Game On (19 page)

“This I gotta see,” he said. Lifting her at the waist, he carried her over to the training table while her lips feasted on his neck. He flung her skirt up around her stomach and set her down on the end of the table. She leaned back on her elbows, exposing herself to him, a saucy grin on her face. All the breath left his body at the sight of her. He flopped down on the rolling stool so he was at eye level. A sexy scrap of hot pink lace formed a triangle between her legs. He hooked her knees over his shoulders and wheeled in for a closer look.

“The only thing that could make those sexier would be if they’re edible,” he said, his eyes never leaving the prize.

She gave a husky laugh. “They’re Hanky Pankys and they are definitely
not
edible.”

“God, you have amazing skin. I missed the taste of it.” He leaned in to run his tongue along a small purple bruise that he had left on her inner thigh the other night. She trembled beneath his lips, a hiss escaping hers.

“Shane, we shouldn’t be doing this. Especially not here.” Too bad her voice lacked any real conviction.

She tried to unhook a leg from his shoulder, but he held her tight. He didn’t want to stop. If she’d objected when they first entered the room, he might have been able to walk away. But she’d kissed him back, stoking the fire inside him with her own roving hands and mouth and her breathy moans. Shane didn’t want her coming to her senses now. He just wanted her to come. So he pushed away the pink lace and sent his tongue in to pleasure her.

She sighed softly, but instead of pulling away, she kicked her stiletto sandals to the floor so she could wrap her legs around him. He licked and sucked until she was shaking.

“Shane, you have to stop,” she said, her voice husky and sexy as hell. “I’m going to scream and everyone will know we’re in here.”

There was no way he was going to stop. His hunger for Carly was insatiable. Focused on possessing her, Shane continued what he was doing. One hand massaged her bottom while the other reached below the table and grabbed a rolled-up towel.

“Here,” he said, tossing the towel at her. “Shove that in your mouth.” He glanced up at her incredulous face. Her eyes were the deep blue color that happened when she was aroused, but there was annoyance there, too. The annoyance turned him on and he returned his mouth to between her thighs. Before she could get a protest out, he found the little nub and sucked on it. She moaned loudly before stuffing the towel in her mouth. Shane might have tried to prolong his feast, but he was excruciatingly hard and he didn’t want to waste time. He needed to get inside her.

She came quickly, a series of spasms rocking her body. Normally he would have taken his time to pleasure her again or at least kiss his way out. But he couldn’t chance her becoming too alert. Standing up so quickly he sent the wheeled stool spinning across the room, he dropped his shorts and his boxer briefs to his ankles and entered her.

Both her eyes and mouth flew open. The towel was now clenched in her hands. As he stared at her without moving, a slow grin of pleasure covered her mouth and her fingers reached for the hem of his T-shirt. Yanking him on top of her, she wrapped her legs around his bare butt as she clenched her warm muscles around his throbbing erection. Groaning, he found her mouth for a kiss. Their tongues tangled as he thrust into her. Carly rose to meet him, running her hands in his hair. There was no way of holding out any longer. Tearing his mouth away, Shane threw his head back in a silent scream as he came.

As he buried his face in her hair, Shane waited for their breathing to return to normal. Inhaling deeply, he tried to capture her scent. The smell of her no longer lingered on his pillows and he realized he missed it. If he was being honest, he missed everything about Carly. God, he was turning into such a sap.

* * *

Carly marched toward her office, a still-grinning
Shane Devlin trailing behind her. How could this have happened? One minute, she was minding her business, and the next, Shane was chewing through a fifty-dollar pair of thong underwear. Where was her self-control? Why couldn’t she resist this man? The one man she ought to say no to.

She huffed softly to herself.

He chuckled behind her.

Carly wheeled around. “It’s not funny! This is my workplace!
Our
workplace!” she said, her voice a hoarse whisper as she whipped her head from side to side making sure no one was in the office to hear them.

“Okay,” Shane said, lifting his palms up in a defensive position.

“And why are you following me to my office?” she snapped. “There is so
not
going to be a repeat performance in there!”

“Calm down, Carly,” he said, his just-had-sex smirk still gracing his lips. “You were a little unsteady on your heels when you bolted back there. I just wanted to make sure you made it back to your desk okay.”

His smug teasing infuriated Carly more. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: You arrogant jocks are all alike!”

“Hey, don’t put me in the same category as your ex,” he said.

Carly saw anger flash in his eyes and it caused her own ire to die down a bit. It wasn’t fair to take it out on him. Sure, he’d initiated their encounter in the training room, but she hadn’t done a thing to stop him. Instead, she’d joined right in, enjoying the interlude as much as he had—maybe more.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He reached for her then, but she backed away into her office. “Please, Shane. Let’s just stick to the original plan and keep this professional from here on out.”

When she looked up into Shane’s face, his eyes were thunderous. Confused, she took another step back before Shane shoved her aside. “What the hell is this?” His voice took on that lethal tone her brother-in-law frequently used on the sideline.

Carly turned toward her desk.

A rose, ripped from its stem, was lying on her chair. Underneath it were photos of her with Shane at the gala and with Donovan walking arm in arm into the building. Shane reached for the photos and a note fell to the floor. Carly picked it up. The handwriting was neat and clear, but the tone was vicious.

These men don’t love you the way I do. You were meant to be with me. You WILL be with me.

The note was unsigned, but she knew who had written it. Her hand trembled as she frantically looked around her.

“Joel was here,” she said, trying to force the words out of her suddenly dry mouth. Carly gripped the side of her credenza to steady herself. Shane was rapidly dialing the phone.

“Donovan Carter!” he demanded, only to slam down the receiver a second later. Rifling through her drawers, Shane pulled out a folder and stuffed the photos inside. “Give it to me,” he said as he pried the note from Carly’s trembling hand. “Come on.” He wrapped his strong fingers around her wrist and dragged her from her office. Desperately, she tried to keep up as her heels tapped along beside the squeak of his Pumas on the tile floor.

They found Donovan sitting on a bench in the weight room, a towel hanging loosely around his shoulders. If he was startled to see them, his face didn’t show it. As if he sensed something was wrong, his detective’s mask slid firmly into place.

“What’s going on?” he asked, although the look he shot at Shane told her he’d already taken in their rumpled appearance and knew exactly what had been going on moments earlier.

Shane moved to speak, but Carly cut him off. “I need to talk to you,” she said as she yanked her arm free of Shane’s death grip. He glared at her as she rubbed her wrist. “Joel left me another note on my chair. Donovan, he was in the building.”

“What?” Donovan was standing now, his cell phone already out of his pocket. “When?”

“I’m not really sure.” She pulled the folder from Shane’s hands. Shane drew his lips into a tight line as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and rocked back on his heels. “He left this on my desk. And another rose. It was . . . it was torn apart.” Her voice had a slight tremor to it now. She took a deep breath to control it.

Donovan took the folder and glanced at the photos. “When did you find these?” he asked.

“They were there when I went to my office a little bit ago.” She rubbed at her wrist again. It didn’t hurt. Her skin was just cold and she missed the warmth where Shane’s fingers had been.

“When were you in your office last, Carly? I need to know when Joel was in the building,” he demanded.

“Um, I don’t know,” she hedged. “Asia and I stopped in the commissary for a snack right after the four o’clock press briefing.”

Donovan looked at his watch. “That was over an hour ago. Where did you go after the commissary?”

I stopped to have hot monkey sex in the training room with the idiot standing next to me!
“I don’t remember. I sat with C.J. and Troy for a little bit. I got sidetracked on the way back.”

Donovan looked at both of them. His eyes said he didn’t believe her, but at least he didn’t voice his doubts out loud. He barked at someone on his cell phone. Carly glanced over at Shane, who had his game face on.

“I need to get that rose and anything else he might have left and take it over to the Baltimore PD,” Donovan said. “I’ve got my people going over the surveillance tapes to see how and when Joel got in the building.”

“You don’t think he’s still here?” The waver was back in her voice.

Donovan looked at Shane before he answered. “No, I don’t. But maybe you should head home with Coach tonight.”

She glanced at the clock on the wall behind him. “He’s already left. Lisa was supposed to pick them up fifteen minutes ago and they were leaving directly for the beach.” Of course, if she hadn’t stopped for a quickie in the training room, she could have caught her family before they left.

“It’ll be okay, Donovan. I’m sure Joel is long gone.” She tried her best to sound convincing. “I’m just going to pack up for the day and go home.”

“Like hell you are,” Shane said from beside her.

“Excuse me?” She slowly turned her head to face him. He was still standing with his arms folded across his chest looking as if he ruled the world.

“I’ll make sure she gets home safely, Don,” he said, ignoring her.

Donovan looked from one to the other. It was clear he didn’t like the idea of Shane taking her home, but apparently he liked the idea of her going home alone less.

“Fine,” he said, and both men headed for the door.

“What just happened here?” she called after them, refusing to move from the room.

“Carly.” Shane’s tone was softer now, but still firm. “He’s right. Until we know where Tompkins is, you shouldn’t be left alone. Let Don do his job and get the police to pick him up.” He walked back over to her and lifted a hand to gently caress her cheek. “Come to dinner with Troy and me. By the time we get home, the police will have Joel in custody for violating the restraining order.”

Carly stifled a shiver, unsure whether it was caused by Shane’s touch or her current situation. She hated having to rely on someone else for safety. But she hated what Joel was doing to her more. Truth be told, she was a little spooked to go home alone. She only wished Shane wasn’t the one acting as her bodyguard. But he said Troy would be with them. Dinner with the Devlin brothers would definitely be a distraction from Joel’s note. Surely Shane would keep his hands to himself with his brother around. He’d better. Because it was obvious she couldn’t keep her own hands to herself.

* * *

Three hours and a glass of wine later, Carly drove
into her neighborhood as night began to fall. Shane had taken her and Troy to Little Italy for dinner. The food was delicious—what little bits she managed to get down. It didn’t help that Shane was back to being his moody, arrogant self, grunting monosyllables throughout the meal. She tried to ignore him, instead listening to Troy babble about mini-camp and C.J.—the boy was in awe of everything her nephew did—and Beckett, his new best friend. Troy was a sweet boy, much like C.J. at that age.

When dinner was over, they headed back to the training facility to pick up her car. Troy begged to ride home with her and Shane seemed relieved to be rid of him. He headed home to walk Beckett while she and Troy stopped off at Santoni’s for ice cream. Rather than eat it there, they’d decided to grab a couple of pints of Ben & Jerry’s and bring it home.

“Carly?” Troy said as they pulled into the neighborhood. “Dr. Richardson said your mom died when you were younger than I am. Like nine or something.”

“Yeah,” she said, cringing a little because she really didn’t like to discuss her mother’s death. It might be therapeutic for Troy, but Lisa was better at the psychobabble than she was.

“She said that movie
Death in a Sandstorm
is about your mom.”

“Yep.” She waved to the guard as she drove through the main gate.

“That’s gotta be so cool,” he said.

“I guess.” She never knew what to say about the legend her mom had become as a result of a blockbuster movie immortalizing her life and death.

“Do you still miss her?” he asked quietly. “I mean, does it ever go away?” She glanced over at him as she pushed the garage door opener. His eyes were red behind his glasses again and he bit his bottom lip as he waited for her to answer.

Pulling into the garage, she put the car in park and cut the ignition. As she leaned her head back against the headrest, she let out a long sigh.

“Yeah. I miss her sometimes. I wish I could have known her better. She was just always Mum to me, you know? That fearless reporter in the movie was the part I never got to see. But it does get better, Troy. It’s just going to take some time.”

She looked over at him as he brushed away a tear. “Oh, sweetie,” she said, gathering him up in her arms. “It’s going to be okay. You’ll see. You’re lucky. You have people who want you. My grandmother and my father didn’t even know I existed until my mom died. You have your grandparents who know and love you. And Shane. And all of us here. You’re gonna be just fine.”

“My grandparents don’t want
me
. They just want my money. I heard them talking the night Mom and Dad died. They want to use the money to help people with their ministry. I don’t mind helping people, but it still doesn’t seem right somehow. I mean, would they still want me if I were poor? They barely even know me.” Troy sniffled against her. “And Shane, he definitely doesn’t want me,” he said.