Hard and Fast

by Lisa Renee Jones

  “Sweet,” he said. “I’d love to get a look at those babies. Did he restore them?”

  “Oh, yes. They were his pet projects.” Amanda didn’t know why she was telling him this. Her personal stuff was just that…personal. She motioned toward her car. “I’ll follow you.”

  He hesitated a moment, as if reconsidering what he was going to say. “All right, then.”

  Amanda got in and turned the ignition. The car didn’t start. In fact, it didn’t make a sound at all. She tried again. And again.

  Her head dropped to the steering wheel. “I don’t believe this.” She must be setting some kind of record for most random acts of misfortune tonight.

  A knock sounded on the window. Like the cowboy who wears the white hat, Brad had come to her rescue. As much as she appreciated his presence, she hated that circumstances were conspiring to make her appear as though she needed rescuing.

  He pulled open the door and she could have sworn he smiled. But then the smile was gone, replaced with concern. Good thing. She might have hurt him if he gloated at a time like this.

  “Ride with me,” Brad offered. “You can call the rental company on the way to the coffee shop.”

  “I need to wait on a new car.”

  “Tell them to deliver it to wherever you’re staying. I’ll drop you there after the interview.”

  That sounded logical. Except for the part that landed Brad at her hotel. That sounded so good. Too good.

  She got out of the car. Brad was facing her, his hand on the door so that his broad shoulders enclosed her. She could almost feel the warmth of his body. She remembered how it felt when he held her, and the memory teased her with possibilities. With her own wants and desires.

  Call a cab, a voice inside her head said. She ignored the voice. “Okay. Let’s go.”

  She wanted Brad Rogers. But before she could allow herself to have him she had to think through the implications and be prepared for the consequences.

  She would always have to face Brad the next day. At the games. In the locker room. On the bus or plane while traveling.

  And someone would find out. They always did in these situations. It was impossible to keep sex hidden, especially in these kinds of circumstances, with players and reporters being so close. For Brad, sleeping with the new reporter would be a notch on his bedpost. It might even make him a hero to the other guys. For Amanda, it would damage her reputation and her career. There would always be doubt and innuendo about how far she’d go to get a story. Was she prepared for that?

  It was a high price to pay. With any other man she would have walked away without a qualm. But her sexual infatuation with Brad was too strong to be ignored. So she had to figure out a way to do the man until he was out of her system while protecting her job.

  Easy. Not.

  8

  BRAD PULLED HIS TRUCK into a spot in a far corner of the hotel parking lot, unable to find a spot closer to Amanda’s room. Apparently, there was a convention here and the place was packed.

  The rental agency had told Amanda she’d have a new vehicle delivered to her hotel in one to four hours, which made their coffee date impossible. He had mixed feelings about that.

  On the one hand, a little coffee and conversation would have eased Amanda’s obvious apprehension about being alone with him. Certainly it would have cooled the heat between them a degree or two, so that sex wasn’t such a big deal.

  On the other hand, he wanted her so much, he didn’t want to ease the tension between them. He wanted her hot and breathless and as wrapped up in him as he was in her. Already he was fascinated by little quirky traits about her, such as the way she rambled and became jumpy when she was nervous. He’d never known a woman who made him think about sex and sin so much, yet still managed to be adorable and sweet.

  The adorable and sweet part made him nervous because it usually signaled relationship and commitment. He wasn’t ready for that. A little under-the-covers action was one thing. He had too much on the line right now for anything more. He’d seen guys get distracted by women. Seen their play suffer for it, too. Until he had a signed contract in hand, there would be no distractions.

  So as long as Amanda accepted that there would only be sex between them, he was good to go.

  “I’ll walk you to the door,” he said, killing the ignition. Darkness engulfed the cab of the truck.

  “It’s okay,” Amanda said. “Thanks for the ride.”

  “Rain check on coffee?”

  She smiled. “Rain check on an interview?”

  “We can still do the interview,” he said, not ready for this night to end. “What do you want to know?”

  “A little while ago you didn’t want to interview in a parking lot.”

  “I guess I changed my mind.”

  “I can’t interview you now,” she said. “Not in a pitch-dark truck.”

  He twisted in his seat to face her. The space between them begged to be eliminated. All he had to do was slide forward and reach for her. “You could invite me in.”

  “I’m not going to do that, and you know it.”

  “Yeah,” he said. His current position put pressure on his arm and he flexed his fingers before he could stop himself. “I know.”

  Her gaze went to his arm then lifted to his face, the poor lighting making her expression impossible to read.

  “I was a swimmer headed to the Olympics,” she said. “I wanted it more than I wanted my next breath. It…was everything to me.”

  “What happened?” he asked, his voice low, his gut clenched with the pain in her voice. That pain hit close to home. It landed on his fear about his arm, about losing his dream. His life. Ball was all he knew.

  She stared down at the seat. Her response came slowly. “A knee injury is what happened. I tried to hide it. Actually, I did hide it. Even from my dad.”

  “He’s a doctor, you said?”

  She nodded. “With the NFL. My knee had been a problem everyone thought I’d beat.”

  “But you hadn’t,” he said, knowing exactly what she had gone through.

  “No. It flared up right before qualification rounds, which just happened to be smack in the middle of football season.”

  “So your father was distracted.”

  “Not as much as you would think, but it made avoidance a bit easier.”

  He let her remain silent for a while before he prodded, “What happened, Amanda?”

  Biting her bottom lip, she cut her hand through the air dismissively. “The details aren’t important.” She fixed her attention on him. “I know what you’re battling and your secret is safe with me. But that’s not why I’m telling you this. I swam injured, Brad. I wasn’t willing to miss my chance to qualify. And that decision cost me my dream. Don’t do the same thing.”

  The absolute accuracy of her words took him aback. Nobody knew what he was going through. Nobody had a clue about the dilemma he was in. But Amanda did. He didn’t know what to say.

  When he didn’t immediately reply, she made a soft, frustrated sound and reached for the door. “I don’t know why I bothered to tell you all of that. Good night, Brad. Thanks for the ride.”

  He realized then she thought his silence meant he didn’t care about the secret she’d shared. But that wasn’t it. Far from it. Her willingness to open up, to caution him, made him want her more.

  “Don’t go,” he said, stopping her departure with both words and actions. He reached for her, put his arms around her.

  But when he would have pulled her close, her fists balled on his chest, preventing him. Their eyes locked, heat darting between them, a mixture of attraction and her obvious anger. “I need to go.”

  “Don’t go,” he whispered.

  Several seconds passed, the warmth of her stare spreading over his body. The air crackled with passion, with attraction.

  His gaze settled on her full lips, and he burned to taste her. “I really don’t want you to go.” He waited for a sign to take what he wanted.
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  Slowly, she melted into him. Brad reveled in the feel of her soft curves against his body. Her fists opened, fingers spreading, moving to his shoulders, tugging him closer.

  Finally, they were kissing. Wildly, passionately. Her arms twined around his neck. Her scent was intoxicating, addictive. She tasted like cinnamon and sugar, delicious, sweet. The flavor urged him to take more, to deepen the kiss.

  He stroked his tongue along hers, exploring, absorbing, teasing. This woman did crazy things to him. Made him wild. Set him on fire. The way she moaned into his mouth, slid her tongue against his, matched him stroke for stroke, told him that she wanted him as much as he did her.

  He wanted all this woman was and ever could be.

  That want spurred him. A primal yearning to possess her took hold. He let go of where he was, focused only on what he wanted, on what he needed.

  With a quick maneuver, he had her reclined on the seat, and positioned himself on top of her. He nudged her knees apart so he could fit his rock-hard erection into the V of her body. Still kissing her, he skimmed his hand down her leg, then around to cup her sweet round ass as he pulled her tight against his hips.

  He moaned as she arched into him, her hands in his hair, on his face, on his shoulders. Her leg curled over the top of his calf and she lifted herself to full contact with his erection. The sensation clenched his gut and had him thrusting to meet her. It would be so easy to shove her panties aside and bury himself deep inside her. To claim that wet heat he knew would be oh, so good.

  Nearby a door slammed. Voices sounded. Laughter. Amanda froze. It was her stillness that brought Brad back to reality. He’d been too lost in Amanda to do more than remotely register the noise.

  Raising his head a bit, he surveyed the lot outside the window. A group of people had parked beside them and were now unloading their baggage. “They’re right next to us,” he told her. “Stay down.”

  “Oh, no,” she mumbled, and then again, more panicked. “Oh, no. Can they see us? Tell me they can’t see us.”

  Propped up on an elbow, his erection still planted in the V of her body, he stared at her. Even in the dark, he could see the cute crinkle between her eyebrows. An urge to kiss that worry away came over him but he held back, thinking it would be inappropriate.

  “It’s okay,” he said, reaching to brush a strand of hair from her cheek. “Stay where you are and we’ll be fine.”

  She nodded, the crinkle deepening. He caved and bent down to kiss it.

  The voices began to fade, the danger passing. “Stop worrying. They’re leaving.” He laughed then, the craziness of the situation becoming quite clear. “I haven’t gotten busted for making out in a car since high school.”

  Amanda shoved at his chest. “Don’t you dare laugh. There is nothing remotely humorous about this. Let me up.”

  “No.”

  “What?”

  “No,” he said, enjoying her outrage. “I’m not letting you up until you admit this is pretty funny.”

  “I’ll admit no such thing. Let me up before they come back.”

  “They’re not coming back.” Besides, he didn’t want to set her free without an invitation to her room.

  “Brad!”

  The level of frustration in her voice put an end to the game. “Oh, all right.”

  Shifting to a sitting position, he did his best to avoid the discomfort of his zipper digging in. Beside him, Amanda straightened the clothes he wanted to strip off her.

  But the odds of that happening were slim. She’d shut off the fire and brought on the ice.

  “I’ll walk you to your door.”

  “I don’t need to be walked.” She declined even faster than the last time.

  She got out of the truck and slammed the door. Brad met her at the tailgate. “A gentleman always sees a girl to the door.”

  “Right. Gentleman. We raced past that a few minutes ago, don’t you think?”

  Ordinarily, he would shoot back a cocky comment. One that would remind her he hadn’t been alone in the front seat. But for some reason, he couldn’t.

  “That wasn’t planned. It just happened.” He wanted to reach for her, but her body language screamed at him to keep his distance. “But I’m not sorry, either, Amanda.”

  She pinned him in a hard stare. “This…thing, this…whatever it is between us, can’t happen, is not going to happen this way. Not in some semipublic place where anyone could see. I have a job and a reputation.”

  “Look, I’ll be more careful. And I won’t tell anyone,” he said, knowing he’d just forfeited the bet with the rookie but not caring. Before, it had mattered. Now it didn’t. “Why would I make you look bad? You know about my arm. You could slaughter me.”

  Color rushed to her cheeks. “Oh, my God.” The words were ground out from between clenched teeth. “You did this to hold it over my head, didn’t you?”

  She stalked toward the hotel. He planted himself in her path. “No,” he said, realizing his mistake too late. “It’s not like that. This isn’t some trick to keep you from writing about my arm.” She studied him, anger evident into her expression. “Amanda. I want you. That’s not something a man fakes. Come on,” he said. “You felt how much I want you. I know you did.” Her cheeks flushed. “Think of this as a free ticket. You don’t have to worry I’ll tell our secret. I don’t have to worry you’ll tell mine. That’s not such a bad thing, now is it?”

  Slowly, her posture relaxed. “I don’t know what to think. All I know is this was a mistake. I have to go.”

  Defeated, Brad let her pass, not sure why doing so bothered him so much.

  “Good night, Brad,” she said, her voice cutting him like a knife with its steel coldness. She walked away, ending a night that could have been filled with satisfaction, with frustration instead.

  Brad didn’t follow. He stood there, watching. Knowing she was right. Behaving like hormonal kids was a mistake. Their careers demanded they be smarter and more discreet than getting naked in the front of his truck.

  The sexy sway of her hips was a sultry seduction, teasing him with what he couldn’t have. Still, he didn’t move, waiting for her to enter that building and take away the hope she’d change her mind.

  Then she paused. Only a foot from the sliding glass doors, she hesitated. She faced him and, even from a distance, he saw the invitation.

  9

  AMANDA WATCHED Brad approach, the sexy swagger of his walk warming her the way his kiss had. Okay. Not as much as his kiss, but almost. She could still feel those muscular legs pressed between hers as they had been in his truck. His hard body fitted above hers.

  Taking a deep breath, Amanda tried to calm her racing heart. She shouldn’t be doing this right now. She really should be figuring out the safest way to have Brad without compromising her career. But after that make-out party there was only one option as far as Amanda could tell. Cave in to the lust and get it out of their systems. And what could be more anonymous than a room in a large hotel? As Brad had said, they both had reason to stay quiet.

  With that thought, Brad stopped in front of her. His heady male scent attacked her senses with a vengeance. Oh, how she wanted him. She could feel her skin tingling. Her body craved Brad. Craved another touch, another taste.

  Their eyes locked and she felt full-body contact. Her nipples tightened, the pull of arousal pulsed deep in her core.

  “I reconsidered,” she said, silently daring him to challenge the excuse she was about to deliver. She wished she was brave enough to skip the excuse, but she needed the pretense of work to walk through that hotel door with him by her side. “I want that interview.”

  Amanda waited for his response, almost wanting him to say something to screw this up. To give her a reason to back out, to behave like her usual good-girl self.

  Brad studied her a long moment, his expression indiscernible. “All right, then,” he said. “An interview it is.”

  Though his words were innocent enough, those baby blues of his b
lazed a degree hotter. The smoldering look he fixed on her had nothing to do with work and everything to do with them steaming up the windows of his truck.

  She swallowed, not bothering with a response, deciding they needed privacy more than chatting. They walked through the lobby, his presence beside her like a soft caress across her skin. She could stop here and actually do an interview in any of the empty chairs they passed. That idea filled her with disappointment so she didn’t stop. There was nothing to hold her back from the ultimate sexual encounter but herself.

  At the elevator, she pushed the button, feeling more confident about her decision with each passing second. She could feel the weight of his stare, scorching her like the summer sun. Willing her to make eye contact. As if he wanted some sort of confirmation they were on the same page. Well, he’d just have to wait to find out.

  The elevator opened and she stepped forward, Brad on her heels as she entered the empty car. The doors shut them inside and the air crackled with electricity. Amanda barely managed to punch the third floor button before she found herself in Brad’s arms, palms pressed to rock hard muscle. She started to melt, a shiver of excitement racing down her spine.

  “Just so we’re clear,” he said, his voice low, laced with a raspy quality that suggested arousal. “If I have you alone in a hotel room, I won’t be keeping my hands to myself.”

  Her fingers flexed, absorbing the delicious feel of him. “I’d be disappointed if you did.”

  She spoke the words boldly. They were absolutely clear. His eyes darkened, and he shifted her hips to align with his. Amanda thrilled at his reaction. She thoroughly enjoyed the power to entice him.

  The elevator dinged and she smiled. “Game time,” she whispered as she pushed away from him.

  She led him to her room, keeping her gaze averted, never giving him a chance to figure out what her idea of the game might be.

  A swipe of the key card and she was in the room, tossing her purse in the corner, and putting distance between herself and Brad. For once, she was taking the lead position in a sexual encounter. Her past had included far too much vanilla sex. Tonight, she wanted spicy hot.