by Judi Fennell
“Woo hoo! Score one for me!” Gypsy-Chick, er, Livvy high-fived Sean, getting Liam’s head back into the game. No way was he going to lose this one. The last game he’d lost had been the poker one, and look where that’d gotten him.
“Don’t get too comfortable with a one-point lead. Cass and I will have you eating our dust.” He looked over at Cassidy while tossing Sean the ball.
She tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. “Cass-i-dy, Liam. I don’t like Cass.”
He did, though. It suited her: tough, to the point, ready to take on the world and come out a winner.
He liked that in a woman.
Head in the game, Manley.
“Serve, Sean.”
He kept his head in it for a while actually. Cassidy was as good a player as he was. And Livvy was no slouch either. Both women could have used some help in the athletic attire department, but they had their game faces on. The match was as even as if it were just him and Sean.
“You need a break yet, Cass?”
She glared at him but didn’t answer.
He hid his smile. He liked teasing her.
He was liking a lot of things about her.
Yo, Manley, chill. Just because she seems to be different from Rachel doesn’t mean she is. It’s been, what, two weeks? Not exactly the longest track record. Slow down, dude.
His conscience had a point. Rachel hadn’t shown her true colors at first. Or maybe he hadn’t been looking closely enough.
He was, however, looking very closely at Cassidy.
“Sean, you gonna serve it or stare at it? I don’t have all night, you know.” He lunged from side to side, twirling his racket in his palm, his nerves stretched thin. Time to get this game over with and go back to his house where she had her side and he had his and he could think things through before he did something he’d regret.
“Come on, Sean,” said Livvy, smiling at him. “I’m ready.”
Whoa. When that woman smiled . . . Sean would have to be dead not to notice her.
And with the way his serve fell short . . . He’d noticed.
Ha. His brother had a weak spot. Good. Now, as long as he didn’t figure out that Liam had one as well.
“One more, Sean,” he taunted. “You lose the serve and you can kiss this game goodbye.”
“You’re not that lucky, Lee.” Sean smashed the serve, and he and Livvy managed to pull two points ahead, dammit, before the serve changed hands.
“Ladies first.” Liam bounced Cassidy the ball. “Let’s show these two how it’s done, Cass.”
And then he could show her how it was done—
Damn, he almost missed Sean’s return. He had to get his head in the game so they didn’t lose the match. Sean would never let him live it down.
Luckily, Livvy gave up their fifth consecutive point, and after that, she and Sean couldn’t touch him and Cassidy. The serve volleyed between them, but Cassidy managed to get as many points on the board as Liam did. They were well matched.
Slow, Manley. Slow.
He was trying, but watching her bounce around the court . . . That tight T-shirt and those short shorts hid nothing from his imagination and he had to work really hard, totally focus on every point, or Sean would have the physical proof for the questioning look he kept sending Liam’s way. One Liam was not about to answer.
He gritted his teeth and raised his hand over his head, gearing up for the serve. Sean had a weakness on the left and Livvy was too far away to cover it.
Cassidy glanced at him, nodded toward the corner where he’d been planning to serve, then faced the wall, her racquet passing between her hands as she bounced from one foot to the other, her adrenaline literally keeping her on her toes.
He glanced at Sean, trying to keep him guessing where he was going to serve it. Then he looked at Livvy while keeping Sean’s weak spot in sight out of the corner of his eye, and served.
It hit the floor, hit the wall, and veered off exactly how he’d wanted it to, way out of reach for either Sean or Livvy.
“Score!” Liam raised his arms in a V. “You’re going down, Sean,” he said, allowing himself to crow after high-fiving Cassidy. “Ready to cry like a baby?”
“Bring it on, bro.” Sean was all business, lined up and waiting.
Cassidy earned them a point with another wicked serve, then it was Liam’s turn again. He smashed it, sending Sean all over the court and Livvy diving to save a shot.
It was the distraction of her thud as her shoulder hit the floor that Liam was looking for. He slammed the ball so hard he heard it whistle.
Unfortunately, Sean heard it, too, and managed to make a solid return.
Cassidy went after it with a powerful shot that almost got by Livvy, but again, Gypsy-Chick went all out for the ball, smacking her hands on the floor as she landed. That outfit wasn’t the best design for taking a dive.
Liam took the shot, smashing it past Sean so the bounce-back would hit him if he didn’t move—
Damn. Sean made a half turn and managed to catch a piece of it, enough to get it back to the wall for Cassidy’s return.
Cassidy, braced for a spike, had to adjust quickly to reach the ball before the second bounce, lobbing it beautifully. Not that a lob would earn them the point, but her form for the shot was incredible.
Hell, her form for anything was incredible.
Livvy returned the volley, and Liam followed the arc, doing the logistics as he ran toward the right corner. One point from taking the game and with Sean back over his left shoulder, he could take the easy shot to the center front to keep the ball in play, or rebound it off the side wall and try for the win.
He went for it, smashing the ball to the side and, yes! Sean missed!
“Winner!” Liam tossed his racket to the floor and swept Cassidy up in his arms, twirling her around.
“We won!” She shook her ponytail down her back, laughing as she wrapped her arms around his neck and—
The celebration got serious in a heartbeat. Matter of fact, he could hear his heartbeat. Or maybe it was hers.
He stopped twirling.
She stopped laughing.
He didn’t let go.
She didn’t either.
He did, however, set her down on her feet.
In a long, slow slide down the front of his body.
There wasn’t one damn thing left to his imagination. Hers either if she was paying attention.
The darkening of her eyes said she was.
The quick lick of her lips said she was.
The tightening of her breasts against his chest said she was.
“So, Lee. You and Cassidy want to—”
Yeah he and Cassidy wanted to and Sean’s cut-off sentence said it was a secret from no one.
Liam cleared his throat and stepped back while Cassidy practically stumbled away at the same time.
“You guys want to go grab something to eat?” Sean glared at him, challenging him to say nothing was going on. That what Sean had just witnessed wasn’t true; that he and Cassidy hadn’t almost locked lips right here in the middle of the racquetball court where anyone walking by could see.
Not that there was anything Liam could say. A dead man would know what’d been in his mind a few seconds ago and Sean wasn’t dead. He was also a pretty smart guy and he’d been there for the hell after Rachel.
“Thanks, but I have to get home.” He didn’t need the lecture or the looks. “Billing’s backing up with my assistant out on maternity leave, and if the bills don’t go out, money can’t come in.” He didn’t dare glance at Cassidy. One look and Sean would know he was lying through his teeth. Money wasn’t what was on his mind.
Sean stared at him a few seconds too long. “If that’s what you want . . .” He tossed him his racquet. “Give me a call when you get a moment. I need to remind you about a few things.”
“Yeah, sure. No problem.” He didn’t want to hear Sean’s things. He knew what they were, but he wasn’t about to discuss this situation with his
brother before he figured out what he wanted to do.
He grabbed his gym bag and looked at Cassidy—who looked like a million dollars and not because of her father’s money. An honest-to-God sweaty workout made her light up. No makeup, sweat glistening on her skin, messy hair that he wanted to comb his fingers through, and lips so damn puffy and kissable that he had a feeling one night with her would never be enough.
But . . . maybe . . . Maybe it’d get her out of his system.
Chapter Twenty-nine
GREAT game.”
Cassidy kept her eyes on the road. “Yes.”
“You’re really good.”
“Thanks.”
“Did you have fun?”
“Yes.”
“Am I going to get more than a one-word answer out of you?”
“Sure.”
Liam glanced at her and Cassidy realized what she’d said.
“Oh. I mean, yes. You will. How’s that? Better?” She was rambling. But at least she was coherent. She was surprised that she was because, holy mackerel . . . What just happened back there?
One minute she’d been jumping for joy, thrilled with their hard-won victory, and the next . . . The next, she’d been in his arms, smashed up against his hot, sweaty body, his scent calling to her like a siren’s song, and she’d forgotten where they were. That they were in a public gym where anyone could see them, with his brother standing not five feet away. But the moment she’d looked into his eyes and felt his arms go around her, she’d tuned out everything but what had been happening between them. It’d been different than when she’d kissed him before. Stronger.
Mutual.
She’d known that even before he’d pressed his erection against her. Or maybe she’d pressed against it, but regardless, Liam wasn’t going to be able to call bullshit for that.
He’d wanted her and she wanted him.
Question was, what were they going to do about it?
“You want to get something to eat?”
She shook her head. “Not like this. I need a shower.”
Oh, God. The images flashed in her brain and she couldn’t get rid of them. Her, naked and wet under the spray, and Liam shoving the curtain aside, equally naked but nowhere near as wet . . . until he stepped into the stall with her. Pressed her up against the cool tile and started nibbling on her neck.
She gripped the truck’s door handle and squeezed. Hard. She had to squeeze something and she couldn’t exactly squeeze her legs together when he was watching her.
Which only made the ache between her thighs stronger. And made her want that fantasy to come true.
“I don’t think it’ll matter, Cass. We’re both pretty sweaty.”
“Hey, I take offense to that. I don’t sweat. I glisten.”
He arched his eyebrow and, man, it was sexy. “Glisten? Nice try, sweetheart, but that’s sweat. Good-for-you, hard-earned sweat.”
The words themselves weren’t sexy, but the images they conjured . . .
So what was she going to do about it? Her gut was telling her to go for it; her brain was saying back off. She was staying in his house and had no other place to go. If they got involved and things got weird, what then? They’d already tempted fate once with that kiss; wasn’t that what the “opposite sides” thing was all about? It wasn’t a good idea to risk temptation any further.
That thought worked until Liam pulled into the garage and cut the engine. They stared at the back wall until the cab light dimmed.
“Liam.”
“Cass.”
Someone made the first move. It could have been her. It could have been him. It really didn’t matter because the next thing she knew she was in Liam’s lap, her hands tangled in his hair, his hands cupping her face, and he was kissing her until she couldn’t see straight.
Given that she had her eyes closed and it was dark in the garage, that wasn’t exactly a surprise, but the way her head was spinning with the taste and feel and scent of him . . . Colors and lights flashed behind her eyelids like fireworks.
Oh wow. Liam gave her fireworks.
Then he plastered his palm to the side of her face and dragged her hair back as he cradled her head, nipping kisses along her jaw, and the fireworks were joined by butterflies. Millions of them, fluttering in her belly so much that she could swear she heard them hum.
Oh, that was her.
“We said we weren’t going to do this.” Liam licked an incredibly sensitive spot beneath her ear.
“I know.” She gasped as shivers radiated from that spot, and she dug her fingernails into his shoulder, never wanting him to stop.
“Both of us agreed.” He showed no signs of stopping.
Good. “I know.”
His teeth scraped her earlobe, eliciting a whole new round of shivers. “This isn’t a good idea.”
She grabbed the back of his head and let her fingers curl into his hair and held him tighter to her. “I know.”
“We should stop.” He nibbled his way along her jaw toward her mouth.
She tilted his head just enough and looked him in the eye. “I know.”
“Cassidy, I—”
She kissed him. Sucked on his lips, swept her tongue inside, and never wanted to come up for air.
She moaned when he did.
“Let’s take this inside, Cass.”
“Mmmm hmmm,” was all she could manage. At least one of them was coherent.
Actually, Liam was more than just coherent; he was surprisingly competent, given what had erupted between them. But he managed to get the door open and carry her cradled in his arms through the mudroom door and into the hallway, only stopping when Titania went ballistic in her pen.
“Tell me the dog doesn’t need to go out,” he groaned.
Oh hell. The fireworks sputtered. “The dog needs to go out.”
“And that’s going to happen how?”
Cassidy nipped his jaw. “Let me down. I’ll open the door, she’ll go out then come right back in. She wants to be around me.”
He kissed her neck as he stood her on her feet. “I know the feeling.”
Titania barked and hopped around them, almost tripping Cassidy as she let her out to do her business.
She stood in the doorway, trying to catch her breath and think this through. Was this a good idea? Or was it just going to invite disaster?
Liam wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. “I can hear you thinking.”
She leaned her head against his. “That’s not possible.”
“Not true. You were doing some pretty heavy sighing that I could clearly hear.”
“Sighing happens for different reasons, not just thinking.”
“I know. You were sighing for other reasons in my truck. Moaning, too.” He nuzzled her neck.
Both of which she was going to do again if he kept that up.
He did.
“I want you, Cassidy,” he whispered against her throat, the vibrations of his voice rippling through her. “It’s not a secret and it’s not a surprise and I’m tired of fighting it. We can deal with the aftermath later. Tell me you want this as much as I do.”
“I do.”
Thankfully, Titania came back then. They penned her up and Liam led Cassidy to his room.
He stretched out beside her on his bed. “Last chance to stop if you don’t want this to go any further,” he said, kissing his way down the middle of her chest, nuzzling her neckline as low as it could go.
“Don’t stop.” She wiggled beneath him to get her hands on the hem of her T-shirt. She wanted this thing off. Now.
The darn rhinestones kept getting caught on his shirt, then snagged in her hair. “Rip it off.” It was either that or her hair, and she could always buy another shirt.
“You don’t have a lot of clothes, Cassidy.”
“So I’ll wear yours. Or none at all. Just get it off me.”
“None, huh?” Liam’s smile lit a slow burn inside her—that went
to raging when he did rip the shirt apart.
The rhinestones that didn’t go flying off were still caught in her hair, but she didn’t mind because he lowered his head to her nipple and rhinestones became the last thing on her mind.
“Ahh, God, yes. That feels so good.”
“You are beautiful. And you taste so good,” he said, never taking his lips from her nipple, his tongue circling it until it was as tight and hard as he was against her.
She slipped her hand between them and stroked the length of him.
“Ah, Cassidy,” he groaned against her skin, the vibration sending shivers all over her once more. “Careful, woman. I don’t seem to have a lot of control where you’re concerned.”
She smiled and raked her nails up his length through the silky basketball shorts. “Good. The better to torture you with, my dear.”
He looked at her, her nipple still between his lips, and tugged, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “And this is better to taste you, my dear.” His tongue did some quick flicker/stroking movement and ohmygod . . . Cassidy dug her heels into the mattress and grabbed the comforter to keep from flying off the bed.
There was no place she’d rather be and she wasn’t about to get off this bed until the earth moved.
His fingers slid down her stomach, over her hip bones, to exactly where she needed him to be.
The earth moved.
The heavens sang.
Birds wept, lions roared, and somewhere in all of her scattered thoughts, Cassidy knew she was helpless to do anything but go with the wave of pleasure Liam’s fingers and lips were giving her.
“Liam.” She whimpered it. Or maybe she breathed it. Or maybe she moaned it . . . Possibly all three; Cassidy wasn’t sure. All she knew was that Liam was giving her the most intense pleasure of her life and she never wanted it to end.
And then it ratcheted up. He cupped her breast, leaving her aching and wet and throbbing between her thighs, a state she could take huge issue with except for the fact that when he cupped her breast, his thumb slid over her nipple with such torturous pleasure that every nerve ending in her body roared to that one point, all energy, all desire, focused there—then shifted when he tongued the other one again.
She grabbed his head, holding him there, arching into him, muted pleas begging him to never stop, to give her this intense pleasure for the rest of her life . . .