Romancing the Wallflower

by Michelle Major

  “That’s Ms. Kronkowski,” Erin said without even having to look at which apartment he was talking about. “Because I’m single she thinks I must be a wild party girl.”

  David chuckled.

  “Hey,” she said, pushing at his chest. “That’s not funny.”

  “Yes, it is.” His eyes grazed up and down her body and she realized she’d let the door open enough that her Hello Kitty pajamas were on full display. “It’s not even ten and you’re ready for bed.”

  “I was reading,” she countered.

  “Let me guess,” he said. “A romance novel.”

  She narrowed her eyes, not sure how she felt about him pegging her reading tastes so easily. “What do you have against heroes?”

  “I don’t trust ’em,” he said with a shrug. “If a guy seems too good to be true, he probably is.”

  “Not on my e-reader,” she answered, but gestured him into the apartment, both because she didn’t want Ms. Kronkowski to go apoplectic and because Erin’s ex-boyfriend had seemed too good to be true. And he’d turned out to be a first-class jerk.

  “Tell me about the guy who hurt you,” David said, pulling the door shut and coming to stand in front of her.

  Could he read her mind? She gave a strangled laugh and asked, “Is that why you’re here?”

  He shook his head. “I’m here to apologize, but I want to know about you.”

  “There’s nothing to know. If you don’t believe me, talk to my mother. She’ll be happy to tell you how ordinary I am.”

  When his gaze turned sympathetic, Erin closed her eyes and sighed. “I didn’t mean that. I don’t want to talk about my ex-boyfriend or my mother with you.”

  He laced his fingers with hers when she opened her eyes, then led her to the couch, taking a seat and tugging her down next to him.

  “I’ll start,” he told her, using his thumb to trace circles around the center of her palm. The featherlight touch made her skin tingle. “I’m sorry I lost it today at the community center. I was out of line, and the last thing I want to do is jeopardize your program. You’ve been a lifesaver for me, and you deserve better in return.”

  “Every kid gets a chance,” she told him, “even the ones with awful parents. I can’t turn away a child because you have a personal issue with his father.”

  “I get that,” he said, “even if I don’t like it. Hell, maybe if Jenna and I had a teacher like you back in the day, things could have been different for us.” He dropped his head to the back of the couch, staring up at the white ceiling in her apartment. “Which brings me to my mother. She showed up tonight because my sister called her to help. She seems sincere, but things have never been great with us. Motherhood wasn’t really her thing, so Jenna and I did a lot of raising ourselves.”

  “You took care of your sister,” Erin said quietly.

  “Not very well,” he told her, pulling his hand away. “I was obsessed with playing baseball. The funny thing was that one of Mom’s boyfriends actually bought me my first ball and bat. He was a third baseman in the minor leagues, a decent guy.” He gave a half-hearted chuckle. “Of course, that meant he and my mom didn’t last long. She was a magnet for losers, just like Jenna. But I kept playing ball.”

  “And you were good,” she said. “I Googled you.”

  “You Googled me,” he repeated softly. “I can’t even imagine the crap you found about me online.”

  She shrugged. “You’ve had an exciting life.”

  “Hardly.” He shook his head. “I screwed the whole thing up.”

  “Because of your injury,” she prompted.

  “I don’t talk about it.”

  “You can with me.”

  He studied her a moment, then nodded. “It was a stupid bar fight. I’d met a woman after one of our home games and we started hooking up. It wasn’t love or dating. I didn’t know anything about her other than she was hot. I was twenty-five and stupid as the day is long. I had an ego to match my pitching talent. The woman had a jealous husband.”

  “She was married?”

  He gave a sharp nod. “I swear I didn’t know that, but it doesn’t matter. We were out and her husband came busting into the bar, hell-bent on beating me to a pulp. He was a big guy.”

  “You’re a big guy.”

  “I was also drunk and sloppy. But I’m a decent fighter. Just not against a knife.”

  “David,” she whispered, noticing that he’d moved his hand to massage his shoulder.

  “In retrospect,” he said quietly, “that guy did me a favor.”

  “He ended your career.”

  “My reckless behavior ended it, and who knows where I’d be if it hadn’t happened. I wouldn’t have moved to Crimson to help Jenna.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “I wouldn’t have met you.”

  “Oh,” she breathed, because somewhere in his words was the nicest compliment she’d ever received.

  “From my perspective, ordinary is the most exciting thing going.” He draped an arm across the couch cushions, his fingers just grazing her back. The gentle touch made her body come alive.

  “There’s nothing exciting about my life,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Come on,” he prompted. “Give me more than that. Help me understand you, Erin. I know you’re a great teacher, but I also know the program at the community center means more to you than just another way to help kids.”

  She bit down on her bottom lip, then sucked in a breath when he ran the pad of his thumb over the same spot.

  “I want something that belongs to me,” she said after a moment. “I want to do something that my mom can be proud of—”

  “She should be proud that her daughter is one of the best teachers around.”

  If only it were that simple. “We moved to Crimson after my dad died when I was just a little older than Rhett. They were older when I was born.” She cleared her throat and added, “I was definitely a surprise. Dad was a college professor and my mom is a psychiatrist. It was clear from the time I was little that I wasn’t like them. They loved me, but I didn’t quite fit. They were both so smart.”

  “You’re smart.”

  “My mom is a legitimate genius and I’m—” she shrugged “—average.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “It’s true. I wasn’t the kid she expected to get. After Dad died, I’m not sure she knew what to do with me. I wanted to do things like Girl Scouts and slumber parties, and she thought I should be spending more time with my head in the books. When it became clear I wasn’t going to live up to her high standards, she kind of lost interest.”

  “How could anyone lose interest in you?” He shifted closer, cupped her cheeks in his warm palms. “You’re smart and beautiful, and you have the biggest heart of anyone I know.”

  “Apparently,” she muttered, “big hearts aren’t as valuable as big breasts.”

  He blinked and dropped his hands. “Come again.”

  “Have you heard of Brazen Peaks?”

  “The restaurant outside of Carbondale?”

  “I think the correct term is ‘breastaurant,’” she told him.

  “Right. So what?”

  “Have you been there?”

  He shook his head. “Not my scene.”

  “My ex met his new girlfriend there. According to him, she’s sexy, adventurous and exciting.” She made a face. “I’m pretty sure that means I’m none of those things.”

  “Or it means your ex is an idiot.” He leaned and brushed his lips across hers. “Trust me. Your ex is an idiot.”

  She couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. It felt like the door to the cage she’d been living in her whole life had just been thrown open. When her friends told her that Greg was a fool for dumping her, she’d a
ssumed they were just being kind. Her mother certainly hadn’t bothered with that sentiment. She’d simply shaken her head and said that until Erin lowered her standards, she was bound to be disappointed by men.

  But David made the comment with so much conviction, she believed every word of it. If a man like him found her attractive, what did the opinion of her two-timing ex-boyfriend matter anyway?

  “Show me your scar,” she said suddenly, then felt her eyes grow wide.

  David looked as surprised at her request as she was at making it.

  “I’m not sure that’s such a grand plan, darlin’,” he told her, his voice husky.

  “Please,” she whispered, hoping the magic word would have the same effect on him as it did on her. “I want to understand what happened to you.”

  “Isn’t it enough to know I’m damaged goods?”

  “You’re not, and neither am I.”

  He lifted a brow. “Does that mean I get to see your breasts?”

  Her mouth dropped open.

  “I’m joking,” he said, shrugging out of his jacket. “Although it’s not such a bad idea now that I think about it. Best way to prove without a doubt that your ex-boyfriend was a total loser, don’t you think?”

  Erin swallowed. “I actually can’t think right now.”

  David chuckled. “Then let’s do this thing while your brain is jumbled.” He grabbed the hem of his dark gray henley and pulled it over his head.

  If Erin hadn’t been able to think a moment ago, looking at David’s gorgeous body made her feel like her mind had just been put in a blender. Every single one of her brain cells chose that moment to go on sabbatical, a fact that made the rest of her body sing with glee.

  Because her body wanted things from this man that her brain couldn’t handle. She knew David was big and broad, but she hadn’t expected the golden skin or the darker hair that covered his chest. His body was all muscle, lean and toned and more delicious than anything she’d ever seen.

  He moved, turning so she could see his beautiful back. The hard planes were just as pronounced, but at the top of his left shoulder was a pink scar about three inches long. It had clearly healed, but the color hadn’t faded as much as she would have expected. The skin was raised where it had been sewn together.

  “It’s not pretty,” he said over his shoulder. “They call it a keloid scar.”

  “That’s why it’s raised?”

  “Yeah. They can do therapy to flatten it, but I never bothered. It’s a reminder of how stupid and reckless I was.”

  Holding her breath, she reached out to run her fingertips along the ridge. His skin was warm, and she felt him stiffen under her touch.

  “It’s a good reminder that you’re human,” she told him. “Because otherwise you’re a little too perfect.”

  “I’m far from perfect.”

  The feel of him mesmerized her. The fact that she was actually touching the man she’d had a crush on for months had sparks flying all through her body. “Hate to break it to you, but your body didn’t get that message.”

  “You like my body?”

  She snorted. “A ninety-year-old grandma would like your body.”

  “I’ve changed my mind.” He moved so quickly all she had time to do was yelp, then she was in his arms with his heat enveloping her. “If I take off my clothes, you have to take off yours.”

  It was even more difficult to form a coherent thought with his chest hair tickling her cheek. She glanced to one side and—oh my—nipple at eye level.

  She didn’t even realize she’d licked her lips until David let out a soft groan. “Killing me here, darlin’. I can’t even imagine what you’re thinking, but I’m guessing it’s dirty and I know I’d like it.”

  “Nothing I want to do to you is dirty,” she said, trying to control her breathing. “People do it all the time. It’s completely natural.”

  He lowered his head until his mouth skimmed hers. “What I want to do to you, Erin, is hot and dirty and no one can do it like me.”

  A volcano erupted inside her body. With just his words, David had her more aroused than she’d ever felt in her life. She brought a hand to her face and patted her cheek.

  David smiled against her lips. “What are you doing?”

  “Just making sure I didn’t spontaneously combust.”

  He pulled back to gaze at her, his blue eyes warm and full of equal amounts of desire and amusement. “You’re something special.”

  She opened her mouth to automatically correct him. No, she wasn’t special. She was average. Ordinary. Boring.

  But the way he looked at her made her feel special, so who was she to argue? “Fake it ’til you make it” had been her mantra during her first year of teaching, when she wasn’t confident in her ability to handle a roomful of kindergartners.

  The same principle applied now.

  She reached up and fused her mouth to his, sliding her tongue along the seam of his lips. He rewarded her with a groan, and she felt it all the way to her toes. He lifted her until she was straddling him, her knees digging into the soft cushions of the couch.

  She draped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair, every inch of her front plastered to the front of him. He deepened the kiss, making her senses reel. She wanted David with a thundering need that surpassed anything she’d felt before.

  Her desire was so all-encompassing that she didn’t even hesitate when he tugged at the hem of her cotton pajama top. She raised her arms and allowed him to pull it over her head, then gasped as his jaw grazed her breast.

  “I’m not wearing a bra,” she murmured, more to herself than him, suddenly remembering that she’d been tucked in bed reading when he’d knocked on her door.

  “It’s my lucky night,” he said against her skin. His mouth closed around one nipple and Erin’s body sang with joy. She gave herself over to the sensation of it, the gentle pressure and the sweet words he whispered as he held her.

  He claimed her mouth again as his hand trailed under the waistband of her pants and into her panties. She whimpered when he dipped his fingers into her, the fire banking deep within her suddenly bursting into a million flames. He continued to kiss her, his tongue mimicking the motion of his fingers, and she exploded around him on a sharp cry.

  It was like nothing she’d ever experienced and more than she would have guessed was possible, and she wanted the moment to last forever.

  Chapter Nine

  The sensation of Erin coming apart in his arms was pure bliss to David. From the tiny gasps of pleasure to her flushed skin to the way she cried out his name at the end, she was absolute perfection. It beat out the moment he was drafted by the Pirates, the first time he pitched a major-league game and so many wild nights with women he’d lost count. Which only made it that much more difficult to pull away.

  Erin had gone pliant in his arms, soft and a little sleepy. He wanted nothing more than to finish what they’d started, to carry her to the bedroom and worship her body from head to toe. But she deserved better than an unplanned roll in the sheets.

  She was worth more than she believed, and he was certain that taking her now was something they’d both come to regret.

  He picked up her shirt and dropped it over her head. She automatically pushed her arms through the sleeves, then frowned.

  “What’s going on?”

  Her dark eyes were big and lovely and full of so much trust that he was sure to screw up in the end.

  “I’m tucking you in,” he said, grabbing his shirt from the floor, then moving one arm around her back and the other under her knees. He lifted her off the couch and started for the narrow hallway he assumed led to her bedroom.

  She splayed her hand across his chest, her thumb just brushing one nipple, and he almost stumbled a step.
“I’m not sleepy,” she told him.

  “It’s late, Erin, and I didn’t mean for things to go so far.”

  “So this was an accident?” Her eyes narrowed. “Or a mistake?”

  He moved into the bedroom, where a lamp on the nightstand illuminated the space in a golden glow. She had a wrought iron bed frame with a patchwork quilt on top—both feminine and classic. Perfect for Erin.

  As he lowered her onto the bed, which was unmade only on the side where she slept, he couldn’t help but smile at the array of things spread across the quilt on the other side. There was an e-reader with a polka-dot cover, several paperback books, a box of tissues and...

  “You have a cat?”

  She darted a glance to the ball of fur that didn’t so much as offer a tail flick to acknowledge that people had entered its space. “That’s Sugar. She’s kind of standoffish until she gets to know you.”

  “See,” he said, dropping a kiss on the top of her head, “there’s no room for me in the bed anyway.” He gestured to the stack of books as he pulled on his henley. “You have too many heroes already.”

  “You’re placating me,” she told him, “and I don’t like it. That was—” she pointed toward the family room “—pretty darn awesome for me. Beyond awesome. I’m grateful, but I also understand if I don’t do it for you. Just man up and tell me.”

  He grabbed her wrists, pinned them above her head and leaned in to take her mouth, allowing all the frustration and need pounding through his body to transfer to the kiss.

  Maybe he was trying to freak her out, to prove that what he wanted was surely more than she was willing to give. Instead, she met his desire with her own, and it tore through him like a brush fire, igniting every part of him until he had to force himself to release her again.

  “I want you, Erin. I want us. I want to start with all night, and keep going for as long as you’ll let me.”

  She drew in a breath, pressed her fingertips to lips swollen from his kiss. “Then why...”

  “I’m not exactly a stand-up guy, but I know when a woman deserves more than I can give. When I told you I wanted to court you, it wasn’t a joke. I want you to feel special—”