High Risk Rookie

by Odette Stone

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and slyly took a photo of that picture. I wanted to study Krista as a kid.

  “Eduard.” Krista’s mom gave a long, pronounced laugh. “You’re supposed to swish it, not chug it.”

  “I can taste it as I swallow it. Krista, you want a sip?” His voice sounded cordial, friendly.

  “No, thank you.” Krista was polite but firm.

  “Come on, you gotta try this. Do it for Helene—since she can’t drink right now.”

  “I said no thanks.” Her voice became short.

  I moved to the doorway. He was standing too close, holding a glass of wine in front of her face while she chopped vegetables.

  “Come on, I know how much you love a great Burgundy. Remember when we were in France in that little town? What was it called?”

  Bea stood with her back to them both, deliberately ignoring the obvious fact that her future son-in-law was a giant douche.

  I moved behind Krista and possessively wrapped my arms around her in a warm, protective hug. I buried my face in her neck so I could inhale her scent. Her entire body rippled with shock before it relaxed and sank back against mine.

  “You like wine?” I teased.

  “Depends on the company.”

  I deliberately moved in, using my body to create a wall between her and Eduard. He had my back, and she had my full attention. I wasn’t trying to be subtle. I was letting him know that she was no longer his to touch or talk to.

  “What are you cooking?” I talked directly to her, pretending she was the only person in the room.

  She had a cute little smile on her face. “I’m chopping vegetables for the stuffing tomorrow.”

  Bea finally chimed in. “If you two gentlemen would like to remove yourself from this kitchen, we have a lot of cooking to do before tomorrow.”

  “Let me help,” Eduard smoothly joked. “At least I can help top up your wine.”

  “Great,” I said with a huge smile, knowing her mom didn’t want me around. “I’d love to help pour wine too, Bea.”

  Her mom’s lips pinched a bit as she looked at me. “We’ve got this handled, gentlemen.”

  I looked over at Eduard and decided we needed to get a little physical, to make sure we understood each other. “I saw a basketball hoop in the driveway. Ever shoot some hoops?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve played a little bit of ball.”

  “Oh yeah? Anything serious?”

  “Eduard played varsity basketball in university,” Bea said, cutting into our conversation.

  I stepped a bit closer to Eduard and spoke for his ears only. “Yeah, but I bet that was about a hundred years ago.”

  Something dark and angry flared in his eyes. “You want to play? I hope you bring your A-game.”

  Krista watched me with wide eyes.

  As I moved out of the kitchen, I heard Bea speak to Krista. “Don’t even think of going out there.”

  After I changed, I found Eduard on the driveway, shooting hoops from the faded free-throw line. I moved to catch his ball and bounced it back to him.

  “Do you play much basketball?” Eduard asked, looking a bit smug as he took another shot.

  “Not much.”

  “Let’s see what you got.”

  He didn’t give me any time to warm up, but it didn’t matter. It would take almost nothing to beat him. I let him get up by three points, and he was already huffing like he’d run half a marathon.

  “Your cardio needs some work,” I taunted as he tried to move around me with the ball. I let him score.

  “Says the guy who is down four points.” He bounced me the ball.

  “How’s your sex with cardio that bad?” I moved with speed and control around him and easily scored.

  He roared and tried to drive through me, but I braced my body, and when he connected with me, he went flying and landed on his butt.

  “You okay?” I feigned friendliness as I offered him a hand up. “You went down pretty hard there.”

  He examined his ripped sweatpants. “You want to get tough? Let’s go.”

  He drove from the top of the line, but he was so sluggish it was easy to block all his moves.

  “I kind of feel like Neo in The Matrix, and everything is in slow motion,” I joked, as he slaved to find any space that I wasn’t blocking.

  His elbow deliberately connected with my jaw as he drove his way up into the air. He missed the shot.

  I took it to the top of the line and dribbled between my legs, never breaking eye contact with him.

  He was breathing in gasps. “You think you’re relevant? I’m going to marry into this family. You’re nothing more than an embarrassing fling. In six months, no one is going to remember your name.”

  I wanted to tell him that I had already married into this family, but instead, I drove into him as hard as I could, pushing him off his feet. I scored and then came back, holding out my hand to help him back onto his feet. “Yeah, but as long as I am here, you don’t go near her. You don’t talk to her, you don’t look at her.”

  He scoffed. “Or what?”

  I spun the ball on one finger. “You give me your word, and I’ll leave you alone.”

  “You think I’m scared of you?” he scoffed. “I’m a fucking lawyer, so you shut up and play ball.”

  I let him drive through me to score.

  He bounced me the ball, but his tirade wasn’t over. “And for the fucking record, I’ll talk to Krista when I want and how I want. Not your fucking business.”

  I dribbled between my legs, pretending his blocks were too fast. He grinned at me. I timed it so I bounced the ball between his legs and watched as he flailed backward to regain his balance. I fell forward and sandbagged him onto the cement. His arms windmilled over his head, and I heard a satisfying crunch as my full weight came down on him.

  He wheezed with pain, unable to speak.

  “Oh shit, are you okay?” I scrambled off him and used his other arm to pull him up.

  His right arm hung limply down his body. “I think my arm’s broken. My fucking arm is broken.”

  “Oh.” I made a face. “That looks like a broken clavicle.”

  He went down onto his knees. “I think I’m going to faint.”

  “Try not to puke, because it’s really going to hurt if you do.” I bent down and put my mouth to his ear. “And if you go near her again, I will do things to you that will make this feel like a tickle.”

  “Get help,” he gasped.

  I found Krista and her mom cooking while a very short, pregnant woman sat at the kitchen table.

  Her eyes widened when she saw me. “Who are you?”

  “I belong to Krista,” I stated firmly.

  She stared at me with wide eyes. “I call bullshit.”

  “Eduard broke his collarbone.”

  Bea spun around. “Excuse me?”

  “You should get him to a hospital.”

  “Oh my god,” the pregnant woman shrieked from behind me. “Where is he? Where is he?”

  Bea set down her casserole dish and then rushed to the pregnant woman’s side. “Be calm, okay? You can’t upset the baby.”

  When Helene saw the shape Eduard was in, she freaked and insisted we call 911.

  Krista came out and stood beside me. “What happened?”

  “We ran into each other. He tripped, and I fell on top of him.”

  “I don’t need an ambulance,” Eduard said to Helene, who was crying.

  “I can’t deal with this on my own,” she yelled back in his face.

  After the ambulance carted Eduard away to the hospital, Bea stopped alongside us.

  “I’m driving Helene to the hospital, Krista. I’ve left you a list of things that need to get done this afternoon before I get back.”

  Krista nodded. “Text me and let me know what happened.”

  Bea gave me a dirty look before she ushered Helene into the car and drove off.

  “You want some help?”

&nb
sp; “I’m okay. You should go for a run.”

  I knew when a woman was asking for space. “Okay. I won’t be gone long.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Krista

  I poured myself a second glass of wine and looked around the kitchen. My mom had texted to say that they were waiting for Eduard to get into radiology, but the doctor had confirmed that his collarbone was broken. They were just trying to determine to what extent. My father ended his golf game early and met them at the hospital. My job was to continue to prep for tomorrow’s meal.

  Had Eduard’s basketball injury actually been an accident? Would Levi intentionally hurt Eduard? I wished I knew who had initiated the basketball game, but I couldn’t remember who had invited whom to play.

  “What are you cooking?” asked Levi, slightly out of breath behind me.

  I forced myself to focus on the cutting board and not him. My voice sounded surprisingly normal. “I’m preparing the potatoes for tomorrow. How was your run? Want some water?”

  “Thanks, that’d be great.”

  I poured him a glass and turned to him with his water. Sweet Lord, the man was half-naked, wearing only a pair of running shorts. I sloshed water over my hand as I struggled to keep my eyes off his glistening, muscular body.

  “Sorry,” I said as I handed him the wet glass.

  I watched as he drank greedily, his thick neck exposed while his Adam’s apple bobbed. I wanted to say something, but I seemed to have lost my words.

  He handed me the empty glass. “One more?”

  I refilled his glass and handed it to him. “My mom called from the hospital. They’re waiting to get into radiology.”

  Levi accepted the glass while he held my gaze. “That was a nasty break.”

  The question came out of me before I considered if I actually wanted the answer. “Was that an accident?”

  He took a long sip of his water. “What are you asking?”

  “I’m asking if you intentionally hurt Eduard when you were playing basketball.”

  His tone became quiet and serious. “Why would I do that, Krista?”

  Because you’re protecting me. I couldn’t say it out loud in case it had been an accident. I didn’t want to make this into something more than it was, but still, my heart pounded in my chest.

  He stepped into my space. He lifted my left hand to his right shoulder and held it there. “For the next six to eight weeks, one hard shove with the palm of your hand will slow him down significantly.”

  Holy shit. Levi had deliberately hurt Eduard. And now his injury was a weapon that I could use to protect myself. Such strong emotions whipped through me I could barely decipher how I felt.

  I looked at Levi, feeling as if I were seeing him for the first time.

  In my mind, he had been this younger, hot, less experienced rookie. Now I realized in some respects, none of that mattered. Events of late had made me realize that when push came to shove, dominant strength mattered more than I wanted to admit.

  Physically, Levi was a force, and his body was built for speed and strength. He was faster, stronger, and bigger than me, and he was using those gifts to protect me from Eduard.

  I couldn’t seem to remember what Levi and I had been talking about. I looked up to his face. He patiently waited for me to speak.

  It was a heady feeling, to be protected, but it also came with the realization that at the end of the day, no matter how much I bossed him around—he could be in charge if he wanted.

  “Okay,” I said.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yes.” My voice sounded unnatural.

  “You mind if I shower?”

  “You can use the bathroom in my bedroom.”

  “Thanks.” My hand that lay flat against his shoulder felt empty the second he stepped away from my touch. I listened as he went up the steps. Then I heard the sound of the water running above me.

  I struggled to remember why I was supposed to resist him. I nursed my wine as I imagined him stepping into the hot stream of water while he lathered up every inch of his body. I felt my face flush hot.

  I looked around my mom’s kitchen and willed myself to start another item on the list, but instead, I set my wineglass down on the island and headed upstairs.

  I had no idea what I was going to do or say when I got to my destination, but I strode through the bedroom and then pushed open the door of the bathroom.

  He was in the shower, facing away from me, so I got a full view of his tight muscular ass and huge hockey thighs through the glass door of the shower. He looked over his shoulder at me and watched me walk into the room, but he didn’t speak.

  In a moment of self-awareness, I realized I had chosen to walk in on his shower because being wet and naked made him vulnerable. And right now, I wanted to find my mojo again.

  He turned to face me, completely unabashed about the fact that his magnificent cock was swollen and ramrod stiff. He didn’t seem remotely vulnerable. Instead, with his strong body on display, he seemed to be the epitome of strength.

  I worked to keep my eyes off his magnificent manhood. I felt drawn to his power, but it also made me uneasy.

  “You confuse me,” I told him, my hand on my hip.

  He openly stared at my hips. “You coming in here or what?”

  “No, of course not.” My eyes dropped to his huge member, which tantalized me.

  “You like what you see?” His voice cut through my thoughts.

  I more than liked it, and I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes off it. “Let’s keep this meeting professional, please.”

  He stared at me for a long moment and then started laughing. “Is that what you are calling this?”

  I jutted my hip out, knowing he was calling my bluff. “What?”

  “I’m naked, and my dick is hard.”

  “It’s no different from the locker room, and I’ve been there plenty of times.”

  He slicked water off his face. It reminded me of that afternoon on the beach, when he had just gotten out of the ocean. “You want to change the rules.”

  Yes, I desperately do. I frowned. “No, I don’t.”

  “You want wild, hot sex and probably a lot of it, so you came in here to change the rules.” He thought for a moment. “I’m okay with that, but I have one rule of my own.”

  His words made my heart pound and my stomach pitch. I knew I was playing with fire with this conversation, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself from engaging. “What rule?”

  He shut off the water and pulled a towel off the railing. “You need to stop dating other men.”

  My lips parted. “You have no say in my personal life.”

  He gave a shrug and brought his towel up to dry his hair. “I don’t share.”

  Was I going to do this? Was I actually going to cross this line? “Believe it or not, but I don’t share either.”

  He ignored my defiance. “So we agree.”

  I had no idea what I had just agreed to. I felt a familiar rumble on the floor. It was the garage door opening. Someone was home and about to walk into the house.

  We needed to move this along. “I’ve agreed to nothing.”

  He gave me an amused look. “You will.”

  My eyes dipped down to his cock, which was mere inches from my fingertips. “I will never agree to anything more than a working relationship with you.”

  I casually moved my hand, hoping to brush accidentally against his cock, but his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, preventing me from touching him.

  “You know you want this.”

  “Says you.”

  “You should know that you can boss me around all you want as my agent, but that won’t fly in the bedroom.”

  “Maybe you’d like to be bossed around,” I taunted him.

  Something glowed in his gaze. “Not as much as you’d like it.”

  Those words jolted me so hard it felt like a tripwire to my inner core. It was a response I didn’t understand, because I always remai
ned in control, especially during sex.

  I heard a door slam downstairs, then my mom’s voice calling, “Krista?”

  “Coming,” I shouted hoarsely over my shoulder.

  He dropped my wrist and stepped back. “You have a lot to think about.”

  “No, I don’t,” I told him.

  It was all I could think about. I sat at the island and folded cloth napkins while my mind warred with my body. It was preposterous that I was even considering his terms. The thought of relenting to him made my body throb in anticipation, but it also scared me. It was too much of a risk. And what about his comment about wanting to be in charge? I didn’t like to give up my power. I can’t risk giving up my control.

  I needed to remember what was at stake, but when I thought of his impressive cock, all my concerns faded away.

  My mom’s sharp tone pierced my thoughts. “Krista, are you listening to me?”

  I blinked at my mom’s annoyed expression. “I am now.”

  “Eduard is upstairs, heavily medicated, and Helene is sleeping. Your father went back to the clubhouse. Where is your… Levi?”

  “I sent him out to buy ice for tomorrow.”

  She crossed her arms. “Can we talk about him for a moment?”

  I continued to fold napkins. “Talk about what?”

  “Did you really think that Levi was the most appropriate choice for this weekend?”

  I eyeballed her. “I’ve given up trying to please you, mom, especially when it comes to men.”

  “Excuse me? When have I ever been critical of your dates?”

  “I once brought home a neurosurgeon who ran ultramarathons, and you told me he had ugly feet.”

  “They were ugly.”

  “What’s your problem with Levi?”

  “Krista, people talk. I mean, with your age gap and the other obvious differences between the two of you, it’s practically a reality TV show.”

  I narrowed my gaze. “What do you mean, obvious differences?”

  She shook her head slowly, as if disappointed that I couldn’t follow her logic. “You’d think after Eduard, maybe you’d…”