Flat-Out Sexy (31 page)

“You can touch me now.”

Before she could even blink, he had his T-shirt off over his head, shoes and socks kicked off, jeans and boxer briefs down and out of the way, condom on. His efficiency amazed her, at the same time she wished he would give her just a little more time to check out his abs, his biceps, his rock-solid thighs.

But he clearly had a goal in mind and with no detour, Elec got on the bed and spread her legs.

“Do you mind if I take you hard right now?” he asked, poised over her, his erection resting against her wetness. “I want to feel you. I
need
to feel you.”

Like she was going to say no to that? “Take me,” she whispered.

“Thank you,” he said, and thrust inside her.

Tamara moaned as he filled her. The stretch and give as he buried himself deep inside her was pure eye-rolling ecstasy. She lay slack on the bed, overwhelmed by sensation as he moved slowly, in and out, his arms surrounding her.

Looking up at Elec while he moved his body with hers, Tamara wanted all of him, harder, faster, wanted to be the one to move, to show him that she needed to feel him, too.

“Roll over,” she told him.

Elec didn’t even hesitate. Barely breaking rhythm, he took her in his arms and flipped their positions so that she straddled him. Lifting his head up, he kissed her, nipping her bottom lip, then he just lay back and waited for her to take control.

Shifting her knees a little for better leverage, Tamara moved herself on him, up and down slowly at first, then faster. She had none of her previous fears about being exposed in front of him. One glance down at Elec showed that he cared deeply about her, that he thought she was sexy and attractive. Better yet, she felt sexy. For the first time in her adult life, she understood that sexy was more a matter of confidence than physical appearance. That knowing her worth, being with a man like Elec and saying hell yeah, she was entitled to every inch of him, in return made her sexier to him.

So she put her palms flat on his muscular chest and rode him hard, until they were both moaning and Elec’s skin was glistening with sweat. He met her rhythm, thrusting up into her to meet her hips with a hard slap.

“Oh, baby, that feels so damn good,” Elec said.

It did. And Tamara couldn’t hold back. Staring into those dark eyes that did such amazing things to her insides, overwhelmed by love, she came with a cry. Letting the sensation own her, she just held on as Elec thrust deep up into her and joined her with his own orgasm.

When the shudders had slowed, Tamara loosened her death grip on Elec and gave a small, satisfied laugh, all her muscles slack, her mind empty except for thoughts of him.

She decided she liked being on top after all.

ELEC thought the little laugh Tamara had given after she’d come had been the sexiest damn thing he’d ever heard. It had said to him that she totally trusted him, that she was comfortable enough, cared enough about him to let it all go.

As she lay on his chest, he pondered that, and what to do about all the feelings zipping around inside of him.

Elec didn’t know if the timing was right. Hell, he’d never told any woman he loved her, ever, not even as a teenager, so he had no idea what was good timing. But all he knew was that he was so overflowing with emotion at the moment, that it made it right.

He loved her, deeply and intensely, with everything in him, in a way he had never thought possible, and he had to tell her.

So he rolled up on his side so he could look down at her and he said, “Tamara?”

“Yes?” She smiled up at him, her expression satisfied and sleepy and bemused.

It didn’t matter if she didn’t answer him in kind. He was okay with that. She had different baggage than him, and she had reasons to keep a tighter lid on her emotions, so he was prepared to get a smile or an “Oh, Elec,” and nothing more.

But that wasn’t going to stop him from saying what he needed to. “Tamara, I want you to know that I’m in love with you. I love you.”

Her eyes went wide, then filled with tears.

Good tears, or bad tears, he wasn’t sure, and he started to panic as he took his thumb and wiped them away when they slid down her cheeks. “Don’t cry, darlin’. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.” He felt like a complete jackass. He knew she had gone to bat with her in-laws, admitting their relationship so she could come with him, and that had taken a lot of courage. She was already risking a lot to be with him, and then he had to go and dump the
L
word on her?

It was likely he had just overloaded her.

She shook her head, and just cried harder. “No, no.”

What did that mean? Elec started to pull back, to go where he didn’t know, but to give her space, to let her put clothes on, something.

“No, don’t go.” She reached out and grabbed his arm. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m crying. It’s just, I wasn’t expecting you to say that.” She sat up and touched his cheek. “Elec.”

“Yeah?” He was going to get dumped, he just knew it. He had crossed the line into emotional and now she was going to bail because she couldn’t deal with his moony-eyed adoration.

He was a royal fuck-up.

“I love you, too.”

Come again?

“What?” he asked, because after all the anxiety that had just churned through him, he found it hard to believe he was actually hearing her correctly.

“I love you.”

He expelled the breath he’d been holding. Wow. She loved him? She loved him. He had heard it. She had said it. And it was awesome.

Then she made it even better by sighing, a pretty little sigh of wonderment. “Oh, God, I do. So much. I love you.”

Elec rested his forehead against hers and kissed her softly. “I love you, too,” he said again, just for good measure.

She kissed him, a long, trusting kiss that was the same but was different. It had the same taste, the same passion, the same intensity as before, but now they
knew
. Now they were saying they shared love, a relationship, a life.

They were going to be together.

And he needed to show her all over again how much she meant to him.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

ELEC was aware his cell phone was ringing but he was choosing to ignore it. He and Tamara had stayed up way too late considering he had to be at the track for test-drives that day, but he wasn’t going to regret it.

How many times in his life did a guy confess he was in love and spend all night making love to the woman he could now legitimately call his girlfriend?

It was a first for Elec, and if the phone would stop ringing, he could grab ten more minutes of sleep.

“Shouldn’t you get that?” Tamara asked, rolling over onto his chest and yawning. “That’s the second time someone has called.”

“It is?”

“Yes.” She kissed his chin. “Just see who it is.”

Elec felt around for his phone, held it in front of him, and squinted. “It’s my sister.”

“Maybe it’s important. She is your PR rep.”

“You want me to answer it, don’t you?” He could personally care less what Eve had to say.

“Yes, you should answer it.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Tamara smacked his arm. “Do not call me ‘ma’am.’ Ever.”

Elec laughed and answered his phone, “Hello?”

“Where the hell are you?”

“In bed in my hotel room.”

“Turn on the TV, the computer, something. They’re doing coverage for the race this weekend and your name has come up.”

Eve sounded angry. “Come up, how?”

“Oh, you don’t even want to know.”

“Then why should I turn the TV on?”

“Don’t make light of this!” Eve snapped. “Just tell me the truth … can you get a woman pregnant?”

“
What?
” Elec lost all remnants of sleep and sat straight up in bed, knocking Tamara in the shoulder. “Sorry,” he whispered to her.

Eve heard. “Who is with you?”

“Tamara Briggs.”

“Oh, my God.” His sister was groaning on the other end of the phone. “Elec, I’m serious, can you or can you not get a woman pregnant?”

He didn’t know why she was asking when she knew the truth and it was making him both angry and unnerved. “No. I absolutely cannot. Why? What the hell is going on?”

“Some blond woman named Crystal has contacted the media to let them know she is pregnant with your child, and that you’re refusing to accept responsibility.”

“What?” he said again, feeling completely blindsided. “You can’t be serious!”

Tamara was looking at him in concern. “What’s wrong?” she asked him.

He couldn’t even answer. He felt sick to his stomach. He had known Crystal was aggressive, but how could she claim she was having his baby? Even if he could have children, which he couldn’t, they hadn’t even had sex. It was totally insane.

“Oh, I am so serious. I take it you know who I’m talking about?”

“Yes. We went on three dates. That’s it. Three dates. We didn’t even, um, you know.”

“Are you telling me the truth?” his sister asked him sternly.

“Yes! Why would I lie? And you know the truth about my situation. It couldn’t be possible anyway.”

“Alright, alright, I need to think about this. We need to come up with a strategy to combat this crap. I’m going to think about it and call you back. Turn on the TV and watch this tramp at work.”

Did he have to? “Okay. I’ll wait to hear from you.”

He hung up the phone and turned to Tamara, who was clutching the sheet to her and looking extremely worried.

“What’s the matter?” she said.

“My sister says that Crystal contacted the media and told them she’s pregnant with my baby and that I’m refusing to accept responsibility.” Just saying the words out loud made him want to throw up. If he could get a woman pregnant, even someone like Crystal, he would never, ever turn his back on that child. In fact, he would probably want full custody if the mother was Crystal.

Tamara’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, no. Are you serious?”

“Unfortunately.” Elec fished around for the remote and turned on the TV, trying to find ESPN.

“Could it be true? Could she be pregnant with your baby?” Tamara asked, biting her fingernail.

He wanted to snap at her, frustrated with the whole crazy situation, but he realized it was a legitimate question. He stopped on the sports channel and turned back to Tamara. “No, it’s not true. I told you I did not have sex with her.”

“Yeah, but sometimes women can get pregnant just from being in the area … from pre-ejaculate next to the vagina.”

Elec rubbed his temples. This so wasn’t the conversation he wanted to be having with her the morning after they had admitted they were in love and were going to be a couple. “Tamara, I know you’re just trying to be thorough here, but trust me. At no point in her presence did I ejaculate, have pre-ejaculate, or take any of my clothing off. What she’s claiming is physically impossible.”

And the word
ejaculate
in relation to Crystal was kind of grossing him out.

“There it is.” Tamara pointed to the TV.

There was a caption that said “Baby Daddy News from Daytona.”

Baby Daddy? Yeah, he was going to throw up.

The reporter was talking and Elec tried to focus on what she was saying.

“A lingerie model has stepped forward today to say she is suing rookie race car driver, Elec Monroe, for paternity and child support of her unborn baby. She claims the driver is refusing to pay for her medical care and is denying the child is his. Crystal Collins has been diagnosed with an incompetent cervix and needs thousands of dollars in medical care in order for her baby to come as close to term as possible. In a sport that strives for a family image, this calls into question the possibility of retaining major sponsor-ships for the driver.”

“Oh, Lord,” Tamara whispered.

Elec prided himself on being calm and rational, but he exploded. “There was not one goddamn word of that that was true! Incompetent cervix, my ass. She’s not even a lingerie model! She’s a bartender. Why would she do this? All of this can be proved a lie, including that she’s not suing me, nor is that alleged baby mine. She’s probably not even pregnant!”

“I’m sure she’s doing it for attention. And to punish you for rejecting her.”

“Just because I wasn’t interested in her, she’s going to drag my name through the mud?”

“It gives her the fifteen minutes of fame she’s looking for. People make careers out of scandal.” Tamara tucked her hair back. “And I might have contributed to the problem. I actually ran into her last week and I, uh, made it known that you were with me now.”

“You did?” That surprised him for some reason.

“Yes. She was just so nasty and not only did she claim you’re her boyfriend, she said she slept with Ryder, and implied it was while he was still married to Suz. I saw red, Elec, and I stooped to showing her text messages from you. I’m sorry.”