Author: Jaci Burton

He arched a brow, then kissed the tip of her nose. “Keeping track of my stats now?”

“Only in my head.”

“Where’s Nathan?”

“He’s hanging out with D’Juan and Anthony’s sons. They play football, too, so Nathan and Bobby have made some new friends.”

Mick nodded. “Good. I’m starving. Let’s go find food.”

The barbecue was wonderful, as were the people, who welcomed her as if she and Mick were a permanent couple. Tara couldn’t have asked for a better night for her or for Nathan, though she was still a little worried about Nathan getting attached to everyone.

At this point there was nothing much she could do about it. Her relationship with Mick was either going to work out or it wasn’t, and she couldn’t shield Nathan from the fallout if it didn’t. At this point she had two choices. She could fling herself headlong into whatever she had with Mick and hope for the best, or she could cut and run.

She was scared of option one because the chances of her and Nathan both getting hurt were so great. But option two just wasn’t acceptable to her. Mick was part of her life now, and walking away from him would devastate her.

So what the hell was she supposed to do?

For tonight, she ate dinner and tried to enjoy herself, which was damned hard to do, considering her gaze kept drifting to Elizabeth, who seemed to be having a major talk with team owner Irvin Stokes. And in the middle of that conversation, Liz kept pointing to her, then whispering to Mr. Stokes.

Great. Just great. Tara could only imagine what lies Elizabeth was making up about her. Was she putting words in Mr. Stokes’s ear about what a bad influence Tara was on Mick? Would she tell the team owner that getting Tara out of Mick’s life would be the best thing he could do for the future of the team?

Panic set in when Elizabeth hooked her arm in Mr. Stokes’s and both of them headed their way.

“Damn,” Tara whispered.

“What’s wrong?”

“Liz is bringing Irvin Stokes over here.”

“Why is that a problem?” Mick shoved the remnants of his cheeseburger in his mouth, then wiped his hands with his napkin and grinned. “Hey, Irvin.”

Irvin Stokes was a billionaire who’d made his money in the financial markets. He was a shrewd businessman, and even though he was creeping up close to eighty years old, he still looked fit, with a head filled with silvery hair and a suit that probably cost more than Tara made in a year.

“Excellent start to the season, Mick.”

Stokes stuck out his hand, and Mick shook it. “Thanks. The team looks strong. You managed to bring in some solid players to the defense.”

Stokes nodded. “Our free agent signings seemed to shore up our only weaknesses, so I expect great things this year.” He turned to Tara. “And this is your new lady? Elizabeth has been telling me about you.”

She didn’t even want to know what Liz had been saying. Tara shook his hand. “Tara Lincoln.”

“Oh, yes. You did our party a couple months ago. Very nice. I was pleased with how it turned out.”

“Thank you, Mr. Stokes.”

Elizabeth leaned against Stokes like he was gold. “I was telling Irvin that you were an event planner. The wives and girlfriends of the players always put on a charity fund-raiser before the kickoff to the regular season, and I was thinking since this is right up your alley, you’d want to spearhead it this year.”

“Oh.” Tara turned to Irvin. “Of course. I’d be delighted.”

Stokes took her hand between both of his. “Excellent. It’s good exposure for the team and for a good cause. This year it’s for the summer camps for underprivileged children in the area.”

“I’ll be happy to help out.”

“Your work would be gratis, of course.”

“I have no problem with that. I’m always willing to do charity work.”

“I’m happy to hear that. Still, it’s promotion for your company. I’ll have our people get in touch with you. The event will be held the Saturday before the last home preseason game.”

“Thank you, Mr. Stokes.” She nodded at Elizabeth, who winked at her and walked away with Irvin.

“That was ... interesting.”

“Why?” Mick asked.

“Because Elizabeth doesn’t like me. Why would she do that?”

Mick put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “Babe, I long ago gave up trying to figure out what the hell motivates Liz to do anything. Don’t even try.”

She shrugged and leaned against him. “You’re right. It’s pointless.”

But still, something nagged at her. Tara didn’t think Liz had suggested her because she liked her or thought Tara was a great event planner. Maybe Liz had done it for Mick because she’d finally figured out that Tara could be of benefit to Mick’s career.

Though she doubted it, since Liz had made it clear that getting Tara out of Mick’s life would be the best thing for Mick’s career.

But it was done now, and Tara was going to be in charge of planning this event. Now she just had to do a kick-ass job and impress the hell out of Irvin Stokes again.

Mick followed Tara home afterward. Nathan had made plans to spend the night at Bobby’s house, so Tara dropped them off first. Mick was already in her driveway when she got there.

“Tired?” she asked when she opened the door. He shut and locked the door, then pulled her into his arms.

“Not at all. A game always revs me up.”

She slid into his embrace. “Is that right? So what do you do when you don’t have a willing female in your arms to help you out with all that excess energy?”

He picked her up in his arms and carried her upstairs. “Jack off.”

The visual of it made her tingle all over. “I’d like to see that.”

“Would you.” He set her on her feet at the side of her bed.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. Sit down.”

She sat on the edge of the bed, her fingers curling into the bedspread as Mick pulled his shirt off. The sight of his body never failed to arouse her, and especially so after watching him play tonight. She’d always been a football fan, but now that she knew Mick, knew his work ethic, and had seen him play, she knew what went into how he took care of his body. It was his job to make sure he stayed healthy, and he took it seriously. And boy howdy, did it ever show. He was muscled in all the right places, lean in all the spots he should be, and she had to resist going to him just to run her hands over the planes and angles that had been so perfectly sculpted by all the hours he spent running and working out at the gym.

She leaned back on her hands as he undid his pants, toed off his shoes, and shrugged out of his briefs and pants, kicking them to the side. His cock was already erect, and he fisted it in his hand, sliding it slow and easy.

“What do you think about when you do that?” she asked.

“Women.”

“Women you’ve had already, or women you’d like to have?”

“Both.”

He kept his gaze on her as he slid his hand up and down the shaft. The room grew warmer, so she kicked off her shoes and pulled her top over her head. “And what do you imagine about these women? Do you think about them just ... standing around?”

“Not really.”

“So you think about having sex with them.” She popped the button open on her jeans, then slowly drew the zipper down, her gaze fixated on the lazy up-and-down movements of his hand on his cock, the way his thumb circled the wide head. Her breathing quickened as she shed her pants, leaving her in only her panties and bra.

“Sometimes I think about having sex with them.” He squeezed his cock in his fist. “Sometimes I picture them lying on the bed, naked and touching themselves.”

Tara got up on her knees and reached for the clasp of her bra, popped it open, and pulled the bra off, casting it onto the bed. “So you think about these women masturbating.”

“Yeah.” He gripped his cock harder.

She swept her hands over her breasts. “Seeing a woman touch herself turns you on.”

“Hell, yes, it does.”

She grasped her nipples between her thumbs and forefingers, plucking them, the sensation rocketing to her pussy. Caressing herself like this, watching Mick touch his own cock, was the most arousing thing she’d ever experienced. She continued to touch her breasts with one hand, but let the other slide down her rib cage and belly, enjoying the tease as she made her way to her panties. She slid her fingers around the edge of her panties, while Mick wrapped a strangled grip on his cock and upped the pace a little faster.

“I like watching you,” she whispered, then tucked her hand inside her panties and cupped her sex.

“How does it feel?”

“Hot. Steamy hot. And wet.”

“Let me see.”

She swallowed to coat her parched throat and drew her panties down, adjusting herself with her legs dangling over the side of the bed. She grabbed a pillow to prop her head up so she could still watch Mick, then laid her palm over her sex, letting her fingers tap along the outside of her pussy lips.

“Your pussy is wet,” he said, moving closer to the bed.

“Yes.”

“Tell me what you think about when you get yourself off.”

“I think about someone coming into the room unexpectedly and finding me doing this.”

He curled his fingers around his cock and drove his hand to the tip, using his thumb to slide over the head. “Yeah? And what happens when he finds you?”

“He stands there for a while and watches me.” She rubbed her fingers up and over her clit, coating the bud with her juices, then slid her hand back down, palming her clit and lifting up as she experienced an explosion of sensation. “But then he undresses, begins to stroke his cock just like you’re doing.”

“And then what?”

“He comes over to the side of the bed.” Tara slid two fingers inside her pussy and began to fuck herself.

Mick leaned over the bed and rubbed his cock head against her thigh.

“Can you hear it?” she asked.

“Yeah.” He was panting.

“Don’t you wish that was your cock inside me, fucking me?”

“Yes. Is that what the guy in your fantasies does?”

She lifted her gaze to his. “Yes. He pulls me to the edge of the bed and plunges his cock in me, then fucks me hard until I scream because I’m coming so hard I can’t stand it, until he’s coming so hard he can’t help himself and he yells out my name.”

Mick grabbed her ankles and pulled her ass to the edge of the bed, ripped a condom from the pocket of his discarded pants, and put it on. Tara braced her feet on the side of the bed and lifted as Mick thrust inside her with one hard push.

And she did cry out, because she’d been waiting for it, anticipating it, and it was so damn good she raked her nails across his arm. He held tight to her hips and fucked his cock inside her, his balls slapping her ass in a hard and fast rhythm that made her whimper and cry out his name as she demanded more and more.

He reached down and began to rub her clit, furiously taking her to the edge, but this time not letting her even stop to drag in a ragged breath. She went over in a hurry, screaming and digging her nails into his arm as she came.

“Mick! I’m coming. Oh, God, Mick, I’m coming.”

“Fuck, yes. I’m coming. Tara!”

He did yell out her name as he dropped her legs and pulled her hips against his. He shouted with his orgasm, pumping against her time and time again with his release, then dragged them both onto the bed as he curled into her and buried his face against her neck.

Tara tangled her fingers in Mick’s hair, and he lifted, kissing her with a deep, intense kiss that warmed and comforted her in the aftermath of such incredible bliss.