by Kendall Ryan
“Are you ready for your morning nap, little one?”
I lift her from her spot on the floor and bring her to my shoulder, where I gently rock her and pat her back. I’ve been trying to think more about her schedule, ever since Alexei told me she should have set nap and feeding times. She’s been awake for a couple of hours now, and so I think she could be getting sleepy again.
I carry her into the guest room and pull the curtains to cover the windows, blanketing us in almost darkness. The room is cool, but not chilly. Perfect for napping.
I lay Ella down with her pacifier and decide I’ll join her. I lie down in the center of the cozy bed and close my eyes, feeling content and at peace for the first time in a long time, even though my life is anything but.
Chapter Ten
Ryleigh
After breakfast the next morning, Alexei lingers in the kitchen, looking down at the tile. “I, um, forgot I invited my friends Jane and Weston over for dinner tonight. But if you want me to cancel . . .”
I shake my head. “Why would you cancel? Of course it’s fine.” It’s his house, after all. I’m only the houseguest currently crashing here. “I’ll just take Ella, and we’ll get out of your hair for a while so you can entertain.”
His brows pinch together. “That’s not what I meant. I don’t want you to leave. Are you up for meeting some of my friends and hanging out for a while? Weston’s the quarterback on the team. Jane works for the team, and she’s also Weston’s girlfriend.”
I blink at Alexei. He wants me to meet his friends? “Oh. Um, sure. Of course.”
His openness to share his home and his life with me is beyond confusing. Are we friends? Fuck buddies? Something more? Mentally, I shake my head, chasing away those thoughts. It’s best not to get my hopes up for when this all inevitably goes south.
“You don’t have to change your plans for me. I’m more than fine with hanging out. As long as they don’t mind a baby at the party.”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “Not a party. I’ll grill burgers. We’ll have a couple of drinks. It’ll be casual.”
“Sounds great. What time are they coming?”
“Seven.”
I nod. It gives me plenty of time to get myself cleaned up to meet one of Alexei’s teammates and his girlfriend.
A little while later, he heads out for practice, leaving me to wonder what his friends will be like. Wonder if they’ll share amusing stories about the man I don’t really know but am temporarily living with. Or worst of all, if they’ll be hostile toward me and wonder if I’m trying to trap him into a relationship.
Either way, it should be interesting.
• • •
Alexei’s friends are great. They’re friendly and thoughtful, and aside from a brief widening of Weston’s eyes and a quick inhalation from Jane when they met Ella and me, they made us feel welcome.
That doesn’t mean I feel comfortable.
Part of me is still adjusting to being here with Alexei . . . to his million-dollar lifestyle, beautiful apartment, and how very different it is from my life.
Having his friends here—who are obviously wealthy and in love—only makes me feel even more in the spotlight. I’m single and with a baby in tow, living paycheck to paycheck.
Jane laughs at something Weston says, snapping my attention back to the present. I take a quick sip of my wine and set the glass on the counter where we’re lingering. I laid Ella down for a nap a little while ago, and now I’m not sure what to do with myself. Part of me likes having her as a social buffer. Is that weird?
Alexei pulls open the sliding glass door and strolls back inside, carrying a plate to the sink. “The burgers are on.”
His eyes meet mine, and I wonder if he can tell how out of place I feel. Probably not. I’ve smiled at the right times and laughed at their jokes. I even made it a point to ask about Jane’s work with the team, and about Weston’s thoughts on their chances for the playoffs. I barely heard their answers, but hey, I asked.
“Ryleigh?” Alexei asks, still watching me. “Can you help me with something?”
“Sure.”
I follow him into the pantry, which is the size of a walk-in closet, complete with a wall of shelves built in for wine bottles. I have no idea what he needs help with, but if he wants me to take over cooking the entire meal, I won’t mind.
“What’s up?” I ask.
When he turns to face me, we’re standing just inches apart. It’s impossible not to notice the way he towers over me. With all his bulky muscle, he easily weighs over a hundred pounds more than me. Anytime we’re alone like this, it’s as though the air between us is charged.
He meets my eyes and places his hands on my shoulders, giving them a squeeze. “I just wanted to check on you. I know this is probably a lot. First, I dragged you here, and now I’m entertaining friends and you’re along for the ride. Are you okay?”
Is he serious? He’s worried about how I’m feeling? It’s so unexpected that a lump of emotion momentarily lodges in my throat.
“I just don’t want to be in the way,” I manage to say.
His hands on my shoulders give me a firm squeeze. “You’re not. Jane and Weston are cool, so please don’t worry.”
I nod. “And you did sort of drag me here, didn’t you?”
Alexei chuckles, and when he meets my eyes again, I don’t miss the way they smolder with unmistakable heat. “I didn’t hear you complaining last night.”
My mouth curls into a smirk. “We’d better get back out there before your friends wonder what’s happening in here.”
He shrugs. “Let them wonder.”
I love how he doesn’t care what anyone thinks, that he’s never been concerned with his image or what the media would say about someone like him hanging out with someone like me.
“Promise you’re okay?”
I nod. “Promise.”
We rejoin his friends, and soon dinner is ready and everyone sits at the table. The burgers are cooked perfectly, and they pair well with the salad and wine Jane and Weston brought. I’m glad I thought to make something for dessert later. Alexei said they had dinner covered, but my grandmother taught me the most amazing recipe for peach cobbler, and I haven’t made it in years.
“This is great,” I say, helping myself to another bite of the tomato-and-feta salad that Jane brought.
She smiles warmly at me again, yet I can’t help but notice the curious glances she’s been casting my way all evening.
As Weston and Alexei have an enthusiastic conversation about their odds of winning the next game, Jane gives me another smile. I would really love to know what she’s thinking.
“Alexei, everything turned out perfectly,” I say at a lull in conversation.
“Your name is Alexei?” Jane asks, her nose crinkling. “How did I not know that?”
He shrugs. “Everyone calls me Alex.”
“Everyone except for Ryleigh,” she adds helpfully.
My cheeks threaten to turn pink, and I take a big gulp of my ice water to temper the burn.
“So, are you two . . .” Jane looks between Alexei and me with her brows raised, leaving the rest of her sentence unspoken.
Part of me is relieved, but the other part kind of wants her to put Alexei on the spot, wants to hear him define what this is.
Two people sleeping together? Check.
But is it more? Or am I just a charity case to him that he’ll see through until I’m on my feet again, or until Andi comes back?
Alexei dodges the question by lifting one shoulder and looking at me. The smirk on his full lips makes my stomach twist. Why am I the only one who calls him Alexei? From what he’s told me, he and Jane have been friends for years.
I duck my head and head toward the kitchen—flee is more like it—mumbling something about taking the ice cream out of the freezer to thaw a bit.
“I’ll help.” Jane smiles at me as though she knows something I don’t.
Once we’re alone in the kitchen, I
grab two cartons of vanilla ice cream and place them on the counter, and busy myself with locating the ice cream scoop in the utensil drawer.
“So . . . how long have you and Alexei been friends?” I ask.
Jane grabs some bowls from the cabinet. It doesn’t escape my notice that she knows exactly which cabinet they’re stored in. She thinks about my question. “About four years now, I guess.”
I nod. “And you and Weston? How long have you been together?”
She smiles and shakes her head. “That one is much harder. We grew up together, high school sweethearts. And when he left, I hated him for years. Then he got drafted to the Hawks, and well . . . he slowly won me back over.” She pauses, catching my eye. “Oh my God, you wanted a simple answer like two months or something, didn’t you?” She places her hands over her face and groans.
I chuckle and shake my head. “It’s fine. You don’t have to censor yourself around me. I’m just some chick crashing the party.”
Her lips press into a line. “I doubt you’re just some chick, Ryleigh. I’ve never seen Alex have a woman around, unless it was his mother or sisters. There was a time a couple years ago. Let’s just say I know he wasn’t a monk, but it’s been a while since I’ve heard about anyone let alone a ‘real’ someone.”
Butterflies zip nervously around my stomach. Her words light something inside me. Still, what we have can’t be serious—it just can’t. We’ve known each other a matter of days.
“So,” I say as I begin scooping generous amounts of peach cobbler into each bowl. I’ll be surprised if I don’t gain five pounds staying here. “Alexei and I haven’t known each other long, but he seems . . .”
I’m fishing for information, but Jane doesn’t seem offended. Thankfully, she seems all too happy to play my game.
Leaning one hip against the counter, she peels the lids off the ice cream cartons and scoots them closer to me. “He’s the best. He deserves someone amazing, you know?”
I nod. I agree completely. “He’s been single for a while then?”
She doesn’t even pause to think about it. “Yep.”
“And you and he never . . .” My cheeks heat, and I pray she’s not offended that I asked her that. But I’m too curious not to. They get along so well.
She breaks into laughter, shaking her head. “God, no. I mean, he’s cute, don’t get me wrong. And a big teddy bear, but no. We were always just friends. We didn’t have the spark, or chemistry, or whatever. Plus, before Weston, I had a rule of never dating players on the team where I worked, so I never even considered it.”
Relieved, I smile. “Makes sense, I guess.”
It gives me a strange sense of comfort to know they never hooked up. I don’t think I could handle standing here making small talk and serving dessert to a girl Alexei has slept with.
After I finish adding scoops of ice cream on top of the servings of warm, gooey cobbler, Jane helps me carry the bowls and spoons into the dining room. I just hope I can survive dessert without making an ass of myself in front of Alexei’s friends.
• • •
Later, when all the dishes are done and Alexei’s friends are gone, and Ella has been bathed, fed, and tucked into bed for the night, the apartment is completely dark and quiet.
I’ve changed into my pajamas and just finished brushing my teeth when I pass Alexei in the hallway.
It isn’t very late, but after cleaning up from the party and getting Ella down, we’re both ready for bed, by the looks of it. He’s dressed in a pair of loose-fitting gray sweatpants and nothing else.
“Where do you think you’re going?” His hand on my waist stops me. He gives me a gentle tug backward until I meet the firm wall of his muscled torso.
“To bed?”
“Yes. In here, baby.” His deep, warm voice sends trembles running through me.
I certainly didn’t want to assume that I was going to be sleeping in Alexei’s bed from now on, but this is a welcome detour.
Alexei’s hands on my waist guide me to his bedroom. The lights are off, and it’s almost too dark to make him out clearly.
But I don’t need lights to know he’s the sexiest man I’ve ever seen. Between the rumble of his low, sure voice, the broad expanse of warm muscle under my fingertips, and the way he always seems to put my needs first . . . let’s just say I’m fairly certain after this morning that Alexei has ruined me for other men.
Desiree would lose her mind if she knew that in addition to being a badass football player, he’s also good with babies and is an amazing lover. I decide I’d better keep that information to myself. Otherwise, she’s liable to kidnap him in his sleep.
Scratch that, no one would ever be able to kidnap Alexei. That’s another thing I like about him—I feel so safe here. I know that with him around, nothing bad will happen to me. I can just picture him facing down a bad guy or a bill collector, and saying, “Not on my fucking watch.”
Alexei tilts my chin up toward his. “What are you thinking about?”
I place my hand on his waist and move closer. “You.”
He smiles. “Good answer.”
Bending down to close the distance between us, he presses a tender kiss to my lips.
“Why do I call you Alexei, but your friends don’t?”
He nuzzles my neck, kissing the sensitive spots he finds there. “Hmm?”
“Jane and Weston. They seemed surprised I don’t call you Alex.”
He lifts his head and meets my eyes. “I don’t know. Everyone on the team calls me Alex.”
All of America calls him Alex. He’s known only as Alex Ivan. He doesn’t give me an explanation for why he introduced himself as Alexei, but I can only think it was perhaps because he wanted a more intimate connection with me. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself as he shoves my pajama pants down my legs, then lifts me and places me carefully in the center of his bed.
“Damn, you’re sexy,” he murmurs, palming my breasts as he lies down beside me. He’s definitely a boob man. Whenever my shirt comes off, he can’t seem to help caressing my breasts, palming their weight in his hands, or sucking my nipples into his talented mouth.
Our conversation is apparently over, but it doesn’t stop me from wondering about what all this means, even as Alexei’s mouth moves lower and my worries morph into pleasure.
Chapter Eleven
Alexei
Now that I know how perfect Ryleigh feels writhing beneath me, how deliciously tight she is, the sounds she makes during sex that drive me insane, I’m having a hard time keeping my hands to myself and my dick in my gym shorts.
It’s entirely inappropriate, yes. I know I promised myself I’d be a gentleman and that I’d help her because it’s the right thing to do, not because I want something from her. Expecting physical pleasure in exchange for being a nice guy, thinking she’d share her body with me just because I gave her a warm place to sleep? That would make me no better than the creepy pricks who hassle her at work.
“So, what are you in the mood for?” Ryleigh asks, opening the fridge and peering inside.
Her ass looks so sexy in the yoga pants she’s wearing, that it’s instinct when I step up behind her and take her hips in my hands, tugging her back toward me.
“This,” I murmur, kissing the back of her neck.
She chuckles and arches into me, bringing her curvy ass directly in line with my growing cock.
For once, food isn’t the only thing on my mind, and since Ella is enjoying one of her late-afternoon naps, I figure we can delay dinner for a little while longer.
I bring my lips to the back of Ryleigh’s neck and press a tender kiss there. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you at practice.”
“Mmm,” she murmurs, her soft curves teasing me.
“Have you ever tried running forty yards with an erection?” I whisper against her neck.
Ryleigh chuckles. “Can’t say I have.”
My hands move from her hips to her perky tits, and I groan
when I fill my hands with them. When my thumbs run over the firm peaks of her nipples, Ryleigh lets out a soft moan.
“You hungry?” I ask as the fridge door closes on its own.
She rocks her ass against me again, finding the ridge in my pants and grinding against it. “Yes, but not for food.”
I smile. Perfect.
My palms slide from her breasts down over her stomach, and I dip a hand under the elastic band of her yoga pants. Pushing my fingers inside her panties, I apply light, teasing pressure as Ryleigh arches and moans into my touch. She’s already getting wet.
“You get me so hard, baby. You feel that?” I shift my hips and rub my steely erection against her ass.
After one more naughty thrust between her perfect ass cheeks, I spin her in my arms and take her mouth in a hot, searing kiss. Ryleigh matches my enthusiasm, her tongue moving with mine.
I’m about three seconds away from lifting her to the kitchen counter and taking her right here when my intercom system beeps at us.
Ryleigh pulls back, confusion painted all over her lust-filled features. “What’s that?”
Shit. It must be someone in my family. They’re the only people the security staff is instructed to let in.
I pull a deep breath into my lungs and cross the room to the screen mounted on the wall. I tap a button. “Yes?”
“Alexei. It’s Valerie.”
Fuck. I press the button to let her in, then turn to meet Ryleigh’s confused expression. “It’s my little sister.”
I have just enough time to adjust my cock in my boxers before the door bursts open to a crying seventeen-year-old.
“It’s official,” she chokes out between sobs. “I hate all men.”
I open my arms and Valerie charges me, coming in for a hug and then crying against my chest. Ryleigh’s eyes widen as she watches us.
When I clear my throat, Valerie steps back. “Oh. I didn’t know you had company.”
I nod. “This is my friend Ryleigh. She and Ella are hanging out for a bit. That okay with you?”
“Ella?” Valerie asks, her thin brows rising.
Ryleigh crosses the kitchen and offers Valerie her hand. My sister quickly wipes at her cheeks before shaking Ryleigh’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, and yeah, Ella is a baby I’m, um, babysitting for a little while.”
