Matt’s fork stilled in midair as his gaze shot from his son to Carly. “Some reporter is hounding you at the complex?” he asked, his tone lethal.
“Yeah,” C.J. answered before Carly could. “He probably thinks if he hangs around Carly, he’ll meet Elise or something.”
“Is this true?” Lisa asked, exchanging a worried glance with her husband.
“Donovan’s got it handled,” Carly assured them both. “Besides, the guy’s pretty harmless.” I think.
“Anyway, Elise Wages is pregnant,” C.J. mumbled as he reached for a second helping of lasagna. Okay, Carly was grateful for the subject change, but she was definitely mentioning the condoms to Matt.
“Well, at least we know her baby’s not yours, Shane,” Molly blurted before her father could shove a piece of bread in her mouth.
Now it was Carly’s turn to choke.
They managed to navigate the dinner conversation to safer subjects so that everyone finished their meal without necessity of the Heimlich maneuver. Carly slipped out before dessert, claiming that she had over indulged in Mexico and she needed to cut some calories. What she really wanted was to get away from the menacing presence seated next to her at the table. Despite all the embarrassing dinner conversation, Shane had eventually managed to relax and join in the banter. Not Carly. She’d had enough verbal confrontation for one day.
* * *
Shane took the stairs two at a time. It was Saturday and the Blaze corporate offices were empty. His flight back to San Diego was in two hours, but he needed to take care of something first. He hadn’t signed off on the team’s plan for his “image makeover.” Mini-camp had kept him busy the past three days, giving him a convenient excuse to avoid Carly at the same time. Since Carly was a big part of carrying out the plan, he’d pushed thoughts of it—and her—off until the last possible moment. He needed to apologize for the dumb-ass assumptions he’d made the other day, but that meant he’d have to actually be face-to-face with her and he wasn’t sure his body could handle it. The sexual tension between the two of them definitely interfered with his common sense. He needed to be focused and rational to get his job done. So, his plan was to sign the plan—provided he could find a pen on one of the secretary’s desks—and slip it under Carly’s door before his flight left.
What he hadn’t counted on was Carly being in her office. As he rounded the corner, he came to an abrupt stop. The object of his obsession was pacing before a picture window, the spring sunshine streaming in behind her. A pair of running shorts showed off lean, muscular legs; her T-shirt strained against firm breasts. Damn, she was cute and his body was doing crazy things just watching her. Her ponytail bobbed as she paced about, having a conversation with someone on speakerphone.
“I can’t believe you told Matt you saw condoms in C.J.’s bag.” The woman on the phone had trouble containing a laugh.
Whoa. So that’s what C.J.’s temper tantrum was about the other night.
“What was I supposed to do, Jules?” Carly plopped down in her chair, resting her sneaker-clad feet on the desk. She twirled a red rose in her fingers as she spoke. “Wouldn’t you tell your brother if your nephew had condoms in his gym bag?”
“Jeez, Carly, my nephew is ten! If he had condoms it would probably be for some locker-room prank!”
Carly laughed. Shane sat down at one of the reception desks and tried to tell himself he was looking for a pen, not eavesdropping.
“Seriously, Carly, you’re getting way too wrapped up in these people.”
“These people are my family, Julianne.” Carly stood and began pacing again, slapping the rose against her thigh. “And you of all people should know they are important to me. They’re all I’ve got and I like that they need me.”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
“I appreciate that you care, though, Jules.” Carly moved out his range of vision, but from the sound of it, she’d stopped her pacing.
“I just wish you wouldn’t equate personal happiness with feeling needed, that’s all,” Julianne finally answered. “And I wish you’d come to Italy with me!”
“I can’t go back to Italy, Julianne. The paparazzi are too intense. Besides, I really don’t want to have Max’s happiness thrown at me day in and day out. It still hurts too much.” The last statement came out as a whisper.
“So you’re hanging around with American football players, now?” Julianne sounded appalled. “Like one of them won’t propose to you and leave you for his Baby Mama.”
Huh? Shane was having trouble keeping up with the conversation. Had some guy actually done that to Carly?
“Jules, I’m not hanging out with the players. I’m working for the team. For the first time in my life, I actually feel useful. I know Hank hired me as a favor to Matt, but Lisa is doing better and Hank has all but said the job is permanent if I want it,” Carly said. She moved into view again and he watched as she dropped the rose in the trash and picked up a picture frame from the credenza behind her desk. “Besides, jocks are off-limits, remember? I’m not hanging out with anyone who lives their life in the public eye. I want quiet and ordinary.”
“You want boring!”
“Hey, accountants or podiatrists aren’t always boring.” Carly’s voice was laced with humor. “Now, can we get back to the business at hand, and talk about you finding me a dress for Lisa’s black-tie fund-raiser? This is really important to her. She wants to raise enough money to start a counseling center for kids here in Baltimore by year’s end. Wouldn’t it have been nice to have a place to go when you lost your mom? A place where other kids could relate to what you were going through?”
Julianne paused before answering. “Boarding school took care of that for both of us.”
Carly released an exasperated sigh. “Julianne, are you going to find me a dress or not?”
“Yeah, sure. But I don’t know why I even bother. You won’t wear any of the ones that I think you should wear.”
“Then pick something out you know I’ll wear, not something skimpy that belongs on the cover of Cosmo.” She put the picture back down on the credenza a little too roughly.
Shane bumped his knee against the metal desk at the thought of her wearing one of those sexy dresses that always taunted him in the checkout lines. He was unable to stifle a grunt, and the sound alerted her to his presence. Snatching up the receiver, she quickly ended her phone conversation and came to stand in the doorway of her office. Crossing her arms beneath her breasts—a move that further tortured him—she leaned against the door frame. Shane cleared his throat and jauntily leaned on the two back legs of the desk chair.
“I was looking for a pen.” He flicked through some papers on the desk, unsuccessfully trying to keep his eyes off her very pert breasts perfectly displayed in a T-shirt proclaiming Smart is the new skinny. Shane tried not to think about how sexy it looked on her.
“I guess the Pen Fairy took ’em all because there aren’t any out here,” he joked, gesturing to the desks in the reception area.
Mumbling something sounding awfully close to smart-ass, she pushed away from the door frame. He stood and followed her into her office. Probably not a good idea on his part, seeing as how he was already in the beginning stages of arousal. Being in the close confines of her office would only make it worse.
He took his chances anyway.
Her office was warm and welcoming, adorned with pictures of her nieces and nephew. A large spider plant crawled from its container down to the floor. Soft jazz music played over her computer speakers. She rounded her desk and picked up a Montblanc pen, then turned and nearly speared him with it, he was following her so closely.
“I didn’t want to leave town without signing this.” He held up the media plan between them.
“Of course not.” She backed up a little to put some space between them. “I was beginning to think you’d forgo
tten.”
“Nope.” His voice took on a husky timbre as he took a step forward. She moved farther back to the wall. “You didn’t rat me out to your brother-in-law the other night. Why not?”
“Oh, well . . . now I have something to hold over you. You know, when you start telling everyone how I attacked you in Cabo,” she quipped.
“Touché,” he said, a smile breaking out across his face. “Smart, pretty, and devious. Who would have thought?”
She tried to stifle a laugh, but one escaped anyway. Soft and breathy. Somehow, she’d backed herself against the wall. He stood inches in front of her. She wasn’t a psycho chic, he’d finally decided. Just a woman. A woman who he continued to be incredibly attracted to for reasons he couldn’t quite understand. If Shane was smart, he’d leave her alone. Except his brain and his body weren’t working from the same playbook.
“About that night in Cabo . . .” he started off.
“Let’s not go there.” She shook her head from side to side.
He breathed in her scent—she smelled like Florida sunshine—as he moved his body closer. “You know, Dorothy, if your friend hadn’t interrupted us, what do you think would have happened?”
She stared at him, her clear blue eyes wide as saucers, something between panic and passion beginning to build in them. Her breath was coming faster, fanning the skin at the base of his neck.
“Nothing.” The waver in her voice—almost a whisper now—betrayed the firmness of the statement.
“You sure?” he asked softly as he tossed the document and pen onto the desk behind him. “Not even just a kiss?”
He knew he shouldn’t be pursuing this. She was not only the GM’s assistant but the coach’s sister-in-law. If Coach found out, he’d probably string Shane up by his balls. But he couldn’t seem to deny his body. Not now. Not after waiting a week to finally kiss her. Something about her pushed Shane over the edge. He had to know if it had been a fluke in Mexico. Maybe they’d both had too much to drink that night. Maybe he was the one who was a bit psycho. Either way, he wasn’t leaving until he found out. He leaned his body closer, pinning her to the wall.
Again, she shook her head. The tight T-shirt showcased her aroused nipples. While her mouth was saying nothing, her body was definitely giving him the green light.
Lifting both hands from his sides, he carefully placed each one against the wall on either side of her head. Slowly, he leaned in further, his lips a breath away from her mouth. Never before had he used his body to intimidate a woman. He’d stop now if she put up any resistance, but her body was pliant against his.
Her tongue darted out to lick her lips. Definitely a green light.
“This isn’t a good idea,” she started to say.
He took advantage of her open mouth and swooped in. Sealing his lips over hers, he let his tongue plunder her luscious mouth, stroking it along hers, making her body quiver. Any resistance she might have offered disappeared within seconds as she returned his kiss with a hot, eager one of her own. The way she kissed him back surprised him, spurred him on. He angled his head to the side to deepen the kiss and she responded by gently sucking on his tongue. A slow burn began in his gut, and he knew one thing for certain: the attraction that started on a beach in Mexico was no fluke.
He also knew he might not get enough of this woman.
With a soft gasp, she leaned in to deepen the kiss. It was nearly his undoing. Reluctantly, he broke it off, lifting his lips away from hers by a fraction. Leaning his forehead against hers, he tried to catch a breath. Her lips were puffy and damp, her eyes wild with passion.
“Damn,” Shane muttered, taking his hands off the wall. Repositioning them to caress the sides of her face, he pulled her in closer so his mouth could take possession of hers again.
* * *
Carly’s brain had ceased to function. She really should be telling him to stop, pushing him away. And she would. In a minute. Instead, the hands braced on his chest to do the pushing away slowly snaked up the black T-shirt that covered a finely sculpted torso before ending up wrapped around his neck. His skin was soft underneath her fingertips. She reached farther up to run her fingers through his hair, pulling his head deeper into the kiss. Their tongues were doing a passionate dance that had her stomach ready to fall out. She swayed against him as his hands reached down to cup her bottom, lifting her to sit on the credenza. He stepped between her thighs, allowing his erection to grind against her most sensitive area. The feeling was so overwhelming, she threw her head back and moaned. He took advantage of her exposed neck, nuzzling his way across her collarbone. When she wrapped her legs around him, he returned the groan before taking her mouth in a hard, demanding kiss. She nearly melted from the heat of it.
Carly had been intimate with more than a few men. But never like this. Never in her own office. On her desk. She’d never been so deeply aroused by another man—not even the passionate Italian she’d been engaged to—that she could lose control so easily. She’d definitely never been one to experience the toe-curling orgasms that she’d read about in magazines.
Until now.
She was on the verge of coming, and she was still fully dressed with just Shane’s tongue in her mouth as his hard body rubbed against her. She wanted him naked and inside of her. Now.
“Yo, Devlin. You up here?”
The sound of Donovan Carter’s voice was like ice water being dumped on her. With strength she didn’t know she possessed, she pushed Shane off her and jumped to her feet. They both struggled to catch their breath. She forced her eyes to meet his. The heat and passion she saw reflected there made her shiver. With his hair tousled, his lips swollen and red, and his erection straining his already tight jeans, it was impossible to mistake his intentions.
“Oh God,” Carly whispered. What had she almost done?
“Shane!” Donovan called again, his voice drawing nearer.
Shane continued to stare at her. Donovan was about to walk through the door. One look at Shane, and he’d know exactly what they’d been up to. Carly quickly turned to the window, her back to the door.
“In here,” Shane called out, his voice a low growl.
She said a silent prayer that he would at least sit down before Donovan arrived.
“Hey you two . . .” Donovan’s voice trailed off as he entered her office.
Neither one of them replied. Carly didn’t dare turn around, sure that her neck and her nipples still showed the effects of their encounter.
“Everything okay in here?” Donovan’s tone had an edge to it now. He was no fool. The man had been a criminal investigator. Carly felt her face redden at the thought.
“Everything’s fine.” Shane’s voice held a challenge in it. Just what she needed: two alpha males ready to duke it out over her honor.
“Ohh-kay,” Donovan said slowly. “I’ll just wait out here. We need to leave right away if you want to make that flight, Shane.”
All she could manage was a wave over her shoulder as Donovan left the office. Mentally, she braced herself for Shane to say something, do something. Instead, she heard the scratch of the pen on paper and then it being flung back on the desk. He left without saying a word.
Leaning her forehead against the glass window, she took a deep breath. She debated with herself which was more mortifying: the fact that she had almost given it all to Shane Devlin, or that they had nearly been caught by the head of Blaze security. Shane didn’t seem like the type to kiss and tell. She only hoped he could keep Donovan from spreading gossip. Two things she knew for sure: Shane Devlin had the power to overwhelm all her sensibilities, and she needed to avoid being alone with him at all costs.
Five
A fat bead of sweat trickled down the back of Shane’s neck, adding to his already soaked T-shirt as his feet pounded the pavement. Despite a light breeze, the late afternoon sun and a brisk five-mile run combined t
o produce a sheen of sweat all over his body.
“I swear, I’ve never seen anything like it in my life, man.” Donovan let out a little huff as he kept pace beside Shane. “She looked like a chick from one of those lip-syncing girl bands, only not so hot, you know? She stood there in this funky pink outfit—I mean nauseatingly pink—with big, bug-eye sunglasses on, and blasted poor Carly. Not that she was much of a threat. Jeez, she’s all of five and a half feet tall in her spiked heels. She looks a lot taller on TV. Dude, she even had a dog in her purse! Damn, that thing was ugly.” Donovan’s whole body shook at the thought of the dog.
Shane laughed at his friend’s antics. Apparently the arrival of Gabe Harrelson’s new bride provided quite the side show at the Blaze offices earlier in the day.
“What’s she so fired up about anyway?” Shane asked as they jogged through the neat residential neighborhood. Small brick condos lined up uniformly behind pristine, postage-stamp lawns.
“Money. Isn’t that what women are always fired up about? That and shoes,” Donovan joked as he matched Shane stride for stride.
“Last time I checked, Gabe made some pretty good cash.” Shane swerved to avoid a small sinkhole in the pavement.
“Dude, a woman like that can never have too much money. Their wedding alone had to cost a fortune. They held it on a beach in Kauai with nearly five hundred guests. Those people partied for three whole days!” Donovan checked his stride to look for oncoming cars before crossing a side street.
Shane paused to look at Donovan quizzically.
“You know this how?” he asked as they took off at a jog again.
“TMZ. Access Hollywood. Hell, they had a four-page spread in People. You didn’t see that?” Donovan looked at him incredulously.
“Nope.” Shane shook his head. “It’s not my preferred bathroom reading.”
Donovan gave a little snort.
“I figured you’d have a free subscription to some of those rags, as often as you’ve appeared in them,” he teased. “Anyway, Carly handled the little Paris Hilton wannabe. She even tried to make friends with the ugly dog, but the little rat was just bad to the bone. Even a diamond dog collar couldn’t make it look pretty. It was growlin’ at its own shadow.”
Game On (AN OUT OF BOUNDS NOVEL) Page 6
