“Still, I should have told you about the accident. It was important.” As much as she had practically swooned at the chance to touch him and feel his gorgeous body all over hers, she knew now they should have spent more time talking first. “But everything happened so fast that night.”
“I was in a hurry to be with you.”
The warm rasp of his voice told her that he had the same delectable memories of that night that she did.
It would be so easy to step right back in his arms…
“But maybe falling into bed wasn’t a good idea for us.” She didn’t want to make the same mistakes with him. Not after how much it hurt the first time.
“No. It was the best idea ever.” He sounded so damn sure of himself. So arrogant. So oddly charming.
She couldn’t help a grin. “How do you figure?”
“I found out how wildly passionate I am about you.” He said it the way only a Latin man could—as if he was swearing a vow, as if his life depended on the words. “If I didn’t know that, I probably would have just slipped out of that hotel room the next day and gone on with my life, none the wiser that I might be walking out on the most amazing woman I’d ever met.”
Javier held his breath, hoping his words would penetrate the cool veneer Lisa had worn from the moment she’d spied him in the conference room tonight. He’d been begging the training staff to get her back here for days, needing to see her in person to straighten out the mess they’d made of their relationship. To make his case for a future.
But it wasn’t until tonight that she’d agreed. He’d probably be fined if he didn’t find a way to get to that game tomorrow, but if it took all night to convince Lisa he was worth a second chance, he’d gladly pay the fine.
And right now, he wasn’t sure if he was making any headway on that front. She wasn’t easy to read, even in the harsh office lighting outside the training staff room.
“I don’t want to—” she made a vague gesture between the two of them “—melt all over you again.”
The breathless quality of her voice made him wonder if that was a real possibility. He never would have guessed it from her straight shoulders or her tilted, defiant chin.
“Even if I made it very worth your while?” He didn’t touch her, but he stepped closer. Close enough to breathe in the clean scent of her shampoo. The crisp fragrance of her perfume.
Her eyes dilated, but she shook her head.
“If we talk instead of—” she made that vague gesture again “—jumping into bed for the second time, we might understand each other a lot better.”
That meant there was the possibility of jumping into bed in their future. His heart lightened.
Determined to do whatever was necessary to reach that point—not just because of the sex but because of what it would mean to Lisa—he squared his shoulders and prepared himself.
“Then we will talk.” He kept his voice low in deference to one of the janitors pushing a mop cart.
The building was quiet, but not deserted.
“Talk is not a dirty word, you know.” Turning, she used one of her keys to open the door to the staff room. Letting him in, she shut the door behind her and he found himself in an area he’d never seen. Lockers on the wall were interspersed with health-related posters and life-size diagrams of various knee and ankle injuries.
“Too bad.” He sat down on one of the benches near the small lockers. “I might like it better if it was. But what should we discuss?”
If he had a topic, he could start tackling it. The sooner he could assuage her concerns, the sooner she’d be back in his arms where she belonged.
Lisa spun a combination lock and opened the metal box before withdrawing an extra T-shirt and a bottle of hand lotion.
“For starters, you never asked me about why I took such risks.” She pulled out a hikers’ guide to the Rockies and he wondered if she was going on a trip he didn’t know about.
Maybe talking wasn’t a bad idea.
“Did you lose someone close to you, too?” Could she have toyed with living on the edge for similar reasons as him?
“No. I did it for attention at first. My mother was an addict and it took a lot to get her attention. Later, I did it to feel alive since sometimes I felt damn invisible in my house.”
“Ah, damn, Lisa. I’m so sorry—”
“No.” She waved a rolled-up weightlifting guide under his nose. “I’ve made peace with all that. I just wanted you to know that’s why I’ve avoided thrill seeking for years. It felt too much like an addiction. But being with you made me realize I wasn’t always acting out. There was a lot of escape and genuine joy in pushing the limit. I’m athletic and coordinated, healthy and smart. Why shouldn’t I be as active as I want to be?”
Alarm pricked along his nerves.
“As long as you’re careful.” He couldn’t keep his hands off her anymore, needing to feel her against him. “Okay?”
He’d begun to appreciate how much he had to lose if he wasn’t more cautious in life, and he hoped she felt the same.
He rose to wrap her in his arms and thanked God that he had found her before he took one too many foolish chances with his life. He felt like he’d awoken from a long sleep since meeting her.
She nodded against his chest, her fingers smoothing the fabric of his T-shirt along his shoulders. Warmth filled him along with all that same fierce possessiveness he’d experienced that night in his hotel, only this time, he knew he wouldn’t succumb to wayward fears that she wasn’t as she seemed.
He knew better. His tough, Bond-girl trainer was a straight shooter. A sexy, vibrant woman. And she spent her free time planning hikes in the Rockies.
He couldn’t believe his good fortune.
“Javier?”
“Mmm?” He kissed the top of her head and wondered if he could talk her into making good use of that massage table.
“I heard something about you being in a hitting slump.”
It took a moment for the comment to sink in.
“Are you asking about this as my trainer or my girlfriend?”
“I’m not your trainer anymore, remember?”
“I hope to lobby for a few very private sessions.” Thoughts of the massage table returned. “But since it’s my girlfriend asking, I can tell you confidentially that I’m in a slump because I’ve been craving sexual satisfaction.”
He felt a shiver pulse over her skin and he smiled to think he had that effect on her. Heaven help him, he would not take it for granted.
“Don’t you dare try to play me, Velasquez. I think I’d better critique your swing before your game tomorrow. Shouldn’t you be with your team tonight, by the way?”
She blinked up at him, her eyes accusing even though her mouth remained soft and open, ready for his kiss.
He slipped his hands beneath her blouse to caress her bare skin.
“When the head trainer told me he thought he’d finally convinced you to come into the office tonight, I damn well wasn’t going to miss the chance to see you.”
The days he’d waited felt like weeks.
“How are you going to get to St. Louis in time for the game?”
“Depends how long it takes me to convince you to come with me.” He kissed her lips, tugging on the soft fullness of the lower one for a long moment before he released her. “If it’s soon, I’ll drive down. If you require a lot of persuading, I can try to pull together a charter flight.”
She swayed toward him, dropping her weight-lifting guide as she wrapped her arms about his neck.
“Hmm. How persuasive can you be?”
“You’re looking at the next Gold Glove winner, sweetheart, and they only give those things to guys with very good hands…”