Exhaling roughly and far more nervous than she admitted to herself, Raine quickly got dressed. She put on the low hung jeans, t-shirt, and heeled sandals she’d worn when she left the sorority house eighteen hours before. She finger-combed her shoulder-length red hair and removed the makeup from under her green eyes. It was smudged from hours of sweaty sex.
Just the thought of which caused her nipples to tighten painfully.
Feeling somewhat human, though admittedly not a very dignified one, she quietly left the bathroom and tiptoed to the door of the hotel room.
Which hotel, she didn’t have a clue.
Raine let herself out quietly, grimacing when the door clicked closed a bit too loudly, and rushed to the elevator.
Behind her, she heard a door open and knew it was the one she’d just run from. He stepped into the hall with a sheet wrapped around his waist. One arm raised, running a hand through his hair as he first looked the other way down the hall.
She felt her fingers twitch in memory of running them through his soft locks, of even grabbing hold at one point.
God, he looks like Brad Pitt.
She had good taste, at least. For her first lover, she could not have picked a more perfect male specimen. Her body went hot and damp instantly.
There was a ding behind her a moment before she would have walked back to him. Dignity be damned. He dropped his arm and turned towards her, taking a step in her direction. Both relieved and disappointed, she blew him a kiss and stepped into the elevator.
She heard him call, “Raine, wait!” as the doors slid shut.
Practically running through the lobby, she hailed a cab to the bar. Her little cobalt-blue Miata sat where she’d parked it the night before. The driver gave her a sly grin as he took her money, and she got out with her face hot.
The moment the engine turned over, she gunned it into the street and left the night before behind.
Sort of. Remembering what he’d done to her and how he made her feel caused her toes to curl. She focused on driving, on getting somewhere familiar, getting home.
Arriving at the sorority house, she let herself in and was immediately swarmed by her sorority sisters. They wanted to know all the details.
Other than admitting that the deed had been done and she had a magnificent time – confessed with a huge blush on her face – she managed to tell them very little about her night.
After eventually making it to her room, Raine gathered her shower gear and headed to the bathroom she shared with three other girls. She stayed in the shower a little longer than her usual time, crying softly to herself.
It was hard not to wonder if she’d done the right thing...if maybe she should’ve stayed to talk to the man who loved her body so well, so beautifully, for the first time.
When she was dressed in comfortable clothing, she called her friends back home – the ones who knew her better, and far longer, than anyone with the exception of her mom.
The six of them talked to her in shifts for hours and helped put the experience in perspective. By the time she hung up the phone, she felt somewhat better.
What was done was done. Regrets never got you anywhere. Life moved on.
Jake Forrest took the virginity of a woman who didn’t even know his name.
He hadn’t known she was a virgin until she no longer was. When he’d paused in shock and surprise, she’d told him she was drunk enough to get rid of her nerves but sober enough to know exactly what she was doing.
At that point, it had been too late to go back, so he became determined to make it great. He focused on wringing every ounce of pleasure from her until she finally collapsed just after dawn.
He didn’t know her last name, only her first, courtesy of the friends with her last night. The group of giggling young women had been celebrating Raine’s twenty-first birthday and he hadn’t wanted to leave her to the wolves circling at the bar.
Not that he’d been any better than them in the end.
She kissed and stroked and begged him until he broke. She was exactly his type, Irish good looks with an athletic body. He knew he was a considerate lover, always safe, and he made sure his partner was well pleased before he got his.
Still…
He wanted to find her, to talk to her…to take her again with both of them stone cold sober. Raine was incredible, a naturally sensual woman he wouldn’t mind getting to know better.
Jake had always been lucky. He couldn’t shake the feeling that their paths would cross again. In the meantime, he had to concentrate on his job.
Chapter One
Present day…
Raine’s day was already going to hell and it was just getting started.
The clinic hadn’t received their scheduled linen delivery yet, her receptionist, Tiffany, had called out sick, and they were booked solid the entire day.
If any of the physical therapists called out, she was well and truly screwed.
Her mother owned Storm Sports Medicine, specializing in sports injuries long before anyone realized it should be a specialty.
Raine had entered college at sixteen and received her first degree three months before her nineteenth birthday. When she’d completed medical school at twenty-three, she became the youngest female doctor in Texas history.
A week after she passed her exams, she jumped right into working with her mom, despite Rhiannon Storm’s repeated suggestions that she take a year off to travel or just relax for a change.
Naturally, the advice was ignored. Raine had worked for her mother for three years now, and knew her mom was ready to semi-retire, ready to leave the business she’d spent twenty years building in her daughter’s more than capable hands.
It had always been just the two of them. Raine’s father had never shown any interest in getting to know his daughter, and she was fine with that. To Rhiannon, he’d just been a casual relationship in college that had gifted her with a little girl, one she threw everything she had into raising.
An only child, Raine took the responsibility seriously and worked six days a week, twelve hours a day. Her life had purpose. She had goals.
She was also lonely.
A great mom, a group of amazing friends, and work she loved usually camouflaged how she felt to others, but it was getting harder and harder to hide the thought from herself.
Sometimes it felt as if her life was nothing more than a string of tasks checked off an imaginary list; achievements that made her proud, but didn’t complete her as she once thought they would.
Her mom had rarely dated and never seriously. She said men were too much work and she liked her life exactly the way it was.
Raine sometimes worried about developing the same attitude…minus a child to keep her company. She dated occasionally but not with any real interest. She’d had lovers, but not good ones.
For years, she invested every ounce of energy into school and work.
She no longer knew how to have a normal relationship with a straight male. Maybe she’d never learned in the first place.
It was rare that a day would go by when she didn’t find herself thinking about her first lover at least once. A man whose name she never knew.
The one man used as the measure for all others…and they were always found lacking. If they didn’t compare, they were summarily dismissed within a date or two. There had been a few with some promise but it never seemed to work out. They either bored her or didn’t get along with her friends.
Neither scenario was okay with Raine.
She considered these things as she waited on hold with the linen service. Given no choice, she had to man the reception desk herself until someone else arrived.
When the security buzzer for the front door rang, Raine glanced up distractedly, saw crutches through the glass, and hit the button to open the door.
Bending to jot down information, she called out, “I’ll be right with you, my receptionist is out today.” She paused to listen to the customer service person. “Yes, I’m stil
l holding. No, I don’t want a discount. I want our linens by,” she glanced at her watch, “ten this morning. No, I’m not kidding.”
Tapping her pen on the desk, she interrupted his excuses. “I have two brochures for Maxwell’s and Right Now sitting in front of me. They’ve been trying to get my business for two years. Do I need to call them? I don’t want to do that. You don’t want me to do that. Why not just make the delivery by ten, since it should have been here by seven…when I was here, waiting for it.”
The man on the other end of the phone stumbled over his apologies.
“Exactly, I’m not happy. I’m here twelve hours a day whether the linens are or not, so you can imagine why I’m a little irate. I haven’t even had coffee yet. Make it right and I’ll be happy. I can mark one thing off my list for today.”
She listened as the rep typed furiously on his keyboard and she tried not to bark at him to hurry up. She wasn’t kidding about the coffee.
Finally, he said, “Miss Storm, we can have those out to you in the next hour.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it. I’ll have my receptionist call you when she’s back tomorrow morning. Have a lovely day.”
The words had barely left her lips before the phone was in its cradle and she was writing a quick reminder to put on Tiffany’s computer screen.
Opening the appointment program, she found the clinic’s list of the patients for the day. “I do apologize. Please give me one more moment. You must be…Jake. This is the worst first impression.”
“Your first impression was magnificent, actually.” The voice that came from the other side of the counter was smooth and distantly familiar.
Raine’s hands froze over the keyboard.
She looked up slowly and met the eyes of a man she’d last seen in a hotel hallway with a sheet wrapped around his naked body. Still gorgeous, hair a little shaggier, and his build a little leaner, he was looking at her with a predatory glint in his whiskey brown eyes.
Bringing his file to mind, she now knew her first lover’s name was Jake Forrest, catcher for the Texas Rangers. He’d been their starter for the past seven years.
He had a damaged ACL from a player crashing into him over home plate. Jake required twelve weeks of intensive physical therapy after the surgery he’d had two weeks before.
That rehab was scheduled to take place here…in her clinic.
“Storm Sports Medicine. Your parents named you Raine Storm? How do you feel about that?”
His fingers tapped gently on the side of the crutch. It was maddeningly hypnotic. Even wearing loose basketball shorts and a t-shirt, the definition of his body was obvious.
She shook herself firmly into the moment.
“I…I’ve always been teased about it. I don’t mind though. My mom was something of a tree-hugger when she had me.” Her voice trailed off in a squeak as she caught the innuendo too late, remembering after the words were spoken that his last name was Forrest. She blushed brightly.
“Yes, I find it ironic, too.” He took two steps forward, leaned the crutches next to him, and crossed his arms over the top of the reception desk. “Raine, how have you been?”
Jake’s eyes stared into hers so intently she felt like she should back up. She fought the urge. “I’ve been…fine.” She cleared her throat. “How have you been, other than your injury, of course?”
“I’ve been alright, I guess. I tried to find you that morning, did you know that?” She shook her head. “No one knew who you were in that bar. I guess that was intentional on your part. I only had your first name. Did you try to find me, Raine?” She knew he could tell she felt trapped. “I guess it would have been hard since you didn’t know who I was.”
There was no way to hide how embarrassed she was.
Jake smiled and she immediately felt it was meant to reassure her. Why, she couldn’t guess. She was the one who looked terrible in this situation.
“You’re in sports medicine, don’t you follow sports?”
He threw her a lifeline and she grabbed it.
“Most of my patients are young people, injured on community and school teams. My mother handles the professional players, by design.” She clicked the pen in her hand nervously.
Jake’s eyes roved over Raine’s snug sweater and trim slacks. Her body was poorly concealed beneath a loose white lab coat. What she hadn’t said was clear.
“How many pros tried to pick you up before you got tired of fending them off?” She shook her head. “That many? I’m flattered.”
“I…I thought you were in college…” Her voice trailed off and she gave him a weak smile.
He tilted his head and suddenly their night together was clear in his mind. Not that it was ever far from his thoughts. Her face under him against crisp white sheets, red hair clinging to her damp skin, full lips swollen from his kisses, eyes glazed with a need he knew he could fulfill.
Raine seemed tuned to his wavelength because her face went pink again, her eyes widened, and her lips parted in a soft gasp.
He wanted that reaction with both of them naked.
The good doctor looked like someone saved from a plane crash when a little girl and her mother entered the clinic through the doors behind him, which were being held open by two also-arriving clinic employees.
“Good morning!” she said too loudly. “Steve, Tiffany is out today so I have to cover the front for a while.” Not looking directly at Jake, she motioned the big man over who was obviously a physical therapist. “Can you or Danny take Mr. Forrest back? I’ll follow in a few minutes. Hi, Angelica…”
“Holy crap, you’re Jake Forrest!” yelled the little dark-haired child standing beside him at the desk. She was wearing a soft wrap on her ankle, a Rangers t-shirt, and a baseball hat with Storm Chasers on it. “Rainy, this is Jake Forrest, did you know that?”
Raine blushed again. She mumbled, “Nevermind, Steve. I’ll bring him back myself.” Laughing, the two men nodded at Jake and went through the double doors to the main room of the facility.
“Dude, I saw when Saberson slammed into you, knew it was gonna be bad. I was devastated for you. I was freakin’ out!”
The little girl’s mother smiled indulgently and said kindly, “Angelica, leave Mr. Forrest alone.”
“No, ma’am, it’s alright.” Turning his attention back to the girl, he replied, “You should have seen him coming! I knew he was going to hit me, knew I didn’t have time to get out of the way. Like a train.” He crossed his eyes. “Saw those cartoon birds over my head.” She laughed loudly and with her whole body, the way only kids can. “Do you play ball, Angelica?”
“I play first base for our girls’ team. I wanted to be catcher but Rainy didn’t want me strainin’ my ankle for at least a year. It’s healin’ good though.”
“I bet you’re awesome at first base.”
“I’m okay. It’s not my dream gig.” He chuckled. “Rainy’s our sponsor and one of our coaches. I don’t need the rehab as much anymore but since we’re off-season, she has me come here to work out. I have to stay in shape so I’ll be ready. I’m allowed to bat but no base runnin’ durin’ practice until she gives the okay.”
Raine truly cared about her patients.
“That’s smart, Angelica. If you injure it worse, it’ll put you down for a lot longer. Maybe I can stop by to watch your team practice one day.”
Gasping for breath, she rushed out, “Ohmygod, thatwouldbesoawesome! The other girls will die. So not kiddin’! We’ll probably play like crap because we’re so nervous.”
“Those nerves never go away.”
“You doin’ your rehab here?” Jake nodded. “Rainy is the best person ever. She’ll have you back in peak shape in no time. She’ll work you over and have you sweatin’ like a pig, but in the end it’ll feel really good.”
Fighting a smile and losing, he glanced at Raine and was pleased to see her pressing her lips together to keep from laughing. She caught him looking at her from the corner of her eye and turned
to the credenza along the back wall to keep it together.
He told the little girl seriously, “Yeah, I bet she’s really good at that.”
Angelica’s mother snorted and pulled her daughter toward the glass doors of the clinic before she lost it. “Come on, let’s get ready for your workout.”
As she walked away with her mom, Jake called out, “I’ll see you around, Angelica. It was great meeting you.”
“You too, Jake…I mean, Mr. Forrest. You’re freakin’ awesome.”
“Call me Jake. We damaged athletes have to stick together.” She gave him a huge smile and waved as her mother practically dragged her away.
The moment she was firmly out of hearing range, Jake turned a cocky grin Raine’s direction and wiggled his brows. “Are you ready to work me over? Leave me sweating and feeling really good? I’m suddenly looking forward to physical therapy far more than I ever imagined.”
She smiled despite herself.
Leaning her butt against the credenza, she crossed her arms and took a deep breath. “Jake, I’m going to ask you to please have mercy on me. I’m not equipped to handle you.”
“I have to disagree, Raine. I believe you’ve proven you can handle me…well.” He picked up his crutches and moved to the end of the counter. “However, I’ll behave. Lead on, doc.”
Chapter Two
As she walked closer, he could see the freckles across her nose and cheeks. “Your hair’s longer. It’s very pretty.”
Raine gave a little stumble and murmured, “Thank you, Jake.”
He smiled. Physical therapy was going to be an adventure. She held the door to the gym open for him and as he passed her, he caught a whiff of mint and eucalyptus. It shouldn’t have been sexy but it was.
“Where do you want me, Dr. Storm?”
“You promised to behave.”
“I was being serious.” He assumed a mock-offended expression. “Sounds like you’re the one not behaving. Naughty minx.” He grinned at her blush.
Love of the Game - The Complete Collection (Box Set) Page 27