Seduce Me Read online

  “Thanks.” He pointed to an envelope of photos lying on the coffee table. “Cole was kind enough to take pictures of me falling all over myself learning to surf, and then even kinder to give them to me.” Opening the envelope, he flipped through the humiliating shots of him tumbling into the water, being tortured by the waves, and pulled out the one he loved. “This one is going on the wall soon as I get it enlarged.”

  She stared up at him and then took the picture. “It’s of us.”

  “Yep.” It’d been taken after surfing, so he wore only his swimming trunks, and Sam was in that black bikini he had an extremely soft—make that hard—spot for. When Cole had lifted the camera, Sam had started to pull away, but he’d slipped his arm around her. Turning back to him, she’d offered such a sweet, beautifully affectionate smile his heart had melted, and he’d offered her one back. Cole had snapped the shot.

  “You’re going to put us on your wall with all your friends and family?”

  “What, you’re not my friend?”

  Her mouth shut, and with a frown, she stared down at the picture. “I thought…”

  “What?”

  She handed him back the picture, and turned her back. “Playing. We’re playing. I taught you to surf, now we’re going to play ball. Where’s the hoop? I’m sure you’ve got a state-of-the-art one somewhere in here.”

  So she wanted to go at it like that, like they had nothing going on here, nothing at all. Fine. But suddenly he was far less happy with this no-commitment thing than he’d imagined. “Out here.” Through the kitchen, the laundry room and outside to the backyard, where beyond the Olympic-size pool was a basketball court.

  She stared at the asphalt, which had cracked last year and now had a few daisies popping up here and there. Then she looked at the regulation-height hoops draped with baskets, one of which had torn in his last fierce battle with some friends. “This is like…street ball.”

  He grinned broadly. “Yeah. Don’t you love it?”

  “But…where’s the expensive wood floor, the custom paint job, the fancy baskets and hoops?”

  He stepped close, tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear and then cupped his fingers around her jaw until she looked at him. “I didn’t grow up in a house like this, you know. I grew up in a regular neighborhood, playing basketball in the street. I like to play it that way. This way.”

  “Oh.” She smiled, but it slowly faded. “Jack…”

  “No.” He shook his head. “You’re not changing your mind.”

  She closed her eyes. “I don’t want this to end. But if I stay, if we play, we’re not going to stop there. And then tomorrow, it’ll all be over.”

  “I’m confused.” He ran a finger over her creamy shoulder. “How will it be over?”

  “Because I’ll be tired of you. I’m always tired of a guy after sex.”

  He grinned, and shook his head. “But you haven’t had sex with me.”

  “Jack—”

  His grin faded. “You’re serious. You want to leave now so that we won’t have sex and you can keep seeing me.”

  She nodded miserably.

  “We each have a past,” he said slowly. “A lot of yours is tragic, and I wish I could change it for you, but as far as past relationships, none of them should factor here. This thing between us is different. Original.”

  “And scary.”

  “And scary,” he agreed. “But I don’t care, and I’m surprised you do.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means I thought you had guts and determination and grit, from that first night. I looked at you and saw—”

  “A beach bum?”

  “A woman I wanted to get to know more, and as I did, I learned how strong you were, what a beautiful outlook you had after that crappy hand Fate dealt you. You played anyway, and won.” Stepping close, he put his hands on her arms and ran them slowly up and down as if he could warm her, soften her. Make her see what he saw. “You won. I love that about you, Sam. You live as you are, as you want. Damn, if that isn’t one of the hottest things about you. You bid on lessons with me because you wanted it. You wanted me. If you’ve changed your mind because you’ve lost your nerve, then I don’t know you at all.”

  That got a rise out of her. “Is that right?”

  “Yeah. Now are you in or not?”

  She took a long look around and then met his challenging gaze. An ironic smile touched her lips. “You have a way of putting things.”

  “Don’t I?”

  “Well, it would be stupid to waste all that money.”

  He smiled. “Yep.”

  “Besides…” Now she stepped away from him, rolling her head on her shoulders, warming up. “I’m going to kick your ass.”

  “I thought this was a lesson.”

  “How about a game, instead?”

  “But…” He had to laugh. “I’m a pro.”

  “Ex-pro.” She unzipped her sweatshirt, and let it fall. “And not in street ball.”

  She wore two tank tops, a light blue one over a white one, both thin enough that her breasts were perfectly outlined. Perfect handfuls.

  His palms suddenly itched.

  She put on her socks, then took her shoes from him and slipped into them. She stood, her hands on the hips of her surfer shorts, which cracked him up. She lifted a brow. “Bring it on.”

  “Some fighting words right there.”

  She let out a slow smile that just about did him in. “Yep.”

  “Half-court?”

  A sound of irritation sounded from her. “Full.”

  “Single point baskets to five?”

  “Eleven. And we’ll call our own fouls.”

  Fouls. So this was going to get rough, was it? “Don’t you want a handicap?”

  “Well, if you’re offering.” She shot him a smile that fried his brain cells. “I go to five, you to eleven?”

  Her fingers were playing with the tiny little straps on one shoulder, almost nudging them off, and he lost his train of thought.

  “Jack?”

  “Sure.” How hard would it be to beat her? He grabbed a ball from his ball stand, but she snagged it out of his hands and started dribbling down the court away from him.

  And then executed the most out-of-step, awkward layup he’d ever seen…and made the shot.

  Twirling around she shot him a cocky grin.

  He laughed. “I guess we’ve started.”

  “Yeah. One zip. Want to up the stakes?”

  She was hot as hell, standing on the court with that sexy little smile. He’d probably trip over his own tongue playing her, but she couldn’t possibly beat him. “Sure.”

  “Winner picks their prize.”

  He was going to trip over his own tongue right this second. “Anything?”

  She batted her lashes, and a groaning laugh escaped him because she was teasing him; she couldn’t be serious—

  “Anything,” she said.

  “You’re on.” Whether it was taking advantage or not, he would win, and he would claim his prize. In his bed.

  “Ready?” She dribbled slowly and easily, making a classic rookie mistake by letting the ball get too far away from her body.

  An entire night with her…

  The steal was easy, and he jogged down the court away from her, making a layup that would have had any basketball fan sighing in pure pleasure.

  Then turned to face her as he tossed her the ball. “One all. Your ball.”

  SAM TOOK THE BALL and, being the fast study she was, dribbled closer to her body this time, eyeing her opponent carefully. He looked so fierce standing there blocking her, so intense.

  He wanted to win, badly. Hmm, Sam thought, wonder what he has in mind for a prize?

  The thought made her want to grin, but she held it in. Because she wanted to win, too. Yes, she’d had a moment when she’d wanted to back out and run like hell, but he’d been right. She needed to see this out, at least for the night. She owed that to bot