Offside (16 page)

“Okay, let’s start with an opening bid of one
hundred dollars.”

Once more silence greeted his words and
Billie’s eyes smarted as she stared up at Pat like she was
concentrating on a game winning goal.

“Anyone?” the auctioneer coaxed, the smile on
his face fading as he gazed down into a crowd that had suddenly
turned into an entirely different animal. He squared his shoulders
and dug back in. “One hundred dollars, folks! Come on this is an
amazing opportunity for some lucky winner!”

Billie’s cheeks burned as the auctioneer
moved restlessly from side to side, cajoling the crowd…looking for
that opening bid that was never going to come.

[i]
Keep your head up and focus on anything
other than this stupid auction
.[i]

“What is wrong with you folks? This is a
great opportunity for your child or your grandchild.”

“Or your husband,” someone quipped.

“Hell, maybe she’ll give a team discount,”
Sabrina Fairfax threw in, her meaning more than clear as she stared
at Billie from a few feet away, candy-red lips pulled back in a
sneer.

Bobbi-Jo shoved her way forward, Gerald
trailing behind, and yanked on Sabrina’s arm. “What the hell does
that mean?”

Billie took a moment to appreciate the fear
that rushed over Sabrina’s face. Her sister looked like an enraged
Scarlett O’Hara, one who could have kicked the entire North’s asses
back in the day. And even though Bobbi and Billie weren’t exactly
on speaking terms, they were still family and if anything, the
Barkers always stood up for each other. It was a sibling kind of
love that not a lot of people understood.

Heck, Billie hardly did.

“Back off, Bobbi.”

“Are you going to make me?” Bobbi pushed the
woman in the chest, eliciting several gasps from the immediate
circle of women—all of them stepped back. Bobbi-Jo Barker may clean
up nice but her reputation as a hell-raiser had never fully
disappeared.

Billie wanted to die. Leave it to the Barkers
to stir things up.

The auctioneer’s face was red now—it was
obvious he wasn’t used to working this hard to sell something. Not
at a charity.

This had become one hell of a shit show.

“One thousand dollars.”

Everything went quiet. Sabrina’s mouth hung
open—not an attractive look—and Bobbi took a step back. The
catcalls and snide comments ceased as everyone looked toward
Billie.

The auctioneer was surprised, but it was
quickly replaced with relief. He held his hands up—he knew it
wasn’t going to get better than this—and shouted.

“Sold! To the man in black.”

“What in the hell was that all about?”

Billie was pissed. No, she was beyond pissed.
She was furious. And emotional. And furious. And humiliated.

And pissed.

It was bad enough that no one else had
bothered to bid on her offering, but to have Logan throw down an
over-the-top bid like that was just…ludicrous. It was…shit, what
the hell had he been thinking?

He glared at her from a few feet away—every
freaking six foot four inch of his gorgeous self.

“Okay, maybe I’m missing something here but I
thought the idea of you volunteering your time and offering
coaching sessions was to raise money for the support center.”

They were outside in the parking lot. Billie
could hear the steady beat of the bass guitar and Ike’s vocals
clear as day from inside. Her gut churned, just like it did before
a big game, when her entire body was a big humming ball of energy.
In a game it was good, but right here? Right now? She felt like she
was going to puke.

She knew it was October—late October—but she
was so hot. Hot and itchy— stupid damn feathers—and pissed.

She yanked on a hunk of hair that stuck to
the back of her neck and the pins that Tracy had so painstakingly
set went flying. Her perfectly arranged hair was no more.

“I know that’s the point but now everyone
thinks we’re sleeping together!”

“Everyone thinks we’re sleeping together,” he
repeated.

Was he an idiot?

Billie threw her hands in the air. “Of course
they think we’re sleeping together. Hell, half the town thinks I’m
sleeping with their husbands, or at the very least I’m banging
every single Angry Pirate in sight.” She snorted. “Because, you
know, I’m not playing hockey for the love of it or anything.”

Her chest heaved and a hot prickle of tears
stung the corner of her eyes. Why had she let Connor talk her into
donating to the auction?

She’d known it wouldn’t end well and she’d
end up looking like an idiot. [i]
Dammit
[i]. When would she
ever learn to listen to that voice? The one inside that didn’t
whisper, it screamed. The one that was usually right. The one that
hours earlier had told her not to touch the auction thing with a
ten foot pole.

Logan took a step closer, but Billie was too
wound up to notice. “Don’t you think you’re over reacting?”

“No,” she shook her head. “No, I don’t.” She
closed her eyes. She had to get hold of herself. “First there was
the whole car thing—all that free stuff—and now this. Hell, if I
didn’t know better [i]
I’d
[i] think we were sleeping
together.”

[i]
I did not just say that
.[i]

“Billie—”

“When I was in the costume shop today I
overheard Mrs. Beals telling Mrs. Talbot that not only did I
[i]
steal
[i] you from Sabrina Fairfax but apparently, I’m
sleeping with Shane Gallagher too.”

“Isn’t that what you wanted your sister to
think?”

She ignored his comment. Mostly because it
was true.

“I’d love to know what they thought when I
came to this stupid fundraiser with your brother. I’m sure by now
they think I’m sleeping with all the Forest brothers.”

“Billie—”

“I bet they think Travis came home from
California so that we could have a freaking Forest sandwich. A big
ass orgy-fest.”

“Billie,” he tried again.

But she couldn’t stop. The words just tumbled
out. “[i]
And
[i]apparently, all the Angry Pirates shower
together so I’m like, showering with the entire freaking team.” Oh
God. She pressed her hands over her eyes and counted to ten.

Only to find that Logan was so close to her,
she could stick out her tongue and lick him.

“Do you even know what an Angry Pirate is?”
she asked hoarsely. Shit, why had she brought that up?

Logan shrugged. “No, I don’t, but since Mike
Gee chose the name I’m guessing it’s not real family friendly.”

“It’s not,” she managed to say through
gritted teeth. “And the only reason I know what an Angry Pirate is,
is because Mrs. Beals went into great detail when explaining it to
Mrs. Talbot,” she paused for a breath, “who I think is truly
horrified.”

Logan seemed concerned, but was that a
twinkle in his eye? Or something darker?

His eyes were hooded, the flickering shadows
making him appear dangerous…sexy…and [i]
dangerous
.[i]

Billie eyed him warily. Something had just
changed. A subtle shift in the air. She felt it as she dragged a
great gulp of it into her lungs. Which was probably the wrong thing
to do because it was full of the yummy, spicy, scent that was so
unique to Logan Forest.

It had been tattooed to her brain for years.
Ever since that night. That night that he could never, ever, know
about.

[i]
Another night I should have listened to
my gut
[i].

She licked her lips, suddenly so thirsty that
a jug of beer wouldn’t make a dent. “It’s pretty bad that someone
like Mrs. Beals knows a lot more about that stuff than I do.” Okay,
she could stop talking about the Angry Pirates now. Sheesh.

Logan smiled. She wished he wouldn’t do that.
It kind of messed with her head.

“She probably spends all her time reading the
urban dictionary.”

“The what?” she asked.

She made a sound in the back of her throat,
an uncontrollable little thing that wasn’t panic really. It
was…

“Don’t do that,” he said softly.

“What?”

“Make that noise.”

“What noise?” She did it again and blushed,
wishing he would give her some space.

“That’s the one.” His voice had just gone to
another level of sexy and it hit her right between the legs.

He stepped even closer and she held her
breath as his hand slowly crept up and cupped the side of her jaw.
The ache she felt, deep down [i]
there
[i], was so intense—the
friction unlike any she had ever experienced—that she might have
moaned.

His smile deepened as he dipped his head.

Okay, she definitely moaned.

She couldn’t help herself and leaned into his
touch. His eyes, his face—that damn smile—could charm the pants off
anyone.

Or if she wasn’t careful an angel dress…off
of her.

“I don’t think we should do this,” she
whispered.

His breath tickled along her collarbone as he
bent lower. So low that there was only a whisper between her mouth
and his.

“Do what?”

“This,” she retorted, a little cheekily
because he was starting to piss her off. What was it about Logan
Forest that made grown women melt into nothing but a bunch of
quivering lady parts?

“This?” he asked—his mouth now against the
side of her neck. Right down there, right near the spot that would
drive her crazy if he—sweet mother of Jesus.

He did.

She was half gone as he nuzzled her in
[i]
that
[i]spot. Zing! The spot that was like a conduit of
pleasure. A conduit of pleasure that led directly to her already
aching lady parts.

“People are going to talk about us.”

“Let ‘em, talk,” he murmured against her
lips.

And then Logan Forest kissed her until her
head spun. Until all those quivering girlie parts were practically
sitting up and begging for his touch.

She groaned as he tasted and teased while
holding her against him so that she couldn’t move even if she
wanted to. But she didn’t want to move. She didn’t want to be
anywhere other than where she was. In Logan’s arms.

Everything flew out of her head except the
hard, warm man pressed against her. When he sucked on her bottom
lip, she clasped her hands behind his neck and held him there. She
didn’t want this to end. Ever.

Logan Forest knew how to kiss. Hell—that was
an understatement. He was the God of kissing.

Her head swam—thankfully one of his hands was
buried in her hair holding her steady- because she surely would
have melted at his feet. And when his other hand slowly worked its
way down her waist and settled on her hip, she couldn’t help
herself. She pressed into him, breathing hard as she yanked her
head back to drag much needed air into her lungs.

His mouth immediately worked its way lower,
his tongue burning a wet path across her skin until he suckled her
nipples right through the material of her dress. When he groaned
and pushed her back against the wall. She did nothing. When he held
her in place with his hips and used one hand to lean over her so
his other could slowly, carefully and with much finesse, free her
breasts from her dress…she did nothing.

How could she? Watching the raw desire on his
face, the way his eyes widened and then narrowed, the way his mouth
hung open slightly, his tongue peeking through…his heavy breathing
as her exposed nipples pebbled and hardened from the cool, night
air.

All of it kept her riveted to him.

All of it made her want him more than ever.
No man—not one single man that she’d been with—had ever gotten
under her skin the way Logan Forest did.

A wicked smile claimed his mouth and she held
her breath in anticipation as his mouth closed over her breast
again. Skin on skin.

Jesus, but his wicked, teasing,
fire-invoking, tongue was almost more than she could take.

“Oh, Logan,” she breathed, her hands slack at
her sides as he suckled and tugged on her nipples. First one breast
and then the other. Each time he flicked his tongue over her. Each
time he blew on her straining, wet nipples. Each time he caressed
her breasts with his rough, callused hands…she felt it.

There between the slick folds of her sex. A
desperate ache and a need she’d only ever felt for him.

“You are the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,”
he said roughly, his breaths coming fast and sharp.

Logan pulled away, his eyes dark as he stared
down at her. For a moment he didn’t say anything. He didn’t have
to. She felt his erection, hard against her hip and she made that
sound again, there at the back of her throat. She couldn’t help
herself and felt a thrill as he answered in kind.

She was treading on dangerous ground here.
Logan Forest could hurt her. She knew this and yet…

If she had her way she’d rip his clothes off
right now and—

“I want you,” he said hoarsely.

For a moment Billie’s vision blurred. Her
throat closed up and she pushed away from him, trying desperately
to dislodge the lump that now sat at the back of her throat.

“Right now,” he continued.

“Logan,” she began and turned away from him.
[i]
Holy crap
[i]. She needed to hold it together.

[i]
I want you
[i].

She’d heard those words before. She’d acted
on those words—words that hadn’t been meant for her—and she had
lied to him. As if a bucket of cold water had just been dropped on
her, Billie’s desire fled and was replaced with aguish. And fear.
Fear that he wouldn’t understand. Fear that if he knew how
duplicitous she’d been in the past, he’d never want to speak to her
again.

“Why don’t you two get a room?” Someone
shouted from the far side of the parking lot. A few loud guffaws
echoed from the dark and she winced.