But he was too far in to back out.
“Make me come, Jared.” A shiver moved through him. He loved to hear her say his name. “I need to feel you come inside me.”
Oh, yeah. He could get on board with that. Not saying a word, he intensified his strokes, increased his pace, until their bodies were slapping together, skin against skin. Faster. Deeper, his gaze locked with hers, the threat of orgasm so close he could practically taste it.
A little smile curled her lips when she tilted her head back, her body bowing beneath his, sending him about as deep as he could go. That did it. The sight of her, her breasts bobbing with his every thrust, her sex gripping him tight, he fell apart. Came with an intensity he hadn’t expected, the tremors shook his bones, rattled his blood, cracked open his heart.
Filled it full of love—all for her.
He fell against her in an exhausted heap. No way did he want to leave now. Fuck practice. He could spend the rest of the day in bed with Sheridan and roll out onto that field the next morning beyond ready.
Just being with her made him feel like a superhero.
“You should go take a shower.” She ran her fingers through his hair. “Big game tomorrow. What time do you have to be there?”
It sort of hurt that she didn’t acknowledge what just happened between them. He felt like such a chick. “I don’t know. Eight? Nine? I figure I’ll get a call if I’m late.”
She glanced at the bedside table. “Where’s your phone?”
Jared looked in the same spot, frowning. “I don’t know.”
Reluctantly withdrawing from her, he slid out of bed and padded around the room naked, on the search for his phone. He found it in his jeans and tried to turn it on, but it was completely dead. He brought it back to the bedside table, where he plugged it into the small charging dock he kept there before he climbed back into bed.
“Jared, you need to get ready,” she murmured as he pulled her in for a sweetly sexy kiss, full of tangling tongues.
“Come with me. I need you to soap me up,” he encouraged when he came up for air.
She caressed his chest. “I don’t think so.”
“You’re turning me down?”
“I bet that doesn’t happen very often, huh?” she teased.
“Rarely. You’re about the only person who tells me no on a regular basis.”
“That’s a wife’s prerogative,” she teased.
“Well, wife. I don’t like it. I thought wives were supposed to obey their husbands.” He kissed her again, cupping her breasts with his wide, rough palms, his thumbs teasing her nipples.
She murmured a little sound of pleasure at his touch. “Not when their husbands are all bossy and mean.”
“Like I’m mean.” He treated her with the utmost care. She was the fucking queen of his world, though she didn’t even know it. “You like the way I treat you, wife.”
“I love the way you treat me, husband,” she whispered.
His hands stilled, his gaze locking with hers. They stared at each other, the moment fraught with unnamed tension and he parted his lips, sucked in a harsh breath. “Sheridan, I…”
A successive sound of beeps rang from Jared’s phone—apparently he had a bunch of text messages waiting for him. Frowning, disappointment crashed through him that he didn’t get a chance to tell her how he felt. He leaned over and grabbed the phone, saw the time, and moaned. “Shit, it’s after nine. How the hell did we sleep in that late?”
He sat on the edge of the bed and scanned through his text messages. “Holy. Shit.” He hit a button on his phone and as it rang, he kept his back to her, his voice low when Harvey answered. “Tell me what I just read isn’t true.”
“It’s true.” Harvey sounded grim, pissed off, and ready to explode.
Jared could relate. He kept his voice as low as he could, not wanting Sheridan to hear. Damn his near dead phone keeping him there since it was charging. And how was he going to tell her what happened? “When did this leak? And how?”
“I don’t know. We’ve been working on it all morning. Walsh also wants to know where your ass is at. You’re missing practice.”
“I’ll be there in thirty. Call and let him know.”
“You call. I’m too busy trying to figure out who did this.”
“Too fucking late, I’m sure,” Jared muttered, disbelief mixed with anger bubbling inside him. He couldn’t freaking believe it happened. Three months in and the shit had hit the fan. He was surprised there weren’t more texts, voicemails, and emails on his phone.
“Listen, this all started because Sheridan didn’t have her ring on last night. They speculated, they put the photo of her on that TMZ site, and then they started investigating.”
Shit. He forgot to tell her about that. Too distracted with getting inside her, the incident had slipped his mind. “So who squealed?” He refused to let it be Sheridan’s fault. She didn’t wear her ring when she painted, she’d told him that before. And he couldn’t blame her.
“We’re pretty sure it’s someone in my office. This is going to be my ass. Monroe is livid. One of the magazines has exclusive photos of the agreement, Jared. It’s bad. Especially because by now, I’m sure the two of you broke the clause. And if that’s the case, this marriage is void anyway.” The bomb that Harvey just dropped rendered Jared completely still. “Call Walsh and get to practice. But be prepared. I’m sure the paparazzi is swarming there, waiting for you.”
Jared ended the call, stared morosely out the window. The sky was gray, as was the ocean, the water swirling and turbulent. Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply, trying to process what they should do next. What Harvey said to him.
Was Harvey just assuming they’d had sex? Or did he somehow know it for a fact?
“Jared.” She rested her delicate hand between his shoulder blades. “What’s going on?”
Slowly he turned to face her. She’d slipped on his oversized T-shirt, her face pale, her eyes wide, and her hair a wild mess tumbling down past her shoulders. She was so beautiful his heart ached at having to tell her.
“I can’t do this without clothes on.” Shaking his head, he went and grabbed his jeans off the floor, pulling them on. Then he returned to the bed and took Sheridan’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “We’ve been found out,” he said solemnly, trying his best to keep his composure. “The marriage agreement. It’s been leaked.”
“What?” She tugged her hand out of his grip, her eyes going wild. “Leaked? How?”
“Last night, that shitty gossip site TMZ splashed a picture of you in front of the gallery without your wedding ring on and an article speculating that we were already in trouble. Looks like someone did a little research, greased a few hands, and now there are stories all over the web saying our marriage is a sham.” Jared leaned down, trying to look into her eyes but she bent her head, her hair falling all around her face.
“So the agreement is mentioned then.” He could hardly hear her. Wished he could see her. “Who could’ve done this?”
“I don’t know.” He cleared his throat, hating that he even thought it, let alone had to ask it. “You didn’t tell anyone did you, Sheridan? Like your friends? Willow?”
She lifted her head, her eyes blazing with anger. “So you think it’s my fault.”
“That’s not what I’m saying.” He reached for her hand again but she batted him away. “I know how close you are to Willow. What if she slipped?”
“She couldn’t have slipped because I didn’t tell her,” she bit out, her lips so tight he wondered how she could even talk. “I kept this from everyone to help you. My friends, my mom, everyone. I’ve changed my entire life to accommodate you and improve your image.”
“This wasn’t all about me. You’ve benefited from this agreement too,” he pointed out.
“Oh sure, of course I have.” She stood and started to pace, momentarily distracting him with those long, bare legs strutting indignantly. “My life has been crazy since the momen
t I met you. I have Mr. Slick dictating to me what I can and cannot do, my picture appears in magazines and online and they try their hardest to make me look terrible. Business has increased, I can’t deny that and for it, I’m thankful. But it all came at what price?”
“What do you mean, what price? You have everything you could ever want. You’re set, money-wise. You live in this big fucking house. You’ve got me…” He stopped, knowing he sounded like an ass. His chest ached. His wife was furious. And all of her anger seemed to be directed right at him.
“All of this”—she waved her hand around—“doesn’t matter to me. Before this, I was just trying to follow my dream and support my mother and me. I was trying to be the woman my grandma always wished I could be. You and Harvey came along at a time when I was feeling really vulnerable and ready to sell the one thing that meant the most to me. Like a knight in shining armor, you promised you would help me and you got me. Now I feel like I’ve been had.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What are you saying?”
“I’m wondering if this wasn’t an accident. Maybe there wasn’t a leak. Maybe you were trying to get out of this so-called marriage. Or Harvey wasn’t pleased with the way things were going so he thought he’d do something drastic to end it between us.”
Her suggestions were so ridiculous he could hardly see straight. “You really think I’d make myself look like a complete asshole and let everyone know I had to pay you to pretend to be my wife?”
“I don’t know what to think.” She stopped pacing, her shoulders slumped, her expression full of defeat. “People in this community know me, Jared. I work with them all the time. And now they’re going to find out my marriage to you wasn’t real. It’s humiliating.”
She was feeling humiliated. He could get it—after all, he wasn’t too thrilled at the idea of everyone thinking he couldn’t get a wife on his own, that he had to go out and buy one. The entire situation sucked.
But she thought he might’ve done it. She’d completely forgotten what he said to her earlier. Holy hell, he’d come way too close to admitting he was in love with her. In freaking love with her.
Because he was. And now their entire relationship was shot to hell.
“Harvey said they’re playing up the no-sex clause the most. He also mentioned that he knew we broke the clause,” he said quietly. “How would he know?”
She stood at the dresser, her head bent as she scrolled through her phone. “I left my phone on silent,” she murmured. “God, everyone’s been trying to reach me.”
“Sheridan.” He went to her, stood directly in front of her until she lifted her head and met his gaze. “How did Harvey know we broke the clause? Did you tell him?”
The troubled flicker in her gaze was telling. “Like I would confess to Harvey Price we’ve had sex.”
“Then how did he know?”
She slid her gaze away from his. “Maybe because he guessed? I mean, come on, it’s fairly obvious you’ve gone from sexually frustrated to extremely easygoing.”
Well, holy shit. This was getting more unreal by the second. “Did you have sex with me in the hopes it would nullify the marriage?”
“What? No, of course not. It wasn’t like that. Not for me.” She shook her head, gave a little irritated sound. “I’m the one who asked for that clause. I wanted it there to protect myself from you.”
“What did you say?” He shook his suddenly cloudy head. “You wanted the clause? You’re the one who put it in the agreement?”
“Yes! I didn’t know if I’d be able to handle being intimate with you again, Jared. That first night we were together…I’d never felt like that before. So when this all went down I freaked out and wanted some protection for myself.”
“By asking for that clause.”
She nodded, looking miserable. “I thought it was a good idea at the time.”
“Sure it was. Still a great idea, now that you have the means to finish this marriage and collect all the money anyway,” he said bitterly.
Her cheeks colored and she grabbed her jeans, pulling them on, nearly falling over when she did so. “I can’t stay here and try and explain myself. You already think the worst of me.”
“Where are you going?” Panic swept through him despite his anger. “You can’t just leave.”
“I’m going to Willow’s.” She studied him, the tears shining in her eyes unmistakable. “This is bad, Jared. I don’t know how we’re going to come out of it unscathed.”
His chest cramping, he watched as she finished dressing, then pulled her hair into a sloppy ponytail. Damn it, he didn’t want her to go. He wanted to drag her back into that big bed and make love to her again. So they could shut themselves completely off from the real world and focus on what really mattered.
Each other.
Chapter Seventeen
“It’s been a little over a week,” Willow said gently, concern written all over her pretty face, glowing in the depths of her blue eyes. Reaching out, she shook Sheridan’s shoulder, her lips tightening the slightest bit. “You can’t hide forever.”
They were sitting on Willow’s couch in her living room, the both of them indulging in wine with a pizza on its way. Just another hot Friday night.
“I’m not hiding.” Sheridan jerked away from Willow’s grip, heard her friend’s frustrated sigh. “I’ve been going to the studio every day.”
“Work and here, that’s it. You won’t talk to anyone else. Your mom has called me every single day in the hopes that I’ve finally been able to convince you to call her.” Willow paused, exhaling loudly. “You really need to call her.”
“I can’t. She’ll want every single detail and I’m not ready to discuss it yet.” She didn’t think she would ever be ready. The humiliation over what happened left a huge, gaping hole right in the center of her chest. The media had gone crazy over the story, making Jared look like a loser who couldn’t keep a woman unless he bought her, and making Sheridan look like a money-grubbing gold digger.
She wished she’d never met Jared Quinn.
Liar.
“You’re never going to feel ready to discuss it,” Willow said. “I understand that. But you need to face reality. You can’t hide from this forever.”
“I already told you, I’m not hiding from anything.”
“You’re hiding from your mom. And you’re hiding from Jared,” Willow said quietly.
Sheridan hated hearing his name. It made her entire body ache just to hear it, let alone think about him. He certainly wasn’t suffering. Nope, he was playing just fine, leading the Hawks to a massive victory after a devastating loss against the Raiders. Her husband—the Mighty Jared Quinn—was back on top of the world.
Sheridan grimaced. He wasn’t her husband, not in the truest sense of the word. She needed to stop thinking like that.
“I should talk to your dad and see what I need to do next,” Sheridan said, leaning back against the couch. It was a Friday evening, they were both tired, and Sheridan knew Willow would normally be going out and having fun.
But tonight, she was there for her friend, which meant the world to Sheridan.
Willow made a face. “I still can’t believe you two kept this from me.”
“I’m sorry.” She’d said it for what felt like a million times already. “You know I couldn’t tell you anything. And it was killing me, keeping this secret from you.”
“I know, I know. I’ll stop giving you a hard time, I promise.” Willow sighed. “Listen, you haven’t even talked to Jared. You should hear him out.”
“What else does he have to say? Sorry I made you look like a fool? Wish I would’ve never married you?” Sheridan sighed.
“He feels terrible.” Willow paused. “And used.”
“What? How do you know?” Used? Was she kidding? Who used whom in this situation?
“I’ve seen him.” Willow shrugged, deceptively casual.
Sheridan studied her with narrowed eyes. “When?”
�
��I was with, um, Nick.” Willow nibbled on her lower lip. “A few nights ago. When you were conducting your fall painting class.”
Great. So Sheridan was working her butt off and her friend was out socializing with Sheridan’s husband. Fabulous. “Spare me the details. I don’t want to hear them.”
“Well, too damn bad, you’re going to. I went to Nick’s house.” Willow’s eyes grew shadowed. It probably took everything for her to admit this. Whatever she had going on with Nick Hamilton she kept very close to her chest. “And while I was there, Jared showed up. He looked terrible.”
Why that gave Sheridan a small bit of satisfaction, she didn’t know. “So what?”
“Like he hasn’t slept in days terrible. His head is all messed up, semi-direct quote from Nick.” Willow rolled her eyes. “He used harsher language but I’m editing it for your benefit.”
“I can only imagine.” Sheridan shook her head. “He hasn’t tried to contact me. So I figured we were through communicating. What else am I supposed to think?”
“Maybe you should reach out to him,” Willow suggested.
“No way. I’m not setting myself up to fail. Or worse, face more humiliation. Besides, the paparazzi will spot us together and then we’re completely done for.”
It had been discovered the leak came from a lowly assistant within the Hawks publicity office. A curious college student who was interning for the season in hopes of getting a permanent job, who’d nursed a growing hatred for a certain Harvey Price. The intern had already known about the marriage agreement after finding the documents—which had been under lock and key in Harvey’s personal file cabinet in his office—and was slowly leaking information to the press trying to garner their attention.
Once the photos had appeared with Sheridan sans her wedding ring, the media had taken the bait. And paid the intern a ton of money for the outrageous story.
Luckily for Harvey, he hadn’t lost his job. The man must’ve been working overtime trying to do damage control and save Jared’s image. She’d talked to Harvey once, had listened to him beg for her to come back and pretend that she’d fallen in love with Jared and they could claim to the world that their marriage was real.
Game for Marriage Page 17
