by Tara Wyatt
“You! Both of you! No fighting in here! You’re out!” shouted a beefy security guard as he came striding toward them. Beau held up his hands in a placating gesture.
“No problem. We were just leaving.”
Hunter and Dylan moved in between Beau and the guy, preventing any further damage from being done. With a glance over his shoulder, Hunter nodded at Beau, letting him know that they had this, and he should focus on getting Piper home safely.
He grabbed Piper’s hand and led her toward the exit, adrenaline and anger and a possessiveness he didn’t know what to do with all spiraling through him. Piper pulled her hand out of his and marched angrily along in front of him, her spine rigid.
He frowned, panic helping his anger fade out. “Hey, wait. Piper. Are you mad at me?”
She didn’t stop walking until she’d reached the elevator, where she jabbed at the button impatiently. Finally, she spun to face him, her arms crossed over her chest. “I can’t believe you did that, Beau! That was so reckless and dangerous and hot-headed, and—”
“I lost my cool, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” The elevator doors opened with a chime and she stepped inside, her heels clicking sharply against the tiled floor. “But he assaulted you. I couldn’t let that stand. No fucking way.”
“Why couldn’t you let it go? Instead of punching him in the face?”
“Because he shouldn’t have said those things, and he damn well shouldn’t have grabbed you. Hearing him talk about you that way was bad enough, but then when he put his hands on you…Yeah. I snapped. And he deserved it.”
“I’m going to call an Uber,” she muttered, rummaging through her purse for her phone.
“No, come on. Let me at least drive you home. Okay?” Whatever was off-kilter between them, he needed to fix it. He didn’t want to leave things like this.
“I’m fine. I can get a ride.”
He moved in front of her, slipping his fingers under her chin and gently tilting her face up to his. “Please. Consider it my atonement for being a hot head back there.” He didn’t regret punching the guy, but he felt bad that his actions had upset her. That hadn’t been his intention.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You could’ve been arrested, you know. This whole thing, us, is to improve your reputation, but you’re not doing yourself any favors if you go around slugging anyone who says something vile to me.”
“Are you mad because of what I did, or because you’re worried about me and the potential consequences?”
“I don’t know! Both, maybe? I don’t know.” She sighed and leaned back against the wall. “This is getting all twisted up.”
“What is?” But before she could answer, the elevator doors opened with a soft ding and she strode out into the lobby, phone in hand.
“Piper, come on. Let me drive you home. I just want to make sure you get home safe, okay?” He didn’t like the idea of her taking an Uber after midnight, of going home alone after someone had assaulted her at the bar. Panic surged at the thought that she might be really pissed with him, pissed enough to be done. He didn’t want to be done.
She closed her eyes and let out a long breath, her head tipped back. With a resigned shrug, she dropped her phone into her purse. “Fine.”
They didn’t say anything as they walked to the valet stand, waiting in awkward silence for one of the hotel employees to bring his car around. Beau hated valet parking—the idea of anyone else driving his baby was enough to set his teeth on edge—but there were no other options beyond street parking, and that was a giant hell no.
He tipped the valet and then opened the passenger side door, holding it open for Piper. She dropped inside, clearly still upset.
He slipped into the driver’s seat, checked the odometer to make sure no one had been driving his car—they hadn’t—and then pulled smoothly into the light late night traffic, the engine rumbling.
As he navigated through downtown and headed north, the silence stretched between them. His brain coughed and sputtered as he struggled for what to say to smooth things over. He felt bad that she was upset, but he didn’t regret punching that douchebag. Finally, she turned to look at him, her eyes luminous in the flaring street lights.
“I was mad because punching that guy could do a lot of damage to your reputation and undo so much of the progress you’ve made. I don’t want that for you. I see how hard you work, what your baseball career means to you, and I guess…” She sighed, turning to look out the window, her fingers playing with the strap of her purse. Shadows flickered over her delicate features as they passed beneath street lights. “I’m not used to having someone around to defend me. It…scared me. How much I liked it, I mean.”
Her admission slammed into him, lighting him up from the inside. She was mad because she was worried about him. Because she’d liked having him stand up for her, and it had thrown her.
Well, hell.
“It was a risk I was more than willing to take, Piper. No one gets to talk to you like that, and no one gets to touch you without your permission. I didn’t punch him because I see you as a possession, if that’s what you’re worried about. I did it because he deserved it for treating you so disrespectfully. I’m sorry that it was upsetting for you. That wasn’t my intention. But I don’t regret doing it.”
She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, seeming lost in thought as she stared out the window, leaving Beau alone with his own swirling thoughts about what he’d done, and what it meant. He’d never punched someone because of a woman before, but hitting that guy because of what he’d said and done to Piper had only felt right.
Beau pulled up in front of the main entrance to Piper’s building and put the car in park, the engine still purring and vibrating through the interior of the car. Piper undid her seatbelt, ready to get out of the car and put this night behind her. Everything between her and Beau felt so confusing and twisted up, and him punching that guy for groping her had only deepened the confusion.
She reached for the door handle, but then her eyes landed on Beau’s hand on the steering wheel, the knuckles red and swollen, and the sudden need to look after him the way he’d looked after her swamped her, obliterating everything else. She wasn’t sure where she wanted things to go between the two of them, but she did know that sending him home right now felt wrong. He’d risked a lot to defend her, to protect her, and even though she didn’t condone hitting people, she had to admit that it was a little hot.
“Do you want to come up for a minute? You should really get some ice on that hand. I’ve got an ice pack upstairs, if you want.”
“You’re inviting me up?” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, his other hand still curled around the steering wheel. “You think that’s wise?”
Heat pulsed between her legs. Hell no, it wasn’t wise. Being alone with Beau was probably a really bad idea, given their whole “we’re not having sex” thing. But she didn’t want to be wise right now. She wanted to look after him.
She held up a finger. “Just to put ice on your hand. But yes. I’m inviting you up.”
“Yeah. Okay.” His voice had roughened. “Where should I park?”
Her heart kicked into high gear as she directed him to the guest parking area to the left of the building. Her skin felt overly warm as she got out of the car and led him toward the front of the building, unlocking the entry door.
“Does it hurt?” she asked, gesturing at his hand as they waited for the elevator.
“Not much.” He flexed his hand and then winced. “Maybe a little. I’ll live.”
“Is this going to affect your playing?”
He shook his head. “It shouldn’t. Especially after a little first aid.” The way he said it made it sound a little dirty, and she shivered, heat pulsing in her core. Good God, she wanted him. She also knew that sleeping with him would only make her already confusing feelings even more confusing, and that was the last thing she needed right now.
“I’m not inviting you up to have s
ex,” she said, her voice coming out a little too loud in the quiet of the elevator car.
He nodded, flexing his hand again. “I know. We agreed we shouldn’t.”
She twisted her fingers together so she wouldn’t reach for his hand. She wanted to trace her fingers over the swollen knuckles, wanted to kiss the reddened skin. “Right. It’s a bad idea.”
He nodded slowly, his green eyes bright when they met hers. Almost burning. “Right.”
The elevator doors slid open, and he followed her to her apartment. She arched her back slightly as her nerves hummed and sang at the knowledge that he was right behind her. Beau, who she’d thought was a cocky, arrogant womanizer but who was turning out to be so much more.
She unlocked her door with shaky hands and then stepped inside, dropping her keys in the little ceramic bowl on the stand by the door. Toeing off her shoes, she padded into the kitchen, hyperaware of Beau’s presence in her apartment. She knew inviting him up was playing with fire, but she wouldn’t have felt right about saying goodnight in the parking lot after everything that had happened that night.
She pulled open the freezer and rummaged around, looking for the ice pack she knew she had. Suddenly, the freezer door swung open wider and Beau was right beside her, peering into the freezer.
“Let’s see, what do we have here…” He started pawing through her freezer, moving things around. “Frozen mango…frozen bananas…chicken breasts…ground turkey…what is this? Fish? Huh. Well, hello. What do we have here?” He reached into the back and pulled out her emergency carton of Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. Holding it up, he waggled it back and forth. “I don’t think there’s any kale in this, Piper. Did you buy this by mistake?” He popped the lid off and let out a gasp of mock surprise when he saw that it was half empty. “You’ve been eating this? My God. If the people only knew.”
She shot him a grin and pulled the ice pack out of the freezer. “You want some? There are spoons in that drawer right there.”
“It’s only fair, seeing as I shared my M&Ms with you.” He turned and pulled two spoons out of the drawer she’d indicated.
“Come on, let’s go sit in the living room and get some ice on that hand.” She turned lights on as she went and sat down on the sofa that faced the windows, looking out over the distant city skyline. He sat down beside her and she took the ice cream from him, along with one of the spoons, then passed him the ice pack. She took a bite of ice cream and watched as he arranged the pack over his swollen knuckles. Maybe this was fine. They could sit here, alone together, and eat ice cream and talk and it would all be fine. As she let the ice cream melt on her tongue, savoring the creamy sweetness, her mind replayed the events of the evening. How happy she’d been to see him, how much fun she’d had hanging out with him and his teammates, the way he’d defended her.
This so-called pretend relationship wasn’t feeling very pretend anymore, and she didn’t know how to feel about that.
“Thank you,” she said after a moment. He scooped up some of the ice cream and she watched the spoon disappear between his lips, a little flutter erupting in her stomach. She couldn’t seem to stop watching him. Watching him and wanting him, even though she really, really shouldn’t. “For defending me.”
“You’re welcome.”
She took another bite of ice cream and then set the spoon and the carton down on the coffee table in front of the sofa. It wasn’t that the ice cream wasn’t delicious—it was, obviously—but her stomach was currently twisting itself in knots at being alone with Beau.
“I want you,” she whispered, and his eyes snapped to hers. She pressed her lips together, shocked that the words had escaped her mouth. She hadn’t meant to say them out loud, but now that they were out there, she couldn’t deny that they were true.
The heat in Beau’s gaze became smoldering, and with slow, deliberate movements, he set both the ice pack and his spoon on the coffee table. And then, he did something that almost undid her, right there on the spot.
He patted his thigh, leaned back against the sofa and spread his arms over the back, leaving his gloriously masculine body on display. “Come here.”
Her pulse throbbed in her temples, her throat, her clit as she climbed onto his lap, swinging her leg over his hips to straddle him. The movement made her dress ride up her legs, barely leaving her covered.
“We shouldn’t,” she whispered, winding her arms around his neck. The thrill of doing something she knew she shouldn’t was scorching her from the inside out, leaving her insides feeling molten.
“We’re not going to. We’re just going to kiss. Kissing doesn’t count. Kissing isn’t sex.”
She swallowed thickly, shivering as his hand slid up her thigh. “Right. It doesn’t count.”
His hands continued upwards, over her ribcage, his fingertips skimming along the outer swell of her breasts. She moaned softly and arched her back, her breasts flattening against his chest. His hands kept moving upward, finally tangling in her hair as he brought his mouth to hers. Lust and need exploded through her at the sensation of his tongue stroking against hers in that slow, languid way he had that made her insane with wanting him. Unable to help herself, she rocked her hips against him, shuddering at the large bulge in his jeans. She’d felt him earlier too, and she’d spent an indecent amount of time over the past few hours thinking about Beau Beckett’s cock.
He kissed a slow path down her neck, taking his time, as though he were savoring her. “God, you smell so fucking good,” he rumbled out, his hands sliding from her hair all the way down her back to her hips. “Drives me so fucking insane.”
His words sent fresh heat pulsing through her, making her clit throb and her pussy flutter. They were skating dangerously close to a line they shouldn’t cross and yet she couldn’t bring herself to pull away.
She tipped her head back as his mouth dipped lower, kissing a path across her collarbone and down towards the tops of her breasts. He didn’t stop when he ran out of skin, instead kissing her breast over top of the fabric of her dress. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and the sensation of his tongue licking roughly over her nipple through the fabric had her moaning and writhing on his lap. She wove her fingers into his hair, her nails raking lightly over his scalp. His teeth scraped over her nipple and her back bowed as she moaned out his name.
“Do you want to stop?” he asked, murmuring the words against her breast.
“No,” she said, her voice coming out on a choked sob. “Please don’t stop.”
He made a rough sound in the back of his throat and pulled the straps of her dress down, not stopping until her breasts had popped free of the fabric.
“Godddamn, Piper,” he said, his voice ragged. “Look at you.” He lowered his mouth to her breast with nothing between them this time, and she practically screamed at the feeling of Beau’s mouth closing over her nipple, his tongue working her as he sucked gently. He lifted a hand from her hip to her other breast, filling his palm with her as his thumb stroked over her hardened nipple.
“Yes,” she breathed, her hips writhing, her breathing coming in sharp pants. “Don’t stop. Your mouth feels so damn good.” She dropped her hands to his chest, where her fingers started working on the buttons of his shirt. She knew sleeping with him was a bad idea, but with his mouth on her, his scent surrounding her, his body pressed to hers, all she could think about, all that mattered, was how much she wanted him.
He tormented her nipples with his talented mouth, sucking and licking and biting until she was nothing but a frothing bunch of nerves desperate for release. Desperate for so much more.
“Beau,” she moaned, her body shaking with the need to crawl inside him and lose herself, to give herself over to this chemistry exploding between them. “Let’s go to my bedroom.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, pulling away from her breasts, his eyes dark with lust. Need. Hunger. “Tell me you’re sure.”
She bit her lip, undoing more buttons on his shirt a
nd exposing his glorious chest. “We really shouldn’t. We said we weren’t going to.” She leaned forward, her lips brushing against his ear. “But I think I’m going to die if you’re not inside me. Now.”
Eight
Beau groaned and surged to his feet, taking Piper with him and making butterflies explode in her stomach. She wrapped her legs around his waist, kissing his neck as he walked them toward her bedroom. She couldn’t get enough of this. His mouth. His scent. His hands. They’d barely done anything yet, and she knew she could easily become addicted to him.
“Wait!” she cried out suddenly, and his steps faltered and then stopped. “Put me down.”
He set her down without a word, and she hurried back to the living room, where she picked up the ice cream and ran into the kitchen. She stuffed it into the freezer and then practically sprinted back to Beau, who was watching her with an expression on his face that was part relief, part amusement.
“Sorry. I just didn’t want it to melt and make a huge mess.” She pressed her hands to his chest and urged him backwards through the open door of her bedroom. “You know. While we’re having the sex we definitely shouldn’t be having.”
He dipped his head and kissed her, his hands on her hips. “No, definitely not.” The kiss started out slow, almost sweet, gradually morphing into something hotter and needier. Something more desperate for connection.
Breaking the kiss, Piper undid the last of the buttons on Beau’s shirt and then pushed it impatiently down his arms, wanting to see all of him, reveling in the knowledge that she had this gorgeous man all to herself. There was no one to interrupt them or interfere. It was just the two of them and the pent-up lust shimmering between them. She traced her hands over the muscles she’d fantasized about touching, about licking and biting, learning his athletic contours with the tips of her fingers.
Planting her hands on his chest, she pushed him playfully down to her unmade bed. He landed on the mattress with a soft bounce, reaching for her. He’d just tugged her down onto him when a familiar buzzing sound started, permeating the air.
