From Enemies to Expecting

He mouthed his way to her ear and yanked her backward into his embrace so he could thoroughly ravage her. She melted into his arms and he walked her toward her bedroom, a path he knew from the handful of times they’d ended up naked after games.

But this was the first time they weren’t high on the public displays of affection they’d indulged in. The first time he had no excuse to be here other than the obvious—he couldn’t stay away.

When he hit the edge of the bed, he lifted his mouth from her neck long enough to strip her and himself, then rolled her to the coverlet. He reached for the condoms she kept in her bedside drawer and then pleased them both by sucking at every one of her erogenous zones until she was wet and swollen enough to take him fully. And she did, with a little gasp that thrilled him.

That pink diamond sparkled in the low light from the neon outside her floor-to-ceiling view of downtown Dallas. He’d never given a woman jewelry before, and the sight of the chain around her neck when she had nothing else on her body except him put a glow in his chest that felt a hell of lot like something that shouldn’t be there. As he sank into Trinity again and again, building the fire until they were both moaning with it, the significance of what was happening here overwhelmed him.

This relationship was as real as it got. And he liked that.

He refused to take time to sort that out as she bowed up, thrusting her breasts high. This, he understood, and he took one of those rosy nipples between his teeth, rolling it almost savagely as he thrust faster, spiraling his hips the way he knew drove her insane, silently powering her to a climax that would trigger his. Because they knew each other’s bodies, how to please, how to gratify. Physically, they were a perfect match, but not in any other way.

So why was he so wrapped up in her?

They exploded together, and he bit his lip to keep the wash of emotions inside, where they belonged. Afterward, he spooned her into his body the way they both liked it, and she curled into his embrace.

“What’s the real reason you came over tonight?” she murmured.

His eyes shuttered automatically. Would she ever not be so good at reading him? He couldn’t do that with her. It wasn’t fair. But that didn’t give him any better ability to lie to her, either.

“Johnson is probably going to be suspended. I’m...” What was he? Disappointed? Frustrated? Furious? “Not sure what’s going to happen to the team as a result.”

“That’s crappy.” She squeezed his arm with her soft hand. “What did he do?”

“Performance-enhancing drugs, or so they say. They’re against the rules. I’m cooperating with the investigation, but I have to go to New York for some meetings.”

With neither of them at the away games, the Mustangs’ winning streak would most likely come to an end. A brutal but inescapable truth.

“Do you want me to come with you?” she asked, and the note of genuine concern in her voice unfolded all the emotion inside that he’d been trying to keep under wraps.

Silently, he kissed her shoulder, worried something inappropriate—like yes—would slip out if he tried to speak. The fact that she’d offered meant more to him than he could say.

Because she deserved an answer, he finally choked out, “No need.”

She rolled in his arms and glanced at him, her eyes warm and huge. “This is really bothering you, isn’t it?”

He shook his head. Why he’d denied it, when it was obvious she’d already figured that out, was a mystery to him. “I don’t know. Yeah. Maybe. I feel like I should have known or something.”

Of course doping went on. It was no different today than when he’d been pitching. Everyone knew who was doing it and who wasn’t. Logan had never touched the stuff. Fortunately, he’d been good enough that he’d never been pressured like some of the guys.

Maybe Johnson had felt some of that pressure. Had Logan inadvertently been one of those pressure points?

“You didn’t do this, darling. It’s not on you.”

“I’m the boss,” he said simply. “And I feel like I failed at keeping my team strong. My dad ran a billion-dollar company for years and years, and he never let anything like this happen to him.”

“You’re not your dad, Logan. And this is a totally different industry with different rules and strategies. You have to lead like you.” She fanned her fingers across his cheek, lightly caressing as she spoke the gospel according to Trinity. “You can’t compare yourself to someone who’s gone, either. You don’t know what might have happened if he’d lived. Maybe someone in his organization would have been brought up on insider trading. Would that have been his fault for hiring someone who made bad choices?”