Jaci Burton (24 page)

But then he wrapped his arm around her middle to shield her body from the counter. He leaned over her back.

“Do you know how damn good it feels to be buried inside you like this?” he asked. “Do you know how tight you are, how wet your pussy is?”

He withdrew, and thrust deep inside her. “You make me want to come hard right now, Peaches. But I want to fuck you all night long, stay connected to you like this for hours. Your body is so sweet, you smell so good, and I love being inside you.”

Oh, god. She loved the way he talked to her, the deep whisper
of his voice sending chills down her spine. He made her tremble inside and out and she bucked back against him, letting him know just how much she enjoyed having his cock inside her.

He swept her hair away from her neck and licked the side of her throat, flicking his tongue across her earlobe.

“Do you have any idea how good you smell?” he asked. “Just being around you makes my dick hard, makes me want to get you naked so I can suck your pretty nipples and lick your pussy.”

He gave her goose bumps when he thrust his cock in deeper, inciting her wild imaginings with the way he talked to her. “You make me come hard when you lick me.”

“I know. I like watching you let go. You’re so wild and free when you come. It turns me on.”

He pulled out, turned her around and slid his cock into her, his gaze glued to hers. She held on to the counter while he eased in, then out.

“I want to watch your face when you come.” He ground against her, rolling his hips to give her maximum pleasure. Her pussy quivered and clamped around him like a vise.

“Keep doing that and I will.”

He kept doing that. And she did. The intimacy of meeting his gaze as she climaxed, of seeing his eyes narrow and his jaw tighten as he went with her, was nothing short of a molten volcano of liquid pleasure.

Out of breath, she fell into his arms, feeling the jackknife rhythm of his heart beating against her chest.

She was sweating. So was he.

That had been more than enjoyable. It had been intense. Maybe a little earth shattering.

And totally wrong.

When he withdrew, he grinned down at her, obviously satisfied and happy. He bent to kiss her, but she pulled away. “I need to go clean up.”

“We could take a shower together.”

“I really need to go.” She grabbed her clothes, but he stopped her.

“Savannah. What’s wrong?”

“Not a thing. This was a lot of fun. But I really should go.”

She scooted down the hall and shut the bathroom door, appalled at what she saw in the mirror.

Her bra still hung halfway down her arms. Her hair was a mess, her makeup was smeared and there was a blush all over her skin. Cole had left marks on her and—oh, god—was that a hickey on her neck?

How old was she, anyway? She wasn’t a teenager in the throes of first passion. She was an adult. A sensible, capable, professional who should not have had sex with her client in his kitchen.

That was twice now she’d utterly lost her mind.

She washed up and got dressed, took a couple deep breaths, and went back out. Cole was having a glass of water in the kitchen.

“Here, I poured you one. Figured you might be thirsty.”

“Thank you.” She took a couple long swallows to lubricate her parched throat. “Now I really should go.”

“Want to tell me why you run every time we have sex?”

She paused, feeling awful that she kept doing this to him. She owed him an explanation. She turned, faced him.

“Because we shouldn’t have sex.”

“Why not?”

“You know why not. Because we work together. I’m supposed to act professionally around you, not jump on your cock every time we’re alone together.”

His lips curved. “I like you jumping on my cock.”

“How are you going to take the work we do together seriously if we’re sleeping together?”

“So far, there hasn’t been a whole lotta sleeping.”

“Not funny, Cole.” She grabbed her purse and started for the door, mentally kicking herself for ever allowing her libido to have free rein.

He moved beside her. “I’m sorry. I can tell this bothers you, but I don’t know why. I can keep professional and personal separate.”

She opened the door and walked outside, but turned to give him a regretful look. “That’s the problem. I’m not sure I can.”

He leaned against the doorway. “You know, Peaches, I’m not buying your practiced speech about professional and personal. You’re running because of something else. And if we’re going to keep seeing each other, eventually you’re going to have to start trusting me with your secrets.”

Savannah gave Cole a pained look that told him she really wanted to do that.

Cole wished she would, but instead, she turned and walked to her car. She got in and started the engine, her gaze meeting his for a brief second.

Come on. Come back inside and talk to
me.

But she put her car in gear and pulled away.

He dragged his fingers through his hair and shut the door.

For a second there, they had been so close. Hell, for the entire night they had been close. Good dinner, great conversation, amazing sex.

And then she’d slammed the door in his face as soon as the sex was over.

If he were the kind of guy who’d get all emotional over shit like that, his feelings might be hurt. He might even take it personally.

But he wasn’t that kind of guy, and he knew this wasn’t about him.

This was about Savannah. And it had nothing to do with him being her client.

He’d been making progress. He might not really enjoy taking instructions from her, but he’d seen the light. He was beginning to see the wisdom in her suggestions. He might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he wasn’t a total dumbass, either. A lot of what
she’d been trying to tell him made sense. So he’d been listening, putting those words into action, and it was working.

Which had nothing to do with what went on between the two of them when they were alone. He’d been honest with her when he told her he could separate business from personal.

No, that wasn’t the problem. Something else was.

And he wasn’t going to give up until he figured out what it was that kept sending her running out the door every time the two of them got close.

FOURTEEN

GETTING HIS FRUSTRATIONS OUT ON THE FOOTBALL
field had always worked well for Cole.

Okay, maybe he also used to take his frustrations out in clubs, and on the media, but he’d been working hard on turning over a new leaf. This year he was going to leave it all on the field. New image and all that.

Preseason was starting this weekend, and he was psyched up and ready for the game. He was secure in his position, though he didn’t expect to get as much playing time in this weekend’s game against Cleveland as he’d like.

Still, the start of play was always as exciting as the first time he’d walked onto a football field as a professional. It never got old. And this year, on his home team, would be the year that everything was going to change for him.

He hadn’t seen Savannah since that night at his condo. She’d laid low, though they’d exchanged a few phone calls. She’d told him
she’d be at the game today to help coach him through media interviews, which he’d found laughable, but he’d agreed to meet with her before the game to go over some pointers.

He’d wanted to see her anyway, to gauge her mood and how things were between them. Despite being busy up to his eyeballs with team practice, he’d also been thinking about her a lot. There were times he’d wanted to call her, but he didn’t want to push someone who obviously didn’t want to be pushed.

Didn’t mean the game was over in his mind, though. It was just a temporary retreat.

He still wanted Savannah. They’d just gotten warmed up. Sex with her was great and he liked spending time with her, time that went beyond the image makeover shit she was making him do. He liked the personal time they spent together.

But for some reason what was going on between them kept scaring her into backing away. Maybe she did fear for her job, but it wasn’t like he was going to approach the team owner or coach and tell him that he was fucking Savannah. He knew how to be discreet.

He just had a feeling there was something else bothering her, and he didn’t know what it was.

“Ready to kick some ass today, stud?”

He was in the team office signing some papers and turned to smile at Elizabeth.

He grinned. “You know it.”

She laid her hand on his arm. “I’m expecting you to make me look like a brilliant agent for signing you when no one else would touch you. Don’t make me look like a dumbass.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got a good feeling about this season. I think it’s going to be one of my best yet.”

Liz leaned a hip against the conference room table. “That’s what Savannah tells me.”

He cocked a brow. “Is that right?”

“Yes. Of course that could just be PR on her part, trying to sell the positive aspects about you.”

“It’s not PR. I’m a changed man.”

Liz snorted. “We’ll see about that.”

“Hey, she’s a freakin’ miracle worker. You’ll see. It’ll be like raising Frankenstein’s monster from the dead.”

“I don’t think you were quite that bad. If you were, honey, I’d have never taken you on.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, as weak as it was.”

She laughed. “And how are things going between you and Savannah?”

He arched a brow and leaned back in the chair. “In what way?”

“In that way.”

He stayed silent.

“She told me the two of you slept together. And don’t bother getting all upset about it. We’re good friends and I’m discreet.”

“I’m not upset about it. I’m glad she has someone to talk to, since she damn well won’t talk to me.”

Liz folded her arms. “Hmm.”

“Yeah? And what does that mean?”

She pulled up a chair. “Tread lightly with her, Cole. I mean it. She’s dealing with some stuff.”

“What kind of stuff? Like a bad breakup or something?”

“It’s not for me to say. If she wants to open up to you, she will. I just don’t want you to hurt her.”

“I’m not trying to hurt her, Liz. I’m trying to get her to trust me enough to have a goddamn conversation with me. Or at least stop fucking me and running like hell after.”

He couldn’t believe he was having this conversation with his agent. With a woman, no less. Men didn’t have sex and talk about it. Ever. But he was at a loss as to how to deal with Savannah and needed some insight.

“Do you care about her?”

“If I didn’t I wouldn’t be so frustrated, and I sure as hell wouldn’t be talking to you about it. I’ve got more important things on my mind, like the start of the season. So yeah, I care about her.”

Liz’s lips quirked into a smile. “I guess you do. Be patient with her and don’t give up. She needs to know you’re going to be there for her, that you’re not going to abandon her. That’s the only advice I can give you.”

That would have to be good enough. “Thanks.”

“Hey, relationships are tough. And sometimes one side has to do a lot of the work. Just ask Gavin.”

He laughed. “How’s married life going, by the way?”

“Obscenely romantic. I love it, even though I hardly see my husband since he’s knee deep in baseball season. But we carve out time whenever we can. I’m just looking forward to November when we can have our honeymoon.”

“Good. I’m glad for you, though why you’d want to be married to my pain-in-the-ass cousin is a mystery to me.”

“Somebody had to take him on. I took pity on him.” Liz stood and kissed him on the cheek. “Play good today.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Liz had walked out the door and Cole saw her run into Savannah outside where the offices were. They stopped and talked for a few minutes. Cole watched the interplay between the two women. There were hugs, a lot of smiling, and some intense conversation. He would have liked to know what they were talking about.

Maybe about him. Or maybe it was just woman talk. For all he knew they were having a conversation about shoes.

They hugged good-bye and Savannah headed into the conference room.