The Game

by Kira Blakely

  Hope stared at Jackson, tears welling up in her eyes. “You’re serious.”

  He nodded. “I am.”

  Nobody had ever believed in her that way before. Her parents had laid expectations upon her, sure, and there had been no room for failure. But they had never believed in her ability to do what they pressed her to do. They simply expected her to figure out a way to get it done, because it was their expectation that she would. But belief? The absolute and total belief that she could accomplish things the way Jackson believed she could?

  Hell no.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. Tears started again, but she held them back.

  Jackson said, “You know what? I love you, Hope. I love you, and I know this is important to you, and why. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted, and everything that I need in my life.” The honesty in his voice told her everything else. He continued, “I’m just putting it all on the line here. I love you, and I want you, and I am willing to do whatever it takes to make you happy.”

  She swallowed down the salty lump in her throat. “I just want you to be happy, too, Jackson. I do. I want that more than anything but I can’t…I can’t make you change. I don’t want you to change. I want you just the way that you are.”

  “I don’t want to change either.”

  “But I feel like you are and that you are doing it for me.”

  “No, I’m doing it for myself and because you showed me how good it would feel to be less about me and more about the world. I want to be this person. I am this person. I just didn’t show it often enough.”

  She whispered, “I’m never going to be rich or successful in the way you measure those things.”

  He put his hands on her shoulders and leaned close, looking into her eyes. “I don’t care about that, Hope. I want you to be happy in what you do. I want you to love your work and to be passionate about it. I’m not your father, and I don’t measure someone’s worth in how many dollars are in their bank account.”

  Drowning in his eyes, trying to believe he meant it, trying hard to trust him, she whispered, “Well, if you did, I would be worth about twenty-seven dollars.” Her heart pounded furiously. “I’m just trying to be really honest with you here, Jackson. I want you, too. I love you, too, but you do know people are going to say I’m just a gold digger or that we are just together because you funded my research.”

  His eyes stayed on hers. His fingers pressed down on her shoulders just a little as he spoke with real force. “Does anyone say that about Lexie? Hell no, not where Dawson can hear it. He’d wipe the floor with them, and I would do the same to any idiot who chose to say such a stupid thing.”

  He would, too. She knew he would. He was right. He was nothing like her greedy and materialistic stepfather or any of the people she had known most of her younger life. He did care about things, and he cared a great deal about them as well.

  He added, “But, if it makes it easier and better, then I will put it as an anonymous thing. That way, nobody will ever know.”

  “Thank you.” It was the only thing she knew to say. She leaned into him and lifted her face to his. “Thank you so much. Yes. To all of it. To the donation and to you. To us.”

  He said, “Now that is what I was hoping to hear.”

  His lips came down on hers, claiming her. Their bodies pressed together. His hands slid down her shoulders and along her back, his fingers pressing and sliding along the knobs of her spine.

  Desire hit, swarming over her nerve endings and making her legs go liquid. Her body trembled a little as their lips met again, and his tongue wandered into her mouth, teasing hers until she kissed him back with so much passion that they were both left gasping and panting.

  His fingers found the round slopes of her ass, and he lifted them. His fingers squeezed those cheeks, kneading them, and he broke off the kiss for a moment to growl out, “I have a bed, at least.”

  “Then we better get there, or we are going to be on this floor,” she panted back.

  He took her hand and raced her down the hallway to a sparsely finished bedroom. Hope did not have time to look around, and she did not care to either. She saw the giant bed and that was the only thing she needed to see. They headed for it, their hands all over each other.

  Their mouths met again as her fingers fumbled at his buttons, baring his magnificent body to view.

  Her hands were all over him, touching the texture of his skin, and then she was naked, too.

  Their skin met, and his mouth trailed down her neck and then went to her breasts, his lips tugging at her nipples and his teeth closing around them as they went pebble hard and rough below the urgent touch of his mouth. His hands moved down her belly, and then they were on the bed, her legs spreading for him as he found the slick wetness between her thighs.

  His fingers slid inside her tight inner folds, and her legs parted further for him. His mouth moved lower while his fingers thrust in and out of her body, creating a furious rhythm. His tongue slid across her outer lips and she whimpered, her hands going to his hair and tangling in it as he found her clit and began to massage it roughly back and forth.

  Her ass lifted off the bed, and she groaned as sensation shot through her body, making wetness spill from her. Her toes curled, and her nails scratched along his scalp. Her thighs shivered as he matched his fingers and tongue in speed and intensity, and more sensation uncoiled inside her body until she cried out, her heels digging into the mattress as she sought to get even closer to the source of the pleasure rocketing through her body.

  The orgasm struck, making her core clench and fluids gush out of her body to spill across his chin and mouth in a slick and heated pool.

  Jackson came up, his eyes darkened by desire. He entered her quickly, not even giving her time to catch her breath and while she was still riding the aftershocks of the climax.

  Those aftershocks turned into yet another orgasm as his hot and thick member drove into her tight flesh, opening it and making more oils gather on her inner folds to ease his passage deeper and deeper still with each powerful thrust of his hips and firm ass.

  “Oh, God!” her voice shook as hard as her body as she gave in and wrapped her legs around his narrow waist, her heels banging against his back as she canted her hips into a higher angle so that he could get an even more immediate plane of penetration.

  He found that angle, and the pleasure that hit made her eyes roll back in her head. His mouth came down on hers, muffling her loud cries as her walls opened and closed, spilling fluids and milking his hard flesh as she fluttered and shook and cried out for more and more, yet again.

  Jackson went rigid. His hands gripped her shoulders, pinning her upper body into place as he shuddered. He drove in and out of her with fast and frantic pumps of his body. Then, he let out a long howl, and she slumped against the bed, her fingers tangling into the sheets.

  Jackson collapsed on top of her. His breath washed over her shoulder, and he grunted out something unintelligible in her ear.

  They lay there, tangled together and still joined. The afterglow was long and sweet, and when he finally moved away, he left a thin dribble of fluid from his flaccid penis along her upper thighs.

  He pulled her close, and she nestled into his side. She sighed softly, and she asked, “Are you sure about this?”

  “Which part?”

  “Working with me.”

  Jackson gave her a wicked smile. “I am hoping it comes with perks.”

  “Oh, you.” She gave him a little slap on the arm and laughed. “I am sure it will, but not in the lab because, you know, conditions.’

  He roared with laughter. “Okay, so we might have to build a room for unclean conditions.”

  Their laughter drifted toward the ceiling. Jackson ran a hand across her hair in a long, soothing gesture. He said, “For real, I want this. I want to do the work with you. I know by this time next year you will have made enough strides to get a new grant, and by then I will probably have gotten solid ground
under the idea that I have in there. I don’t want to sell it off to rich pharmaceutical companies any more than you do, so that will never happen, and the good news is I am already rich, so they can’t tempt me like that, and you do not care about money.”

  “Jackson, the good news is that if you donate the money, the university only gets to keep part of the revenue. You would get the bigger portion. It is how investing works, you know.”

  He looked surprised. “Okay then. I don’t care about that though.”

  “I know.” She did know, and it was why she loved him. “I have to ask: why was Robert so impressed by the sale of your video game?’

  He laughed. “You really don’t know?’

  “No.”

  “Because I sold it for close to a billion dollars.’

  A billion…with a B? Her brain froze. She choked. She could not even find air to breathe. He added, “Oh, and it had four games already operational that went with the sale, so there was that.”

  “Oh…um…uh…well then.”

  Jackson laughed loudly. “You see now why I don’t mind putting five mil into this?”

  “Yes, but…” Her lips were numb. “But you don’t act like a guy with that kind of money.”

  He gave her a broad smile. “And I never will.”

  “Thank God,” she said.

  Their mouths met again. Hope let go, surrendering to the man who believed in her and who made her believe in herself.

  EPILOGUE

  CLARA SAID, “Thanks again for getting Jackson to sign on with me as a client.”

  “Oh, I did not get him to do anything. He was yelled at by Dawson until he gave in and decided to do something besides have a pile of money sitting in the bank where he could lose it due to all sorts of things.”

  Clara chuckled. “I will take it however I got it.” Her face darkened as she surveyed Dawson’s apartment and the men inside it. “Oh, shit. Please tell me that is not Stephen coming in the door.”

  Hope asked, “The guy you hate so much?”

  “The very same. Oh, no! he’s coming over here!” Clara tried to duck behind her, but Hope said, “Oh no, you don’t,” and shoved her back in front of her and right into the path of Stephen.

  Stephen caught Clara just as she stumbled. Hope grinned and ducked away before Clara could shoot her a look that could kill her.

  Jackson asked, “What are you laughing at?”

  “I was just thinking that not so long ago I was right in the same place I am now, and I was thinking you were an arrogant jerk that I absolutely did not want to talk to and how things change.” Her eyes went to Clara and Stephen. “And how they don’t.”

  “So you still don’t want to talk to me?” There was a teasing note in Jackson’s voice as he pulled her close and held her tightly.

  “I will never stop talking to you. Oh look, there’s Ashton and Laura!”

  They headed toward the arriving couple just as Lexie and Dawson stepped toward them. As they went, Hope found herself being nothing but grateful for a night she had taken a chance and talked to man she had been sure was the last guy she would ever want to talk to, and wondering just what would happen if Clara would let her guard down long enough to talk to Stephen who so clearly wanted her.

  Caught Off Guard

  A SPORTS ROMANCE

  *Amazon Top 200 Best-seller, 4.3 stars, 170 reviews!*

  Winning is just what I do!

  Playmaker.

  Panty scorcher.

  The shit.

  All names that apply to me. Yeah, I’m cocky. It’s hard not be when you’re an NFL star and – let’s be real – look and play like me.

  Everything in my life was running smooth until this fiery redhead wanders into the road, almost killing us both.

  She had the nerve to call me a jack ass. But damn, she’s smoking hot when she’s mad.

  I need to focus. I don’t have time to hang around and argue with her. I’m late. I hastily make my getaway, trying to get her off my mind. I’m finding this hard in more ways than one.

  Then our paths cross again. She’s at my football game that I was late for because of her. Unfortunately, she’s not there to see me. She’s with one of my teammates, and he’s no friend of mine.

  Chapter One

  Sean

  I’m infamous for knocking girls off their feet, but I’d never literally ran their asses over with my truck, the way I almost did with this one.

  For the record, I did not mean to almost hit her with my truck. I wasn’t on a mission to kill her. She just flew right across the road! She wasn’t watching where she was going because she was chasing after this huge dog. If it weren’t for my quick reflexes, she’d have ended up like a squished bug on my windshield.

  I rolled the windows down and put my head out as I glared at her.

  “Watch where you’re going!” I yelled.

  Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped, probably surprised that I would actually yell at her. Well, what did she expect? An apology?

  Hell, no.

  “Excuse me, asshole, but maybe you should learn how to drive!” she yelled back, stomping toward my truck. I raised one eyebrow and got out of my truck. What the hell is with this chick?

  “You’re the one who doesn’t know how to cross the road!” I retorted.

  “You’re the one who’s speeding!” she snapped back, and my brows furrowed.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I asked, not knowing what she meant.

  She stopped right in front of me and looked up at my face, her green eyes blazing with anger.

  “Last time I checked, the sign said the speed limit was 30, not 130,” she hissed. I glanced at the speed limit and, sure enough, she was right. I was speeding. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t in the wrong, either.

  Years of practice in keeping my face looking perpetually pissed off during games helped me keep my cool, but the lush quality of her voice as she spoke seeped into my ears and made the hairs on my arms stand up.

  If I was less of a badass, I would’ve shaken from head to toe.

  I put my head down so my lips brushed the shell of her ear, and I smirked when she stiffened.

  “Well, last time I checked, you had to look to your left and right before crossing the road,” I whispered back, my breath caressing her neck and the side of her face. My smirk grew bigger as I watched her shiver from it.

  “You almost hit a dog because of your speeding!” she cried.

  “You said the operative word, lady. Almost. I ‘almost’ hit him. Which means I didn’t,” I said smugly. Her eyes widened comically, and she raised her arms wide.

  “Oh, wow! ‘Operative,’ huh? Big word for a dumb jock,” she fired back.

  “Not that it’s any of your business, lady, but I did well in college,” I responded, scowling. “Look, I’m sorry I almost ran you and your dog over, but this wouldn’t have happened if you crossed the damn road properly.”

  “Excuse me?” she said, looking at me like I’d said something completely unbelievable.

  She glared at me and then…

  “Oh, fuck!” I yelled.

  She had stomped on my toe with her foot! I felt the sharp, intense pain shooting from my pinky toe all the way to my neck, and I leaned onto my truck for support as I cradled my poor foot.

  “Why the hell did you have to do that?” I screamed at her.

  “Because you deserved it!” she yelled back.

  “What the fuck, lady?!” I growled under my breath. “No way am I sticking around here.” I’d had enough of this crazy fest for one day. I got back into my truck and slammed my foot to the pedal and sped off, not bothering to turn around as I heard her call out. I was already late enough for the pre-game warmup as it was, and I was not about to risk any other part of my limbs for her to injure. What the fuck had she wanted me to do?!

  It was too bad, though. She was kind of hot in a tomboy sort of way. Her hair was tied back in a messy braid, but the sun hit her locks in
a way that made her pretty little red head shine. Her cute mouth was in a constant scowl.

  I saw my phone light up from the corner of my eye, and I cursed. It was probably my coach calling again, wanting to know where the hell I was. I had asked Evan to cover for me, but I guess he finally got fed up with me as well and decided not to be a bro today. Bastard.

  Granted, I understood why he was mad. We did party kind of hard last night, and I vaguely remembered him warning me that I should not push my luck and see if I could score a threesome with those two girls I saw eyeing me at the bar. But after being friends for so many years, he should’ve realized that words like that only sounded like a dare to me.

  It only took sixteen minutes to get them to take me back to their apartment, and we had fun all night long. I woke up this morning and damn it, seeing both women on either side of me naked made me so hard I had to have them again for a repeat performance.

  That was an hour and a half ago. I was so focused on making all of us come that by the time we finished, I moved like my ass was on fire, paranoid that I’d be late for warm up. I finished showering and hightailed it out of there in record time. I could’ve made it on time… if it hadn’t been for Miss Batshit Crazy and her dog.

  My phone lit up again and I sighed, picking it up. I winced, bracing myself for some yelling before putting the phone to my ear.

  “Hello?” I said hesitantly.

  “Where the hell are you, boy?!” Coach Finnegan screamed from the other end. I yanked my phone away from my ear as I quickly racked my brain for a good enough reason to placate him.

  “I’m sorry, Coach. The traffic was te–”

  He cut me off. “Traffic? Don’t give me that bullshit, West! John already told me about your night out at the bar, and so help me, boy, if you come to this field nursing a hangover, I will have you running wind sprints till you barf out your insides! Get your ass over here now!” he yelled before ending the call.

  I flipped my phone back to the passenger seat, annoyed because if it weren’t for that little issue with the woman earlier, I’d probably be at the football field by now. The day would’ve been perfect if she hadn’t crossed the road and ruined it.