Romance in Color

by Synithia Williams

  Tanya watched them walk away, smiling, talking, and sparkling. “Are you going to follow them?” MJ asked.

  She shook her head. Katerina Kloss looked good beside him. “That’s the kind of woman he’s going to end up with, isn’t it?” That was the kind of woman he seemed to gravitate to. Both Abigail and Sabrina looked a bit like that.

  MJ punched her shoulder. “Don’t make me say I told you so.”

  Hell, no. She laughed, hoping to shake off the icky feelings and spark something she could live with. Something like, “I don’t care what that woman does with him as long as she hands him over to me at eight o’clock.” She grinned. “We have plans.”

  • • •

  Cam rolled up outside the Ritz-Carlton and watched Tanya for any sign of discomfort. He had to admit, this was a little over the top—even for him. But he was tired of folding his big ole body into tight spaces like the backseat of his car and twin-sized beds. And having sex at his mother’s place just wasn’t working for him.

  “What is this?” Suspicion was written all over her crinkled up face.

  “Sex.” He grinned. “My way.”

  “There better be whips and chains in a room up there, because if I walk into roses and champagne, I’m going to … ”

  He slipped a hand to her thigh and squeezed. “You’re going to what?”

  She smirked. “Maybe think about not coming here with you next time.”

  He laughed. “See? I got you hypnotized with this mouth and these hands. I can do whatever I want, and the next twelve hours we’re going do things my way.”

  “We’ll see about that.” But she wasn’t exactly protesting.

  He checked in, under an assumed name, and declined help with their overnight bags. When the elevator door slid shut behind them, she backed against the farthest wall.

  “So, what exactly is your way?” she asked.

  Nervous. He liked that. “You’ll see.” He kept his hands wrapped around his bag and his eyes on the numbers lighting their way. Let her stew a little. She’d be practically begging by the time they reached the room.

  But instead, she was smiling. “You don’t have anything planned, do you? You just booked a room because you’re sick of squeezing into my small bed or worse, your car. Right?” She poked the ticklish spot on his side. “‘Fess up.”

  He squirmed as he struggled to open the door. But she kept the pressure on and only stopped when she saw the suite.

  “Holy shit! This is huge.” She stood in the doorway like she was afraid to come in.

  He tossed his bag a good four feet to the sofa, and then reached for hers. “I was looking for the biggest bed … and the biggest TV.”

  She walked in then, roamed the elaborately furnished, white-and-green room with wide eyes that made him smile. “Good God, this view! The lake almost looks like the ocean.” Then she faced the television. “Wait a minute. Are we going to watch porn?”

  Ha! “Better. College basketball.”

  “What?”

  “UConn.”

  Her face lit up. “Are you serious?”

  He nodded.

  Those gorgeous eyes pinned him. “What about the sex?”

  “We’ll get there.” Definitely.

  She seemed to think it over. Her head tipped. Her lips curled. “Okay.” But she still looked unsure.

  What would it take to bring that last bit of wall down?

  Forty-five minutes later, they were stuffed with cheeseburgers and fries from room service, and UConn was down by fifteen.

  She wiggled out of the crook of his arm and crawled to the end of the bed, blue-jean-covered bottom in the air. “You want another beer?”

  He shook his head against the mound of pillows behind him. He really didn’t want anything but this. This was … the perfect life. The stuff that dreams were made of.

  She sat, stretched for the remote, and turned off the TV. “What do you want?” she asked all sultry and sex kitten-like as she crawled back up the king-sized bed.

  He smiled. “What do you think?”

  She crawled over his legs, settling her bottom right above his knees, and reached for the hem of her shirt.

  He grabbed her hand to stop her, and then brought her palm to his lips. “Not yet.”

  She looked confused.

  “My way starts like this.” He slid his hands up her arms and pulled her closer to him until they were belly to belly and almost lips to lips. The lemonade she’d been drinking sweetened her breath and made his mouth water.

  When he couldn’t take it anymore, he cupped her face and pulled her down the last inch.

  Like he’d gotten used to these last few weeks, she took control, slipping the tip of her tongue between his lips, and urging him to open wider.

  Instead, he rimmed her mouth with his tongue and held her closer, one arm across her butt, the other across her back. Her warm weight sprawled over him. This was how he did it. Slow and long. Like they had all the time in the world.

  He smoothed a hand up her back to her neck and angled his head, lifting off the pillows the slightest bit so he could deepen the kiss—at his pace. She responded by shoving her hands beneath the pillows and melting into him.

  Mmm. He got lost in the simple pleasure.

  He had no idea how much time had passed before she said, “It’s hot in here.”

  They laughed, and it seemed like one sound.

  He lifted her up and rolled her to the mattress beside him. So beautiful. And he was so blessed. Propped up on one elbow, he unbuttoned her shirt with his free hand, spreading open the plaid fabric over her warm skin. “Better?”

  She looked up at him, but didn’t say a word.

  He unbuttoned her pants and smoothed a hand over her belly, prolonging every movement, even as he was driving himself crazy with need.

  Her breath hitched, but her eyes didn’t move.

  There were feelings here. More than physical ones. And they were big. But he wasn’t going to say it out loud. He wasn’t stupid. So he shifted his weight and dropped his mouth to her ear, where he nibbled a bit.

  Finally, she reached a hand to the back of his head and made him good and hard with a moan.

  “It’s still hot,” she said.

  And between them, it always would be. The question was, what could he do about it?

  • • •

  He moved in her and above her, and she rose to meet him. Dragging her open mouth down his neck and her fingernails down his back. Squeezing her eyes shut, but unable to block anything out.

  This would be the end of it. His way had stripped away more than clothes. And now too much of her wanted too much of him.

  Protect this heart. That was the name of the game.

  She managed to make it through the night by rolling to the edge of the giant bed the minute he fell into a deep sleep. When the sun came up, she showered and dressed well ahead of him. Room service and SportsCenter filled the space between them. Although, to his credit, Cam didn’t seem to sense the shift. Maybe he hadn’t felt it. He smiled a lot, talked a lot too. Then again, maybe this was just the way he was the morning after.

  That thought caught in her chest. She’d never had a morning after, never allowed herself to indulge like that. Another first with Cam Simmons. Ha! Why did life torture her like this?

  After he dropped her off at her apartment and left her with a brain-draining kiss, Tanya lay in bed, staring at the Yadier Molina poster hanging on the ceiling above her bed. Her next bed buddy was going to be a genuine booty call, and he was going to be a baseball player.

  She slid her headphones on and fell asleep to Bruno Mars. She woke to bouncing on the end of her bed.

  “Somebody didn’t get very much sleep last night.” Jillian looked ready to burst from excitement.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  That did the trick, sucked the enthusiasm right outta her. “Oh.” She frowned. “Damn. That bad?”

  That good. “Good or bad doesn
’t matter. He’s leaving. Just like last time. God only knows when I’ll see him again.”

  “He’s not leaving for another week and a half.”

  “Why prolong it?”

  “Man, you let him get to you, didn’t you?”

  MJ had told her so.

  Tanya’s eyes burned. Bitch, if you cry, I will kill you.

  “So you’re walking away before he can,” Jillian said. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

  She nodded. Absolutely. Tonight she would wallow. Tomorrow she would go back to being just friends with Cam.

  Chapter Thirteen

  After the beep, Cam said, “Good Monday afternoon, Ms. Martin. I’m calling to see if I can give you a ride to practice today.” She hadn’t been in her office this morning when he’d stopped by after first-period strength training.

  A few minutes later, his phone buzzed. But it wasn’t Tanya. Katerina Kloss. Again. She’d called three times this morning, and had left one message for him to return her call.

  Ugh. He plastered on a smile and said, “Hello.”

  “Oh, I’m so glad I got a hold of you. Great news! The sports anchor at my station wants a full segment with you. I was thinking the three of us could go out for drinks and come up with an angle.”

  Drinks made it sound friendlier than what he was comfortable with.

  “We have the number-one sportscast with the eighteen- to forty-nine-year-old female demographic. Seems like that hits your target audience for the auction right there,” she said.

  Bullseye. “Okay.” But he was doing this for Tanya and her dad, not in any way shape or form for him.

  By the time practice rolled around, Tanya still hadn’t called him back. Now, he was officially worried. Was something wrong, or was she dodging him on purpose?

  “Hey!” he called out when he saw her hit the turf.

  She smiled and waved like he had nothing to worry about. But while he watched her go all out at practice, his doubts grew. Something wasn’t right here, and he bet it had something to do with last night. She was scared. Those damn feelings she wanted to take to her grave.

  He waited for her outside the locker room even though he’d made plans to watch a movie with his mother and aunts.

  Her steps faltered when she saw him. And she was with her bodyguards again. He smiled at MJ and Jillian. “Ladies, nice practice.”

  They smiled back. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

  “Did you drive?” he asked Tanya.

  The women exchanged looks, but nobody answered.

  That was odd.

  Finally, Tanya said, “MJ drove,” a little like he’d expect her to say, “Fine. I give up. Shoot me.”

  What the hell? “Then how ‘bout riding with me?” he asked.

  Her blink lasted a split second too long.

  “Okay.” She shuffled toward him.

  MJ and Jillian still didn’t look certain, so he ushered Tanya away, and he waited until they were inside his car before he asked, “What’s going on with you? Or is it me? Did I do something wrong last night?”

  She sighed. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I just think … Cam, it’s time.”

  His throat felt thick. “For what?”

  “It’s time to end the … extras. Friends first. Friends last. You know?”

  He lifted a hand to bang the steering wheel, but stopped mid-air. “Because you have feelings for me? That’s it, isn’t it?” Fuck!

  You know, he knew this was coming. Hell, he was leaving in little more than a week, but it still knocked the wind out of him. And he just wanted to hear her say it, to let him know he wasn’t crazy for feeling something, too.

  She shook her head frantically. “We had rules for a reason, Cam.”

  “Jesus, just say it, T. It’s ridiculous to think two people could be friends and then become lovers and not feel something more than pleasant around each other.” He got in her face. “Say you have feelings for me.”

  She lifted her chin. “Fine. I have feelings for you. How’s that? Better?”

  No. Worse. Because he’d been over and over it in his head these last two nights, and there wasn’t anything he could do about it. His life, his team, and his career were in Boston. Her life, her team, and her career were here.

  He hit the wheel.

  “We can still be friends,” she said.

  He didn’t want to be friends. He did, but … “What if I started coming back more? It doesn’t look like my mother’s interested in Boston, and I have projects here now. The field. The work I’ve been doing with the high school team.”

  She stared straight ahead. “That would be great, but,” she looked at him, “it doesn’t change anything between me and you.”

  He hit the wheel again. “Why?”

  “Because we aren’t going anywhere. We’ve taken this as far as we can.” She grabbed his hand. “If we push it any further, we could cause some real damage.”

  He snorted.

  “You’ll thank me one day,” she said. “When you’re married with kids.”

  It was ridiculous. So ridiculous. He pulled his hand away.

  Again he wanted to pound the steering wheel. This time he was stopped by his phone buzzing in the cup holder. A second later Katerina Kloss’s name lit up the dashboard display.

  She couldn’t have worse timing.

  Tanya stiffened for a split-second, and then gave him the fakest smile. “Go ahead and answer it.”

  “Only because it’s about your dad’s gym.” He hit a button to answer the call. “Katerina, hey. Let me take this call off speaker phone.” It didn’t feel right to insert an innocent woman into this.

  He glanced at Tanya, who played with her phone or looked out the window like nothing that happened here was a big deal. And that made him angrier.

  “Change of plans,” Katerina said.

  “How so?” It was all he could do not to let his anger spill out onto her.

  “Skip can’t meet for drinks tomorrow. He can do the next day if you’re free.”

  He glanced at Tanya again. “I’m free.” So damn free it was a shame.

  “Good. Now, one more thing. I was a little disappointed when he cancelled because, well, I was looking forward to spending the evening with you. And then I got invited to this opening for the new community center Coffee Bean corporate is opening in your neighborhood. It’s super last minute, but I thought, ‘Hey! Since we’re both free.’” She giggled. “Would you be interested in escorting me?”

  This was hands down the most ridiculous night of his life.

  “I don’t know. I … ”

  “They would love to have an inspirational appearance by someone who grew up in the neighborhood and wants to see it thrive again.”

  Under the circumstances he couldn’t come up with a reasonable way out. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there.” He hung up about a block away from Tanya’s apartment, and when he pulled into the lot, she unbuckled.

  “Thanks for the ride,” she said.

  He winced at the way that came out. How ironic. Seriously. How many rides had he given her these past three weeks? And still, after everything, he could honestly answer, “Anytime.”

  But it was all very friendly-like.

  He watched her disappear into her mother’s restaurant, and pounded the hell out of his steering wheel. As he growled and banged, he imagined the airbag going off. Maybe the blow would knock some sense into him. He was not a desperate, depressed man. He had the world by the ass. Tanya or no Tanya, it was time he remembered that.

  She might not want him, but there was no shortage of people who did. It was time to focus on those people, like he’d been doing his whole life—every time he thought about the fact that his father didn’t want him.

  • • •

  The next evening, Cam skipped Clash practice for obvious reasons, but he also had a legitimate excuse. He needed to get ready to escort Katerina to the community center opening. His mother wasn’t particularly
happy he was doing anything that involved Coffee Bean and their “underhanded attempts at getting in good with people just so they can make money.” Such paranoia. But she was happy to see him in a suit.

  He hadn’t been dressed up in over a month. In fact, he’d been living like a college kid on leftovers and in workout clothes even off the field and outside of the gym. Back to the real world, baby.

  He straightened his tie knot and swallowed against the restriction. He splashed his face with cologne and weathered the burn. Then he headed out of the city toward the swanky suburban address Katerina had given him. It would’ve been so much easier for her to come to him, but this was the proper way to escort someone. Besides, it was good to get out of South City. Katerina’s Pepper Pike neighborhood with its perfectly maintained rows of homes reminded him of Boston. He’d been stuck in a rewind of his life so long he’d forgotten how proud he’d been to get out and achieve something like this.

  Right about now, he welcomed the reminder.

  Ten minutes later, she answered the door dressed in a slinky, gold dress.

  “You look amazing,” he said.

  “Back attcha, big boy.” She tapped his lapel with her shiny handbag, and a puff of sweet perfume tickled his nose. “We are going to knock everyone’s socks off tonight. They’re not going to know what hit them.” She hooked her arm around his. “Ready?”

  Not really.

  She pulled out her phone and moved in closer to him. “Selfie? I have a blog on the station’s website. It’ll be good publicity.”

  Suddenly his workout clothes and his mama’s tired house looked like the more attractive option. But he was a gentleman who didn’t back out of commitments, so he smiled through the goofy photo and then led her to his car.

  During the ride, she talked. A lot. An occupational hazard for a T.V. anchorwoman maybe. She didn’t let him get a meaningful word in on the ride back into town. But every time he looked at her she was so smoking hot and so damn charismatic he’d have been a fool to mind. He was going to go along for the ride tonight and hope it helped him feel better.

  But one glance at the steel and stone community center at the farthest reaches of South City, and all he was feeling was confused. With a block of vacant buildings to its east and west, it was positioned more prominently in the Greenhurst neighborhood. Hmm. That seemed odd. Maybe they had plans to develop the rest of the area too.