The Nicest Guy in America

by Angela Benson

  He glanced at her again. “Do you really think it’s because of my bedroom moves?”

  She placed her hand atop his on the steering wheel. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean it. It was something smart to say and when I saw that it made you uncomfortable, I just went with it.”

  “So you enjoy making me uncomfortable,” he teased.

  “Let’s just say, seeing a little chink in the armor makes you a little more human.”

  He chuckled, glad the tension between them had lessened. “You’re a hard woman, Ms. Washington.”

  “And you’re a nice guy, Mr. Stevens.”

  “You’d better watch it or I’m going to start thinking you like me.” He winked.

  “Of course, I like you,” she said. “I’ve never denied that.”

  He arched his brow. “Not with words, but your actions have been anything but consistent. You run hot and cold on me a lot, Ms. Washington.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Oh, yes, you do.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “What do you call what happened at our first interview? You went from hot to cold pretty fast that day. What happened?”

  “You said you wanted a nice woman. That phrase nice woman rings my bell.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because men sometimes get nice confused with gorgeous, sexy. They’re not talking about a woman. They’re talking about an ornament.”

  “And you don’t like being an ornament?”

  “Who would? Though I’m not considered the ornament type. The men who say they want a nice woman tend to consider me the buddy type. I’m the one they tell their sob stories to.”

  “They must be crazy,” Reggie said.

  “Who?”

  “Those men, your friends. They must be crazy if they don’t consider you the gorgeous, sexy, ornament type, because Ms. Washington you definitely ring all my bells.”

  Kim knew she should be outraged with his blatant flirting, but instead she was flattered. “So that’s how you think of me?”

  “That’s one of the ways. You’re sexy as hell—but you’re also easy to talk to. I enjoy being with you. Surely you know that by now.”

  She didn’t know, but she’d hoped so. “I enjoy being with you, too.”

  He turned his head and smiled at her. “Then no more nights like the other night, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said.

  “Good. Now that all that’s out of the way, we can have a good time tonight.”

  Chapter 17

  “Take five, guys,” Reggie said as soon as he glimpsed Kim entering the gym. “I’ll he right back.” In shorts and a tank top, Kim demanded his attention. It was hard to believe it had only been nine weeks since she’d first called him about the contest, three since their first date and one since they’d acknowledged their feelings for each other. He felt as if he’d always known her.

  As he ran to greet her, he heard some boys call, “Hey, coach, she’s looking good.” He waved them off without looking back.

  “Hi, gorgeous,” he said before placing a kiss on her cheek. “I didn’t expect to see you tonight.”

  She gave him a smile that made his heart pound. “I wanted to surprise you. How’s it going?”

  He wiped sweat from his brow with the white towel around his neck. “I think I’m too old for this,” he said. “They’re running me ragged.”

  “Poor baby.” Kim patted his jaw. “I should have brought you some iron tablets to build up your strength.”

  He kissed her again quickly. “You are definitely a hard woman.”

  “How’s it really going?”

  “Luther and I are doing our best, but we miss Nate.”

  “Why isn’t he here?”

  “He fell hard for your girl Leslie. She really did a number on him.”

  “That’s a matter of opinion,” Kim said, not wanting to violate her friend’s confidence.

  “I knew he was no match for Leslie.”

  She cocked her head to the side. “The way Tam was no match for Luther?”

  “I’m not too sure about that. Luther seems to be making changes in his life. He moved into his own place today.”

  “I’m sure Tam will be glad to hear that,” she said wryly.

  “Don’t get mad with me.” Reggie held up both hands as if to ward off blows. “It was your idea to pair them up in the first place.”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  He kissed her lips. “Enough about them. I’m really glad you came tonight.”

  Her lips curved in the soft smile he’d come to cherish. “Does that mean you won’t mind if I hang around until practice is over?”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ll only be about another half-hour.”

  “Reggie,” Luther called from across the court, “we need to get started.”

  Reggie kissed Kim again. “They’re going to kill me.”

  “Well,” Kim said, “if you need some relief, yell for me. I’ve been known to play a mean game of basketball.”

  Reggie grinned. “You’re joking, right?”

  She did a mock dribble. “No way. I’ve got moves that would make you holler.”

  “I bet you do,” he said, staring into her eyes.

  From the passion she saw there, she knew he wasn’t talking about her moves on the basketball court. “I think that’s a challenge, Mr. Stevens,” she said, her gaze trapped by his. “Want me to show you?”

  Reggie sucked in his breath. “More than anything, Ms. Washington. More than anything.”

  She finally tugged her eyes away from his. “You’re on. Do you want me to join you now or do we go one on one after practice is over?”

  Reggie leaned in and kissed her again. Unlike his previous kisses, this one was long and demanding. When he pulled away, she was breathless. “You’d better get back to your team,” she said, her hands still around his waist.

  “I guess I’d better,” he said, but he didn’t move away from her.

  “Reggie,” Luther called again. “We’d like to finish this practice tonight if you don’t mind.”

  “Yeah, coach,” one of the boys called. “You and your lady can get it on later.”

  Reggie tapped her on her nose. “Sometimes I hate all of them. You know what I mean?”

  She chuckled and dropped her hands from around his waist. “Get out there. I want to see what I’m going to be up against later.”

  He backed away from her. “I play a very physical game,” he warned. “You’d better do some stretches before we get started. I wouldn’t want you to pull anything.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” she teased. “Just make sure you don’t give everything you’ve got before you get to me. I prefer opponents who give as good as they get.”

  Reggie took a step toward her then stopped. “Do you have any idea how much I wish I could make everybody else in this gym disappear so that we could have our match-up?”

  “I was thinking we could have them hang around. Luther could referee and the boys could cheer.”

  Reggie stared at her for a long second then chuckled. “You’re definitely a hard woman, Ms. Washington. I hope you’re up to all your big talk. I’d hate to get all excited only to be let down.”

  Kim shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. My moves more than match my words. You won’t be let down.” She paused. “At least, not until the game is over and you lose.”

  “Lose?” Reggie quirked his brow. “Somehow I don’t think that’s possible.”

  She shoved him toward the court. “Go, Reggie. The sooner you finish the sooner we can get started.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice. Get ready for the time of your life, Ms. Washington.”

  ~ ~ ~

  “I didn’t do too badly for a guy who’d been run ragged by a group of teenagers, now did I?” Reggie asked.

  “Not too badly,” Kim said, across from him. They’d returned to her hotel after their game
and were taking advantage of the empty and inviting hot tub. “Though I did almost beat you. A two point win over a poor, feeble woman is nothing to brag about.”

  “Poor, feeble woman, my foot,” he said. “You were a powerhouse out on the court and you know it. My muscles know it too. You ran me as hard as those boys did.”

  “You’re just a little out of shape,” she teased. “But stick with me and I’ll have you at one hundred percent in no time.”

  He encircled her legs with both of his. “You’re reading my mind, lady.”

  “What are you doing, Reggie?” Kim asked, pushing at his legs.

  He leaned his head back and rubbed his legs up and down her thighs. “Just kicking back, trying to rest my bones until all my energy comes back.”

  She tried to get free of the confines of his legs, but he tightened them around her. “No fair,” she said.

  “Never said I was fair,” Reggie murmured. “Just said I was nice.”

  Kim raked her nails lightly down his legs and he felt a bolt of electricity pulse across his skin. He opened one eye and looked at her. “You’d better watch that. What you’re doing is better than the Energizer Bunny.”

  “So romantic, Mr. Stevens. Energizer Bunny. Surely you can do better.”

  He closed his eye and pursed his lips tight as she continued her gentle assault. Visions of the two of them alone on a sunset beach filled his mind. “Keep that up and you’re going to be in trouble.”

  “I doubt it,” she said. “You’ve done all you’re going to do tonight. Expelled all your energy so to speak.”

  “Hmmmm. That feels good.” He massaged her thigh again with his leg. “And you feel good. Did you know you have the softest skin?”

  “Could be your rough feet.”

  His eyes shot open and he saw her wide smile. “Just joking,” she said.

  He closed his eyes again. “Don’t give up your day job. You wouldn’t make it on the night club circuit.”

  “Oooh,” she teased. “You do say the sweetest things. You set my little heart all aflutter.”

  “That’s not all I’m going to set aflutter, if you don’t stop.”

  “Is that a threat?”

  He opened one eye. “More like a promise.”

  She sank down a little in the tub and closed her eyes. He followed. “I had a good time tonight,” she said. “When are we going to do it again?”

  “So, you want another try at the title?”

  “Don’t flatter yourself. I want a chance to play you when you’re at one hundred percent. I had to go easy on you tonight.”

  “Losers usually have some excuse.”

  “Is that a yes or a no on the rematch?”

  He ran his leg up hers again. “You have to qualify for a rematch. I’d be belittling the title if I gave you another shot just because you wanted one. You have to prove yourself worthy to go another round with me.”

  She tickled the bottom of his feet.

  “Stop that,” he said, dropping his legs from around her.

  She scooted off her seat and grabbed his foot. “So the big, bad man is ticklish.” She giggled and tickled him again. “How cute!”

  “Cute, huh,” he said, trying to get his foot away from her without hurting her. “Stop it, Kim.”

  “Not until you say Uncle.”

  “Grrrr.” He gave short bursts of laughter. “This is not funny, Ms. Washington.”

  She giggled. “Then why are you laughing?”

  “You’re going to pay for this,” he said. “It’s time for you to pay.”

  She tugged harder on his foot as he tried to twist it away from her. “It’ll be worth it, Reggie. I had no idea you were such a wuss.”

  “A wuss? Now you’ve done it.” Reggie quickly leaned over, picked Kim up and seated her on his lap facing him with her legs on either side of his hips.

  Still giggling, she pushed at his chest. “Let me up,” she said.

  “No way, you big talker. I said you that you had to pay.”

  “Let me up, you wuss,” Kim said, still giggling.

  “Take it back,” he demanded. “Take it back.”

  “Not on your life. Just wait until I tell Luther and Nate. Reggie is a wuss,” she sang, “Reggie is a wuss.”

  Kim’s movement on his lap fueled his already budding desire. “You’d better stop wiggling around, or I’m not going to be responsible for what happens.” He opened his eyes and found himself staring directly at her chest.

  Kim moved again, then stopped suddenly and looked down at him.

  Reggie leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers in a motion as natural as drinking water. When she responded by placing her hand behind his head and pulling him to her, he groaned. “Kim,” he said. “Sweet, sweet Kim. Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to hold you like this?”

  Her answer was a matching groan from deep in her throat and a laxness in her hands around his head. He reluctantly lifted his lips from hers and looked into her eyes. Seeing the passion and wariness there, he pulled her head down to his again and captured her mouth in the kind of kiss he’d always wanted to give her. A kiss that said he wanted more than to hold her in this hot tub. A kiss that promised protection and consideration, if she trusted him. If she trusted her instincts with him.

  Her response was as much as he could want. She uttered sounds he couldn’t understand, but her body spoke to his in a language of its own. He moved his hands up and down the soft skin of her back and reveled in the knowledge that she was with him, that she wanted to be with him. A feeling of rightness and completeness surrounded him when he realized he wanted the right to hold her like this forever. To be the only one with the right to do so.

  Kim gave herself to Reggie’s kiss and took pleasure in his touch. She acknowledged that she’d longed for him, for the feel of his hands against her skin. She pressed herself closer, needing to be closer, needing to get as close as she could get. But she couldn’t get close enough.

  Reggie felt the urgency and the need in Kim and was further aroused because they matched his own. He tightened his arms around her back and pulled her closer. He needed more, as he knew she did, and sought it from her.

  The distant sound of laughter somehow managed to break through his thoughts and make him realize where they were. He reluctantly broke the kiss, but kept up the stroking motion down Kim’s back. In return, she relaxed against him, resting her head on his forehead. Then, with his help, she moved off his lap and back to her seat across from him.

  At that moment, the sources of the laughter entered the room—a couple. “Ooops,” they said.

  Reggie looked at them, then at Kim. The passion in her eyes erased any doubts or concerns he had. “We were just leaving,” he said. Then he reached for her hand and they got out of the hot tub and walked hand-in-hand past the staring couple.

  He kissed her once more before releasing her hand so she could enter the women’s locker room and change. The look they exchanged before they parted told him that she knew the night wasn’t over.

  ~ ~ ~

  They didn’t talk much during the drive from Kim’s hotel to Reggie’s house because there wasn’t much to say. If Kim admitted the truth to herself, she knew their relationship had been coining to this point since the first day she’d picked up his picture from the stack of nominations for the contest. Even then, there’d been something about him that had called out to her. She hadn’t known then what it was, and she still didn’t. She only knew that what she felt for him was right, that being with him was right. More right than anything she’d ever done in her life.

  He guided her into the house before him, placed his arms around her waist and kissed his forehead. “Hungry?” he asked.

  She shook her head. Food was the last thing on her mind. She needed sustenance, all right, but food wouldn’t meet that need.

  His finger stroked her cheek. “What do you want, Ms. Washington?”

  You. The word sounded loud in her mind, but di
dn’t flow from her lips. Instead, she raised up on her toes and pressed her lips against his. When he moaned and pulled her tightly to him, she knew he’d gotten her message.

  “Do you know how much I want you?” he asked when he finally pulled his mouth away from hers.

  Her eyes studied his and she believed she did know. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. “Tell me,” she whispered, needing to hear the words from his lips.

  “More than I’ve wanted anyone in my life,” he said hoarsely. “More than anything in my life. I have to have you, Kim.”

  She pressed her head against his chest and wrapped her arms tight around his waist. “I need you, too,” she murmured.

  He pulled away slightly and looked directly into her eyes, her heart. “You’re beautiful,” he said. “So very beautiful.”

  And she felt beautiful when he looked at her the way he was looking at her now. Her skin wasn’t too dark; it was perfect. Her hips weren’t too wide; they were just right. Her thighs weren’t too heavy; they were sexy. She saw herself as he saw her and a feeling of total satisfaction enveloped her.

  As he caressed her face with his gaze, she wondered if this was what real love felt like. She lost focus on her analysis when he quickly and surely captured her lips with his own. He’d been right. There was no room in her mind at this time for anything or anyone but him. And she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

  Chapter 18

  Kim woke first. She felt the strong arms around her and smiled, safe and secure in Reggie’s embrace. It had been so good with him, so right, that it could have been a dream because reality couldn’t be that good, could it?

  She rested her hands atop Reggie’s to assure herself that what they’d shared and what she’d felt wasn’t a dream. He was real. She was real. They were together. And they had been together in the truest sense of the word. She couldn’t imagine being anywhere else, with anyone else. Not after being with Reggie.