Finally he got there. She stood exactly as he’d seen her from the pitch. A slim figure at the window in a navy dress with her hair sleek. Motionless, she gazed out at the mad weather. She couldn’t have heard his footsteps over the din of the ice dump. He walked up behind her but kept an inch of space between them, not wanting to get her beautiful outfit all wet. But he reached out and placed his hands over hers, pressed them ever so slightly harder on the glass.
She didn’t even flinch—she was that tense already, her muscles couldn’t tighten more. So she had sensed him.
‘Where are the boys?’ Despite the hail hammering the steel roof, he heard her quiet whisper.
‘With Andrew. Going to watch a DVD.’
‘Shouldn’t you be with them?’
‘In a minute.’
He took half that minute to catch his breath. His chest ached as if he’d been working out for hours. But he hadn’t; they’d hardly started. Which was how he felt about him and Lena.
‘It’s a big storm out there,’ she murmured.
‘Bigger one in here.’
She trembled—some emotion shivered through her from top to toe. Then he felt her force it to stop, tension locking her body still. He couldn’t help himself, pressed a kiss to the juncture of her neck and shoulder.
‘Not here.’ Her whisper was a plea. A revelation of torment.
He felt another convulsion of her hands beneath his and realised that the resistance emanating from her wasn’t against him, but herself. She was holding herself back.
He breathed deeper to contain the fierce reaction within himself. The things he wanted to do now—to press forward and pin her in place, to slide his hands beneath her dress, to get within her warmth as deeply and as quickly as possible. But as much as he wanted to, he wasn’t going to drag her off for some two-second quickie in a cleaning cupboard. Not here, not now. They both had jobs to do. They both had to concentrate. And he’d meant what he’d said. He wanted more than one night. He wanted more than the frisky play they’d had the other day.
He wanted time. But that time wasn’t now.
‘Have dinner with me,’ he said, unable to release her yet.
This time the small ripple within her was amusement. ‘Is that what you call it?’
He’d heard her talk to the players, to the boys. He’d seen her do her stadium thing several times. He’d sparred with her, he’d had awesome sex with her. And her beauty, her knowledge, her enthusiasm and her professionalism all impressed him. But it was the laugh that felled him. Every time.
But he really meant for them to eat tonight, to converse. Because the snatches of flirt talk they’d shared so far weren’t enough.
‘I’ll wait for you after work.’ He forced himself to peel his hands off hers and stepped back. Beneath his ribs he still ached; he didn’t stop to analyse why. All that mattered was seeing her and securing something more.
Lena bent her head, resting her forehead on the glass; it didn’t ease her fever. She turned, pressing her spine against the pane. He was already at the end of the corridor, determinedly walking away and saving her from committing the cardinal workplace sin of having sex on-site. Because if he’d stayed a second longer, she’d have been begging him to. She couldn’t fight it any more.
He was waiting for her outside her office at home time. They walked down to his car and he drove them straight into town.
‘I am starving,’ he said, pulling into a park that looked three metres too small for his car.
‘We’re really going out?’ Lena released the breath from her bursting lungs. She’d been expecting the screech of car metal pranging but the guy seemed to know exactly how close to the edge he could go.
‘What did you think I meant by “have dinner with me”?’ His eyes twinkled as he waited for her on the footpath and then walked along with her.
‘You know your track record speaks for itself.’
He just smiled. ‘Are you okay with Japanese?’ He opened a door with a flourish.
‘Sure.’ She breathed deeply as she walked into the exquisite interior. She’d never been there before, but she’d heard of it. It wasn’t a restaurant, but a gastronomic mecca for those with overloaded wallets. Even the tiniest piece of sushi was rumoured to have a double-figured price tag.
The table was already booked, one at the back with the best view out of the window and the most privacy. His planning was nice, not that she’d read anything into it. He wined and dined the city’s most beautiful. They would expect to come to an exclusive eatery like this. It wasn’t that he was doing anything special just for her. But she would still enjoy it.
Despite the conspicuous lack of prices on the menu, Seth had no hesitation in ordering what seemed like a million dishes. They came out, one after the other, and Lena had to admit she could see why the place was famous.
‘Fresh enough for you?’ he teased as she tucked in.
‘So fresh it’s almost still swimming.’ She giggled, snaffling another divine piece of sashimi. She sat back to savour it—both the food and the company. ‘How’s it going with the boys?’ she asked him. ‘Do you think it’s helping?’
She listened as he talked through the highs and lows of the week so far. Asked him about previous ones. It turned out he was still in contact with several of his old ‘graduates’. He’d even employed a couple of them. Another couple had actually gone to university. She suspected he was financially supporting them through it, but he didn’t admit to that.
Both the food and the minutes disappeared as they talked. The conversation meandered easily, their laughter light and frequent. In part she was more relaxed than she’d ever been with him. In another part of her, the tension was only winding tighter. Inexorably its insistence grew—the pressure building, becoming louder and louder until it was suddenly the only thing she could hear. She looked at him, falling silent as she recognised the same tension banked in his eyes. It was that appetite that needed to be sated now.
‘You’re ready?’ He broke the stillness with one of his multi-meaning questions.
‘Yes.’
As they wound their way towards the exit, a light, delighted voice called, ‘Seth!’
Another diner walked over to where she and Seth had stopped near the door.
‘Hi, Rachel,’ he greeted her with a broad smile, an arm around the waist and a kiss on the cheek.
Lena smiled through the introductions, listened to them briefly chat about people and places she didn’t know. She tried not to stare at the woman, but did anyway. Thoughts tumbled and tormented. Seth was smiling and chatting to Rachel the same as he’d smiled and chatted with the dancers last night—all suave and charming. Only, Rachel was watching him attentively, was more familiar with him, as if she’d been the recipient of other intimacies. One of those willowy types with expensive clothes, she was all class. Not just beautiful, but smart, too. Refined.
Lena knew it was only a matter of time. She knew what to expect. Seth was with no one woman for long and it was better to be prepared—then it wouldn’t hurt, right? She breathed out to ease the twisting knots in her stomach. Another tension entwined with the one that had been driving her. But hadn’t she planned to be with him on her terms? Maybe she should set her terms out clearly. If she was going to be with a sophisticated playboy, then she needed to be sophisticated herself.
She smiled as Seth said goodbye to beautiful Rachel, smiled as the blonde insisted he call her sometime, and maintained that sophisticated smile as she bit the inside of her lip and refused to mention the woman once they were alone.
They didn’t discuss anything as Seth drove to her apartment. Nor did they say anything as he accompanied her in, his hand tightly clasping hers. It was only once the door was shut and l
ocked with them inside that one of them broke the silence.
It was Seth. He framed her face, lifting it to his. ‘Lena.’
He kissed her with the kind of intensity that overwhelmed her. So good. His touch made her feel so exquisitely good. Somehow they were in her bedroom already, somehow they were naked already, somehow she was feeling more than she meant to—not just physical excitement. And that could not be good.
She closed her eyes, that other tension sharpening. Her surging emotions made her vulnerable and her rearguard defence snapped to attention. She might have agreed to his more-than-once insistence, but she was determined to guide the path they were taking. She’d be sophisticated; she’d manage how this played out.
‘This is just sex,’ she said firmly. ‘Nothing else. Not even a fling or anything, okay? We’re just fixing the need. It’s just a series of one-night stands.’
She could feel his smile as he kissed her shoulder. ‘You’re still trying to limit this?’
‘It’s not like you want anything more, either. And it’s—’ she hesitated for a second and then quickly said it ‘—not exclusive.’
He went very still. ‘What did you just say?’
‘You heard.’
He still didn’t move and she swallowed, trying to moisten her sandpaper throat before repeating herself. ‘Not exclusive.’
He looked up, his hot eyes stripped of humour—furious. He moved quickly, rising to straddle her, his hands on either side of her head.
‘You’re a very attractive man and I’d rather not be lied to.’ She defended her position in a rush. Suddenly incensed because she knew it was inevitable anyway. She’d seen how that woman had looked at him. He was a temptation to any woman. ‘I have no claim on you.’
‘No, you understand this,’ he said, leaning closer over her, utterly using his size to assert his dominance. ‘I don’t want to be lied to, either. I might not offer commitment, but I’m all for exclusivity. No lies, no betrayal. No one else until this is over.’