Code Red

by Amy Noelle

  Whatever response I might have given was lost in his lips. Finally. He had me up against my door, and I pulled him as close as I could get him. I tangled my fingers in his silky hair and devoured him like I had the chocolate cake just a short while ago. It didn’t hurt that he tasted kind of chocolaty as well. His hands were on my waist and his fingers were long enough that they were pressing into the very top of my ass.

  “I want you,” I said after he broke our kiss and started sucking on my neck. Jeez, didn’t he know what that did to me? Of course he did. I’d pretty much just invited him in like the first-date slut that I was.

  “I want you, too.” But he gave me a quick kiss on the lips and stepped back. “And that’s why I have to go right now, before we end up ruining my plans.”

  “Plans? You have plans?” My lips were all swollen, my body was screaming for him to take me, and he was talking about plans?

  “Yes, for dating.” He ran a knuckle over my cheek.

  “Can you enlighten me as to when I’m allowed to invite you in?” It would really put my mind at ease so I could stop wondering every five minutes.

  He smiled and kissed me on the lips once more. Then on my forehead. Why that turned me on just as much as the hot kisses I couldn’t say.

  “You can invite me in when you invite me all the way in.” He smiled. “Good night, Nicole.”

  Chapter 20

  Four dates. Nine if you counted lunches, and since they consisted of talking, laughing, touching, and kissing just like our dinner dates did, they counted. So eight dates in one week, and he still hadn’t touched me. Okay, he’d touched me, but he hadn’t touched me, not like I was practically ready to beg him to. My body had been on high alert all week long, and the twenty-pack of batteries I’d bought was going to run out embarrassingly quickly if I wasn’t careful.

  Today, he was going to see the real me for the first time. Well, the real casual me, anyway. I had on my World Series Champions T-shirt. There was no way I wasn’t wearing that to taunt the hell out of jealous Cubs fans. I had on blue jeans and no makeup, because I never wore makeup to sporting events. My ponytail was secured with a band and looped through my Cardinals cap. It was going to be another lovely spring Chicago day, so I didn’t even have to take a jacket. I grabbed my wallet and phone and shoved them in my pockets.

  Josh had insisted upon meeting me here rather than at the stadium. I laughed as I remembered the look on his face when I’d suggested meeting by the Harry Caray statue. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to get you within twenty feet of that thing, considering how much you hate the man. I’d find you trying to pull it down like they did the Saddam Hussein statue in Iraq.”

  He hadn’t been that far off. I did hate it. And though it was wrong to speak ill of the dead, I couldn’t help myself. What kind of baseball announcer can’t pronounce players’ names?

  My intercom buzzed. “Your guest is here, Ms. Magette.”

  My heart did a little leap. He was here. “Tell him I’m on my way down. Thanks, Henry.”

  I poured some extra food for the boys and got a loving rub from Winchester and a suspicious glance from Hunt. He was pissed I’d come home late all week long, but he’d been slightly mollified when I’d kept my Friday-night routine. “I love you both, even if one of you has an attitude problem.” I grabbed my extra hat and took off.

  My breath caught when I got out of the elevator and saw Josh standing there, chatting with Henry. His back was to me, and I had to admire the way the red T-shirt stretched across his body. He wasn’t huge, he wasn’t small, he was just perfect. And there were some sexy muscles under that material. I was dying to get my hands and my mouth on them.

  He had an amazing ass, too. It was round and firm. I really wanted to go up and grab it, so I did. He jumped and quickly reached around to take hold of me. “Well, good morning to you, too,” he said and gave me a quick kiss. It made my heart stutter, just that three-second kiss.

  “Good morning. Hi, Henry. You gonna watch the game on your little TV today?” Henry was technically the doorman, but he sat inside at his little desk, and I knew he had a television stashed back there because we often caught games together. He was nearing sixty and he always shared his wife’s cookies with me, so I loved him.

  “Gotta root for my boys, Ms. Magette.” He was a Cubs fan, but I forgave him due to the cookies. And because he had a big toothy smile that often made my day. I’d long ago given up on getting him to call me Nicole or Nic. He insisted on the formal name, even when we were chowing down on cookies and fighting about baseball.

  “Adams is on the mound today, so good luck with that,” I said. Mike Adams was our best starter. I may have squealed when I saw he was pitching.

  “And we have Hendrickson.”

  I shot him a look, and he smiled. “He’s better than his record.”

  “So’s the whole team, according to you. But there’s always next year, right?”

  “It’ll be next year before I share cookies with you again!” He laughed at my expression.

  “No withholding the cookies, Henry. That’s just mean.” Josh put a comforting arm around me, and I looked up at him. “Henry’s wife bakes the best chocolate-chip cookies known to man,” I said. “And he only shares with me.”

  “Is that so? You hitting on my girl, Henry?” Josh asked. A little thrill went through me. His girl. His fingers brushed over my ass, and I had to contain myself. I wasn’t going to act like the bitch in heat that I was in front of Henry.

  “Only a little,” Henry said, and we both laughed. “You take good care of my girl today. Don’t let her get too mouthy with my people. Not all of them are as good-natured and forgiving of her wrongful allegiance as I am.”

  I laughed and kissed Henry on the cheek. “You know I won’t get into any trouble.”

  “I’ll take care of her,” Josh said.

  “Good. You kids have fun.” Then he passed us each a cookie, because he was awesome.

  “It’ll be a great day now, Henry. Thank you!”

  He laughed and waved us off.

  When Josh and I stepped outside, he took a bite of the cookie and said, “You weren’t kidding.”

  “I know. I beg him for the recipe, even though I rarely ever bake a thing. One day he’ll give it to me. His wife, Molly, sends little care packages for me now and then. It’s kind of like having my grandparents here.”

  Josh grinned and took my hand. “I love that you have people looking out for you like that.”

  My head went fuzzy when he said the word “love” again. Every time he used it I felt weird. Scared and nervous but excited and, maybe, hopeful?

  “Oh yeah, before I forget,” I said and slapped the extra hat on his head.

  Josh chuckled as he pulled it down. “How do I look?”

  I looked him over, since he’d asked and all. I needed to give an honest opinion, didn’t I? “You look right,” I said.

  “Right?” He laughed and adjusted his cap by pulling the brim down over his eyes. I could just barely see my favorite piece of hair poking out and I smoothed it aside.

  “Yes. Cardinals red suits you.”

  He snickered and we stepped onto the El together. I leaned into him, and he tugged on my ponytail. “I forgot to mention that you look sexy as hell.”

  “In this?” I gestured down at my T-shirt and jeans.

  “There’s nothing hotter than a girl who loves her sports. And who fills out a pair of jeans the way you do.”

  I felt the usual tug in my stomach when his voice went rough like that. “You should see me out of them.” Slut comment number one of the day.

  He shifted uncomfortably. “You have no idea.”

  “I very well do,” I said. He tugged on my ponytail again, and I elbowed him lightly. We arrived at our stop and got off, along with a good portion of the train. I grinned at some fellow Cardinals fans, and Josh and I walked hand-in-hand toward the stadium.

  Even though I hated the Cubs with every fiber o
f my being, I had to admit there was a certain magic about Wrigley that you didn’t find at every stadium. When I said as much, Josh agreed. “This place is incredible!”

  “Yeah, too bad it houses utter mediocrity.” He laughed, and I handed our tickets to the ticket taker. We went through the turnstiles and made our way to our seats on the third-base side in the club boxes.

  “Great seats,” Josh said, looking around in awe. We were right there, only four rows away from the field. “How did you score these?”

  Thanks to Kim’s sexual prowess and her husband’s being whipped. “Kim’s husband’s firm has them, and he pulled some strings.”

  “These are easily the best seats I’ve ever had.” He took out his phone and started snapping pictures of the players doing their warm-ups. I laughed, and he turned and took a picture of me.

  “Hey!” I yelled, but he ignored me and started typing. “What are you doing?”

  “Sending a picture of you to my mom. She wanted to see what you look like.”

  “You can’t send her that.” Good God, I was in a baseball hat and sans makeup. I tried to grab his phone, but he laughed and held it out of reach.

  “Of course I can. You look beautiful. See? I made it into my wallpaper.” He showed me the picture, and I had to admit I didn’t look terrible, but still.

  “You could have taken a way better picture of me anytime during work and sent that to her,” I said and crossed my arms.

  “Who says I haven’t?” He showed me a few random snapshots. “I haven’t sent one of those yet, but I can now if you want me to. I sent this one to my brother.”

  I couldn’t help the pleasure that spread through me. If he’d sent pictures of me to his family, he’d obviously told them about me. I could, however, be annoyed that I’d somehow missed him taking all those photos. The one he said he’d sent to his brother was actually of me bending over, my ass and legs the only things visible.

  I smacked his chest. “You better not have!”

  He laughed and kissed me. “No, that’s just for me. I sent him this one.” It was marginally better, though he’d clearly taken it after an illicit work kiss. My cheeks were flushed, my lips a little swollen, and my hair mussed.

  “When in the hell did you take that?”

  He looked so boyishly cute as he grinned at me. “What do you think I do with the phone all day while you’re writing copy?”

  Of course. He could take pictures of me with the Comet while he was explaining things. “You’re pretty crafty, Mr. Daniels.”

  He chuckled. “You’re not mad, are you?”

  How could I be? “I took a picture of you on our first day and sent it to my friends.”

  Josh threw back his head and laughed. “Is that so?”

  “How do you think Mandy got so hot for you? She took one look at your picture and pissed me off left and right, talking about how if I wouldn’t go for you, she would.” I scowled.

  “Well, now you have me, and she’s stewing in her jealous juices,” he said and tugged my ball cap over my eyes.

  I slapped at him and fixed it. “I do, don’t I?” We kissed again, and that desire was right there, bubbling up to the surface. I pulled back. “All right, enough PDA. Do you want some food?”

  “Sure. I can get it. What do you want?”

  I was already standing and shaking my head. “Oh, no. This date’s on me. I asked you out, remember?”

  “How could I forget?” He looked so happy about it. “At least let me come and help you carry it.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m a veteran baseball game attendee. A dog and beer?”

  He held up his hands in surrender. “Okay. Yes, that would be perfect.”

  This was important. “Mustard or ketchup?”

  “Mustard, of course.”

  “Good boy. Do you want onions or peppers or anything?”

  He looked conflicted, and I laughed. “I’m putting onions on mine. Don’t worry, I’ll still kiss you.” I’d like to see anyone try and stop me.

  “Okay, then. Onions for me, too.”

  I wandered off to get our food and returned to find some redhead ogling the hell out of him. He laughed at something she said.

  “Here’s your food,” I said as I took my seat on the other side of Josh and shoved his food in his lap.

  “Thanks, baby.” Baby? He was smiling at me. “Nic, this is Karen. Karen, this is my girlfriend, Nicole.”

  “Uh, hi,” she muttered, looking annoyed. I was annoyed that she was wearing a tight pink Cubs baseball jersey and hitting on my man. I was, however, overjoyed that he’d introduced me as his girlfriend.

  “Hi, Karen. Communing with the enemy?” I wanted to laugh at how low-cut the stupid pink jersey was. Her tits were practically hanging out of it, and she was wearing teeny-tiny black shorts and high heels. Who the fuck wore high heels to a baseball game?

  “What?” She clearly had no idea what I was referring to. Then again, she was too busy looking at Josh to pay attention to me.

  “You know, Cubs fan, Cardinals fans.”

  “Oh.” She brushed a stray hair out of her face, careful not to smudge the thick mask of makeup. I could not have hated her more if I tried. “Well, I’m not really a huge fan or anything. I just liked the shirt.”

  Of course she did. “It’s really cute. I’m super fond of them making pink jerseys for us girls, so we can look more stylish. Who wants to wear the team colors?”

  Josh was shaking with silent laughter next to me.

  “I have a pink camouflage Bears one,” she said, sounding all excited about it.

  “Super cute!” I was speaking in this ridiculously high cheerleader voice, and Josh snorted. “So, do you come to games often?”

  “Yeah, well, now and then when my friends want to.”

  “Cool. And are these your seats?” If so, I’d make Josh trade with me so I could talk about bad sports fashion with this chick.

  “Oh, no, I just saw Josh and thought I’d say hi. My friends are over there.” Her friends were currently hanging over the railing, shoving their tits at the Cubs players.

  “Nice,” I said. “Well you should go or you’ll miss out on the best players. I hear Samuels is easy.”

  “Really? Um, thanks.” She glanced at Josh one more time, but he was staring studiously ahead, pretending to be fascinated by batting practice. “It was nice meeting you both.”

  “You too, Karen. Enjoy the game.” She wandered away, her ass hanging out of her shorts. Josh was too busy looking at me to notice. “If you can understand it,” I muttered when she was out of earshot.

  “Thank you for rescuing me when you did. I was afraid she was going to have a wardrobe malfunction right in front of me.”

  I laughed at his slightly dazed expression. “Those little buttons had to work overtime to keep her from bursting completely out. So, did you get her digits?”

  He rolled his eyes. “No. It’s good you got here before she could give them to me.”

  “What were you laughing at when I came over?”

  He chuckled. “She saw my shirt and told me she was a big Kurt Warner fan. I didn’t get the chance to tell her that was the wrong sport and the wrong city before you appeared.”

  I joined in his laughter. “Why do people like that come to the games?”

  “You know why.” Yeah, I did. Karen was currently flirting with Samuels.

  “She took my advice.”

  “Uh, how did you know that anyway?” he asked, eyeing me as he took a bite of his hot dog.

  “He once had one of the ushers bring Kim an autographed ball with his number on it. Her husband was not overly amused.”

  He snickered. “Well, he’d better not send a ball your way.”

  “I don’t want his balls,” I said, and Josh choked on his hot dog. I slapped his back as he coughed.

  “You can’t do that to a guy,” he said after he drank a little beer and caught his breath.

  “Sorry, it had to be done. You
have to make a good ball joke when you can.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” We polished off our hot dogs, and Josh slipped an arm around me.

  Karen looked back at us, and I sent her a little wave. Josh laughed again.

  “Girlfriend, huh?” I said, because it had kind of been on my mind since the moment he’d said it.

  He turned to me, and those laser blue eyes penetrated me like they always did. “Did you like that?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, then.” He kissed my cheek. “This is something like our ninth date in a week. I sent my mom your picture. I think that qualifies you for girlfriend status.”

  I was too happy about that to ask him when his girlfriend would get to see him naked. “That works for me.”

  “Me too.” Then he kissed me, and I forgot all about the redheaded tramp and the stadium full of people. Josh was my boyfriend.

  Chapter 21

  Could a person die of sexual frustration? Because if they could, I was going down, no lie. Another week of charged touches, heated looks, innuendo, and searing hot kisses had me on major edge by the time Friday rolled around. We had plans to go to the Shedd Aquarium on Saturday, followed by dinner and drinks on Rush Street. Sunday we were going to hang out at his place with Jen and Ryan again. We’d realized we’d been neglecting our best friends a little and wanted to rectify that, plus I wanted another chance to see Jen and Ryan in action. My friend seemed blissfully happy and I was thrilled, but I was a little worried about her falling too hard and too fast like she did with David.

  Work was going well. Too well. I was afraid we were going to come in ahead of deadline and then . . . well, that was the question, wasn’t it? What came after? Neither one of us had really talked about it beyond what we’d discussed when we’d first decided to try out this relationship thing. We were stuck waiting to see if we got another contract from Starfire, and if that meant Josh and I could work together again. That would require him to relocate to Chicago, and it both excited and petrified me to think about what that would mean.