I'll Catch You (Kimani Romance)

by Farrah Rochon

  The entire team converged on the center of the locker room, and Cedric led them in a victory chant that ended with scores of chest bumping, fist pumping and all the other violent forms of male celebration Payton would never understand. Cedric was bombarded with slaps on the back as he made his way through the crowd of smelly players.

  “What are you smiling about?” he asked as he stepped up to her.

  “I bet you didn’t think you’d need to hit the showers after watching a football game where you weren’t even on the field,” she said with a laugh.

  He shrugged it off. “I like this smell. It’s what I’m used to.”

  “I happen to like this smell, too,” Payton said.

  “Some women like Egyptian Musk, you like dirt.”

  Payton gave him a playful punch. “I guess it’s what I’m used to, also. I practically lived in this locker room as a kid.” Over Cedric’s shoulder she spotted a bare teenaged butt. “And just like old times, that’s my cue to leave. What is it with boys and their total lack of inhibitions?”

  Cedric glanced over his shoulder and laughed. “Come on, you’re not five years old anymore. These days you can get arrested for being in here.”

  They left the locker room and headed for the concession stand, where her mother and other members of the Manchac Mustang Booster Club had spent most of the game selling hot dogs and Frito Pies—corn chips topped with homemade chili. As they drove her mother home, she regaled them with anecdotes of her entire season behind the concession stand that had both Payton and Cedric laughing to the point of tears. Apparently violent confrontations were not solely for the football field. Her mom’s retelling of the chili-flinging fiasco during the Manchac versus Wesley game would keep Payton laughing for ages.

  Cedric ignored her mother’s request to be dropped off at the end of the driveway. Parking underneath the aluminum carport adjacent to the house, he and Payton accompanied her inside to make sure all was okay.

  After chastising them both for making a fuss, her mother said, “Now, if you two will excuse me, I need to wash the smell of nacho cheese from my hair.” She turned to Payton. “I’ll probably be in bed by the time you get back from bringing Cedric to his hotel. You still have your key, don’t you?”

  “Of course,” Payton said. “Don’t wait up for me. You’ve had a long night. I can see myself in.”

  Her mother kissed her on the cheek, then turned and did the same to Cedric. His eyes widened, but the grin on his face stretched from ear to ear.

  Back in the car, Cedric settled behind the steering wheel and said, “I love your mom. She’s hilarious.”

  “That’s Mom. If I have any sense of humor at all, that’s where I got it from. She and my dad were a good match. Whenever he was being too serious, all it took was one look from her to put a smile on his face. I’ve never seen two people who loved each other more.”

  “Must be hard for her since he died.”

  “She’s strong,” Payton said. “I was living in Austin at the time. I offered to move back to Manchac but she wouldn’t hear of it. And when I told her I was moving to New York to become a sports agent, she couldn’t have been more supportive. We both knew how much Dad would have wanted this for me.”

  “You’re a very lucky woman, Payton. You know that?”

  “I do,” she affirmed with a poignant smile.

  The rest of the twenty-minute drive to the hotel was made in companionable silence. Cedric pulled under the portico and motioned for the valet.

  “Why are you calling the valet?” Payton asked.

  “Because we can’t leave the car parked here,” he stated matter-of-factly.

  “We’re not. I’m just dropping you off,” she said. He slid a glance her way and a corner of his mouth hitched up in a wicked grin. “Cedric, what are you doing?”

  “Stop asking questions and follow me,” he said.

  “Cedric,” she sighed, climbing out of the car and nodding at the valet who held the door open for her. “It’s been a long night and you have to wake up at an ungodly hour to get back to the airport for your flight out.”

  He grabbed both of her hands and gave them a light squeeze. “Stop asking questions and follow me,” he repeated.

  Fighting back the rush of anticipation that started a tingling hum across her skin, Payton obediently followed him into the hotel’s wide revolving doors. They moved swiftly across the luxuriant lobby, with its rich, modern furnishings, vibrant floral arrangements and flowing rock waterfall behind the reception desk.

  Cedric pulled her into an elevator and slipped the plastic keycard into the slot required for access to the top three floors where the penthouse suites were housed.

  “Is there a reason you can’t tell me what’s going on?” Payton asked.

  He lolled his head to the side and gave her an exasperated look. “Don’t you know how surprises work?”

  “You have a surprise planned for me?” Payton exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because that’s how they work,” he said as if he were explaining it to a four-year-old. He raised her hand to his lips and pressed a light kiss over her fingers. “Yes, I’ve planned a surprise for you.”

  The elevator chimed their arrival to the top floor and Cedric urged her to go ahead of him. They walked a few steps down the hallway to his room. He inserted the keycard, ducked his head inside, then turned to her and smiled. He pushed the door open and made a sweeping gesture. “After you.”

  Payton’s gaze narrowed at the self-assured smile on his face. She stepped into the room and gasped.

  The spacious suite was bathed in the warm glow of dozens of thick pillar candles placed throughout the living area. Scores of white and yellow roses occupied every available surface, their delicate fragrance perfuming the air.

  In the center of the suite’s living space were two massage tables covered by fine linen and sprinkled with a smattering of rose petals. On a nearby table a silver bucket held a champagne bottle submerged in crushed ice, along with a footed, ceramic bowl filled with plump chocolate-covered strawberries.

  She turned toward Cedric who was hanging up the hotel phone next to the suite’s wet bar.

  “I can’t believe you did this,” she said as he strolled toward her.

  “I haven’t been the easiest person to get along with these past couple of weeks,” he said. “I’m hoping this will make up for it.”

  Payton shook her head. “Cedric, you’re not the only one at fault. I’ve been just as difficult. As your agent, I shouldn’t—”

  He put a finger to her lips, silencing the rest of her apology.

  “Tonight is not about you being my agent,” he said. “Tonight is about showing you how much you mean to me.”

  Her heart turned over at his softly spoken words.

  Cedric leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers. “I’m determined to make you see how great we’ll be together, Payton Mosely.” He placed a gentle kiss upon her lips and said, “Now go in the bathroom and strip. The masseuses will be here any minute.”

  Chapter 13

  As he lay on the massage table next to Payton’s, Cedric let the soothing music flowing from the suite’s built-in sound system lull him into a state of semiconsciousness. His mind continued to ruminate over everything he’d learned about Payton over these past two days.

  This small town was so much a part of her, so much of what made her the woman she was today. These were the people who had nurtured her love of the game. It had never been more evident than tonight as he and Payton sat in the bleachers with the other fans, cheering on the team her father had coached for so many years. Cedric doubted he’d ever seen her so happy.

  Actually, he had, a bit earlier, during the pregame ceremony when they’d both stood at the center of the field and watched her mother receive a plaque in honor of Coach Moe. Tears had streamed down her face, but the streaks had only added to Payton’s beauty.

  Cedric had held her hand through most of t
he first quarter and she’d accepted it without hesitation. It had felt good to give her something she needed, even if it was just his hand.

  God, he loved her.

  He’d been trying to pinpoint the moment he’d fallen, but the effort was futile. There wasn’t some magical point in time when he’d realized Payton was everything he could ever want in a woman. She just was. That became evident the minute he’d told her about Derek. He had not trusted even his closest teammates with knowledge of his brother, but he trusted Payton. He’d put the most important elements of his life in her hands—his career, his family, all of it. And Cedric knew she wouldn’t let him down.

  As the masseuses wrapped up their double massages, Cedric reached across the foot-long gap separating them and captured Payton’s hand. He gave it a squeeze, which she returned. She lolled her head to the side and looked over at him. A lazy, satisfied smile drew across her lips.

  “Thank you for this,” she said.

  “There’s more to come,” he replied. “There’s a bottle of Perrier-Jouët just dying to be opened.”

  Several minutes later, they were settled on the hotel suite’s buttery soft leather sofa, sipping champagne and feasting on sweet strawberries. Cedric tried to concentrate on the conversation, but having Payton only a few feet away in nothing but a bathrobe and the lace panties he’d glimpsed as she’d scooted off the massage table was probably the most distracting thing in the world.

  Unless she was naked, of course.

  “You know, I never thought I’d leave this town.” She peered at him over the rim of her champagne flute, seemingly oblivious to the sweet torture he was experiencing at the moment. “Even while practicing law in Austin, I figured I’d do that for another year or so, gain experience, then come back home and open up my own practice.” She took a deep breath, then sighed. “My dad’s death changed everything. After he died, starting my own law practice just didn’t seem like it would be enough to fulfill me anymore. I needed to do something that brought me closer to him. Which, ironically enough, required me to move away.”

  “Had you talked to your dad about becoming an agent?” Cedric asked.

  One corner of her mouth turned up in a wry smile. “He would have had a fit after I left my job at the law firm. But he is the one who put the idea of becoming an agent into my head. Whenever I wanted something, I would start by asking for way more than I knew he would approve so I could bargain my way down to what I wanted in the first place. He used to tell me I could negotiate my way out of a lion’s den.”

  “I think he would approve of the path you chose,” Cedric said.

  “I do, too.” She stared absently into her champagne. “I just needed to feel closer to him, Cedric.” She looked up at him. “And I do. I can feel him with me when I’m trying to close a deal, cheering me on.”

  “The same way you cheered on his team for so many years.”

  A broad smile spread across her face. “Our roles have reversed.”

  She reached over and plucked another strawberry from the ceramic bowl. Cedric was hit with a tidal wave of raw lust as her sensuous lips closed around the plump fruit. He was dying to crawl over to her and turn her body inside out, but he didn’t want to move too fast. The fact that he’d convinced her to stay and enjoy the surprise he’d arranged was a small victory. He wouldn’t push his luck.

  “I have to admit, I’ve enjoyed this little town of yours,” he said, settling on a safer subject, something that wasn’t likely to stoke the fire burning in his gut. “For someone like me who’s spent his entire life in the big city, this has been a bit of a culture shock. I like it, though. I like how everyone knows each other.”

  “That’s because you didn’t have to grow up here,” she said around a mouth full of strawberry, amusement lighting her eyes. “And I had it worse than most, being Coach Moe’s daughter. I couldn’t go anywhere without being recognized, and believe me, in a town this small, anything I did would have made its way back to my folks.” She laughed. “There was no need to sneak around, though. Like I said, if I wanted to do something, I negotiated my way into it.”

  “So I have an agent who’s been cultivating her skills since high school, huh? Pretty sweet.”

  “I know how to drive a hard bargain when necessary.”

  “You don’t have to tell me,” he snorted. “As many times as you’ve shut me down, I know all too well how hard it is to bargain with you.”

  Cedric wanted to kick himself as soon as the words left his mouth. They were having their first totally tension-free conversation in weeks and he had to muck it up by introducing the one subject that was sure to put an end to the relaxed mood.

  But true to her nature of surprising him, Payton didn’t bite his head off. Instead she gazed over at him, and with a look that nearly brought him to his knees, she said, “Why don’t you ask me again?”

  For a moment Cedric just stared, wondering if the sultriness in her voice had been a trick of his own mind. But then she reached over and plucked the flute from his hand, placing it, along with hers, on the glass-topped coffee table.

  “Ask me again, Cedric,” she encouraged with a low murmur that shot a rod of electricity straight to his groin.

  Cedric peered into her eyes, looking for any sign that would indicate she wasn’t operating on all six cylinders, but all he found was raw honesty. And desire. A whole lot of desire.

  “Since you seem to have misplaced your voice, I guess I’ll have to do the asking,” Payton said. “Kiss me. Please?”

  “Payton—”

  She halted his words, placing one deliciously soft finger against his lips.

  “Don’t,” she murmured. “Don’t say anything but yes.”

  At that moment he couldn’t utter a syllable through the lump of desire clogging his throat. Instead, he let his actions speak for him.

  Cedric pushed his hands through her hair and pulled her face to his, capturing her lips in a hot, deep, spine-tingling kiss that he felt on every inch of his skin. Payton returned the kiss with an ardor that increased his passion tenfold, pushing her tongue into his mouth as she held on to his shoulders.

  It was heaven. Pure heaven.

  Her hands traveled down his arms, entwining with his fingers. Cedric held on to her like a lifeline, feeding off the connection between them. It was stronger, hotter and more intense than anything he’d ever experienced.

  Her mouth still mingling with his, Payton tugged him from the couch and led the way to his room.

  Cedric knew once they crossed that threshold there would be no turning back.

  With every drop of strength left in his bones, he pulled his mouth from hers and asked, “Payton, are you sure about this? You know what happened the last time. I don’t want to see regret in your eyes in the morning.”

  She took a step back and stared at him with shell-shocked eyes, apparently as bowled over by the force of their kiss as he had been. Then she looked away, unable to meet his eyes. It felt as if someone had stuck a fist in his chest and squeezed his heart muscles until there was nothing left.

  Payton dropped his hands and opened the door to the suite’s master bedroom. She stepped into the darkened room, turned back to him and held out her hand.

  The welcoming gesture caused his heart rate to skyrocket. The need apparent on her face put an end to any doubt he’d had about what she wanted. It was all too clear what she wanted.

  Him.

  Cedric put his hand into her warm palm and allowed her to pull him into the room.

  Payton’s heart pounded with a ferocity she had never before experienced as she led Cedric to the bed. She hadn’t planned on this happening tonight. She had planned to bid him farewell when she dropped him off at the hotel’s front entrance, and not see him again until they were both back in New York. But now that they were here, she couldn’t imagine another place she’d rather be than with this man who’d managed to charge past all the reasons she’d formed to keep them apart.

  She back
ed up until the backs of her legs hit the bed, then she sat on the edge, pulling Cedric to stand between her spread knees. She loosened the belt at his waist, opening the robe, her fingertips tingling as she grazed them across his tight abs. The corded muscles felt like silk-covered ropes.

  Cedric groaned, dipping his head down and seizing her lips in a kiss Payton felt all the way to her toes. She moved from his lips to the muscled torso she’d been fantasizing about since the morning they’d first made love, peppering his silky, chocolate skin with delicate kisses. Cedric wrapped both hands behind her head, another low groan escaping his lips.

  She cupped him through his boxers, wrapping a fist around his erection, but he quickly pulled her hand away.

  “I’m hanging on by a thread, baby. I’d never last if you do that.”

  He sought her mouth again, his tongue darting in and out as he gently lowered her to the bed and covered her body with his own. Payton skimmed her hands up his sides, pushing the robe off his shoulders. She clutched his solid back, holding him in place as he deepened their kiss.

  He was like air. Essential. Life-giving. Everything she needed.

  As Cedric undid the tie at the front of her robe, the pulse thrumming between her thighs escalated to the point of pain. She needed him like she needed her next breath.

  “Oh, God. Cedric, please,” Payton pleaded.

  He found her neck, nibbling and biting from the curve of her jaw down to her collarbone. His head dipped lower and he sucked her distended nipple into his mouth. Payton pushed him away just long enough to pull her robe completely off. Skin-to-skin contact wasn’t just needed, it was necessary. She had to feel him against her.

  As he covered her body, she closed her eyes and floated into her own version of heaven on earth.

  The silky softness of Payton’s delectable skin set his body on fire. Her nipple grazed his chest and his body grew even harder.

  Damn, she felt good.

  Cedric trailed his tongue down the valley between her breasts, teasing the skin with his teeth. As he licked the underside of her breast his hand inched lower, finding the black lace panties he would dream about for years to come. He slipped his hand inside the delicate fabric and zeroed in on her moist center. It pulsed against his fingers, hot, slick, slippery.