Redhead Blitz (15 page)

The sudden twinge in her stomach caught her off guard; he expected to have sex again. Not that she didn’t want to.
 
Lord, it was so tempting.
 
He
was so tempting.
 
But no.
 
She couldn’t.

She struggled to regain some of her resolve, telling herself this had been a one-time slip-up.
 
An unplanned phenomenon.
 
And now that all that pent-up arousal had been relieved, she
had
to jump back on the no-dating-coworkers bandwagon.

She sat up, suddenly wide awake, and then rolled off the sofa, reaching for her clothes.
 
The
cami
was inside out and so twisted she slipped just the blouse over her head.
 
It might not be opaque, but having something on helped her foster the strength to look at him.

“Sean, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about what just happened here.”
 
Seeing his attention focus on her nipples, she crossed her arms.
 
Then their gazes met.

“I’ve done this enough times to know what just happened,
Gigi
.”
 
His tone couldn’t mask an obvious defensiveness.
 
God, she had no idea he’d feel this way.
 
Women were the ones who made assumptions about physical intimacies.
 
Lord knew, she’d been battling dangerous feelings for Sean.
 
But he was supposed to understand that although making love to him had been fantastic, there wouldn’t be a future between the two of them.

“We had some fun, that’s all.”
 
She hated the callousness of the comment; how bitchy the words made her sound.
 
What had happened between them was far more than fun sex, but she had to stand tall or he’d know she harbored conflicting feelings.
 
“We haven’t even dated.”
 
If he worked anywhere but Newtown High she’d be willing to start a serious relationship—no matter what she’d told Heidi—but he didn’t.
 
She loved her job and she wasn’t willing to screw it up for a nice guy she’d met a couple weeks ago.
 
Last year the entire county had been buzzing about that coach and cheerleader advisor.
 
And Al had made his feelings known about intra-office relationships during her interview.
 
No, she had to make Sean understand that tonight had been an accident.

“I
kinda
figured this was the beginning of us dating.”
 
He looked pretty angry as he grabbed his clothes off the floor and started dressing.

Okay, he’s getting ready to leave.
 
Good, because she didn’t know how much longer she could hold it together.

“We can’t.
 
I can’t date a coworker.
 
It always leads to trouble.”

“Is this because of Al’s no-intra-office-dating policy?”
 
Sean’s tone was laced with frustration.

She felt her eyes bulge.
 
“Al has a formal policy about it?”
 
She’d thought it was just his personal feelings on the matter.
 
Good God, what if he found out about tonight?
 
Would he fire her even though he’d been pleased with the job she’d been doing?

Sean ran a hand through his hair then held a palm up in a calming gesture.
 
“Look, it’s not a district policy.
 
It’s kind of his thing, and since he’s been athletic director since Reagan’s first term, he expects people to bow down to his whims.

Shit
!
 
Al was going to find out.
 
Fear welled up inside her.
 
Annie was out of town, but what if Al decided to make a late night stop to knock on her door and saw Sean’s distinctive car parked on the street?
 
Panicking, she gathered Sean’s wallet, shoes and socks and shoved them at his chest.

“You need to leave.”
 
She pushed him toward the door and then raced around him to open it.
 
Since Annie’s was the only other door at the top of the stairs, she wouldn’t worry about her near nakedness.
 
Unless her boss happened to walk up the steps.

“
Gigi
, you can’t throw me out.
 
We need to talk about this.”
 
Although this disastrous ending to their evening was all her fault, she could tell Sean was working to control his temper.
 
Damn it, why did he have to be so nice?
 
It would be so much easier to throw him out if he’d just start yelling at her.

“Al’s right.
 
I shouldn’t start a romantic relationship with a coworker.”
 
She gave him a final shove out the door.
 
His bewildered expression instantly morphed to narrowed eyes and tight jaw.

“So if we just fuck once, it’s okay?”

The coarseness of his words blindsided her, and she steadied herself with both hands on the door, closing it swiftly in his face.
 
She heard his mumbled curse through the wood and made herself move away, so strong was the urge to open the door and explain how wrong he was.

Moments later his retreating steps echoed up the stairs.
 
The tears that had filled her eyes overflowed.
 
God, she’d made a mess of this.
 
Keeping her hormones in control had never been such a problem before, but she’d never been attracted to anyone like she was to Sean.
 
Knowing it would be a mistake to go to the window and watch him drive away, she numbly gathered her clothes.
 
But at the rumble of the Corvette’s engine and squealing tires, she scrubbed at her tears with her sleeve and let loose with her own blue streak of curses.

What the hell just happened?
 
One second everything was
frickin
’ perfect—he’d thought he and
Gigi
were forging a special connection—and all at once she was throwing him out.

Sean rolled down his window, letting air blast through the car.
 
He was so frustrated, he wanted to floor the accelerator and drive until dawn, or at least until he forgot the whole encounter.
 
But he knew there was no way he’d ever forget how good it felt to bury himself inside
Gigi
.

Christ, he was still aroused.
 
The way she’d looked, standing there wearing only that see-through shirt, her breasts heaving, all that smooth bare skin . . . He’d wanted to push her back against the wall and take her as if he were some sort of modern-day caveman.
 
To make her as out of control as she made him.

He took the turn into his driveway too fast.
 
The short drive to his place hadn’t given him sufficient time to sort out his feelings.
 
To go from such an incredible high to being tossed out like their used condom had him shocked, confused, embarrassed and a whole lot of pissed.
 
He stalked out of his detached garage and up the back porch steps.
 
The glass-paneled door rattled with his energetic slam.

Five seconds later, he’d tossed his bag on the floor and was opening a beer.
 
Downing the entire bottle in one long gulp—something he hadn’t done since college—did nothing to cool his anger.
 
The same for the second bottle.
 
Reaching for a third, he reconsidered.
 
He was already miserable.
 
Topping that off with a hangover would be masochistic.
 
He’d have to rely on a cold shower to douse the burning in both his gut and his groin.

Later, as he lay in his bed staring at the darkened ceiling fixture, he refused to let his thoughts drift back to the pleasure of their love-making.
 
Instead he replayed the minutes just before she’d thrown him out.
 
The fact that she considered their time together nothing more than a one-night stand stung.
 
Not that he hadn’t participated in one before, but the rules had always been understood by
both
parties.
 
This time he’d been clueless.

Still, he regretted the cruelty of his parting words.
 
He’d lashed out in anger.
 
But the verbal attack hadn’t helped, and he felt like shit.

We connected.
 
I
know
she felt it.

He pulled the pillow out from behind his head and tossed it to the foot of the bed.
 
Part of him wanted to take
Gigi
by the shoulders and shake her until her teeth rattled.
 
Another part of him wanted to seduce her.
 
To tie her to his bed and make love to her over and over until she admitted what they both knew was true.
 
Their relationship deserved a chance.

A third part of him, the one already winning out, wanted to put the whole God-damned mess behind him.
 
After all, he didn’t need this added stress.
 
Just because Butch had been eligible to play this week and they’d won the game didn’t mean it was going to be smooth sailing from here on.

It sure as hell would be nice if tonight’s win motivated Al to lighten up a bit.

Al.
 
Sean suddenly recalled the panic on
Gigi’s
face when he’d mentioned the director’s policy about intra-office dating.
 
Her eyes had widened to twin spheres, and she’d totally freaked out.
 
Obviously she hadn’t gotten the same lecture he had on the subject.
 
Why the hell not?

Shit, it didn’t matter.
 
The whole thing was a non-issue.
 
She’d made it crystal clear they were going nowhere.
 
And with nothing between them, both of their jobs would be secure.
 
He wouldn’t tell anyone about tonight, but it was going to be a kick in the gut seeing her day in and day out knowing that what he’d tried to offer her—a serious, possibly long-term relationship—had been thrown back in his face.

Despite her misery,
Gigi
filled her weekend lining up parent volunteers for the sportswear sale.
 
She spoke with Tony and, with L.R.’s guidance, placed an initial order for T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts.
 
The sports season had already begun and to maximize profits, they were going to start selling what Tony had ready at the next home football game.

Although busy, she couldn’t keep her mind off Sean and the mess she’d made of the other night.
 
Having been so wrapped up in the moment, and wanting him more than any man she’d ever met, she’d pushed aside all common sense.
 
When it came to Sean, she’d ended up having less willpower than a shopaholic at a going-out-of-business sale.

She straightened her stacks of papers and slid them into her bag.
 
Not hungry, she poured an iced tea and curled up in one of her wing chairs.
 
But as she looked at the empty sofa, all she could see was Sean sitting there naked.

How was she going to face him at work tomorrow?
 
How could she mask her longing?
 
Her regret.
 
Regret both for hurting him and for not being willing to buck Al’s dating policy to explore a personal relationship.
 
But a relationship wouldn’t have worked.
 
Whenever she’d allowed a friendship with a coworker to take even a baby-step over the platonic boundary, that move signaled the end of her job.
 
And this was the first position she’d ever had that she was willing to make sacrifices for.
 
Not that her stand made denying her feelings for Sean any easier.

Gigi
rose and dragged herself into the bedroom, sliding open her closet door and scanning her clothes.
 
Accessorizing calmed her nerves so she’d try combining separates.

He must hate me
.

But Sean wouldn’t say anything to Al.
 
That would harm him as much as it would her.
 
And even if that wasn’t the case, he was too honorable a man to sabotage her job.
 
That was one of the reasons she was so attracted to him.
 
The guy was constantly going out of his way to help people.
 
He uses his free time to tutor one of his players, for goodness sake
.