“Eleven grand!” Jillian yelled.
Shit.
People were actually moving closer and gathering around her now. She blocked them out and faked a conversation with the imaginary person on the phone. This was definitely the riskiest, most unrealistic thing she’d ever done.
“Eleven-five? Do I have eleven-five?”
Yep. He did, but that was all she had. Something had to give for her to win this thing.
She felt a hand on her back as she raised her paddle.
MJ stood beside her. “Finish it,” she whispered in her ear. “You have Tag’s blessing.”
Blessings were good in moments like this, but blessed or not, she was still going to have to pay back the loan. How much would it take to “finish it”? She gnawed her bottom lip. Having that kind of decision-making power was overwhelming. There were grand gestures, and then there were bad decisions. She was walking a fine line, wasn’t she? But one more look at Cam, and she raised her hand.
Twelve.
Twelve-five.
Thirteen.
Each increment heighted her anxiety. She needed an upper limit. She had to stop the insanity someplace. She might be willingly out on this limb, but eventually she’d have to answer to her usual sensibilities. If only the nut on the phone with Jillian would back the hell off.
But she didn’t, and at fourteen grand, Tanya saw her chances dwindling. If she lost, maybe it wouldn’t be a complete bust. After all, she’d have proven to herself just how far she was willing to go for him. Maybe that meant they did have what it would take to make a real relationship work.
At fourteen-five, MJ returned. “Give up,” she said. “I talked to Jillian, and you’re never going to outbid her bidder.”
Disappointment mixed with relief. The woman on the phone with Jillian owed her father fifteen grand. They saved the gym.
Now she was going to have to figure out a less-flashy way to save her relationship with Cam.
• • •
Cam exhaled when Tanya lowered her arm and put away her phone. Straight up relief. Jillian had won. Which meant he’d won. Which meant Tanya had won too—but she didn’t know it. She looked … sad. Her head hung as she moved through the crowd.
He needed to get to her. Impulse carried him off the make-shift stage. The minute his feet hit the ground, random hands pawed at his body. Dumb mistake. These women were juiced from the excitement of the auction.
“I wanted to win so bad,” said the woman hanging on his right arm.
He smiled, but his eyes were scanning the crowd.
“Me too! Me too!”
“Who won? Do you know who won?”
One of them grabbed his ass. He jumped. “Ladies, excuse me. I need to change.”
He fled despite their protests, but he didn’t get far. More fans. More hands. He folded his own and guarded his junk. When he finally made it behind the curtains he smelled like a department store perfume counter, and he was wearing a couple scratches on his chest and God only knew how many lipstick prints on his face.
Tanya was nowhere to be found.
People started to make their way through the curtain, so he escaped to the hall. But it was only a matter of time before they infiltrated this space too. The men’s locker room was the sole safe zone.
By the time he got there, the other bachelors had cleared out. Their robes and trunks were hung on a rack beside the door. He’d be glad to get rid of his getup too. This whole thing had been a lesson in what he did and didn’t want. Screw the attention and adoration. He wanted those things from one woman and one woman only.
He grabbed his phone from his locker and called her.
She answered on the first ring. “Where are you?”
“The locker room.”
“Oh. People are looking for you.”
“Yeah, well, I was looking for someone too.”
“Who?” The question came slow and quiet.
“You. We need to talk.”
Silence, and then a soft, “Okay.”
“How ‘bout now? Nobody’s back here with me.”
“I’ll be there soon.”
He changed. Part of him wanted to leave the trunks on and use his body to sway her opinions, but lately he wasn’t feeling all that showy. A temporary lapse in confidence. If she said she loved him too, he’d happily get naked with her.
The door swung open. She walked in, but stayed on her side of the room.
“Hey,” he said.
She clutched the hem of her white blouse and smiled. “You were a fifteen-thousand-dollar hit. We raised a total of thirty-two-thousand dollars all efforts combined.”
“That’s good.”
“It’s great.” She rubbed her neck. “Thank you.”
He opened his mouth to respond, but she held up a hand.
“Let me get all of this out and then you can talk.” She inhaled. “All that stuff I said to you in the car about the feelings not mattering because we were going nowhere? That was bullshit.”
She was telling him.
She inhaled again, and he smiled. God, he loved everything about her.
“I was the bidder on the phone,” she said. “I mean nobody was on the phone, because I was the bidder. I pretended to have a telephone bid.”
Holy shit. That explained her reaction to losing.
“I wanted to outbid Katerina.” She looked at the ground.
“Tanya, I’m not with Katerina,” he said. “I haven’t been with Katerina. I’m glad she didn’t win.”
She looked at him. “I sort of figured, but I worried she’d get to spend that weekend in Boston with you and things would change.”
Fat chance. He would’ve spent that weekend wishing Katerina had been Tanya. “What if you spent the weekend in Boston with me?” he asked. “Would things change then?”
Her head tipped and her eyes narrowed. “I don’t know. I’m not sure what you’re saying.”
“I’m saying I was the winning bidder. Jillian was bidding for me. I won because I want to be with you.” If he’d had any reason to believe she’d say yes, he would’ve dropped to one knee. “Tanya Mary Martin, I love you.”
• • •
The words hit Tanya like a cornerback with a vendetta, and her body swayed from the blow. Blindsided in the best way possible.
“I love you too.” Her voice was so weak she wasn’t sure she’d said it out loud.
But then he smiled liked he’d been named MVP all over again, and she knew he’d heard her.
“Then come to Boston with me,” he said.
That damn realistic streak blew hot air all over her happiness. You don’t belong in Boston. That’s why this will never work.
“I can’t leave my team,” she said.
He walked to her and cupped her face. “For one weekend before the season officially starts you can.” He brushed his lips against hers. “You name the dates. I’ll make the time. I want you to see who I am when I’m there. I want to know if you can love that man. Because if you can, then we’re going to find a way to make this work. Long term.”
Marriage? She closed her eyes and kissed him before the naysaying could begin. When his tongue touched hers, her mind blanked. She snaked her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his, letting the heat between them evaporate her fear.
“Whoa! Excuse me.” The voice pulled them apart.
Terrell. Tanya would’ve given him a death stare if she had any control over her noodle-like body.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he said. “But people are asking for Cam.”
“He’s busy.” Cam grinned at Tanya.
Terrell wrinkled his face. “Yeah. I saw how busy he was, but people paid good money to mingle with ‘the man,’ so he better get his tongue outta my sister’s mouth and his ass into the gym.”
That recharged her. “Speaking of asses, I’m gonna kick yours if you don’t leave us alone. We’ll be out in five minutes.”
Cam didn’t wait for the door
to swing shut before he pulled her close again. “What can we do in five minutes? You should’ve said ten.”
She smiled. “We can talk.”
“You want to talk?” He backed her against a row of nearby lockers and nuzzled her neck. “Talk. I have better things to do with my mouth.”
Wonderful things. Like tracing her collarbone with the tip of his tongue, sucking the tight skin between her breasts, and teasing her nipples.
She moaned.
He looked up at her with a sexy smirk. “You’re not talking.”
In a minute.
His brows bobbed. “But I can get you to talk.” He licked the skin between her breasts until he reached the sensitive dip in her neck.
She shuddered.
“Do you want it now?” he asked.
Cheater.
“Do you want it now?” he asked again.
Always. Forever. “Maybe,” she said.
He dropped to his knees and lifted her blouse, exposing her belly. His warm, wet mouth planted chill-inducing kisses over her skin while his hands held her in place. He glanced up at her again. She expected the same question, but instead, he drew his thumb in a firm stroke over her zipper.
“Imagine what we could do if I took these off,” he said.
Oh, she knew!
He rubbed her until she was bucking against him, and then he said, “You want it now, don’t you?”
“I do.”
Sliding against her body, he stood. A kiss. A grope. His lips at her ear, sending shockwaves of pleasure through her overheated body.
“Too late,” he whispered. “Five minutes are up. We’ll talk later.” He backed away from her.
She might have been pissed at his little game if he weren’t flushed as hell and bearing the uncomfortable repercussions in his pants.
“You’re walking funny,” she said.
He made a face. “Yeah, well you’re talking funny. You should up your workout routine. Then you wouldn’t be so out of breath.”
She laughed. And as she watched him open the door to leave, she realized life without him was too damn cold. He’d barreled into her quiet corner of the world and made it glow.
“I’ll go,” she said.
He stopped and looked at her. “You’ll go where?”
“To Boston. Maybe we can work on my fitness level while I’m there.”
His eyes darkened, and his mouth twitched. “You bet we will.”
Then what? The door swung shut behind him, and bit by bit, her body cooled. Was she willing to leave her family and friends for a shot at life with him? Would she find the answer in Boston?
When she finally made it out of the locker room and into the swarm of people lingering around the gym, Jillian and MJ were waiting for her.
Jillian was bouncing on her toes. “So, how’d it go?”
The details were a little fuzzy, and she stared off into space trying to decide where to start.
“Ooh! That looks good,” MJ said. “She’s speechless.”
“Did he tell you who won the date with him?” Jillian looked like she might burst.
Tanya nodded. “He also told me he loves me.”
MJ whooped. “And of course you told him you love him too.”
“Right?” Jillian asked.
Tanya nodded again. This was just so damn cool. All around her people who’d come out in support of her father’s gym laughed and mingled. And in the middle of it all was her first best friend, who had turned into so much more.
She looked for him, expecting to find him working the crowd with his gorgeous smile and larger-than-life stories.
“You’re going to be logging frequent flyer miles now, girl,” Jillian said. “Good for you.”
“He can come here to visit more often too,” MJ added.
She supposed both scenarios were true. “We’ll work it out,” she said, and then she found him … looking back at her. In that moment, she knew it was true.
Here. There. Anywhere. She just wanted to be with him.
He motioned for her, and she didn’t hesitate even when she saw his mother beside him.
“Ma, you remember Tanya Martin, don’t you?”
Clarice smiled. “Of course I do.”
“Nice to see you … ” again, but her mouth snapped shut when his hand slid up her back in a very loving, clearly possessive way.
Clarice’s friendly smile mutated into a knowing smirk, and then she nodded. “Nice to see you again, too, dear.”
From behind her, someone grabbed Tanya’s hand, and she turned to see her mother’s shining eyes. “What a wonderful evening!” Her gaze trailed to Cam’s hand still firmly pressed to the small of Tanya’s back. “Clarice, Cam, I’m so glad you could be a part of it.”
“There he is!” Tanya’s father filled in the gap between Cam and his mother. “The man of the hour.” He smacked Cam’s back.
“Anything for you, Pop, but if you ask me, this was an honest-to-god team effort,” Cam said, and he let loose a piercing whistle targeting Terrell. “Get over here!”
So true. She hadn’t been the only defender of this gym. The auction had been Terrell’s idea in the first place, and he’d stepped up in ways she never imagined. Running the gym? Balancing accounts? Ha! Her family could manage without her—if she ever decided to give them reason to.
When Terrell made it into the group, Pop gave him a hug. Her mother got in on the action too. Tears sprang to Tanya’s eyes. Family togetherness. And not because she’d forced anybody to sit together.
“Hey! You really leaving tomorrow?” Terrell asked Cam.
“I was thinking about it,” he said. His hand slid up her back to rest between her shoulder blades. “But with the weather and all, I think I’ll stick around a few more days.”
And all. She played a part in that. Tanya smiled.
“Sounds good, man,” Terrell said. “It’ll sound even better if you tell us it won’t be another five years before we see you ‘round again.”
Cam laughed as he playfully gripped the back of her neck. Warm and Right. She leaned into him.
“I’ll be back,” he said. “Sooner rather than later.”
“You’ll be back for the ground breaking of the turf for sure,” Clarice said.
Tanya felt Cam’s body tighten, but then he slid his hand over her outer shoulder and relaxed.
“What turf?” her mother asked.
“Oh.” Clarice covered her mouth and widened her eyes. “I assumed everyone knew about it.”
Cam shook his head and smiled. “They do now.”
Tanya filled with pride. If Cam wasn’t going to blow his own horn, she would. “He’s having the high school field redone. Everything brand new.”
Terrell whooped.
“That’s admirable, son,” Pop said. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you,” Cam said. “Your generosity has inspired me.” He glanced at his mother, who nodded. And then Tanya felt him take a breath. “Pop Martin Field should be ready in time for next football season.”
Her mother gasped. Her father’s eyes glistened. Her brother whooped again.
What a wonderful evening, indeed.
Tanya stayed by Cam’s side the rest of the night as he greeted guests and answered questions. So many feelings tussled inside of her. Love. Pride. Gratitude. Shock and awe. This was her life, a life that on some level she’d probably always wanted, a life that she’d never willingly give up.
“You think I can play football,” Cam told the crowd around him, jerking a thumb towards Tanya with a smile. “Have you seen this one?”
A few people said they had, and she tried not to squirm when Cam launched into a story about her. Too much attention, but she’d better get used to it. Loving a man like Cam meant at least part of your life was lived in the spotlight. Not her thing, but she would tolerate it for him.
“She flipped into the end zone like, Bam! What you mean I only get six points for that?” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders an
d pulled her against him. “That’s my girl.”
Warmth blossomed inside of her. The kind of warmth that kept you comfortable even on the grayest days. And as she wound her arm around his waist she knew she wasn’t going to learn anything during a weekend in Boston that she didn’t already know here.
At the end of the night, when the gym had emptied out except for the handful of people playing clean-up crew, she backed him into a corner and lifted onto her toes. This entire night had been foreplay.
“I want it now,” she whispered against his ear.
His magnificent body went rigid, and she dropped to the flats of her feet just to revel in his wide-eyed smile.
“And always,” she added.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her softly.
Never let me go, she thought. ‘Cause I’m never letting go of you.
“Hey!” He grabbed her by the upper arms and held her away from him so they were face to face. “You know what this means don’t you?” His brows bobbed. “The magic checkbook worked,” he grinned cheekily. “And I didn’t even have to get out my Lombardi trophy.”
“Oh there’ll be no living with you now, huh?” But she couldn’t hide her smile. “I see how it is. I’m going to have to spend the rest of my life cutting that ego of yours down to a manageable size.
“Rest of your life?” His dark eyes sized her up, affection shining in his gaze. “That a deal?”
Yeah, it was. Strings and all.
About the Author
Elley Ardenis a born and bred Pennsylvanian who has lived as far west as Utah and as far north as Wisconsin. She drinks wine like it’s water (a slightexaggeration), prefers a night at the ballpark to a night on the town, andbelieves almond English toffee is the key to happiness. Elley writes books with charming characters, emotional stories, and sexy romance. For a complete list of Elley’s books, visit http://www.elleyarden.com.
Singapore Fling
Alexia Adams
Avon, Massachusetts
Romance in Color Page 168