The Billionaire Heartbreaker (10 page)

BOOK: The Billionaire Heartbreaker
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“I've never seen such a clean house,” Travis remarked. He lay propped up on the pillow with Reily lounging across his chest. It was the most natural feeling in the world, lying here like this with her. He could stay this way for days. “You take Type-A to a whole new level, you know that?”

Reily's answering laughter vibrated against his chest. “I can't help that I'm a control freak. But you know, your place looked pretty tidy, too.”

“You only saw the outside,” Travis remarked. “The girls have the inside looking like a hurricane hit it.”

“You're really sweet with them.” A sweet sigh escaped her lips and the sound caused Travis's cock to stir. He'd taken her over and again and still he wanted more. His dick seemed to be insatiable when it came to Reily. “They're cute.”

“They are cute,” he agreed. “And little monsters, too. Carter says they act more like me than they do him.”

“I love the way you are with your family,” she said almost too low to hear. “It's a side of you that no one knows about and I'm glad I was lucky enough to see it.”

“Only the people I want get to see it,” he said. “Everyone else can fuck off.”

“I wish everyone could see it, Travis,” Reily said. Her fingers traced an idle pattern on his chest and he suppressed a pleasant shudder. “Why hide it?”

“Who I am in public and on the ice isn't who I am with the people I care about. I want that part of my life to belong to me and me alone. No one should get ownership of that privacy. I like to have fun. I've made some bad calls and gotten wild when I probably shouldn't have. But that's something everyone does in their lives. Aren't you supposed to be finding yourself in your twenties? The only difference between me and some other guy is that the media somehow decided that my life was more interesting than anyone else's. They can see all of my mistakes if they want. The people who matter get to see the real me.”

He'd shown that secret side of himself to Reily because he wanted her to know that there was more to him than the rumors and sensationalism. She mattered. More than he wanted to admit. And her opinion of him mattered.

“I'm sorry for what I said last night.” Reily's fingertips glided over his left pec. “About you kissing me for attention. It was an awful thing to imply.”

“I did do it for attention.” Her fingers paused on his skin and she stiffened. “Yours.”

Travis felt her smile against his skin. Emotion rose in his chest and he took a deep breath as though to make room for it all.

“Well, for what it's worth,” Reily said, “It worked.”

“Good.” Travis didn't like to feel vulnerable and admitting to Reily that he'd wanted her to want him left him shaken. “Because I want you to know that you're different, Reily. You're special.”

Her brow puckered. “Somehow, I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not. No one likes
different
.”

The women Travis tended to date always turned out to be carbon copies of each other. He'd never been interested in scratching the surface of their personalities. Reily was the first woman he'd ever truly wanted to get to know. “It's absolutely a compliment.” Travis placed a light kiss to her temple. “
I
like different.”

“I'm not the popular girl,” Reily murmured. “I'm not interesting or sexy or rich or famous. I like order and control. I like neat and tidy. What could you possibly like about any of that?”

How could she think so little of herself? Where was that confidence that drove him crazy with want? The Reily Travis admired was a tough cookie who didn't take crap off of anyone. She bossed smart-assed guys like him around. She didn't break rules, she
made
them. “You don't give yourself enough credit.”

She gave him a wan smile. “Maybe you're giving me too much.”

His gaze delved into hers and Travis pulled her tight against him. Emotion swelled in his chest until it was tough to take a deep breath. His lips met hers once and again before he pulled away. “Not a chance.”

“What is this, Travis?” The sadness in her tone cut through him. “I'm still trying to wrap my mind around how we got here.”

Travis grinned. “Well, when a boy likes a girl—”

“I'm serious.” Reily cut him off. “I think we both know I'm not your typical hookup.”

Exactly. Travis had already told her but for some reason, it wouldn't sink in. Reily was
special
. He had no idea how to get that to sink in to that stubborn brain of hers.

“Hockey is what I do.” He wanted her to understand that what the public saw was such a superficial representation of himself. “It's my job. It's not who I am. I don't care about money, fame, any of that shit. I don't care about Dallas society or the billions of dollars that my dad thought was worth more than his own family. There's a hell of a lot more to me than what you see on the surface, Reily. You just have to take the time to see past the bullshit. I know you're worried about Bob and what he'll say about last night, but I need you to know that I don't care. This isn't only about sex for me. Even if Bob decides to bench me, it'll be worth it. I want you. And I'd do it all again if I had the chance.”

“I'll make sure that doesn't happen.” Reily brought her gaze up to meet his. Goddamn, she was beautiful. Her bright blue eyes swallowed him whole. “You're amazing, Travis. And you deserve your spot on the ice.”

He smiled. “You think I'm amazing?”

Her cheeks flushed with color and she averted his gaze. He couldn't get enough of that flustered expression. “You know I do. I think I told you at least a dozen times over the course of the night.”

“I want to hear it a dozen more.”

“Need an ego stroking?” she teased.

Travis hadn't missed how she'd deflected his tender sentiment and steered the conversation away from anything that dealt with their emotions. But his cock jumped to attention just the same. God, she could get to him so easily. “I wouldn't say no to a good stroking,” he drawled. He could give her some emotional space. For now. “Especially if you use your mouth.”

Reily's eyes met his and her lips curled in a seductive smile. “You liked that, huh?”


Like
doesn't really cut it,” Travis said. He put his mouth to hers and kissed her slowly as he reveled in the softness of her lips. “I fucking
loved
it.”

She pulled away and her gaze became tentative. Anxiety pooled in Travis's gut. “I figured with all of the … um … experience you've had that I might not be as good.”

His heart sank. He hated that she believed so much of what the press portrayed of him. “Reily.” He gripped her chin and brought her eyes to his. “It's not what you think. I've played around, yeah. But I'm not out there getting into bed with a different woman every night. Sensationalism, remember?”

Her eyes glistened in the low light of her bedroom and she gave a quick nod. “And as for measuring up? Believe me when I tell you, you're the best I've
ever
had.”

*   *   *

Reily refused to let the tears that pooled in her eyes spill over. Maybe it was silly to have hoped that somehow she'd mean more to Travis than the string of other women in his past. But to hear him say the words with such sincerity nearly unraveled her. She didn't doubt his honesty. Not one bit. To know that this night had been special to him filled her with so much tender emotion that she thought she might burst.

She couldn't float on this blissful cloud forever, though. They'd spent every minute of the night pleasuring each other and now that the sun was up, it was time for reality to rear its ugly head. Travis might have assured her that hockey wasn't as important to him as the people he chose to have in his life, but she knew he was downplaying it for her. Anyone who played with as much skill and passion as he did had to have some pretty serious love for the sport. She'd make sure that he continued to play. She'd smooth things over with Bob.

But in order to do that, she'd have to give up the one thing she wanted more than anything.

“The Stanley Cup starts in four days,” she said. “And I know that Bob considers you a key piece to winning the championship. Last night was the best night of my life, but if you're going to secure a place on the ice, last night is all we can have.”

A furrow cut into Travis's brow. His gaze darkened and he held Reily even tighter as though worried she'd try to run away. “That's a cop-out and you know it. Don't push me away, Reily.”

She had to. She had no choice. Even good intentions went south sometimes and though Travis seemed to be infatuated with her now, it could come to an end just as quickly. Reily had to guard her heart against him. If he decided to move on, he'd still have his career, but she'd lose
everything
.

Travis was stubborn, though. He'd press his case. Continue to seduce her. She'd be helpless to deny him anything if he touched her, kissed her, whispered dirty things in her ear. Reily was defenseless when it came to Travis and he knew it. He'd exploit that weakness if given the chance.

“Until the playoffs are over.” She could placate him. Offer a temporary stay. After a couple of weeks, he might lose interest on his own. It would hurt like hell, but it would be better than the total ruination she'd suffer if she allowed her feelings for him to deepen. “Just a break until the media circus dies down.”

“I don't want that.” His gaze further darkened and his jaw squared. “And I know you don't want that either.”

He didn't know what he wanted. He was still riding the high of the previous night. “I'm suggesting this for the sake of both of our careers,” she said. “This is what I do for a living, Travis. Let me take care of this for both of us and when it's all over, we can both rest easily.”

He looked away. “Don't push me away, Reily.”

A cold knot of dread congealed in Reily's stomach. The desperation in his tone tore at her heart. “You say you don't care about the money, but that's because you've never really been without it. Look at this place,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I'm on the verge of losing it and it's a closet compared to your house. I don't have a family name or a trust fund. I have nothing to fall back on. I'm not pushing you away, Travis. I'm just trying not to lose everything I have.”

His expression softened. “We all rejected my dad's money,” he said. “My brother Noah is a county sheriff. He was making around fifty grand a year before our dad died and left us with all of this money. Money we didn't want anyway. I understand where you're coming from, Reily, and I know what it feels like to want to pave your own way.” He let out a slow, resigned sigh that tugged at Reily's chest. “I can dial it down during the playoffs and focus on the game. But only if you promise me that that's all this is. I'm not ready to let this go. Not by a long shot.”

Damn him and his words. Travis made Reily want to believe that there could be something more between them. That he'd stay with her, live a boring life, and trade in nights at the bar for evenings snuggled on the couch watching a movie. And maybe he would, for a while. But he'd grow to resent her soon enough and Reily didn't think she'd survive the blow.

“I promise,” she said.

He leaned down and kissed her. “Well, if this is the last time we're going to be together for a while, we'd better make it count.” He reached beneath the covers to trace the contour of her torso with his open palm. Reily's body responded and she arched into his touch.

Travis was like a drug. A high she couldn't say no to. She only hoped that it wasn't too late to break from an addiction that she was sure would lead to her ruin.

Ten

I want to see you.

Reily stared at the text message from Travis. Her fingers hovered over the screen, itching to respond,
Yes!

She knew better than to give him an inch, though. She'd meant what she said to Travis about them keeping a respectable distance. It was the first step to pulling off what was bound to be a very painful bandage. A week had passed and not a day of it had gone by that she didn't think of him. Or more to the point,
obsess
over him. Reily had hoped that putting some distance between her and Travis would help to clear her mind and get him out of her system. But instead, he occupied her thoughts more often than not. She relived the memory of his hands on her, his mouth, over and again. Her body flushed with heat as she recalled what it felt like to have him deep inside of her. The sound of her name on his lips as he whispered filthy things in her ear …

I could eat your pussy for hours.

“Stop.” The word lacked conviction. She'd been trying to talk some sense into herself for days. Obviously, her coaching techniques didn't work when she used them on herself. She couldn't get him out of her head no matter how hard she tried. Couldn't banish the tenderness she felt every time she recalled the sweet sentiment in the softly spoken words he'd whispered to her in the darkness of her bedroom. She looked back down at her phone screen and Travis's message. It wouldn't do either of them any good if she responded.

Her phone chimed as another text came in.

I want to see you. If you don't get on a plane and get your ass to Chicago, I'll go on a bender that'll make Charlie Sheen look like a saint.

Reily groaned. He'd follow through on that promise. Travis didn't bluff and he never backed down. What he didn't know was that Bob Spencer had already asked her to fly up to Chicago tomorrow to keep an eye on Travis. Apparently, he'd shown up to practice smelling a little like a distillery a couple of days ago. She let out a slow sigh. He was really using his free time constructively, wasn't he?

BOOK: The Billionaire Heartbreaker
4.38Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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