Dare To Love Series: Daring to Chance It (Kindle Worlds Novella) (9 page)

When he had the water temp where he wanted it, he carried her into the huge, glassed-in square. Lathering the shower gel and rubbing it all over her body nearly made him hard enough to take her all over again.

“Mmm,” she moaned. “Feels so good. Don’t stop.”

“Okay.” He grinned to himself.

But when he had her completely soaped and rinsed, even her hair, before he could turn off the water and move them out of there, Sarah shocked him by dropping to her knees and taking his shaft in her mouth. When she drew him all the way in, her lips around him and her slim fingers wrapped around the root, almost every bit of air left his body.

Beau sucked in a breath. “Jesus, Sarah.”

She looked up at him, temporarily taking him from her mouth. “Are you saying you don’t want this? Should I stop?”

“Hell, no.” His laugh had a hysterical edge to it. “But be warned. I might have a heart attack.”

“Oh, I think a fine athlete like you can handle this.”

But a few seconds later, he forgot to think or worry about anything. He’d thought after the intense climax they’d shared he wouldn’t have much left to give. But Sarah did something magical to him, something that had him ready nearly all the time. In seconds, the magic of her mouth and hands had him poised on the edge of the ledge again. When his body stiffened, she tightened her grip on him, took him deep into her mouth, and tilted her head so she could swallow every bit of his release.

At last, he leaned against the tile wall, weak-kneed, doing his best to pull himself together. Sarah rose to her feet, leaned against him, and wrapped her arms around him.

She giggled. “I think the water is getting cool.”

“Good. I think I need a cold shower whenever I get within ten feet of you.” He pushed himself off the wall and turned off the faucets. “Come on. Let’s get into bed.”

Somehow, he managed to dry both of them, even do a quick blow-dry on her sopping hair. Then they were in bed, naked and curled around each other.

“Sarah?” He had his lips close to her ear.

“Mm hmm?”

“Don’t freak when I say this, but I do believe I’m in love with you.”

Her body tensed against his, and, for a moment, he wondered if he’d made a huge mistake. But he knew what he felt, and he couldn’t keep it to himself any longer. He held his breath as he waited to hear what she would say.

She nestled back against him, his cock right at the cleft of her buttocks. Jesus, he needed a little rest before they did this again, even though he wanted it desperately.

“I-I love you, too, Beau.” Her voice was so soft he could barely hear it. “At least, I think I do.”

“I’ll take that for now.” He brushed her hair away from her face. “I’ll work on making you absolutely sure.”

Because there was no way he was ever letting her go.

“So, you still plan to get home tonight?” Sarah leaned back in her desk chair, cell phone to her ear. She tried to squash her disappointment at Beau’s information. He’d been gone a week doing stuff for one of his sponsors, and she couldn’t believe how much she missed him.

“I do, sugar. Promise.” He sounded so weary, she wanted to reach through the phone and give him a hug.

“Rough trip?” she asked.

“Not bad. Just busy and tiring. I was hoping to catch a flight out about four this afternoon,” he explained, “but the sponsor is insisting he wants to set up this dinner for me, so it looks like I won’t be out of here until later.”

“No chance you can get out of it?”

“I’m hoping he’ll settle for drinks, but we’ll see. Rich is working on it now.”

Rich was a representative from his agent’s office along to oversee the activities, Beau had told her. Apparently, he’d accompanied Beau on several of these trips over the past couple of years.

Sarah held the phone a little tighter. “I wouldn’t mind waiting at the house for you.”

She held her breath, waiting for his answer. The first week they were together had been very intense. They had seen each other every night, some of which he’d spent at her condo. She could certainly say she’d been enjoying the best sex of her life, ever. It was probably made more so by the growth of their very deep feelings for each other. Over the weekend, they’d spent time together with Toby. Sarah was thrilled to death to see how the child had taken to her. She certainly was falling more in love with him each time she saw him.

Could this really happen? Could the three of them be a family? More importantly, could she let go of the inherent feeling of mistrust that still lingered? A feeling aggravated by what had happened with Kirk?

“You know,” Beau said, “there is nothing I’d like more than to come home and find you curled up there, waiting for me. But I’d be selfish to ask it. You’re swamped at work right now, and you need your rest.”

She swallowed her disappointment. “You’re right, I know it.”

“Hey,” he said softly. “I miss you, too. More than you know. So, how about an early breakfast?”

Well, it was better than nothing, she thought. She’d take what she could get.

“And maybe tomorrow night we can have one of our sleepovers.”

She grinned to herself, her body turning liquid and every pulse point hammering with desire.

“You’re on.”

“On you,” he said in a low, tempting voice.

She caught her breath at the image that called up.

“Sarah?” Beau’s husky voice pierced her thoughts.

“Yes?” The sound of his words sent tingles through her body and into her now very wet pussy.

“When you go to bed tonight, sleep naked.”

She shivered at the erotic pleasure those words conjured up. She couldn’t wait to see him again.

“Okay. And you can imagine what I look like.”

“Don’t worry. I will. I do.” He lowered his voice. “Every night we’re not together.”

Sarah laughed. “I guess that’s my cue to get a good night’s sleep tonight, since I probably won’t be getting one tomorrow night.”

When she hung up, she still had a dissatisfied feeling. It wasn’t only that she wanted to see him, she needed to. Needed the affirmation of their relationship, the assurance that this was completely real, not a figment of her imagination.

Tomorrow seemed like such a long time away. Thank goodness the agreement she was working on occupied every inch of her brain and her concentration. It was after eight by the time she finally quit for the night and trudged down to her car.

“You work too many hours,” the security guard admonished her.

“Sometimes not enough,” she laughed. “This organization keeps me busy.”

“As long as you take time for yourself.”

“Oh, I do. Believe me!” She swallowed a little grin.

At home, she undressed, but instead of a nightgown or sleep shirt, she put on yoga pants and a T-shirt. She was much too restless to get into bed. With a glass of wine in hand, she tried to settle in front of the television, but after flipping through all the channels, she couldn’t find one thing to watch.

“Face it,” she told herself. “You know exactly where you want to be.”

And she did. Waiting for Beau at his house, no matter how late he got there was that place. She was sure Babs would set her up in one of the guest rooms, and she’d hang out in the great room until he got home. Hastily, she threw a few things in an overnight bag and grabbed the next day’s clothes from the closet. In seconds, she was on her way.

The guard at the gate recognized her by now and waved her on through. When she pulled up to the gate at Beau’s, she was surprised to see the house lit up like a Christmas tree. There was also a strange car parked off to the side. What the hell? Carrying her purse and other stuff from the car, she rang the doorbell. She heard loud female voices inside, and then the door opened. Babs stood there, looking more frazzled than Sarah had ever seen her.

“What’s going on, Babs? What’s the matter?”

A woman appeared in the foyer behind Babs. Tall and leggy, with a cascade of dark hair and the tightest shorts and T-shirt Sarah had seen in a long time. She might have been pretty except for the ugly expression she wore.

“Nothing’s the matter,” she snapped, “if this bitch would get the hell out of the way.”

Sarah saw fire blaze in Babs’ eyes. “I told you, Mr. Perini left no such instructions with me, so you’ll have to leave.” She looked at Sarah. “You should probably run for your life here, but please come in.”

She stood aside for Sarah to enter, practically knocking the other woman over.

The first thing Sarah spotted were the suitcases in the foyer. She lifted her eyebrows and looked at Babs.

“Meet Lacey Everhart.” Her voice was thick with disgust.

“It’s Lacey Perini, and don’t you forget it.” Lacey glared at both of them.

Oo-kay. This was Beau’s ex-wife. The one nobody had a good word to say about. What on earth was she doing here? Beau had been very explicit about their situation, careful to explain it, including the custody.

“I don’t want any secrets between us,” he’d told her over and over again.

Yet, here this woman was. Somehow, she’d gotten past both the front security and the electronic gate at the house, and walked right in as if she belonged here. What was that all about? Sarah gave Babs a questioning look.

“Trust me, she’s not welcome,” the woman said in an angry tone of voice. “When I heard the key, I thought it was Beau coming home. Shocked the hell out of me. I was about to throw her out when you walked in.”

Sarah carefully set her overnight bag down with her purse and laid her outfit for the next day over the back of a chair. Then she turned to face Beau’s ex. Not a pleasant sight. She might have been pretty when Beau met her, but that beauty had long fled. Hard lines were carved into a face that showed the ravages of drugs and alcohol. She had tried to disguise it with makeup so thick Sarah wondered if she’d slapped it on with a trowel. It was made worse by the expression of absolute rage she wore.

She fisted her hands on her hips and glared at Sarah. “You might as well get your big ass out of here, sweetheart, because fun time with Beau is over. We’re reconciling, in case he didn’t tell you.”

Behind the woman, Babs shook her head.

Sarah forced as much calm into her voice as she could. “I believe, if that was the truth, he would have told me himself.”

“Oh, yeah?” Lacey sneered. “Well, try this on for size. He told you not to come here tonight, right?”

Sarah stared at her, unmoving.

“That’s because he’s coming home earlier than he told you and asked me to be here for him.”

For a moment, Sarah’s stomach muscles tightened. He
had
told her that. He’d
said
he’d see her in the morning. And…he’d come home early, exactly as Lacey had said he would.

Had he in fact planned to spend the night with Lacey and then act with her, Sarah, as if nothing was wrong? Or was breakfast the time he would tell her it was over? Wait, no. He’d said they’d spend tomorrow night together. Something wasn’t quite right here. But then, what about the damn codes and the key? Lacey and Beau had divorced long before he moved to Miami.

“Cat got your tongue?” Lacey’s sharp words cut the air.

“No.” Babs broke in, her voice like ice. “But I wish it would get yours. I don’t know how you got the codes to get in here, or the key to the house, but if you value your life, you’ll get gone before Mr. Perini gets back.” She took a step toward Lacey. “And I mean now.”

“
Beau,”
she stressed the word, “gave them to me. He expects me to be waiting for him when he gets home. So you’d better get out of the way or you’re fired.”

“You don’t scare me,” Babs sneered. “I chew up people like you and spit them out before breakfast.”

“Then go away. Disappear.” She turned back to Sarah. “And you. Get yourself out of my house. I’m going upstairs to see Toby. My baby.” She wrinkled her face into a sad expression. “I haven’t been able to see my baby in such a long time. Mean Beau won’t let me.”

“Over my dead body.” Babs planted herself right in Lacey’s path. “And you’d damn well better hope he doesn’t wake up.”

“If Beau is so mean, why do you even want to be with him?” Sarah asked out of curiosity.

“Because he’s got a fat checkbook, and she gets her picture in the paper.” Babs spat the words.

“Because we belong together,” Lacey contradicted.

Sarah felt as if she’d fallen down a rat hole and couldn’t find her way out. She watched Babs reach to take Lacey’s arm and what? Drag her outside? But, at that moment, the door opened and Beau walked in. It was obvious he was tired and stressed out, and the scene that greeted him wasn’t going to improve his mood. He stared at Lacey as if seeing an apparition.

Lacey gave him a wide-eyed stare, pasted on a huge smile, and leaped toward him. “Hi, sweet thing. I came here to wait like you asked. But these, um, mean people wanted me to leave. Tell them it’s okay.”

She tried to plaster herself to his body, but he had a garment bag over one shoulder and was holding his suitcase with the other hand.

Sarah looked at Beau. His face was a hard, expressionless mask, but she didn’t know if it was because Lacey had shown up or because she, Sarah, had crashed his secret little party. She also realized, looking at her watch, that Lacey had been dead on. He was home much earlier than he’d expected. So, had Lacey been telling the truth and she and Beau had planned this little get together? Was it her he was angry with?

He finally set his luggage down and closed his hands over Lacey’s upper arms, setting her away from him.

“Sarah.” He spoke her name without looking at her. “I’ll ask you to do me a big favor. Please go home. I’ll call you, but I need to take care of this without you here.”

A sick feeling welled up in her stomach, and every drop of blood in her veins turned to ice.

“Don’t bother.” She picked up her luggage. “I’ll be busy. And so, it seems, are you.”

“Sarah,” Babs began.

Sarah shook her head, forced back the threat of tears, and made as dignified an exit as she could. She was proud of the fact she showed not one drop of emotion. Not during the awful scene at Beau’s, or on the way home with the wind blowing through her hair, or even when she was inside her condo.

Had she done it again? Thought she had something real with a man only to have it fall apart? No, wait. Babs had reiterated the fact he never brought women around, that she was an exception. Beau had told her that Lacey wasn’t a factor in Toby’s life. Maybe she needed a few more facts here.

She slipped into her yoga pants and tee again, poured herself a glass of wine, and curled up on the couch. She waited for the tears to come, but her eyes were dry as the desert. Maybe she’d passed beyond that. Or maybe she was simply condemned to carry this cement sack of pain and betrayal around with her for the rest of her life. She had taken a chance on Beau, and it had all turned to crap. What did she do now? The only way she could get away from him was to quit her job with the Thunder, and she had no intention of doing that. She’d already let one man do it to her, and she had no intention of being in that situation ever again.

Sitting there in the dark, drinking wine, she replayed every minute of the previous two weeks in her mind, looking for clues. Trying to see if she’d misread anything. But how could she misread the incredible sex they’d had? There was so much emotion in it. That, she was sure of. They’d had fun together, learning all the little things about each other.

So, what had she missed?

Maybe nothing.

Okay, she was a very smart, sophisticated woman who needed to get some real answers. Maybe Lacey had this all set up, and Beau knew nothing about it. On the other hand, maybe he had meant every single thing he’d said. And maybe she should give him a chance to explain. She wasn’t young and foolish anymore. If she wanted to make this thing with Beau work—whatever it was—she should at least give him the opportunity to explain.