Back on Track: Strangers on a Train

by Donna Cummings

  “No,” she said, although it was. She was feeling too much for someone she had barely met, despite her wild claims to the contrary about their dating history. Even worse, she had thought she could be happy with this brief moment, but all of a sudden she wanted more with him. Which was impossible.

  How had this ever seemed like a good idea?

  While her mind raced, she moved her fingertips across his chest, oddly soothed by the motion.

  “God, that feels good.”

  She lifted her head at his words. His eyes were closed, but there was no mistaking the bliss on his face. She unfastened the top button of his shirt with shaking fingers. His eyes shot open. He watched her the entire time she unbuttoned his shirt, exciting her with the way his chest rose and fell as he waited for her to touch his bared skin.

  She pulled the shirt open. He was beautiful. She almost sighed at the perfection on view. It was next to impossible to tear her eyes away from that lovely spot at the base of his throat.

  “If you don’t put your hands on me pretty soon—”

  Allie pressed a kiss to his chest. He sucked in his breath. She followed that by placing her palms flat against the smoothest skin she’d ever touched.

  She couldn’t stop the sigh. He couldn’t, either.

  She had to touch every bit of him. Her fingertips slid across his skin, and she finally realized he was doing the same to her, only on the outside of her clothing.

  She stopped, stepping back a few steps.

  “No!”

  “I’m leveling the playing field,” she said, reaching for the hem of her shirt. She loved the way his eyes lit up at that—until he realized it was the first of several she wore. He helped her tug the rest of them over her head in one quick swoop and started to toss them behind her.

  “Not on the floor!” Allie grabbed the T-shirts just in time. “I have to wear these again.”

  “That’s a real shame.” His thumbs caressed the lacy bra, pulling it aside so his mouth hovered over her bare nipples.

  Her head dropped back, and she somehow tucked the shirts into the back of her waistband. Her lower body rubbed against him slowly. He growled and slid his hand down to her butt, pulling her tighter against him.

  Thank God the room was so small. They had to stay close to each other, making it absolutely perfect. She didn’t know how she was going to stop. In fact, her hands were at the top button of his jeans, and she was trying to figure out how to shimmy out of hers…

  The door handle rattled. Someone pounded on the door behind Matt.

  They both caught their breath at the same time. His widened eyes were filled with “You have got to be kidding me.” Allie nearly laughed out loud. Instead, she buried her face in his chest. He sighed and dropped his head against the door in resignation. He also slid his hand up into her hair, stroking it while they both silently prayed for the intruder to leave—and quickly.

  The door handle shook again. “Maybe it’s stuck,” they heard the man say to someone.

  Matt leaned down to whisper in her ear. “It sounds like he’s going to knock down the door pretty soon.”

  “There’s not enough room in here for anyone else,” she answered with a giggle.

  He kissed her, a short, hot, sweet blast that made her want to throttle whoever was outside.

  Matt yelled, “It’s out of order. We’re, uh, doing some maintenance in here right now.”

  “Oh,” the man answered, clearly befuddled. “That’s what they said in the last car.”

  Allie snickered, especially when Matt gave her a wink. “Sorry for the inconvenience,” he added.

  Allie couldn’t believe it. Talk about a major inconvenience. She was tempted to say something to the intruder, but Matt stopped her with another kiss.

  Boy was she going to miss these after today.

  Matt couldn’t stop kissing her. He kept telling himself it didn’t make sense to feel attracted to this crazy woman with the big blue eyes and the whopping huge lies. He couldn’t listen to logic, though, not when his body was convincing him she was perfect for him. She fit into his arms as if she had been designed specifically for them. Her skin was warm wherever he touched it, and it soothed him at the same time it made him fantasize about having her completely bare.

  He nearly lost his balance at that thought.

  If it hadn’t been for the guy outside putting the brakes on things, Matt knew they would have been headed toward nakedness.

  He pulled away in an effort to get his head on straight, but that was nearly impossible when she mewed in protest, kissing him again. His heart pounded. Maybe he could track down the waiter to see if the guy knew of someplace private where Matt could be alone with Allie, exploring all kinds of passion for the next hour or two. He would have willingly given up the next few years of his contract just to be inside her, hearing her moan his name over and over.

  But in the next instant he realized that wouldn’t be enough for him. Allie deserved more than an impromptu hookup in an office or supply closet. Not that he would have regretted it—not for a minute. But he couldn’t take the chance that it might end up in the tabloids, turning it into something sordid when it was anything but.

  Allie would have a real Matt Kearns story to add to her fake ones, but it wouldn’t be at all pleasant for her to be subjected to that kind of scrutiny.

  He wasn’t sure what to do next. He wanted to keep seeing her when the train trip came to an end. She tantalized him in so many ways, and not just with her kisses and her passionate responses. He couldn’t wait to see what she would say, or do, next. There had never been a woman like her in his life.

  There was only one thing he knew for sure. He wasn’t about to let her go like that fool Matt Kearns had.

  Chapter Six

  “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be kissed on the caboose,” Allie said.

  She would have stayed in their tiny hideaway forever, and it had definitely seemed like Matt had wanted to keep things moving along too. But to her surprise and disappointment, he had suggested they get some fresh air. They’d put their clothing to rights, taking as long as possible in the process, and then meandered through the train until they’d reached the end.

  Her heart nearly sank at that thought. Fortunately, the fresh air of the open observation deck came with a lot of fresh kisses.

  She squirmed closer to Matt, relishing his warmth while the breeze from the moving train did its best to cool them down. No chance of that happening while Matt’s gentle laugh warmed her insides. And that wasn’t counting the places where his talented hands were touching her.

  “I love kissing you on the caboose.” He leaned forward, ready to deliver another scorching one to add to the million other kisses they’d shared.

  He could make a girl completely forget her own name. As well as his name—

  “Dude! It’s Matt Kearns.”

  Allie froze for a moment. She blinked, trying to figure out why someone was reminding her of Matt’s name. In the next instant, she felt Matt’s shoulders sag with undeniable defeat.

  They’d been discovered.

  There was no place left to escape. The only exit was blocked by several excited young men wearing baseball caps that matched Matt’s. The logo on their T-shirts left no doubt of who their idol was, either. They’d finally tracked their quarry, and they weren’t about to let him get away without talking to him.

  Allie heard Matt sigh, and she wanted to cry out in protest that she and Matt couldn’t have this moment to themselves. He gave her an apologetic look and straightened, turning on that megawatt smile, ready to confess who he was—and probably sign autographs for the last available hour of the excursion. He did his best to block Allie from their view, keeping their attention focused on him.

  She admired him for being such a pro. She could only imagine what it took to constantly be in the spotlight. The poor man was hounded no matter what he tried to do. He hadn’t even been safe locked in a bathroom.

>   In the back of her mind, she realized how much worse it would be if he was part of a publicity campaign based on him taking his shirt off, and she could understand why he’d refused. She was actually having second thoughts about sharing that magnificent bare chest with the rest of the world. Even if it was for charity.

  But Matt was a first-class kind of guy. He knew they had no way out of the situation, so he made the best of it. His fans were beside themselves with glee, cackling and slapping hands as they congratulated themselves on cornering their favorite baseball player.

  “Can you believe it?” one of them crowed. “It’s Matt freakin’ Kearns.”

  Matt’s smile was forced, but it still counted as a smile. “Yeah, I get that all the time, actually.”

  He gave Allie a quick wink. If he was willing to try to brazen this out, she would do everything she could to make it work.

  Allie stepped around Matt and gaped at the fans. “Ohmygod, you think this is Matt Kearns?” She started to laugh hard, holding her sides. She noticed the young men giving her a cocky look, so she knew she’d have to up her game. “Look at him. The real Matt Kearns is way hotter.”

  Matt gasped behind her.

  “Seriously?” one of the young men said, clearly not believing her.

  “Oh, yeah.” She fanned her face. “Like, blazing hot. Scorch. Ing.”

  Matt said in a wry voice, “I thought you didn’t kiss and tell.”

  She flushed. “I’m not. I don’t. I’m merely telling them what should be obvious to anybody who knows Matt Kearns.”

  He cleared his throat, but it was possible he was covering up a laugh.

  “Put the two of you side by side,” she continued, “and it’s going to be completely obvious who’s hotter.”

  “It sure looks like him,” another young man said, his voice filled with doubt. At least he’d dropped the camera phone to his side. She was making progress.

  “That’s because you’ve got your wine goggles on. Heck, you probably thought I was that girl from that TV show.”

  “I told you it wasn’t her!” one of the men hissed. He received a punch in the arm from his buddy.

  “I still think he looks like him,” the most stubborn of them said. “Exactly like him.”

  “Well, of course he looks similar,” Allie said with a snort. “If you looked like Matt Kearns, wouldn’t you play that up?”

  The young men stared at each other while they puzzled that out and then grinned in unison. “Yeah, we totally would.”

  To ensure they were convinced, Allie placed her hand on Matt’s biceps, squeezing the world-famous pitching arm. She nearly quit breathing at the thought of how wonderful his arms had felt around her. All she had to do was wrap up this fiasco, and they could get back to those delicious kisses.

  “Does this arm look like it could throw a baseball? Let alone a ninety-eight-mile-per-hour fastball straight across the plate?” She rolled her eyes. “There’s no way anyone would put this man half-naked on a beefcake calendar, either.”

  The young men looked sheepish. “Hey, man, we’re so sorry.”

  “I don’t know how we could have made that mistake.”

  “Hope you don’t mind.”

  “No worries.” Matt gave her a funny look. She’d have to apologize to him afterward about disparaging his physique. She truly had no complaints about it, but she might have gone a little overboard trying to get his fans to leave him alone. Hopefully he’d understand her reasons.

  “We really thought—”

  “I understand. I’m a fan of his too.” He smiled. “In fact, it happens so much, one of these days I’m gonna say I am Matt Kearns.”

  Allie turned away to keep from laughing. He was such a good sport. He chatted with the guys for several minutes about baseball stuff and what they would have told Matt if he’d actually been Matt.

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Matt said. “Once he gets done with rehab, he’ll no doubt be ready for the new season. I’m sure he’s gonna be great.”

  The whole encounter earned him a place in the young men’s affections that had previously been taken up by their hero worship of Matt Kearns. There was a lot of hand-slapping and high-fiving, and then Allie and Matt were alone again.

  At last.

  Allie could finally exhale. She’d saved Matt from unwanted publicity—and saved herself from being plastered in the tabloids, which wouldn’t do much to further her cause with him or the charity calendar.

  They’d dodged a huge bullet with their quick thinking. Maybe they could track down some celebratory champagne. She stepped closer to Matt, ready to resume their interrupted kissing.

  She was in for a big shock.

  Matt’s blue eyes were sparkling, only this time it wasn’t from amusement or desire. She would definitely call his expression an accusing one.

  “You knew who I was all along!”

  Matt stared at her, his chest tight with anger and disappointment. “You lied to me!”

  “And you lied to me!”

  “I told the truth.”

  “But you told it like it was a lie,” she answered defiantly, her fists on her hips.

  She didn’t back down from his anger, which he admired in a way, but he was frustrated and more than a little hurt. It was hard to accept that she had pretended not to know him in order to get closer—merely so she could get what she wanted from him.

  He had been so sure she wasn’t like everyone else. That what they had going between them was different.

  Matt snorted. “You lied about knowing me.”

  “No, I just didn’t let you know I knew who you were.”

  Her cheeks were flushed the same way they’d been when they’d kissed. She still tempted him. Had she also lied about her attraction to him? Was that part of her act? He shook his head, as much at his own weakness as her deception. Maybe he’d never learn. And that angered him even more.

  “That’s a lie of omission,” he said.

  “And that’s an oxymoron. How can I lie if I’m not saying anything?”

  “I’m not sure.” He wanted to stomp around, but there wasn’t any room on the small metal platform, which increased his aggravation. “You said you’d dated me. That was a lie.”

  “And you knew it was a lie. Because we’ve never dated.”

  He threw his hands up in the air. She was maddening. It was impossible to have a regular argument with her.

  Allie inhaled deeply, and just like the first time she’d sat down next to him, it looked like she was gathering her courage. But he wasn’t about to give her a chance to duck the question. Or utter another falsehood.

  “You’re the one who’s been calling my manager about posing for that calendar. That’s how you knew about it.”

  She nodded, biting her lip.

  This time he felt like he’d been punched. He shrugged, acting as though it was no big deal. But it bothered him more than he expected. How had he been so wrong about her?

  “I truly didn’t know it was you when I came over to talk to you.” Her eyes pleaded with him to have faith in her.

  “That’s hard to believe,” he said. “In fact, almost everything you say is hard to believe.”

  Her cheeks reddened, and he felt a twinge at causing her distress.

  “I know,” she said. “And I apologize for that. But I thought you might feel more comfortable if you didn’t have to be, well, you, for a few hours.”

  He stopped his pacing. She was right about that.

  They’d had a chance to get to know each other without his celebrity getting in the way. In fact, the only time it had caused any problems was when he’d had to duck his fans. And that had led to some sizzling kisses. His body reacted to the thought of the passion they could be exploring—once they figured out what the truth was and who was telling lies.

  “Why is this damn calendar so important to you?”

  Her chin jutted out. “It will give my marketing company a huge boost. I’ve recently started my o
wn business, and I work a million hours a day on it. This is actually the first time I took a break from work—”

  “Only you were working me.”

  She flushed. “That’s not fair. That’s not what I was doing. I haven’t enjoyed myself like that in years.”

  He desperately wanted to believe her, but he didn’t know if he could. He had to sort out his thoughts. How had one woman scrambled his brain like this, in less time than it took for him to finish nine innings? He needed somebody to decipher all the signals he was getting, only there wasn’t a coach on the sidelines telling him what to do.

  “I’ve got to go,” he finally said.

  Chapter Seven

  Matt found Troy sitting in the midst of several lovely females, and damn if the guy wasn’t preening. Normally he’d tease his friend about it, but he had other things on his mind.

  “Hey, buddy,” Matt said. “Can I steal you for a minute?”

  Troy’s shoulders slumped until he saw the expression on Matt’s face. “Sure. No problem.” He jumped out of his chair and swung both index fingers toward the women. “Ladies, I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

  They all giggled at his witticism and poured more wine for each other.

  “What’s up?” Troy asked as Matt walked them to some chairs a fair distance away. “Are you having a good time?”

  “Yeah. I was. But—” He plopped down into the club chair.

  Troy sat on the edge of his, impatient. “But what?”

  “I met this woman. She’s sexy and funny, and I can’t remember when I’ve had such a great time.”

  “High five, man. So how’s that a problem?” Troy’s forehead wrinkled as he tried to figure that one out.

  “She lied to me.”

  Troy shrugged. “About what? She’s got fourteen kids? Two husbands? A prison record?”

  Matt laughed. “No, she lied about dating…well, me.”

  “Now I’m totally confused. Did you date her?”

  “No! That’s just it. She came over to me and said she was going to tell me three things and one of them would be a lie.” Matt chuckled as he remembered her approaching him. “Actually, she started out saying it would be three lies. She messed the whole thing up, and it was pretty cute—”