She scooted next to him and reached for her drink, taking a long swallow to quench her thirst.

Gavin leaned over and whispered in her ear while he lifted her dress to her thighs. “The tablecloth is long and will cover anything I’m doing. Put the napkin over your lap, and put some of those shopping bags against your other side.”

She pulled the bags against her, effectively blocking anyone’s view.

“Now spread your legs for me, babe, and let me touch your pussy.”

She widened her legs, and his fingers danced along her inner thigh, sliding down over her sex. She leaned back, needing him to rub her clit, f**k her pussy, take her over the edge, and give her the cl**ax she could already feel building inside.

“Make yourself comfortable. That’s it. Put your elbow against the back of the booth. Turn and look at me like you’re listening to me in conversation. Look at me the whole time, Elizabeth, because I want to see your eyes when you come.”

His fingers slid between the hardened bud and down along her pu**y lips, circling over and back up. He was toying with her. She laid her head in her hand, looking like she was relaxed and enjoying conversation with Gavin, but she was primed and tense.

“Gavin, please.”

“Yeah, baby? Tell me what you want.”

“Care for another drink?”

She jerked in surprise, but Gavin seemed cool and relaxed as he turned his head to smile at their waitress.

“I think we’re fine here, Amanda.”

Elizabeth shuddered out a sigh.

“Look at me, Liz.”

She did, and he used his fingers, gliding them over her pussy. She was damp, needy, and she wanted to take his hand and shove his fingers inside her.

“Tell me what you want.”

“I want your fingers inside me, f**king me.”

He dipped the tip of one finger along the surface of her pussy, coating it with her moisture, then moved it back up to sweep across the bud of her clit.

“Stop teasing me. Fuck me. Make me come.”

“The tease is the best part, Elizabeth. Do you know how hard my dick is right now? Do you know how much I want to be inside you or have your mouth wrapped around me? My balls ache. And when we leave here, you’ll make me come. But right now, it’s all about you and your pretty pussy, and getting you off.”

She licked her lips, imagining putting her mouth on him and feeling him shoot down her throat, or him pushing his c**k into her until she screamed in orgasm. But right now he dipped two fingers inside her, and she lifted her butt off the seat and pushed against his hand.

“Easy, baby. Take it easy.” He swirled the pad of his thumb over her clit, keeping his fingers moving inside her.

Her mouth dropped open, and she inhaled, losing sight of where she was. She gripped his arm and dug her nails into it as he shoved his fingers inside her. His movements were maddeningly slow, taking her right to the brink, where she held, watching his face, realizing he knew where she was.

“I’m going to come, Gavin.”

He stilled his movements. “Quiet, Elizabeth. Remember that no one can know. You control this.”

She took a deep breath and nodded.

“Now come for me. Let me see it.”

He swept his thumb across her cl*twith expert precision and shoved his fingers inside her.

Her eyes widened as she came with a rush of sensation. She wanted to buck against his hand, to let go with a loud cry. Instead, she dug her nails into his forearm and held them there while the tidal wave of pleasure took her to ecstasy.

Gavin smiled and held on to her while she rode that wave. He protected her the entire time by casting surreptitious glances around the restaurant until the wild crest of her cl**ax settled. He withdrew his fingers and smoothed her dress back down over her legs. He leaned forward and brushed her lips with his. “Your face is flushed.”

She smiled at him. “I can’t breathe.” She still felt her heart ramming against her ribs.

That was the most exhilarating experience she’d ever had.

“Will there be anything else?”

Their waitress smiled at Elizabeth.

“Oh, I think I’m done now,” she said, and Amanda took her plate away.

It was only then that Elizabeth reoriented herself to time and place. She’d completely lost her sense of being, had forgotten there were other people in the restaurant who no doubt had been walking by. She’d been so tuned into Gavin and his touch, his focus, that she’d lost her senses.

Gavin was a very dangerous man.

“Ready to go?” he asked, handing the waitress his credit card.

Elizabeth was ready to go, all right.

Ready to go insane from playing this game with him.

FOUR

GAVIN STOOD IN THE BOX AND READIED FOR THE BALL, studying the pitcher’s stance, trying to figure out what he was going to throw. The pitcher wound up, threw, and Gavin swung the bat. Wood connected and the ball soared into the outfield.

It felt good to swing the bat again, to feel the power. He liked seeing the baseball disappear deep into center field.

It was only practice, but as he took a few more swipes, his muscles loosening under the Florida heat and humidity, he felt the typical anticipation of the upcoming season.

By October he was dead tired, burned out, and desperate for a break. By February he was eager to get started again, ready to play the game. Every season it was like this.

He loved baseball. It had been in his blood since he was five years old and his father had stuck a bat in his hand and pitched him his first ball to hit. Something about seeing that ball skip across the dirt and through Mick’s legs or over Jenna’s head had made him feel a sense of accomplishment he couldn’t get anywhere else. And all through T-ball and Little League, and in high school and college, he knew there was only thing he wanted to do with his life.

Play baseball. Because he was damn good at it.

After his turn at the plate, he grabbed his glove and went to his position at first base to shag grounders and work on his fielding.

They were having a scrimmage with Tampa Bay today. Warmups were finished and Tampa Bay’s batters were up first, so Gavin stayed at first base. Wasn’t even an official preseason game, but it was a game, and damn he was ready.

While the pitcher warmed up, he glanced into the stands and saw Elizabeth sitting in the second row on the first baseline. Sunglasses shielded her eyes. She wore her hair up, as usual, but she at least wore a sleeveless blouse and those pant things that came up to her calves. Capri pants. That’s what she’d called them when she got dressed this morning.

And high heels. He shook his head.

She was on the phone talking to someone, and her face was buried in her laptop, typing away at something.

In other words, she wasn’t paying attention. Not even when the announcer called batter up and the crowds applauded loudly.

She might as well have stayed at the house for all the attention she paid to the game.

Gavin focused his attention on the batter, who struck out. Gavin rolled his shoulders and got into position, bending over and readying for whatever might happen. Batter two hit a grounder toward first base. Gavin scooped it up and touched the base before the runner was halfway down the line.

Two outs.

Third batter popped up in right field.

It was time for Gavin’s team to bat. Gavin waited in the dugout, since he was third in the lineup. Jose batted first since he had a good average, was fast, and could steal bases. He hit a grounder just past the shortstop and got on base. Dave popped up so Jose had to hold at first base, which brought Gavin up to bat. He stood at the plate and held at the first pitch, too high. Second pitch looked low and inside, but the umpire called it a strike. Third pitch was right down the middle and Gavin swung. It dropped in front of the left fielder, and Gavin ran for first. Jose, one fast motherfucker, ended up at third.

Gavin took a quick glance at the seats. Elizabeth still had her head buried in her laptop, not paying attention to the game.

He was irritated by how much it irritated him. So she wasn’t watching. What difference did it make? She was his agent and they were f**king. It wasn’t like she mattered to him or anything.

Focus back on the game, he got into running position and stepped off the base when Dedrick came up to bat. As their cleanup hitter, Dedrick was a powerhouse with a bat and held the team home-run record. Gavin leaned right.

First pitch was a strike. Second was in the dirt, but the catcher smothered it, saving a run. Dedrick got a piece of the third pitch but sent it behind him into the stands, foul. He connected on the fourth pitch and let it sail over the left field wall for a home run. Hell yeah. All Gavin had to do was make a slow trek around the bases.

As Gavin made his way to homeplate, despite the fans wild cheering, Elizabeth didn’t once look up.

Dammit.

They ended up winning the practice game seven to two. Gavin showered, talked to the press, and signed a few autographs. Elizabeth met him at the dugout when he was finished.

“Next time I need to bring a hat. The sun is hot,” she said as they walked to his car.

“Did you enjoy the game?”

“Yeah. It was great.”

As if she had any idea. “What was the final score?”

She tilted her sunglasses down her nose. “Seven to two. You won and you scored twice. You’re crowding the plate a little, though. You need to step back, or someone’s going to bean you in the head.”

Huh. So maybe she was paying attention.

He opened her door for her and she slid in. He tossed his gear in the trunk, feeling stupid for being mad. He slammed the trunk door and got in the car, started it up and headed back to the house.

When they got inside, Elizabeth went into the kitchen. “You want something to drink?”

“A beer would be good.”

He went outside and sat on the porch. She brought out two bottles of beer. He twisted the top off both, handed one back to her.

“Don’t really see you as a beer drinker,” he said as she took a seat on the swing.

She took a long swig. “You don’t know all that much about me, Gavin.”

“True enough. Why don’t you tell me?”

“I’m not really here for you to delve into my background, am I? I’m here because you want to f**k me. So let’s just leave it at that.”

He’d hit a nerve. Something she didn’t want him to know about. But she was right. He didn’t know much about her other than she’d started working for one of the top sports agencies right out of college, apprenticed with one of the best agents, and pushed her way into getting her own clients by the time she was twenty-three. Right off the bat she’d signed some pretty impressive figures. Since then she’d picked up a portfolio of some of the best the sports world had to offer in a wide variety of sports—athletes from football, baseball, hockey, basketball, tennis, and NASCAR. She was known as an agent and public relations magician, and she was highly sought after. Athletes came to her, not the other way around.

But losing someone as high profile as Mick had hurt her, put a dent in her credibility. He wondered how much.

Actually, he wondered a lot about her, realized he knew nothing about her personal life at all. He’d never bothered to ask.

“Where did you grow up, Elizabeth?”

She didn’t answer right away, instead took a long swallow of beer. “Arkansas.”

His brows rose. “Really? For some reason I thought you grew up in the East.”

“You thought wrong.”

He sat on the chair across from the swing and tipped his beer to his lips. “Where in Arkansas?”

“A small town. You wouldn’t even recognize the name if I told you.”

“You’re a small-town girl? I never would have believed it. You have big city written all over you.”

“People can change who they are, reinvent themselves.”

“Is that what you did?”

She lifted her gaze to his. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to get away from the girl who grew up in Arkansas and become someone else.”

“Who were you back then that was so bad?”

“I don’t want to talk about this, Gavin.”

She swirled her thumb over the top of the bottle. It was obvious she was uncomfortable talking about her past. But something made him push.

“Why not? Everything we are today is partly due to who we were back then. I want to know about you.”

“Why? Why does it matter? We’re just f**king. You don’t need to know me.”

“We’re not just f**king. We’re talking. We’re spending time together.”

She laid the bottle down and came over to him, leaned against him and smoothed her hand down his arm. “I’d rather just fuck.”

He could push her to answer his questions. She’d cave eventually. But her scent was hot and sexy, and her br**sts were pressed against his chest, and okay, they were just f**king. He didn’t know why he was curious about her past.

Right now he was curious how far she was willing to go to make him forget the questions he wanted to ask about her.

She smoothed her hands down his arms and over his chest. “I love the way you feel, Gavin, the way you smell.” She raised up and pressed her lips to his neck, so she could stroke her tongue across his throat. His pulse kicked up a fast beat. He liked her mouth and he wasn’t a passive kind of guy, so he swept his hand behind her head and kissed her, tasting beer and mint.

The late afternoon sun beat down on his back. Sweat gathered and slid down his spine, but he wasn’t about to move, not when he had a beautiful, sexy woman sliding her hand into his shorts and winding her fingers around his hard cock.