High Risk Rookie

by Odette Stone

  Mark spoke. “One more thing. Brody is being suspended for seven games. I would advise you to use that time to shine your way out of his shadow.”

  Levi’s jaw tightened. “Yes, sir.”

  I waited until Levi was out of the room before I spoke. “I thought he was getting suspended for two games.”

  Mark didn’t look at me as he shuffled files. “You heard him. He didn’t intentionally set up that party.”

  “Neither did Brody.”

  “No, but Brody was pursuing a personal relationship with a staff member, and Dee pursued a relationship with Levi. You know how I feel about personal relationships in the workplace. Brody and Dee both displayed bad judgement, and I’m afraid they are facing the fallout now.”

  I couldn’t bear the idea of Mark learning my dark secrets. The secrets that I continued to perpetuate. I thought about Levi, standing in the elevator, covered in my body paint.

  I covered my mouth with my hands and momentarily shut my eyes. What was I doing? I needed to sort myself out before I fucked up everything.

  He glanced at me. “You look upset.”

  “I’m not,” I lied. “It’s not like you to favor someone.”

  He leaned forward and gave me a small smile. “Nope, but sometimes people get their just deserts. Who am I to get in the way of that?”

  I bent down to pick up my bag. “Thank you. You’ve been incredibly patient with both of us.”

  “But Krista, I’m not kidding when I tell you that our rookie can’t afford one more scandal, okay?”

  “I hear you, Mark.”

  It was after eight that night before I got home. It had been a crazy day after almost no sleep. I couldn’t wait to get back to my apartment and turn off my phone. My driver dropped me off at my lobby.

  The doorman waited for me. “Here is your takeout from Cancel the Cook. It just arrived.”

  I had ordered it when I left the office. The timing, as usual, was perfect. “Thank you.”

  “Your mother is here. She insisted she wanted to wait in your apartment.”

  “Oh fuck.” I looked over my shoulder to see if my driver had already left, but he was gone.

  “Sorry,” he said. “She did have keys.”

  “It’s not your fault, Ben.”

  I debated catching a cab to Charlie’s with my food, but knowing my mom, she would just camp out in my apartment and not leave until I came home.

  I opened the door and found her sitting at my island, drinking my wine.

  “Hey, Mom.” I stood in the doorway. “I didn’t realize you still had a set of keys to my apartment.”

  She didn’t look at me. “Do you realize I have been waiting here for over three hours?”

  “I wish I’d known you were coming. I wouldn’t have made you wait.”

  She finally looked over at me. “We need to talk.”

  Nothing like walking in the door and facing the firing squad. “Would you like some Chinese food?”

  She gave a delicate sniff. “I don’t eat takeout. The sodium will make you bloat for days.”

  “You only live once.” I set down the bags and poured myself a glass of wine. “So, say what you need to say.”

  She gave a long-suffering sigh. “I want you to stop trying to ruin things for your sister.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

  She pulled an envelope out of her bag and tossed it to my side of the island. I opened it up. It was from my afternoon at the Othello. The photo looked incriminating. I was standing up, and Eduard had his arm around my waist. My back was to the camera, but his face looked down at me with adoration.

  “Did they also take a photo two seconds after this one was taken, when I hit Eduard and pushed him away from me?”

  I flipped through the photos. They all looked incriminating. There was not a single photo that told the real story.

  My mom crossed her arms. “Do you even hear yourself right now? You’re meeting your sister’s fiancé alone for drinks, and there is the proof, and you’re still trying to deny it.”

  “Where was this indignation when Helene was having an affair with him behind my back?”

  “Is that what this is?” Her gaze burned into me. “Is this some sort of revenge plot?”

  “Why is my word never good enough for you?”

  “Well, the photo evidence might be one reason.”

  “You know I can’t stand Eduard.”

  “Maybe that’s your cover story.”

  “When did you hire a PI to follow me?”

  “I didn’t. I respect your privacy.”

  I didn’t touch that comment with a ten-foot pole. I thought about it some more and then slowly put the pieces together. “You were having Eduard followed, not me.”

  She shifted her eyes away.

  “Wow,” I said. “That tells me everything, and yet I’m still somehow getting blamed for it all.”

  She refused to look at me as she gathered up the photos. “You need to have more sympathy for your sister. You waltz through life without a care in the world, and everything is handed to you on a platter. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but your sister has been struggling since she retired from figure skating. You could show a little compassion.”

  It never failed to hurt when my mom dismissed my own accomplishments. “I don’t just waltz through life without a care, Mom. Things are not just handed to me.”

  She fussed, trying to push the photos back in the envelope. “You know what I mean.”

  I shook my head. “No, I don’t.”

  She looked bewildered that I didn’t understand. “Look at this condo, right in the heart of Vancouver. You have a car and a driver! You’re always going to parties and galas, and trust me, I’ve seen your shoe collection. Yes. You have it easier than your sister.”

  Without warning, my eyes filled with tears. My mom’s inability to be proud of me hurt more than it should. And that made me defensive. “Trust me, there has been nothing easy about the last twelve years of my life or the work I did to buy these shoes.”

  My mom gave up trying to put the photos in the envelope. She just shoved them in the fifteen-hundred-dollar bag that my father bought her. “You don’t think your sister worked for her achievements?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “The early morning practices, the late nights traveling to out-of-town events. The tutoring that she did while we traveled, and all in between dance and skating lessons, not to mention the fittings. You have no idea what it was like.”

  “Yes, I do, Mom! I was there. You dragged me to every lesson and every competition. I was too little to stay at home, and Dad was usually working, so I was there, and it was always about her.”

  My mom’s head went back like I slapped her. “You could never stand her success.”

  I worked not to cry. “Actually, that’s bullshit. I cheered for her every step of the way. And I was so proud of her when she won. But she got all of you, and there was never anything left over for me.”

  “Oh, so I’m a bad mother now?” She yanked her bag off the island and tossed my keys on the counter.

  “You know that’s not what I’m saying.”

  I had obviously cut her deep, because her next comment was brutal. “Well, for all your wisdom, look who’s coming home to an empty apartment late at night with nothing but a bag of lonely takeout.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know why I try so hard to please you when I should just be doing what feels right.”

  She made a little noise as she looked down at my wineglass. “I think you’ve indulged a bit too much, my dear. On all accounts.”

  My mom liked to take the parting shot. I knew if I continued to spar with her, her blows would just get more deadly. I already felt emotionally flayed, so now I needed to keep my mouth shut. I sipped my wine and didn’t say another word.

  But the worst was when she looked back at me with pity on her face. And then she was gone.

  Chapter Twenty-Tw
o

  Levi

  That night I decided to blow off some steam and go for a run. I swung the door open, and Krista was standing there, about to knock. She was wearing a blue-and-white kimono dressing gown and a pair of flip-flops. Her hair was wet, and her face was scrubbed clean. But she looked like she had been crying. I’d never seen anyone look as beautiful as she did in that moment.

  Without speaking, I held open the door.

  She hesitated. “You look like you’re going out.”

  I grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her into my apartment before shutting the door. “What’s going on?”

  She wandered away from me. “My mom was here. She dropped by unexpectedly.”

  Which explained the crying. “You okay?”

  She turned and gave me a quick smile. “She and I see the world very differently.”

  I worked not to share how I really felt about her mother. “That’s an understatement.”

  She made a little sound. “I guess.”

  I motioned for her to sit on the couch. I sat down across from her and gave her my full attention. “Tell me what happened.”

  She stared at her hands and frowned. “You know, I’ve had this one dream for a long time. There is this Forbes list of the top hundred most powerful sports agents in the world. And this year, there’s a possibility I could make that list.” She lifted her eyes. “That’s kind of our Stanley Cup.”

  I felt my heart fill with pride. “That’s incredible, Krista.”

  “When I was talking to my mom, I had this epiphany.” Her bottom lip trembled. “I realized tonight that a huge part of why I do stuff is to prove something to her.” She swallowed. “Tonight, she told me that my life is easy and that everything is handed to me.”

  “She doesn’t recognize your efforts or your talents.”

  Those blue eyes that were tinged with sadness looked at me. “I think I realized that it doesn’t matter which list I make or how hard I work—she’s never going to see that part of me.”

  I grabbed her hand and squeezed.

  “I had to ask myself. Would I even be an agent if I weren’t so driven to prove something to her?”

  Is this where Krista quit her job as an agent? I had no idea what she would say next. “I think you’d still be an agent.”

  That made her pause. “Really? Why do you say that?”

  “Because you’re good at it.”

  She tilted her head. “Thank you. Well, I came to the conclusion that I love my job.”

  I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. Every conversation with her fascinated me. “I’ve never met anyone like you before.”

  “I have no idea what that means.”

  “It’s a compliment.”

  “I still want to make that damn list, but I want it for me and all my work. Not for anyone else.”

  She wasn’t meeting my eye, and then it hit me. She had asked me for time to think, and she had made her decision about us.

  “You need us to stop kissing.”

  She played with the sash of her robe. “There are so many moving pieces—you don’t know the half of it—but it’s not just about my career. The choices we make impact your future too.” She lifted her gaze to mine. “But that doesn’t mean I make this decision lightly.”

  I respected this woman so much. She did what very few people could do, and she excelled at it, but it didn’t stop me from asking, “Are you going to start dating Brian?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  I couldn’t bring myself to ask if she would be dating other men, mostly because I didn’t think I could handle the answer. “I appreciate you spelling it out for me.”

  She unfolded her legs and stood up.

  Without speaking, I walked her to the door and held it open. She turned and looked back at me over her shoulder.

  “A different lifetime, maybe?”

  “I hope so.”

  She gave me a rueful smile. “Good night.”

  “Night.”

  I shut the door and stood there, hanging my head. This was it. This was the end. We hadn’t even started. I understood her reasons, but it didn’t make this situation any easier.

  I needed to go for my run.

  I yanked open the door and stopped cold. She was standing in front of my door, and she visibly jumped when the door swung. She gave me a guilty look.

  I took it as a sign of hope that she hadn’t walked away. I took it as a sign to try once more.

  “Were you leaving?” She couldn’t meet my gaze as she asked.

  I waited until she looked back at me. Then I spoke. “You know why you’re still standing here?”

  Her hand fluttered to her throat. “Why?”

  “You’re wondering if you made the right decision.”

  She swallowed, but she didn’t protest. She stared up at me.

  I continued. “Give me one more kiss.”

  “Yes.”

  The words had barely left her lips, and then I was yanking her against me. My mouth was on hers, devouring her in a kiss. I felt her hands yank at my hair, pulling my mouth down harder against hers. My hands could not get enough of the slippery satin of her robe. She had the most perfect hourglass figure with her tiny waist, voluptuous rack, and luscious ass.

  I dragged her back inside my place and shut the door.

  She yanked my T-shirt over my head and planted her hands on my chest. Her nails lightly dragged down my skin until she got to my sweatpants. I kissed her while her hands fumbled with the drawstring.

  I grabbed her by the wrists and backed her against the wall. When I had her where I wanted her, I kissed her until she was moaning. She struggled against my grip, and I lifted my head and gave her an amused look.

  “You going somewhere?”

  She was breathless. “Keep going.”

  Oh, I plan on it. She gasped when I lifted her into my arms so her legs were wrapped around my waist. Her fingers were in my hair, so I used that time to find the sash of her robe. I felt like I was unwrapping a gift. I pushed the robe over her shoulders and groaned when I saw her breasts. They had dark-pink nipples and were lightly dusted with freckles. Unable to help myself, I ducked my head so I could capture a nipple in my mouth.

  Her fingers yanked at my hair. “Hurry.”

  I carried her closer to the island, set her down on her feet, and spun her around so she faced the island. Then I bent her over it.

  She gasped as her bare skin met the cool marble, but she didn’t complain.

  I stood behind her and bent over as I slid her panties down her soft legs. “I’ll warm you up.”

  I knelt behind her and, with patience, slowly spread the cheeks of her ass so I could take in all of her pink pussy from behind.

  Wondering how much she liked to be shocked, I dove face-first into that sweet bit of heaven and didn’t hold back. She smelled incredible, and she tasted even better, like the epitome of femininity. Her thighs were creamy and soft. I used my fingers, my tongue, and my mouth to pleasure her until her legs were shaking uncontrollably. She went completely silent, and then her entire body stiffened with a leg-shaking orgasm. She gasped out a scream, and then another, as her orgasm rolled over her and my tongue continued to plunder her.

  I stood up, lifted her into my arms, and carried her into my bedroom. I lay her on her back and yanked her down the bed, so her core was in front of my face.

  “What are you doing?” She lifted her head in a daze.

  “What does it look like I’m doing?”

  She looked confused. “You just did that.”

  “Did I mention that I love eating pussy?”

  She shook her head.

  I slid one finger through her slick folds. “This time I want to finger-fuck you while I suck on you.”

  I made her come twice more before she started to beg me.

  “Please, I need to feel you inside me.”

  I slowly sucked on her swollen clit and felt her entire body tremor in response. “Whic
h part would you like inside of you?”

  “Your cock,” she gasped.

  I thought she’d never ask. I had been holding off because once I got inside of her, my ability to take it slow would diminish greatly.

  But I never could resist a bit of begging. I stood up and stared down at her face. With one hand, I guided my cock so the tip was pulsating against her pink, wet entrance.

  “Do you have a condom?”

  “I do, but I’d prefer not to use one.”

  That made me pause. “Really?”

  “I got tested after we had our hookup. I’ve seen your medical records. We’re both clean. I’m also on birth control.” She noticed my hesitation. “Unless you’d prefer to use one?”

  I shook my head and spoke the truth. “No. I’m just not sure how long I’ll last without one.”

  She smiled. “I guess we’ll find out.”

  I’d never had sex without a condom before. With complete reverence, I took my cock and positioned it at her entrance.

  Inch by inch, I slowly pushed myself into her tight depths. The sensations were so intense it almost short-circuited the connections between my dick and my brain. It took all my effort not to start wildly fucking her.

  She sighed, her eyes never leaving my face.

  I buried myself into her depths before I pulled her knees together. Using superhuman effort not to pump myself into her, I gently kissed the top of one knee. I reached up and cupped her breasts with my hands, feeling myself go even deeper inside her.

  I grunted as electricity zapped up my spine. Pure instinct made me push her legs open. I leaned over her so I could plant my hands on either side of her, and then I started thrusting my hips.

  I gritted my teeth, trying to make myself slow down, but it felt so good, I barely had control. “Oh god.”

  I winced as I slowed my movements.

  Her eyes widened. “Keep going.”

  To torture her a bit, I managed to completely stop my thrusts. It took an inhuman effort, but the look of frustration on her face was worth it. “You like that?”

  “I like it when you lose control.”

  One arm at a time, I grabbed her by her wrists and pinned them above her head. I felt her legs wrap around my waist.