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  “Grady, I hate to interrupt, but this hunk promised me a dance,” Charisma said and led Derek onto the dance floor.

  “Are you OK? You were gone an awfully long time.”

  She smiled. “I’m fine. I met a few of your fans in the bathroom.”

  She was surprised at how well he danced. Just like being on the ice, he had his own smooth groove. He was funny and threw in a few twirls just to impress her, and she loved it. By the fourth song, they were both sweating, but she didn’t care, she was having fun. And that catty crap she’d heard in the bathroom was a million miles away. The women she’d seen in the restroom were on the dance floor giving her the snarky side-eye, but they didn’t dare come over.

  A few other random women started dancing closer to them. She knew the drill. She was once a professional clubber. It was clear word had spread that Derek was in the club, and they wanted a piece of the action. This was normally the time when she’d have to put Lamont on a short leash because he’d always take the bait and then they’d fight about him being disrespectful to her. But she didn’t have to worry about that with Derek. His eyes were glued to her from the moment they’d stepped onto the dance floor. It felt good to be with someone who considered her feelings.

  Cold Play’s “Adventure of a Lifetime” came on and the crowd cheered. Some slinky hussy tried to dance her way between them, but Derek reached around her and grabbed Charisma by the waist and moved her flush against his body.

  She closed her eyes and continued to dance, enjoying the feel of his hard body against hers, but she opened them when she realized his movements had slowed, despite the fast beat of the song. She opened her eyes and looked into Derek’s. She couldn’t take the pressure of the storm rising in his eyes, so she turned and faced away from him but still stayed in the comfort of his arms. They started a slow grind but kept to the rhythm of the song. She could feel him getting hard as she pressed against him. Derek moved her hair out of the way and kissed her neck, and she almost buckled right there.

  “Let’s get out of here,” he whispered in her ear.

  Derek led her back to their table, moving through the crowd like a charging bull, so she could get her purse. They left without so much as a wave good-bye to Grady and the rest of the people in the group.

  * * *

  Derek could barely contain himself as he drove back to the ranch. Charisma didn’t help, caressing him through his trousers as he navigated the highways. As soon as they were inside the guesthouse, he planted Charisma against the door and kissed her ferociously. She grabbed onto to his shoulders and kissed him back with plenty of enthusiasm.

  She unzipped his trousers and ran her thumb across the tip. “So that article about your penis wasn’t an exaggeration.”

  He groaned. “No, it wasn’t. I’m still not pleased about the whole world knowing about my well-endowed schlong.”

  “Was that a humble brag?”

  “There was nothing humble about it.” He grinned and stroked her nipple through the delicate material of her dress. “We’ll take things slow.”

  Charisma stepped out of her dress and let it hit the floor, revealing a black lace bra and thong. Her full breasts were brimming out of the lingerie, and he couldn’t wait to taste them. Derek could barely concentrate as he fumbled his wallet out of his pants pocket and fished out a condom. He sheathed himself with it. Then he pulled down the straps of her bra and held her breasts in his hands as he alternated sucking on each nipple. She tasted like apples and cinnamon. It was sweet and intoxicating. He ran his hand down her smooth stomach and fingered the waistband of the thong before he shoved the material aside and thrust two fingers inside of her to get her ready for him. Her petite frame worried him. He didn’t want to hurt her. He wanted her so satisfied that she’d come back for more, not run for the hills because she couldn’t handle him.

  Charisma stroked his shaft and caressed his balls. All he could think about was those perfect pouty lips wrapped around his tip, taking in as much of him as possible. But there would be time for playful exploration later. Right now he was captivated by her moaning because he was playing with her clit. He picked up her by the waist and when Charisma wrapped her hips around him and sank down on him, taking him inside her, he thought he was going to lose it.

  “Derek,” she groaned.

  He continued thrusting repeatedly upward while she had a vice-like grip on his neck. She felt so good. He wanted to go as deep as he could.

  “Charisma,” Derek growled and thrust into her one more time before he climaxed.

  As he held her body close to his, he knew he was in trouble, but for once he didn’t care.

  * * *

  The sound of Derek’s steady breathing and the feel of his arm draped across her belly should have been comforting, but right now all Charisma wanted to do was flee. Their time together had been great, and the last few hours even better, but she was afraid about what it all meant. He looked so handsome, his tussled hair scattered against the pillow. He was a man in every sense of the word, right down to the silky, smooth chest hair that continued down his stomach and stopped at his navel. The tattoo of the lion’s head on the left side of his back was pretty badass too. But he was too good to be true, and so was this wacky situation. Everyone knew the bad girl never got a good guy in the end.

  Careful not to wake him, she eased out from under his arm and slipped on the shirt he was wearing earlier. Luckily Jared had spent the entire week with Autumn, so there was no danger of him walking in on them. She continued to the spacious bathroom and took a long look at herself in the mirror. Her hair was disheveled, and her makeup was all but gone. Normally, that would have sent her into a tailspin. So many times she’d slipped out of bed when she was with Lamont to put her face on before he awoke. She’d tried so hard to be perfect for him. To be what she thought he wanted in a woman. She could have applied a fresh coat of fabulous for Derek, but she didn’t want to do that. It felt good to not be self-conscious about a man seeing her in her natural state. Derek looked at her like it was OK to be exactly who she was, warts in all.

  She splashed some cold water on her face and reached for her toothbrush. Once she’d brushed and rinsed, she eased out of the bathroom and headed for the huge living room area. Maybe watching television would calm down the butterflies in her stomach. She grabbed an apple juice from the fridge and plopped down on the couch. She checked her phone and saw that Elliot had indeed tagged her in that photo and it had garnered a slew of comments. It seemed like the world was divided about whether or not they made a good couple.

  There were tons of mind-numbing movies on the menu, but nothing caught her eye. She continued channel-hopping until she found a DIY channel. Someone was renovating a brownstone with supposedly only a three-thousand dollar budget. Before she began working for Jared, she would have believed it, but now she laughed at the idea that it would take so little money.

  Charisma balked as the host’s assistant burst into the kitchen area boasting that she’d gotten a granite countertop and window treatments for next to nothing. “I don’t think so.”

  “Charisma. What are you doing?”

  She turned to see Derek standing by the bar. He’d slipped on his pants, but he was barefoot.

  “Did I wake you? I’m a little restless. I thought I’d watch a movie or something.” Charisma bit her lip.

  “Come back to bed.” He grabbed her hand and led her back into the bedroom. He removed his jeans, pulled back the cover and motioned for her to get in the bed. “My lovemaking has inspired many things, but boredom isn’t one of them. What’s going on?”

  “It’s not that.” She didn’t want to tell him how the feel of his firm body pressed against hers was way too comfortable. “I haven’t been intimate with anyone in a long time. I’m counting my time with Lamont. I hate to keep bringing his name up. I guess I’m still trying to purge him out of my system. It’s just that, I didn’t realize intimacy could be like this.”

  She turned
away, on the verge of tears, but Derek turned her back around to face him and pulled her close. The feel of his strong hand caressing her thigh felt so good. And when he planted sweet kisses all over her face, that felt good too. Charisma angled her neck so he could get at that spot right behind her ear that, if touched in the right way, sent a shuddering sensation throughout her body. He caressed her nipples with his thumbs and gave each one loving attention, suckling and nipping just enough to please and not punish. He stroked her clit, winding her body up again. Finally she pushed him down against the pillows, opened a condom, and sheathed him with it. She straddled him, and this time the rhythm was slower and more deliberate. The mania had been replaced with willful determination. Each time she rocked back onto him, she felt the connection of their souls.

  Derek kept his eyes locked on her as she moved and enjoyed the contact that only he could give her. When she readied for her climax, he came with her. The last thing she remembered when she fell asleep on top of him was that if this was love, she never wanted it to end. But just like everything in her life, she was afraid she would mess this up too.

  * * *

  Derek reached over for Charisma only to find her side of the bed empty. He wiped the sleep out his eyes and looked around for her. She came bounding out of the bathroom, dressed in a half slip and a pink lace bra and grumbling about a pair of shoes.

  “Where’s the fire?” He yawned.

  “There’s no fire, but I’m liable to get fired if I don’t get my butt to Blake Enterprises within the hour.”

  He couldn’t help but smile as she continued to zip around the room, putting on jewelry and spritzing perfume on herself. They’d slept through the alarm, and she was already a half hour late for work. Jared had already called her cell a couple of times, and he knew she was worried Morgan and Seth would come over to check on her. Or worse, one of the kids.

  “Come back to bed.” He grinned.

  “Are you kidding me? I have no plausible reason to call out from work.”

  “You do know you work for your cousin? He’s a really nice guy who would understand.”

  She threw a pillow at him. “My relation to Jared is exactly why I have to be punctual and accurate. Being the boss’s cousin is almost worse than the lazy employee who does what she pleases because she’s sleeping with the boss.”

  “I think the sleeping with the boss thing is worse.” He got out of bed and stretched.

  “Speaking of things.” She threw his boxer shorts at him. “You might want to cover that up.”

  “Woman, we could spend the rest of the day having a really good time, but you insist on traipsing around Texas doing this ‘work’ thing.”

  “Funny, you didn’t have a problem when we were tootling around for pleasure and you were flexing your history muscles.”

  “Do you want some breakfast at least? I saw some bread in the kitchen. I can make you some toast or something.” Derek put his arms around her and began kissing her neck.

  “OK. A bagel.” She moved out of his grasp. “Toasted lightly with butter.”

  Derek pulled on his boxers and went into the kitchen. This was not the way he’d imagined the morning going. Charisma had damn near exhausted him last night, but he was ready for more. Much more. He popped the bagel into the toaster, then searched for the butter. He’d found some orange juice and some grapes.

  “I called Jared and told him I overslept,” she said from the bedroom. “He was forgiving. I just need to be there in an hour so I can take notes in a meeting with J.J. and Bo.”

  By the time Charisma came out, he had the table set. He nearly choked on his juice when she saw her come out dressed in a sexy white dress.

  “That’s kind of fancy for the office.”

  She eyed him. “It’s a standard, respectable dress. You only think it’s sexy because you’re standing there with your penis at attention. I hope you didn’t use your appendage to butter my bagel.”

  “I usually don’t butter my junk, but if that’s something you’re into…”

  “No.”

  He held up the bagel for her to bite. “There. That wasn’t so bad.”

  “Thanks, but I have to get on the road. Make sure you exit discreetly.”

  “What? Are you ashamed of me?”

  “No. But I don’t want people thinking things that aren’t true.” She shrugged. “This is a casual thing, right? I don’t want my family to think we’re like a couple or something. It’s bad enough the media does it all the time.”

  Derek didn’t know what to say. “I guess we’re not. But I thought it was worth exploring. Maybe over dinner later.”

  “What’s to explore? Your image is taking a nosedive over allegations we’re together. Imagine if we had a bona fide relationship?”

  His jaw ticked. “I don’t care about what people think. Neither should you.”

  “I really wish that were true. But take it from someone who’s played in the muck, it’s not that easy to get out.” She got on her tiptoes and kissed him.

  “Charisma, this wasn’t a one-night thing for me,” he said. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

  But she was already on her way out the door.

  Charisma nearly jumped from a window trying to get out there. It was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do, tell the man she’d just had earth-shattering sex with that she didn’t care about him. It was an utter lie. But she knew being in his life, in the long run, would be bad for him. For both of them. She needed to hit the brakes before her heart broke any further.

  Morgan opened her front door as she approached the car. She feared she’d start crying if she opened her mouth. She waved at her cousin, who glanced toward the front door of the guesthouse and saw Derek standing there. He looked angry. No, he looked disappointed, and she couldn’t blame him. She drove off hoping that he wouldn’t hate her.

  She only wished she could make him understand. Her heart was too fragile to risk loving him.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Five months later…

  “And it’s the Pirates for the win!”

  As the team celebrated their third win of the new season, Derek couldn’t seem to get excited about it. In fact, it was hard to get excited about anything since Charisma had walked out of his life back in Texas.

  When they’d returned from Texas, Charisma had gone to great lengths to avoid him. No matter what he tried, she artfully dodged his attempts to talk to her, citing that the best thing he could do was forget about her. Which couldn’t be further from the truth. He’d even requested some major changes that he’d known would prolong the project so he could have more time with her. That backfired because Jared eventually informed him that he’d be overseeing the progress until it was complete. He didn’t want to give up, but he realized she needed some space. Still, there was no way they’d shared what they had shared together and she felt nothing. Even Morgan agreed, but he was at a loss for what to do.

  After he got dressed that day she high-tailed it out of the guesthouse, he’d talked with Morgan in her kitchen for hours and got a better understanding of the dynamic of their relationship. Morgan could have been bitter about a lot of things, but she wasn’t. She believed in Charisma’s wanting to change and applauded her for trying to redefine herself in the aftermath of her infamy. The fact that Charisma came to Texas not knowing where she stood and was willing to talk to her and Isabelle showed tremendous growth on her part. Not many people gave her credit for that.

  Sure, on the outside he was back to his old self, being charming and flirting with women at parties, but still he never allowed anything to go too far. He’d opted to skip his family reunion to avoid being grilled by well-meaning relatives about his complicated love life. He confided in his brother Alex about his feelings for Charisma and that she didn’t want to give their relationship a chance. Alex applauded him for putting himself out there emotionally for the first time in his life, suggesting that maybe she’d run because she was scared, and that he should
have faith in the feelings he had for Charisma. Something that special couldn’t easily be forgotten or dismissed.

  He’d done everything he could to put Charisma Reed out of his mind, but he couldn’t scrub his memory clean of her or that perfect night they spent together in Seth’s guesthouse. And worse, it appeared she was over him. A story about her and some basketball player was floating around in the media. He stopped at the part in the article where they were seen dining in some restaurant. He was ready to go kill the guy.

  Now he stripped in the locker room following the game and took a shower, oblivious to revelry of his teammates. They would go home to wives or girlfriends and celebrate with them, but he would go home alone, all for the sake of his public image. It pissed him off that they judged her and it disheartened him that she judged herself even harder.

  He dried himself off and got dressed. The Slap Shot was still closed, but he’d opened for the team after their games. He wouldn’t be going tonight. Right now he just wanted to go home and get some sleep.

  “Great game, Popovich.” Andrew patted him on the back. “You were on fire tonight.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  “I see getting rid of all the drama in your personal life was just the thing you needed to get that focus back.”

  “Yeah, who needs a relationship?” he huffed and slammed his locker shut.

  “Relationship?” His friend’s eyes narrowed. “You were serious about Phoebe?”

  “Not Phoebe. Charisma.”

  The chatter in the room went whisper-quiet.

  “I thought that was just a fling.”

  “No, it was more than that. It was…something else.”