Dalton snorted. “Please. You’ve seen Sawyer’s scrawny ass.”
“I have, and I will tell you what. It isn’t scrawny.”
“Is my woman looking at other men’s asses?”
“Your woman?” Jessi looked up at him, a little startled.
Dalton sighed and leaned back to run a hand through his hair. Finally, he nodded to himself. “Jess, let’s face it. You’ve been mine since we started working together. And before you get all upset,” he added quickly, “I’ve sure as hell been your man, because I gotta tell you, I’ve been trying to keep my hands off you from day one. For a man who has trouble focusing, your ass has caused me all kinds of trouble.”
Jessi smiled at that. “Yeah?” she asked quietly.
“Yeah,” he replied, just as softly. He kissed her then and smoothed back her hair. “Now, let me see your boobs. I wanna look at ‘em naked.”
She laughed and tried to squirm away. His ability to lighten any situation always amazed her. The seriousness of the moment had been forgotten just like he’d probably intended. Neither of them appeared eager to discuss the larger implications of their actions. Happy—for the moment—to acquiesce, Jessi rolled over and started to push herself up.
Just as she started to rise, Dalton reached out and grabbed her butt. “God, you’ve got the tightest little ass.”
Jessi smiled and blushed. She loved that he liked her butt. It was tight and little. She worked damn hard for that muscle, and it was nice to have it appreciated. So when Dalton continued to do just that, Jessi let him look—and touch—at his leisure. “Do you know how hard it’s been to keep my hands off this, watching you walk around in a suit all day?” He squeezed appreciatively.
Jessi laughed. She looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Well, Coach, get your fill because tomorrow is going to come early, and I have a feeling you’re not going to let up on me just because I gave you head.”
“Probably not,” Dalton admitted. “But you can give it a shot.”
She squealed as he pulled her on top of him. It was going to be a very long night.
Chapter 16
Jessi was exhausted. She was also pissed. She hadn’t expected Dalton to treat her any differently in the pool—she was well aware he couldn’t let on that they were sleeping together. That didn’t mean he had to act like a jackass.
He’d left her room early that morning to meet Sawyer for their morning workout. Just like he’d said, she didn’t see him until after breakfast started. He was decked out in his coach’s get up: dark blue sweats with a white line down the side; dark blue T-shirt that was nicely straining over his biceps, damn it; and bare toes in rubber flip flops because no one wore real shoes with socks on a pool deck. Dalton wouldn’t be caught dead in Crocs.
Without so much as a “Morning, Jess,” he’d gruffly given her instructions on what she was supposed to warm up with. His eyes never left his clipboard. In fact, he hadn’t looked at her at all since he’d kissed her goodbye on floor of her room. What an ass.
Jessi made it through morning warm-ups with a serious chip on her shoulder. Because of her anger, she swam too fast. Dalton had yelled at her for not pacing herself. He had asked how in the hell she thought she was going to make it through her afternoon workout.
She had ripped her goggles off her head and slapped them onto the water. “Let me worry about that. You just focus on the other swimmers, like usual.”
It was a patently unfair statement. The majority of Dalton’s attention—and his job—was focused on her. That made her even more upset. His job. His woman. After one night! His, his, his. Well screw that.
For the rest of practice, she kept her head down and busted tail. The noise in her head filled the quiet peace she usually found as she glided through the water. When practice ended, she hurtled herself out of the pool and headed toward the locker room.
“Jessi, how does the shoulder feel?”
Well, well, well. It was Mr. Dalton McKinney, here to push her around again.
“Fine,” she clipped out.
“Make sure the trainer works on it. You swam like an idiot today.” Dalton’s voice was full of authority.
Jessi snapped. Who the hell did he think he was? He was the freakin’ screwup here, not her. “Whatever.” She rolled her eyes and turned to walk away.
Before she could take a step, Jessi felt a hand clamp down on her arm in a vice-like grip. She looked up at Dalton, shocked out of her pissed off inner ranting.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she seethed. “Take your hand off me, Dalton. You’re going to cause a scene.”
“You’re already causing a scene, and this is exactly what a coach would do to a swimmer who was mouthing off.” His voice was low but menacing, and his eyes were glaring daggers into hers. “Knock it off. Now. We’ll talk after we view tape. Get your ass to physical therapy.”
He let her arm go roughly and walked off. Jessi covertly glanced around the pool. Dalton was right. People were staring. They were looking at her like she was the crazy person in this situation. Jessi wasn’t used to feeling that way. Everybody looked up to her. She was reliable. She was one of the team captains, for crying out loud. She was America’s Olympic Sweetheart, goddamn it!
She mustered up what dignity she had and calmly walked into the locker room. She showered and dried herself off in a daze. Then she headed to her physical therapy session. She didn’t know what was going on with her. She felt wild and out of control. Dalton had that effect on her. He always had. She needed to find a way to control it this time.
What the hell was going on with Jessi? Dalton made his way up to the observation deck to meet with Sawyer. He had no idea if Sawyer had witnessed their little scene down there, but Dalton would bet money that he had.
Shit. How was he going to explain this? He had no idea what Jessi’s deal was, but she was being ridiculous. And in front of everyone. He supposed, at this point, it would be better if he just told Sawyer the truth.
When he made it to the top of the stairs, he peeked into the observation room. Sawyer wasn’t there. Relief washed over him. Despite his intentions, telling the truth in the face of authority didn’t come naturally to him. His years as a punk had taught him to never explain himself until he absolutely had to. When that time came, he needed to be sure of what he was going to say. Since he had no idea what he and Jessi were doing, he had no fucking clue what he would tell Sawyer.
Dalton’s head was spinning. At this precise moment, he wished he was on the medication that would keep him from wanting to do everything at once. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. Usually, he’d lash out when he was pissed off or confused, just because there was so much going on in his head as he tried to make sense of the problem.
If he could just control this for a second, things would start to make sense. Dalton knew that. He closed his eyes to shut out the rest of the world. In this moment of self-clarity, he realized something very disturbing. He was being the rational one here. Shit. How fucked up was that?
Dalton turned and headed back down to the pool. If Sawyer wasn’t up here, there was no reason for him to be. Plus, he needed to be down by the pool in case people were talking about his and Jessi’s little scene.
Keeping this thing quiet was going to be hard. Dalton wasn’t sure if it was worth the effort. At the moment, it seemed to be driving both him and Jessi nuts. The last thing they needed was more tension between them, the pool, and the gold medal.
Chapter 17
Jessi finished her physical therapy and headed toward Dalton and the film room. She tried to make the journey last as long as it could. Anger came with its own hangover. Right now, she felt like an idiot with a headache. After stopping to chat with anyone and everyone who crossed her path, Jessi could no longer put off talking with Dalton.
When she reached the film room, she took a moment to steel herself and stepped inside. As soon as she closed the door, Dalton lit in on her. He’d been sitting
in his normal seat, but when he saw her come into the room, he stood up and walked over to her. He didn’t waste his time on pleasantries.
“What the hell is going on here, Jessi?” That comment alone made her upset. How could he not know?
“What’s wrong with me? I’m not the one being a jerk, Dalton.”
“Really? Because I’m pretty sure that was you throwing shit and mouthing off down there.” Dalton pointed in the general direction of the pool to emphasize his point, as if she might be mixing up the various locations of her little tirades.
“You were being an ass! You didn’t even acknowledge me this morning, you worked me harder than anyone else, and then you yelled at me.” She paused. “And I didn’t throw anything!” Jessi took a moment to calm herself. She was not going to lose it. “I put my goggles down in the water...hard. I admit they may have slapped the surface.” She tilted her head to the side and nodded gently, conceding that she may have been a bit rough with her goggles. But that was it. That was all she was admitting to.
“Jessi, I didn’t treat you any differently than I have any other day. You and I have always had a love-hate relationship in the pool, and today was just standard operating procedure. I can’t all of a sudden start treating you differently, or people are going to ask questions. And yes, I work you harder than the rest. You are better than the rest. But you’re also older, and you’re hurt, and I’m here to make sure you win.”
“I am not hurt!” Jessi was so sick of being coddled, and she was sure as hell tired of the veiled references to her age. She was twenty-five for Christ’s sake! “And I’m not old,” she said in a small voice.
“Yeah, baby, you are,” he said softly. His hand came up to cup her face.
“Don’t you ‘baby’ me,” she pouted, but didn’t jerk her head away.
“Okay, I won’t,” Dalton said carefully, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. “But I’m not going to lie to you, Jessi. You can hate me all you want, but I will always be honest with you. It’s my job, as your coach and otherwise. You wouldn’t want it any other way.” He stared at her, forcing her to maintain eye contact.
“It sucks,” he began again, “but you know as well as I do that twenty-five is old for most Olympic athletes. I know you know, because you’ve already announced that you’re done after this, and babe-Jessi,” he corrected quickly, “It is time. Your body is starting to quit on you. But I promise you, I won’t. We are going to win that gold medal.” He paused. “And then you are going to retire.”
To Dalton’s surprise, Jessi relaxed. He’d been ready for a fight, but now she just looked forlorn.
“God, this sucks.” She hung her head.
“I know. But you are ready, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. I want to start the rest of my life. I just don’t know quite how to let go of this one.”
“You don’t have to let go of it. Swimming will always be a part of you. You’ll always be a part of it. You just don’t have to dedicate your whole life to it.”
“How’s that working out for you?” Jessi looked up at him with sad eyes.
“Well, not so hot, but I’ll let you know if I ever figure it out.”
“Thanks.” She hesitated and then quietly said, “I’m sorry.”
Dalton tilted her face up to look at him. “I can’t say it was my pleasure, but you’re welcome.” He brought his mouth down to hers and gave her a sweet kiss. Like everything between them, it started to work itself into much, much more. What began as gentle touching turned quickly into frantic grasping. Walking her back toward the door, he quickly locked it. Then he looked around for a suitable surface.
There was no good place to do this, so Dalton improvised with his surroundings. Pushing her back to a table, he turned her around and pulled her sweats down. This actually served his purpose just fine. His favorite view was of Jessi’s backside, and it was in no better frame than right now. He stroked his hand down her smooth flesh then gave her a quick little slap.
The flush that started to creep up her ass revealed that his little angel liked it naughty, but she was embarrassed by the fact. He gave her one more, just for good measure, and reveled in the moan that escaped her lips. Then, without further ado, he pulled his own sweats down just enough to free his engorged cock. It sprang free as he quickly grabbed a condom from his pocket and covered himself. Clutching her by the hips, entered her in one hard thrust, sheathing himself to the hilt.
“Fuck.” He threw his head back in pleasure.
Jessi’s back simultaneously arched to take him deeper. Dalton wasted no time on preliminaries. She was wet enough, no doubt turned on by their verbal sparring throughout the day. Like it or not, they were two competitors going at it, and the competition was a turn on. He slammed into her, hard. The table groaned from the power of his thrusts. He blessed the screws that held it into the ground.
Jessi wasn’t one to be owned, though, and she pushed back with a ferocity that scared him. Her butt smacked satisfyingly against his legs. He watched, entranced, as his dick thrust in and out of her. Seeing the actual act always turned him on. This was his favorite position. He pumped for all he was worth.
Jessi’s toes were pointed in an effort to stay grounded, but his pounding was lifting her higher and higher. Finally he grabbed her hips harder and lifted, bringing her feet off the floor and achieving an angle that allowed for even deeper penetration. He was balls deep inside her, and when he felt Jessi convulse, he lost himself, grunting and jerking, losing all thought of what position he was putting her in.
When he opened his eyes he saw Jessi bent before him, hands clasping the edge of the table. She was breathing hard. Then she turned her head over her shoulder and grinned wickedly at him. “That was awesome. Just saying.”
God, this woman was amazing. But this was turning into a situation spiraling out of control. “Jessi, this is getting crazy. We have to stop this.” He slowly pulled out of her, missing the contact between them. Taking care of the condom, he tucked himself into his pants, then walked over to help Jessi.
Her face dropped. “Oh.” She stood and fixed her clothes. When she looked back up at him, she had her game face on. “Okay.” Her voice was distant, but defiant. “Don’t worry. I can handle the fact that we’ve had sex. Us not doing it anymore won’t affect my swimming.”
“What? No.” He pulled her up and turned her around. “I don’t mean stop having sex,” he said, panicked. “That’s just crazy talk. Don’t say things like that!” He calmed down when she quirked her lips. “I meant stop having crazy sex that results in us screwing each other in the film room.”
She glanced around the room as if taking in her surroundings for the first time. Then she brought her gaze to his face. “Oops,” she said with a hint of a smile.
“Oops? Fucking oops? Jessi this is serious shit. We cannot keep doing this! We’ve got to come up with a better plan.”
“You’re right, but calm down. We can figure this out.”
“I’m glad you think so. What do you suggest?”
Jessi stepped back contemplating their situation. Finally, she looked back up at him and simply said, “I don’t know. I’m not sure how to act around you.”
Dalton stared at her while running a hand through his hair. “You think I know how to act around you? Hell, I’ve never even spent an entire night with a woman. Now, I’m coaching the only woman I’ve ever had feelings for and sleeping on her fluffy, hot pink rug?”
Jessi laughed and tilted her head. “You care about me, huh?”
He pulled her to him and put her head under his chin. “Yeah, I care about you—more than I should. I can see how you would be confused, given that I just bent you over a table and screwed you like a one night stand.”
Thankfully, she laughed again. He smiled, then kissed the top of her head. “You’ve got a sick sense of humor, but I’m glad you do.” He rested his chin on top of her head. “We’ll figure things out. I don’t know how, but we will. Just talk to me, okay? D
on’t fly off the handle. I’ll always be honest with you. I meant that.”
He could feel Jessi’s smile against his chest, and his heart felt as if a weight had been lifted off it. He loved her smile.
“Dalton?”
“Yeah,” he said, still holding her and enjoying the first moment of peace he’d had since leaving her that morning.
“I liked being screwed like a one night stand...a lot. And you like my fluffy pink rug.”
Dalton chuckled and kissed her head one more time. “Yeah, yeah.”
Chapter 18
Dalton and Jessi didn’t have a plan, but they fell into a routine--an admittedly complicated routine, but a routine nonetheless. She still had a hard time separating her coach from the man she was sleeping with, but she took some solace in the fact that it appeared Dalton struggled with same problem.
For the most part, he just acted like a grumpy old man—the norm. But now and then, he’d give her an intimate smile when he saw her enter the pool. His eyes tended to follow her a little too much. If Sawyer noticed, he didn’t say anything. Jessi and Dalton were careful to keep things hidden from him. As long as their relationship didn’t affect her swimming, Sawyer would probably remain oblivious.
At least, that was the theory. At the end of an afternoon practice, Dalton called Jessi to the end of the pool. She swam up to the edge and gave him the coyest look she had.
“Yes, Coach?”
“Your freestyle looked like shit and you need to focus.”
“You’re right. Want to come up to my room and work on it? I hear you’ve got some pretty good moves when it comes to freestyling.” They’d been having sex in some fairly creative places: closets, the equipment room. Despite Dalton’s reservations about getting caught, the film room had become its own little porn set. It had been a while since he’d stopped at her room, and she figured they could get away with a little conjugal visit without anyone noticing.
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