Grinder (Seattle Sharks 1)

“He at Pendleton?” I asked as I handed the little bundle over.

She nodded, her eyes proud, but sad.

As she clicked one of the girls in, I gently bounced the other and took my wallet out of my back pocket, retrieving my card.

“Here you go,” I said to her as she took the second baby.

“Thank you, so much,” she said with a relieved sigh.

“Can I put your stroller in?”

She nodded gratefully and I collapsed the stroller and tucked it away in the back of her minivan, fondly remembering the first time I’d nearly thrown Lettie’s because I couldn’t get the damn thing to collapse. Strollers defied all common sense and logic.

As she came back around, I handed her my card. “I live in Seattle, but if there’s anything you need, just call this number. My dad was in the service, and I know it’s tough to handle everything on your own.”

Her eyes widened, and she took the card with a nod. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you.”

I said goodbye to the woman and headed back to my own little family. I opened Bailey’s door and she kissed me lightly before sliding into her seat.

She was laughing as I got into the driver’s seat.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“I’m just hoping there were no photographers catching that little exchange.”

“What? It’s not like I did anything bad.”

“Oh, no, quite the opposite. It was drop dead sexy, and gallant, and every girl’s dream. That pic gets out and you’ll have every woman in America pregnant from just looking at it,” she said, running her hand down the back of my neck.

Every woman but you.

I couldn’t get her comment out of my head all evening. Even when I was at the game, watching that fucking rookie play my position, and cheering the win, Bailey was on my brain.

Lettie had been exhausted from Disney, so I’d left the girls at the hotel to rest while I came to the game. Besides, I knew I wasn’t much fun to be around while I was in game-mode.

Now, as I slid the key through the lock of our suite at the hotel, my mind was on overdrive. What if the kids thing really was a deal-breaker for Bailey? What if she was the one woman who would have stayed, but my actions drove her away?

What if I was the cause of all of my own unhappiness?

“Girls?” I asked as I walked into the quiet suite. Huh. I peeked into Lettie’s bedroom and found her sprawled across the bed, dead to the world. Her little torso rose and fell with her breaths, and her hair smelled like the strawberry shampoo she loved so much. I put her under the covers and pressed a kiss to her forehead, then left her to sleep, closing the door behind me as I left.

Bailey wasn’t in the living room, or in our bedroom, but I heard the soft sound of splashing coming from the bathroom, and I smiled. The bathroom was the room furthest from Lettie—no chance of waking her up—and pretty perfect for what I had in mind. Fuck, just the sound of that water, knowing it was sloshing against Bailey’s naked skin was enough to get me hard.

“Bailey?” I said, knocking lightly on the door that connected to the master bedroom.

“Come on in.” Her voice was muffled through the door.

I slid it open and closed it behind me quickly so the steamy air didn’t escape. Holy shit, she was a vision. Her hair was piled on top of her head and she was covered from breast to toe in bubbles, but I’d never seen a more erotic sight than her knee peeking just above the waterline in the giant jacuzzi tub.

I’d splurged on the bigger suite, and it was so worth it.

“How was the game?” she asked, looking up at me with those amazing, fuck-me eyes.

“We won,” I said, pulling my jersey over my head and throwing it to the marble floor.

“Did you?” she said, licking her bottom lip as my t-shirt joined the jersey. Her eyes trailed down my stomach, and I was instantly glad that I kept my body toned and tight.

“We did.” I unbuckled my pants and let them hit the floor, getting harder by the second as she watched.

“Were you thinking about… celebrating?” she asked, her eyes still on my steadily-growing cock.

“I was thinking about putting my mouth on you until you come, if that’s what you mean by celebrating,” I answered.

She swallowed. “Yes, please?”

God, she was so fucking hot. How had I missed that while we were growing up?

She moved forward and I stepped in behind her, grateful the tub was deep enough that we didn’t send water spilling over the sides. She turned, and I moved her knees around me so that she straddled me in the water.

Hell yes to huge bathtubs.

I cupped her perfect ass in my hands as she slid over me, my cock stroking through the folds of her pussy. Had there ever been a woman made more perfectly for me?

“You’re phenomenal,” I said to her.

She arched a little, bringing her tight nipples against my chest. “You’re not so bad yourself,” she answered.

My fingers traced her spine as they danced up her back, and once I had one of my hands buried in the dark silk of her hair, I brought her mouth to mine. Fuck, she kissed like she did everything else in life—with every bit of passion in her body and nothing held back.

Our tongues tangled, dueled, rubbed against each other the same way our lower bodies couldn’t help but grind under water. I felt like a powder keg, and Bailey held the match—hell, she was the match. She set me off like no one I’d ever met—and maybe it wasn’t because she was made for me, but that I was made for her.

Her whimpers grew louder as I kissed her, pouring everything of myself into her, and praying that it was enough—enough to give her everything she needed even though I knew I’d always come up short.

“Gage,” she sighed into my mouth as I thumbed her nipples, fighting every instinct I had to drive up into the silky heat just above my dick.

I pivoted, sending water cascading over the side of the tub, and lifted her ass to the smooth, tiled edge against the wall. “See that towel bar?” I asked her, motioning to the empty loop above her head.

“Yes?” she said, glancing up.

“Grab on and don’t let go,” I ordered.

Her hands latched onto the metal as her body quaked in a small shiver. “Cold, baby?” I asked.

“No,” she said, her voice already breathless.