Changing the Game (12 page)

“About telling Gavin you loved him.”

She waved her hand. “Honey, I’m drunk. Anything you say when you’re drunk is bullshit and doesn’t mean anything. He won’t think anything of it.”

Shawnelle gave her a sideways look. “Uh-huh.”

Elizabeth grinned when the waitress came, so damn glad she was drunk and she would forget what she said to Gavin. “Oh, look, ladies, it’s margaritas!”

ELEVEN

DRUNK WAS AN UNDERSTATEMENT. GAVIN WAS CERTAIN the manager of Bernards was going to kiss him when he walked out with Elizabeth, Shawnelle, and Haley.

In fact, he heard their voices as soon as he walked in the front door. They were laughing. Loud. They were doing everything in high-pitched voices. Talking. Yelling. Squealing. Cussing.

He wondered if he and his friends were that obnoxious when they were drunk.

Probably.

Elizabeth squealed and flung her arms around him when she saw him, then pressed kisses all over his face.

Definitely drunk. Which probably accounted for the “love you” she’d said on the phone. Drunken declarations of love never counted, so he’d brushed it off as meaningless.

He extricated what seemed to be eight arms from him, poured the women into his car, buckled them in, and drove Shawnelle and Haley home first. He’d already given Tommy and Dedrick a heads up, so they were waiting for him outside when he pulled up at the hotel where they were both staying.

“Woman, you got no sense,” Deed said with a smile and a shake of his head.

“Yeah, but you love me anyway.” Shawnelle laughed as Dedrick pulled her out of the car.

Tommy just scooped Haley up and carried her, since she’d passed out on the ride over.

“Thanks, man,” Dedrick said over his shoulder.

“No problem.”

He climbed back inside and headed to the beach house, forced to listen to Elizabeth’s off-key singing along to the radio the entire way.

He turned the volume down, deciding talk was a better option.

“So you had fun?”

She grinned. “We had a lot of fun. We had a few drinks, you know.”

Yeah, he knew. The tequila smell filled his car. “Really. Just a few?”

She giggled and kicked her shoes off. “Okay, a lot.”

She started singing again, leaned forward to turn the volume up on the radio.

It was a good thing he really liked Elizabeth, because she couldn’t sing for shit.

He pulled into the driveway, but before he could get his seatbelt off, she’d thrown the door open and bounded out, her shoes and purse forgotten. She went around the side of the house and disappeared into the dark.

Good lord. He grabbed her purse and shoes, went in through the front door, dumped her stuff, and headed out back.

She was on the deck, stripping her clothes off. She was down to her bra and panties, and it was making his dick hard seeing her on his deck like that. He brought his focus up to her face.

“What are you doing, honey?”

“Getting naked.”

“I see that. Why?”

She turned to him and gave him a wicked grin. “I want to go skinny dipping in the ocean.”

He couldn’t help but smile at her. She was a really cute drunk. Dumb and senseless, but cute. “I don’t think swimming drunk in the ocean is a really good idea.”

“By myself, of course not. But you’ll be with me to keep me from drowning.” She unhooked her bra and waved it at him, then dropped it on the floor.

She made a good point. So did her nipples.

“So? Are you going to get naked and go skinny dipping with me?”

“Do you know how cold the ocean is at night?”

“Suck it up. I’ll warm your cock and balls when we get back inside. Then you can fuck me.”

She shimmied out of her panties and stood naked in front of him, her hands on her hips.

He sighed and pulled off his shirt and dropped his shorts. Her gaze rocketed to his cock, already semi-hard at the thought of taking her to bed later.

He should be ashamed of himself, thinking of taking advantage of her in her drunken state.

Then again, the cold water should sober her up a little.

She laughed and turned, making a beeline for the water. He ran after her, easily overtaking her. He got to the water before she did and dove in, waiting for her. She leaped in, the waves crashing into her and knocking her over.

Gavin was there to pull her up, and she came up sputtering and laughing.

“Holy shit, that’s cold.”

“Told ya.”

She splashed him with water, then grabbed him as another wave rushed over them. Her legs wrapped around his, and he dug into the sandy bottom to hold them both steady as the water battered at them.

She laughed as they stood waist high in the water and took a beating.

“You think this is fun? It’s freezing out here. My balls are the size of walnuts.”

She kissed him. “I told you I’d warm them up when we got back inside. This is living, Gavin.”

“This is freezing, Elizabeth. Your nipples are frozen and poking my chest.”

She rubbed them against him, tilted her head back, and dragged her hair against the water. “It feels great.”

“You’re numb and feel nothing. I’m going to make you pay for this.”

“Ha. You will not.” She pushed away from him and floated on top of the waves.

But she was obviously enjoying herself, laughing and acting like a kid. He liked seeing her this way, unguarded and free, even if it took several pitchers of margaritas to get her to relax.

And she was obviously warmed by tequila. He was not. He was freezing and had had enough. He scooped her up in his arms.

“Okay, ocean mermaid, time to head into a warm shower before my dick freezes and falls off.”

She lifted her head and focused slightly bleary eyes on him. “If you insist.”

He carried her out of the water and into the house, where he deposited her wet, dripping body on his bathroom floor. He turned on the shower and tried not to shiver as the water heated, then directed her inside and followed her.

Hot water had never felt so good. Her body was chilled, but she leaned against the wall and grinned while he washed the sea out of her hair, rinsed it, and put that conditioner stuff on it. Then he soaped up her body.

She was at least pliant, turning whichever way he told her to.

“You ready to get out? Think you can dry yourself and make it to bed while I wash?”

Instead, she took his soap in her hands and lifted her gaze to his. “I’m not ready to get out yet. Turn around and let me wash you.”

He wasn’t going to argue. He gave her his back, and she rubbed soap all over him. There was something about her hands on his body—even if it was just his back—that got him hard. Maybe it was the closeness of being in the shower together or the heat and steam from the water or the fact that his teeth weren’t chattering anymore.

And maybe it was just Elizabeth, who replaced her hands on his back with her breasts as she moved into him and wound her arms around him to rub the soap across his chest and stomach, her breasts soaping his back as she slid back and forth.

When her hands snaked lower, he looked down to watch rivers of soap streaming toward his very hard cock.

“Turn around, Gavin.”

He took the soap from her hands, put it on the shelf, and let the shower spray rinse him. Then he turned and grabbed the spray nozzle, lifting it from the holder to rinse all the soap from her breasts, using his hands to smooth the bubbles from her nipples.

She giggled. “That tickles.”

He directed the spray over her belly and between her legs. She lifted her gaze to his. “That doesn’t tickle. It feels good.”

“Do you get yourself off with shower spray?”

She nodded. “It’s an easy orgasm. Fast and hard when I’m in a hurry.”

His cock twitched. He replaced the sprayer, then turned and slipped his hand between her legs. She gasped. “Fast and hard, huh? Is that how you like it?”

She gasped and reached for his shoulders as he rubbed her pussy. “Sometimes when I really need to come.”

He put his other arm around her, then slipped two fingers into her pussy, continuing to rub her clit with his hand. “Do you really need to come, Elizabeth?”

“It’s all I’ve been thinking about since we’ve been in here, since I’ve been touching you.”

He pulled his fingers out and pushed her against the wall, dropped to his knees and lifted one of her legs, draping it over his shoulder so he could spread her wide for him.

She had the most beautiful pussy he’d ever seen. Plump, juicy lips and a pretty tuft of red hair covering her sex. She was glistening wet, and he couldn’t wait to taste her. He cupped her butt cheeks and drew her to his mouth, sliding his tongue over her pussy lips.

“Oh, God, Gavin. Yes, that’s so good.”

He licked her clit, put his mouth over her, and sucked the bud, rolling his tongue over it. She pushed her pelvis against him, silently asking for more. He moved his tongue all over her, from her clit to her pussy, licking her all over.

The water cascaded down her belly and over her sex, washing into his mouth as he devoured her. He wondered if that added to the sensation. He hoped so, because he wanted her going crazy as he made her come. He slipped his finger inside her, pumped it in and out, swirled his tongue over her clit, and felt her pussy grip his finger. He added another and another, and each time her pussy tightened, her moans grew louder and her hands slapped the wall.

“Dammit, Gavin,” she cried.

He kept the focus of his tongue around her clit, licking her with relentless strokes while fucking her pussy harder with his fingers.

“Oh, God, I’m coming. Suck my clit.”

He latched on to her clit and gave it a hard suck as her pussy constricted around his finger, and she shook with the force of her climax. She cried out, her fingers digging into his hair as she held on.

He rose, lifted her leg over his hip, and drove into her while she was still climaxing. She screamed, and he kissed her, drinking in her cries as he pumped up into her still convulsing pussy.

God, she was tight, still coming as he took her into another climax. Her eyes flew open, and she dug her nails into his shoulders and bit his lip, moaning as she came.

Fuck. Fuck. It was so good feeling her squeeze his cock as she came again. He felt his own orgasm rushing toward him, and he held on to her ass, rocking against her as he burst inside her. He kissed her deeply, his tongue winding with hers, his groans mixing with hers as his climax hit him with a devastating force that nearly buckled him and left him sweating and panting.

He leaned his forehead against the cool tile wall of the shower. Elizabeth was limp against him as he withdrew and rinsed them both, then turned off the shower. He guided her out of the shower and dried her hair and body.

She was done for, her eyes no more than slits. He lifted her and carried her to bed, tucked her under the covers. He climbed in with her, pulled the covers up, and slid up behind her. She wiggled her butt against his crotch and mumbled a few contented words.

That’s exactly what he was.

Content. With Elizabeth.

And didn’t that have danger signals pinging in his head?

TWELVE

ELIZABETH NURSED A CUP OF COFFEE AND THE LARGEST glass of orange juice ever.

Whose brilliant idea had it been to have margaritas?

Hers, probably.

Ugh. This was a good time for a self-reminder on the evils of alcohol and why she very rarely overimbibed.

Weren’t girlfriends supposed to watch over you and prevent you from doing stupid shit like this? As she recalled, Shawnelle and Haley, her partners in crime, had gone along for the ride with her. At least she took comfort in the fact they were probably suffering just as badly as she was this morning.

She took out her phone to check for messages. There was a text from Gavin.

Early game today. Didn’t want to wake you. Don’t feel like you have to be there. Will understand if the mermaid is hung over. Have had your car brought back to you, too, in case you need it. Cul8tr. G

Mermaid? She frowned, trying to remember . . .

Oh. The dip in the ocean last night. She smiled, remembering how he’d indulged her idiotic idea to go skinny dipping. Bet his cock and balls hadn’t appreciated that chilly dip. Then again, she had no problem at all recalling their steamy shower sex, so obviously he hadn’t suffered any ill effects from the icy ocean swim.

She read over his text message again. And again. Then realized she was mooning over his message as if it were a love note. How very stupidly high-schoolish of her. Disgusted, she tossed her phone on the table and picked up her orange juice, taking several tentative sips.

Her stomach, though a little queasy, decided it would accept the orange juice, so she drank more, then picked up her coffee cup and took several caffeine-laden swallows.

She went into the kitchen and fixed a couple of eggs and some toast. After eating she felt immensely better, though she looked like hell. Going to bed with her hair wet and uncombed was a disaster. She took another shower, did her hair, and put on some makeup. She drank another cup of coffee and opened her laptop to do some work. She made a few calls and lost track of time.

Her phone rang while she was typing out a letter. It was Shawnelle.

“Hey, why aren’t you here?” Shawnelle asked.

“Where is here?”

“The game, dumb-ass.”

“Oh. I’m working today.”

“Bullshit. You’re hung over and making Haley and I suffer here in the heat by ourselves.”

“No, actually I feel fine. And I was doing some work and just lost track of time.”

“Well, your boy isn’t doing so well today. He needs his lucky charm. Get your ass out here.”

Elizabeth laughed. “I’m not his lucky charm. He can play just fine without me.”

“No, he can’t. It’s bottom of the fourth, and he’s oh for everything. Besides, I need sympathy. I feel like hell.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll be there in a half hour.”

She dressed and headed out to the ball field, found Shawnelle and Haley hiding under floppy hats and dark sunglasses.

“Feeling good today?” she asked as she took the spot they made between them.

“You should know,” Haley grumbled. “This is all your fault.”

“Don’t blame me. I didn’t put that glass in your hand. Nor did I drink those three pitchers by myself.”

Shawnelle groaned and laid her head in her hands. “Don’t remind me.”

“So how are they doing?” Elizabeth asked.

“They’re down by two runs in the sixth,” Haley said. “We figured maybe your presence could light up Gavin, who isn’t batting for shit today.”

Elizabeth snorted. “Probably because he was up late tending to his drunken house partner.”

“Girlfriend,” Shawnelle said.

“What?”

“You’re his girlfriend. Not house partner. Not roommate. Girlfriend.”

“I’m not his girlfriend.”

“Really. Then what are you?”

“His agent.”

Haley snorted. “You’re sleepin’ with him. Do you do that with all your clients?”

“Of course not.”

“Then you’re not
just
his agent, are you?”

“You two make my head hurt. Give it a rest, will you? Gavin and I are just having some fun together. It’s nothing.”

“I might be wearing dark sunglasses, but trust me, my eyeballs are rolling clear out the back of my head,” Shawnelle said. “Are you really that far into denial?”

“Yes. Now watch the game because that’s what I came here to do.”

In fact, in her rush out the door she’d forgotten to bring her laptop with her, so she was going to be forced to give the game her full attention. Dammit.

The Rivers were up to bat, and Gavin stood in the on deck circle, waiting for his turn at bat. He swung the bat a few times to warm up, then scanned the crowd, saw her, and his lips lifted.

And her body warmed. She smiled back.

You have it so bad for him, Elizabeth.

It was really pathetic how wound up she was around Gavin. And how badly she was going to be hurt by him when he decided he was bored with her and kicked her to the curb.

It was Gavin’s turn at bat. There were two runners on base with one out. Elizabeth clasped her hands together and leaned forward as the first pitch sailed by and was called a ball. Elizabeth held her breath on the second pitch. Gavin swung and it fouled off to the right. One ball, one strike. She swallowed, wishing she’d stopped to get a cold drink before she sat down. The third pitch was high, also a ball.

Gavin swung on the next pitch and it dropped into short center. Elizabeth stood and screamed. Gavin dug in and made it to first base. The runner on second base scored, and the runner on first base had to stay at second.

But Gavin had batted a run in. Elizabeth, Shawnelle, and Haley hugged and squealed as Gavin got a good lead off first and looked like he might run on this pitcher.

Dedrick was up to bat.

“Oh, God, they’re going to try a double steal, aren’t they?”

“Likely,” Shawnelle said. “Dedrick will take a strike if it means Gavin and Jose can advance.”

“Or Dedrick could just hit a home run and put up three more runs on the scoreboard.”

Shawnelle grinned. “Well, yeah, that would be nice. But I’ll take a double steal, and then my baby can drive those two runs home. Either way works for me.”

“Me, too.”

The pitcher kept his focus on Gavin, tossing a few pitches to first base to keep Gavin from leading off too far from the base. Gavin was quick, though, and made it back to safety without a problem. As soon as the pitcher turned his attention back to Dedrick, concentrating on winding up the pitch, Gavin and Jose were off, digging into the dirt and running like hell. The pitcher turned and fired off the ball to second base.

Elizabeth held her breath for the entire ninety feet. Jose slid into third, Gavin into second. Both were safe and the crowd erupted in cheers. Elizabeth, Shawnelle, and Haley screamed, jumped up and down, and hugged each other again.

She wanted to cry and didn’t think she’d ever been more excited about watching a preseason baseball game before.

This was going to ruin her reputation as a cool and unaffected agent.

And when Dedrick hit a line drive into the left field corner and both runs came home, she was certain she’d have no voice left by the end of the game, because she screamed nonstop until Dedrick got to second base, a wide grin on his face.

It was now three to two in favor of the Rivers, and by the time the inning ended two more runs had scored.

The Rivers ended up winning six to three. Elizabeth was exhausted from the sun, the screaming, and her hangover. She knew Gavin would be busy, so she headed back to the beach house to finish working. Unfortunately, once she hit the sofa, she passed right out.

When she woke, it was dark in the house. Disoriented, she reached for the lamp on the table next to the sofa, grabbed her phone to check the time.

It was eight p.m. She’d slept three hours. She sifted her fingers through her hair, stood, and went into the kitchen to fix herself a glass of iced tea. She took the glass out onto the deck, expecting to find Gavin sitting out there.

He wasn’t. Surprised, she headed into the bedroom and bath, thinking he might be sleeping or showering, but he wasn’t there, either.

Huh. Maybe he went out with the guys after the game.

She shrugged and went back out on the deck to sip her tea. She checked her phone, but there were no messages from Gavin.

Okay, so he didn’t owe her anything. He didn’t report to her. They weren’t a couple. Hadn’t she been telling everyone that?

Still, he always left her messages letting her know where he was going and where he was going to be. So why nothing now? She kind of expected him to come home after the game. Okay, she didn’t really expect him to, but it might have been nice if he’d let her know if he were going somewhere else, just so she wouldn’t worry about him.

She went back inside and picked up her laptop to do some work, but she kept staring at her phone, disgusted with herself for her own weakness.

Dammit. She’d known this was going to happen, that it was going to come to this if she let her heart get wrapped up in Gavin. Now she was checking her phone every five minutes, hoping he’d toss her a crumb.

She was spending entirely too much of her time on Gavin and not nearly enough on herself, which is what she normally did. Her career was vital to her happiness. Not a man. She knew what focusing on a man—on love—could do to a woman. It could make a woman lose all sense of herself, could change her career-driven focus and skew her priorities.

It was time she altered her trajectory and stopped worrying about Gavin other than as one of her clients. She needed to think about what was best for his career, because what was best for his career would be what was best for
her
career. And what was best for his career was definitely not her.

Everyone already thought of her as his girlfriend, which was going to screw up his image once the season started. Gavin Riley off the market was a death sentence for his PR.

Gavin had a reputation as a hotshot first baseman and a sexy, product-endorsing single guy who played the field.

He hadn’t been playing the field lately. He’d been playing with her. Just her. No one else but her.

She was not good for his image. Lots of young, sexy women throwing themselves at him were very good for his image.

Fun and games were over. It was time to get back to business. Her business. The thing she most loved and needed to make a priority in her life.

Her work would never hurt her. And with the way things were going with losing Mick and now Steve Lincoln, playing house with Gavin was the last thing she should be doing.

Spending time on her clients should be a priority. Getting Blane McReynolds signed with Tampa Bay in the first round of the draft needed to be a priority.

She hadn’t been focusing on her work because she’d been too busy playing with Gavin.

That had to stop. Now.

She searched the airlines online and found a flight back to Saint Louis early tomorrow morning. She could drive down to Miami, stay at one of the airport hotels, and be ready for her flight in the morning.

Which meant she’d have to pack and get out of here in a hurry, just in case Gavin was on his way back to the house. She didn’t want to face him, didn’t want to have a conversation with him about her leaving.

She packed up, changed clothes, and tossed her bags in the car. As she hovered near the front door, she decided at the last second to jot down a note for him. No text message because that was too immediate. When he got home, he’d see the note.

She pressed the lock on the door and pulled it shut, climbed into her car and clenched the steering wheel in her hands.

“You’re doing the right thing. Career first. Always first.”

Never let a man have power over you, Elizabeth.

“Damn straight, Mama,” she said as she backed out of the driveway.

It’s too bad her mother never had the strength to take her own advice.

Gavin,

Have to head back to the office. The draft is coming up soon and I need to focus on a few deals. Plus, it’s time I get back to work. It’s been fun.

E

Fun? That was it? What the hell was this bullshit blow-off note?

Gavin crumpled up Elizabeth’s note and tossed it across the room, pissed at himself for even being angry that she had left.

He had no idea what the hell set her off running this time, but he was tired of wondering. Or caring.

She was right. It had been fun. That’s all it had been.

He went to the fridge and grabbed a beer, irritated that the team owner had forced them all into a three-fucking-hour meeting right after the game that had sucked up his entire night. And he’d left his phone in his locker, so he hadn’t been able to call or text Elizabeth to let her know because he was a moronic slave to technology and he didn’t know anyone’s phone number by heart other than his parents’, and that only because they’d had the same phone number for forty years.