Know When to Hold Him

by Lindsay Emory

  There she was, in a conversation with the Renegades’ offensive coordinator. He was a good guy, with a wife and three healthy boys. Still, he bit down the caveman impulse.

  Cool it, Connelly.

  Troy puffed with pride as he shook hands and received thumps on the back. It had been a close call, but in the end, the right one had been made. The paternity test had been a reasonable compromise between George’s suggestion to pay Dalynn off and Pastor Langford’s advice to ignore it completely.

  Spencer had been right. The paternity test was fair. And when the results come back… Liam shifted his weight from side to side. What then? How would the paternity results affect him and Spencer?

  Mahoney joined Spencer and the offensive coordinator. Another flutter of unease flashed through him as he remembered that she hadn’t shared the extent of her relationship with Mahoney with him. What else was she not telling him? How many other friends did she have in the NFL? And most importantly, was any of this going to come back and bite Liam in the ass?

  On the one hand, Spencer had only shown herself to be fair and forthright. On the other hand, she declared herself a ruthless competitor. George Clayton had confirmed that Spencer would win at all costs, even if she had to play dirty.

  He made his way to Mahoney and Spencer, resisting the urge to place a hand on the small of her back. It took more self-control than he imagined. He barely processed what Mahoney said to him, because he wanted to lean over and smell her lily-scented shoulder.

  “We’re really looking forward to it,” Liam replied, knowing that would probably answer whatever Mahoney had asked.

  “Grand,” Mahoney said. “We’ll see you at the airport at nine, then. Do you need a ride?” He directed the question to Spencer.

  “Actually, since Mr. Connelly and I are in the same hotel, maybe we can catch a cab together?” She raised an eyebrow at Liam, who nodded.

  Mahoney waved his highball at someone behind Liam. “Fucking lawyers,” he muttered. “Pardon my French.” He winked at Spencer, who beamed pleasantly at her host, even when he was being a dirty old man.

  Keep a leash on it, Connelly.

  Mahoney left, presumably to deal with a fucking lawyer. Then they were alone.

  “At last,” Spencer murmured.

  It had been a long day. Liam hoped it would be a longer night. “Let’s blow this joint,” he said in voice meant only for her.

  “Will anyone notice?” she asked, hiding her face behind her glass.

  “Who fucking cares?” he growled.

  “You want to share a cab?”

  “I thought you’d never ask.”

  …

  In the end, Mahoney insisted on them taking his limo, which suited Liam to a tee. It took about two seconds after the privacy window closed for Liam to have his hands on Spencer.

  Pure attraction. Lust. Spencer’s body called him like a magnet. He had to touch, to taste, to possess.

  Just through her existence, she called to him. A pull. A demand. Touch me. He did. Liam placed his hands on Spencer’s slim waist and pulled her to him, loving her tight body, coiled and controlled. He wanted to make her lose control, he realized, as he kissed her there, on the sensitive side of her neck. She sighed with pleasure, but he wanted to hear more sighs. More cries. More.

  Liam pressed her into him, and she responded, her back arching, her arms wrapping around his neck and pulling his face closer. His lips moved up her neck, tasting, licking, over the strong jawbone and to her lush and waiting lips.

  Spencer’s mouth opened for him, and it nearly drove him over the edge. The taste of her, soft and wet against his demanding mouth. She made him hard and demanding as he pulled her to him again, his fingers digging into her hips.

  Their kisses picked up an insistent rhythm, yes, yes, more, more, imitating an act that his body was more than ready for. Her breast was in his palm, small and perfect. He brushed a hard nipple with his thumb, and Spencer cried loud and ragged as if a jolt of electricity shot through her.

  He wanted to hear that cry again. When they were naked and hot and sliding in sync, he wanted to make her lose control, lose her voice. She called to him. He’d never known another woman to demand his attention so fully, so elementally. This was her. His mate. His other half. His woman.

  They went to his room at the hotel. Every minute spent clothed and apart was unnecessary. Another door slammed behind them and Liam had her against the wall.

  Liam lifted her skirt, his hand quickly discovering she’d worn nothing under the flimsy dress.

  All day. Waiting for him.

  He almost exploded. And he wanted to return the favor. Stroking her sleek, wet slit made her tremble. Liam slipped a finger deep inside her, and she welcomed him with a cry. In response, his thumb circled her sensitive nub, eager and plump. Spencer clutched at his back, arched her own, thrust into his hand before she fell apart completely, clinging to him like a life raft. “I got you,” Liam whispered. “Let go.”

  Spencer’s legs were about to give, so Liam lifted her and carried her straight to the bed. Passing Go. Not giving a crap about two hundred dollars. He wasn’t stopping for anything or anyone.

  Spencer studied him with hooded eyes as he slipped off his new jacket and unbuckled his pants. Shameless and brazen, she watched while he rolled the latex over his cock. “I can’t wait,” he groaned. “I need you.”

  Liam knelt over her and pushed her dress up against her waist. She spread her legs for him, a silky, hot invitation. This wasn’t going to be gentle and slow. This was going to be conquering and claiming. Grabbing his woman, pushing her into the cave, and both of them knowing it was inescapable. Inarguable. Like a force of nature.

  Upon sheathing himself deep inside her, her response was delicious, heavy with need. “Again.”

  Obeying her demand, he withdrew almost all the way and then slammed into her again. “Yes.” Liam echoed the word. “Yes.” He pushed again and then withdrew, increasing the tempo. Spencer wrapped her legs around his waist, allowing him to go deeper, claiming more.

  “Yes, baby,” Spencer moaned. Liam touched her again, a reverent caress, just to hear her say it again.

  “Yes.”

  Liam watched her face as she reached her climax, and it was his undoing. He crashed completely, losing control, and collapsing as Spencer looped her arms around his back.

  They lay together for a long time. It could have been hours, Liam wasn’t sure. There was nothing else in the world-just this woman, her breath and her fire. He needed nothing else.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  They had to separate in the morning. To pack, to check out of the hotel, but then they were together again, holding hands in the back of a town car to the airport, to meet Franklin Mahoney and fly back to Dallas in private plane style.

  “This time, let’s not make the driver blush,” Spencer told Liam with mock solemnity.

  “Can we make Mahoney blush?”

  Spencer made a screwed up face. “I’m not sure much makes Franklin blush. But we probably shouldn’t…flaunt this…” She made a motion between them. “With all that’s gone on.”

  Liam wasn’t quite sure why they needed to hide their relationship from Mahoney, except for the fact that the old coot was-or had been-Spencer’s client. Which should be reason enough, unless again, there was something she wasn’t telling him. Liam knocked his head back against the car seat. He was a caveman, just like she said. He had to let it go. This kind of thinking was leading nowhere good. Only he would try to fuck up the best thing that had happened to him.

  After parting ways with Mahoney in Dallas, Spencer and Liam were greeted by a very large man named Phil who could definitely out-caveman Liam. The driver opened the back door to the black sedan. “Good afternoon, Miss Hightower.” He nodded in the direction of Liam. “Mr. Connelly.”

  “Thank you.” Spencer slid into the seat next to where Liam had already sat.

  “Will you need me for dinner tonight?” Phil
asked.

  Spencer and Liam looked at each other, both taken aback. It was an excellent suggestion.

  “Do you want to go out to dinner tonight?” Liam asked her.

  Spencer did a double take in surprise. “Like a date?”

  “Exactly like a date.”

  “Yes, I would.”

  Phil delivered both of them to their respective homes, and, a short time later, Liam was at Spencer’s door with a bouquet of lilies. Stuart had given him a fist bump when he’d seen the flowers.

  “Back on, eh?” Stuart gave him a thumbs up.

  Liam responded with two thumbs up.

  Spencer suggested a local cafe off McKinney Avenue. The hostess was showing them to their table when a familiar and enthusiastic voice called Spencer’s name.

  Nora and JT sat side-by-side in a cozy booth, a stack of papers between them.

  “Hey, guys! What are you doing here?” Nora was warm and bubbly. JT was the opposite; cool and observant, taking in Spencer and Liam arriving together.

  “Oh, my God, did you guys meet up in New York?” Nora’s eyes widened at Spencer, the inflection in her voice leaving no doubt what “meet up” was a euphemism for. “What about the client and the thing and the…” Nora pantomimed two hands rubbing a pregnant belly.

  “We called a truce…” Liam explained, reaching for Spencer’s hand.

  “That’s what it’s called?” JT drawled.

  “Bucky, you got a problem?” Spencer snapped, using his nickname on purpose.

  JT’s mouth flattened. “Nope.”

  Nora shifted in her seat, nervous to end whatever conflict was going on. “Of course not. We’re going over some stuff for JT’s fundraiser.”

  Spencer was surprised. “Fundraiser? When?”

  “Cinco de Mayo,” was Nora’s hurried reply. “Perfect, right? Celebrating our freedom from the Mexicans?”

  Spencer didn’t want to correct Nora in front of JT so she ignored that. “So it’s official? Attorney general?”

  JT nodded and extended a hand to the other side of the booth. “If you want to join us, I can pick your brain and Nora’s all for the low, low cost of dinner.”

  Spencer glanced at Nora’s watchful expression. “No, thanks.” She gave Liam a flirty once-over. “This is our first date.”

  “First date?” Nora screwed up her nose. “But I thought you guys were having sex.”

  Liam just winked at her, and he led Spencer away to their table.

  Seated with menus in hand, Liam started the conversation. “I hope you know that JT likes you more than me.”

  Spencer stopped reading the menu, where she’d been trying to decide between a healthy salad or a not-so-much chicken fried steak. “What? What do you mean?”

  Liam sipped the cold Shiner Bock that had just landed on the table. “He told me that, when we broke up, he’d have to choose one of us to be friends with, and that you would win.”

  Spencer rolled her eyes at JT’s ridiculousness and then something occurred to her. “When we broke up?”

  Liam grinned. “Crazy, right?”

  One of the things Spencer enjoyed about Liam was his confidence. Maybe it was a big ego. But was he saying what she thought he was saying?

  The idea that breaking up with Liam was crazy was…terrifying. And, Spencer feared, it was true.

  She studied the handsome man across from her. This was right. This was…unavoidable. Meant to be.

  But what if they weren’t meant to be? Spencer didn’t want to think about it. Tonight, she wanted to enjoy Liam. Not think about being on opposite sides. Not think about anything but how right this was.

  “So since this is our real first date…”

  “Yeah?”

  “We should probably act like it.”

  “What, getting to know you talk and being all nervous and worked up about making a first impression?”

  Spencer was charmed. “You were nervous when we first went out?”

  His face was adorable, a little shy, a little embarrassed. “Yeah,” he admitted. “Weren’t you?”

  “No,” she declared definitely. “It wasn’t a date. It was a business meeting. I was gathering intel on you.”

  “But you invited me up.”

  Spencer focused on the breadbasket.

  “I’m pretty sure you wanted to gather intel in the bedroom…”

  “Okay, fine,” she admitted, tossing her hair back behind her shoulder. “It was a business meeting with a potential for a booty call at the end.”

  Liam lifted his eyebrows. “When you have business meetings in the future, just remember to clarify what kind they’re going to be. Otherwise, I’ll be insanely jealous and probably punch a lot of your colleagues.”

  Spencer wanted to change the embarrassing topic of conversation. “First date question. What were you arrested for?”

  “That’s a quick change.”

  “We’re getting to know each other. And you said I could ask on our first date.”

  “I did. Disturbing the peace and public intoxication.”

  Spencer shook her head. “Details. Or maybe there won’t be a second date.”

  “Ah. Well, I definitely want a second date.” Liam flashed his teeth. “My second dates are killer.”

  “I’ve been told.” Spencer made a motion for him to get on with it.

  “I was seventeen. I was making out with a girl in the back of my car.”

  “And that was disturbing the peace?” Spencer couldn’t contain her curiosity. “Were you clothed?”

  “Mostly. Then her dad came out of the house.”

  “With a shotgun? And you were arrested for that?”

  “No, I was arrested for running down the street with my pants around my ankles and diving into a neighbor’s back yard. There was a graduation party going on. Let’s say I made an impression.”

  Spencer pursed her lips at the double entendre. “And public intoxication?”

  Liam shrugged. “Junior year at Mizzou. Big championship party. Most of the team got hauled off, but we were let go pretty quickly. You know. The football team gets special treatment.”

  Spencer understood how that went. Senators’ daughters were the beneficiaries of the same kind of treatment in small town police departments. She remembered the night of her only scrape with the law and wondered if she should share…but she decided not to. This is just our first date, she reminded herself. A girl had to keep some secrets, after all.

  The food came, and a normal date between two attractive and attracted people continued.

  And then, as the evening turned late, Spencer did something she never did.

  She slept with someone on the first (real) date.

  Curled up in her big bed, high above Dallas, Spencer listened to Liam’s heartbeat beneath her cheek. It was steady and sure. She placed a soft kiss on his lucky shamrock tattoo and wondered how a second date could get any better.

  …

  Liam had promised that his second dates were killer. He debated between several activities, trying to expand his imagination beyond his bedroom. Or hers. Although either would do nicely.

  When he pulled his truck up to the location of their second date, “Are you sure about this?” she asked, in a voice of a woman who was giving him a chance to reconsider.

  Right. He’d show her cocky. “It’s probably not fair, since I am a professional athlete and all.”

  “I think I can take a former professional football player. What I lack in size, I make up for in strategy.”

  When they finished their round of miniature golf, Liam was pretty sure she had cheated…somehow. His hand-eye coordination had to better than hers… right?

  Just to see, he invited her over to his place. To see if he could improve his score.

  Several hours later, he stroked the long, lean line of Spencer’s back, gratified to see that his hand-eye coordination had been as stellar as always. At least, his woman wasn’t complaining.

  “What happens on
the third date?” Spencer asked while kissing him good night.

  “You stay.” The words slipped out of Liam before he realized what he’d said. And just like that, the image wouldn’t go away. Her. Him. A house on a tree-lined street, littered with tricycles. Everything he had never wanted, now he would do anything for. Liam thought of Stuart, staying in Texas for forty years all because of a woman. Liam got it, now. Because of her.

  Liam analyzed her face, wondering if he’d moved too fast, said the wrong thing. He wanted everything to be right, to close the deal when they were both solid. He watched the flicker of her emotions, knew them so well now—surprise, then confusion then…happiness. He liked that last one. Would do anything to keep that one on her face.

  “Let’s do it.” Her voice was so soft he wasn’t sure he understood her. Before he could ask for clarification, she continued. “Third date. Let’s see what happens.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Spencer sat at her desk as Kenny Rogers started crooning about “Every hand’s a winner.” It was ridiculous how that song excited her. “Yes?” She answered, as a bubble of happiness welled up in her chest.

  “Hey, beautiful.” Liam’s voice, low and sexy.

  “Hey there.”

  “I’ve got some bad news. I have to cancel tonight.” Spencer shook her head. Ever since they’d come back from New York, Liam had insisted on calling everything a date. He brought her coffee-it was a date. Every night they slept together-date. Dinner? Date. She’d stopped counting how many “dates” they’d had, but she suspected he was keeping a count. He seemed strangely traditional that way.

  “What’s up?” Spencer asked, trying to focus.

  “Mahoney wants Troy in San Antonio for a few days. Orientation, basically. He needs to sign stuff at human resources. So I’m going with him.”

  “As you should.”