Wild One (Summer Rush #5)

by Cheryl Douglas

  “You keep telling yourself that and you’ll be single for the rest of your life, boy.”

  He laughed. “Okay, fine. Fill me in. You really think a woman like Marika, who has it all figured out, really needs someone like me to take care of her?”

  “We all need someone to take care of us, honey.”

  “You didn’t.” His mother was one of the strongest people he knew. She’d not only raised all three of them by herself, but she’d done it with a smile, never making any of them feel like a burden.

  “Did I need someone?” She sighed, smoothing her hands over the cotton track pants she’d put on to watch TV after dinner. “No. Would it have been nice to have someone to share my life with? Most definitely. Being a mother was my top priority and I wanted to do a good job, but every night when my head hit the pillow, I prayed for a life partner, someone who would understand how much my kids meant to me.”

  “You never told me that,” Dec said quietly.

  “No reason to.” She shrugged. “If I’d met someone and decided to bring him into your lives, that would have been the time to talk about it. Since it didn’t happen—”

  “It still could.”

  “Oh, it has, honey.” His jaw dropped, and she laughed. “I’ve been seeing a very nice man I met at a town meeting about six months ago. We see each other a few times a week, but he has his life and family, and I have mine.”

  “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

  “I would have, when the time was right. He’s out of town this weekend on a hunting trip, so it’s not like I could have introduced you. Your sisters have met him.” She giggled. “But honestly, I think he’s a little intimidated by the thought of meeting you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re my son. He figures you’re probably more protective of me—”

  “He’s right about that,” Dec said, trying to figure out how he felt about his mother having a boyfriend. “I hope he knows he better treat you right or he’ll have to answer to me.”

  “Oh you,” she said, scooting closer, then putting her arm around him. “There’s nothing for you to worry about. I’d never choose a man who didn’t treat me with the utmost respect. You know that.”

  His mother definitely commanded respect. If she didn’t get it from her kids, she’d hauled out the wooden spoon. She’d never used it, but the threat of it, combined with her rare fit of temper, was usually enough to get them back in line.

  “Yeah, I guess I do.”

  She squeezed his neck. “It’s not just because you’re my son though, He thinks you’re this big baseball star.”

  “Where would he get an idea like that?”

  She slapped his leg, laughing. “You know what I mean. He thinks just ‘cause you have this great big contract and you’re on TV, you’re different than the rest of us.”

  “But I’m sure you set him straight about that.” He could always count on his family to bring him back down to earth if his ego got too big.

  “Of course I did. Told him you put your pants on one leg at a time, just like he does. You’re no better, no worse than anyone else. I tried to raise you to be a good man, and you are.” She leaned in before whispering in his ear, “And in case I don’t tell you often enough, I’m really proud of you, son.”

  He smiled while giving her the side-eye. “You do tell me. All the time. But thanks.”

  “Now, about your girl. We kind of got off track talking about my love life, didn’t we?”

  Dec groaned. “I don’t want to think about you having a love life.”

  “Oh, quit it! You’re not ten years old anymore. You’re a grown man. You should know that your mother has the same desires as any other woman.”

  Dec covered his ears. “I am not listening to this. And if you want to talk about it, I’m going to bed.” He was being childish, but come on, she was his mother.

  “Fine.” She pulled his hand away from his ear. “We’ll just talk about you and your girlfriend. I was telling you that every woman wants a man to take care of them.”

  “And I’m still not convinced that’s true.”

  “Don’t you want someone to take care of you?”

  He had a housekeeper who took good care of him. She cooked most of his meals, did his laundry, picked up his dry cleaning, and cleaned his house. “I have Essa. She takes care of me.”

  “Essa is a saint,” she agreed. “But wouldn’t it be nice to have someone who took care of you because she loved you and not because she was collecting a paycheck? And I’m not saying for a minute that someone like Marika would do all the things Essa does for you. Nor should she. I’m talking about all the little things you can’t pay someone to do for you.”

  “Such as?”

  “Someone to wrap her arms around you after a tough loss, who’ll remind you that baseball isn’t the only good thing in your life.”

  “That would be nice.” He got a little crazy every time his team went on a losing streak, especially if he knew he was contributing to it.

  “And wouldn’t it be nice to have someone to spend time with during the off-season, when the days seem to stretch on and on?”

  He thought about the time he’d spent with Marika over the past couple weeks. “Yeah, it would be.”

  “Wouldn’t it be nice to have an idea of what your life would look like after baseball?”

  He didn’t like to think about that, but he knew that day would come. “Yeah, but what does all of this have to do with me taking care of her?”

  “I’m just reminding you that it’s a two-way street. Taking care of someone you love is as much about the emotional support you give them as the financial and—”

  “I don’t think Marika cares about my money.”

  “I’m sure she doesn’t, but if you could use that money to make her life better, wouldn’t you want to try?”

  “I kind of already have… only she doesn’t know it yet.”

  “Uh oh, what did you do?”

  Marika was upstairs sleeping, but he still felt the need to whisper when he confessed his sin. “I paid off her student loans, only now I’m thinking that may have been a bonehead move ‘cause I can’t seem to bring myself to tell her.”

  “You didn’t.” She groaned, slapping him upside the back of the head. “What were you thinking?”

  The anxiety he’d been feeling about it before grew into a football-sized knot in his stomach. If his mother thought it was bad, it was bad. Shit. Now what was he going to do? It’s not like he could take it back. The damage had already been done.

  “I was thinking that I wanted to do something nice for someone I cared about. I see how hard she works. I wanted to make her life a little easier.”

  “But you can’t make a decision like that for her.” She took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm herself. “It’s one thing if you two are planning a life together and you want to clean up all of her debts so you can start with a clean slate. That’d be a decision you made together, one she agreed to, but you can’t just make a decision like that for her.”

  “I kind of already did, so it’s a moot point, isn’t it?”

  “Then you need to tell her and beg her forgiveness.”

  The fact that she thought he’d have to beg forgiveness only scared him more. “You can’t tell me that if back in the day you’d been seeing a man who surprised you by paying off your mortgage for you, you wouldn’t have been grateful.”

  “Grateful. Overwhelmed. Insulted. Take your pick.”

  “You’re not helping.”

  “Here’s the thing you need to understand,” she said, patting his back. “A woman like Marika needs to know she can take care of herself. Only then can she let someone else in. By paying off those student loans, you made it seem like she needed you to ride in on your white horse and rescue her because she never would have been able to manage that feat by herself.”

  “It would have taken her years to pay off those loans,” he argued. “It r
epresents a few days income for memy income for a few days, at most. I seriously wouldn’t even miss it.”

  “And that makes it worse.” She shook her head. “Don’t you see? The scales are already tipped in your favor. You make a lot of money. Everyone knows that. Doctors make a good living, but you… you’re rich, Dec.”

  “And that’s a problem?” He hadn’t thought about money in years. He just spent it, knowing it would be there whenever he needed more. He didn’t live a life of excess and he invested wisely, so he didn’t get why everyone made a big deal of him having so much. He was the same guy he’d been when he didn’t have a dime to his name.

  “It might be if Marika thinks you’re going to use that money to try to win her over.”

  He thought about how reluctant she’d been to accept the clothes and shoes he’d bought for her. She’d seemed embarrassed, as if it was too much, when to him it felt like too little. Marika was the kind of woman who deserved to be spoiled. And he wanted to spoil her because he could. Was that so wrong?

  “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here,” he said, grabbing his head. “On one hand, you’re telling me women like to be taken care of, and on the other, you’re telling me I was an idiot for trying to do just that. So which is it?”

  “First, you have to earn her trust. Prove to her you’re the kind of man she could fall in love with. Make money a non-issue. Show her your heart, honey. Let her see how much you care about the people you love, how you’d do anything for someone in need. When she sees the real you, then she’ll be flattered that you want to help her… because she loves you and knows you feel the same way about her.”

  He was so confused his head was starting to hurt.

  “If I can make a suggestion?” his mother said.

  “Why stop now?”

  “Go upstairs and talk to her.”

  “You think I should wake her up and tell her about it now?”

  “Not necessarily,” she said, clearly weighing his options. “Go up and tell her how you feel about her. Show her.”

  He winced. “Ma, if you’re suggesting—”

  “Ohm shut up!” She slapped his arm. “You’re not twelve years old anymore, so grow up!”

  “There’s no way I’m—”

  “Put any fears she may have about you to rest,” she said as though he hadn’t spoken at all. “Earn her trust. Earn her love, because make no mistake, a woman like Marika won’t just give her love away like it’s meaningless.”

  Knowing Marika loved him would mean… everything. “Okay,” he sighed. “I’ll try it your way.”

  “Oh, and Dec?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I think I’ll sleep in the basement guest room tonight.”

  “Why would you do that?” As if he didn’t already know. She wanted to give them some privacy, which just creeped him out. He wanted to make love to Marika, but being back in his mother’s house made him feel like a sneaky, horny teenager all over again, even if he did have her stamp of approval this time.

  She waved her hands. “I get these terrible hot flashes at night. Damn menopause.”

  “Ugh.” He was used to his mother oversharing, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. “You do realize it’s barely above freezing outside, right?”

  “Doesn’t mean it can’t get hot inside,” she said, winking.

  “God help me. Just go to bed.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Marika was surprised when she felt the mattress shift and dip next to her, but she smiled when she felt Dec’s strong arms wrap around her. Yum. He was just wearing boxer briefs and radiating all kinds of body heat. “Hey, I thought you were sleeping across the hall.”

  “I’d rather sleep in here with you.”

  “But your mother—”

  “Won’t mind, trust me.”

  Who was she to argue? Besides, it’s not as if his family didn’t know they’d slept together. They hadn’t conceived a baby by immaculate conception.

  “If you say so,” she said, pressing her bottom against his erection. Not even as a teenager had she fooled around in her boyfriend’s parents’ house. But there was a first time for everything, right? “Please don’t tell me these walls are paper thin.”

  He laughed, the rumble against her back making her smile. “They are, but you don’t have to worry. My mother’s sleeping in the basement.”

  “Why would she do that?” she asked, looking over her shoulder.

  “She wanted to give us some privacy.”

  “No!” She burrowed under the blanket, hiding her flaming cheeks even though it was dark and he couldn’t see her face. “I’m so embarrassed. She thinks we’re… fooling around up here?”

  He slipped his hand inside her panties and kissed her shoulder. “We are.”

  “Dec.” She should tell him she couldn’t… they shouldn’t… but damn, when he did that swirly thing with his fingertip, she was like putty in hands.

  “Yeah?”

  “Ah, that feels so good.”

  “Take these off for me,” he said with amusement in his voice.

  He didn’t have to ask her twice. She shed her panties and long sleepshirt, tossing both on the floor. “Better?”

  “So much better.” He licked and kissed her neck as his fingers worked in tandem to make her eyes roll back. “Spread your legs wider,” he said, nudging his knee between her legs.

  She did as he asked, because honestly, if he promised to keep doing that, she’d do just about anything he wanted. His other hand drifted over her breast, tweaking her nipple, and she felt her entire body buzz. She rolled onto her back, needing to spread her legs wider, desperate to feel his mouth on her.

  “Please,” she whispered, too turned on to care that she’d been reduced to begging for pleasure. “I need more.”

  “Oh, I intend to give you more, baby. Don’t worry about that.”

  He always took such good care of her, making sure she was satisfied before he considered his own needs. She’d never been with a man who put her first, and Dec’s treatment felt indulgent and overwhelming at the same time.

  He lowered his head, tracing her breasts with his tongue before sucking the peak into his mouth and drawing out her pleasure.

  She could already feel her heart beating in her ears, shutting out every other sound. She closed her eyes and let the air seep through her teeth when he shifted, planting his shoulders between her legs.

  “I love this,” he murmured, kissing her thighs.

  He wasn’t the only one. She lived for this. “I need you,” she whispered, threading her fingers through his hair.

  “Mmm, I love hearing you say that.” He swiped her core with his tongue, making her grip on him tighten reflexively. “Keep telling me that.”

  She’d say just about anything at this point. She was completely at his mercy and didn’t even mind. Which spoke volumes about how much she already trusted the man. She closed her eyes, focusing solely on the pleasure he gave her. He played her body as if he’d written the book on it, dipping, thrusting, licking, and sucking. Taking her to new heights only to pull back just in time to prolong the thrill.

  “I need you,” she repeated, feeling as uninhibited as she ever had. “I need you to make me feel like this. Every day.”

  He moaned, his satisfaction evident as he lapped at her.

  “I need your touch.” She’d never been very expressive in bed, but with Dec, she couldn’t keep her thoughts to herself. She needed him to know. “I need your mouth. I need you buried so deep inside me.”

  His tongue lashing continued as he picked up his pace, as though her words shifted the balance of power and he was at her mercy. She liked that. A lot. She liked feeling powerful, knowing this sexy man craved her as much as she craved him.

  “I need to feel you come inside me.”

  He hauled his mouth away from her sex, breathing heavily. “Goddammit, Mar, you can’t say that unless you want me to do it.”

  “I do.” She�
��d been on the pill for years, but she still didn’t know if Dec would be open to her suggestion, given their history.

  “You’re making me crazy,” he muttered before resuming his task. “So crazy.”

  And he was making her crazy. There were no words to describe what he was doing to her. The outrageous high that came from having all of his attention solely focused on her pleasure. The brush of his hands on her skin. The feel of his strong arms spreading her wide. His tongue lapping at her while his fingers plunged deep. Her body was on the verge of an eruption, and she teetered between craving it and never wanting this feeling to end.

  But it had to end, and when it did, her helpless cry reverberated off the walls, prompting him to kiss her.

  “You meant what you said?” he asked, drawing back to look at her. “No condom tonight?”

  “If you’re okay with that?”

  “I’m more than okay with that,” he said, his flash of white teeth visible in the dark. “I’d love that.”

  “The pill is 99.9% effective, so you don’t have to worry.”

  “I’m not worried, baby.” He shed the boxers and teased her with the tip of his shaft. When she growled in frustration, he laughed.

  “You think this is funny?” she demanded, slapping his back. “You like this, don’t you? Having me at your mercy? Making me beg for it.”

  He fastened her hands above her head while he pinned her with his body. His heated gaze roamed over her as if they had all the time in the world. “Oh yeah, I love it.”

  “You’re such a tease,” she muttered, trying not to smile.

  “I’m not teasing, gorgeous.” He stole her breath when he plunged inside her. “Definitely not playin’. This is as real as it gets for me.”

  A slice of light coming in through the curtains illuminated the intensity in his eyes. She wanted to know everything he was thinking and feeling, but she was afraid to ask. Afraid it would be too much or not enough.

  He was going slow, taking his time, letting her absorb every stroke while his lips trailed over her skin. “You need to know… I’m so in love with you, baby.”