“Yes, crazy wonderful. Where’s Kade so I can congratulate him?” she asked.
“Right here.” The gorgeous Texan emerged from the crowd to stand at his wife’s side, a mixture of happiness and pride puffing out his chest and sparkling in his keen gray eyes.
She stepped up and pulled the smiling man in for a hug. “Congratulations. I am so very happy for you both.”
“Thank you.” A first sergeant in the Texas National Guard, the veteran lost one of his men a few years back, then he met Brandi, and together they’d weathered some tough times and pulled through all the stronger.
If ever two people deserved to be happy it was them.
Audrey released him and stepped back, right into a warm, great smelling brick wall.
Two big hands gripped her upper arms from behind and pulled her back against a solid chest. “I’ve got you.”
Matthew.
Her whole body jolted awake.
She turned her head and realized her mistake a little too late. Her temple grazed some delicious stubble, and she fought the sudden hankering to lean in for more. “Sorry. Thanks.”
“No problem.”
His lip brushed her face as he spoke and sent shivers down the front of her aroused body.
“Matt?” Brandi’s voice broke through the threatening haze.
Audrey used the opportunity to move from his grasp and stepped aside so the two could hug.
“Oh my gosh. I heard you were in town. It’s so great to see you,” her friend gushed, pulling him close.
“You, too, kiddo. Congratulations.”
A smile lit his face and stole Audrey’s breath.
Brandi moved out of his arms to introduce the men. “This is my husband, Kade. This is—”
“Stone Bennett. So great to meet you.” The grinning Texan thrust out his hand, excitement glinting in his eyes. “Congratulations on winning the Championship.”
Another racing fan. She shouldn’t be surprised. Matthew always did attract attention. It had gotten to the point they couldn’t even venture to the post office without someone stopping him. That had even been before he’d moved up to the big cars.
Audrey shuddered, just imagining how crazy the press made the guy’s life now. She glanced down the street, and sure enough, there was a man sitting in a car holding up his phone.
“Thanks, but please, call me Matt.” He shook hands. “And congratulations. You’ve got yourself an incredible woman.”
Kade nodded, releasing him to slip his arm around Brandi. “I know. I’m blessed to have such an amazing wife. I’m the luckiest man alive.”
“True.” Ethan joined them with his arm around Phoebe. “And so am I.”
“Me, too.” Mason drew close with a smiling Jill.
“Me, three.” Ben stepped around his brothers with his arms full of a smiling Lea. “And apparently, that’s not the only thing I have in common with Kade. Isn’t that right, honey?”
His wife laughed and nestled into him. “True, daddy-to-be.”
Audrey gasped. “You’re pregnant, too?”
A pang of envy rippled through her chest. If her husband hadn’t died, perhaps she, too, would’ve been pregnant. Or if things had once worked out with Matthew…
“Yep. We were waiting until Thanksgiving to tell everyone, too.”
Snapping out of it, Audrey took turns with Matthew congratulating the beaming couple, the sting of regret softened by the happy events of the day. “You two always did do everything together,” she said to her two pregnant friends.
“True.” Brandi laughed, slipping her arm around Lea’s waist.
“Yeah.” Matt stepped next to her. “Like the time Audrey and I found you both raiding the cookie jar at midnight.”
She smiled as the memory of that night washed over and warmed her from the inside out. Mr. Wyne had taken his sons to a football game in Philadelphia and asked her and Matthew to watch the girls.
“I remember that night.” Brandi smiled. “We’d spent the afternoon making chocolate chip cookies and the dang things were calling to me clear into the night.”
“Me, too.” Lea nodded, gaze suddenly turning sly. “That was the time we found you and Matthew snuggling under a blanket on the couch, and you said it was to keep you warm.”
Lordy.
Heat rushed into her face as everyone turned their attention on her. “Yeah, well, I got cold a lot back then.”
Lea chuckled. “What about now?”
“Now…” She was not going to even think about Matthew and his lean body on top of her. Those were dangerous thoughts. And memories. And she couldn’t afford to indulge in either if she wanted to hold on to some sort of brain matter.
If she had known Matthew was going to be staring at her with interest and an underlying heat in his gaze, she never would’ve glanced at him.
Probably.
“…I think it’s time we played some ball.”
“Great deflection.” His mouth titled up, and hers followed suit.
“Thanks.” Anticipation shook through her, because her stupid body clearly thought about having his lean body on top of her.
“Before we play,” Ethan said, capturing everyone’s attention. “I’d like to talk about the wedding. We’re holding it in my back yard in order to keep it private.”
“Then I should stop you there.” Audrey stepped in front of him to block the happy couple from the guy taking pictures across the street. He could be there for photos of Phoebe and not Matthew.
“Why?” Phoebe frowned.
“Because of the camera already trained this way,” she replied. “I don’t know if he has one of those cone-shaped listening device things.”
“He doesn’t.” Matt stepped to her side again. “Neither does the female parked two doors down.”
Shoot. “There’s two?”
He nodded. “Been there the whole time, but they both only just have cameras.”
“Well, provided it doesn’t snow,” Ethan continued. “Like I said, we’re going to hold the ceremony at one o’clock in my back yard. We’ll have big space heaters. It’s a little more private than the resort gazebo and we’re hoping to keep the paparazzi out.”
Matthew grimaced. “Good luck. If they get wind, they can be very creative.”
Audrey shifted, and held back her own grimace. If the news got out, she could imagine the hordes of reporters descending like flies. It happened on more than one occasion when she’d traveled with Matthew the year before she left. Heck, it was one of the reasons she had left. The lack of privacy was a huge pain, but the blatant lies plastered all over tabloids were taking a toll on her parents.
Phoebe nodded. “True. We already know we won’t stop them all.”
“Yeah.” Ethan pulled his fiancée in closer. “But, we’ll cut it down to a few photos taken from the lake or the woods, not assholes rushing up and sticking cameras or phones in our faces. Now, if we could just keep them off our trail over the next few days, that’d be great. I don’t want them harassing Tyler.”
Matthew slid his arm around Audrey’s waist and pulled her in close to his side, sending a jolt of awareness all the way to her toes.
“Maybe we can help with that,” he offered. “As you can see, we already picked up a tail just by walking up the sidewalk together.”
She turned her head to frown at him. “You think they’re here because of us?”
“Yeah.” He nodded, blue gaze contrite. “Sorry, but we’re probably going to make the papers tomorrow.”
Her stomach tightened with a familiar, unhealthy tension. “Some things never change.”
“I know, but I think we can use that to help Ethan and Phoebe out.”
Ben nodded. “I see where you’re going with this. Great idea.”
The others echoed his sentiment.
Brandi smiled “So, if they think Stone Bennett is rekindling with an old flame, then they’ll keep an eye on you and off Phoebe, Ethan, and more importantly, Tyler.”
>
Matthew nodded. “Exactly.”
“I appreciate it, but are you sure?” Uncertainty clouded Ethan’s gaze. “I don’t want either of you doing anything that makes you uncomfortable.”
“Nah, it’s cool.” Matthew shook his head and glanced at her. “Right, Audrey?”
Chapter Five
Cool?
Holy fudge, it was anything but cool. Hot with an outlook of scorching and the possibility of getting burnt was more fitting analogy.
But, although Audrey knew it was in her best interest not to spend the next few days pretending to be Matthew’s girlfriend, she couldn’t, in good conscious, turn her back on her friends, especially the little boy jumping off the porch and running across the field with such a happy grin on his face. Mr. Wyne and Phoebe’s mother, Gwen and Tanner, and Evie and Lucas followed close behind.
“Of course,” she replied, slipping her arm around Matthew, even going so far as to rest her cheek against his shoulder…for the reporter’s sake of course. “I’d do anything for Phoebe and Tyler.” She lifted her head and smirked at Ethan. “You, on the other hand, you still owe me for that detention my junior year.”
“Not that again.” He scowled, but the amusement in his eyes canceled the severity in his expression.
Though, she barely noticed thanks to the laughter vibrating through Matthew’s nice, warm, snuggly body.
Mason motioned toward two more guardsmen walking up the drive. “Here comes Nico and Jeremy. That makes the teams even. So, who’s ready to play some football?”
Football?
Sure. She was ready to play ball. But playing Matthew’s girlfriend? Her stomach fluttered at the thought. Was she really ready to tackle that position again…even if it was fake?
Audrey wasn’t sure, but by the middle of the second quarter her body had a definite opinion. It started with “Y” and sounded an awful lot like “Yes, please.”
Thanks to the Wynes deciding it made sense to toss her and Matthew on opposite teams to keep the lurking reporters guessing—at least she assumed that’s how it happened—she’d been in full contact with the man more than any other player. It wasn’t all his doing.
Dammit.
She’d forgotten how incredible it had felt to be the center of his attention. For the past eighteen minutes, he’d been on her tail, guarding her, blocking her, smiling at her with a blatant interest lighting those gorgeous blue eyes of his, making her forgot how to walk, much less run.
Until she remembered the reporter, and that it was all for show.
Idiot.
Putting the man and paparazzi out of her mind, Audrey shook off her stupor and channeled her pent up energy and emotions into the game. With her focused now on Ben and his killer arm as he lobbed the ball, she let her competitive nature kick in. After deploying a fake step maneuver, she took off to her left, smiling at Matthew’s muffled curse as she avoided his lunging grasp.
Barely. His fingertips had brushed her Army sweatshirt, but luckily hadn’t caught hold.
“Go, rabbit,” Ben called while everyone on the sidelines cheered her on.
Hearing the nickname her agility had garnered from overseas, she embraced an extra rush of adrenaline as she carried out the play. A smile tugged her lips and desire to win increased. She needed to get to the ball. She would get the ball. Zig-zagging away from an advancing Ethan and Matthew, she turned in time to catch the ball then twisted back around and raced toward the goal behind Nico and Kade who ran blocker.
Just when she neared the last five yards, she felt those fingers again, but this time, dammit, his hand clamp around her left arm. Refusing to give up, she called out to her teammates in front of her and passed the ball before Matthew’s other hand grasped her hip. The two handed touch would’ve stopped the play…if she still held the ball. But it was no longer in her possession as Kade had caught it in the end zone.
“Yes,” she cheered despite the fact their momentum sent them spiraling toward the ground.
Audrey braced herself, but Matthew, quick thinking and agile, twisted them around so he hit the ground first and took the full impact before they rolled twice.
Once stopped, she drew in several deep breaths, and his woodsy male scent engulfed her senses. That, coupled with the amazing feel of his delectable body underneath her, brought back hot memories, along with a fierce longing that quaked through her.
Damn, he feels good.
Eventually, it registered in her mind that he had one big hand cupping her butt while the other cupped her head in a protective manner.
“You okay, Audrey?” he asked. “Are you hurt?”
She lifted up to stare down at him. “I’m fine. How about you?”
A teasing gleam entered his eyes. “Perfect.”
“You’re incorrigible.” She snickered and sat up, poking his chest with her finger. “What part of touch football didn’t you understand?”
“I understand it just fine.” He shifted his hands to lightly grip her hips and grinned. “We both got what we wanted. We both scored.”
Before she could reply, he knocked her off-kilter by switching their positions, then messed with her pulse as he lingered over her for a few delicious heartbeats. “You always did like top.”
Every part of her body screamed for her to cup his face, bring his mouth down on hers, and show him she enjoyed bottom with him just as much.
Heaven help her…the same, fierce longing she felt wracking her body was blatant in his eyes. She shook from the force of that need.
A sound rumbled deep in his chest, and a second later, he dipped down and brushed her lips with his.
Heat spread out in every direction as if her body’s pilot switch had been flipped. She was aware of him everywhere, but it wasn’t enough, so she opened her mouth under his, cupped his face, and kissed him back.
This ripped another sound from his chest, and although somewhere in the back of her mind she knew they needed to stop, she couldn’t. Not when the man’s kiss was so amazing she couldn’t remember her own name. He tasted hot and hungry, and she was transported to the past when they loved with carefree abandon.
But, all too soon he drew back, eyes dark and looking as dazed as she felt.
“Sorry. I got carried away,” he uttered in a hoarse breath, grabbing her hand as he brought them both to their feet. “You still test my control.”
Her mind was too busy talking her knees out of buckling to respond as the others drew near. Damn man was potent. Or at least, the memory of the man, because her body remembered every bit of his and wanted him bad.
And judging by the heat in his gaze, he felt it, too.
“Well, if that doesn’t bring a new meaning to personal foul, I don’t know what does.” Ben laughed and cupped her shoulder. “Well done, rabbit.”
Well done. Exactly how she felt.
Between the awareness blazing in Matthew’s eyes and the feel of his hot body, she smoldered from head to toe. There was no use in denying it. Audrey knew without a shadow of a doubt there was still a lot of fire left in their old flame.
“Smart move, Matt.” Ethan slapped the guy’s shoulder. “That one will make the papers for sure.”
That kiss was for the paparazzi?
She eyed him, but his gaze gave nothing away.
Shoot.
The flame flickered deep inside. What was wrong with her? Of course it had been for show.
Pretending to be his girlfriend, even though it was for a good cause, had the potential to burn her bad. But her heart insisted her head got it all wrong. She’d tasted heat and hunger in his kiss, the kind you couldn’t fake.
But did it matter?
They’d had their chance. She walked away. He let her go. Didn’t even try to stop her. Didn’t try to see her again.
Unlike her.
Within a week of breaking up with him, Audrey had realized it had been a mistake. She loved him too much to live without him in her life and vowed to figure out a way to make it work.
At least she had made an effort to see him again. Granted, when she showed up at the gym where he worked out prepared to apologize and grovel, it was just in time to watch him leaving with his arm around a very fit, very pretty blonde who pushed him against the building and kissed the tar out of him. But the part that hurt the most was when he kissed the woman back.
Even now, nearly fifteen years later, it hurt like hell.
It had taken him less than seven days to move on, and here she was, still carrying a torch for the guy.
She was an idiot. But refused to be stupid. She said she’d help distract the paparazzi and would, but from now on, her lips, her heart, they were off limits.
Now, she just needed to get her lips and heart on board.
Chapter Six
The reception was in full swing, and Matthew entered the heated tent in Ethan’s back yard with more than determination ruling his stride. A bit of anticipation flickered through him as well. All the subterfuge he and Audrey had put in the past two days seemed to have done the trick. Their faces were plastered all over the news and tabloids, keeping the focus off the happy couple.
Thanksgiving night, both he and Audrey had gathered their mothers and told them what was going on, warning them about the tabloids, setting them straight before they got caught up in the lie.
To say the women were disappointed was an understatement of epic proportions, but they agreed to go along with the ploy for Ethan, Phoebe, and Tyler’s sake. Truth be told, it hadn’t been a hardship for him at all. In fact, he didn’t want to see it end.
How screwed up is that?
He was happy to spend time with the beauty who still had the ability to reach his heart…and rip it out. Although—he glanced sideways at her, noting the smile on her face didn’t quite reach her eyes, and it hadn’t since that football game—something was different about her. She was holding back, even though she was making it look good for the paparazzi.
Paparazzi.
That was it, he realized with a start. She always did hate them, and the constant bombardment the past few days probably brought back old annoyances. This morning’s camera confrontation didn’t help.
Wine and Hot SHoes (Citizen Soldier Series Book 6) Page 4
