Game For Love: Love Games (Kindle Worlds)

by Mara Jacobs

  In for a penny, he thought, and continued, “But, in the midst of one of the best weeks of my life—and believe me, I’ve had some pretty good weeks…” He said this in a wink-wink conspiratorial tone aimed at Larry and Charlie, who nodded and smiled, apparently only able to dream of the great times Declan Tate had had in his life. The wins, the glory, the women.

  They gave him a knowing look as he went on. “I began to see how much in common Marlee and I have. We have very similar upbringings, our goals for family are the same, we’re both at a point in our lives where we want to settle down, get married, have kids.” He stopped there at the questioning looks the two couples were giving each other, and realized that maybe he’d let the cat out of Marlee’s bag.

  She hadn’t told them she wanted to start a family? But she’d told him? The thought gave Declan a tingling feeling, and he decided to look upon that fact as a positive sign. “We even have the same tastes and styles. You wouldn’t believe how similar our houses, and especially our kitchens, are to each other.” This got more looks, as they all knew the importance of Marlee’s kitchen to her.

  “Bottom line…I’m in love with your sister.”

  He waited for a reaction, but it was delayed as the two couples could only stare at him. Linda was the one who regained her composure first. “That’s wonderful, Declan. Really.” The others quickly joined in with congratulations, and Charlie, sitting next to him, even gave Declan a playful slug to the upper arm.

  Susan continued, “I’m sorry to seem so shocked. We’re happy for you, truly. It’s just…I don’t think any of us would ever have seen Marlee with a football player.”

  Declan started to say that even Marlee couldn't see Marlee with a football player, but Linda spoke first. “I mean, after the whole Justin Jones thing? I’m kind of shocked she even gave you the time of day.”

  Declan felt a stab of pain, similar to the one he felt after the Robert Curtis incident. No. Much, much deeper. Who the fuck was Justin Jones? Wait. “Justin Jones the Red Sox shortstop?”

  He knew his strangled voice gave away the fact that Marlee hadn’t told him about—fuck!—her relationship with the All-Star shortstop.

  “Oh, great, Linda. You totally blew that,” Susan said to her sister, giving her the evil eye.

  “No, it’s okay,” he said, trying to cover. “We decided not to do all the exes talk.” So not true, though they hadn’t exactly divulged all of their past lovers to each other. And yet she’d told him all about her college boyfriend and a couple of other short-term relationships.

  Never one mention of Justin Jones.

  The two couples exchanged looks amongst themselves, and Declan tried to get the focus off Linda’s blunder. Though it was all he could think about.

  “Besides, I said I was in love with Marlee. I didn’t say she loved me back.”

  Charlie seemed flummoxed. “But…but…how could she not love you?”

  Declan chuckled as Charlie became embarrassed over his outburst. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Charlie. Too bad it wasn’t you I fell in love with.” They all laughed loudly at that one as Marlee and Brent came back to collect more dishes.

  “What’d I miss? It sounds hilarious.” She had seemed pleased all evening that her family had all taken to Declan as they had.

  “Oh, I was just telling Charlie here about one party we had in Cleveland that got a little wild,” Declan lied. The others nodded with him, taking him into the fold by covering for him. And for Linda.

  Marlee put on her disapproving professor face and said, “Oh. Come on, Brent.” She herded the reluctant teenager back into the kitchen with another load.

  The thought that Brent was missing stories of his hero and parties, possibly with naked women, took the do-gooder spirit right out of the kid, and he made his second trip into the kitchen with a scowl on his face.

  “Great, now he’s going to be begging me to tell him that story,” Charlie said, laughing. Susan gave him an understanding look. Raising a fifteen-year-old in today’s world couldn’t be easy.

  “Sorry. I just love getting a rise out of Marlee. Did you see the look she shot me?” Declan said.

  “Oh yeah, we know that look—don’t we, Charlie?” Larry said, as Linda elbowed him but smiled. “The Reeves girls sure can turn on the disparaging looks when they want to.”

  “Hey, don’t knock that look—it’s imperative to raising your children, buster.”

  Declan enjoyed the camaraderie. It reminded him of his family dinners in Ohio. Marlee would fit in there as easily as Declan fit in with her family.

  Would that ever happen?

  As if reading his mind, Susan got them back to the subject at hand. “So what’s the game plan, Declan? With Marlee, I mean.”

  They were all ears, but Declan didn’t know what to say. “Susan, I can honestly say it’s the first time in my life that I’ve walked to the huddle and had absolutely no idea what play to call.”

  The men nodded their heads knowingly, while the women just looked at each other, hoping for a nugget of advice to give Declan. None came.

  Was it because Marlee still loved Justin Jones?

  Marlee and Brent made another trip and then Declan joined them in the kitchen to make some lattes to go with the cookies. He loaded a tray with a plate of cookies and glasses of milk and, after getting Marlee’s permission for the kids to eat their dessert in the den while they watched their movie, took it in to them. Brent went with him. Marlee didn’t know if it was Declan or the cookies he was following, figuring both were a draw for Brent.

  She brought the lattes and cookies out for the adults, who hadn’t moved from the table, comfortable with each other, comfortable with their conversations. Declan hadn’t come back from the den yet, and she went to retrieve him before his drink turned cold. She stopped in the doorway, not wanting to disturb the scene in front of her.

  Declan was seated on her old couch with Grace in his lap and Heather beside him. Graham was on his other side and Matt sat on the floor at his feet. Brent was in the leather recliner to their right. She leaned against the doorjamb and watched the kids that were so dear to her heart. And Declan. They all had their backs to Marlee and she was able to watch them without their noticing.

  They had pulled the coffee table up to Declan’s legs, Matt using it as a desk for his cookies and the rest of them periodically leaning over to dip their cookie in their respective glasses of milk. Despicable Me was playing and they all sat in rapt attention, even Brent and Declan. Grace had her arm around Declan’s neck and her head rested on his shoulder. Heather was cuddled in close and Graham was sitting cross-legged with his right knee overlapping Declan’s thigh.

  Grace had a sniffle and she not-so-daintily wiped her nose on Declan’s shirt. Marlee could see that Declan had noticed; his shoulder rose a little. He rubbed Grace’s back and brushed her hair away from her little forehead, and with just that motion, Marlee realized she was head over heels in love with Declan Tate.

  It hit her like a ton of bricks. Though she really shouldn’t be surprised. It had all been leading to this. The emotions she had for Declan. The incredible lovemaking they had today. Seeing him with her family.

  She knew. She loved Declan.

  She had thought she was in love with Justin two years ago, and perhaps she was. But it wasn’t this. It wasn’t this deep feeling, this contentment she felt just watching Declan. There was trust here.

  There was no way she would have made those tapes if there wasn’t.

  She was interrupted from her epiphany by Linda’s gentle voice behind her. “He’ll make a wonderful father. Someday.” The last word was said more softly, as if it didn’t have to belong to the thought if Marlee didn’t want it to.

  Unconsciously, Marlee’s hand stroked her abdomen as she thought about Declan and fatherhood. Her nieces and nephews clung to Declan like they had known him their whole lives. Declan definitely had the touch. And yes, he would make a great father, whether his children were
boys or girls, interested in sports or Disney movies.

  But it was Linda’s “someday” that stuck in Marlee’s ear. Declan still had a someday, whereas Marlee wanted to start a family soon. She was still young, but wanted at least two, maybe three kids. And just spending time with her nieces and nephews wasn’t enough anymore to placate her maternal yearnings.

  Listening to Anna talk about her child the other night had only driven that fact home to Marlee.

  As the evening came to an end, they saw her family out and then cleaned up the kitchen in a silence similar to the one they had shared when preparing the dinner. Declan had continued to seem distant. He wasn’t short with her or mad. When she asked a question, he answered her, when she made a joke, he laughed, but Marlee was doing all the work.

  Growing weary of holding up both ends, she announced she was going to bed as soon as the kitchen was back to its original spotlessness. Thinking Declan would be right behind her, she was surprised to hear him say he’d be up in a while. As she stared at him with shock, bordering on hurt, he came to her and placed a sweet kiss on her forehead, turned her toward the stairs, and swatted her bottom. “Go on. I want to use your computer in the den and make a copy of one of my tapes. I won’t be that long.”

  She gave him a questioning look, which he read in an instant.

  “Not a copy of that tape. I told you you’d have the only copy. I’d love to make a copy for myself, but only if you want me to.”

  Relieved, and not surprised that he was being true to his word, she went to bed without him.

  It was her intention to stay awake until Declan joined her. They only had two more nights together and she didn’t plan to spend them sleeping. She left the bedside lamp on Declan’s side turned on. Her good intentions were for naught, as the busy activity of the day, not to mention the draining sex in the studio, caused her to quickly fall asleep.

  She hadn’t had time to fall into a deep sleep, so she wasn’t sure if she were waking or dreaming as she felt her body turn to her back and felt hard hands on her hips. When those same hands pushed up the filmy nightgown she was wearing to her neck and wet, hungry lips clamped down on her breast and began to suck her hard, she knew it was no dream.

  She moaned and writhed beneath Declan, her body rapidly catching up to his in arousal. This man could have her from heavy sleep to dripping wet in under four seconds. She brought her hands up to touch his face, and it seemed as though that act of intimacy was too much for him. He grabbed both of her hands in one of his and pinned them to the pillow above her head. At the same moment his other hand slid into her, measured her wetness, and, deeming her ready, he guided his sheathed, hard penis to her.

  “Look at me, Marlee. See my face as I ram into you.”

  It was not the gentle tone he had used this afternoon. It was the sexy voice he had used all week with her. It worked.

  She gasped and raised her hips to meet his rough entrance. She clenched her muscles around him as she wrapped her thighs around his hips. His eyes held hers, and the look he gave her was fierce and deep. He held her hands and relentlessly drove into her. The tenderness gone. The gentleness gone. Left was a primitive, possessive mating that had them both crying out with their release within minutes.

  Chapter Seventeen

  When she woke up the next morning, Marlee reached for Declan but found his side of the bed empty. It was funny how easily she thought of it as “his” side of the bed. She ran her hand down the cool sheets and realized he must have been out of bed for quite some time. All the heat from his body had gone. And the man could generate some heat.

  She threw on a robe and went downstairs to the kitchen. The coffee pot was nearly full and there was a note placed in front of it with her mug sitting as a paperweight. It said he was running some errands and would be back in the afternoon.

  Marlee tried not to let the note get her down. Of course he had to run some errands. He was leaving tomorrow for a week, and he had been spending every waking moment with her. He probably had a million things to do.

  A nagging feeling crept up. She couldn’t quite put a name to it. Sort of like….dread? It was natural enough, she supposed, to be dreading parting with Declan. She had become very attached to the sex they were having. The all-out, rough-and-tumble sex that she had never experienced before, and feared she never would again.

  Liar. It isn’t just the sex you’ve become attached to and you know it. And besides, the best sex you had with Declan all week was yesterday, when it wasn’t rough and tumble, when it was…making love.

  The thought wasn’t as scary now that she’d admitted she loved Declan, if only to herself. In bed last night, she had hoped for a repeat of the slow, sensual lovemaking they had shared earlier at the studio. She felt closer to Declan that way. Thought that maybe she’d even be able to voice her feelings to him. But the cataclysmic mating that Declan initiated, though wonderful, allowed no room for proclamations of love. And maybe that was just what he’d planned.

  Maybe he sensed her feelings. She certainly hadn’t masked them at the studio.

  Of course. It all made sense. It was shortly after that when Declan started acting weird. First the thing with Professor Curtis, then the silence before and after her family had arrived. The slam-bam sex. And then rushing out of here this morning before she woke up.

  He had figured out she loved him and was trying to get through the next two days without her confessing the news to him. He didn’t want to embarrass her when she blurted out she loved him and he could only say…“Uh, thanks.”

  That was so Declan, wanting to spare her feelings. No wonder she loved him.

  Marlee’s heart ached for what couldn’t be, but she wanted to let Declan off the hook. She cared for him that much. She would act as if nothing happened, be as light and carefree about Declan and her as she’d been earlier in the week. That would make it easier for him. He wouldn’t have to avoid her for the next twenty-four hours. She could hold it together that long.

  Then she would start her tour and would be alone in a hotel room far from home. The perfect setting to feel sorry for herself and mourn a broken heart. And probably watch the video file of them together about a zillion times.

  After the tour she’d come home and get serious about her search for suitable men. Look how quickly she fell for Declan, and he was totally unsuitable. If she met the love of her life when she got off the tour in March, there was no telling how quickly things could move from there.

  The thought did nothing to cheer up Marlee. A voice in the back of her head screamed, You can’t meet the love of your life in March…you’ve already met him. She tried to silence the voice, but couldn’t. Probably because it was right.

  Her heart became heavy all over again.

  Declan came home around three and they decided to order Chinese delivery later for dinner. Neither felt like cooking. That in and of itself should have been a red flag to them both, but they chalked it up to being tired, and wanting to pack and seeing to other odds and ends.

  Marlee dashed out to do a few errands of her own. Pick up dry cleaning, pick up messages, and correspondence from her office. She invited Declan to join her, but he asked if he could do some laundry and Marlee showed him where the detergent and things were. She offered to do it for him later, but he mumbled something about having to do things for himself and she left him to it.

  It was all very civilized, very polite, and only slightly strained.

  It took Marlee longer than she thought at her office, so she decided to get the Chinese on her way home. She called Declan to ask what he’d like and to tell him about this wonderful vegetarian sweet and sour tofu that the Golden Panda did. He agreed that the tofu sounded great.

  Though the conversation was not as free and easy as it had been all week, it flowed while they ate their food. Marlee was determined not to say anything that Declan may construe as clingy or emotional.

  As they were clearing away their dishes, she finally wound up her coura
ge and said, “What’s wrong, Declan?”

  A look of pain crossed his face, and then it turned to something she couldn’t quite name. Was that pity? Was he feeling sorry for her?

  Oh, crap. She shouldn’t have asked the question. She really didn’t want to have “the talk” on their last night together. What would be the point, anyway?

  “Never mind. Forget I asked. Here.” She held her hand out to him. “Come with me.”

  She knew she wanted to watch their sex tape with him. But as she entered the room and saw the flash drive with the red X sitting next to her computer, another idea struck her.

  She couldn’t seem to tell Declan she was in love with him. Did not want to put her heart in his hands when he’d said he couldn’t count on a future until he had his next career figured out. Justin had humiliated her too badly for her to be able to put herself out there like that. But she could let Declan know how much this week had meant to her in a different way.

  She moved to the desk, still holding his hand. Sitting at her desk chair, she reluctantly let go of his hand to put the flash drive in the USB port of her laptop.

  “Are we going to watch this?” Declan said from where he came to stand behind her chair. He placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed.

  “In a minute. I just want to do this first.” She copied the file to her laptop, then ejected the flash drive and grabbed an identical one from her pile of empty drives and plugged it into the laptop. She copied it over to the new drive and then ejected it. She moved the file that had been on her laptop to the trash and deleted it. She used this laptop too much at work and when she traveled to risk opening that file by mistake when anyone was in her presence.

  Swiveling in the chair, she held the new drive out to Declan. “I want you to have this copy. I completely trust you with it.”

  It wasn’t the declaration of love she wanted to profess, but in some ways, it was just as important. Declan had no way of knowing how hard this was for her, how much it took to give him a copy of it.