Authors: Mackenzie Crowne
He played her like an expert. She thrilled at the results. He drove her upward, stripping her of her clothes and taking his time in paying sweet homage to the bare skin he exposed with each sweep of his wide palmed hands. His mouth followed, whipping her into a frenzy of heated excitement. By the time he had them both naked, she was in danger of combusting.
When he slipped inside her, his fevered gaze locked with hers, the world exploded on a bright and beautiful shower of color and sound.
Gracie must have dozed off, waking to the thrill of Jake’s naked body spooned against her back. A muscled forearm draped over her hip to rest against her belly. His big hand cupped one breast. Content to while away the time surrounded by Jake on a lazy winter morning, she let her gaze wander around the suite her sister had lovingly decorated, and she sighed.
He hummed quietly and tucked her closer. “You okay?”
“Better than okay.” She rolled over and trailed her fingertips through the downy treasure trail bisecting his ridged abs. “I was thinking of how much my sister loved this room.”
He raised his head from the pillow and shifted his body until she lay on her back with her head settled in the crook of his elbow. “Shit. I never once considered how painful spending time in your sister’s old space would be for you.”
“Surprisingly, it isn’t. Maybe because Sarah was happy here.” She smiled gently at the realization then bit her lip. “What about you? Considering how you felt about him, I’m surprised you agreed to stay in Pete’s old room for one night, never mind twelve weeks. Does being in here make you uncomfortable?”
She ducked her head to hide her cringe the moment the words left her mouth. Mentioning his father was like waving a red flag, inviting him to inquire about hers. Since they’d become intimate, he’d stepped up his attempts to discover her secrets. Oh, sure, he was charming in his quest, teasing her into talking about herself, but he was also sneaky, waiting until she was boneless and lightheaded from an orgasm he’d given her to hit her up with his probing questions.
She couldn’t help being impressed by the tactic. If the ramifications weren’t dire, she might actually enjoy watching the way his mind worked, but the way he kept systematically introducing potential reasons for her avoidance of the press, he’d eventually arrive at the right subject.
His smile turned lecherous, and he slid a thick thigh between hers. “Do I look uncomfortable?”
Relief danced giddily up her spine, and she smiled. He dipped his mouth to hers, and her greedy body dampened despite its recent release. Flames of renewed excitement licked over her. She ran her fingertips over the naked expanse of his muscled chest and sighed when his lips left hers.
The soft scrape of his stubbled chin, as he dropped nibbling kisses across her cheekbone, sent tingles of pleasure rippling over her skin. His breath bathed her ear in moist heat. “Speaking of fathers. You never did say what happened to yours.”
The fire sparking its way through her blood stream fizzled, leaving her dizzy and chilled. Apparently eventually was now. The rat! Restarting her engine only to leave her idling. Ha! If he thought he had her so far gone she’d spill her guts, he had another think coming.
Stick as close to the truth as possible, Gracie, and if he keeps pushing? Lie your ass off!
“No, I didn’t.” She shifted enough to extricate herself from his arms. To her surprise, he let her sit up. Covering her breasts, she tucked the sheet under her armpits and settled her back against the headboard.
He rolled on his side and propped his head up with one palm. “You aren’t close?”
“How can someone be close to a person they’ve never met?”
He blinked in surprise. “Ever?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t have a clue who he was until after mom died and Sarah found her diary. Mom rarely talked about him and then mostly in generalities.”
She fought the urge to squirm under the intensity of his stare.
Finally, he grunted. “Who is he?”
Overreacting would only alert him to the fact he’d finally hit pay dirt, but fielding his questions with a practiced aloofness would be dangerous as well. He knew her father personally. One wrong word and she could accidently tip him off. Then again, she’d been reticent to answer his questions up to this point. He’d be suspect of any change in her behavior.
She tilted her chin in challenge and stabbed him with an accusing stare. “Why do you want to know?”
Humor glittered in his eyes. “Calm down, tiger. I’m curious.”
She elevated a brow. “No, you’re nosey.”
He grinned. “Guilty as charged. I told you once I’d find out what you were hiding eventually. Why do I have the feeling we’ve finally stumbled on the reason behind your fears?”
Shit!
“Who is he?”
Shit. Shit. Shit!
How to answer? There was no way in hell she’d be giving him a name. She jerked up her chin. “He
was
a client of my mother’s boss.”
“Was? Is he dead?”
“No. Yes!” She growled low in her throat and her lips compressed into a self-disgusted frown. Damn it! He handed her the perfect solution and she’d spoken too quickly to take advantage. She wanted to smack her head back against the headboard.
“I’ll take that as a no.” White teeth flashed in his smile. “A client, huh? What type of client?” Tiny wrinkles appeared at the corners of his watchful eyes. “Where did she work?”
He thinks he can trick me into dropping clues to my father’s identity, does he? The sneaky rat.... Two could play that game.
“For a guy. In an office.”
He chuckled and some of her tension eased. “Damn, you’re suspicious.”
Look who’s talking
. She bared her teeth in a tight smile.
He shook his head. “Lots of people are the product of a fling. Including me. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I’m not ashamed.” She stiffened and jerked up her chin. “And their relationship wasn’t a fling. Not according to my mother’s diary, anyway.”
Geez, she sounded defensive. Was she ashamed? The possibility was one she’d never considered. She’d have to give it some thought. Later. When Mr. Twenty Questions wasn’t around.
“Then what happened? Why’d they break up?”
She frowned. “They didn’t. Break up, I mean. He disappeared one day and from what Mom wrote, her boss may have had something to do with it.”
“How so?”
He might be a sneaky rat, using charm and sex appeal in his determination to discover her secrets, but there was no calculation in his eyes at the moment. Simple curiosity glimmered there.
She tucked a lock of hair behind an ear. “Mom wasn’t a party girl. That’s what I meant about their relationship not being a fling. After Sarah’s father left Mom for another woman, she didn’t sleep around. Her boss knew that. He also knew she and my father had a summer romance, something he wasn’t happy about. One day everything was fine. The next, my father was gone, returning to college several weeks early without a word to my mother. When Mom turned up pregnant a month later, her boss fired her.”
Disapproval wrinkled his brow. “Asshole.”
She nodded. “With a capital A. Anyway, it was a long time ago.”
He grunted. “Did she ever try to contact him? Your father?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
She chose her words with care. “Who knows? Maybe she didn’t know how to reach him, or maybe she was afraid she’d receive the same kind of reaction as your mother. Either way, she got another job and moved on. We weren’t rich by any standard, but we made do. She took care of us.”
“Until she died.” His eyes full of sympathy, he trailed the fingertips of his free hand down her exposed arm.
Goose bumps popped. “Yeah, well, viral pneumonia can be a real bitch.”
He winced softly and curled his fingers around hers. “I’m sorry, princess.”
As diversions went, discussing her mother’s death was a painful one, but she’d embrace the change of topic happily. Still, her heart fluttered at the empathy in his eyes. She squeezed his fingers and sighed. “Me, too.”
He brushed his thumb back and forth over the back of her hand. “My mom died when I was eighteen. As self-centered and as big a mess as she was, I’d basically been raising myself for years, but losing her was still a blow. Thankfully, she never had any more kids, because I don’t have what it takes to do what your sister did. She must have been a special woman.”
Yes, her sister was special, but she disagreed with his assessment of what he would have done in Sarah’s place. Despite his upbringing, deep down, he had a caring heart. He could no more have walked away from his sisters at the age of eighteen than he could now. He’d have done what needed doing to keep them safe, exactly as Sarah did for her.
She smiled and nodded. “I was pretty young, but old enough to understand how difficult things were for Sarah. She worked her ass off to take care of me, holding down two jobs, sometimes three, when she should’ve been off at college getting an education and falling in love.”
He brushed a thumb over the back of her hand. “She loved you.”
The tiny hairs on her arms stood on end. “And I loved her. I promised myself someday I’d pay her back. I never got the chance.”
Sudden understanding darkened his eyes. “Until now.”
She nodded. “Until now.”
Whether the glint of emotion flashing in his eyes was guilt, determination or something else altogether, she couldn’t say with certainty.
He glanced away too quickly, looking at their entwined fingers. “Did
you
ever try to contact your father?”
Oh, for heaven’s sake. He was like a dog with a bone. “No.”
“Why not? Aren’t you curious about him?”
So curious she’d become a football junkie in a pitiful attempt to share something of his life. She shrugged. “I’m a computer geek, remember? With a couple of keystrokes, I learned everything there is to know about him.”
He cocked his head in question. “Does he know about you?”
Ughhh
! “I have no idea.” She shifted to leave the bed.
He tightened his hold on her fingers to prevent her from going.
His intent gaze tangled with hers and stayed. “With your computer skills, you’d be able to find out about anyone, but with most people the data available is limited. Unless he’s a public figure.” He left the unspoken question dangling.
Her heart lodged in her throat. The less said the better, but if she was going to avoid being steamrolled into confessing all, she’d have to rely on his compassion. If he had any.
She sighed. “A public figure with a family I’m not willing to destroy. You, of all people, know how vicious the press can be. Please, Jake, drop it.”
“Good morning, lovebirds.” V breezed into the kitchen the next morning, shortly after the girls and Mary left for the day, and crossed to the coffeepot.
Gracie choked on her coffee. Jake whipped his head around to follow V. “Do you want to explain that comment?”
V carried her mug back to the table and slid into an open chair. Tugging the folded newspaper from under one arm, she tossed the morning edition on the table between Gracie and Jake. Gracie almost knocked over her mug as she snatched the paper toward her. He immediately rose and rounded the table to stand at her side.
“Shit.” He bent at the waist, slapping a big hand on the table beside the paper and began reading.
Dismay cut off Gracie’s air supply like strangling fingers. She scanned the front page, but there was no need to read the article. The large photo and accompanying headline were bad enough.
“‘Custody Battle Or Hideaway For Country Lovers?’”
She slid her hand over her mouth. “Oh, no!”
“Oh, yes.” V locked her unhappy gaze on Jake. “I’m not even going to ask what you were thinking.”
An instant blush heated Gracie’s cheeks.
Jake straightened at her side. “Good. My personal life is none of your business. Nor is it theirs.” He jerked his chin toward the paper.
V snorted delicately. “You know better than that. What the hell is wrong with you? Don’t we have enough to deal with already without you letting your Johnson do your thinking?”
He propped his hands on his hips. “Leave my
Johnson
out of this.”
“I wish I could.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, the reason I’m here at this ungodly hour is because I’ve been on the phone since six doing spin control. Tom called and woke me.”
Gracie went cold and couldn’t control her gasp.
Oh, dear Lord
. She glanced away from Jake’s concerned gaze.
“Doug Costa is on the warpath.” V pointed a finger at his face. “He wants to see you in his office at one today.”
Gracie moaned. Holy hell. What had she done? Jake rested a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, obviously reading her anxiety as concern over what this new uproar would mean to his career. Which was true—partly, but not completely.
“Relax, princess. He doesn’t have a leg to stand on, and he knows it.”
V laughed harshly. “Tell
him
that.”
“I’d rather tell him to go fuck himself.”
Unhappy color bloomed on V’s cheekbones. “Oh, that’s lovely.” She slipped her phone from her pocket. “Let me get him on the line. I’m sure he’d appreciate hearing your response personally.”
“I mean it, V. I didn’t fight him on the fine, but this isn’t business. This is my private life and has nothing to do with him or the league.”
Gracie slapped her fingers to her forehead.
Oh, if you only knew
. Neither of them paid her any attention. He swept up his empty coffee mug and stalked to the pot.
V arched a perfectly shaped brow at his back. “He obviously disagrees.”
Jake spun around. “Tough shit. Call Tom back. It’s his job as player liaison to run interference in cases like this. He can use whatever language he wants as long as he lets Costa know I’m not taking his shit on this one.”
V rolled her eyes, all but snarling her disapproval, and shifted her angry stare to Gracie.
She blinked. Silly her. In her haze of pleasure at playing family with Jake and the others who visited the farm, she’d forgotten first and foremost, V was his publicist. The realization hurt, but the truth was, what Gracie saw as a potential for friendship was nothing more than V’s single-minded attention to Jake’s career.