Protecting His Assets (26 page)

She squealed and jumped so hard that she dislodged him from her body. He let out an aggravated groan. “I thought I’d settled you enough,” he muttered. “Damn show nerves.”

“Your elbow. Oh my God.” She grabbed his left arm and caressed the joint in question, running her fingers over the scar while her gaze searched his. “I thought you must be in pain since you didn’t, you know, steal for home right away.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “
Steal
? By now I have a damn bronzed key to this sweet pussy of yours, baby.” He rubbed his palm over her mound and she bit her lip to keep from moaning. “You’re the one who thinks I only eat you when my elbow’s acting up. Shows what you know. I’d happily eat you for breakfast, lunch and dinner.” He gave her a smug smile. “Now I can.”

Her core clenched from the promise inherent in his eyes. In his voice.
Focus
. “You had an appointment with Dr. Jensen today. How did it go?”

Chase glanced down between them at his neglected cock. That it bobbed against his six-pack—somehow she’d even missed when he’d removed his shirt—and glistened with her juice didn’t help with her powers of concentration. “Umm, I’m busy right now. Can we chat later?”

“No. What did the doctor say?”

Chase’s easy smile answered her question. “I’m good. If everything keeps going this way, I’ll be cleared to return to ball ahead of schedule.” He rotated his elbow and demonstrated his full range of motion. “I’m also cleared to flip my tiny, hot as hell girlfriend upside down and make her scream if I want to.” He rubbed his thumb over her mouth. “I love hearing you scream my name.”

She couldn’t stop her mile-wide grin. “Are you serious?”

“About hearing you scream? Absolutely.”

“Chase Matthew Dixon.”

“Ooh, the full name.” He laid a hand over his heart. “Deadly.”

“So you’re going back to ball?”

Shifting, he hissed out a breath at the drag of her flesh over his balls. “My dick is not going to forgive me for this conversation, you know.”

“I’ll send him flowers.” She pushed at his shoulder. “Tell me.”

“No.” He met her gaze head-on. “I’m not. It’s not my dream anymore. I lived that one already. I have a new one now.”

Her heart turned over in her chest and she couldn’t stop her shaky exhale. “Which is?”

He cupped her cheek. “Don’t you know?” When she didn’t respond, he murmured, “It’s you. Being with you, making sure you’re safe, watching you soar. And, you know, keeping those clowns that I work with in line at the agency.” He shrugged. “They need me.”

“Yes. They do.”
So do I
. But she didn’t say that part. She just nodded and tried to tamp down on her enthusiasm. As much as she’d worried what would happen when he went back to baseball, she’d been prepared to support him no matter what, as he’d done for her. Now he’d be by her side all the way. If this was real. “Are you sure? I’d be okay with Jax or Vance if you—”

“You trying to get rid of me?”

The ridiculousness of the question made her frown. “No. Of course not. I need to make sure you’re doing this for the right reasons.”

“Which are? Cock’s still not happy, by the way.” He nudged her belly with his displeased appendage. “It may need a big kiss.”

She ignored his affection-seeking penis. At the moment she had bigger fish to fry. Okay, not bigger. More pressing. “Don’t walk away for me. I’ll be here. Whatever happens, I’ll be with you even if we’re apart. There are months you’re not playing and I have time off and—”

“You’d never ask me to walk away and that’s part of why I can. You love me with or without baseball.” He averted his gaze. Almost as quickly he returned it to her. “To you, I’m more than that. And you know what? I am to me now too. I’m always going to be a recovering alcoholic, but I am recovering. I go to meetings. I’m figuring out how to run a business that has nothing to do with the game. Hell, Jax even signed me up for some frigging martial arts classes after the tour. We’re doing good work and we’ll do better.”

“Yes, you are. Very good. And Jax seems to be enjoying himself. He’s a natural at the whole security thing. Even Cass said she thought so and she won’t compliment Jax about anything.” Summer pursed her lips. “You think there’s something there? With Jax and Cass? Every time I see them they act more uncomfortable around each other.”

“
I’m
uncomfortable right now. Hello?” When she only giggled, he drew her closer and pressed his lips to her forehead. “I wasn’t finished.”

“Sorry. Go ahead.”

“I have you. I don’t need anything else. In fact, I’d dare say I’ve hit the lotto on all fronts. So don’t ask me if I’m sure. I’m so sure I didn’t even have to think twice when my manager called. I told him I wasn’t interested any longer.” He grinned. “That felt fucking awesome.”

Since that was the most he’d said since—well, ever, she swallowed hard and nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

“Besides, I’m in love with an almost-famous singer. I’m content to be her boy toy.” With a smile, he bucked his pelvis in obvious insistence. “Now that that’s out of the way…”

“I’m so proud of you,” she whispered, throwing her arms around him and rocking up and down until he groaned. “I love you so much.”

“Summer, baby. Duly noted and appreciated, but for God’s sake, please.”

She laughed and eased back. Only one more question loomed in her mind. “You did not ask your doctor if you could give me oral upside down.” When he only arched a brow, she added, “Did you?”

He flipped her onto her back on the loveseat and parted her slick thighs. Maybe his doctor hadn’t given his approval, but her body sure had. He flashed her that utterly wicked bad boy grin she adored most. “What do you think?”

“I think I won’t ever question if you decide to go down on me that way again. Or is that going up?” He tickled her side and she twisted away, laughing. “Now about that whole ‘owning me’ thing…”

“On it.” He thrust deep and caught her moan with his mouth. Instead of immediately launching into a brutal pace, he swiveled his hips and sent her a lazy smile. “But this is just an appetizer before your show. Afterward, I’m going to spend my night loving you nice and slow.”

“As long as I’m not late for church tomorrow,” she gasped with the last bit of sanity she had left.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He nuzzled her collarbone, tilting his head to show her he’d caught her gold cross necklace between his sinful lips. “Especially since I intend to give you plenty to confess.”

About the Author

USA Today bestselling author Cari Quinn wrote her first story—a bible parable—in 2nd grade, much to the delight of the nuns at her Catholic school. Once she saw the warm reception that first tale garnered, she was hooked. Now she gets to pen sexy romances for a living and routinely counts her lucky stars. When she’s not scribbling furiously, she can usually be found watching men’s college basketball, playing her music way too loud or causing trouble. Sometimes simultaneously. Cari loves hearing from readers. Please visit her at
www.cariquinn.com
and sign up for her brand new newsletter!

Look for these titles by Cari Quinn

Now Available:

Afternoon Delight

Dirty Distractions

Coming Soon:

Guarding His Heart

Drawn Deep

She wants a fling, and he wants forever…

Dirty Distractions

© 2013 Cari Quinn

Zoologist Sara Carmichael’s active social life is the envy of all her friends, but she has a secret. She’s bored senseless. If she has to go to one more bird sanctuary fundraiser with some guy who thinks his little sports car makes him “hip”, she'll scream.

Enter Brad O’Halloran, her best friend Kim’s
much
younger brother. A guy who’s picking up the pieces after a quickie marriage and even quicker divorce. A guy so hot he makes her body scream with frustration.

Until Sara’s apartment is renovated, they’re all living at Kim’s place. Despite her determination not to salivate at glimpses of Brad’s finer-than-fine body in nothing but a low-slung towel, flirtation escalates to the brink of something more.

Now one of them has to back down…or ante up for some good, dirty fun with the unspoken understanding that when the time comes, they’ll make a clean break. Neither anticipated they’d make the most complicated connection of all—love.

Warning: This book contains a hero who knows how to make engines—and women—purr, seduction while on cold meds, and a heroine who might be a little older but still enjoys learning a few naughty new tricks.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Dirty Distractions:

In the three months, fifteen days and handful of hours since she’d last had sex, Sara Carmichael had thought of little else. Maybe not every minute, but way more frequently than usual. And the co-star of those fantasies was the grinning, often grease-spattered man currently ogling her from a few feet away across her best friend’s backyard.

Sara reclined in the chaise lounge by Kim’s pool and brought her cell phone close to her face, as if she were mesmerized by the scores of last night’s game. Instead she peered over the top of her phone, tracking the way Brad O’Halloran’s gaze tracked
her
as she idly ran her toes along her left calf.

She always felt exposed around him, though her basic black swimsuit didn’t exactly promise carnal delights. It was a bikini, true, but at forty-two, she doubted the under-thirty set would be getting erections looking at her curves.

Brad was under thirty. He also seemed tall enough to block out the sun as he rose and strode over to her, though she suspected her own modest five-foot-three height made it seem as if he were taller. As often covered in grease as he was in aftershave, Brad didn’t skimp on all those man pheromones that set a woman’s nose twitching.

Or her nipples hardening, depending.

As far as things went, Brad was a pretty good catch. A business owner, intelligent, pleasant to talk to. He was beyond hot. Sizzling. Scorching. And yet still really young.

Dammit.

“You’re going to go cross-eyed if you keep staring at that phone, Sara Smile.”

Sara Smile
again. The old eighties song had come on one day earlier that summer and Brad had immediately adopted the nickname for her, probably in the hopes of driving her nuts. It was working.

She’d never had a nickname before. Sara was a utilitarian name, a proper moniker for a competent, professional woman whose life was normal in every way. Normal, familiar and predictable.

Well, not
that
predictable. At least to outsiders she appeared to be having the time of her life. She loved her job. She dated, and most of the guys she met were nice enough. If she was a little restless sometimes, a bit unsatisfied, that was to be expected.

“You’re standing in my light,” she protested, nudging him away with her elbow without looking where she was aiming. Her jab went a little high, glancing off his thigh perilously close to the bulge in his faded jeans.

“Hey, hey. Watch it.”

“Sorry.”

She stared at her phone and hoped he’d leave. Didn’t a guy like him have women to chase on a hot Sunday afternoon? Since he was recently divorced—after a marriage that had lasted less time than a TV sweeps period—surely he needed to reassert his dominance on the dating scene.

While she’d gotten to know a lot about Brad as a person, she didn’t know a lot about his love life, other than the occasional rumor that hinted he was a stranger to celibacy. She and Kim had become fast friends when Sara moved to Fairdale, Pennsylvania three years ago to work at the Fairdale Bird Sanctuary. Kim worked in the sanctuary’s gift shop and had helped Sara get used to a new home far from her family and friends back in Idaho.

Due to the timing of their simultaneous singledom, Brad and Kim had made the decision to temporarily live together while they fixed up their mother’s old Victorian home to sell. Two months ago Sara had taken over the spare bedroom after she’d lost her own apartment to building renovations. Telly, her conure, couldn’t tolerate paint fumes, so she’d gratefully accepted Kim’s offer to stay with them for a while.

Some nights the three of them would pop in a movie and share some popcorn and laugh their asses off about nothing. Kim and Brad were awesome roomies, and Sara wasn’t in any hurry to leave. She’d even told her landlord he could finish the renos at his own pace because she was so happy with her new arrangement. Being with them had offered her a respite from her solitary life, and she had no intention of ending the party early.

But lately Brad had bumped up the amount of time he spent around her when Kim wasn’t around—especially the amount of time he spent staring at her. Seductively. Almost daring her to make a move.

She hadn’t responded to his advances. And she wouldn’t, because of Kim, among other reasons. What friend wanted their much-younger brother to be cougar bait? Just because they were living like freewheeling college students didn’t alter her status as a respectable professional.

Who happened to lust after a guy she should’ve seen as a brother.