Take Me (26 page)

“Of alcohol?”

“Of whatever you’d like.” He’d been thinking more along the lines of a soda or juice, but now that he thought about it, alcohol might not be that bad of an idea. He could get her a little loose, let her relax. “There’s wine, vodka…”

“I’ll have a Diet Coke,” she said. Damn. He pulled a glass out from the tiny bar, opened a can of soda, and poured the drink for her. “Thank you.”

“So you never told me why you’re in Siesta Key,” Chad said.

The question seemed to make her a little uncomfortable, and he saw her swallow.

Then she shrugged. “Business trip,” she said.

“Oh, really? What kind of business?” He was just making conversation, trying to get to know her a little bit, and trying to keep himself from thinking about reaching over and kissing her full lips. But she seemed to take the question as a challenge.

“Fine,” she said. “I wasn’t on a business trip.”

“You weren’t?”

“No. I got fired on Friday, and I had a slight breakdown about it. So I used what was in my savings account for a ticket to Florida.”

“So you lied to me.”

“I didn’t lie to you.”

“Yes, you did,” he said. “You said you were here for a business trip.” He didn’t care that she lied. It amused him to think that she wanted to impress him, at least on some level. And the fact that she was unemployed made what he was about to propose that much better.

“How far away is this place anyway?” she asked, sounding cranky.

“It’s right up here,” Chad said, as the car turned onto a tree-lined suburban street.

“This is where your house is?” Kenley asked.

“You sound surprised.”

“Well, yeah.” She watched out the window as the houses went by. The street was cute and lined with palm trees and white sidewalks. Small, ranch style houses dotted each side of the block, most of them with stucco trim and long driveways. “This doesn’t seem like the kind of neighborhood a professional athlete would live in. And why do you have a house in Florida? Is it like a vacation home?”

The limo pulled up in front of one of the houses.

“It is a vacation home,” Chad said. “And it’s funny, I never pegged you for a snob.”

“I’m not a snob!”

“Then why would you think that I wouldn’t want to live here?”

“I think it’s a gorgeous neighborhood.” She peered out the window. “And the house is adorable. But after last night, with your fancy penthouse, I didn’t think this was your style.”

“Yeah, well, there’s a lot you don’t know about me.” He winked at her, then got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side. He opened her door and gave her his most charming smile. “You ready?”

***

Kenley’s senses had been heightened ever since she’d gotten into the limo.

Throughout the whole car ride, Chad’s leg had been touching hers, and it had been sending waves of heat through her body. She couldn’t believe she’d gotten into a car with him, couldn’t believe that she was now at his house. This was so not like her. She never did things like this. In college, when all her friends were hooking up with guys and ending up in strangers’ beds, she would refuse to go home with anyone, preferring to meet them in a public place the next morning. Of course, most guys didn’t really want to do that. Which was probably the reason she hadn’t hooked up much in college.

“I have a confession,” Chad was saying as he unlocked the front door.

“I knew it,” Kenley said.

“You did not.”

“Yes, I did.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Okay, so out with it. What is it? This is really your drug den? You used to run a prostitution ring out of here? What?”

She tried to sound suspicious, but the thing was, she was actually kind of amused. Even though she’d been acting like she thought he was a crazy stalker she actually felt safe with him for some reason. Even though he was obviously a total jerk, she didn’t get the sense that he was out to be malicious.

“No.” He shook his head, turned the key in the lock, and opened the door. “This isn’t my house.”

He stepped inside, but she stayed on the porch. “What do you mean this isn’t your house?” She peered inside, looking for any signs of cameras, just in case she was on some kind of prank reality show. Maybe her sister was behind this whole thing. That would be just like Melissa, setting up some prank with a famous baseball player to try and cheer her up, not realizing that it would be the last thing that would make her happy.

“It’s my mom’s.”

“Oh.” She stepped inside. The foyer was amazing, with bright white crown molding, and a cream-colored travertine floor. She peeked down the hall into a beautiful kitchen, with cherry cabinets and dark granite countertops. “It’s gorgeous.”

“Thanks.” He shut the door behind her, and as he did, his chest brushed against her arm. Her breathing accelerated a little, and she felt her face get red.

“So where’s your mom?” she asked, trying to keep her voice even.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged, walking down the hall toward the kitchen.

She followed him. “So you don’t know when she’s coming back?”

He opened the refrigerator, and pulled out a bottle of flavored sparking water. He set it on the breakfast bar, and Kenley sat down in one of the stools in front of it. She opened the bottle and took a sip.

“You hungry?” he asked, moving to the refrigerator and pulling out a carton of eggs.

“Kind of,” she admitted. “You did interrupt my lunch.”

He nodded. “French toast?” He was already breaking eggs into a bowl, just assuming that she was going to want French toast, so Kenley decided to mess with him a little bit.

“Depends,” she said.

“On what?” He paused, but then kept cracking eggs.

“Are you going to make guy French toast?”

“Guy French toast?”

“Yeah,” she said, swinging around in her stool to get a better look at what he was doing. “Guy French toast is where you grab some white bread, dunk it in a few eggs, then burn it because you forgot to grease the pan.”

He turned around and looked at her. “This will not,” he said, sounding insulted.

“be guy French toast.”

“Okay,” she said. “Then I’ll have some.” He grinned at her, and she was struck again at how absolutely gorgeous he was. Curly dark hair, a perfect smile, dark brown eyes. There was no word to describe him other than smoldering. “So your mom doesn’t mind that you’re just using her house? What if she comes home?” She glanced behind her, toward the front door, half expecting his mom to come waltzing in. That would be totally awkward. What would she say she was doing here? How would Chad explain it?

Unless, of course, he brought women here all the time. The thought disappointed her, and she took another sip of her drink.

“She won’t be coming home,” Chad said. His back was to her as he added vanilla to the eggs in the bowl in front of him. “She doesn’t live here.”

Kenley frowned. “But I thought you said this was her house.”

“It is her house. But she doesn’t live here.”

She shook her head. “That makes no sense.”

He turned around, wiping his hands on a dishtowel. “I bought this house for my mom when I signed my first major league deal. But she didn’t want it.”

“Are you kidding?” Kenley asked. “Why wouldn’t she want it?”

“Because.” Chad shrugged. “My mom left when I was seven, and she was never really around. I bought the house because she always wanted to live near the beach, and I figured she’d want it. Siesta Key supposedly has the best beaches in the whole country.”

He was trying to sound like it was no big deal, but Kenley could see the hurt in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“It’s not a big deal.” He shrugged again. She nodded, not knowing what to say.

She looked around. The house was meticulously clean and the refrigerator was obviously well stocked. Chad must have been paying someone to stock the fridge, to clean the house and keep it up. The cleaning made sense. The house would fall into disrepair without any kind of upkeep. But keeping the refrigerator stocked could only mean one thing – he was hoping his mom would someday decide to take him up on his offer of living here.

She felt a lump in her throat, thinking about the rejection he must have been feeling. “So why did you bring me here?” she asked.

“I told you, I wanted to talk to you.”

“Yeah, but we could have talked anywhere. Back at the hotel, anywhere.”

He grinned then, all traces of sadness about his mom gone. He crossed the kitchen and sat down at the breakfast bar across from her, turning her stool toward him so that their knees were touching. It was the same move he’d used last night at the hotel, and her body was filled with longing, wanting to go back to that moment. “I wanted to impress you,” he said, “Give you the star treatment.”

He was teasing her, she could tell. God, he was hot. And his lips were right there, just inches from hers now. It was all she could do to keep herself from kissing him. She tried to turn her chair back around, but just like last night, he held her legs, not letting her move. He touched her chin, pulling it, tilting it toward his.

“Bullshit,” she said, and pulled away from him. “You wanted me on your turf, somewhere where you were comfortable.” Her heart was beating fast, so fast she could hear it, and she worried that he could hear it, too.

“Your heart is beating fast,” he said, and put his hand over her heart. “Are you nervous?”

“Why would I be nervous?”

“Because,” he said, and grinned. “You’re alone with me.”

“So?”

“So last time you were alone with me, you lost control of yourself.”

“No, I didn’t.” She turned away again and tried to move her chair away from his, but he was still holding her tight.

“You didn’t?” He reached out and slid the tip of his index finger across her lip.

Heat exploded through her body.

“No,” she said, “I didn’t. Not even close.” It was a lie, of course. She’d wanted him so badly that she’d almost completely lost control of herself. But almost didn’t count.

“Okay,” he said easily, and just like that, the spell was broken. He stood up and moved back over to the stove, pulling out a frying pan and setting it down on one of the burners.

Kenley took a sip of her water and tried to calm herself down. Damn. She hated that it seemed like he was always getting the upper hand with her. But he was just so damn hot. And it wasn’t just his looks, either, although he was sexy as hell. It was his whole being, his whole vibe. He had this confidence about him that was such a turn on she almost couldn’t stand it.

“Okay?” she asked, trying to sound annoyed. “That’s all you have to say for yourself?”

“No, actually, it’s not.” He pulled a loaf of crusty French bread out of the breadbox and began slicing it into thick chunks. “I have a proposition for you.”

“A proposition?”

“Yeah.” He turned around and leaned against the stove. He looked relax and in control. “So you know how I had a meeting this morning at Expera?”

“Right,” she said. “And you said there was something that went on there that had to do with me. I’m assuming it’s something besides the fact that you tried to have sex with me last night because you thought I worked there?”

He grinned. “I was hoping you’d forget about that. Of course, I guess it was kind of unforgettable.” He winked at her and slung the dishtowel he was holding over his shoulder.

“Whatever,” she said. “So what’s the proposition?”

“Well.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the counter.

He looked like he was trying to figure out the best way to explain something to her.

“You really know nothing about baseball? You don’t watch it at all?”

“No,” she said. “Baseball’s boring.” It was true. She hated sports, but could handle watching basketball or football if she had to. But baseball. Ugh. It took way too long to get through. The games were so long that sometimes even the players seemed bored, standing there in the outfield, waiting for a ball to come their way. Kenley enjoyed needling Chad in this way, insulting his sport, but he didn’t seem bothered by it.

“Well, my team, the Brooklyn Heat? We’re trying to rebuild our reputation.”

“Oh, imagine that,” she said, and held her hand to her chest in mock surprise.

“Your team has a bad reputation?”

“Anyway,”
Chad said, ignoring her sarcasm, “when I went to that meeting this morning, the one with Expera, they were really interested in signing me up for an endorsement deal. But they had some concerns.” He dropped a pat of butter into the frying pan in front of him, and it slowly started to melt.

“So your reputation proceeded you,” Kenley said. She didn’t feel sorry for him.

What had he been expecting to happen? It was about time these athletes figured out that they couldn’t just get away with cavorting with random girls and getting into all kinds of nefarious situations. She didn’t know for sure that Chad did any of these things, of course. But she was willing to bet on it, especially after what had happened last night.

“Well, sort of.” Chad pulled his phone out of his pocket, pushed some buttons, and then showed her what was on the screen
. “Our
reputation preceded
us.”

She looked down at the pictures on the screen and gasped. It was her. Her and Chad. It was so shocking to see the two of them in a picture together, so unexpected, that at first, she didn’t remember who had taken it, how anyone could have gotten the two of them together. But then she remembered. Last night. The bartender. Getting ambushed outside of Chad’s hotel room.

“Where did you get this?” she asked, as her fingers slid down the screen. She made the picture bigger. Her hair was all wild, and her clothes looked a little disheveled.

In the background, you could see the door to Chad’s room, and it was obvious they’d just come out. They both had shocked looks on their faces, like they’d just gotten caught doing something bad.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “The photo hasn’t been released.”