Spring Romance: NINE Happily Ever Afters

by Tessa Bailey

  I shivered at the dark promise in his eyes. I didn’t doubt that Andrew would know me in ways no other man ever had before. “Yes,” I whispered in agreement.

  “If you keep looking at me like that, we aren’t going to make the game,” he warned. “I already have a thin hold on my control with you, Jocelyn.”

  “I really want to see the Cubs play,” I admitted. “I haven’t been to a game at Wrigley in years.”

  “Then it’s my pleasure to give you something you want,” he murmured, turning onto Clark Street as we neared the stadium. He pulled into a parking lot that looked full and showed the attendant a sticker for access.

  “How did you manage to score a parking pass this close on the same day of a game?” I wanted to know.

  “I made a few calls until I found a friend who has season passes. He was willing to miss tonight’s game if I would agree to host a small dinner party for him and his wife next week at one of my restaurants,” he explained.

  I was floored by his response. “You traded an entire dinner party for tickets to a Cubs game because you thought I might enjoy it?”

  “It was worth it,” he assured me. “Besides, I would have gotten him the reservation if he’d asked me for it anyway. The only difference is he doesn’t have to worry about the tab and I get to impress you tonight.”

  “I’m very impressed,” I admitted. “But you didn’t have to go to these lengths to get the tickets. We could have just gone to a game a different night.”

  He shut the engine off after pulling into a parking spot. “And I’m sure we will go to more games if you enjoy them. But it wasn’t hard to get the tickets for tonight and I wanted our second date to be as special as our first.”

  “You really are pulling out all the stops with me, aren’t you?” I asked. “How am I ever supposed to resist you when you’re being so damn perfect?”

  “My dad taught me that, if something’s worth doing, then it’s worth doing right, sweetheart,” he explained. “And I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that you’ll make any effort I put into this relationship well worth my time.”

  “For a guy who never really dated before, you sure seem to know what you’re doing,” I complimented him.

  “Maybe I was just saving it all up for when I met you,” he replied before we walked hand in hand into the stadium.

  It was already crowded, and I was excited as we headed to our seats. There was nothing like watching a game at Wrigley Field. You couldn’t beat the energy being surrounded by die-hard fans provided.

  “Holy shit,” I gasped as we neared the dugout-seat level.

  He flashed an usher our tickets so we could gain entrance and led me farther down until we were at the front row. He nudged me in front of him and guided me past a long row of green seats filled with fans until we reached the low brick wall at the end. And over that wall was the Cubs’ dugout. A couple of the players sitting on the bench flashed me a grin as I stood gaping at them before Andrew pulled me down into my seat and glared at them.

  “Your friend gave up front-row seats next to the dugout for a game against the Cardinals?” I asked incredulously. The very idea of it boggled my mind. Nobody agreed to something like that.

  “He’s a very good friend,” Andrew said with a smile.

  I looked at him suspiciously and quirked my eyebrow at him. I knew he had to be leaving something out of the story. “Cee-Cee is my best friend in the whole world, and if I had these seats to tonight’s game, there’s no way in hell she’d be able to talk me out of them without promising me her firstborn child.”

  “I didn’t have to go to those lengths, although I might have begged just a little bit,” Andrew joked.

  “Your friend is crazy,” I insisted.

  “I think he just enjoyed being able to tell me ‘I told you so’ when he got me to admit I wanted to the tickets to impress you,” he murmured. “Knowing I’d finally met a woman who was worth a grand gesture meant he was right when he told me I’d find you sooner or later. Add in the fact that he gets to impress his wife with a surprise dinner party for her birthday and he was more than happy with the trade.”

  “Awww,” I cooed. “That’s so sweet.”

  Andrew wrapped his arm around my shoulders to pull me close as we sat side by side. “I think I deserve a kiss for managing to surprise you with the tickets,” he rumbled in my ear.

  I’d never been one for public displays of affection, so I placed a chaste kiss on his lips. “Thank you,” I whispered back.

  “That wasn’t the kind of kiss I’ve been thinking about all day,” he warned before his palms cradled my cheeks as he tugged my face closer. “And I think I’ve earned a real kiss.”

  His hands moved to the back of my head as my eyelids slid closed. A startled sigh escaped as he wrapped my hair around his fist. Crushing his lips against mine, he applied gentle pressure to the back of my head. My tongue crept out and teased his as he nibbled at my lips. Then the palm that still cradled my cheek swept down until it was wrapped around the back of my neck.

  Andrew groaned into my mouth as my lips parted further and his tongue swept inside, sliding sensuously against mine. My response as he consumed me was almost overwhelming. I lost myself in the moment until I heard cheering surround us. Then I pulled my mouth away, panting as I buried my face in his neck when I realized that we’d been picked up by the kiss cam and our private moment had been displayed for the whole stadium to see.

  “Damn, sweetheart,” he murmured in my ear. “Your kisses pack one hell of a punch.”

  “So do yours,” I agreed. “You made me forget where we were for a moment there.”

  “After seeing your face light up when we took our seats, I never thought I would say this, but I regret bringing you here tonight,” he admitted gruffly.

  My heart dropped and the smile I’d been wearing slid from my face.

  “No, sweetheart,” he reassured me. “What I mean is I wish I’d just arranged for a quiet dinner at my place so I could have you all to myself instead of sharing you with forty-one thousand screaming fans.”

  “Then take me there now,” I offered, surprising myself with the words that had come out of my mouth.

  “Dammit, Jocelyn. You can’t say things like that in public. I don’t think I could get up and walk out of here right now if my life depended on it. Not without scaring people,” he said as he glanced down at his lap.

  My gaze followed his and I watched helplessly as he shifted in his seat to adjust himself. I could clearly see his cock outlined against his jeans, straining to get out.

  “I thought you said the other day that you liked talking dirty,” I whispered in his ear.

  “Naughty girl,” he growled. “You’ll pay for that later.”

  I laughed lightly, thrilled at the effect I was having on him. It was a heady feeling knowing how tightly he had to hold on to his control around me. A deliciously dangerous one if the fire in his eyes was any indication of how he was going to make me pay.

  “Promises, promises.”

  “Behave,” he hissed.

  I settled back in my seat, satisfied that tonight was going to be another incredible date with Andrew. We had amazing seats for the best game in town. And after that kiss, I was relieved that I’d thought ahead and put on something sexy. To hell with the three-date rule. I wasn’t going to wait one more night to explore the explosive passion that simmered between us. Besides which, if I wanted to rationalize it, I could always count our time together at the barbeque as a first date. Because, regardless of how the game between the Cubs and the Cardinals went, Andrew was bound to score a home run once he got me to his place afterwards.

  Chapter Eight

  Andrew

  I grew up going to Cubs games with my family, and one of my favorite non-hockey memories was the first game my dad ever took me to at Wrigley. None of the games after quite measured up to the perfection of that very first time.

  Until tonight.

  Having
Jocelyn cheering beside me, drinking beer, and eating hot dogs was the most fun I’d ever had with a woman. I watched her almost as much as I watched the game. She held nothing back as she rooted for the Cubbies. Even when she stood up and belted out the lyrics to ‘Take Me Back to The Ballgame’ during the seventh inning stretch in a horribly out-of-tune voice that should have been a major turn-off. But the way her face lit up with pure joy made me want to see what other expressions I could coax out of her.

  I grasped her hand tight in mine as we left the game, not wanting to lose her in the crowd. We wandered past groups of fans who were celebrating the Cubs game five-to-two win. On our way to the car, I stopped before we passed up a shirt vendor. There was a shirt that caught my eye immediately.

  “What size do you wear?” I asked.

  “You can’t ask a girl a question like that,” she protested.

  I glanced down at her chest and smirked at the idea that crossed my mind. “I’ll take that one in size small,” I told the guy, pointing at the shirt I wanted for her.

  “Seriously?” she muttered at me before overriding my selection. “Make it a medium please.”

  “But I would have enjoyed you modeling the smaller size for me at my place,” I murmured in her ear. My gaze fell to her tits, and a flush spread across her neckline.

  “I never would have been able to wear it anywhere,” she argued.

  “Except in my bedroom when I asked for an encore rendition of the song,” I replied as I handed her the blue scoop-neck shirt with ‘Take Me Out To The Ballgame’ printed in shimmering red on the front.

  “Are you hinting that you’d like to take me home with you?” she asked.

  “No,” I disagreed. “I’m telling you you’re coming back to my place.”

  “I shouldn’t allow you to get away with saying stuff like that,” she protested.

  “But you’re going to anyway,” I pointed out reasonably since she was letting me guide her back to my car and hadn’t said no yet.

  “Okay,” she agreed.

  I smiled at the ease with which she gave in to my demands when she had every right to call me an arrogant asshole. She wanted me as much as I wanted her and was willing to go outside her comfort zone to explore this thing with me. It was a relief to know she was going to give in to the desire burning between us even though I knew damn well she wasn’t the type of girl to give it up after a couple of dates. I didn’t need her to tell me so to know that. Or my brother to warn me not to play around with her. Jocelyn was the kind of woman you were supposed to woo slowly into your bed, so I found myself asking her something that blew my mind considering I’d spent the entire date trying to keep my cock from exploding out of my pants.

  “You sure?” I needed to hear her tell me that she wanted this as much as I did.

  “Andrew, I know it sounds crazy because I’ve never acted like this with any other guy, but yeah. I’m one hundred percent positive that I want to go back to your house with you right now.”

  Those were the words I’d wanted to hear. “I didn’t know it then, but that night at my club? It was already the start of you and me,” I admitted.

  “You think so?” she asked, stopping to look in my eyes as though she were trying to determine how honest I was being.

  “Yeah. I know what’s building between us may seem ridiculously fast to other people. I get that your other relationships moved at a slower pace. But we aren’t on anyone else’s timetable but our own,” I said. “We get to decide what’s right for the two of us as a couple, and after fantasizing about my mystery bachelorette for so many weeks, I don’t want to waste any more precious time, sweetheart.”

  “I love when you call me that,” she admitted softly as she started to walk again.

  “What? Sweetheart?” I asked, following next to her.

  “Mmmm hmmm,” she confirmed. “Makes me feel special.”

  “I didn’t even realize I was calling you that, but I’m glad you like it, because you are special. You’re the first woman to have a chance at reaching my heart and not just my cock. And you’re so damn sweet,” I admitted.

  “Plus, I make you think of candy,” she teased.

  “That you do,” I agreed.

  After we reached my car, I quickly headed towards my house. I didn’t want to give Jocelyn a chance to second-guess her decision to come home with me. I wasn’t accustomed to bringing women to my house, but I’d made sure to clean before I’d picked her up for our date. I’d known I wanted her in my bed tonight, so I’d wanted to be ready in case she said yes. And now she had.

  “It’s not too far,” I reassured her.

  “Which, in Chicagospeak, means it could be anywhere from half an hour to an hour to get to your house,” she replied.

  “Good point. I bought a house in Evanston about a year into my hockey career,” I told her. “One of the guys from the team lived down the street, and I saw the ‘for sale’ sign out front on the way to his house. I’d always liked the area, and the owners were upside down on their mortgage, so I bought it.”

  “How old were you back then?” she asked.

  “Younger than you,” I teased. “My age doesn’t bother you, does it?”

  “Well, now that you mention it,” she said in a singsong voice, clearly making fun of my concern. She relented when she saw my glare. “No, the difference in our ages doesn’t worry me at all.”

  It hadn’t crossed my mind before because she acted more mature than a lot of the women I’d taken out who just wanted to party, but I felt an immense relief at her confirmation that it wasn’t an issue for her.

  “Why don’t you lean your seat back and relax?”

  “I’m not really tired,” she argued.

  “Maybe not yet, but I plan to wear you out,” I promised.

  I turned on the satellite radio as she took my advice but turned on her side so she could look at me. The music flowed around us as she watched me drive, her eyes eventually drifting shut. By the time I made it to my house, she was sleep soundly and I almost didn’t want to disturb her. But I’d rather see her in my house than in my car, so I slid out as quietly as I could. Slowly opening her door, I carefully unclicked her seatbelt. She stirred as I lifted her into my arms to carry her inside.

  “I’m too heavy,” she protested.

  “I was a professional athlete for years, Jocelyn. You’re light as a feather to me.”

  “Good point,” she murmured before she laid her head against my chest and wrapped her arms around me.

  When we made it inside the kitchen door that connected to my garage, I placed her onto her feet. “Do you want something to drink?” I offered. “I grabbed a couple of bottles of white wine today.”

  “For me?”

  “I don’t drink the stuff,” I told her. “Although my mom might have some the next time she comes over.”

  “Do all your dates get this kind of treatment?”

  Even though she’d agreed to come back to my house tonight, Jocelyn still didn’t get that she was as much an exception to me as I was to her.

  “I’ve never acted like this with any woman before. Ever,” I stressed. “I didn’t reserve the chef’s table at one of my own restaurants, go to the florist myself to make sure I had the perfect flowers on the table, willingly undergo the relentless teasing from a friend that would come from asking for a favor so I could take her on the perfect date.”

  The joy that lit Jocelyn’s pretty, blue eyes was addicting, and I found myself telling her more.

  “I don’t bring women to my home. It’s too personal. My safe haven. But I want to share my space with you, see your hair spread across my pillow. Take you on my own sheets.”

  “I want that too,” she sighed. “But I should warn you that it’s been a while for me.”

  I hated the thought of someone else having taken what I was quickly considering mine, and I couldn’t help but feel a surge of triumph that she hadn’t been with anyone recently. Odds were it had been more than a y
ear based on our conversation about her past relationships, and I was damn well going to make it more than worth her wait. I was determined to drive her crazy and ruin her for any other man.

  I walked her forward as I kissed her, driving her backwards through the kitchen door until her back landed against the wall in the hallway. Raising her arms above her head, I trapped them in one fist as I pressed a leg between hers. The difference in our heights came to my advantage as I lifted her up until they were off the ground, giving me total control over her movements.

  I kissed her ruthlessly, invading her mouth with my tongue and nipping at her lips. Jocelyn flexed her arms against my hold, and I tightened my grip and growled deep into her throat. She writhed against me, her pussy pressed against me. I felt her heat through our layers of clothing burning into me and couldn’t wait to feel it wrapped around my cock instead.

  “Are you on birth control?” I barked as a tremor shook her body. I’d never gone bareback with a woman before—always living by the ‘no glove, no love’ rule. But it seemed that another of the normal rules didn’t apply with me and Jocelyn, because I was dying to sink inside her without anything between us.

  She looked up at me with dazed eyes, clouded by desire. “What?” she asked, confused.

  “Are you protected?” I growled into her mouth.

  Understanding lit her eyes. “Yes, but you should still use a condom.”

  “Jocelyn,” I groaned, knowing that it was her choice but wanting desperately to change her mind. “I swear to God I would never put you at risk. I get regular checkups, haven’t slept with anyone else in months, and I’ve never gone without a condom before.”

  I had no idea what I needed to say to get her to agree. The possessive beast inside me that had awoken when I’d met her wanted to mark her with my come.

  The acceptance flashed in her eyes before she breathed out her answer. The sexual flame that burned between us raged out of control into an inferno. I released her hands so I could lift her shirt up and over her head, desperate to touch her bare skin. I finally had her exactly where I wanted her. It felt like forever that I’d had to wait for her even though this was only our second date. But nobody else had done it for me in that month before her. Since the first time I saw her, my cock insisted that it had to be her and my brain refused to admit that anyone else could compare. Thank fuck that my wait was finally over.