone, darling. You’re going to want to free up your hands.”

  She struggled to figure out the function with her shaking hands, like she’d never handled a smartphone in her life. “Okay.”

  “Can you hear me okay?”

  “Yes,” she said in a halted voice. “I can.”

  “Good, turn out the light and lay back in bed, I’m going to send you to sleep, darling.”

  Victoria did as he said and grinned in the darkness. For some reason, the darkness helped her slip into the mood. His voice lay beside her, calming and warm against her ear. “How are you going to do that?” she teased.

  John ignored her. “I should have pinned you from behind tonight.”

  “I don’t think that’s very practical,” she said.

  “Nonetheless, can you imagine what would have happened if we weren’t careful?”

  “Yes,” she breathed. “I did.”

  “What did you imagine, Victoria?”

  She remembered the thoughts that had flown through her as she was attached to his body. “I thought you were going to get hard.”

  “It almost happened,” John admitted. “Do you know what I was imagining?”

  “What?”

  “I wanted to flip you over and slip those tight leggings down the curve of your ass. You were sweaty, but I was hoping your panties would be wet too.”

  They probably were. Victoria reached down to touch herself for confirmation. The dampness between her thighs wet her fingertips. “Was I?”