Reforming The Heartbreaker: Prequel (Hollywood Heartbreaker #0.5)

by Christine Glover

  Her breath caught in her throat. Dear Lord, watching Ryder was like watching perfection in fluid motion. His body also came with a super, amazing, guaranteed-to-please with a sticker on it loving—based on the size of his bulge.

  A thrill traveled to her core, warming her from the inside out. That she could cause that kind of reaction in Ryder brought a rich, decadent satisfaction that tasted way, way better than the most sinful dessert she’d ever eaten. Sure, self-discipline had its place—at the dining room table—but this was different. Ryder had reached a place in her heart few people, maybe none, had ever seen. Now her heart warred with self-discipline in a big way.

  “Yes.” She pointed to the open lid and the plates she’d already arranged on the red and white striped blanket along with the requisite cutlery to manage eating the delicious meal he’d had flown in. “This looks great—my favorite restaurant’s dishes. How’d you find out about it?”

  He finished taking off his equipment, then lowered himself to the blanket beside her. “Your assistant gave me the name, and the chef pulled together the menu.” Ryder plucked out a container and opened it to reveal a fragrant mélange of mixed fruits lightly glazed with a beyond amazing balsamic vinaigrette.

  Warmth filled her. Ryder had gone to all this trouble and her heart beat faster than she’d ever imagined possible. His scent, all masculine and woodsy, along with the palpable electricity arcing between them amped up the wow factor even more. But Ryder appealed even more because he’d focused his energy on showing her he cared. Her feelings mattered.

  Her tummy grumbled, and she flushed. “We better dig in,” she said, unable to take her eyes off the sinew of his forearms and the fine dark hairs she hoped to discover in other, wonderful places on his body.

  “Absolutely.” Ryder pulled out the rest of the picnic’s containers and locked his gaze onto hers. “I’m starving.”

  His shades no longer hid his eyes, and their brilliant blue color had darkened. Mesmerized, she licked her lips. “And I’m famished,” Addison said. First, she’d dig into the delicious food, then she’d dig into the man who had provided it. No way would she let this opportunity to have what she had always wanted slip from her fingers. But could she have him, then let him go when her emotions were all tangled up with her physical yearning?

  Half an hour later, with the sounds of leaves rustling and birds trilling while they flitted from wildflowers to the branches in the trees in the forest bordering the meadow, Addison finished her last sumptuous bite of the good-for-her lunch. “Chef Stacey outdid herself,” she said. “So yummy.”

  They’d chatted about everything and nothing while enjoying the meal. Their former camaraderie had returned, and Addison sincerely hoped that no matter what happened after this afternoon, they’d remain friends.

  “You want to head back?”

  “No. Not really.” She stretched her legs out, brushing his thigh. “Sun’s still out, and why rush when we have the entire meadow to ourselves?”

  “True,” Ryder said. “No one’s within miles.”

  How incredibly romantic would it be to lie beneath the shelter of the gazebo with Ryder? The sweet aroma of long grass, wildflowers, and clean Montana air mingling with theirs? She wanted, oh how she wanted to pretend this bubble could exist forever.

  He’d never make the first move. Not when she’d denied him yesterday. Addison had to cross the divide she’d erected between them.

  She placed her hand on his, and looked at his profile. How many times had she mentally traced the line of his high brow all the way to his strong jawline? How many times had she fantasized about tunneling her fingers through his dark, unruly hair? How many times had she wanted, yearned, desired to feel his skin slide against hers while they made wild, crazy love?

  How many times had she wanted to carry that love in her heart and know that it was equally returned?

  Too many.

  But she’d let this fantasy to come to life here, in the safety and privacy of their hidden meadow. Where she’d be in control. Period. Because no way would she risk her heart and her future for him. Taking in a deep breath of mountain air to fortify herself, Addison shifted closer to Ryder.

  She brushed her lips onto his cheek and then tasted his spicy skin with her tongue. “I’m still hungry for more,” Addison said.

  * * *

  Ryder’s ears thundered and his blood ran hot through his veins all the way to his groin. Holy. Fuck. Yes. He sure as hell was hungry for more, but somehow he forced his sex fogged brain cells to operate. “I didn’t plan this picnic to convince you to have sex with me,” he said. “You said no. I get why. We’re in a professional relationship.” But man, oh fucking man, he wanted to act on the fire Addison had ignited.

  “Exactly,” she said, licking and nibbling her way to his mouth and then rolling over to straddle him. “And this can’t happen again. Not when we get back to reality. But now? In this gorgeous mountain meadow in the middle of Montana? Where gourmet meals are flown in on a whim? This isn’t reality.” Her teeth playfully dragged his lower lip into a kiss.

  His cock hardened to granite. No denying the heat and moisture and the sweet scent of Addison’s arousal. He wanted her. She wanted him. But would once be enough? He’d have to take the chance because saying no wasn’t an option. Not only for the real, physical need burning between them, but he couldn’t lie and reject Addison. As bold as she acted, he’d held her in his arms when she’d been at her most vulnerable and bared her soul to him. He wouldn’t hurt her even it meant fucking up his own mixed up heart.

  “You’re right. This isn’t reality,” he said. This was heaven and he’d lose himself in the moment even if it killed him later.

  “You always were a quick study,” Addison said, then deepened her kiss, sliding her tongue into his mouth.

  Ryder stroked over it and she moaned, writhing her gorgeous ass on his groin. Their kiss spiraled hotter, faster, more demanding while he pulled her even closer and answered her demand for more. Taking. Giving. Taking again.

  She tasted like berries and the wildflowers scenting the light mountain breeze. Now that he could savor her mouth, his entire body was greedy for the rest. His heart even more. “Addison,” he said, cupping her bottom and rolling them until he hovered over her. “You’re so sweet. So, so sweet.”

  “I don’t want to be sweet.” She arched her back and pressed her full breasts against his chest. “I want to be bad. Really, really bad.”

  “Then you’re in luck because I’m the poster boy for bad.”

  Ryder melded his lips onto hers, and kissed her while he roamed his hands over her curves, her soft sighs and moans vibrating into him so deep he nearly lost all control. He slipped his palms under her shirt and hers skimmed beneath his jersey, then traced her way along his back. Their motions matched each other, equals freely exploring each other.

  “Ryder,” she said, her voice ragged, raising her hips to meet his. “More. I want more.”

  Shudders of pleasure coursed through him, and his cock throbbed with the rush of blood filling it. “That makes two of us.”

  Suddenly, slow discovery transformed to fast, frenzied demanding removal of the barriers of their clothing until they were pressed, skin to skin, body to body, sliding together—hot and wet and slick with need. Their breathing rushed in and out, edging them higher and higher to the point of no return.

  Desperation to plunge into her, mindless and lost to the sensations building in him, warred with his desire to please, and take her over the abyss first. Pleasing her won, barely. But he had to show her with his body what his mind still struggled to comprehend.

  He cared.

  Regardless of what happened after today, Ryder wanted Addison to believe she was worthy of love. He wanted her to feel adored. He wanted her to forget he’d ever broken her heart. Ryder wanted to be the man who gave her the power to demand she be cherished for the rest of her life even if he would never be the right guy for her.

  E
motions tangled in his brain, made him want to spill the feelings stirring inside him for Addison, but he blocked the desire by lowering his lips to her breasts and taking one into his mouth. Her hands raked across his shoulders and she arched closer to him.

  Ryder swirled his tongue over her taut, rosy colored nipples and she gasped, her hips wildly moving beneath his. He pinned her with his body, ignored the hot need vibrating deep in his shaft, and continued savoring her breasts one at a time, sucking her in harder until she moaned his name over and over in raw, ragged breaths.

  “You’re so close, Addison. Let yourself go—come for me.”

  “I can’t … it’s too much.”

  “I’ve got you,” Ryder said, then sucked her sweet nipple into his mouth and nipped the sensitive flesh while tracing his hand down the slope of her slim waist until he reached the soft curls covering her slick sex. “Hang onto me, sweetheart. I’ll take you where you want to go.”

  “Oh. I—Ryder…” she threaded her fingers through his hair, and held him to her sexy, responsive breasts. “Now. Touch me now.”

  His heartbeat pounded in his ears and his cock seemed ready to explode, but this was about Addison. He’d give her what her body craved first. Ryder stroked the seam of her sex, parting the flesh until he found the pulsating bundle of nerves at the apex. “Is this what you want?” he asked, looking up from her breast to take in her flushed cheeks and the passion glazing her eyes.

  “Yes. Oh, yes.”

  He slipped his finger into her, then swept her slick arousal over her clit. It jumped at his touch, and shudders waved through her entire body. Oh yeah, she was so damned close to shattering beneath him. “I want you to come for me, then I’m going to make you come all over when I’m inside you.” Ryder moved his cock across her hips to let her feel how he bordered the line between control and losing it completely.

  She moaned, trembled and arched her back, her release shuddering through her and spasming against his hand. He held her until she went limp and soft and pliant in his arms. Raising up on one elbow, Ryder gazed at Addison’s pretty flushed cheeks and her sweet lips.

  “You’re amazing.” He kissed her closed eyelids and brushed her damp hair from her temples. “Never doubt that, Addison.”

  Her gorgeous hazel eyes fluttered open and locked onto his. “You’re not at all what I expected,” she said while spreading her legs languidly to cradle his groin.

  “What did you expect?” he asked, then pressed his forehead onto hers, not daring to admit what thrummed through his sex fevered mind. Like me. Love me. Let me be the guy who’ll protect you and love you forever.

  He’d promised her for now. Asking for more couldn’t be part of the equation.

  * * *

  Tender. Ryder had been tender when Addison had expected crazy, insane sex and nothing more. Tiny aftershocks of her incredible orgasm still trembled through her. Ryder had sneaked past her boundaries, ridden beyond the finish line she’d established, and gone for the gold with his incredible focus on her needs while suppressing his own apparent desire.

  She shouldn’t let need sway her resolve to keep things professional once they exited the serene bubble of freedom the meadow had given them. “I don’t know,” she said, stroking his brow and dancing her fingers along his stubbled jawline. Though they’d get back to their reality in a day, she wanted to understand how he’d developed the incredible capacity to give so much.

  And why he’d hidden it from the world with his ridiculous string of shallow relationships when he could be the perfect man for someone.

  Someone like her.

  Not her, she reminded herself. Still, maybe they could be friends long after they went their separate ways. “But I liked it,” she said. “A lot.”

  He laughed, then kissed her temples. “You’ll like what I’m about to do a whole lot more.”

  His shaft jumped against her groin, and her sex ached with renewed need. “Really?” she asked, keeping her voice light. “You’re ready to go the distance, but did you come prepared?”

  He grinned, and the charmer in him lit up his beautiful eyes. “Like a boy scout.”

  Ryder shifted off her and she heard the rip of foil. He returned and she welcomed his powerful body back. A second later, his lips were on hers. And then he pushed into her in one long, deep stroke and filled her.

  She lifted her hips to take him deeper, deeper still. Oh, he felt right inside her.

  “Addison. You’re so wet for me.” He ran hot kisses over her mouth, her jaw, and on the sensitive skin at the base of her throat. “So fucking beautiful.”

  The exquisite ache between her legs intensified, and sent waves of pure ecstasy throughout her body as he moved in and out of her. Deeper, faster, and then slower, torturing the folds of her sex with the tip of his swollen cock head.

  “Ryder. Don’t stop.” She might die if he didn’t fill her.

  “I don’t just want to feel you come all over me,” he said, plunging inside her and increasing his tempo. “I want you to come with me.” His hands were all over her, cupping her breasts and teasing her elongated nipples into tighter points.

  His sexy talk excited her. She felt possessed, owned, and branded by his sheer determination to claim her with his body. He pumped into her again and again. She contracted around his incredible, thick length. She’d never been with a man so rugged, raw, and commanding.

  She loved it.

  Loved being with him.

  Loved him.

  “Make me,” she cried. “I want you to make me…” yours. She was losing her mind, unable to think or fathom where she ended and he began.

  She knew one thing. Him.

  “Ryder,” Addison cried, her orgasm building low and intensifying while he drove into her hard, fast, deep.

  “Tell me you’re with me.”

  “I am. Oh, I’m so there.”

  He plunged into her one last time, his eyes locked onto hers, with his release shuddering through him. Stars burst bright white and she crested over the edge with him. And when she fell back into herself, she struggled to shut down the longing she recognized in his gaze. One that matched her desire and the intense yearning for so much more.

  To be cherished. And to cherish. To be adored. And to adore. To be loved. And to love.

  To belong.

  Chapter 8

  Addison stared at her desk top screen and reread the online tabloid’s headline, then glanced at Ryder who had plunked down in her favorite comfy chair. “Please tell me this is the last of your ex-girlfriends with stories to tell,” she said, then popped open her throat lozenge container and took one. After what she’d experienced almost a week ago with Ryder, she could certainly understand the trail of women who still wanted a piece of him. Most wanted to make bank on having been with him.

  She, however, just wanted him. And the idea of all those perfect, skinny models being with Ryder resurrected her insecurities. Sure, she’d lost weight, and he’d been more than appreciative of the end results, but Addison was far from the perfection of the women he usually dated.

  “I have no idea.”

  “Miranda Sinclair won’t be easy to neutralize,” she said. “And your other teammates can’t share their up close and personal encounters with her, either. Half of them are on the 2016 Olympic squad.”

  “Coach Jamison won’t go for it.”

  “Exactly. Ryder, we have to reconsider going to the media with the truth about what happened with Tiffany.”

  “No. I won’t let Eric get dragged through hell again.” Ryder sat straighter. “Use the team doctor’s documentation. I always pass my drug and alcohol screenings.”

  “That’ll help.” But it wouldn’t be enough. Not with the barrage of online tabloid accounts. They’d run with lies and innuendos to get ratings, but people fed on rumors like candy. “I’ll get a news release out stating the facts, and up your appearances at local charity events.” Then she’d contact Eric discreetly and determine for herself if he�
�d object to the full version of the story coming out. She owed Ryder to check first, but she owed her agency and her father her due diligence. She stood and stretched her arms high, wishing she could squash the ex girlfriend like a bug.

  The logistics of protecting Ryder squeezed her thoughts until her head ached. How could she save him, and the agency’s reputation, without losing Ryder’s trust?

  “You weren’t drinking the night of the accident.”

  “Alcohol isn’t my thing.”

  Dear Lord, she loved the way he filled out his corporate sponsor’s jersey. Quickly, she averted her eyes and tried to focus on finding a fix to their current PR nightmare. Difficult when she had been with him, naked and together all the way. Even more, her heart had slipped, teetered on the edge when they’d made love last week. Because he was so good at using his body to please hers. At least, she kept telling herself that whenever she wanted another make out session with Ryder.

  But she couldn’t afford to let her heart buy into what her body kept telling her.

  “Thanks,” he said. “And thanks for believing me about the boozing bullshit before the reports came back from the doctor.”

  “That’s why you’re paying Carrington Agency our commission,” she said, while inwardly warning her nipples to stay strong and not respond to the way his smoldering dark gaze held hers. “Besides, I’ve never seen you take one sip of alcohol. Not even when you were in university. Heck, even I got drunk a few times during college.”

  “I’m an athlete,” he said casually. “My body is my temple.”

  “Oh baloney. If your body was your temple, you’d stay clear of monster cheeseburgers and french fries.”

  She grabbed the suit jacket she’d hung on the back of her chair and shrugged it on. Not only did she want to hide her arousal from Ryder, but she also wanted to understand why he made his choices.