by Kelly, Erika
With the skirt of the dress draped over his arm, and her ass pushed up tightly to him, no one could see what they were doing. Everyone around them was drunk, high, and mesmerized by the DJ’s electronic music.
Ryan moaned, letting out all his pent-up frustration. Fuck, he wanted this woman. More than he’d ever wanted anything. And then he slid a finger up to her hard nub, drawing circles around it. She closed her eyes as her body shuddered and her knees buckled.
He caught her around her waist, pulling his hand out and smoothing down her skirt. Winding his arms around her, he held her against his chest.
They stood like that for long minutes. Until he’d had enough of noise and strangers. He wanted her all to himself. He dropped his mouth to her ear. “Stay or go?”
“Go.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder to hold her close and maneuvered them out of the crowd. The air smelled of cooked meat, body odor, and a clash of perfumes and colognes.
As they made their way down the boulevard, away from the square, the crowds thinned. Each bar they passed pulsed with music, and he had to skirt around drunken revelers.
She tugged on his hand. “Slow down. I can’t go this fast.”
He glanced to her shoes. “Sorry.” And then he saw her flushed cheeks, reminding him of what they’d just done in a crowd of people, and concern flashed through him.
Was she pissed?
With a lock of hair spilling across one eye, she gave him a naughty smile. “Do you think anyone saw?”
Apparently not. And the relief was so sudden it felt like taking a full breath after being underwater too long. “Nah. That crowd was wild.” He wouldn’t have touched her like that if he’d thought anyone was watching.
“I know. What an event.”
“Are you okay?”
“Okay about the festival? Or okay after you ravished me at concert in a town square in Santa Grenada?”
Lust slammed him all over again, as his body remembered every sensation of her body pressed tightly to his. He leaned down and pressed a hard kiss on her mouth. “About everything?”
“I’m good. A little confused.” They continued walking, as he kept watch for an available cab. “Why’d you come all the way out here?”
“Your friends came back without you.” The words hurtled out of his mouth. “They shouldn’t have left you alone.” But he was lying.
“They didn’t do anything wrong. They wanted to go back to the resort, and I wanted to stay.” Her jaw tightened, and she drew in a deep breath. “I told you I was going to this festival. It’s not that big a deal.”
“I was worried.” He gestured to her dress. “Look at you.”
“What about me?”
“That dress.”
“I wore it for the nice restaurant we went to, and I covered up with this when I got to the concert.” She waved her wrap. “I’m not stupid.”
“No, you’re gorgeous. And sexy. And I didn’t want you alone in a crowd of drunk, aggressive men.”
“Remember this morning, when I told you I hate when people tell me what to do?”
She had no idea how fucking hot she was. None. But he kept his mouth shut.
“I’m not some wild child looking for attention. Did you see me taking hits off a blunt? Taking drinks from strange men? No, you didn’t. Because I’m smart. I grew up in a big city.”
“You can’t compare Santa Grenada to Beverly Hills.”
“Oh, my God, my life isn’t what you see in the movies. Do you think I got chauffeured to school in a silver Bentley? A butler answering the door, a manservant fetching my lattés for me? God, Ryan. We had a housekeeper, that’s it. The minute I could get my license I did because I couldn’t stand asking my friends for rides all the time. I’ve been taking care of myself a long time.”
Why did that make him sad? He’d never been alone. Ever. Surrounded by family, teammates, coaches, his girlfriend, he’d never had a break.
A flash of insight struck him. He’d always been surrounded by people who had expectations for him. And he’d always met those expectations. Sophie had none. She could’ve been some wild, rebellious teen, but she’d chosen instead to make the best of her isolation by pursuing her interests.
He grabbed her hand, kissed her palm. “I know you can take care of yourself. I just don’t want you to always have to.”
She drew in a breath, gazing up at him with pure affection. But then she looked away. “You’re a dangerous man.”
He didn’t know what to say to that, so when a cab turned the corner he flagged it. It pulled right over.
Once inside, they buckled themselves in. With her elbow on the windowsill, one hand covering her mouth, she looked pensive. She must think he was crazy, the way he kept coming after her.
The thing was, he was known for his self-control. He’d excelled at baseball because of his discipline. While his friends partied, drank, cut class, and ignored curfews, he’d always towed the line. He knew that if he screwed up, he got benched. If he showed up to practice hung-over, he didn’t play his best and Coach limited his play-time. He’d been trained to control himself.
So, what the hell was happening to him? Yeah, his attraction to her was off the charts, but why couldn’t he control himself?
You need to fuck and fuck hard. Then he shouldn’t be spending time with the one woman at the resort who didn’t want a simple hookup. The only one who didn’t want to fuck around. She wanted to surf and rent boats. Jesus—it hit him right then—she’d just wanted to see the festival, and he’d charged into town, mauled her beautiful body in front of everyone, and then dragged her off with him.
Fucking caveman. He looked over at her, the white wrap balled-up in her lap, streetlights dancing over her features. She deserved the truth. “I came because I missed you.”
Her eyes flared.
“I spent half the night looking for you. I tried to get into it, the drinking and partying, but…” He shrugged. “I just wanted to be with you.”
She watched him a moment before shifting her gaze out the window. “You slay me.” She sighed. “You really, really slay me.”
He hoped like hell she didn’t feel disrespected by what he’d just done to her in the middle of the square. “I’m sorry if—” Her expression had his jaw snapping shut.
She let out a huff of breath. “Do you have any idea how offensive that is? Do you think you’re just taking advantage of some helpless girl who has no say in what you do to her body? What just happened in the town square was my choice. I liked it, okay? It was fun and exciting, and it was my choice. God, Ryan.”
Happiness ignited in his heart, sending heat and light everywhere inside him. He leaned over and released her seat belt. Sliding one hand under her ass, the other under her legs, he dragged her onto his lap.
Burying his nose in her hair, he breathed her in. “I’m out of my element here.”
She didn’t fight him, just exhaled. “It’s bad enough that I keep wanting you, but if you apologize every time we get funky you make me feel worse.”
“I don’t want you to feel bad at all. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Well, I don’t want you to hurt me, either. And if we don’t knock this off, I will get hurt. I know you don’t want to hear this, but I’m already getting emotionally involved. I’m sorry, but I can’t separate my mind from my body. I actually like you, and that fuels my interest in you physically. Do you know what I mean?”
“Of course.”
She looked at him. She was so fucking beautiful, that sexy mouth and warm, intelligent eyes. “Is this…I mean, is it because of the challenge?” When he didn’t answer, her gaze cut away. “You can have any woman you want, but you keep chasing after me. Is that what gets you all fired up?”
“Not at all. It’s you.”
“Were you like this with Emma?”
He shook his head, barely able to think past the rush of heat flooding him. “No. It’s never been like this for me. What about you
? Was it like this for you and your ex?”
Her brow pulled in. “How’d you know about King?”
He couldn’t keep his laugh from bursting out. “King? His name is King?”
“His name is Richard. But he was a really good snowboarder, and the press dubbed him King. It stuck.”
“Trust me, he didn’t have to keep the nickname.”
“Why do you say it like that?”
“Because I play ball. They’re always coming up with nicknames for me.”
“What’d they try to call you that you didn’t like?”
“Lots of things.”
“Like?”
“Like Hollywood.”
“You are pretty gorgeous.”
“Whatever. I’m saying you don’t have to put up with that shit.”
“He likes it. Not so much now, since he didn’t pass the Olympic trials. So what do you let them call you?”
“Six.” He had a grip on her thigh over the silky fabric, and he had to restrain himself from shoving it up to get to her skin.
“Six? What does that mean?”
“I play shortstop. It’s my position.”
“That’s boring.”
“Exactly.”
She leaned back, taking him in. “You don’t want them to see you.”
“No, I’m controlling how they see me.” Ryan cupped her chin, forcing her look at him. “Now get back to the sex.”
“I’m not talking to you about my sex life with King.”
He gripped her, pulling her closer to him. Those blue eyes widened, her jaw slackened, and her tongue came out to moisten her lips. “I want to know…” His jaw snapped shut. He couldn’t believe the shit about to come out of his mouth.
She shifted to face him fully, cupping his chin. “You want to know what?”
In the dark of the cab, it felt like being under the covers with her, the two of them in their own little world. He felt like he could say anything with her. “I want to know if you respond like this with other guys.” Am I in this alone?
“No,” she whispered.
“Did you love King?”
“Of course. But it was complicated with us. We had history.”
“Meaning?”
“He’s from Utah. My parents had a winter house down the street from him. My family likes to ski, so we spent a lot of time there. He was an only child, and in some ways I was, too. So we hung out with each other and, I guess, we fell in love.”
“You guess?”
“Honestly, I remember the bad more than the good at this point.”
“When did you break up? For good?”
“Junior year of college. Right at the beginning. So, a year and a half ago. He was going to the Olympics and he wanted to be free. To…you know…”
“To bang other women?”
She nodded.
“What a dick.”
She shrugged. “He’s not a dick. He was honest with me.”
“You can’t break up with someone so you can fuck other people. That’s bullshit. You either love someone, or you’re fuck buddies.”
A gentle smile lifted the corners of her mouth, and she scratched the scruff on his jaw. “You’re a good guy. I thought you were like your friends, all man-whorish, but you’re not. I think you’re trying to be something you’re not.” And then she wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pressed a sweet kiss to his cheek. “King and I were on and off a lot. He doesn’t come from a good family, so I was like home for him. He could go out into the world and do stuff, but he always had me to come home to. I’m sure I needed him in the same way. Dating sucks. I’m in a sorority, and I think you have a pretty good idea what frat boys want, so it was nice to have him there for me.”
“Did he try to get back with after he didn’t make the Olympics?”
She nodded.
“But you didn’t take him back.”
She ran her fingers through his hair, her voice soft. “I was done. I want to be more than someone’s fallback.”
His nerves thrummed from her touch. “What do you want?” He watched the rise and fall of her chest, the gentle way her teeth sank into her bottom lip. Gave her a minute to get her thoughts together.
“I guess…don’t we all want someone who sees us? The real us. But likes us anyway? I guess I want to be completely myself around someone and not worry I’ll bore them or…not be enough for them.”
“No one’s going to get bored of you. Not in ten lifetimes.”
She drew in a breath, and the prettiest pink flush spread across her cheeks. “When you look at me like that I can almost believe you.”
His restraint snapped. Drawing up the material of her dress, his hand slid up her thigh and squeezed. “Good. I mean it.”
“The thing is…” She put her hand on top of his. “I think what gets me the most about you is the way you pay attention. I mean, as much as it pissed me off that you cut my boat ride short—well, and my concert—it excites me that you notice what I’m doing. You’re at the resort, surrounded by sexy, willing women, and yet you notice that I didn’t come back with my friends. That just makes me go all gushy inside.”
“I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“You’re nothing like what I thought.” A slow smile warmed her features. “When I got to the bar last night looking for Laura, I noticed you. Of course I noticed you. You’re gorgeous. But it was such a turn-off.”
“Hey.”
Her smile lit up the cab. “Yeah, because you need more women stroking your ego. My point is that you’ve got his movie star smile. It’s all fake, like, I am Ruler Thor, and with my smile I knight you. But when you touched my leg? You weren’t that cocky charmer. You were…I don’t know, almost scared. No, not scared. You were in awe. And then the more we talked, the more I saw who you really were, and the hotter you became.”
He leaned closer, heading for her mouth, but she leaned back.
“I love the way you want me.”
Cupping the back of her head, he took her mouth and tasted all her sweetness. But just as he deepened the kiss, she pushed him away.
“What about you and Emma?”
“What about us?”
“You know. Was it ever crazy like this?”
“Hell, no.” The words shot out of his mouth with such aggression he surprised himself.
Sophie smiled. “I’m listening.” She settled back against the door.
He reached for the lock, pushed it down. “I told you I don’t like to talk badly about her.” Besides, he’d much rather kiss her than talk about Emma.
“So it was bad?”
“It’s just sex after sleeping with the same person for six years.”
“I told you about the offer to buy Crazy Hearts. Do you know how bad that could be for me? If you told even one person, I could blow the deal for my family. I think you can tell me a little about your ex. And, besides, this time you really won’t see me again. I’m going away tomorrow. So you can stop being my watch dog and move onto…other things.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
But he wasn’t amused. She was leaving? “Where you going?”
“There’s a three-star restaurant here. Did you know that?”
He shook his head. From this position, he could see all of her, just how he liked it. The smooth skin of her thigh, her feminine hands. It was driving him crazy. And her mouth. Her expressive, beautiful mouth. He wanted to kiss her, reach under the fabric and hold the weight of her breast in his hand.
“Well, there is. It’s part of a resort on the other side of the island. It’s so famous you have to make reservations months in advance. I can’t wait.”
“You can’t wait for what? To eat in a fancy restaurant?”
She laughed. “To try the food. The chef makes a hybrid of Spanish, Caribbean, French, and Portuguese cuisine. I asked for the sampling menu.” She shifted on him. “Now, let’s go, cowboy. Back to the sex.”
“I already told you. Sex was exactly what you’d expec
t after being with the same person for six years.”
“You never slept with anyone else in all those years?”
“Of course I did.”
She looked so disappointed in him. “You cheated on her?”
“No, but we broke up a lot. I went off to college, and she moved to Europe. We spent a lot of time apart. And, you know, we don’t have a lot in common.” Other than her dad, what did they have in common? Growing up in the same town used to be enough, he supposed.
He had to admit it felt good to get this shit out. Like opening a valve and letting off some of the pressure. “The sex was polite.” He squeezed her thigh. “And I don’t want to be nice all the time.”
“So she never got to see Ryan Unleashed?”
“Never.”
“Shame.”
“I don’t want to talk about Emma.”
“Because you still love her? On some level, I mean.”
“Maybe. On some level.”
“You’re being polite.”
“Of course I am. She was my girlfriend for six years.”
“But I don’t know her. I’ll never know her. So you don’t have to be polite with me.”
“I’m not going to disrespect her.”
“By opening up? Venting? Ryan, if you want to get anything out of this week, then at least open up. Tell the truth to yourself. Or are your feelings for her too complicated?”
“Of course they’re complicated. Her dad practically raised me.”
“Your feelings for her. That’s what we’re talking about. If it’s so hard for you to talk about her, maybe you still love her.” She smiled at him, obviously enjoying provoking him.
Only, it did provoke him. Stirred up an angry nest of shit. “I told you I don’t love her. Not like that.”
“But you have feelings for her.”
“Of course I have feelings for her. What kind of an asshole would I be if I didn’t have feelings for someone I’ve known most of my life?”
“Are you angry with her?”
“No. Jesus, Sophie.”
“Are you happy with her?” Her smile broadened.
“Cut the shit.”
“Are you frustrated with her? Afraid of her? Sad about her?”
“Sophie…”
“Are you displeased with her?”
