“I guess come around seven?”
“I’ll be there.”
***
Kirsten had never been so stressed out in her life. Midterms, finals, filling in for her sister as a celebrity physiotherapist—that all paled in comparison to the task of preparing dinner for an NFL star.
The apartment was still a disaster, first of all. While it wasn’t Kirsten’s fault that it was in such a state, that still didn’t make her feel any better about it. She had sped home right after her appointment with Larry and began madly decluttering the kitchen and dining areas. After about an hour of doing that, Kirsten realized that it was a better idea just to put stuff in boxes and shove it in the bedroom, where Brad wouldn’t see it.
Even after all that, the place still wasn’t as tip top as she would have liked. There was dust on basically everything, so she spent another hour dusting and vacuuming until the place practically shined. But once all that was done, Kirsten was a mess. It was like that Cat in the Hat Doctor Seuss book, but worse because it was a hot football player coming over and not her mother.
Before Kirsten could shower, however, there was the matter of the house not having any servable food in it. She groaned in frustration, grabbing her keys from the counter and marching toward the door. Her phone buzzed and she answered it without looking.
“Why can’t you just have food in your house like a normal person?” she growled.
Luckily, her guess that it would be her sister was correct. “Because I’m too rich and fabulous to make food,” Katrina replied. “Besides, everything tastes so much better when you eat out.”
“Unless you know how to cook,” Kirsten said. “How do you even afford to eat out every night? Especially when you only have two clients?”
“Because I do like, research. Or whatever. I don’t know. The university’s been sending me money ever since I graduated to help them out from time to time.”
Kirsten gritted her teeth. Now that she was so involved in Katrina’s life, she really was seeing a different side of her sister. Kirsten had been laid off because the company she’d worked for had gone out of business. Meanwhile, Katrina had a great job that she was apparently very good at, and couldn’t give two shits about it.
“Is there a reason you’re calling?” She’d already reached the parking garage, and the line began to cut out.
“Yeah, I just wanted to say that we got into the second round!”
“Congratulations.” Kirsten hoped it didn’t sound as bitter as she felt.
“How are things there?”
Kirsten paused with her hand halfway to her car door. How were things there? Should she tell Katrina that she’d been caught out? Would that only serve to cause Katrina to worry too much about losing her job, and thus throw her chances of winning whatever prize she was hoping to get? Or would it truly not matter to her?
“Things are fine.” Kirsten decided that if Brad truly was going to keep her secret, there was no reason for Kirsten to tell her about it. Anyway, it felt nice having a little secret from her sister. She wondered if Katrina would be jealous. Maybe underneath all those fighting words about Brad she was actually into him a little bit. It would serve her right.
“Good to hear. Gotta go!”
And the line clicked off.
Kirsten rolled her eyes and slid into her car, resuming her earlier frenzied pace in pursuit of food. At least Katrina had plenty of good booze around the apartment. That was one less stop Kirsten would have to make.
She managed to grab groceries and get back to the apartment in record time. She had an hour left before Brad was due to arrive, and she needed every second of it to make herself look fabulous, but not so fabulous that he suspected she’d spent an hour getting ready.
Kirsten hopped in the shower and washed her hair. She loved her sister’s shower. It had one of those huge shower heads and, when she closed her eyes, she could imagine herself in a tropical forest somewhere. But now wasn’t the time.
After her shower, Kirsten blow dried and curled her hair in loose waves. Then she applied a light amount of makeup, and began agonizing over which clothes would best suit her purpose. It seemed obvious that jeans were the answer, but she only owned two pairs and they were both in the wash. She decided to raid her sister’s wardrobe, which was something she had been wanting to do since she started living with her. She’d always been too afraid to before. Katrina might have been a slob in the rest of her life, but she was anal about her clothes. If Kirsten spilled anything on them she’d be on the next bus out of town.
Katrina’s closet looked like the inside of a very strange clothing store that sold both high end fashion and grungy teenager clothes. Kirsten gravitated more to the high end fashion side of the closet, picking out a park of dark skinny jeans and a floral blouse. She ran her fingers over some of the sweaters, but decided ultimately that the fewer layers she added, the better. She wasn’t sure what kind of whole outfit ruining events could possibly occur, but she didn’t want to push her luck.
Back in the kitchen, Kirsten looked for an apron to cover up her clothes, but had no success. Good thing she wasn’t making spaghetti. She pulled out the flatbreads she’d bought at the store and began layering them with ricotta, spinach, and garlic. Then she put them aside and tossed a salad of spinach, pecans, goat cheese, and dried cranberries.
“Cooking is easy,” Kirsten commented, standing back and admiring her handiwork. All she would have to do when Brad got there was put the pizzas in the oven, open a bottle of wine, and try not to vomit from anxiety.
She had just finished cleaning up when the buzzer rang. She glanced at the time. Seven p.m. on the dot. She liked a punctual man.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Brad.”
“I’m buzzing you in.”
She held the button down and tried to rein in her breathing, but the thought of seeing Brad at her door in a couple of minutes was wreaking havoc on her nerves. Why did he even want to have dinner with her in the first place? He was bound to find out how boring she was, and then he’d be out of there and calling the authorities in no time. Would she go to jail for impersonating her sister? This happened all the time in movies, but she couldn’t remember how any of them had ever dealt with being caught out!
Brad knocked on the door, and Kirsten took a deep breath and walked over to it. Everything was going to be fine. It was just a dinner. Like a normal thing that people did. Nothing to feel anxious about.
She opened the door, and her mouth dropped open.
Brad had never looked so gorgeous. He was wearing a tailored suit that was open at the collar, and his hair was the perfect amount of messy. He was also holding a bunch of roses.
“Welcome,” she said. “Um, are those for me?”
“No, I just like to bring flowers with me when I leave my house so I don’t have to smell the plague ridden citizens of the city.”
Kirsten blinked. Talk about unexpected answers.
Brad grinned and pressed the flowers into her hands, walking past her. “I’m starving. What’s for dinner?”
Chapter Six
The roses, as expected, completely knocked Kirsten off her game. Not that she’d ever really had any game in the first place. Brad liked seeing her nervous, though. She got all flustered and cute, and it made the school yard kid in him chuckle.
He’d never been in Katrina’s apartment before, and it wasn’t what he expected. He figured she’d be the type to have a mouldering pile of dishes in the sink. Maybe laundry strewn over the floor. But the place looked spotless.
Kirsten followed him into the kitchen. “Can I get you a drink?”
“Yes please.”
“I’ve got beer and wine?”
“Beer, please.”
Kirsten reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer, managing to twist it open and hand it to him while still holding the roses.
“I don’t really know what to do with these,” she said. “I’ve never been given flowers before.�
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Brad smiled, delighted to have been the first guy to do so, though also confused as to why.
“I find it hard to believe that a pretty girl like you has never been given flowers before.” He took a sip of his beer and watched her as she rifled through the cabinets.
Kirsten laughed. “I’ve been dating all the wrong guys, I guess.” She snapped her head around. “Not that this is a date. Or that we’re dating.” Her cheeks grew red and she turned away just as quickly.
“Relax,” Brad replied, taking another sip of his beer. “This is just a standard blackmailing scenario. Nothing funny.”
But god did he want there to be a little something more. He would never manipulate a girl into having sex with him, but he’d thought about it since he discovered Kirsten’s secret. The parts of her sister that had made him dislike Katrina were missing, and without them it was like he could finally see her. He’d always thought Katrina was hot, but Kirsten was beautiful. Her face wasn’t so pinched up all the time, and her eyes were wide and innocent. She wasn’t a snob, nor was she lazy.
He took another look around the room. “I bet this place did not look like this before you got here.”
Kirsten had been midway pulling a glass bottle out of the corner cabinet when she froze. Turning to him, she placed the pitcher in the sink and began to fill it with water. “How did you guess?”
“Katrina’s never struck me as the orderly type.”
Kirsten chuckled, pulling the pitcher out from under the water and shutting the tap off. “She’s more the creative type. Don’t be fooled though, even if her place is a mess she still knows where everything is.” Kirsten furrowed her brow, her eyes ducking away from his. “She’s brilliant.”
“You say that like she’s smarter than you.”
Kirsten shrugged. “She is. Just because we’re twins doesn’t mean we’re exactly the same.”
“I could have figured that much out by myself.”
Brad locked eyes with Kirsten again, and this time she didn’t look away.
“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” she said.
“Good.” He took another swig of beer. “It was one. I don’t care how smart Katrina is, she’s horrible with people. That’s a kind of intelligence on its own.”
Kirsten smiled and grabbed a pan from the counter behind her, thrusting it into the oven. Then she walked back to the roses on the counter and began to unwrap them, slipping them into the pitcher. “I think you’re supposed to cut the stems or something, but I have no idea what I’m doing.”
Brad rolled his shoulders. “Me neither,” he said.
***
Brad hadn’t expected much for dinner, and he wasn’t rewarded with much. Kirsten might never be an award winning chef, but she kept him entertained throughout the meal. As soon as she began to relax a bit around him, the spark inside of her that he’d thought would be there began to emerge. She was charming and funny, and with a little bit more wine she became quite flirty as well.
“Can I tell you something?” she said after dinner, when they were seated on the couch sipping their drinks.
“Go for it.”
A lazy grin crossed her face. “I don’t know anything about football.” She bit her lip, and it was the most adorable gesture he’d ever seen. “I Googled that MVP thing.”
Brad dipped his head back and laughed. “It was appreciated, though.” He stared deeply into her hazel eyes, noting that there appeared to be little flecks of gold in them. “That was my first hint that Katrina had been taken by the body snatchers, though.”
Kirsten descended into giggles. “I’ve never seen Katrina interact with other people at work. For twins, we’re not really that close. I should have done a little research on her before I bothered to research anyone else.”
“What was it like, being her?”
Kirsten leaned back into the sofa, which Brad resented because it took her a little bit further from him. “I guess it wasn’t any different. I just felt like I was being a slightly more awkward version of myself. I mean, I clearly wasn’t doing a good job of being her anyway.”
“Now that I know you a little better, I can definitely confirm you were just a more awkward version of yourself.”
Kirsten smacked him lightly on the arm. Even that slight contact sent a shock straight down to his balls. She had no idea how sexy she was.
“Hey!” she protested. “I had you fooled for at least a little bit. And Larry still thinks I’m Katrina.”
“That is true,” Brad conceded. “Though Larry would probably think a monkey was Katrina as long as it poked at his obnoxiously large back muscles.”
That killed Kirsten. She keeled over laughing, her face to her knees. “On my first day I actually thought I had some sort of talent for massage because he loved it so much.”
Brad laughed along with her. “My point exactly.” He nudged her in the shoulder. “Your massages are horrible.”
She frowned in mock outrage. “Well I think your footballing is horrible.”
“Your english is bad too,” he observed with a cheeky grin. “What are you good at?”
Kirsten’s mind clearly went somewhere else, and she began to blush. He liked the look of that. But a couple hours of getting to know him and half a bottle of wine had changed her. Since he’d arrived, Brad had witnessed a stripping away of her trepidation and shyness.
“I am a great kisser,” she said, not missing a beat.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Prove it.”
Chapter Seven
“Prove it.”
Kirsten’s heart pounded. Her fingers trembled. And her stomach felt like there was a man playing the maracas inside of it. But these weren’t enough to stop her anymore. She was comfortable with Brad; as comfortable as she normally was with people who weren’t as attractive as he was. So bragging about her kissing abilities hadn’t been nearly as bold a move for her as it would have been the day before.
Now she only had to go through with it.
Before she lost her nerve, Kirsten abruptly reached forward and pulled Brad’s face to hers, mashing their lips together. In an instant, her whole body felt like it was on fire. It was a kiss fueled inferno that snaked down from her lips all the way to her core, burning her from the inside out.
She moaned, pressing harder, her lips eagerly moving against his. Tasting him. Feeling him. He tasted of beer and something deep and manly, and she hungered for him.
Brad responded but swinging her over and pinning her down to the couch, sliding his hips between her legs. Kirsten had never had a kiss turn so sexual in such a short period of time, but there was something so hot about it. He was already hard, and he ground his erection against her as she slid her tongue between his teeth and stroked his with it.
Brad growled and moved down to her neck, suckling at her skin. “That was pretty good,” he said. “But I’ve had better.”
Kirsten moaned, but grabbed a fist of his hair and pulled him back up to her face. She knew he was being playful, but she was a perfectionist to the core. “Try this then.”
She locked lips with him again, this time slipping her hand between them and massaging him through his jeans. Brad groaned in satisfaction as she squeezed him, his mouth dropping open.
“Better?”
Brad nipped at her lower lip. “Oh yeah.” He moved his lips to her ear, his breath tickling her neck. “My turn.”
Before Kirsten could grasp what was happening, his hand had unbuttoned her jeans and slid inside, delving into her slick folds. She arched up against him, crying out in pleasure. Brad merely chuckled and kissed her neck, the sensation of his stubble against her throat driving Kirsten wild.
She panted and ground against his hand, willing him inside of her. No matter how much she rocked, though, Brad wasn’t giving her what she wanted.
“Brad,” she moaned.
“Yes?”
“I need you inside of me.”
He chuckled, sending a blast of breath across her throat. “Since you asked so nicely.”
Cool air shocked Kirsten’s neck, and she looked to see that Brad had pulled away from her, and was pulling off his shirt. She curled her legs up and slid off her jeans and panties. Brad merely unzipped his pants, pulling out his massive erection.
Kirsten licked her lips, and looked up at him with half-lidded eyes, full of need. Brad smirked and reached forward, divesting her of her shirt and bra. She expected him to enter her right away, but he bent over and attached his mouth to her nipple first, sucking at the tender bud and causing her core to turn molten. He moved to the other, sending an electric current through her that caused her to cry out in rapture.
Her cry must have pushed him over the edge, because the next moment he was filling her, pushing forward until their hips were flush with one another. Kirsten let out a low moan, her arousal nearing its peak already. She’d never been so turned on by anyone before, but then again this wasn’t just any man—Brad was basically a god.
He began to thrust into her, pulling out and driving in so deep Kirsten was pressed further into the couch. Her hands scrambled for purchase on his back, desperately clinging on as he caused her body to tremble with pleasure. She was so high that she never wanted to come down. She could spend the rest of her life riding Brad’s cock and have no regrets.
Brad kissed her, hard and deep, spearing his tongue into her mouth and dominating her. She had actually always considered herself a good kisser, but even she could recognize the goddamn prodigal talent the man had with his mouth. It was like he’d been made for turning women into mush with his tongue.
Tension began to pool in Kirsten’s belly, hot and deep. She urged it along by squeezing his cock, which elicited a primal growl from Brad that caused her to moan with delight. The more she squeezed, the closer she got. And finally, like stars exploding behind her eyelids, Kirsten came.
She clung to Brad as she pulsed around him, her eyes screwed shut and her mouth wide open.
Sports Romance: Feeling The Heat Page 3