Seduced by the Game

by editor Lisa Hollett

  Cooper pushed her down on the counter and lowered the straps on her dress, revealing the most perfect set of tits he’d seen in a long time, not huge, but not small, just right. Leaning forward, he ran his tongue around one nipple. God, she tasted as good as she smelled, all honey and sweetness with a bit of wicked thrown in. She shuddered underneath him, burying her fingers in his hair.

  He drew her nipple into his mouth, sucking hard then holding it between his teeth and tugging slightly. She whimpered, her hips rising off the table.

  “You like that?” For reasons he couldn’t fathom, her answer was important to him.

  Izzy nodded, her luminous eyes full of wonder and desire.

  “Some women think I’m too rough.”

  When she didn’t respond, he took that as a good thing and bent down to repeat the process on the other nipple, this time testing her by biting a little harder. She gripped the table with her hands and tossed her head from side to side. He flicked her nipple with his tongue several times as she writhed underneath him.

  “Like that?”

  “Yes. I love it.”

  Pushing down her dress, he trailed little kisses to her navel, pausing to nip here and there, marking her with his teeth.

  He knelt between her legs, pushing aside her G-string. Even in the dim light, he could see her glistening juices. He parted her folds and slipped his tongue inside, pushing as high up as possible. She dug her spiked heels into his back. He followed his tongue with a finger.

  Damn, but she was tight. Just like he liked his women, and relatively hard to find among the women he hung with. He slid another finger inside her and pumped, while his tongue worked its magic on her clit.

  She arched her back and pressed her crotch into his face, giving him the green light to take her to heaven, and he planned to do just that. With an enthusiasm he’d been lacking lately when it came to sex, Cooper gave her everything he had until she was shaking and screaming his name.

  Finally she collapsed, boneless and silent, except for her panting. He watched the rise and fall of her chest and had to smile. Satisfaction surged through him, despite the fact that he hadn’t gotten any yet. He loved pleasing a lady, almost as much as he loved a lady pleasing him. The way he saw it, his turn was next.

  Oh, yeah, it was going to be a good night.

  Finally Izzy’s eyes focused on his face. She blinked several times, cleared her throat, and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Glancing around the room, as if to get her bearings and compose herself, she eventually brought her gaze back to him.

  “Now you have to dance with me.”

  “That wasn’t part of the deal.” It was a token statement of resistance. How did a man turn down an order like that?

  “We had a deal.” She slid off the counter and straightened her clothing.

  Pounding on the door brought them both back to reality. She smiled at him. “I’ll wait in a stall for a decent amount of time. You leave first.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “I’m not done with you.” Cooper gave her a quick kiss, waited for her to hide in the stall, then opened the door. A shocked Lauren Schneider stood on the other side. He smiled at her as if he always walked out of the women’s bathroom.

  “Oh, sorry. I guess I went in the wrong bathroom. No wonder it didn’t have urinals.” He saluted her and sauntered off.

  She stared after him, her soft laughter following him.

  He wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all himself.

  Isabelle would be his completely by the time the night was over, and he’d savor every moment of it. He didn’t think he could wait until they got off the boat.

  Now to find a more romantic, private place than a bathroom, one with a lock on the door.

  Chapter 4—Body Checking

  She didn’t know if it was too much wine or Cooper’s hot gaze melting her inhibitions or a combination of both, but this man had just driven Izzy to the brink of infinite pleasure and pushed her over the edge. She’d never in her life experienced an orgasm so totally awesome in its power as it swept through every cell in her body and laid waste to all of her past sexual experiences. There wasn’t a man on Earth who could equal what this man had just done to her.

  And that was only the appetizer. She couldn’t wait to see what he did for the main course. Greedy bitch that she was, she wanted more, and she wanted it badly. But she had a job to do, and there was that pesky pact between sisters—no sleeping with the guests. None. Zero. Zilch. And big sister never broke the rules, though she’d stretched them to their breaking point tonight. They had to get off the boat first so he wouldn’t be a guest anymore. Then it’d be okay. Their pact didn’t extend off the party premises. Or at least, she’d just amended that particular rule.

  Izzy walked out of the stall she’d been hiding in, ignoring Lauren’s knowing smirk, and acting as if fooling around in the bathroom was something she did every day.

  She stood in front of the sink and checked her makeup, washed her hands and straightened her clothes. All the while Lauren watched.

  “Your boyfriend is a stubborn man,” Lauren noted.

  “That he is.” It would seem Lauren didn’t know about Party Crashers, which didn’t surprise Izzy. After all, for them to be effective, everyone should think they were real party crashers.

  “Perhaps, you can convince him to enjoy the party a little. He’s not doing anyone any favors, including himself, by refusing to cooperate. That is if you really know him.”

  “Of course, I know him.” Izzy put just the right amount of indignant haughtiness in her voice.

  Lauren didn’t look convinced. “I saw the commotion when you tried to board the boat.”

  “Just a little misunderstanding.”

  “I wonder. I really wonder.” Lauren looked her up and down as if assessing her. Turning she left the room.

  Izzy smoothed back her hair, hoping she didn’t look like she’d done what she’d just done. Lauren was on to her, and that was the number one party crasher rule: don’t ever let the guests discover that you weren’t invited.

  Faking a cool, confident smile, Izzy ventured back into the main room. Bethany was on her in a second.

  “What the hell happened to you?”

  “Building good will with the team captain.” She could never lie to Bethany. Her sister saw right through Izzy’s every lie. Either Bethany was damn perceptive or Izzy was a damn poor liar.

  Bethany’s perfectly shaped eyebrows disappeared under her bangs. “Are you melting his icy heart any?”

  “Let’s say there’s been plenty of heat.”

  “Tread lightly. This isn’t what we’re about. And you have a tendency to fall in love first and ask questions later.” Bethany, on the other hand, did not have that problem. Her heart never seemed to get involved with her dalliances.

  “I know, but sometimes a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do for the greater good.”

  “Whose greater good? Yours, his, or the company’s?”

  Izzy opened her mouth to answer, but Bethany held up her hand. “Do what you have to, but don’t compromise what we stand for.”

  “He’s going to dance with me. Once he hits the floor, the team’s boycott will shatter.”

  Bethany almost smiled. “I’ll do my part. I’ve been eyeing that tall Swede all night. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Bethany winked and sashayed off.

  And that left Izzy a hell of a lot of leeway.

  Taking a deep breath, Izzy refocused on her job, making this the best party ever. Right now it wasn’t. In fact, far from it. The team sulked at the tables in the back of the room, either wolfing down food or guzzling alcohol and ignoring the advances of the women and the attempts of the coaching staff to get them on their feet. Even though some of the younger players looked ready to cave at times, threatening glares from the veterans pinned them to their seats.

  She had to take action soon before the players were too drunk
to notice and management was too disgusted to care and her fledging business crashed into the boards on its first skate across the ice.

  A few couples braved the dance floor, including Ethan and Lauren, while Emma and Avery grabbed mics and sang a popular country song in their sultry voices. Several hockey players licked their lips as they watched the twins. It wouldn’t take much to break this party wide open. All she had to do was get the cooperation of Cooper, who currently didn’t look the least bit ready to cooperate. He stood in the back of the room, behind the team tables, like a sentinel, in his usual stance of arms crossed over his chest and wearing his trademark scowl. He’d gone back into pissed off mode, despite her best efforts and his.

  Time to push him further and see how far he’d go.

  * * * *

  What a fucking wuss Cooper had been.

  Pretty women had been his weakness in the past, and he’d paid dearly for it with expensive gifts, trips, even an apartment or two, and once with his heart. He’d hardened that very heart to women after his fiancée stomped all over it and left the gory remains spread all over Twitter, Facebook, and the gossip sites.

  Never going there again. Women were for recreation. That was all. Because in his world, all the good women were married, attached, had kids, or were too young. Cooper didn’t rob the cradle. He liked his women mature, sexy, and adventurous. Yeah, like a woman who’d do him on a public bathroom counter.

  Now that turned him on, and he’d lowered his guard twice, forgotten his mission, betrayed his former coach and fans, and the charity he’d left behind. Hell, the whole Gainesville community was mourning the loss of the Giants.

  Izzy was a dangerous woman. He’d never felt such instant physical chemistry. Never wanted to fuck a woman as badly as he did her. If Lauren hadn’t pounded on that bathroom door, who knows what they’d be doing about now.

  He’d be fooling himself if he thought she was done trying to manipulate him into doing her bidding.

  Izzy walked toward him, determination etched on her beautiful face. She wanted that dance. And if he danced with her, his teammates would follow. Parker would win, and he’d have betrayed the very city and fans who’d been so loyal to him over the years. Yet, in the words of his take-no-prisoners agent, loyalty has no place in professional sports. This was a business, plain and simple. A guy goes where the money is, or in his case, where the team happened to be moved.

  “There you are, honey.” Izzy slid up next to him, cupped his face in her hands, and kissed him soundly. Several of the guys hooted and whistled. Cooper stood completely still, arms at his sides, refusing to touch her, even though his fingers itched to stroke that creamy skin. It took every ounce of willpower he possessed and then some. She pulled him to her like the planets were pulled to the sun, and his body definitely wanted to be in her orbit even as his head warned against the idea.

  Push her away now. End this stupid charade. Hell, he could report her to management as a party crasher, and they’d lock her up somewhere for the remainder of the cruise.

  Cooper stared into her chocolate brown eyes, soulful eyes, eyes that’d seen a lot, and continued to fight. He liked that. He liked her, and he hated himself for liking her because when he liked a woman, he wanted to please her. That was the way he rolled.

  And he knew what this woman wanted.

  A piece of him. Not just his body but something infinitely more dangerous. And he didn’t give that away, not anymore.

  Pulling away from her, he headed outside for some air to the deck that circled the entire boat. It was a chilly night, but the earlier misty rain had given way to stars. An almost full moon cast a ray of light across the calm water. It was a beautiful night, and he steeled himself against that beauty.

  He heard Izzy’s heels clicking on the deck behind him, and he walked faster, hoping she’d give up.

  “You owe me a dance,” she called out to him. Her heels tapped louder until she grabbed his arm and spun him around.

  “I don’t owe you anything. I believe I paid you quite nicely already. Seems you owe me something.” He stared down at her, vacillating between running like hell and kissing her ruby red lips until they both collapsed to the deck in a tangle of writhing bodies.

  “Dance with me.” Her chin jutted out stubbornly, and he had to chuckle. She was a fiery female, and he loved women with spunk because that enthusiasm carried over nicely into bed.

  “What do you care? You’re a party crasher.”

  She didn’t respond, instead she leaned against the railing, shivering and hugging herself. Cooper couldn’t staunch the wave of sympathy that rolled through him. He put an arm around her waist, pulling her close, as he, too, stared out at the water.

  “So how long have you and your sisters been doing this?” He tried to sound casual, but her hip rubbing against his caused his voice to drop to a husky rasp.

  “Crashing parties?”

  “Yeah.”

  She sighed, as if the wind had gone out of her sails. “Since we were kids and our parents would be gone for weeks at a time, leaving us to fend for ourselves after the meager amount of money they gave us ran out.”

  He frowned, feeling indignant for her and protective at the same time. “What the hell? Why weren’t they reported?”

  “We lived in a private neighborhood, and we did everything we could to keep from being broken apart into separate foster homes. Our parents aren’t bad people, but they should’ve left the condoms on and not had kids.”

  “Why did they leave you guys alone? Where did they go?” He really wanted to know. The answer was important to him for some unfathomable reason.

  She tilted her head and looked up at him, as if assessing his worthiness to hear the next bit of information. “Ever heard of To the Max?”

  “The rock group?”

  “That’s the one. Rock and Fawn Maxwell are our parents. They’ve spent their entire lives either chasing the dream or trying to recover it.” Something flickered briefly in her eyes, pain, sadness, vulnerability. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and promise he’d always keep her safe and secure. Only he didn’t because he couldn’t care, shouldn’t care. Yet a part of him did.

  Izzy stared out at the water, her beautiful face an expressionless mask, but Cooper had glimpsed the truth behind the mask.

  “They never recovered their dream?” he asked.

  “No, and they still haven’t stopped trying, but at least we’re not under their roof anymore.”

  “I’m sorry. That must have been tough.”

  “It was. Especially when the house got foreclosed on, and we lived in a fifth wheel on their friend’s five acres. But as our parents’ children, we could sing, dance, and entertain like no one’s business.”

  “So you took those talents to parties?”

  “Yes. One night when I was sixteen, we were out and about, looking for a way to score some food, maybe a generous stranger or a shopkeeper who’d hire us for a few hours under the table. We stumbled upon an old house used for weddings and such. There was huge reception going on, and the caterers were bringing in tray after tray of food. We were starving, and the food smelled so good. We looked at each other and decided to give it a shot. Weddings are great because usually one side doesn’t know the other side’s guests and family. And we were relatively well-dressed in Mom’s vintage designer clothes.”

  “So you crashed the party.”

  “We didn’t just crash it, we made it. It was the dullest party ever, and we walked in and got the party started. Both the bride and groom thanked us profusely, even though I don’t think they ever figured out who the hell we were. We snuck out with tons of leftovers and ate off them for a week.”

  “And so your career started?”

  She frowned for a moment. “You could say that.”

  “Why did you pick this party to crash?”

  “Hot hockey players and a cruise on Elliott Bay. What party crasher could turn away from that?”

  He smiled. “Yo
ur secret is safe with me.”

  “I appreciate it.”

  Something seemed a little off with her, as if she weren’t telling him the entire story, but he couldn’t imagine what else there’d be to tell. She’d been open with him, so why hide anything? Yet, something didn’t add up.

  “So how about you? Why are you being such a douche about this party? You seem like a nice guy.” She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he pulled her closer to his side.

  “I am a nice guy, but I don’t want to be here. I want to be cut or traded, and I’ll take my chances elsewhere.”

  “Seattle isn’t such a bad place. I’ve lived here all my life.”

  “You’re used to the incessant gloom.”

  “You’ll be playing hockey indoors during the gloomiest months, so what difference does it make?”

  He stared into her eyes, and forgot for a moment what difference it did make. “I, uh.” He shook his head in an attempt to ward off this weird spell she’d put on him. “I’d been with the team my entire career, loved the city, the weather, the fans, my coaches.”

  “The fans here are great. Just wait and see. Seattle is going to be an incredible hockey town.” Her eyes lit up and the corners of her sexy mouth tipped up into an engaging smile. She almost made him want to believe her.

  “Are you a hockey fan?”

  “I will be. That’s how most Seattleites feel now that we have a team.”

  He nodded, absorbing her words, and even toying in his mind with the excitement of starting something new and different in Seattle. But those were traitorous thoughts.

  “You’re hurting yourself and your teammates more than anyone else. You know that, don’t you?” She glanced over her shoulder at the party going on inside, or at least attempting to go on.

  “I’m proving a point.”

  “For what purpose? This team isn’t moving back to Florida. This is Sockeye country now. Why don’t you embrace it? Help us build something to be proud of, instead of tearing it down and undermining it. You’re a leader. Lead. Make the best of this situation. Your teammates need you to be that guy. To shuck off your grudges and move forward.”