by Natalie Wrye
“Oh, uh…” She mutters softly, shooting a glance over her shoulder, finding Sawyer staring. “No thanks. I didn’t mean to interrupt your workout. I’ll just…work out over here. I’ll leave you to whatever it is that you’re doing. Enjoy your workout.”
And then she walks off.
She heads over to the line of treadmills, firing one up. She sets a gym bag to the side, taking a second to stretch, and I watch, against better sense, as she bends over, the stretchy fabric sliding with ease over the curve of her unbelievably tight ass.
I bite down a growl that threatens to turn to a groan. I walk to the weight rack immediately, replacing my weights with the biggest dumbbells I can find.
But these smaller ones won’t do. I need something to take my mind off the siren less than fifty feet away.
I start lifting.
One lift, two lift, three. And I’m in the zone.
The amount of weight uses every ounce of my muscle, making me sweat through my shirt. In just over a minute, the lifting has taken a toll on me, pushing me to the brink, and unfortunately, Pink Floyd is singing the words to Dirty Woman in my ear, sensual lyrics that make me want to get Emily all to myself.
I realize I can’t when Sawyer comes sidling up beside me, his eyebrows reaching for the sky as he crouches near my bench.
“I think I’m going to take off, Sterling. Need some downtime before tonight’s game.”
“Why do I have the feeling this ‘downtime’ involves a woman?”
“Trust me: There’s nothing ‘down’ about the time I spend with women.” He glances over his shoulder at Emily. “And you’re one to talk. Saw you talking to that sexy brunette over there.” His eyes flicker back to my face. “You know her?”
“Nope. Never met her. I would remember.” I shrug, but the lie feels wrong on my lips.
Sawyer may be the biggest man-whore in the world, but the debauched bastard is one of the best friends I have. One of the only ones there after everything went down with Kimmy, Finley and me.
But to admit that I know Emily would be admitting how I know her. Why I know her.
I’d have to admit everything about Charlie and her wayward mother, and I can’t risk it. I still can’t risk my career.
Not to mention Charlie…
Stephan Knight, owner of The Firm Crisis and Emergency Management, was right.
I can’t afford police, cameras, or a word of this to the press.
Or my teammates.
Luckily, Sawyer shrugs, slapping hands with me, before heading out, his eyes lingering for just a second too long in Emily’s direction.
The door closes behind him, and my gaze trails over to Emily’s reflection, over my shoulder, on the other side of the room, still stretching.
This time, she sits on the mat, reaching for her toes, her pretty face scrunched in pain as she wiggles her fingertips towards her shoes without touching. She groans out loud.
The sight of her is mesmerizing, and damn, I can’t help myself.
She groans again in pain, and I can’t take it. Letting the dumbbell in my hand drop to the mat, I cross the length of the expansive gym in seconds, my stride strong as I stroll right to where she sits.
It takes a second for her to see me before she gasps, her full lips open.
“Yes?” She mimics me out loud. “Did you come over here to have a word with the ‘sexy brunette’?”
I wince, grinning. “Caught that, did you?”
“Yup. I did…unfortunately.” Her pretty lips pull downwards into a small frown. “But mostly I’m just glad you were quick on your feet. Stephan was clear; we can’t let this blackmail scandal get any attention. And you and I being connected? Well…” she trails off. “That brings attention.”
“Exactly.” I nod.
“Best to pretend we don’t know each other.”
“My thoughts exactly.” My voice lowers. “Which is exactly why I came over here to help the helpless brunette in the gym.” I lean in. “Or that’s what I’ll tell people, if anyone else comes in and sees us talking.”
“Excuse me?” She blinks, her hazel eyes wide. I keep speaking anyway.
“You’re stretching all wrong, you know. And you’re going to hurt yourself.” I place my hands on my hips. “Correction: You’re stretching all wrong. And it looks like you’ve already hurt yourself. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be wincing in pain every time you try to touch your toes.”
“I think I can handle my own stretching, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind,” I utter out loud, staring at her. “But your muscles will, once they start turning against you. Running on a treadmill is killer on the legs, core and knees. And if you’re not taking care of them, they’ll go out on you. I’ve seen it enough times to know on the field and off. I don’t think you want that.”
“I don’t think anyone wants that,” she fires back.
“Then let me help you…unless you’d rather stay in pain.”
She finally looks up at me again, giving me a glimpse at the beautiful face—bare and innocent. “And this is just help, correct? I mean, it’s not anything more, right? Because we did talk about this last night. Us behaving. Seriously. It’s why I booked a hotel sitter at the front desk for today. So, Charlie could behave. And I could do the same. In fact, it’d help if every Chicago Cougar affiliate in this hotel is on their best behavior. Especially us.”
God, I hate it when she’s right. And she’s right most of the time, as much as I hate to admit it.
We did say we’d behave…as much as I don’t want to.
Agreeing to stay away from each other until this entire blackmail-Charlie situation is solved seemed smart last night. It did.
And though we said it’d be for the best, the ‘best’ didn’t mean ‘easiest.’
Because there was nothing in this world easy about pretending I didn’t want to spend more time with the sassy lawyer.
But I am trying my ‘best’ to behave. I take a deep breath.
“Let’s just say I’d rather not have my workout ruined when I need it most. I was banking on having an uneventful morning after everything that happened last night. And things are going to get plenty eventful in this room, if I get hard while hearing your background track of groaning and moaning from all your aches.”
Her hazel eyes cloud, and I know I’ve hit a lustful nerve. The same nerve she hits inside me all the time. I smile.
“Okay…” She stands to her feet, wiping her hands. “Mr. Smith. I’ll let you help. But if you think this is going to be an excuse to misbehave,” she sends me a wry smile, “then you can save your breath and overprotective instructions. I already have a father. And thankfully, you’re not him.”
“If it’s all the same to you,” I motion to the mat and Emily sits. “I’d rather not be your father, either. Otherwise, the thoughts I had just a few seconds ago would be illegal in most of the fifty states. Now, put your legs together. I’m going to show you how to get the most out of your body. Starting right now.”
Her eyes widen conspicuously at me. But she obeys.
She closes her legs on the mat, connecting them almost at the knee. I direct her to put her palms on either side, and as she leans forward, I kneel behind her, pressing on her back as her chest lowers to the floor.
I listen to her moan.
Her body loosens under my touch, her limbs growing limber. The sounds she makes are no longer from pain, simply relief, and I can hear the tension leave her body as she sighs.
I stand to my feet, directing her movements once more.
Pushing and pulling at her body until she’s bent from a bridge stance into child’s pose, I command her to breathe through every motion, inhaling and exhaling.
The sound of her breathy sighs is enough to make me the tiniest bit semi-hard, and I struggle with every lunge, stretch and twist to keep my eyes focused on the task at hand—to help a woman who at this very moment I’m still consider strangling.
I stand up,
directing her into a “downward-facing dog” and she frowns, her entire face falling into a scowl.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
“Nope,” I answer, pointing to the same black mat underneath her now bare feet. “It’s easy. Feet flat on the ground. Butt in the air. Palms on the ground until you form a triangle. Go.”
“And then I’ll be done?” She eyes me, one brow curving towards the sky.
“And then you’ll be done. And properly stretched. Now, get down. Make this one good.”
She does as I say—palms down, feet flat, butt high. Except for that back.
She arches the damn thing as if she’s auditioning to be a question mark, and I place a hand between her shoulder blades, commanding her to keep her core tight and back flat.
As expected, she doesn’t do it.
“My back is flat,” she insists.
“I’m looking at it, kitten. And for sure, it is not flat.”
“Calling me ‘kitten’ is not behaving, Sevin.” She nearly growls, making me smile. “And for sure, my back definitely is flat. I think I’d be able to tell.”
“Well, for one: You could have fooled me last night as far as being a kitten because you and that damned black cat nearly mind-melded with how close you were cuddled. And for two: you need to take a look in the mirror. Your posture would put the Hunchback of Notre Dame to shame. And that’s being nice to the hunchback. Now, pose…” I wait one more second. “Please. I swear it will help.”
I listen to Emily sigh. Her ponytail twists in the air as she glances at the wall-length mirror, gazing over her form. She inhales sharply, hissing in what’s likely Farsi, and I suppress a chuckle, reaching over to place my palm flat between her shoulder blades, ignoring the small spark that shoots off the second I touch her skin.
The touch between us is electric, and no doubt Emily notices. She wheezes out loud.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m helping. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“No, I won’t. I’ve got this.”
“I gave you a chance to correct it. And you most certainly didn’t. So, let me fix your posture by just…” I move my hand and Emily flinches.
“No, don’t, Sevin. I’ve got this. You don’t have to…”
“If you’d stop being so stubborn,” I interrupt as she cuts into my thoughts, “I could help you avoid…”
But the words “hurting yourself” aren’t out of my mouth before that’s exactly what Emily does. She twists as I lean my hand against her, sending us both tumbling down.
She lands on the mat, and I land on top of her. Or rather I catch myself before I can crush her to the floor, my hands shooting out to form kickstands as I brace my body above hers—hovering.
The fall brings us face-to-face, bodies almost touching.
And I can’t help myself. Can’t pretend any longer. Can’t behave.
I need Emily. And I need her right now.
I bend my head to take her mouth. And just like a disobedient kitten, she lets me.
Chapter 17
SEVIN
Saturday morning
I’ve now decided: Nothing feels as good as Emily. Nothing.
Not even keeping my career—something I know I should be trying to do.
But the minute my mouth connects with hers, something else sparks. And the third time’s the charm.
This is the third time I’ve put my mouth on my feisty-lipped lawyer and every time is better than the last. Every time I get a taste of her cherry mouth and tongue, I want more.
And right now? After what we shared last night?
It would take the Jaws of Life to pry me off her body. To make me believe there’s anywhere else on earth I’d rather be situated than in between her sensuously toned thighs.
She speaks between kisses. “Something like this is going to make it awfully hard for me to pretend I don’t know you. Or hate you, in front of my coworkers.”
“Hate you?” I nearly whisper, aligning the length of my body with hers. “Never. Well, at least not anymore…” I grin. “You didn’t exactly make it easy, as my cop-calling neighbor. But I wouldn’t blame you, if you hated me. That stunt I pulled in front of my teammate earlier wasn’t exactly smooth. I’m not the best actor, if you hadn’t noticed. It’s why I stick to baseball. I’m shit at all else.”
Emily grins, a slow smile spreading on her face. And I lick where her teeth meet her lip, loving the texture. “As long as it keeps everyone securely out of our business, I’m fine with it.”
I blow out a breath from my nostrils, the snort small and angry. “Especially Sawyer. That fucker. I could already tell the bastard had a huge crush on you.”
“Really?” She blinks. Her hazel eyes go wide. “I hadn’t noticed. I was too busy looking at you…” Her slender arms tighten around me, never letting go. “Besides, don’t you think having people believe we hate each other is much better that everyone on your team and in my firm finding out that I’m thinking of sleeping with the National League’s most valuable player?”
Her honesty shocks me. And I lift a brow. “Almost as bad as my coach and PR agent finding out that I want to give my lawyer multiple orgasms on call? But that’s just me.”
“Multiple orgasms, did you say? Are you that confident?”
I gaze down at her. “Oh, I’m more than confident of it, kitten.” My voice lowers. “Speaking of which…you need to get your script right. If it ever comes out that we do have sex, I wouldn’t exactly admit to sleeping with you, Emily.”
“You wouldn’t?” Her eyebrows lift skyward.
“No.” I take her chin in my hand. “I believe they call what I would do to you ‘fucking your brains out.’ We’ll leave the finer details out for those with more sensitive ears.”
I lean closer, letting my lips finally touch hers. It’s electric—the charge that sparks between us the second our mouths meet, and I deepen what is a little caress into a full-fledged kiss, conquering Emily’s mouth with mine in a hot wet embrace that leaves her trembling in my arms. She pulls back slowly, the slight sheen of sweat across her body making her smell good enough to eat.
And I’m tempted to try it. Even in this gym.
“You know kissing me like this, Mr. Smith, is not going to make us want to behave any sooner.”
I inhale. “‘Behave’? I don’t know the meaning of the word when my cock is this hard, kitten. But keep going.”
Her sparkling cider-like eyes glow, and I kiss her again. She clears her throat. “I have a few more rules I want to discuss.”
“More?” My head tilts. “Weren’t the ones we talked about in front of your apartment and then again last night more than enough?”
She grins. “Hardly. If we’re going to do this in secret, we need to do this right. I don’t need anyone knowing. It could jeopardize my career. And yours.”
I nod my head softly. “I’m aware of that. Tell me more.”
“Our hotel suite is not exactly Fort Knox. Sound does travel from bedroom to bedroom. I know Kayla’s in New York, taking care of things with Charlie’s mom. But for the rest of the day, let’s cool it, okay? I don’t want us taking this any further. Not while we’re still in Arizona. Not while Charlie can find out. I don’t want to scar her.”
My stare hardens at her, my frustration getting the best of me for the first time all morning. “Neither would I. Despite not needing this shit from her mom, Charlie is a priority. And I would never be so selfish to pretend she’s not right now.”
“I know,” she retorts immediately. “Which is going to make it all the more difficult to say the next part…” Her slanted brows crease, her pretty mouth lowering into a frown. She sighs. “Rule number three…” She hesitates. “I am not going to be just another number in your bed, Sevin. I don’t want whatever you had or didn’t have with women like Charlie’s mom. It’s not me.” She exhales. “Look, I’m attracted to you. I’m sure you know that by now.”
“Well, the feelin
g is very mutual, kitten.”
“And I definitely want to do more things like this with you.” Her smile is sad. “But I’ve worked hard to make a name for myself. Labored way too long to be a lawyer. I won’t throw it away. Not even for this job.”
Her hazel eyes flit between mine, moving fast. “Yes, you are more than just this job. And yes, I want to explore this with you. I really do.” Her shoulders rise then fall. “But I will not throw my career down the toilet for a fling. No matter how badly my brains are fucked out.” She graces me with a curious smile. “Got it?”
“As always. It’s your rules.” I have no choice but to take her seriously. And in the midst of processing everything—Emily as my neighbor, Emily as my lawyer, Emily as my lover—I’m already wondering what the hell I’m going to do when all of this is over.
When Deborah comes back to take Charlie away. When this blackmail case is over. When this tryst with Emily is done.
I don’t even want to think about it.
“I understand career suicide, kitten. And trust me: This situation going wrong could lead down a trip to that path. For both of us. If this goes wrong. And I acknowledge that.” My fingertips dig gently into her waist, my cock hardening as she melts between my palms. A knot hits the back of my throat. “But I also want to tell you that I won’t let that happen. I’m not going to tell you that I have this all planned out. I have little to guarantee. I can’t.”
I lick my lips, needing to wet them. “But know this, Emily Armand: Whatever this is between us, it is not a ‘cheap one-night.’ And this is not a game. Trust me: I’ve played enough in my career. And lastly, this is not me putting you on this ‘rolodex of women whose names I forget by sunrise.’ For as long as we are in this fucked-up situation, that makes Charlie my primary concern. That makes you my primary concern. And letting anything else get in the way of that is not happening. That… I can guarantee.”
“And how can you be so sure?”
“Because I can’t stay away from you, Emily Armand… God knows I’ve tried.” I shift my body over hers, leaning in. “I’m a baseball player. I’ve worked with enough catchers to read signs. And every sign in the universe has been pointing me to you.” I settle my figure farther between her thighs. “And I know you know it too. This was supposed to happen.” I lower my lips. “So just let it.”