Author: Jaci Burton

“Thanks, Nathan. How are you doing?”

“Pretty good.”

Gavin knew there was something Nathan wanted to talk to him about.

“Is there something on your mind?”

Nathan glanced over to where Mick was mimicking the throw of a football.

“Yeah, kinda.”

“Go ahead. We’re family now. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Nathan paused for a second, then said, “It’s about your girlfriend.”

“Elizabeth.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you mad at her?” Gavin asked.

“No. But Mick still is. And he thinks I should be, but I’m not.”

Gavin swiveled on the steps to face Nathan. “No one should tell you how you should feel, Nathan. Not your mom or Mick or me. If you’re pissed off about what Elizabeth did to manipulate the media that day, that’s your right. If you’re over it, that’s your right, too. If Mick is still angry about it, that’s his problem to deal with.”

“I guess so.”

“You don’t have to feel whatever he feels about anything. He’ll still care about you. It’s kind of like when two people love each other, but they’re on different sides in politics.”

“You mean when one’s a Democrat and one’s a Republican.”

“Exactly. They don’t have to agree to still love each other, right? Even though they might not agree on some serious fundamental issues.”

“We talked about that in my government class. That it’s our right to stand up for what we believe in, even if we’re in disagreement with the people closest to us.”

“Exactly. Your grandparents oppose each other politically.”

Nathan’s brows popped up. “Really?”

“Yup. But they love each other like nobody’s business. And I’ve never seen two people who can argue so fiercely, especially around election time. It’ll make your ears burn. But pick on one, and the other will defend them to the death. It’s kind of like that with how you feel about something. Just because you love Mick doesn’t mean you have to agree with everything he believes.”

Nathan stared at Mick, then nodded. “That makes sense. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I kind of like Elizabeth. She came up to me today, and we sat down, and she told me how she screwed up and how sorry she was. I think that takes some guts.”

“Yeah, I guess it does.”

Nathan tilted his head up at Gavin. “I think she’s really trying, Gavin.”

Gavin bumped his shoulder against Nathan’s. “I think she is, too, Nathan. Maybe your dad will figure that out someday soon.”

ELIZABETH WAS DRAINED. PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY, AND emotionally exhausted.

First the meltdown in front of Jenna, Kathleen, and Tara, and oh, God, could that have been a more horrifying moment? And then she’d sat down and had a heart-to-heart with a fifteen-year-old boy, who’d handled her apology with a maturity she hadn’t expected.

And to top it off she’d had to spend the rest of the night doing her best to dodge Mick, which wasn’t easy considering it had been his birthday party.

She wanted to strip down, crawl under the covers, and end this day.

Gavin had brought her home and had gone to take a shower. He had worked up a sweat with an impromptu game of football with his brother and his soon-to-be nephew, along with the various cousins.

While he did that, she opened a bottle of wine and poured herself a glass. She headed upstairs, stripped off her clothes, and fell face-first onto the bed.

She was almost asleep when she felt strong hands sliding down her back, followed by warm lips pressed against the nape of her neck.

“I’ll give you an hour to stop that.”

He didn’t speak, just conducted a very sensual assault over her shoulders with his hands, massaging the tension away from her shoulder blades, the middle of her back, her lower back, and lingering at her butt—which made her giggle. He compressed the spots that needed it and used whisper-light touches on the places that weren’t so tense. He followed his fingers with the barest touch of his lips as he mapped a trail from her back to her butt to her thighs to her calves, then lifted her feet and kneaded the arches.

She moaned as he massaged her feet, a weak spot since she spent all her time in heels.

“God, that feels good. Please don’t stop.”

He pressed his thumb on the arch of her foot, and he surprised her when his tongue wrapped around her toe. She gasped, the dual sensation of comfort and sensuality shooting right to her pussy. Wet, hot flames of arousal licked at her, made her lift her butt in the air and slide her hand between her legs to massage the ache in her clit.

“Stop,” he said. “I’ll get there in a minute.”

She laughed. “I can’t wait. I want to come.”

“You don’t have much patience, do you?” he asked, then slid her big toe in his mouth and sucked it.

Oh, damn. She lost all track of what she was about to do with her fingers, mesmerized by his talented tongue and mouth. And when he slid his tongue across the bottom of her foot, she jerked her foot away.

“That tickles.”

“We can’t have that.” He licked his way over her ankle, up her calf, and lifted her leg, then laid it down on the bed, kissing the back of one knee, then the other, parting her legs to crawl between them. He pressed his lips to the backs of her thighs and where her butt cheeks met her legs, then massaged her buttocks.

She moaned again when he started rubbing her lower back, especially the one spot that . . .

“Ohhh . . .”

“Really.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s because you insist on wearing those four-inch heels. Bad for your back.”

“Yes, Doctor. Whatever you say, Doctor. Just keep rubbing there.”

“You sure you want me to rub here? Or maybe here instead.”

He let his fingers drift lower over her ass again, then between her legs to tease her pussy.

“Well, that’s nice, too. Rub there instead.”

He did, using three fingers to part her pussy lips and spread her juices over her clit. She followed his hand by lifting her butt and rubbing against him like a cat craving attention.

Hell, she might even be purring. She knew she made some kind of noises but had no idea what they were. She was lost in sensation, her mind focused only on his touch and the feel of his body as he moved over her and slipped his cock inside her, then reached under her to continue to sweep his fingers over her clit.

He swelled inside her, thickening, stretching her, taking her to the limit and back again. She fisted the sheets and buried her head in the covers, shutting out everything but his breathing as he whispered dark words in her ear. She turned her face to the side, catching only a glimpse of his tightened features as her lips met his in a fevered kiss when he thrust deeply inside her.

Pressed to the mattress, she was powerless, giving up total control to him as he whipped her into a fevered state. Tension turned her muscles to steel as she fought the explosion that hovered so close. She wanted to prolong this ecstasy, where every stroke of his cock was bliss and every whispered word he uttered was sweet heaven.

“Let go, Elizabeth. Let me feel you come.”

She shook her head, holding on for just a few seconds longer as he wound her tighter into a ball of the sweetest pleasure imaginable.

But when he bit down on the nape of her neck, she was awash in heat that she couldn’t survive, and she climaxed, crying out and meeting his lips as he ground against her, his balls slapping against her clit. He groaned and spilled inside her. He was glued to her, shuddering against her, and she wanted this to go on forever, just the two of them connected like this.

Gavin dropped down on top of her and rolled to the side, bringing her with him, stroking her breasts as she came down off the high.

She always gave so much to him in sex, so much of herself. She laid herself open and gave him everything, held nothing back. She had never been like that with other men.

She had never loved other men.

She wondered if he realized how much she gave him, or if he thought she was simply like every other woman he’d been with.

She’d never ask. She didn’t want to know. There was only right now between them. She’d never tell him how she felt. He had too much power as it was.

And every day that passed he gathered more.

She sighed and snuggled against him. He stroked her hair in the darkness, and she allowed a single tear to slip down her cheeks.

Little by little she was losing herself in Gavin.

She was never going to win this game.

SEVENTEEN

IF THIS WERE A ROCK CONCERT INSTEAD OF A WEDNESDAY afternoon baseball game in Milwaukee, the girl with the huge tits in the second row along the first-base line would be lifting up her shirt and flashing her goods at Gavin.

Instead, she’d held up signs proclaiming her love for him, her boobs bouncing up and down as she held the sign over her head.

He loved fans, especially the out-of-town ones since the visiting team was typically booed.

But this woman was having a wet-panty party in her seat for Gavin, and he was loving every minute of it, despite the ribbing he was taking from his teammates in the dugout.

“Dude, you should definitely get her number.”

“She’s done everything but fling herself on top of the roof of the dugout.”

“I’ll bet you a hundred bucks she’ll be waiting for you outside after the game.”

No way was he taking that bet. He’d seen plenty of groupies before, and blondie up there was a class-A fan girl. He was flattered, but he knew better than to indulge the fantasies of the crazies. She probably kept a room filled with his photos and an ice pick under her pillow.

After the game he and a few of the guys headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant for dinner and drinks to console themselves after a tough loss. Sometimes it was easier to lose a game by six runs than to drop a close game. This one had been a nail-biter until the bitter end, and they’d had guys on first and third in the top of the ninth, but they couldn’t bring them home.

“Bats were cold today,” Dedrick said. “Or at least mine was.”

“Wasn’t just you,” Gavin said, lifting his glass of beer and taking a couple long swallows. “I couldn’t hit for shit.”

Tommy took a drink and sat his mug on the table, grimacing. “Pitching didn’t help much, either. Bailey couldn’t hold those two runners in the third, I couldn’t help him out in the fifth. I didn’t last but two innings. My relief sucked. Must be a full moon or somethin’.”

Gavin lifted his glass. “To a better game tomorrow.”

They clinked glasses.

“Couldn’t get any worse than today,” Dedrick muttered.

“Well, yeah, it could,” Gavin said. “But it won’t. Tomorrow we kick their ass.”

They drank beer, ate burgers, and moaned about the game some more. Dedrick and Tommy called it a night and went back to their rooms. Gavin hung out in the bar, too restless to pace the confines of his hotel room. There was a night game on, Atlanta and Tampa Bay, so he sat at the bar and watched the game, switching to soda after having one more beer.

A knockout brunette pulled up a barstool next to his since the bar was pretty full. She ordered a drink, pulled out her phone, and started punching buttons.

Gavin judged her to be in her mid-twenties, no doubt in town on business since she had her hair pulled up like Elizabeth styled hers and she wore a suit and some fancy shoes, same as Elizabeth.

She frowned at whatever nonsense was happening on her phone.

“Problem?”

She glanced up and offered a smile. She had nice brown eyes.

“Client canceled our meeting.”

Gavin nodded. “Hate when that happens.”