“Of course he didn’t,” Joe half snorted. Keeping her close, he turned and walked them out of the room into the quieter corridor.
“I really was doing okay.” Not that she wanted to do any better, mind. But that wasn’t the point.
Joe shook his head. “No trying to run before you can walk.”
“Pardon?” She bridled, but was glad to get out of the crowded, wicked-hot room.
Joe walked her farther along and then into a doorway on the opposite side of the corridor. Abbi frowned as she took in the small room.
“You were making it too easy for him.”
“Too easy?” Her jaw dropped and she whirled back to face Joe, who was now leaning against the door he’d just shut. A burst of anger sizzled in her veins. “Maybe I wanted easy.”
Fire flashed in his green eyes.
“Maybe all I wanted was to touch first base,” she said rashly. “You can’t hit a home run without rounding first base.”
“No?” He reached out in a swift movement, his hands descending on her waist and he tugged her toward him. “Let’s talk first base, shall we?” His eyes locked on her lips. “I don’t see first base as exciting.”
“No?” Heart tripping, Abbi looked up at him, carefully pressing her palms on his chest and determinedly not licking her lips—no matter how dry and needy they felt. First base sounded like a great idea to her. His lips on hers? His tongue?
“No. Here’s why I prefer basketball—”
“You’re saying that in baseball HQ?” she interrupted, unable to restrain a small laugh.
“I don’t mind taking risks,” he answered, his grin chasing away the intense expression of a second ago. “And the thing I like about basketball is the creativity it offers the players. I can go for the behind-the-back pass, jump over, strip, swipe, tip in… I think it’s more fun when you don’t know where the player is going to go…as opposed to boring old ‘first base.’”
Huh. “Okay…” She could go with the creative idea. Anticipation licked through her. “So what’s your favorite move?”
“I have several.” His hands firm on her waist, he turned her like they were dancing, swapping their positions so suddenly she was the one with her back to the door and he was right in front of her.
Several? Of course he did.
He let go of her and braced his hands on the door on either side of her. “I like to be unpredictable.”
“I bet you do,” she whispered. She had no problem maintaining eye contact now. Nadia would be proud of her.
Except it was more than the four seconds. She’d descended into stalker stare. But there was no tearing her gaze from his.
He leaned over her, bending to bring his big body devastatingly close. “What is it you’re after here? To have sex as soon as possible, or to be so alluring you have every guy present hanging on your every word?”
Uh, what other guys were present? There was only one guy in here. Joe. So, duh. With him? Have sex as soon as possible. There was much she could learn from him, right? And it was all about learning…
He stared at her. “Abbi?”
She swallowed.
He lifted a hand and ran a featherlight finger across her lower lip. Abbi’s blood rushed, making her lips full and hot.
His lips quirked. “You’re that hungry?”
His fingers dropped from her mouth, landing firmly on her thigh, swiftly, easily sliding upward, inward.
Abbi sucked in a shocked breath. “We…uh…shouldn’t…” she barely whispered.
“Sure we should…” He pressed in closer to the door, partly turning to rest his shoulder against the wood, but keeping his body angled in toward hers enough to keep her his prisoner.
His willing prisoner, what with his hand working its way up to where she was already wet. Stunned, she watched him, waited. Ached.
“We’re alone,” he pointed out oh-so-not-innocently.
And he was so close. So big. And in an instant she wanted everything.
“You check all the venues for private places?” she asked, trying to stay coherent in spite of the boldness—the brilliance—of his moves.
Oh man, his fingers slid higher, firmer up her thigh. He was gazing so hotly, so deeply into her eyes. He was so damn close, and suddenly so was she. She just had to rock her hips that little bit.
“I know my way around sports facilities,” he said softly, not stopping the skillful slide of his fingers, not lessening his intensity one degree. “There are always small meeting rooms in the corporate entertainment area.”
She wasn’t really listening. She was looking—those eyes, that height, the sheer, overwhelming masculinity of him.
And she was feeling. A firm touch. Bold, knowing, teasing. He stroked her inner thigh. Teased his way higher. She drew in another sharp breath, watched the intense darkness swallow his emerald irises. Beautiful man.
“So we’re…having a meeting?” She swallowed, heat billowing over her. She felt like they were lost in a heated fog, only the two of them.
“We’re having a moment.”
Oh, they were. And she wanted it. She’d been wanting it all day. Succumbing to temptation, to that overwhelming heat, she spread her legs just the slightest, allowing him greater access—fully regretting the trousers. If only she’d gone with a skirt, he could have her panties off already.
But even as he pressed at the uppermost point between her thighs, she closed her legs and clenched on him, imprisoning his hand. This couldn’t happen. Not here. Not now. There were people just on the other side of the door. Thousands of people. And this was Joe Fuller—wanting to touch her?
“So tense. So busy thinking,” he chided. “You really need to relax.”
“Touching me like…that…here isn’t going to help me relax.” She didn’t do this. Didn’t get turned on in a heartbeat. Didn’t want all kinds of wicked without any thought to what might happen later.
“Sure it is.”
Even with the limited room she’d given him to move, he hit her groove with his middle finger and pressed his thumb on her clit. Yeah, even blinded by clothing, the man knew his way around the female form. She shivered as a tremor of pleasure racked her. She looked up and was caught again. Watching her intently, that half smile twisting his lips, he ever so cleverly stroked his fingers. Need jackknifed through her. She felt nothing but the raw desire to open up and allow him in as far as he could go.
He was a man-mountain. Taller than anyone else she’d ever met. And she wanted to hang on and wrap her legs around him. Instead, she curled her fingers into tight, needy fists. This so couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t be about to—
“You’re damn hot,” he whispered, his fingers rubbing faster against her as she rocked her hips in time to meet his rough hand.
Oh, she was. Burning up.
She rested her head back against the door as he stroked her. Speechless, and breathless, she ached for more of his touches.
This was crazy. But still it wasn’t enough.
Feverish, she closed her eyes and rocked her hips on his fast-flicking hand. Damn, why wasn’t she naked? Why wasn’t he inside her already?
; More. More. She needed more of his infuriating, delicious teasing.
“Look at me.”
She gazed up at him but her vision was glazed over with passion. He was here, all big and strong and touching her—pushing her…
“Stop thinking and let go, Abbi,” he commanded. “Ride it. Ride me.”
He rubbed harder, tipping her over the edge.
O. M. Fucking. G.
She gasped, her concentration turning inward as her body contracted on the waves of ecstasy. But even as she climaxed, she was astounded. She all but squealed with the pleasure and surprise.
So easy. So good.
“Look at that,” he murmured with all the laconic touch of a cliché cowboy. “Sometimes you can hit a home run without touching first base.”
Chapter Five
A little innuendo goes a long way…
Home run? Abbi drew in a stunned breath. She needed more. So much more. She needed the big bat. She needed him naked and thrusting.
She might only have the one chance at this. Ever. And if she didn’t go for it, she’d regret it. “Trying to nail a home run without touching first base? Surely that means it doesn’t count?” She breathed out. “Wouldn’t it be cheating?”
His burning expression turned into something else. But she didn’t have a chance to try to analyze it. He grabbed her waist, pulling her up onto her tiptoes as he bent and crashed his mouth down hard on hers.
First. Fucking. Base.
This was no soft brush of the lips, no tentative teasing first touch. This was hot, demanding. Hard.
She gasped. He instantly took advantage, running his tongue between her parted lips, forcing them farther apart. His tongue swirled into her mouth, licking her inside. Making her want him to work that magic elsewhere.
He lifted her higher and stepped closer, pushing her harder against door with a slight thud, crushing the air from her lungs.
Who was she kidding? She’d stopped breathing minutes ago when he’d looked at her like that. He lifted his head and looked at her again.
The veneer gone, all that remained was lust.
Lust was good.
He let go of her waist and gripped her hands, stopping her from curling them around his neck. Instead he held them out to the side, pinning her to the door and pressing against her. The wood was cold and hard on the backs of her hands. Joe was hot but even harder. His erection dug into her belly.