“But you don’t talk about it. Nobody knows you’re an alcoholic, right?”

“No. No one knows, and that was my choice. I chose not to make it public. I go to meetings and it’s done quietly. But I’m willing to take Nathan to a meeting with me if you think it might prevent him from making the same mistakes I did.”

“Mick, I can’t ask you to do that. Not for my son.”

“Isn’t he worth it?”

“Dammit, that’s not what I meant. Of course he’s worth it. Nathan is everything to me. I’d put myself in front of a bullet for that kid.” She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “But don’t put me in this position. Don’t ask me to risk you over my son.”

“Why not?”

“You know why not. What if someone sees you going to a meeting?”

He laughed. “I’ve been going to meetings for ten years now, Tara. That’s why they call it anonymous.”

“You’d do this—for Nathan.”

“And for you. Because I don’t want you to ever have to go through what I put my mother through.”

She laid her head on his chest.

It took him a minute, but he finally put his arms around her. She felt his tension, so she climbed onto his lap and raised her head, saw the anguish in his eyes.

“You’ve never told a woman about this, have you?”

“It’s not easy for me to trust people with the story. In the wrong hands it could go worldwide in an instant.”

She laid the palm of her hand on his face. “You can trust me.”

“I worried that telling you this might end things between us.”

Her eyes widened. “Why?”

“After you told me about your parents ... I wanted to tell you that night, but I kind of chickened out. Your parents were alcoholics. I’m an alcoholic.”

She palmed his jaw. “Oh, Mick. I would never judge you based on who and what they were. Look at how you changed your life for the better. They never did. Look how good you are with my son. I don’t want to scare you or want you to think I’m asking anything of you for the future, because I’m not. But you’ve done better parenting of my son in the short time we’ve known each other than my parents ever did of me in all the years they had me. So no, I would never judge you or compare you to them.”

He closed his eyes and breathed heavily. When he opened them, it was as if a giant weight had been lifted. And yet there was still a glimmer of uncertainty and pain there. Tara was surprised she hadn’t seen it before. Maybe it would always be there.

It was so quiet in the room—in the entire house—she only heard the two of them breathing. It was a surreal moment. What he’d shared with her was so raw and painful it made her heart hurt for him, for what he’d gone through and survived. Mick was nothing like the magazines portrayed him, nothing like the PR Elizabeth laid out. She knew him now as she never thought she would know another person, and she’d never wanted to be closer to him than she did right now. She wanted him to forget the pain and the sorrow and know only pleasure.

She leaned forward and brushed her lips against his, tunneling her fingers in his hair.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him, deepening the kiss, his tongue sliding inside and taking possession of hers.

Tara sensed a need in him, and she fed on that need, wanted to give him everything tonight. And when he picked her up and laid her on the floor, coming down on top of her, she wrapped her legs and arms around him, needing the feel of his body. The hard ridge of his cock rode between her legs, and he surged against her, ratcheting up her arousal to a fevered state as he continued to plunder her mouth with deep, soul-penetrating kisses.

He pulled her arms out to her sides and locked his hands down on top of hers while he spread her legs with his knees and drove against her pussy with his cock. Even though they were still clothed, it made her whimper, made her wet, made her crave the feel of him inside her. He loomed over her, his face above her etched with need and hunger, and she arched up against him.

“Fuck me,” she said in a harsh whisper. She’d planned to take things slow and easy tonight, to make it sweet and romantic, but that’s not how it was coming down. There was a desperate passion between them, an intense, frantic pull toward each other that they had to fulfill. The air was fraught with tension, and if she didn’t get Mick inside her soon, if he continued to rub his cock against the outside of her clothes, she was going to come—just like that.

“I like touching you this way—thinking about how good your pussy feels, knowing how desperate you are to have me fuck you, but ... waiting.”

Tara panted, licked her lips, and lifted against him again. “You’re going to make me come, rubbing me with your hard cock against my clit. Keep doing that, and I’m going to come.”

He smiled down at her, a wicked smile that made her belly tingle. “Yeah? Show me.”

He ground against her, hard and ... oh, God, yes, right there. She lifted her hips and he hit that spot and she cried out, climaxing, shuddering as he continued to roll his hips against her sweet spot until she fell to the floor and he went with her, taking her mouth in a kiss that stole her breath.

Then it was a frenzy of removing clothes, and there was no finesse in it. Tara was elated that Mick was in a hurry to get his shorts off, and she shimmied out of her shorts and panties, spread her legs, and waited for him to grab a condom and slide it on. He came back to her, slid his hand under her butt, and entered her, hard. She bit down on her lip as he pumped into her with several hard, exquisite thrusts that made her arch into him.

“You’re tight and so fucking wet. You make me want to come hard inside you.”

She loved when he lost it like this, when all he could think about was fucking her, because it’s all she wanted right now—this meeting of bodies and animal passion and nothing else. Their need for each other was primal and wild. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him into her, seeking depth and possession. Mick buried his face in her neck and licked the side of her throat, making her shudder with delight, making her rake her nails along his shoulders and down his arms. He growled against her and dug his fingers into her butt cheeks. He rolled his hips, and the action rocked his pelvis against her clit, taking her right to the edge again.

“I feel your pussy squeezing me. You gonna come for me again?”

“Yes.” She groaned, so close she had to grit her teeth. “Come inside me, Mick.”

“I’m going to come hard, Tara. Now.”

He kissed her, letting out a groan as he thrust several times in succession while he came. That set her off, and she whimpered against his lips as the dam burst inside her and she climaxed in torrential waves of the hottest, wildest pleasure she could ever imagine. She held on while he continued to pump inside her with furious thrusts until he finally settled, until the pulses inside her stilled.

“I might have rug burn,” she whispered in his ear.

He kissed her neck. “I might have a groin pull.”

She laughed. “Oops.”

He rolled them onto their sides, and Mick swept her hair out of her eyes. “I can’t get enough of you, Tara. You bring out a side of me I’ve never given to another woman.”

Her heart filled with emotions, things she didn’t dare say out loud.

Even if she was falling in love with him, she couldn’t seem to find the courage to tell him.

Loving someone gave them power over you, and she wasn’t ready to do that just yet.

FOURTEEN

TARA LET MICK HAVE NATHAN FOR THE ENTIRE DAY. He had a plan that he’d cleared with Tara. She was trusting him to show Nathan the light—or at least the what-ifs and what-could-bes. He hoped he wouldn’t fuck this all up.

Mick started out the day by taking Nathan to the team practice facility, something that made Nathan’s eyes bug out, especially since he was supposed to be grounded. But Mick had made a big deal out of telling Nathan that he’d talked his mom into it since it was a special event. It was media day at the facility, so there were going to be a lot of extra people at the training facility today anyway. He’d already cleared it with the team to have Nathan on board to watch from the field and meet all the guys.

Of course the workout wasn’t as intense as it would be on a normal day, mainly because of the interruption of the press, but that was okay, because it gave Mick an opportunity to take Nathan around and introduce him to everyone, and he even put him behind center and let him throw a few passes, which made Nathan nervous as hell. He looked so small behind Mick’s offensive line. But to Nathan’s credit he did okay, didn’t drop a pass, and even managed to hit a receiver or two. The kid had a pretty good arm and would probably get a decent scholarship provided he pulled his head out of his ass and concentrated more on football and less on socializing, which was Mick’s intention for the day.

After Nathan took a seat, Mick concentrated on his own drills, working with some of the new receivers. A couple were decent, one had serious attitude and some work to do if he had any hopes of making the team. But that was the coaches’ problem to deal with, and Mick didn’t envy the coaches’ job dealing with kids who came into the game with a sense of entitlement. But guys like that were also good for Nathan to see—the ones who played up the media like they owned them, fresh out of college with tons of attitude, thinking they could step into their first NFL game and be a star. Sure, there were some who could make it right out the gate, but they were rare. And Mick could already tell this kid wasn’t as good as he thought he was. A good safety jumping in front of the passes with a few key interceptions and this kid would get a dose of humility quickly.

After giving some interviews about his fitness, his overall plan for the year, and what he thought the team’s chances were—basically typical interview fodder—Mick showered up, and he and Nathan went to dinner.

“So, what did you think of it all?”

Nathan looked up from his plate where he’d been shoveling food in his mouth. “It was awesome. All the photographers and reporters there, working out with the team, plus the new guys from the college draft. It was so cool. I can’t wait to tell all the guys on my team about it.”

Mick had finished eating, so he pushed back his plate and picked up his glass of water, took a sip, then leaned back in his chair. “So, hanging with me has upped your cred with your teammates?”

Nathan grinned. “Definitely. As a freshman you’re pretty much dirt under everyone’s cleats, at least until you can prove yourself on the field. You dating my mom has gotten everyone’s attention.” Nathan cocked his head to the side, a worried look on his face. “You’re not dumping her or anything, are you?”

Mick’s lips lifted. “Uh, no. I’m not dumping your mom.”

Nathan blew out a breath. “Thank God. That would really screw with my popularity.”

Teenagers. Had Mick ever been so clueless? Obviously he had, or he wouldn’t have fucked up his life so badly. “Yeah, I’d hate to mess with your popularity quotient.”

Nathan ducked his head and at least had the decency to look sheepish. Maybe he wasn’t as clueless after all.

After dessert they climbed into the SUV. Mick glanced at the clock in the car. Perfect timing.

“So where to now?” Nathan asked.

“We’re going to a meeting.”

Nathan half turned to face him. “No kidding? Like some team meeting or something?”

“No. This kind of meeting is personal to me, but I wanted you to come with me because I think you can get something out of it. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Hey, if it has something to do with you, I don’t mind at all.”

Mick pulled into the parking lot of the Presbyterian church, one of the places he’d found that was having an open meeting tonight where anyone could attend. He parked and got out. Nathan followed.