Doubletalk (The Busy Bean)

by Teralyn Mitchell

  “Truly?”

  He nodded, slipping his arms around me. “But don’t worry about me giving up. I won’t put that on you. We’ll figure out what to do about everything once we must deal with it. Let’s go eat.”

  I ran my eyes over his handsome face and nodded. Zeke pulled me from the study and back to the eating area where Olivia and Joaquin were carrying dishes to the table. We helped, and within minutes we were sitting down to eat.

  I looked back at Zeke as I pushed the door open, smiling at what he’d just said. He put his hands on my hips, leaning in to kiss my neck. We stumbled through the door, ready to kick off our shoes and head to my bedroom, but the sight of Stacey sitting on the couch with a carton of ice cream stopped me in my tracks. Her dark eyes were shining and the red around them indicated that she’d been crying. They welled as she looked at me and then Zeke. Something had happened. Something bad. As much as I would’ve loved to spend the night with Zeke, I had to take care of my friend.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow, Zeke,” I told him. “Rain check?”

  “Of course, Ace.”

  He kissed me on the cheek and left. I quickly shed my layers and joined Stacey on the couch. “What happened?”

  “Malik broke up with me.”

  “What? Why in the hell would he do a stupid thing like that?”

  She gave me a sad smile. “We were hanging out here, and we were talking. The conversation was going in that direction, but I brought up marriage and kids. He freaked, Ror. I’ve never seen him like that. He told me he never wants children or to ever get married. It’s never appealed to him. You can imagine my response to that.”

  I sure could, but I let her continue.

  “I’m a twenty-eight-year-old woman, and casual dating isn’t something I’m interested in at this point in my life. I told him all that but emphasized I wasn’t asking for those things right now. But he said I wanted it eventually and that wasn’t something he could promise. I wouldn’t budge and neither would he, so we broke up. There was no reason for us to stay together when we want different things.”

  “Oh, Stace,” I said, putting my arms around her. “I’m so sorry, sweets. I know how much you like him.”

  I put the almost-empty carton of strawberry ice cream on the table in front of us, and she moved closer to rest her head on my shoulder.

  “I thought he was the one, Ror,” she sobbed. “I thought he was the one I’d spend the rest of my life with. When we finally started dating, I felt so relieved. I felt like everything was right and working out.”

  “I know, sweets. I know. I’m so sorry he hurt you. I hate that he had to be one of those men.”

  “So do I.”

  She broke down more, and my heart cracked for my friend as she let her pain out. I knew she liked Malik a lot. I knew she was looking at long-term with him, and for him to mess everything up by being one of those men who couldn’t commit sucked. I’d never seen Stacey this hurt over anyone. She loved him.

  I held her, whispering that I was here and we’d get through this together. She ended up crying herself to sleep. I slid from under her and went to get her pillow and blanket off her bed. Once I made sure she was comfortable, I put the ice cream away. I changed into my PJs and grabbed my pillow and blanket. I made myself comfortable in the overstuffed chair. I wanted to be close in case she woke up and needed me. I found an old basketball game to watch and stared at the TV, feeling down because my friend was hurting so much. I fell asleep a few hours later.

  26

  Mallory

  Zeke intertwined his fingers with mine as we left our hotel room, heading for the elevators.

  “I’m glad you could come with me,” Zeke said as we stepped onto the elevator.

  “I am too. I always love coming to New York and getting a chance to meet your agent will be fun. Maybe what I learn listening to the two of you talk will help me when I write a sports romance one day.”

  Zeke chuckled. “I just hope the hero is as good looking as I am and not an almost-washed-up athlete.”

  “But, Z, that’s a good story! If he’s at the top of his profession, how can we even root for him?”

  Zeke tugged me closer, wrapping me in his arms with a big smile on his full lips. “I guess that’s why you’re the writer and I’m the basketball player.”

  “Yep,” I said, popping the P. He kissed me, keeping it short, as the elevator doors glided opened to reveal the lobby. He took my hand again as we made our way across it to the doors of the hotel.

  Zeke had told me he usually stayed at this hotel since it wasn’t far from his agent’s office. Like within walking distance. We joined the other commuters on the sidewalk, going left and heading for our destination. It didn’t take us long to get to the skyscraper. The building was all sleek gray granite and steel and silver. We didn’t linger since Zeke knew where he was going, leading me to the elevators and pressing the up button.

  We stepped off the elevator together on the sixteenth floor. To the right there was a long desk where a woman who looked to be in her mid-sixties was sitting. The words “Rodgers Sports Agency” were on the wall behind her. A big smile overtook her round face when she looked up to see me and Zeke.

  “How are you, Mrs. Dixon?” Zeke asked, greeting her.

  “My day just got considerably better since you arrived,” she said with a wink.

  “Do you flirt with every player that comes here or am I special?”

  “You know that I am not a one-woman man when it comes to flirting,” she teased. “Now introduce me to this gorgeous woman by your side.”

  “This is Mallory Barrett, my girlfriend,” Zeke said. “Ace, this is Mrs. Dixon. She’s been working in the office since before I was even thought of.”

  “It is a pleasure to meet you,” I said to her.

  “Likewise, dear,” Mrs. Dixon said. “Seth has been Zeke’s agent since he decided to enter the draft after only two years of college. In that time, I have never seen him with or heard him talk about a woman.”

  “I guess that makes me special. Or he only messed around with groupies before and didn’t want you to think less of him by bringing them around.”

  Mrs. Dixon laughed. “I like you. You’ll keep my boy on his toes. Seth is ready when you are. Go on back.”

  Zeke thanked her and led me down a hall across from the desk. We turned left at the end of it and then took a right down a short hall. Zeke knocked on the doorframe.

  “Come on in,” Seth said.

  Seth was a short, stout man with black-rimmed glasses perched on the end of his nose. He was in his late forties and fit. He indicated for us to sit in the chairs in front of his desk. Zeke introduced me and Seth, letting Seth know that he could speak freely in front of me.

  “I’m glad you could come this week,” Seth said. “Representatives from the Knights are in town from Jacksonville, as well as representatives from the Stars. They contacted me about meeting with you. The Canons would like you to come work out for them. They understand that you’re still rehabbing and getting back into shape. There’s a scout from Vancouver who will be here on Wednesday, and one more from Kansas City on Saturday. Everything is in the preliminary stages, but I have a good feeling about the interest in you.”

  I was happy for Zeke. Even though it’d been a couple of years since he’d played in the pros, he was generating real interest from several teams. The Stars were in Los Angeles while the Golden Canons were located here in New York. His interest was all over the place, and there was a possibility he could end up far from Vermont when it was all decided.

  I didn’t know what that meant for our relationship. Would I be willing to uproot my life for him? Technically I could work anywhere, but I’d never lived far from my family. And then there was Stacey. Would I be able to leave her? It would be weird not seeing her every day. For ten years it’d been the two of us. It would be hard only seeing my family on holidays and the occasional birthday. Zeke and I just started dating, but by the t
ime he’d have to move to a new state—and if we worked out—we would have been dating six or seven months. I wasn’t sure what I’d do. For now, it was irrelevant to worry over since Zeke hadn’t even asked me to go with him when he inevitably left Vermont.

  “Can you stay that long?” Zeke asked me, pulling me from my musings.

  “I have to leave by Saturday morning since I promised Stacey I’d go to dinner with her and her parents,” I answered. “But I can stay for the rest of the week.”

  “I can book a plane ticket for you to leave out by then,” he said. “Confirm the meetings, Seth. Can you send me the details so I can put them in my calendar?”

  “You need to hire an assistant,” Seth told him.

  “I will when I need one. Right now, things aren’t that hectic, and I can handle it. What else did you need to talk to me about?”

  A couple of hours later, we were finally walking out of Seth’s office building onto the busy sidewalk of downtown Manhattan. Zeke put an arm around my shoulder as we headed back to the hotel.

  “Thank you for being so understanding and agreeing to come with me this week,” he said. “I didn’t know Seth would secure that many meetings.”

  “It’s fine, babe. I’m glad to be here with you. New York City is always fun to explore, and it’ll give me a chance to see Valerie in person.”

  When Zeke initially asked me to come with him to New York, I told him no because I wanted to be there for Stacey. She and Malik just broke up this past weekend, but Stacey insisted that I come with Zeke. She said she’d be working all week anyway—she mentioned that Malik has been working remotely since their breakup—and I could video chat with her at night if she needed it. She asked if I could make it back by Saturday so she didn’t have to go to dinner with her parents alone.

  “Are you sure it’s okay if I don’t go to Valerie’s with you?” Zeke asked.

  “As long as you’re okay that I can’t go to dinner with you and your friends,” I countered.

  “We don’t have to do everything together. You’ll meet my friends on Friday at the party at Cisco’s house,” Zeke said.

  I was nervous about meeting his friends. They were all pro basketball players. Some that Zeke had played with. Francisco Vega and Bradley Fleming had been his teammates for three years when he played in Chicago. They both played for the Canons now, and Zeke had told me they wanted him to play with them again. I knew they were involved with getting Zeke a workout so early and would be at the gym so he had someone to play against. I knew the other players from watching basketball religiously. Zeke and Gerard Sherman played together for a year for the Albuquerque Rebels after the Wolverines traded him. He played college ball with Kenneth Adkins and Kurt Yates and told me he’d stayed friends with them all this time. Meeting pro athletes who were household names, and their spouses, was a little nerve-wracking.

  “Are you okay with chilling until we have to meet the reps from California for dinner?” Zeke asked as we stepped into the lobby of the hotel.

  “Yeah, of course, Z,” I said.

  It was early afternoon, and the dinner was at seven. We flew in late last night, so I was more than fine chilling in our room. We walked across the posh lobby to the elevators. It was the nicest hotel I’d ever stayed in. I’d offered to pay for half of the room, but Zeke had refused like he’d done for my plane ticket back to Vermont on Saturday.

  The elevator dinged as the doors slid open. We were the only ones to step onto it. Zeke pressed the button for our floor before crowding my space, pressing me up against the back wall of the elevator. I tipped my chin up to look at him, and he leaned in to capture my lips. His leg nestled between mine as he deepened our kiss. Our tongues tangled together, and I nipped at his bottom lip when he pulled away. He was breathing hard, and I could guess what our “chill” afternoon was going to include. I wasn’t complaining in the least as Zeke pulled me off the elevator when it stopped at our floor. I’d heard hotel sex could be epic, so I was excited to try it. Zeke wasted no time getting me on the king-sized bed when we made it to our room.

  His mouth claimed mine again as he covered my body with his own. I would kiss him all freaking day if it were possible. He was so skilled with that tongue that worked wonders down below too. Zeke’s hands roamed over my body, and my legs wrapped around his, my fingers digging into his muscular back.

  “I can’t get enough of you, Ace,” Zeke breathed into my ear, making me shiver.

  “Same, babe,” I said on a moan as his hand found its way between my legs and under my skirt.

  I was ready to have him inside me. I wasn’t in the mood for foreplay today. You’d think it’d been weeks since we’d been intimate, but it’d only been a couple of days. I guess he was becoming my favorite addiction.

  I pushed Zeke’s shirt up, and he broke our connection long enough to grab the back of it and pull it over his head. I ran my hands over his hard chest down to his six-pack that I could tell he worked hard to keep.

  “You like what you see, baby?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Do you really need to ask that?”

  Zeke chuckled. “Sometimes I like to hear that you like my body.”

  “Don’t you get enough of that online?”

  The sneaky grin on his full lips made me groan. “So, have you been checking into that part of my life since we started dating or all this time?”

  I shook my head and pulled him down to me. “Both. But I don’t think you want to waste time talking about that right now, do you?”

  “Hell, no,” he said, his voice husky again. “I want to fuck you until you’re hoarse from screaming my name. I want to make you come so hard that you’re pushing me away because it’s just too much.”

  I swore as my core clenched and wetness pooled between my legs. I loved his dirty mouth and that he wasn’t shy about telling me exactly what he wanted.

  “Lose those pants then,” I demanded.

  While he did that, I whipped my sweater over my head and unclasped my bra, throwing both over the edge of the bed. I hooked my thumb into the waist of my skirt, but Zeke’s big hands covered them before moving them.

  “Let me do that,” he whispered.

  I watched as he pulled my skirt down, slowly over my hips before letting it fall to the floor. Next, he worked on my tights and panties. I laid there naked and on display for him. He took his cock into his huge palm, stroking back and forth and making me wetter, if that were even possible. I loved everything about him. He was in such great shape with a hard body covered in tattoos. But he also had an impressive dick that could make me come all by itself, which wasn’t a given in my experience.

  I ran my eyes over his face. He’d always been handsome. Even when we were kids, I could see that even though I wasn’t into him like that. His full lips made you want to pull his face down to yours and claim them. His hooded eyes made him look like he was always ready to take you to bed. His whiskey-colored eyes were so expressive and alive, framed by his long lashes. Those high cheekbones and strong, chiseled jawline covered with dark hair accentuated his good looks. His golden-brown skin was flawless, and I needed to be careful. I could easily fall head over heels for him.

  “Did you get your fill, Ace?” Zeke asked in that husky voice that sent a shiver down my spine.

  “Stop being so damn sexy and I’ll stop staring,” I quipped. “Now, are you done standing there fondling yourself? Maybe I can get in on some of that action.”

  Zeke laughed, shaking his head. That was one of the things that made him that much more attractive: he got my humor and liked it. I sat up, biting into my bottom lip. He stepped closer, cupping my face and running his thumb along my jawline. We stared at each other for a moment.

  “Get on the pillows and spread those pretty legs for me,” he demanded.

  I didn’t waste any time complying. Zeke climbed into bed after me and settled between my legs. His lips found mine, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. His dick was nestled between my pussy li
ps. When he started thrusting his hips so that his cock slid through my wetness, I came. I would be embarrassed, but this was Zeke. I was sure I got a pass for it.

  Zeke kissed my temple before rising so that he could look into my eyes as he slid inside my tight channel. He felt so damn good, and my brain seemed to short-circuit as a thought tried to take hold.

  I didn’t chase after the thought, deciding to stay focused on Zeke and this moment. He worked his hips slowly in and out of my pussy. It was driving me crazy, and I was already close to orgasming again. I pushed on his chest. Zeke raised a brow.

  “On your back. I want to ride your dick, babe,” I told him.

  He grinned and did as I asked, lying on his back beside me. I climbed on top of him. I lined my core up with his cock and slid down until I was fully seated. We groaned in unison. I waited a moment before I started riding him, my hands flat on his chest for leverage. Zeke’s fingers dug into my hips as I increased my pace. He pulled me down a little so he could suck on my nipples, which only worked me up more. I rode him like it was my job, and I made sure we were both feeling good.

  “I’m close, Ace,” Zeke said.

  I increased my pace, rolling my hips and making Zeke groan. My core started clenching as he growled that he was coming. We went over the edge together. I collapsed on top of him. Zeke wrapped his arms around me, running his fingers up and down my spine as we caught our breaths.

  We laid like that for a few minutes before we both climbed out of bed to get cleaned up. Zeke suggested a nap before we had to meet with the team representatives in a few hours, and I agreed.

  The host led Zeke and me to a round table in a secluded area of an upscale restaurant. Only one person was there: a woman who looked to be in her early to mid-twenties. I took the seat to her left and Zeke sat on my other side. The host told us our waiter would be with us shortly to take our drink order.