by J. H. Croix
Tim glanced up from his phone. “He’s doing great. He’s definitely on track to meet our goal of getting him back in action within three months.” He tapped his phone. “Let’s check in tomorrow first thing. Will 7:30 work for you?” he asked, looking to Olivia.
She nodded and started to say something. I knew she’d likely move right along after that, so I cut in. “Dr. Bowen, I meant to ask something.” She snapped her mouth shut, her eyes narrowing on me. I loved it when she looked all proper and annoyed with me. The air around us fairly crackled with the tension emanating from her and damn did it turn me on. “I’ve been doing some reading to make sure I can move things along. I understand I might need to be careful about putting pressure on my knee. Can you clarify what that means? Does it relate to my actual playing or…?” I let my words trail off. I’d just bloody lied about reading anything of the sort, but I wanted to tease Olivia. She’d insisted on riding me the other night, all because she didn’t want me to put any pressure on my knee. She could ride me to madness again and again if it meant I was buried deep inside of her.
She shifted her legs, and the flush on her cheeks deepened. If I hadn’t been so attuned to her, I might not have noticed that she rubbed her thighs together, making me wonder if she was as wet as I was hard. Her eyes flicked to Tim, but he was distracted and texting something on his phone. Her gaze swung back to me, her cheeks still cherry red. “Not knowing what you were reading, I can’t speak specifically to that. Generally speaking, pressure on your knee would come from extending it too much in this healing stage, or actual pressure, such as kneeling on it,” she finally said.
“Ah. Well that’s helpful. I’ll be certain to be careful about that.” I almost grinned because it was so fun to tease her, yet I’d put myself in a bad state with wanting her so badly just now. I needed to ease up if only not to make a fool of myself.
Tim glanced up and slipped his phone back in his pocket. “Sorry about the interruption there.” He glanced between us, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Did you need anything else?” he asked, his question directed to Olivia. “If not, we’ll get back to work.”
“That was all. Thank you.” Olivia held still for a moment before giving her head a little shake and turning away. I watched her hips sway with her steps under her tidy, proper skirt and thought again about yanking it up and bending her over.
After she exited the room, Tim cleared his throat. I had lost track of time and felt a little lost myself. Olivia did that to me. Tim words startled me.
“Dr. Bowen is one of the best surgeons here and one of the nicest people I know. Seeing the way you’re looking at her, I’m going to flat out tell you I’ll personally kick your ass if you hurt her. She’s not a woman to tease with,” Tim said bluntly.
I met his gaze head on, trying to control my expression even though he’d startled me. I considered what to say. I was coming to learn my life was now divided. There was ‘before Olivia’ time and ‘after Olivia’ time. Before Olivia, I’d have shrugged and carried on, easily letting go of any fantasies I had. Easy come, easy go. After Olivia, I wondered how to make sense of the jumble of feelings swirling inside me. I couldn’t even fathom hurting her, but then what the bloody hell did that mean? I loved teasing her, but not the way he meant. I knew I couldn’t tell him what had transpired between us. I didn’t think Tim would care for the reasons Olivia thought, but I knew it would bother her, so I wouldn’t say a word. I called upon my usual swagger and shrugged, aiming for casual. “Just enjoying the view.”
Tim arched a brow. “Fair enough, but cut it out. Dr. Bowen won’t appreciate it.”
No. No, she most certainly wouldn’t and didn’t…unless we were alone. I shrugged again and got back to my stretching.
A few hours later when the sky was turning wispy gray and the streetlights flickered on as I walked the few blocks to my apartment, I stopped on the sidewalk and slipped my phone out. I’d tried to find Olivia as I was leaving the clinic, but her office was dark and I didn’t trust myself to try to find her in the examination area. Our brief encounter in the gym had sent my body into hours of longing and lust. Much as I didn’t give a bloody damn if anyone saw us together, I knew she did, and I respected that.
I pulled her number up and texted her.
I’m not above groveling if that’s what’s required to see you again.
I leaned against the building closest to me and watched the busy street as I waited to see if she’d reply. When I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, I pulled it out.
Don’t be so dramatic. How about tomorrow?
Tonight. Please.
I stared at the screen, waiting impatiently as the dots blinked at me, indicating she was typing.
Okay. In an hour. Where?
Your place to start. Leave your hair up.
I’d abandoned any sense within myself and freely admitted I loved her hair. I especially loved seeing it all tidy and then making it wild and messy.
Are you serious?! It’s my hair.
And I love it. See you in an hour.
I didn’t wait to see if she had anything to add and pushed off the building to stop by my flat first.
Within moments, I walked into the flat I shared with Alex and headed straight for my room. I’d showered at the clinic, but figured perhaps I could bother to change. Alex gave a wave from where he sat on the couch watching game tapes. I quickly changed and returned to the living room, plunking down beside him on the couch. I glanced at the screen and almost flinched. He was watching one of the games we lost back in London. I knew the team we’d lost to was scheduled to play our new team here in Seattle for an exhibition game, so it made perfect sense for him to watch. The Stars had yet to play this team, so we didn’t have the option to watch prior matches. The only reason they were playing was for the press. American pro teams didn’t play British pro teams unless it was for exhibition. It was painful to try to watch. I’d been so bloody out of it. Mum’s death had thrown me for a loop of the worst sort. I watched as I missed the critical pass that allowed the opposing team to steal the ball.
Alex hit pause and glanced to me. “How’d PT go today?”
“Good, I guess. Tim thinks I’m on track to be back in play on time.”
Alex held my gaze and nodded slowly. “Good. You’re not too gimpy,” he said with a slow grin.
I punched him lightly in the shoulder. “Not so much.” I nodded toward the frozen screen. “Think the team’s ready for those blokes?”
Alex ran a hand through his hair and leaned back into the couch. “Think so. We need you though. Matt’s doing his best, but he’s not you.”
Alex was referring to Matt Brady, the backup player for my position on the team. I liked Matt, and he was a solid player. I wasn’t much for rating my skills against a teammate, but I knew Matt didn’t play at the level I did. My chest tightened and that anxiety I’d thought mostly banished rose inside. It was impossible not to wonder if I’d make it back to form and be able to play the way I had before. With my PT progress, I felt good, but I had enough sense to know I wouldn’t know until I was back in play. I took a slow breath and tried to push the anxiety away. “Right. He’s got some solid skills. He can get the team through this patch if you guys make some adjustments.”
Alex nodded. “Right. Working on it.” He paused to take a long pull from the beer he had sitting on the coffee table. “Where you headed?” he asked when he set his beer down again.
“Dinner with Olivia.” Alex wasn’t too nosy for a mate, but it was pointless to hide much from him. He knew me too bloody well.
He held my gaze for a long moment and nodded slowly. “Since when do you take a girl out more than once?”
“Since Olivia,” I said simply.
He chuckled softly. “Right, mate. Here I was worried about her and now I’m wondering if I need to worry about you.”
I shifted my shoulders and eyed him. “No need to worry, mate.”
Alex arched a brow, but he didn’t add a
nything. I ignored the thread of discomfort rising inside. There was ‘before Olivia’ and ‘after Olivia,’ and I hadn’t a clue how to navigate the disquieting feelings swirling inside.
Chapter 18
Olivia
I glared at the mirror after another failed attempt to make my curls behave. Liam had asked me to leave my hair up, and I’d proceeded to spend close to a half hour dallying with my hair. First, I decided I was going to leave it down out of spite. It got under my skin to have him tell me what to do with my hair. Yet, it turned me on, sweet hell did it turn me on. So then, I decided I’d put it back up. I wore my hair in a knot almost every day, so this should have taken me no more than a few minutes. My hair was being naughty and fighting every attempt to tame it. I never should have taken it down. There was this one curl that kept popping out every which way. I ran my hand under the water and smoothed the curl into place, knowing full well it would likely unwind itself as soon as it dried.
At the sound of a knock on the door, I realized I hadn’t even had time to change. I was still wearing my plain black skirt and cream colored blouse from work—both nothing but boring and professional. Well, hell. I didn’t have time to do anything about it, so I walked to the door and opened it. Liam was leaning inside the doorframe, one hand in his pocket pulling the waistband of his jeans down just enough to reveal a glimmer of his skin with that oh-so-tempting area where his muscled abs tapered down. My breath caught when I looked up into his deep blue eyes. His black hair gleamed under the soft lights from the hall, and his mouth curled into a slow smile.
“Hello luv.”
It felt as if the very air around us heated. My belly turned in a slow flip, and my pulse took off. Somehow I managed to speak. “Hi. I, um, haven’t had time to change,” I said, gesturing to my skirt. “If you can wait a few minutes, I’ll…”
“No need to change. I love when you look all proper and such.”
I was instantly wet. When I realized my mouth had fallen open, I snapped it shut and spun away from the door. “Do you have to say proper like that?” I asked as I all but stomped over to grab my purse. I didn’t much feel like bothering to change because all I’d do was obsess over it, but still.
When I turned back to the doorway, Liam was standing right where I’d left him. “How shall I say proper?” he asked.
I slid my arms into my jacket and draped my purse over my shoulder. “Not like that,” I said, exasperated with his question.
He arched a brow, the hot look in in his eyes nearly melting me on the spot. “As soon as you tell me the proper was to say proper, I’ll be happy to oblige,” he replied, dragging the emphasis out on the word in question.
His crisp British accent sent flutters twirling in my belly. No one had ever warned me against speaking to men with British accents. Right about now, I wished they had because all Liam had to do was speak, and the sound of his voice made me feel wild and restless inside.
Somehow I managed to walk down the stairs, ignoring the wet heat between my thighs. Every step served to subtly rub my slick folds together, sending little jolts of pleasure through me. This was pure madness. Walking, walking, was a problem when it came to Liam.
I hadn’t even thought about where we were going. When we stepped out into the soft darkness, Liam glanced to me. “Where are we going?” he asked.
“I hadn’t thought about it. Any preferences?” Habit alone got me through the niceties.
“Luv, I’ve only been in Seattle for a bit. A few of the other players from here have dragged me and my mates out and about, but I can’t say I have any suggestions. We could go to 13 Coins again.”
Most days, I’d agree to go to 13 Coins, yet it felt too close to home in more ways than one. I could barely get a grip on my body and entwining memories with Liam at a place that held so many other memories connected to my parents didn’t seem like the best idea. I thought quickly. “How about Thai food?”
Just as he nodded, the light rail came to a smooth stop at the cross street. I grabbed his hand. “Come on.”
A short ride later, we stepped off the railcar and Liam walked alongside me, his palm resting in the curve of my back. The heat of his touch sifted through my jacket and blouse. I’d brought him to the same place Daisy and I had eaten earlier in the week. Though Seattle was awash in restaurants, I hewed to the tried and true. The waitress grinned when she saw me, her eyes flicking an appreciative glance in Liam’s direction.
Once we were seated, Liam looked over at me. “Okay, luv. You order for me.”
I adjusted my glasses. “Are you sure?”
He nodded firmly. “Yup. I’ve only had Thai once before.”
Our waitress arrived and quickly took our order. After I asked her to give Liam some suggestions, he grinned as soon as she suggested drunken noodles. “Oh, that’s rich. Drunken noodles sound as if they were made for me.”
A bit later, our waitress had cleared out plates and was bringing an after dinner glass of wine. As I’d have expected, Liam was charming and funny throughout dinner. He regaled me with tales of practical jokes he and his teammates played on each other back with his team in Britain. I could tell he missed his old team and realized his time with the Seattle Stars had been brief before his injury. Given that he’d been a central acquisition for the team and held a leadership role, I could only imagine he was facing some challenges with the adjustment and having to sit on the sidelines right now.
Our wine arrived, and Liam glanced over after I’d taken a rather generous sip. “Well, was it so bad, luv?” he asked with a wink.
“Was what so bad?”
“Seeing me. You’ve been avoiding me like the plague.”
My spine straightened. “I have not!” A complete lie, but I wasn’t quite up to discussing aloud why I’d been avoiding him.
His blue eyes darkened and coasted over me, sending a hot shiver through me with my skin heating everywhere his eyes landed. “Oh yes you have. You haven’t figured out yet that only makes me want you more. I love a challenge,” he murmured.
Our table was in a corner and about as tiny as a table could get and leave room for two people to eat. His knees had been bumping against mine throughout dinner. I jumped a little when I felt his hand curl over my bare knee and slide up my thigh. I took a gulp of wine and wondered if I’d made a serious miscalculation. I’d been avoiding Liam because I had no idea how to handle any of this. Despite Daisy’s declaration that I should enjoy as much of him as I could, I didn’t know if that was a good idea. Because I liked him too much, and when I was with him, I couldn’t turn away. Being with him was like the sun parting the clouds after days of rain. The feel of it on one’s skin was so divine.
Liam made me want things I’d never even considered. Yet, my position was so precarious with him. There was the sticky issue of him being a quite recent patient, and then the fact of his near rock star sports status. I was nothing more than a small-town girl who’d ended up in his orbit because I was brainy enough to sail through med school and land the job of my dreams. I shouldn’t wonder the things I wondered about him. Such as, how it would feel for this to be more than a surreal connection? What did he really think about me? And did he want me the way I wanted him? Was he nearly out of his mind with need whenever we were close?
My breath came out in a hiss when he reached the juncture between my thighs. His palm stayed right where it was, curled over my thigh with his thumb softly stroking back and forth. My entire being narrowed to the small strip of flesh where his touch moved in a slow sweep. “Liam, what are you doing?” I asked in a fierce whisper.
My cheeks were hot, hell my whole body was hot, and it was a miracle I didn’t dissolve into a puddle my chair.
His eyes met mine, the blue gone dark as navy. “Touching you,” he said, the low timbre of his voice sending a ripple of need through me.
Right then, he slid his palm down the curve of my inner thigh where my skin was so sensitive. I didn’t even realize I was widening my thighs
until I felt my skirt slide up further. He trailed a finger over the wet silk there. I was drenched with my own arousal as he commenced to tease me to madness right there in the restaurant where his hand was hidden under the table in the dark corner. All he did was drag his fingers back and forth, coasting over my swollen clit again and again and again. My breath came in short pants, and I almost forgot where we were. His eyes were on me the entire time, and I couldn’t tear my gaze free—locked in this sensuous, shimmering web of desire with him. He slipped a finger under the edge of my panties and sank it knuckle deep into my channel. I was dripping wet, and he slid home instantly. My hips were rolling into his touch, and I was on the verge of a climax, small ripples of pleasure building inside.
I was snapped out of the madness when the waitress came out of the kitchen entrance nearby, the swinging door banging shut behind her and nudging me into awareness. I clamped my knees together. “Oh my God! We have to stop.”
His hand was effectively trapped between my thighs now. He arched a brow and eased his finger in another slow stroke. “Must we now?” he asked, his tone hinted with that haughtiness.
The raw desire pounding through me combined with mortification made me hot all over. I glared at him. “Yes!”
Our waitress was making her way back across the restaurant from delivering a tray of food to a table on the far side of the room, and I could tell she was aiming right for us. “Ease up, luv,” Liam said softly.
I relaxed my knees, and he slipped his fingers out of me. He carefully put the silk back where it belonged and threw a grin at me just as the waitress reached our table. The heat of his touch disappearing sent a pang of longing through me. That’s how out of my mind I was. I might’ve been mortified at almost tumbling into an orgasm in a restaurant, yet that didn’t stop me from wanting his fingers shoved right back inside of me.
I managed to nod along and speak a few words while the waitress checked to see if we needed anything else, but my attention was focused elsewhere. Specifically on Liam and when we’d be alone. I had no idea how much time passed between then and when we found our way outside. I was only vaguely aware of my surroundings. It had started to rain softly since we’d entered the restaurant a few hours ago. The feel of his hand on my low back was searing. Liam hailed a cab, and I didn’t even think to question why. I almost never took cabs. Once we were in the backseat with the panel up between us and the driver up front, Liam yanked me onto his lap.