Love on the Highlight Reel (Connecticut Kings Book 2) (22 page)

“
I knew this shit was too good to be true
,” I mumbled to myself as I swallowed the urge to cry. I dabbed at my eyes, clearing away the impending tears, then took a deep breath as I forced myself to change focus.

And then… I got
mad.

It turned out perfect.

Everything.

The ballroom, the decorations, the music, the food, the lights, the cameras.

Everything.

The floor of the ballroom was gorgeous marble, with the Kings’ logo inlaid in tile across the middle. Sheer white fabrics draped from polished glass sculpture chandeliers, creating a vibe of luxury that was even better than I’d imagined. The lights were down somewhat low, allowing the projection of the Kings logo onto the drapery to stand out. Instead of red, the carpet for entry was gold. Current music blasted from the speakers, loud enough to dance to, but not drown out conversation.

It was
perfect.

There were at least 700 guests in the room, and at a thousand dollars per ticket, I knew my father would be thrilled. After all the vendors were paid, every penny of the significant proceeds would go into the Evelyn Richardson Foundation, named for my mother. ERF fought against the impact of the school-to-prison pipeline, providing troubled inner-city kids – like my father had been – resources and alternatives to change their lives, and break the generational curses of incarceration and poverty. It was my father’s passion, focused equally on helping all kids, up through eighteen. I was very, very pleased to see this year’s event be successful.

And that was about the only thing I was pleased about.

I struggled to keep my feelings off of my face as I mingled with the partygoers, smiling and laughing though it was the last place I wanted to be. Internally, I cringed as Wilson Redford – a member of the Kings’ defensive line – approached me, licking his lips as he looked me up and down.

It wasn’t exactly rare for some of the guys on the team to make me feel uncomfortable. It was actually more rare for them
not
to. With that said, some of them were harmless, or at least seemed to be. Some… were creepier than others. Like pedophile Todd Browning.

And Wilson Redford, who always looked at me like he was undressing me with his eyes.

“Well, well,
well
,” he said, stroking his tie as he stopped in front of me. “You were always fine, Cole, but
goddamn
. Dance with me?”

I was all set to tell him
hell fucking no
when my father walked up, grinning. “This is wonderful, Nicole,” he said, gently grabbing my shoulders, and bending to kiss my cheek. “Are you enjoying yourself, Redford?”

“Very much,” was his eager reply. “But I’d enjoy myself even more if your beautiful daughter would indulge me in a dance.”

Shit.

“Of course.” I forced a smile to my face, not caring if it looked like I was wincing. My father beamed as I allowed Redford to take my hand, leading me onto the floor.

I was relieved that the music had been switched to something more… neutral, by the time we reached the designated dance floor. Still, Redford pulled me way too close, holding me way too tight, touching the bare skin at my back way too much.

“Can I have some breathing room, please?” I asked, squirming away from him.

He grinned, like I was joking. “You keep wiggling against me like that, I’m gonna have to take you home.”

My heart slammed to the front of my chest, and my nostrils flared. “Listen, motherfucker,” I hissed, going completely still. “You’ve got two seconds to get your clammy ass hands off me, or I swear I’m gonna set it off.”

He sneered at me for one of those seconds, and I reared my knee back, ready to slam his balls through his nose if I needed to.

“Yo, Big Red. You mind if I cut in?”

“Big Red’s” expression completely changed at the sound of Jordan’s voice behind him, and he immediately let me go.

“All yours,” he mumbled, then hurried away, probably before I could tell Jordan what had just happened. As if I would.

“I’ve been looking for you. You’re a hard woman to catch up with,” Jordan mused as he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. It was a completely different feeling from when Redford had done it, but I couldn’t even enjoy it like I wanted to. “I’ve been calling you, trying to see you all day.”

I shook my head. “Whatever, Jordan.” I was limp in his arms as he tried to dance, not returning any of the energy he was giving me. He frowned.

“What’s up with you?” he asked, leaning toward my ear to deliver the question in a low voice. “I thought you were going to miss me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Ask Dawn Oliver if
she
missed you,” I hissed.

Ugh.

I hated the way my voice shook when I said that. Hated the way my tears sprang to my eyes. Hated the fact that I was still
so
upset about the pictures that had sprung up last night, of Jordan looking
very
cozy with Dawn Oliver, a Broadway starlet he’d been seen with many times over the last two years.

The vibration of laughter in Jordan’s chest made my anger spike.

“Oh, it’s funny to you? That after those messages you sent me at my desk, after you’ve been trying to convince me to be more open to us being together, you’re gallivanting all over the city with another woman?! You didn’t even watch the game!” I whisper yelled, then yanked my way out of his arms. “This is exactly why I didn’t want to do this! If you wanna know “what’s up with me”, maybe you should ask
Dawn
.”

I stomped away from him, grateful for the low lighting and loud music to camouflage what had just transpired. I walked right past Nate, and then Sanchez, who was in Presley’s face, to make my way to one of the bathrooms lining the hall.

I was getting ready to turn the lock on the door when it blew open again. I looked out to see Jordan on the other side, with an expression that was very,
very
far from amused.

He stalked into the bathroom behind me and slammed the door before he locked it and turned to me.

“Let me tell you something,” he said, towering over me. “This shit, right here? You don’t get to do this.”

“What shit?”

“
This
shit,” he growled, gesturing between us. “This
jealous
shit. You’re the one who said “nothing serious”, or did I imagine that?”

I scoffed. “So you think that justifies you acting all lovey-dovey with me, then getting on a plane to “support the team”, when really you were going to fuck your other woman?!”

“I did not fuck her!” he bellowed, looking me right in the face. “I have
never
fucked her. She is my mentor’s daughter!”

I swallowed hard, momentarily struck silent by his words. “Well,” I said, when I finally found another jab to throw, “Can you blame me for thinking so, Jordan?! Until a few weeks ago, you had a different woman on your arm every other day!”

“So?!” He tossed his hands in the air in the meager space between us in the tiny bathroom. “I love women, and women love me. That does
not
mean I’m fucking everybody I’m pictured with. Contrary to popular belief, I can control my dick quite well, and I’m pretty goddamned discriminatory about where I stick it. Cin – my damn friend. Dawn – my damn friend. Hell,
Trent
– my goddamned
friend
, since you seem so worried I’m fucking somebody else! I don’t want anybody
but
you, crazy ass girl! Why can’t you trust me?!”

“It’s been two weeks,
barely
, and it’s like you expect me to just make a complete turn for you. You’re not risking anything. I’m risking
everything
! The only thing I’ve asked you for is understanding, and time, and you act like it should just be easy for me! It’s not! You haven’t
done anything
for me to trust you yet.”

His hands fell to his sides. “And I haven’t done anything for you to
not
trust me either… have I?”

My eyes welled with tears at the defeated look on his face, and I shook my head. “No,” I whispered. “You haven’t.” Neither of us said anything for a few moments, and I wiped my face. “You know what… maybe we’re not supposed to do this. Clearly, we’re on two different pages, and I… this is too much. You don’t deserve this. I honestly don’t deserve a second chance with you. So… maybe we should just stop trying to force it.”

Why the hell did I just say that?

I didn’t even
mean
it. I didn’t even
want
that, it just seemed like the proper thing to say, even though I felt like my heart was about to explode in my chest. If I was just going to keep hurting him, keep disappointing him, maybe it was best to let him go, let him be with someone with no fears, no baggage.

Maybe best for
him…
even if it hurt like hell for
me.

A strange look came over Jordan’s face. “Take your panties off.”

My eyebrow shot up. “What?”

Jordan took my face in his hands, looking me right in the eyes as he backed me towards the pedestal sink. “Take. Off. Your. Panties.
Now.
”

I pulled my eyebrows together, confused as I stared into his completely serious expression. And then I reached under my dress, and slid the flimsy fabric of my thong panties down my legs and over my heels.

“Thank you,” he said quietly, taking them from my hands and slipping them into his pocket. I yelped as he easily picked me up, perching me on the edge of the sink. “Let me explain how this is going to work.”

I watched, completely confused and completely intrigued as he rolled the fabric of my dress up around my hips, then stepped between my legs. My heart started to race as he unfastened his pants, letting them fall, with his boxers, to the floor, and his dick sprang free.

He hooked an arm around my waist as he lined himself up with my opening, but didn’t push inside.

“I didn’t get you this far for you to give up on me,” he said, meeting my gaze. “Not without us giving this a real shot. So… you can be as jealous as you want to be. We don’t have to tell anybody, because I’m not interested in messing up your career. But
only
if we’re together. Only if we’re serious. I want you, but we won’t play these games. We either are, or we aren’t. No in-between.”

I didn’t get to answer before he plunged into me with a firm stroke that made me cry out, not caring if anybody heard it. “Jordan!”

“I’m
not
going to hurt you,” he muttered into my neck as he stroked me again. “Cheat on you, embarrass you, none of that shit, Nicki. I just want
you
. Can you understand that?”

“
Yes
,” I whimpered, hanging on to his shoulders as he slammed into me.

He hooked my legs around his waist and I locked them there as he angled his face toward mine. “Do you want me?”

“
Yes
.”

“Do you really?”

“I absolutely do,” was my half-breathless, earnest reply. I flinched, then moaned as he nipped my bottom lip, then pulled it into his mouth, sucking it hard as he pressed into me, deep.

“
Then stop fighting it.
”

He released my lip from his hold and then slipped his tongue into my mouth, swallowing my cries as he stroked. I squeezed my eyes shut tight, but tears of pleasure still dripped down my cheeks. Blindly, clumsily, my fingers found the buttons on his shirt, and I didn’t even bother with the tie before I haphazardly tugged it open, needing to touch his skin. My fingers ran over the ridges of his abs, up his chest before they settled behind his neck, holding on as he plunged deeper, faster, harder.

He picked me up, gripping my ass as he slammed into me. A shiver ran through me as he turned us, pressing me into the wall. Moments later, my whole body began to shake. He buried his face in my neck again, kissing, sucking, biting me there as I melted against him, clenching around him as I came.