A middle-aged woman was just turning the Closed sign face out on the flower-store door when Dominic double parked his car in front. She shook her head as if to say "sorry."
Dominic put his hands together in front of his chest, giving her a charming grin and a persuasive glint of his eyes.
She shook her head and laughed, then opened the door. "Come in," she said in a lilting Irish accent.
"Thank you," he said, full of gratitude at her kindness.
She chuckled. "Just so you know, I'm not doing this for you because you're a famous man who plays with balls."
"Whatever the reason, I really appreciate it."
She nodded. "My son watches your games every weekend. When he grows up, he wants to run around and get sweaty and dirty just like you." While she spoke, she pulled various flowers and greens out of plastic buckets. When she returned to her wooden worktop, she nimbly arranged the stunning bouquet. "You badly need these flowers, don't you?"
"I do," he admitted. "They're for a very special woman." It felt good to say the words aloud--not just to the woman but to himself, as well.
She turned her attention back to the thin pur ple ribbon she was tying around the stems. "1 know she is. And that's why 1 decided to make you this bouquet." She handed it to him, waving away his credit card. "You have the eyes of a man very much in love."
The woman's statement knocked around inside Dominic. He felt like she was one step ahead of him. And that she was right.
"You must tell her," she said. "Tonight, when you give her these flowers."
Again, she was correct. He'd screwed up far too many times with Melissa. It was time to do something right.
"I will."
It had taken him thirty-six years to find his perfect mate, and he wasn't going to wait another day to make her his.
He parked in front of Melissa's apartment building, his heart pounding hard and fast. Women had always come so easily to him that he'd never had to put himself out on the line before.
Would she even consider loving him once he revealed the secret he'd hidden from everyone for so long?
He rang her doorbell. The seconds ticked by without a response. Had something happened to her? He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. Her phone rang and rang, and he hung up when he got her voice mail. Something was wrong. He could feel it.
He sat down on the top step. He needed to calm down and think about the situation calmly. In all likelihood, JP was forcing her to sit in his living room and watch every game he'd ever played. The thought brought a lopsided smile to Dominic's face. He'd gotten the sense that she was none too impressed with JP's playing. And why would she be, since it was mostly showboating?
He was just standing up when a Hummer limo rounded the corner, loud rock music blasting from the open sun roofs. Dominic's mouth tightened. He wasn't surprised when the limo stopped in front of Melissa's apartment building and two barely dressed blondes stepped out. He also wasn't surprised that he wanted to wrap his hands around JP's neck, and that he didn't care whether the little pipsqueak lived.
JP hopped out onto the pavement, pulling Melissa along with him. "Well, well, well," JP smirked, looking damn pleased. "Who would've thought we'd find the great Dominic DiMarco hanging out in Noe Valley?"
Melissa's mouth was tight, her eyes wary. "What are you doing here, Dominic?" She looked at the flowers and her lips formed a small O. She dragged her gaze away from the bright arrangement and back at him. "I'm assisting JP tonight. You knew that."
JP snapped his fingers. "I've got a killer idea. Why don't you come out with us tonight, old man? You can show us your retro moves."
Melissa shot JP a killer glare. "Dominic is busy." She gestured to the flowers. "I'm sure he has a date tonight."
Didn't she realize they were on the verge of something really special? He needed to keep an eye on JP--and any other guy who tried to move in on his territory. Once he got her alone, he'd say those three important words.
"A night out sounds good," he agreed.
Melissa stomped up the stairs and pushed him aside to unlock the front door. "I don't want you to go," she hissed.
"Why not?" He enjoyed the way the tiny hairs on her arm stood up when he put his hand on the small of her back to guide her inside. "Are you afraid we'll do something crazy tonight in front of everyone? In front of JP?"
JP followed with his arms around the two groupies. "I bet you girls are excited about meeting another Outlaw, huh?"
One of the girls stared blatantly at Dominic's crotch. "I certainly am."
"Hey, Dom," JP said, "meet Jilly and Judy. They always come as a pair."
JP's pun wasn't exactly a shocker. Dominic had met dozens of women over the years who got into athletes' beds by promising a hot threesome. Some guys even bragged about scoring with three or four women at a time. But that had never been Dominic's style. When he was with a woman he gave her his complete attention.
He held up his hand. "Nice to meet you," he said, as they went down the hall to Melissa's apartment. Yet again, he noted her warm, colorful style.
"If I'd known you all were going to come over," she muttered, "I would have cleaned."
A small stack of dishes sat in the sink and a sweater lay over the arm of the couch, but her apartment wasn't messy. It was lived in. It was just the way he wanted his condo to look--with Melissa's shoes kicked off by the front door, her mail on the kitchen counter, her keys tossed into a bowl on the entry table.
JP and his girls headed for her bedroom without asking permission.
"I'm going to teach him a lesson about manners," Dominic growled.
Melissa put her hand on his arm. "Don't," she said. "He doesn't mean any harm."
Dominic moved closer to her, backing her up against the front door. "You're wrong," he warned, his mouth close to hers. "He does."
JP called out from down the hall, "Where do you keep your sexy clothes? We can't find any in this closet."
She shoved Dominic away, her cheeks flushed. "JP's my client. I'm getting to know him." Her eyes flashed a challenge. "I need him, Dominic. You know I do. Don't screw this up for me."
Dominic watched her head down to her bedroom. Somehow, he was going to have to keep his hands off her tonight.
And his fists off JP's face.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sitting in the hottest club in the city, surrounded by beautiful women and hot men, Melissa felt utterly out of her element.
JP had a girl on each thigh, both trying desperately to win his attention. Melissa felt sorry for the groupies. Didn't they see that the more they vied for JP's attention, the less they got of it?
"Hey, Dom," JP said, "aren't you thirsty?"
While everyone else at the table was putting back bubbly like it was a dollar a bottle rather than a hundred, Dominic stuck with sparkling water.
"I'd rather win than drink," was his short reply.
Melissa hid her grin. It wouldn't do for JP to think she was taking sides, but he could learn a thing or two from Dominic.
The groupies had tried to cling to Dominic like Saran Wrap, but he was a forbidding, big, dark package when he wanted to be. And he was downright scary tonight. Any playfulness had been replaced by fierceness.
And damn if it didn't turn her on like crazy.
JP grinned at Melissa. "Having fun?"
She nodded. "This is great. Lots of fun." For added impact, she took a sip of her champagne. She envisioned years of accompanying JP on the party circuit, and shuddered with distaste. Not exactly what she had in mind when she'd gotten her MBA. Maybe she could hire a cute, young assistant to take over this aspect of the job. She'd rather be on her couch under a blanket in front of the TV.
The music in the club changed from quick and driving to slow and sensual. Her pulse thrummed beneath her skin, and Dominic's eyes moved to her throat.
She stared into her fizzing champagne, unable to fight the fantasy of Dominic asking her to dance. Then someone was taking her hands in
his, but although the hands were big and strong, they belonged to the wrong man.
JP pulled her up out of her chair. "Show me what you've got."
"No. This is a bad idea," she said. "I get it if you're scared."
A challenge lay behind JP's words, and she knew that he was asking if she was tough enough to represent him.
She was.
Melissa raised one eyebrow. "You're the one everyone's going to be watching out there," she countered. "So you'd better bring your A game."
He threw his head back and laughed. "You look like a pussycat," he said, "but you act like a tiger." JP shot a loaded look at Dominic. "Watch closely, old man, and you just might learn something."
When JP pulled her close against his body, Melissa was so shocked she lost her words.
"You're not like those other girls," he murmured in what she assumed was supposed to be his sexy voice.
She forced a smile at his compliment and put a couple more inches of air between them.
"You're smart and sexy," he added.
"I'm also your agent. We need to talk about professional boundaries."
"Don't talk," he interrupted her. "Just feel."
She wasn't feeling it, and she didn't think he was, either. This was just part of his "I'm so bad" act.
"I have to pee," she said loudly into his ear.
JP jumped back several inches. "Damn, you sure know how to ruin a moment."
She turned and headed toward what she hoped were the bathrooms. Pushing aside a thick red velvet curtain, she found a perfect hiding spot.
But before she could get too comfortable, her skin began to buzz with awareness. What the hell? She reacted like this only around Dominic.
A moment too late, she realized that Dominic had followed her behind the red curtain.
And he looked every inch the warrior.
Like a man who would die in battle for his woman in a heartbeat.
"Dominic," Melissa said in a breathy voice that spoke straight to his cock.
He advanced on her, backing her into the wall, and put one hand on either side of her face. "We're leaving," he said. "Now." He knew better than to boss a woman around, especially a strong-willed woman like Melissa. But he couldn't control his mouth any more than he could control his body.
She stared at him without blinking. "No." His mouth tightened, his gaze dropping to her full, red lips. "You have two choices," he said in a low voice, not taking his eyes from her mouth.
Her tongue shot into the sweet corner where her lips came together. "I'll do what I want," she whispered.
Sweet lord, her words sounded like a come-on. He knew they couldn't be, not when he was being an overbearing, horny prick--but his cock didn't care, growing to an impossible size beneath his zipper.
"Choice one," he said, "we leave this minute and I take you home. Choice two: I take you right here, right now, like this. Against the wall in the back of the club."
Her breath came out in a whoosh. What Dominic read in her face was that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
"You wouldn't dare," she challenged, her words raw with need.
He leaned in close, his mouth less than an inch from her ear. "Choice two it is." Then his mouth was on hers, his hands pulling up her dress.
But even in the insanity of his desire, no matter how much her body sang its need for his touch, he needed her to agree before he took things further.
He pulled back just enough to look down into her flushed face. God, she was beautiful. The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. The words I love you rushed to the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't say them here. Not until they were alone. "Say the word, and I'll leave you alone." His heart pounded hard as he waited for her decision. He wouldn't use I love you to get her to agree to have sex with him in public.
"I can't," she said in a harsh whisper. "I can't let you go."
He didn't need to hear anything else. Her mouth tasted like sugar and grapes as their tongues tan gled together. Their previous lovemaking had been extraordinary, but now ecstasy warred with violence as her hands pulled and scraped at his clothes, ripping the inside seams of his jacket, her fingernails scratching his skin as she pulled him harder against her body.
Dominic knew his own strength and held on to it tightly at all times--in both anger and passion--but when Melissa's teeth nipped at his mouth, his jaw, his neck, he lost his grip.
In a millisecond her ass was in his hands and her skirt was up around her hips. Their pelvises ground hard against each other's and he felt her oncoming orgasm a moment before she did, working his finger between their bodies, rubbing it over her clit, the slick folds of her pussy, and then all the way inside her as her muscles clenched and pulled at him.
He had to get in there, now. Seconds later, his pants were unzipped and a condom was on and his shaft was pressing into her heat. She moaned his name and it sounded almost like a curse as he pushed high and hard into her, stretching her wide. She smelled like sex and she tasted like sex, and it wouldn't have mattered if someone had walked in just then--he wouldn't have been able to stop fucking her.
She held on to his neck, and with her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, he moved his hands from her sweet, round ass to cup her face. She rode him hard, using her strong thigh muscles to plunge up and down on his cock. Her skin grew damp with exertion, and he roared his pleasure into her mouth, his cock throbbing and pulsing into her heat.
With surprising strength, she pushed away from his body and rapidly adjusted her clothes, her eyes cast down. She was shutting him out.
"Did I hurt you?" he asked, hating the thought of harming her in anyway.
"No. I'm fine. Everything's fine. I need to get back out there. JP is going to wonder what happened to us."
And although Dominic was famed for his lightning-quick reactions on the field, he stood still as a stone as he watched her walk back through the red curtain.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Melissa blinked into the neon lights surrounding the dance floor as she emerged from the darkness. She didn't know how long she'd been gone, how long she'd been riding Dominic's huge cock, but in those minutes everything had changed. She had changed.
She'd never thought of herself as ballsy, but she'd assumed at least she knew her own mind. She'd thought she was strong enough to risk a dangerous desire, but she was wrong. She was incapable of resisting Dominic.
She was so damn angry! Angry at herself for being weak, angry with Dominic for making her want so much more than she could have, for showing her possibilities no other man could ever live up to.
JP crooked a finger at her from the dance floor while gyrating his hips seductively. Feeling Dominic emerge behind her, she allowed her hips to sway back and forth in rhythm to the music. She wanted to lose herself in the music, in the darkness, in the strangers all around her.
She moved to join JP on the dance floor and let him pull her against him. She was safe with him. As long as JP was by her side, Dominic couldn't overtake her soul with his sensuality.
Sure, he demanded, but she was the one who delivered, who couldn't say no.
Her skin grew damp as she danced. She was exhausted from too little sleep and too much sex, but there was safety in numbers on the dance floor.
Finally, JP whispered in her ear, "It's time to go home now."
She shook her head. "No."
Going home meant time to think about Dominic. Time to admit how weak she was.
"They're locking up and kicking us out," JP said as he pushed her toward the door. "Warrior man over there has been glaring at us for the past four hours."
Dominic was standing by the front door with his muscular arms crossed over his chest.
As the distance closed between her and Dominic, she moved closer to JP to stay away from temptation.
Dominic's face was a dark cloud, his eyes black with fury.
She deliberately smiled at JP. "Thank you for an incredible night."
Dominic had al
ways been a calm, solid presence on a team full of unpredictable men. But now he looked anything but: his fists were tight, his jaw locked, his eyes narrowed.
She didn't care. Now it's your turn. I hope you're jealous. It was the only power she had over him.
As the blocks ticked away and they drew closer to her apartment, her breathing grew shallow.
She needed to find a subtle way to convince JP to guard her until Dominic got out of the limo and drove away in his Viper. The limo stopped and she said, "JP, I just remembered that we need to discuss a couple of important issues tonight. Do you have a few minutes?"
Dominic remained in his seat in the limo, obviously intent on waiting for her to finish her "business" with JP. No matter how long it took. Or how lame it was.
JP stretched and yawned, his arms ending up around the girls cuddled against him. "I'm too tired. Let's talk tomorrow."
Damn it, he clearly didn't have her back. But then it wasn't his job to protect her from Dominic, who had just stepped out of the limo and was holding the door open for her to make her way past JP's girls. As she stepped out onto the sidewalk, Dominic closed the limo door with an ominous click and it sped away.
"We need to talk," he said in a hard voice.
"Fine," she said, her response clipped and edgy as she rummaged through her bag for her keys.
He followed her silently up the stairs and down the long hall to her door. As she hung her keys on the hook in her foyer, Dominic closed the door behind him.
"Are you thinking straight? What the hell were you doing out there tonight?"
She went on the offensive. "If you're referring to sleeping with you in every possible location through the city this week, no--I definitely am not thinking straight."
"I'm not talking about us," he said in a low, dangerous voice. "I'm talking about JP. Don't you realize you're ruining your career before it even begins? We all saw you and JP out there tonight. The way you were letting him touch you."
Melissa couldn't believe what she was hearing. "We were only dancing together. He went to his harem for other fun."
"No--he wants you. They all do. Someone needs to warn you, before it's too late and you lose everything you've worked for."
Melissa pushed her finger into his hard chest. "I can't believe you actually have the nerve to warn me about JP's motives!" He was the one breaking all the rules, not JP.