The Hot Corner Read online

  “No.” I burrowed into him and his laugh rumbled through me.

  “You’re still not a morning person. I like that that hasn’t changed.” His fingers tangled in my hair. “Believe me, it’s the last thing I want to do, but I’ve got to go home and get my bags. I have a flight to catch.”

  Right. He had a six-game road trip and I was going to have a week to myself. I definitely needed it. “Okay.” I started to roll away from him but his strong arms caught me and pulled me back to him.

  “I mean it, Red. I don’t want to go.”

  I finally opened my eyes and took in his set jaw and sweet smile.

  “Why don’t you come with me?” he asked.

  I yawned and shook my head, trying to remember why I couldn’t go. It was hard to think properly with my mind fuzzy from sleep and sex. “I have things.”

  His gorgeous grin flashed as he laughed at me. “Things? Well, clearly that’s a good reason.”

  I flipped him off, which only made him laugh harder. Okay, I had to focus. “Meetings. Uh, your agent, the vice president of operations for the Dodgers, Karen Grant . . .” He winced when I said that name, and it was my turn to laugh at him. “That’s right, another famous romp of yours. I wonder what this one will have to say?”

  “Maybe you could cancel that one.” He smiled winningly, but his grin faded when I shook my head. “She’s not overly fond of me.”

  “Well, then, I guess we’ll have something in common.” He poked my side and I grabbed his finger. Instead of letting go, he twisted his wrist and suddenly we were holding hands.

  “You seemed plenty fond of me a couple of hours ago,” he reminded me.

  “Fond of one aspect of you, maybe.”

  He snorted. “Please, we both know I wouldn’t be back in this bed if it was just about sex. You could have gotten that from Lance, and I could have . . .” He wisely shut his mouth at the glare I aimed his way. “Never mind.”

  I rolled my eyes. Frankly, I did want to cancel that interview. Hearing about Brad and his women was hard enough before I’d been stupid enough to sleep with him again. I didn’t know how I would react, though I hardly thought I’d like it any better. Still, I needed different perspectives on his romantic entanglements than just Pam’s and mine.

  “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” He needed to get out of there so I could start figuring it out. I could hardly do that when he was bare-chested with only a light sheet covering him.

  “Not quite yet. I got you up early to convince you to come with me.”

  Damn it, I could have used the extra sleep. “Not this trip, but probably the next one. I do need to see what life is like on the road.”

  He slipped his arm around me and pulled me into his side. “It’s cold and lonely. That’s why I need you there.” His lips skimmed over my cheek and I closed my eyes, enjoying the tingles that went through me at just that light touch.

  He was entirely too tempting. “I think it’s only lonely when you let it be. From what I’ve heard, you could have companionship anytime you wanted.”

  Brad pushed my hair aside and started nibbling on my neck. My toes curled underneath the covers.

  “I only want you.”

  Those words. I’d once believed them. I couldn’t believe them now, and I didn’t know if I wanted to.

  He tugged me onto his lap. “Do you doubt me?”

  Of course I did. “No.”

  He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Yes you do, and I guess I can’t blame you.” His voice was low, his face drawn into a frown. It still hurt me to see him that way, so I touched his cheek softly.

  “I know what my reputation is,” he said. “And frankly, I didn’t care. Part of me hoped you were somewhere out there, watching, seeing how well I was doing without you.” I winced and he tightened his grip on my waist. “Come on, didn’t you feel the same way when you showed up in that sexy skirt with those fuck-me shoes to a baseball stadium?”

  I sulked that I was that transparent. “Maybe a little, but I didn’t screw half of California.”

  “No, you just got engaged.” His tone was bitter.

  “Yes, I did. We’d been broken up for five years. Was I supposed to die alone while you kept your bed warm with any willing blonde you could find? Always with the damn blondes.” So maybe I sounded bitter, too. He’d started it.

  He ran an agitated hand through his hair. “Is it wrong that I hate him? Someone who mattered so much to you, and who you said yes to when he asked you to marry him? That was supposed to be me. Us. I already had . . .” He clenched his jaw.

  “What?”

  “Never mind. I swore I wasn’t going to do this.”

  He was scaring me. “Do what?”

  “Harp on the past. I can hardly judge you for yours when you’re being slapped in the face with mine.”

  I blew out a relieved breath. “I’m glad you realize that.”

  “But you’re judging me, aren’t you?” His green gaze cut into me, like always.

  “It’s hard not to.” But I had to admit, a part of me was happy he’d never been engaged or even in a real relationship with any of those women. “Neither one of us can do anything about our pasts. They are what they are.”

  “Yeah, that’s true.” He smiled. “All we can do is deal with the here and now.”

  I wasn’t ready for that. I needed time and space. I squirmed away from him and got to my feet. “Right, well, you need to get going, so I’ll just . . .”

  He stood before me, naked and hot and completely enticing.

  “You’re scared,” he said with a grin, taking a step toward me as I took a step back.

  “I am not,” I said as he advanced and I retreated. “I just have to pee.”

  He laughed as I backed into the sliding glass door that led to the balcony. “You’re heading in the wrong direction, then.”

  I couldn’t go any farther unless I wanted to step outside and give a show to the nearby buildings. “Maybe I want to pee outside. Be one with nature.”

  Brad laughed so hard I thought he was going to fall over, which would have allowed me to make my escape, but no, no such luck. He caged me between his arms, his eyes sparkling in the morning light as the sun spilled across his face.

  “Do you remember the last time you were one with nature? When we went camping in Stone Mountain Park?”

  How could I forget? “It took you two hours to set up the tent.”

  He grinned and gave me a smacking kiss. “Which proved worthless when you destroyed it because you were convinced there was a bear outside.”

  “Something was following me!” I grimaced at the memory. “I got eaten alive by mosquitoes when I went out to go to the bathroom—by myself, I might add—and then on the way back, something followed me and it growled!”

  His warm hands squeezed my waist as he laughed. “And you came running into the tent, knocking over my perfectly placed poles and collapsing the whole thing.”

  I scoffed at his amusement, though I felt myself smiling. “You’re lucky I did. It confused the bear and he went off to eat some other foolish campers.”

  “And we spent the night cramped together in the back of my Altima.” He brushed his fingers over my cheek softly. “It was one of my favorite nights ever.”

  Mine, too. “Yeah, well, the next night in the cheap hotel was just as good.” That had been the end of our camping, but not our little vacation. We’d hiked during the day and gone back to the room at night. Much better.

  He smirked. “You were just happy to have a shower.”

  “Damn right I was.” He was entirely too close. “Speaking of the shower . . .”

  Brad cocked an eyebrow. “I seem to recall we shared more than one that week.”

  “I believed in water conservation.”

  He traced a finger over my lips. “Do you still?”

  God, what the man could do to me with that sexy voice and face and body of his. “No,” I lied.

  “But I thought you w
anted to be one with nature.”

  I couldn’t stop the giggles that bubbled out of me, which reminded me. “I still need to pee.”

  Before I knew what was happening, Brad had me in his arms and was carrying me to the bathroom. He set me on my feet next to the toilet and flipped on the water.

  I crossed my arms over my chest and shot him a look. “I’m not going to the bathroom with you in here.” We hadn’t even gotten to that stage of our relationship back then, for crying out loud.

  He gave me a light smack on the ass as he walked past. “You have two minutes, and then I’m coming back in to make sure we do our part for the planet.”

  I could have locked the door after he closed it and taken my blessed shower alone, but memories of shared showers assaulted me and I hurriedly took care of business before he returned. He was back before I finished washing my hands.

  He didn’t say anything, he just shot me that irresistible smile and steered me under the hot spray. As soon as the water hit my skin, I tilted my head back and he combed his fingers through my hair. “Wet fire,” he murmured, making me shiver with a pass of his fingers through my tresses and down my back. “You know, I’ve dated brunettes, too.”

  I glared at him and tried to move away, but he was too strong. Asshole.

  “But never, ever another redhead.” He stepped closer and ran his thumb along my jaw. “I could put you out of my mind, but the instant I saw a woman with red hair, I remembered and I couldn’t touch her if I’d wanted to.” His hands moved down my body, brushing over my torso and making me hot along with the steamy water. “It was always you, Dani. My Red.” And then his lips were on mine. I backed up against the cold tile and gasped, and he slipped his tongue inside my open mouth to dance with mine.

  As his lips moved over my jaw and down my neck, his hands cupped my ass. I had to give him something.

  “Green eyes.”

  He stopped kissing my skin and pulled back to look at me. “What about them?”

  “I could never date a guy who had green eyes. They were pretty, but not yours.”

  The smug smile was back on his face, and I smacked his shoulder. “You don’t have to be a dick about it.”

  “Yes, I do.” He kissed me again, and I forgot all about his being a dick and instead focused on his actual dick, which was poking me in the stomach. The man had excellent distraction techniques. And then I remembered.

  “Hey, are you clean?”

  He looked at me like I’d grown another head. “Not yet, but I will be once you soap me up.” He smiled, and I shook my head.

  “I meant, you know, disease-wise. We haven’t exactly been smart about the condoms.”

  Brad smirked. “Perfectly clean. And you?” I just shot him a look and he chuckled. “Now how about you get dirty with me?”

  It would take a stronger woman than me to resist that invitation from a naked, sexy man with a killer smile and eyes like stormy seas. “Are you sure you can handle it? You’re much older now.” He was also stronger and I’d probably gained only a few pounds since college, but still. He needed to be challenged.

  He squeezed my ass before sliding his hands lower and lifting me effortlessly, pushing me right under the spray. I blinked water out of my eyes and saw that he was still wearing that smug smile. “I think I’ve got it.”

  Yeah, he did. He still had all the moves, only smoother and more practiced now. I couldn’t let myself think about where he’d gotten that practice, or I’d go crazy. On the other hand, maybe it would be better to think about it and kick him out and forget this ever . . . oh. He pushed me against the wall and filled me in one motion and I forgot about kicking him out. Nothing wrong with a little goodbye sex before I got my mind straight.

  “You’re doing it again.”

  I pushed his wet hair out of his eyes. “Doing what?”

  “Thinking.” He shifted me a little higher and hit a spot that made my eyes cross. I wrapped my legs tightly around him, squeezing his ass with my calves.

  “I can’t help it. I have to think.”

  Brad let out a strangled laugh as he thrust into me harder. “All right, then, think about what I’m doing to you right now. Think about the fact that in one week, I’m going to be doing it again.”

  I blinked as his eyes locked with mine. “That’s right, Dani. I know you. You’ll try to convince yourself this was just one night, an itch we both needed to scratch.”

  Well, it was. It had to be, because anything else was too dangerous to contemplate.

  “But it’s not,” he said. “And if you’d turn off that brain of yours for a minute, you’d know it’s true. This won’t be enough. Not for either one of us.”

  It felt like enough to me. He was hitting exactly the right place and my muscles were clenching around him.

  “Touch yourself,” he said a few minutes later, his voice almost a growl. When had he become so commanding? Why was I letting him? He shifted again and I knew why. I hurried to comply before he yelled again, reaching down to where we were joined and touching myself as he’d asked. His eyes were dilated, the green nearly swallowed up by black as our bodies slapped together, my back against the cold tile, his hands hard and strong underneath my legs.

  It didn’t take long for the wave to build as the sensation of my fingers and of him inside me combined to give me delicious pulses inside my body. I clamped around him and he cursed as we came together, his fingers digging into my thighs as his gorgeous muscles flexed and locked.

  After a few moments of stillness, he smiled and kissed me gently, contrasting with the way he’d just fucked me hard in the shower. I unlocked my legs from around him and our kiss didn’t break as I put my feet back on the ground. That was where they belonged, but my head was spinning from the sweet kiss and the hot steam and everything that had happened in the past twelve hours.

  He was right, of course. I doubted we’d be able to go back to normal when he returned to town next week. I didn’t know what we could be or what we would be, but certainly not what we’d once been. Maybe something new.

  “There goes that busy brain again.” He laughed as he bent to grab a bottle of shampoo. “Let’s see if you can think when I wash your hair.” He knew the answer to that. Washing my hair had been one of his favorite things to do, and from the way he combed his fingers through my hair and massaged the shampoo into my scalp, it didn’t seem that had changed any. I let out a little moan.

  “I didn’t think so.” He sounded so damn proud of himself, but I felt too good to argue with him, and he’d know I was lying anyway. He repeated the process with the conditioner and then we took turns lathering each other up.

  He dried me off before getting a towel and taking care of himself. Watching the water droplets disappear off his body was a lovely thing. He pulled on his clothes from last night while I wrapped myself in a robe and tried to control the weird butterflies suddenly fluttering in my stomach.

  “So have a good trip.” Try not to fuck any fans while you’re away.

  He brushed my damp hair aside and kissed me. “I’ll call you.”

  How many times had he said those words before he’d gone off to play ball in another city? Countless.

  “You don’t have to.”

  He silenced me when his lips met mine. I sighed and melted into him. So familiar, yet so different. I’d never had to think about other girls until my ill-fated trip to Omaha. How many times had I wished I’d just stayed home, none the wiser? It embarrassed me to think how pathetic it was that I’d rather have turned a blind eye than gone through the pain of losing him.

  He smiled and kissed the tip of my nose before releasing me. “Every night.” When I only stared at him, he touched my cheek. “It’s time we got to know one another again. Not what we think we know, or what other people think they know. Just you and me.”

  That sounded . . . good. And dangerous. “Okay.”

  “And when I get back, I want to see you.”

  I laughed and tried to
steady myself. I felt breathless. “Well, you kind of have to. We have a lot to go over still, and—”

  “A date, Dani. I want to take you out on a date. No book, no discussion of anyone but you and me.”

  Oh. Yes. Well. I could hardly say no when he was looking all boyish and hopeful and excited about it. Plus, I wanted it myself. “That sounds good to me.”

  His smile could have lit up the room. “It will be.” He kissed me hard before grabbing his jacket. He started to put it on but then he shrugged out of it and handed it to me.

  “Keep it.” He kissed me again and I felt like my head was going to spin off my shoulders from the heat and happiness. “Think of me.”

  With a grin and a wave he was gone. And I was left to do nothing but.

  Chapter 14

  After Brad left, I shut off my phone and threw myself back into bed. It had been way too long since I’d had a night of fabulous sex and I was exhausted. If I counted back, the last time my body had felt this tired was with him. Jason and I had been one and done when we’d slept together, which hadn’t been that often. I’d usually felt more like an accessory for his arm than a beloved fiancée, but it had worked for me for a while, until I’d had to admit to myself there was no excitement, no love there, and called it off. There’d been men between the two of them—pleasant, perfectly nice men I dated for a couple of months—but things would inevitably die off and we’d both walk away no worse for the wear.

  That’s what I needed to prepare myself to do now. Brad was the only man who’d ever hurt me, and I knew without a doubt it wouldn’t take much for him to hurt me all over again. Getting involved with him was stupid. In the past, he’d been a sweet, loving, and—I’d thought—loyal boyfriend. He still showed flashes of those traits, but loyalty? For all I knew, some flight attendant could be giving him more than just a drink and smile right then.

  But I wanted him. I was already craving him again. I reached out and pulled the jacket he’d left toward my nose and inhaled deeply. It smelled like him, and I hugged it to me as I closed my eyes.