Flat-Out Sexy(22)

A headache was throbbing behind Tamara's eyes, and the enchiladas were  unpleasant lumps of flour and fat lying in her stomach, just churning.  Finally she couldn't stand it anymore and leaned over to Ryder, who was  sitting at the head of the table.

"Where's your aspirin? I have a slight headache and I think if I take a couple, I can get rid of it."

"They're in the cabinet in my bathroom." Ryder started to get up. "I'll get them for you."

"No, no, I can get them. You stay." She was actually looking forward to a  moment of privacy away from the snarky barbs going back and forth, and  the uncomfortable awareness of Elec sitting just inches to her right.

Tamara tried to walk, not run, down the hallway and into Ryder's  bedroom. It was very classy and masculine, with lots of chocolate brown  and very artistic black-and-white photos of various racetracks around  the country, plus one of him winning the championship two years earlier.  She wondered if Suzanne had decorated it, or if he had hired someone.  She couldn't picture Ryder picking out duvet covers on his day off, but  the end result was soothing and quiet, and she was grateful just to be  alone for two minutes.

Ryder's bathroom was a mess like his coach had been, with dirty clothes  lying on the floor and his shaving accoutrements scattered all over the  counter. She stepped over a dirty towel and a pair of boxer shorts and  opened the medicine cabinet. Ryder had four half-used tubes of  toothpaste, a giant bottle of aspirin, dental floss, mouthwash, and  three boxes of condoms. It appeared his goals in life were fresh breath  and ensuring he never had the headache of children.



Tamara grabbed the aspirin and untwisted the cap.

"Tamara."

She jumped and let out a shriek. Good Lord, Elec was standing in the  doorway, watching her. "Geez, you scared me." And what the hell was he  doing? There was a powder room in Ryder's front hallway, so if the beer  was catching up with him, he could have used that bathroom.

"Sorry."

He didn't look sorry. He looked sexy, damn him. How any man could do  nothing more than prop up a door frame with his shoulders and look that  intense and hot was beyond her. And it was annoying.

"Did you need the bathroom? I'm leaving." She rolled two aspirin between  her fingers and wondered how she could exit past him without touching  any part of his body with hers.

"I don't need the bathroom. I came to talk to you privately."

The pain behind her eyes gave a throb of protest. She did not want to talk to him. Not now.

Not tomorrow. Not ever until she could learn to be rational in his  company and not want what she couldn't have, which was sex with him on a  daily basis, twice on race days.

"What did you want to talk about?" Damn her mother for teaching her  manners. She should have just told him they had nothing to talk about.

"You didn't know I was going to be here tonight, did you?"                       
       
           



       

She shook her head. "No."

"I knew you were going to be here. That's why I came. But I'm sorry if it's making you uncomfortable."

Well, that was nice enough. "It's not." Liar. "Why would I be uncomfortable?"

"Why would you cancel our date?"

Tamara had known that was coming. She cleared her throat and stared for a  second at Ryder's dirty towel on the floor as she gathered an ounce of  courage. "Because it's not a good idea. My kids, my in-laws-"

"Are not invited on our date."

That almost made her laugh. "I know that. But it's complicated, Elec. I  am not free to just do whatever I want with no regard to other people's  feelings."

"It's not a big deal, it's only dinner. I would just like to get to know  you a little better." His eyes rolled over her body, all the way down  and all the way up again. "Better than I already do."

Wincing as her head throbbed harder, Tamara rubbed her temples. She needed to explain-

without sounding like a total bitch-that she didn't regret their night  together but that she couldn't actually have a relationship with him.  Even going into the whole thing with inhibitions thrown out the window,  she had known enough to assume one night was all it was going to be, and  she had still gone with it. It was flattering and nice to know that  Elec was actually interested in her as more than a random hookup, but  she just didn't see how in their reality of his crazy traveling schedule  and her many responsibilities, they could manage anything resembling  normalcy, and it was stressing her out, frankly.

"Your head really hurts, doesn't it?" he asked softly, moving into the bathroom.

She wasn't popping aspirin for the fun of it. "Yes," she said, knowing her face had to be sour and pouty.

"Turn around."

That sounded like a trick.

"I'll rub your head," he said when she didn't move.



Touched by the thoughtfulness of that, Tamara turned around as he came up behind her.

His fingers touched her hair and gently undid the tie that was keeping her ponytail in place.

"This thing can't be helping. It's pulling all your hair back really tightly."

It did feel better the minute her hair fell loose. "You're probably right. Thanks."

His fingers were gliding into her hair, working the strands free of the  shape the ponytail had left it in, and Tamara shivered at the tactile  sensation. She had always loved having someone touch her hair and it had  been so long since she had felt that. Too long, just way too long. Her  eyes drifted closed as he stroked, digging his fingertips into her scalp  and rubbing away the tightness and tension.

"Does that feel good?" he murmured. "Or am I doing it too hard?"

"No, it feels great. Thank you."

Elec massaged up and down her scalp and down her neck with all of his  fingers, his breath audible next to her ear, the scent of his aftershave  drifting up into her nostrils. She felt her shoulders relaxing, and  when he rubbed her temples with the pads of his thumbs in a deep  circular motion, she sighed.

Shifting her hair to the side, Elec focused on her neck again, then  kneading the tension out of her shoulders. He went up the sleeves of her  T-shirt and pulled her bra straps down a little so they wouldn't impede  his movements as he systematically worked her muscles. It occurred to  her maybe she shouldn't let him take that kind of liberty with her  clothing, but it felt too good to put a halt to it, and really, it  wasn't like he hadn't already touched every inch of her.

She shouldn't have been surprised when his lips brushed against her ear, but she was.

Sucking in a breath, she tried to shift forward, her eyes opening, but Elec pressed his hands into her forearms.

"Don't go anywhere. I'm not finished."

"Elec . . ." Yeah, that was really putting up a stellar protest. Especially since she was settling back into his grip.

"You're feeling better, aren't you? I can make you feel even better."

Oh, she just bet he could. The question was whether or not she should let him.

Now that his lips were strolling down her neck, his fingers peeling back  the neckline of her shirt so he could lick along her shoulder, it  seemed like a moot point. His tongue felt so good and she wanted to stop  him, she really did, but it was relaxing and it was just a little  kissing, and what difference did it make? Really.

Her fingers unfurled and the aspirin rolled out of her hand onto the countertop.

"I don't know . . . we should go back to the party . . ." Aware that she  sounded more breathy than resolute as his fingers wandered around the  front of her T-shirt and brushed over her nipples, Tamara wondered why  she had even bothered to speak. She was full of grade-A horseshit and  she knew it.                       
       
           



       

Elec knew it, too, since he turned her around by her shoulders and  looked into her eyes, his own dark with desire. "Not until I do this."





CHAPTER SEVE


HE was going to kiss her, and she was going to let him. No doubt about it.

And when his mouth brushed over hers, then settled in for a nice, long,  lovely worship of her lips, she decided she'd made the right choice.  This was definitely a better way to spend the dinner party than watching  Suzanne glop extra sour cream onto Nikki's plate while Ty squirmed in  chronic embarrassment.



Letting go of the countertop she'd been clenching, Tamara wrapped her  arms around Elec's neck and kissed him back. It was amazing how much she  hadn't realized what she'd been missing until she had it again. The  feel of a man's arms around her, the hitch and catch of their breathing  as they both became aroused, the press of his leg against hers, the soft  silkiness of his hair beneath her fingers as she stroked the back of  his head. She had been touch deprived, she realized now. It had been  something she'd taken for granted in her marriage, the soft and random  brushes, the right to invade someone else's personal space, and the ease  of having a man's strong hand on her waist.