“I did feel bad for Whitney,” she said quietly. “That was an ugly thing Sylvester said.”
“He was just spouting for an audience. He’s got to recruit for the town-council meeting after all.”
“How did she act afterward?”
He pulled the band off the end of her braid, then ran his fingers down through her dark brown hair until the wavy curls spread freely down her back. “You saw her. She’s not giving up. And it was only a couple blocks to her B&B. She didn’t say much in the car.”
“Your grandma must have been steamed.”
“Partly. And then she blamed herself. She never meant any of that to happen.”
“I’m sure you reassured her,” Brooke said, tipping her head back and snuggling beneath his chin. “I saw you and Chris talking. You know he’d be happy to reintroduce you to people.”
“We’ll see. I also heard about another teammate today. We used to call him Deer.”
She laughed. “I haven’t thought of that nickname for Howie Junior in I don’t know how long.”
“If I remember correctly, he dated you in high school.” He nipped the side of her neck with his mouth.
“Oh, yes, you should be jealous. I’m always attracted to men who tell everyone our private business.”
“So he ran at the mouth about as fast as he ran with a football?”
“Maybe faster. Guess that’s why I like you.”
She twisted her head as if to glance at him, but he could only see her profile.
“You seem pretty good with secrets,” she continued.
He wasn’t stupid—she was talking about more than their sex life. But he wasn’t going to burden her with his problems. “Deer never said much to me about you. What did he have to say to other guys? If he got to first base or not?”
“That about covers it. We didn’t last long, so that was all the baseball we played. But he’s a nice guy, even if he’s no longer able to run quite so fast.”
“Hmmm, first base,” he said, nuzzling behind her ear. “I got there the moment you walked in the door.” Then he slid his hands up and over her breasts, cupping their fullness. “Second base.”
She gave a soft gasp that was nearly his undoing, arching her head back to his shoulder. He kissed his way from her earlobe down to the collar of her shirt, while he gently rubbed her nipples through her clothes.
“A thin bra,” he said.
“Not quite as impressive as the ones in the sketches.”
“Let me be the judge of that.” He slid one hand down and cupped the warmth between her thighs. “Third base.”
“Oh, please,” she said breathlessly. “You call that third base?”
“Is that a challenge?” In an instant, he had her on her back on the rug, her hair spread all around, her face glowing with the firelight and her good, sweet nature.
Sweet? Brooke? He would never have thought that before. She was clearly addling his brain. But then he was taking off her clothes, and his brain shut down altogether. Her Western shirt unsnapped in front, and so did her polka-dotted bra. He spent endless minutes worshipping her breasts, kissing and licking, aroused by every helpless gasp and moan she emitted. She couldn’t lie still, pulling at his clothes until at last he yanked off his t-shirt. But he wasn’t in a hurry, not this time. He wanted to explore.
Unbuckling her jeans, he tugged them very slowly down her hips, revealing her sexy curves and the indentation of her belly button. Her long thighs were next, and at last he had her completely naked but for her thong, so lacy and delicate he wanted to stare at it a while longer.
And then he started at her feet and kissed his way up along her smooth, feminine muscles. He parted her thighs and mouthed her through the silk, and she cried out. Just a few strokes of his tongue, and he made her come, shuddering.
“Inside me,” she whispered, tugging at his belt buckle.
He stood up, said, “Be right back,” and went for a condom. When he returned, she was completely naked, reaching for him. Then he covered her body with his own, there in front of the heat of the fire, and entered her so slowly it drove them both crazy. He took his time, luxuriating in long kisses, rounding his back to lick her breasts, bringing her ever higher, until, when his thrusts increased, and she came again, he let go of his restraint and joined her.
When he could function, he eased to the side, propping his head on one hand and caressing whatever he wanted with the other.
At last she murmured, “I guess I should go. We’re taking the sleigh out to cut down a Christmas tree. Family tradition.” And then she winced, as if she regretted her words, and rushed on. “Nate suggested we take photos and use it for publicity for the sleigh rides.”