by Jaci Burton
She understood about losing. She spoke with a lot of her clients about it, especially those going through rough patches. Fortunately, Cole’s career was on an uptick right now and they were having a winning season. One game wouldn’t matter all that much. She looked forward to seeing him at Riley’s Bar and being able to congratulate him on the game today. He’d played well and his stats showed it.
Still, Gavin was right—it sucked to lose. As she sat back in the car and looked over at her husband, she was consumed with the thought of having a baby. His baby. A child who looked like him, with his dark hair and his drive and sense of honor. And maybe a child who had a touch of her ambition. She was going to make it happen, one way or the other.
If she was one thing, it was tenacious. She might not be a Riley by blood, but she was still part of the family, and she understood grit and determination. And, like every member of the Riley family, she didn’t give up.
FOUR
Christmas decorations were up, which always put Liz in the holiday spirit. She wasn’t sure Gavin had been all that happy about having to drag a six-and-a-half-foot live tree into the house, especially since she’d insisted they go to one of those places where they could cut their own tree.
He’d told her they had plenty of trees on the property and she could wander around, pick one out, and he’d chop it down. Then they wouldn’t have to drive the truck an hour outside the city to get one.
Clearly, the man had no Christmas spirit. Besides, she loved all the trees on the property and wasn’t about to cut one of those down when there were places specifically set up for that very function. And those places would replant trees.
Since they’d be celebrating Christmas at their house this year, everything had to be perfect. She’d spent the past two weeks running nonstop. Between the holiday and Jenna and Ty’s wedding, there was something to do every week. In between those two functions, she also had work to do with her clients.
Frankly, she was exhausted. But as Gavin climbed up on the ladder to put the star on the top of the Christmas tree, she was satisfied that at least the decorating part was finished.
“Does it look okay?” he asked.
She found herself staring at his butt, which looked mighty fine in his jeans. Then she realized she had to add more sex to her list of things to do. How else was she going to get pregnant if she didn’t jump her husband—repeatedly.
“Perfect. Just . . . perfect.”
He turned around. “You’re staring at my ass, Liz.”
“Oh . . . was I?” She leveled a smirk at him.
“We had sex this morning.”
“And your point?”
He climbed down the ladder and folded it up. “No point at all.” He brushed her lips as he walked by. “Except we’re going to my parents’ for dinner tonight, remember?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“So your nefarious plans to take advantage of my body are going to have to wait.”
“We’ll see about that.”
He paused, ladder in hand. “Planning to seduce me in my old childhood bedroom?”
She waggled her brows. “That’s a distinct possibility.”
“I’d like to see you try, considering the entire family will be there. Minus Mick, who’s not in town.”
“See? One person down. That should make it so much easier to grab some alone time for a quickie.”
“Uh-huh. Good luck with that.”
“Now you’re challenging me. You know how much I love a challenge.”
He walked away, shaking his head. As if he didn’t believe she could find a way to get him alone in his parents’ house for sex. Did he not know her at all? When she was determined to have something, nothing got in her way.
Not even a houseful of Rileys.
She went upstairs to change. Gavin came up to change, too, and they headed over to his parents’ house. As soon as they walked in, the smell of baked bread assailed her. Her stomach growled. Gavin looked over at her.
“Hungry?”
“Ravenous.” She gave him a direct look.
“I believe you’re trying to seduce me.”
She saw Gavin’s mother coming toward them down the hall, so she gave him a quick smile. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She hugged Kathleen, then Jimmy, who’d entered the room behind Kathleen. The house was full, the women gathered in the kitchen and the guys in the living room. She made her way into the throng of females, all talking over each other in groups.
“And then he said he wanted a bigger house,” Tara said with a roll of her eyes.
“Bigger than the five bedroom?” Kathleen asked. “For what?”
“I have no idea. Maybe he thinks we’re going to have six more kids or something. If he does, he’s going to need to practice polygamy, because this uterus is closed for business.”
Liz laughed and poured a glass of iced tea. “What? You’re not going to pop out two or three more?”
“I don’t think so. I have an eighteen-year-old son and one that’s just about ready to walk. That’s more than enough children for me to handle.”
“Maybe he doesn’t like the house,” Jenna suggested, popping a cherry tomato into her mouth.
“I saw that, Jenna. Those are for the salad.”
“Sorry, Mom.” Jenna winked at Liz, who smiled at her.
“He loves the house. It has plenty of room both inside and out. Plus there’s the game room. So I don’t know what he was thinking.”
“Does he miss living in San Francisco? Do you?”
Liz caught the look of concern on Kathleen’s face.
“Not at all, Mom. Mick’s only there for home games with the Sabers, and the condo there is fine for him. St. Louis is home to us—to me and to Nathan and to Sam. This is where we’re staying.”
“Okay. I just wanted to be sure.”
Tara slid off the barstool and went over to hug Kathleen. “Don’t worry about us leaving. We’re happy here. My guess is Mick thinks I want a bigger office space, or maybe a separate place to house an office.”
“Do you?”
“No. I like working outside the house. I need my retail space where clients can see me. Plus, would we really want my staff traipsing in and out of our house?”
“Lord. I know I wouldn’t,” Savannah said.
“Neither would I,” Liz agreed. She knew having people other than family in her house would drive her crazy. Of course, she sometimes answered emails or made phone calls from home at night or on the weekends, but primarily she worked nine to five. “I need my office. It’s where the majority of my work gets done. I like to keep my office and home life separate.”
“Amen,” Tara said. “Plus I get walk-in traffic at the shop. I’d never want to lose that.”
“Or have them show up at your house,” Jenna said.
Tara nodded. “Exactly.”
“So I understand where Mick is coming from. He knows I miss Sam when I’m at work, but I also love my job and want to continue to do it.”
Kathleen rubbed her arm. “He just wants you to be happy.”
Tara smiled. “I am happy. Happier than I ever thought I’d be.”
“And speaking of all things happy,” Jenna said, “I have a few wedding details. Well, actually they’re not wedding details so much as they are the fun stuff before the wedding details. We have final dress fittings on Thursday night, and the bachelorette party trip is this weekend. Just in case any of you forgot, which I’m hoping you didn’t.”
“I definitely didn’t forget,” Liz said. “I’ve been looking forward to that trip for months.”
“Me, too,” Savannah said. “I can’t wait.”
“Everyone’s coming, right?”
“I will not be coming to the bachelorette party,” Jenna’s mom said.
“Aww, Mom, you know you’re welcome to come.”
Kathleen gave Jenna a smile. “I’ll be babysitting my adorable grandson this weekend so Tara can go. Besides, I’ve done my partying. You girls can go have some fun drinking and carousing. I’ll be happy to have Sam all to myself.”
Liz took out her phone. “By the way, I’m going to be out of town Monday through Thursday, but I’ll be back Thursday afternoon.”
Alicia nodded and grabbed her phone. “Are we doing the fitting at the bridal shop on Thursday? And what time?”
“Yes,” Jenna said. “At six thirty.”
“No problem.”
“Six thirty works for me, too,” Liz said. “My flight gets in at three.”
“What are we synchronizing our phones for, ladies?” Gavin asked as he walked in to get a beer. “Planning epic world domination?”
Liz laughed. “Sort of. Wedding stuff.”
“No, pre-wedding stuff,” Jenna corrected. “Dress fittings and the bachelorette party.”
Jenna turned to him. “Speaking of, care to share the details of the bachelor party with me?”
Gavin shot Jenna an enigmatic smile. “Nope.”
“Damn you, Gavin.”
He grinned at Jenna, screwed the top off his beer, then shot Liz a look. “You aren’t going to get drunk and dance naked on the table at a bar, are you?”
“I don’t know. Will you come rescue me if I do?”
“Sure. As soon as I get video.”
She shook her head. “And all this time I thought you were my protective knight in shining armor.”
He walked by and kissed her cheek. “How foolish of you, wife.”
Good thing she knew he was joking.
It was also a good thing he wouldn’t be at the bachelorette party. She intended to have a very good time.
* * *
Gavin reentered the living room, where all the guys were gathered around the television watching the game. Mick’s team was playing Denver today in San Francisco. Cole would be playing the Monday night game, so he actually got to be at the house for Sunday dinner.
“Mick’s arm looks strong,” Jimmy said to Ty as Gavin took his seat on one of the chairs.
“It does,” Ty said as they settled in to watch Mick take the offense after Denver scored a field goal.
There was a round of hysterical laughter coming from the kitchen.
“I can’t believe you waded in there,” Ty said. “What’s going on?”
“Wedding stuff. Something about the dresses and the bachelorette party.”
“Oh. Jenna’s kind of excited.”
Gavin took a long pull of his beer. “Yeah, I can tell. I hate to break it to you, but I think she’s more excited about the bachelorette party.”
Ty laughed. “I’m not surprised. There’s a lot of stress with the wedding. She needs to get away and unwind.”
“So you’re not worried about her finding some hot male stripper and running off with him?”
Ty shot him a look. “Uh . . . no. After all, she has me to come home to.”
Gavin snorted, then directed his attention back to the game. After a while, the women came in to watch. Gavin made room on the oversize chair for Liz, who draped her legs over his.
At halftime, the Sabers were still ahead, and Gavin headed outside with the rest of the guys. It was a decent day, so they all shot some baskets, then grabbed more beer and lounged near the fire pit.
“We’re set for the weekend,” Ty said. “We have the trip to Vegas lined up.”
“Cards and booze,” Gavin said. “I’m ready.”
Garrett grinned. “I’m giving Alicia a hard time and telling her we’re club hopping at strip joints.”
Cole shook his head. “Bet she’s loving you for that.”
“She didn’t seem fazed by it. All she said was to remember she’d be doing the same thing.”
Cole laughed. “Got you on that one, didn’t she?”
“Hey, just remember, whatever my fiancée is doing will be the same thing your fiancée will be doing.”
“Huh,” Cole said, frowning. “Good point. Not sure I like the idea of hot, sweaty men rubbing all over my woman.”
“I don’t think there’ll be any strippers,” Gavin said. “That just doesn’t seem like something Jenna would be interested in. But I’ll check with Liz and see if I can find out what’s actually going on.”
“You really think Liz is going to tell you anything?”
Gavin nodded at Ty. “She will. With the right amount of persuasion.”
They went inside and watched the rest of the game, which the Sabers won, fortunately. That made for a hot discussion about football at the dinner table. Of course coming off the recent loss to Mick, Cole nitpicked all of Mick’s deficiencies, which meant Gavin’s dad had to argue and defend Mick. Gavin just sat back silently and ate his lasagna, because there was no way he was going to defend his brother. Mick could defend himself just fine next time he and Cole met up.
“Gavin, could you help me upstairs for a minute?” Liz asked after the plates were cleared and everyone sat in the living room watching a movie.
“Sure.” He got up and followed her upstairs.
She pulled him into his old bedroom, then shut and locked the door. When she pushed him onto one of the overstuffed chairs, he cocked a brow.
“Seriously?”
She unzipped her jeans and shimmied out of them, then removed her panties and climbed into the chair with him, straddling his lap. “You didn’t think I’d forget about this, did you?”
He grasped her hips, his cock twitching to life as she rubbed against him. “I knew you wouldn’t. When you get an idea into your head, it doesn’t go away.”
“No, it doesn’t. You’re not going to complain about it, are you?”
“Hell, no.” He lifted her only long enough to free his cock, which had gone fully hard. “How much foreplay do you want?”
“None. I’ve been thinking about this all afternoon.”
Sucking in a deep breath, he fit his cock to the entrance of her pussy and thrust into her, soaking in the sounds she made as she slid onto his dick.
Oh, yeah. He gripped her hips and began to lift her on and off of him, watching the way their bodies moved together. Being able to see her like this made him even harder.
“Faster,” she said, holding tight to his arms as she leaned back, giving him a full-on view of her sex, of where they were connected.
“You make me want to come, Liz,” he said, his jaw clenched tight as he fucked his cock deeper into her. She grasped her breasts through her top, squeezing them, inciting his desire even higher. He wanted to taste her, to touch her, to get her naked and lick her all over. None of which he had time for with his family downstairs. But seeing her like this, her body undulating against his, was a turn-on that made his dick go even harder.
He reached for her clit, wanting her to go off when he was inside her.
“Make me come, Gavin. Touch me there.”
She let him have access to her, knowing he’d give her exactly what she needed.
It didn’t take long. He knew her body, knew how responsive she was to his touch. And when she tightened around him, her pussy convulsing, he let go, driving into her as he came. She whimpered with her orgasm and fell forward, kissing him as her climax drove them both into long, shaking tremors that had them clutching tight to each other.
“God, you make me sweat,” he murmured against her lips.
She pulled back and smiled at him. “It’s good off-season exercise for you.”
She climbed off and they dashed into the bathroom to clean up, then Liz got dressed.
As Gavin zipped his jeans, he looked at her in the mirror. “Now how are you going to explain this one to everyone?”
She grabbed a photo album from the bookshelf. “We were looking for old photos of you from your childhood and I needed your help to find a certain picture that I wanted to put up in the house.” She rifled through the album and selected one of him when he was about eight years old.
“That one?” he asked.
“Yes. It’s one of my favorites, when you switched to first base. I love this pose and that toothless grin on your face. I want to frame it.”
He shook his head. “Okay.”
His wife was one sexy mystery to him.
One of the many reasons he loved her so much.
FIVE
There was nothing like a hot weekend in Jamaica to take Liz’s mind off work, wedding, and holiday pressure. And the pressure of making a baby. Being with the girls this weekend was going to be amazing.
Jenna had originally thought about going to Las Vegas, but Ty had told her that was where he and the guys were going, and she didn’t want to accidentally run into him. She truly wanted a girls-only experience, so Liz suggested they head toward Jamaica. Sure, it was out of the country, but Liz had connections and booked them into an all-inclusive resort. They were going to do the beach, and the spa, and then party away at the clubs until their feet were so sore they couldn’t stand anymore.
Liz was going to make sure Jenna had the time of her life while she was still single. Not that they planned to get Jenna laid or anything, but she knew from experience that once you got married, you got wrapped up in each other, and less involved with all things related to the single life. Why not let Jenna cut loose and have a little fun?
Their rooms were beautiful and spacious, with a magnificent view of the ocean. She’d booked adjoining suites so they could all move back and forth and hang out together. She and Jenna were in one room, while Savannah, Tara, and Alicia were in the other.
Jenna got as far as opening her suitcase before she wandered out onto the terrace. “Get out here, Liz.”