"I refuse to believe that any of those women by your pool eat. They're all ribs and silicone."
He stared at her. "I don't believe I've ever called those girls sexy, have I?"
She forced herself to swallow. "I guess I just assumed."
"They're not my type."
The noise of the pizza joint fell away and she felt like they were the only people in the room.
"As far back as I can remember, I've had a thing for curvy blondes with big . . ."
Why did he have to be so predictable, such a cavemen?
"Brains." He grinned, then looked down at her amply presented chest. "Although a nice pair of breasts is good too."
She reached out for her soda, trying not to show how pleased she was by his comment. "We all know you're a master at coming on to women," she said, trying to extricate herself from the position she was in. The one where she was about to beg him to take her right then, right there on the table. "Unexpected compliments, focusing on their hidden assets."
Ignoring her sarcasm, he said, "I just want to say one more thing about tonight, and I don't want you to try to turn it around or read anything bad into it, okay?"
She looked up at him and saw sincerity in his eyes. "I'm all ears."
"Your date was an ass. He was crazy for not paying attention to you. And he doesn't deserve you."
His words hung in the air, and Julie could have sworn she heard what he didn't say: And I don't deserve you, either.
Only she was starting to wonder if maybe he did.
Ty bought her an ice cream cone and she enjoyed t more than she should have. If she'd had any sense of self-preservation she would have ended the night long ago, locked herself in her bedroom and forced herself to watch the news or read a book.
But surprisingly, she enjoyed his company. He had a natural charm with his fans. Dozens of people wanted pictures and autographs outside the ice cream parlor. When the two of them finally returned to her home, everything in her world felt like it had been turned upside down.
She couldn't deny the truth any longer. She wanted him. Desperately. Wanted him touching her, kissing her. Wanted him inside her. Her body no longer cared what her brain was telling it or the warning sirens clanging around in her head.
"Thanks for a great night," she said, and she meant it. But she also hoped that he'd know she was trying to say she didn't want it to end.
He reached for her hands, rubbed his thumbs across the sensitive skin. "How about next time we leave your date at home?"
"Okay," she whispered, letting him pull her closer. She hadn't wanted to be kissed this much since she was eighteen, when she saw Ty walking across the deck straight toward her, the embodiment of her crush.
"Good night, Julie," he said, then leaned down and kissed her gently on the cheek.
She stood completely still, her heart sinking like a rock. She watched him walk down the hall into her guest bedroom and close the door with a soft click.
She'd just been turned down by the one man who had never turned down anyone in his life. She'd never felt so stupid, so embarrassed, so senselessly aroused in all her life.
Ty sat down hard on the queen-size bed in the guest room. His hands were shaking. Did Julie have any idea how fucking hard it was for him to keep his hands off of her? How much he wanted to take her right there on the carpet in front of her fireplace?
He couldn't think of the last time he'd been this hard. Blue balls were not something he experienced on a regular basis--until Julie.
Of all the times to decide to act like a goddamned gentleman.
Ty ripped off his shirt, breaking several buttons in his haste. He wanted Julie to know that he could behave appropriately, that he respected her, that he wasn't going to ravage her without wooing her first.
Not that pizza and ice cream were the most romantic things in the world, but they were a hell of a lot better than a boring dinner with the world's most boring guy.
Jeez, what on earth had she seen in that jerk?
It was obvious from looking at the guy that he was wealthy and successful and came from the right side of the tracks. But apart from that, he didn't have anything going for him. Julie could do much better. Didn't she know that?
He turned on ESPN and hit the floor to do some sit-ups.
He hoped Julie was happy with the sacrifice he made in the name of honor tonight. Because he wasn't sure he had it in him to be a gentleman again.
She rolled over on her stomach, then her left side, then her right. She counted to a hundred, then counted back to one, but nothing helped. She couldn't sleep--not with Ty so near. For hours she'd stared at the wall, wished she had X-ray vision, wished she could see what he was wearing, if he was naked. Was he touching himself, was he pretending her lips were on him, her hands?
Again she heard a voice inside her say, Enough! But this time, it wasn't telling her to stop falling for the one man she'd sworn never to have feelings for again. No, this time it said, Go get what you want, what you need. Go on. Go now.
She ripped off her sleep shirt and dug in her lingerie drawer for something lacy. Then she walked out into the hall, to Ty's closed door.
Don't think, the voice urged, just open it.
Slowly, she turned the knob and crept into his room. Moonlight streamed in the bay window, illuminating his perfect form reclined on the bed.
"What took you so long?"
His question was softly sensuous and she instinctively moved toward him.
"I wanted to make you wait," she said, not recognizing her own voice.
"I'm not a patient man," he said, and she smiled.
"Too bad. Tonight we're playing by my rules."
He was lying on his back, his hands propping up his head. "Next time we'll play by mine."
She pulled the sash from her robe and moved slowly to the bed. His magnificent chest was bare and she couldn't resist toying with him, dragging the edge of the pink sash across his tanned expanse of skin.
He growled deep from his chest and reached for her.
She took a step back. "Somehow I didn't think I could trust you to behave yourself. Keep your arms above your head."
His brown eyes followed her as she moved up to the head of the bed. Her open robe revealed a short, tight, and translucent slip.
He hadn't obeyed her command yet, so she threatened, "I can either use this on your eyes or your wrists. Your choice."
A wicked, aroused smile curved his lips. "What if I choose one now, one later?"
"My rules, Ty. Make your choice." She never knew how much she liked being in charge, liked playing the bad girl.
Being with a bad boy like Ty had roused her inner seductress.
"Wrists," he said. "But first, this." He reached up and pulled her slip off over her head, leaving her naked but not the least bit chilled. Everywhere he looked, every place his fingers drifted, was burning up.
Knowing it would drive him crazy, she leaned over him as she tied his arms to the bedpost with the sash. Her breasts swayed over his mouth and she was sorely tempted to drop her nipples into his waiting mouth. But she wanted to tease him, to tantalize him, wanted him to burst with desire for her before she gave in.
His wrists secure, she pulled down the sheets that covered him.
He was blessedly naked. And so incredibly beautiful.
His cock rose up, huge and thick. "I take it you found what you were looking for?"
His words were taunting and yet seductive.
"I can't stop reliving what you did to me yesterday with your hands, your mouth. I can't stop thinking about what it would have been like if the tables had been turned."
He swallowed hard. "Turn them."
She climbed up on the bed and straddled his thighs. "I can't help but wonder if you taste as good as you look."
His voice was strangled. "There's only one way to find out."
She smiled. "Who says jocks aren't smart?"
Slowly leaning down, letting her hair brush against
his abdominal muscles so that they jumped and tightened, she pressed her lips to the tip of his cock. A drop of liquid surfaced and she licked it off in one smooth stroke. Until this moment, Julie had never been a big fan of blow jobs.
Funny how one man could change her opinion about absolutely everything.
She ran her tongue lightly down the long, thick shaft. How had they managed to fit together when she was an eighteen-year-old virgin?
She couldn't wait to find out again.
Without warning, she took him deep into her mouth.
His hips bucked up off the bed and he groaned her name. She loved watching him lose control, loved knowing that she was the woman making it happen.
"Untie me," he growled.
She shook her head. "Not until I'm done with you."
As much as she loved tasting him, giving him pleasure with her tongue and lips, she wanted to feel him deep within her more. Right now.
She moved up his body, put her hands on his chest, and pushed down onto his cock, letting his first thick inch spread her wide open. She'd relived their lovemaking so many times over the past ten years, yet nothing could have possibly lived up to the incredible reality.
"More, Julie. Take more," he urged and she gave in, taking him in another inch. Before she could stop herself, before she could remember to slow down to torture him with longing, she slid all the way down, pressed her pelvic bone against his.
And that was when Julie realized she'd been lying to herself: Having any control over her body where Ty was concerned was impossible. All she wanted was him inside her just like this, hard and pulsing. She couldn't get enough of him, never wanted this bliss to end.
"Untie me," he said again, somewhere between an order and a plea. But before she got the chance, his arm muscles rippled and the fabric ripped in two. Then his hands were on her, and they were everywhere--her breasts, her clitoris, her bottom...an orgasm began to ripple across her breasts, over her stomach, deep in her core.
Julie panted, her hand between her legs, Ty's name on her lips as she came. The sheets were twisted around her, and it took her several moments to realize that she wasn't in her guest bedroom. She was in her own bedroom.
And Ty was still on the other side of the wall.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Julie woke up curled tightly around her extra pillow. Her eyes felt gritty and puffy; the light seemed harsher than usual.
Oh, Lord--while he slept peacefully a bedroom away, she'd been in the throes of a wet dream that had seemed utterly real.
Well. She'd never get through this assignment without a serious dose of positive thinking, so from now on, she'd keep her emotions firmly in check and her mind on the business at hand.
Jay, Ty's agent, had filled her in on the rest of Ty's off-season schedule yesterday afternoon during a phone meeting, and tonight she and Ty were attending an important charity event in the vineyards of Napa Valley.
She sat up and reached for her watch, then glanced at the time. 10:00 A.M.?
She blinked hard and looked again. Her internal body clock always woke her up at 6:30 A.M., even when she changed time zones!
How could this have happened?
Ty shook everything up. Everything.
She jumped in the shower, dried her hair, did her makeup, and dressed in record time. Then she headed for the kitchen, looking for coffee, hoping Ty was engrossed in TV or something.
No such luck.
He looked up from the sunny corner where her round, stone kitchen table was tucked beneath a bank of windows. It looked like he had several contracts spread in front of him and a yellow legal notepad full of scribblings. Great. He was working hard on business matters while she was sleeping away the morning. Yet again, he'd managed to get a leg up on her.
"Looks like you could use some coffee," he said. "I just brewed a fresh pot." As if he could read her mind he added, "I got in the habit of waking up early at training camp in college. Never figured out how to sleep till noon like some of the other guys."
She nodded and poured herself a large steaming cup of coffee, not trusting herself to speak until she'd imbibed a lethal dose of caffeine.
Hell, she barely trusted herself to be in the same room with Ty. If her dream was any indication of her sex-starved state, she was perilously low on self-control.
"I'm usually up early too," she said, feeling defensive and hating it.
He sat back in his chair. "Something keep you awake last night?"
She scowled at his low blow. Grabbing a banana from the fruit bowl on the kitchen island, she sat in the chair across the table from temptation.
"I had to take some work to bed," she replied. When she realized exactly how she'd taken her work to bed, she blushed profusely. Crap! She never blushed. As a fair-skinned blonde she'd had to teach herself early not to reveal her emotions so easily. Whether in personal or professional situations, keeping her control was vitally important.
"Mmm-hmm," he said.
Was she imagining the slightly mocking note in his voice? Or was she just feeling guilty?
As if the earth's rotation depended on it, she cracked open the top of the banana, peeled one long slice down to the bottom, then the next. Finally the firm, yellow flesh was ready for her to eat.
Just as she was bringing the pointy tip to her lips, she looked up at Ty. His eyes were trained on her mouth, on the banana she had clasped in her hand.
Oh God, how had breakfast become so incredibly mortifying?
Her first instinct was to drop the banana. But something inside her wanted to punish Ty for taunting her in her dreams last night. She'd never felt like this before, so constantly tempted and on the verge of doing bad things.
She slowly brought the banana to her lips. Covering the tip with her mouth, she sucked in an inch, and then another, finally taking a slow bite, closing her eyes in pleasure as she chewed.
She heard Ty's coffee cup hit the table with a clatter, and she smiled. She felt much better when they were on an even playing field.
"Our first event is tonight," she said. "In Napa."
He shifted in his seat. "Don't wear that little red dress again."
"Excuse me?" she said sharply, even though she would never wear something so sexy to a work function. Last night was the first time she'd ever worn the impulse buy; it was far more revealing than her usual style.
Her mother had always said that men couldn't control themselves, so there was no need to dress like a whore and tempt them to make a pass at her. And while Julie knew that her mother was bitter over the buxom young girls her father made no secret of sleeping with, she'd still taken the advice to heart.
"Don't get me wrong, you looked great in it. Too good. Way too good."
She liked his compliment. Far too much. It was time to put Ty firmly in his place.
"Your team hired me to tell you what to wear. Not the other way around."
"I get that. But Montague is a dirty old man. You wear that dress and he'll be eyeing your breasts all night, trying to cop a feel when he thinks no one is looking. As it is, he'll be following you around all night like a dog chasing a juicy bone."
"You're the first person who has ever compared me to a dog bone. Now, that's a compliment to remember."
"You're welcome."
He grinned and she couldn't keep herself from grinning back. It was so easy, sitting with him like this in her breakfast nook, even when they were sniping at each other.
She gestured to his papers. "Got some contracts to look over?"
He gathered up the papers. "My agent couriered over some new ad contracts. You wouldn't believe the amount of paperwork I have to deal with."
He was right. She'd believed football players were nothing more than big, dumb guys in tight white pants chasing a ball during hailstorms. She'd never thought of them as businessmen before. Now she knew better.
"Speaking of your agent, he sent over your appearance schedule. I've already crossed out several inappropriate events."<
br />
He stood up, picked up their empty coffee cups, and put them in the sink. She hadn't had the pleasure of seeing him in jeans and a T-shirt until now.
Desire nearly undid her. Annoyed by her reaction, she added, "And I don't care who your dates are supposed to be for the charity events. From this point forward you're going stag, with me just one step behind."
"I'm all yours," he replied in a low, sensual tone, deliberately letting her explore the idea of his really being hers.
Just as she had in her dream last night when she'd tied him up and had her way with him.
"The only thing that's nonnegotiable is football camp," he added.
"I thought training didn't start until July?"
"It doesn't. I volunteer coach at a camp for kids. The best and the brightest."
Julie was surprised, and she said thoughtfully, "It must be like looking in a mirror."
She could have sworn his eyes clouded over. "Sometimes it is."
"There must be so much pressure on those kids," she said, and his eyes met hers. For a second, she saw everything he wanted to keep hidden.
It hit her square in the chest: She wanted to be close to him. But could she actually risk dropping the walls she'd erected to protect her heart to find out more about what was in Ty's?
"I've got to work out for a couple of hours. I'll grab my stuff so we can head to the gym."
Just as quickly as he'd opened himself to her, he closed off, and she felt oddly alone in her warm and cozy kitchen.
Julie had a knack for hitting too close, Ty thought as he bench-pressed three hundred for ten reps. He was pushing himself, trying to work off some of the relentless energy pushing through him.
Through the glass wall, he could see Julie sitting in the gym's cafe, talking on her cell phone, taking notes, and tapping on her laptop. She was always so focused, so driven. She didn't smile nearly enough.
She picked up a clear plastic cup with the green sludge the trainers insisted was "power" protein and took a sip. Her face scrunched up and her cheeks sucked in with obvious disgust.
Yet another thing they had in common, he thought as she surreptitiously spit it back into the cup after looking around to make sure no one was looking.