I nodded, agreeing. “You definitely should. I get the feeling that whoever the artist is, they’ve got a lot more where these came from.”
Ryan smiled, his eyes gleaming with decision. “I think you’re right.” Then, he shifted his attention over to me and what I had in my hands. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
He ended up taking all of my prints, which worked out very well for me. Everything was going right today, and I was riding a high that I didn’t want to come down from anytime soon. That was, until Ryan switched gears on me.
“How about dinner tonight? We still haven’t tried that new sushi place.”
I don’t like sushi! How many times did I have to say it?
“I don’t think so, Ryan. I’ve actually got plans.” Like having hot phone sex with my boyfriend. At least, I hoped so.
He didn’t act perturbed. “Okay. Well, how about this weekend, then? We could go see that show that Paul recommended.”
Paul worked on and off-Broadway and was always throwing the names of shows at us that we just had to see. But after he forced me once to see an off-Broadway production about a woman who transformed into a tree during her menstrual cycle, which Paul had described as “a brilliant metaphor for the feministic struggle”, I was now very wary of his suggestions.
“Actually, Ryan. I don’t think it would be a good idea to go to dinner at all with you.” I bit down on my lip when I saw his face fall. “I’ve started seeing someone.”
His eyes narrowed slightly in question. “This ‘someone’ wouldn’t happen to be a certain famous baseball player who watched you like a hawk at the New Year’s Eve show, would it?”
My spine stiffened at his tone. “I’m not trying to be rude or anything, but that’s my business. And it’s not something I want to go into detail about right now.”
He didn’t look offended and instead just nodded his head slowly at me, his face taking on a look of bemusement, which irked me for some reason. He was looking at me as if he knew something I didn’t. Or like I didn’t know what I was doing.
“Okay. That’s fine. It’s none of my business.” He walked back around to his desk to fill out and sign a quick form for my photos. As he handed it over to me, he paused and looked me in the eye. “Just be careful, Kinley. Guys like that, they aren’t interested in settling down.”
I yanked the paper out of his hand, my temper starting to rise. I had to control my reaction, though, because he did after all sign my commission checks. Ryan brought me a lot of business and I couldn’t really afford to alienate him.
But that also didn’t give him the right to nose into my personal life.
“Again, Ryan. Not to be rude, but you don’t know him. Let me know how the show goes next week. I’ll be out of town, but you can reach me on my cell.”
“You got it.”
I walked out of the studio when I saw Paul with a customer, waving to him as I left, and tried to get my emotions under control. This was why I wasn’t ready to come out with our relationship yet. When something like that is public knowledge, everyone thought they had the right to offer their opinions about it, about your life. Norah was one thing; she was my friend and I trusted her. But Ryan needed to learn some boundaries. We were colleagues and I wouldn’t exactly consider us friends.
And with Parker being who he was, when news of our relationship went viral, every member of the press was going to have something to say about the two of us together.
I was going to have to prepare for that.
Because it wasn’t something that was going to go away anytime soon. It was part of who Parker was now. And if I wanted him, I was going to have to get onboard with that.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kinley
Thanks to FaceTime, getting ready for my phone date with Parker made me feel like I was getting ready for an actual date. I primped my hair and perfected my makeup and even put on a tight dress.
I had to remind him what he had waiting for him.
In case he forgot.
My phone rang at precisely nine o’clock and if my heart had a voice, I swear it would have been screaming at the top of its vocal chords. I dashed into my bedroom where I’d left my phone and threw myself on my bed as I answered.
Yeah, I totally looked like my thirteen-year-old self. Except back then I was clutching onto a picture of Parker as I lay on my bed, daydreaming about our imaginary future together.
Now, I had the real thing in my hands.
Well, sort of.
I opened the app and was greeted with a smiling Parker, that one dimple prominent on his beautifully tanned face.
“I’ve missed you, Mr. Cruz,” I crooned, gazing dreamily at my phone screen.
“And I’ve missed you, ah…shit, what was your name again?”
I shook my head at him. “Ass,” I muttered, making him laugh.
“How has your day been today?” he asked, his smooth voice rolling over me in sensual waves.
I’d missed hearing that sound so bad and wished more than anything that it was whispering into my ear in that moment. We talked pretty much every day, but depending on our schedules, we couldn’t always have long, uninhibited conversations.
“It was good. I got a lot of work done and Ryan took all of the prints I brought in.”
His face softened. “That’s because you’re brilliant. The fact that the guy’s in love with you probably didn’t hurt either.”
I scoffed. “He is not in love with me. He just appreciates my work.”
He took a sip of his beer and shook his head at me, grinning. “He wants you, baby. I saw that the second I met him.”
That’s when I remembered my conversation with him at the gallery that afternoon. Parker and I were together now, and I wanted our relationship to be based on complete honesty. Regardless of how he might react, I didn’t want to feel like I was keeping anything from him or lying about anything.
“He actually asked me out to dinner today,” I said slowly and then quickly added, “I said no, of course.”
The grin was instantly wiped off his face and he was quiet for several seconds. “Did he now?”
His voice was hard, dark. I knew that voice. I also knew that face. His jaw was clenched and the humor had left his eyes.
“I told him I was seeing someone, so he won’t ask again. Don’t worry.”
He laughed mirthlessly. “I’m not worried about you. He’s got it bad for you, Kin, and he needs to know to keep his hands off. Especially since I’m not always going to be around.”
“He does know, I promise. He’s never done anything more than ask me to dinner, and now he knows not to.” I smiled seductively at him, needing to change the subject because I was not about to spend our entire phone date talking about sushi-loving Ryan. “You’ve finally got your girlfriend on the phone, all to yourself. Is this really what you want to talk about?”
His lips quirked up in an almost-smile. “Just let me know if he doesn’t back off, okay? I can’t be around you all the time, so I’ve got to know when things happen I should be aware of. I still have to be able to protect you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, yes. I promise, caveman. Now, how about you take off that shirt and give me a little show while you’re at it?”
That brought my Parker back to me.
“Oh, you asked for it.”
He smiled lazily and, without further argument, set the phone away from him, propping it up on something, and gave me a view of him from the waist up. He started to slowly lift his shirt up over his head as he began to sing a song in a terrible high-pitched voice. I was quick to recognize the song as “Pony” by Ginuwine and started to laugh uncontrollably as he swung the shirt around his head in a helicopter motion, singing every word of the song.
I lost some of my laughter when he got his hips swaying sensually back and forth, his firm ass outlined perfectly in his low-hanging sweats. Damn. That wasn’t so funny. That was fucking sexy. He was still smiling and singing and try
ing to joke about it, but I was suddenly getting very hot.
The man could dance.
The way he was working his fit body was worthy of Magic Mike himself.
I licked my lips as my eyes traveled over every inch of that toned torso. I imagined him writhing like that right in front of me, thrusting his hips inches from my face, rolling his chest down my body before landing in the sweet spot.
He seemed to notice my change in mood and strutted over to where he put the phone, leaning his face closer to the screen with a devastatingly handsome smile. Those sex eyes of his were also hard to miss.
“Don’t think you’re safe, baby. I want my strip tease, too.”
Because I’d had the foresight to put on some of my best lingerie, I was all too happy to oblige him. I mimicked him, propping the phone against the throw pillows on my bed and angled myself at the foot of it.
There wasn’t a zipper on this dress, so I was going to have to draw this out—tease him—otherwise, it would be over very quickly. When a thought suddenly occurred to me, I picked my phone up and scrolled through my music, clicking on the song I was looking for.
I propped it back up and stepped away from it again as the sounds of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” filled the room. Parker groaned loudly as soon as he heard the sultry melody and I started to sway my hips to the beat. The two glasses of wine I’d had earlier in the night allowed me to just let go and not feel self-conscious. I ran my hands along my body, slowly up and down, and threw my head back, losing myself in the smooth tones of Bill’s voice.
I turned my back to the phone, swaying from side to side, and lifted the hem of my dress just enough to show Parker most of an ass cheek and a hint of the green lacy panties I had on.
“Jesus, you’re sexy,” he growled into the phone, his breath coming out faster than before.
Feeling incredibly good with the compliment, I reached down and grasped both sides of the dress in my hands, lifting it inch by inch, exposing my panties and bra a little at a time, until I pulled the whole thing over my head. I heard his breath catch when he finally got a glimpse of me in nothing but my matching green panty set.
“Fucking yes.” I continued to shimmy for him, showing him every part of me. “Have I ever told you how good you look in green?” he asked but I knew he didn’t expect an answer. “You’ve got me so hard right now.”
“Yeah?” I asked, my hands moving perilously close to my center. “Want me to show you how wet you’ve got me?”
“Oh, hell yes,” he groaned. “Because as much as I love you in green, I love you even more in nothing. Show me, baby.”
A slow smirk spread across my face and my hands went behind my back, unhooking my bra, instead of moving lower. “Patience,” I told him.
Even from where I stood, I could tell he wasn’t blinking as I turned to give him a better view, my fingers working and carefully undoing each clasp. I let the bra fall off my shoulders and covered my breasts with both hands, turning slowly back to face him.
“Drop them,” he commanded. “Let me see you.”
I did as he said and gave him a full view, my nipples puckering against the cool air in the room. “You’re not done yet,” he told me, nodding down to the small scrap of material on my lower half.
I hooked my fingers in the material and slid it down my legs, putting a little something extra into my movements as I pulled the panties over my hips. I let Parker drink in his fill of me completely exposed to him, feeling a strange sense of power as I watched the lust in his eyes grow to scorching levels.
“You’re unbelievable,” he whispered.
Without encouragement, my fingers went to my breasts, tweaking the tips, sending jolts of heat straight to my core. “I believe you still have too many clothes on,” I said as one hand slid down my body until I felt the slick folds of my sex.
He moved around and laid back on his bed, holding the phone up above him. I could barely see the top of his treasure trail leading down to his manhood and it was obvious that he’d removed his sweats.
“Way ahead of you, baby.”
And it was clear that he’d started his own party, using his hand to wrap around himself, jerking forcefully as he continued to devour me with his eyes. I eased down onto my bed, mimicking his position with the phone angled down to my body. He could see everything down to the top of my hand as it worked between my legs, but not every bit of what I was doing.
“You touching yourself?” he asked.
“Mmmhmm.” I was intently watching his hand move, his face contorted in pleasure as he chased his release.
“You imagining that’s my hand touching you?” If his breathing was anything to go by, he was getting close.
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes then and allowed the intimacy of the moment to take over. I pictured his hands trailing down my body, touching my heated skin. Then, I saw his head move down, lower and lower until he hovered right between my thighs, grinning mischievously before planting his entire mouth over me. And when I pinched my clit between my fingers, I imagined they were his lips. When one of them entered my body, I imagined it was his tongue doing the work.
And that set me off.
My hips lurched off the bed as I soared over that blissful precipice, my fingers unrelenting until my body was spent. As soon as I caught my breath, Parker moaned out his release, a deep rumble in his chest, the sound reaching my ears and filling me with immense satisfaction. It may have been his hand to finish him off, but I’d gotten him there.
We both had sated, heavy-lidded expressions on our faces when we brought our phones back to frame only our faces. He looked like he was about to pass out any second, and I remembered the long day he probably had. If he was anything like me, traveling really drained him of energy.
“I should probably let you get to sleep,” I said, wishing desperately that he was right beside me instead of in another state.
He yawned, smiling at the same time. “I really enjoyed that. Nothing compares to the real thing, of course, but that was the best I’ve felt since you left Florida.”
I warmed at hearing that. “Same here. You going to call me after practice tomorrow?”
“Of course. If you’re lucky, I might wear my uniform for tomorrow night’s show.”
My breath caught. “Oh, please do.”
He chuckled and met my eyes, making me feel for a second like he really was lying beside me. “I miss you. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
I pulled my bedsheet up around me and smiled. “Miss you, too.” It wasn’t an I love you but we’d get there eventually. It wasn’t like we were in any hurry. “Hope you have a good night’s sleep.”
“You too, Kin.”
We hung up and as I turned off my lamp and snuggled into my covers, all I could think was that next week couldn’t get here fast enough.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Parker
Opening day.
The start of a new season, another chance at making it back to the Series.
Another opportunity to get that trophy.
A new beginning.
That thought rang true to me in more than one area of my life. I could feel the hope for victory and the promise of change coursing through me. I swear, the rest of the guys could sense it in the air around the clubhouse, too. We could all see the championship on the horizon, practically taste that champagne when it flowed freely after our win.
The energy in the room before the game was electric. You could tell we were all anxious to hear the crack of bats, smell the mowed grass of the field, feel the dirt from the ball on our hands. I had my entire family coming to see me play today, which only added to my eagerness to get out onto the field.
And best of all?
Kinley was finally going to be here.
I was finally going to be able to look into those stands and see her proud, smiling face watching me, cheering for me. I couldn’t imagine a better feeling in the world than knowing my girl was
coming to see me play, that I had her support no matter what.
I stood in front of my locker and sent off a quick text to her before we had to make our way to the dugout. Bill Cox would castrate any one of us if he thought we had touched our cell phones at any point during the game.
Parker: I’ll be playing for you. Can’t wait to see my girlfriend in her boyfriend’s jersey.
I didn’t have to wait long for her response. I pictured her sitting in her seat, smiling down at her phone.
Kinley: Oh, sorry. I didn’t get the memo. I’m wearing Moberly’s number.
I huffed out a humorless laugh. She was just busting my balls, I knew, but it made me want to storm up to those seats and confirm that she did in fact have my name stamped across her back for all to see.
Parker: Well then. No orgasms for you tonight.
Kinley: Liar. Have a good game! :-)
She knew me too well. And I knew her, too.
We worked well together.
I tucked my phone back into my bag and made my way down the hallway with my teammates as we bumped fists and slapped backs, getting each other pumped up. We all huddled in the dugout for a few seconds and waited for the Cleveland Indians to leave the infield and head into their own dugout. We’d already had our warm-up time and the National Anthem had been sung, so we wouldn’t be coming back off that field until the bottom of the first inning.
The roar of the crowd filled the stadium, the thousands of spectators rising to their feet as we each took our positions on the field. I had a perfect view of my family’s section along the third baseline as I ran to third base, my eyes immediately searching out Kinley. It didn’t take long to find her as she was sandwiched directly in the middle of our combined brood. She was standing up next to Gwen and Clay with Sam and Diane seated behind them. On the other side of Kinley sat Mickie, Dawson, Mason, and the twins.
That was my family.
Those were all the people I loved most in the world.
Playing for Kinley (Cruz Brothers Book 1) Page 24
