New Game in Town(27)

Her hand shot out and landed squarely on his cheek, leaving a large red palm print on the side of his face.

“Oh my God,” Gina whispered in repugnance. She looked from the stamp of her palm print on Connor’s furious face down to her trembling hand in horror. Shaking her head, she couldn’t believe that she had just hit him! Her, the woman Andrew had accused of being lukewarm and passionless.

Why did this man have the ability to make her lose all sense of reason and control? What was wrong with her?

The last thought had her burning with a different emotion. Rage. The self-directed fury was a bitter pill to swallow. Why did she always allow men to make her feel as though there was something wrong with her? It was this very tendency that had prompted her life makeover to begin with.

Outrage flooding every molecule, Gina grabbed the door handle and jumped out of the car, yelling, “Go to hell!”

“Gina!” she heard Connor bellow as she slammed the door shut behind her.

Immune to the elements, Gina stumbled along the slick road, not caring where she went as long it was away from Connor.

The hard rain and wind howled past her lowered head, red-hot anger fueling her to put as much distance between her and Connor as possible. She screamed when strong arms ensnared her from behind, jerking her off her feet.

“Are you crazy?” Connor snarled. “Where the hell are you going in the dark? Hell, woman, you need a keeper!”

Squirming, Gina kicked back at his legs, trying to dislodge his steel hold. “Get your hands off me!”

Making connection with one of his shins only had Connor tightening his hold further, growling angrily, “Enough! You’re going to hurt yourself more than me.”

The absurdity of the situation suddenly stole the fight out of her, leaving her limp and drained.

She could only image the picture she made, hanging like a rag doll two feet off the ground in this bear of a man’s arms. If anyone came along them right now, they would be sure to call the cops.

That thought had her laughing out loud humorlessly. How in the world would they be able to explain this and keep it out of the gossip headlines?

“You think this is funny? Taking off like that, hell…” he trailed off, squeezing her tighter against his powerful chest. Not giving her a chance to respond, he turned and, still carrying her, made his way back to his car.

Instead of seating her in the passenger seat, Connor opened his door with one hand while keeping the other firmly locked around her waist. With what seemed like practiced movements, he had them both sitting face-to-face in the driver’s side, the seat pushed all the way back and Gina straddling his waist, facing his anger head-on.

Pulling back was impossible. She was effectively trapped between his firm chest and the steering wheel at her back.

Gripping her chin, he wiped a surprisingly gentle hand along her forehead, moving her wet hair off her face.

“You look like the day we first met.” Connor chuckled softly. “Remember? The day you almost took me out for the rest of the season.”

And so the other shoe drops…

The moment she had been dreading all along was finally here. She had been afraid that Connor would be able to see past her new look and realize that the real Gina wasn’t all that different from that tear-streaked frumpy woman he had first met last year in the boardroom.

Sure, she had put together a rather racy sexual wish list, but that didn’t mean she could maintain a heightened level of sexual enticement to keep a man like Connor coming back for more. Her new look portrayed a confident, trendy, professional woman who went after what she wanted.

But what would happen when Connor lost interest? Because there was no question in her mind that he would—she couldn’t hold on to the attention of a professional athlete who travelled the world meeting sexy, sophisticated women who made a game of throwing themselves at him. After all, isn’t that what he had accused her of?

As if reading her mind, he bit out, “Stop running from me. Stop running from yourself and take what you know you want. You’re so damn busy reinventing yourself that you don’t realize that there was nothing wrong with you to begin with. A bloody haircut and new clothes don’t change what you fundamentally are on the inside. Why the hell can’t you see that?” Anger and disappointment marked his voice in equal measure.

“The question is,” he continued, “are you woman enough to know that you have what you want right in front of you. Do you have the courage to take what you want? Because, baby, make no mistake, we both know you want this as much as I do.”

Stunned by his piercing words, Gina battled within herself. Was she woman enough? That was the question that she had been grappling with since he had confronted her in office about the email she had sent by mistake. Did she have enough courage to have a relationship with someone like Connor?