Game For Love: Devil of the Gridiron (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Melissa Blue Page B

car after a pint of bourbon.”
    “I'm sorry for that, Charlotte.” His sincerity bled through the words.
    She clasped her hands together and squeezed. “Thank you.”
    Adam nodded and then shook his head as though coming to some kind of conclusion at her short confession. “Are you trying to save me?”
    Her brows shot up. “Do you need saving?”
    His chuckle was dark. “Depends on who you ask.”
    She shifted. “I should go.”
    He locked his fingers together and then rested them behind his head. The pose was both relaxed and arrogant. “No,” he said simply.
    “What?” she said, shocked at the vehemence in his voice.
    “Tell me why you're leaving, then.” His gaze was intense, unforgiving.
    “We both know—”
    “What?” he pushed.
    Their time together had been short, but she'd changed. She could feel the difference when she closed her eyes and listened to her body. It was more than the aches and the beard burns. She'd asked—no demanded—that he take her hard and fast. She'd pushed him onto the bed and wrested control. She’d come out to his patio, and when he'd pinned that hard stare on her, she didn't buckle. How could one night change her life—change her—so drastically?
    She straightened her spine and asked, “Are you saying we're more than a one-night stand?”
    His jaw clenched, his nostrils flaring. “Yes.”
    She broke the eye contact to look out at the water. From here, she could see the way the Pacific ocean raged against the shoreline. “Then how many nights?”
    “As many as you'll give me.”
    She whipped her gaze back to him, her limbs hot and her hands unsteady at the truth she could hear in those simple words. From his vantage point, she'd be the one to walk away first, not the other way around. Her lungs felt so tight she had to struggle to keep her breathing steady.
    “I'm not some innocent, Adam. Don't tell me what you think I want to hear.”
    “What you want to hear is that I'll always be safe and stable, never impulsive. I won't say that because I hate being a liar.” Smooth and languid, like a panther, he rose from the chair and strode over to her. He closed a hand in her shirt, forcing her to stand and meet his hard gaze.
    “You don't want to believe you're the kind of a woman who will make a man reckless. You're not the devil on a man's shoulder.” He laughed and then nipped at the corner of her mouth. “And I can't walk away. Not yet. You're kind, sweet, and giving. You're the girl mothers should warn their boys about. You'll twist me into something I'm not, and I'll love every moment of it. So if anyone should have doubts or run for the hills, it should be me.”
    Last night had been too real for these words to be lies. Adam thought she was the one who would break his heart. Charlotte, the woman who didn't take chances. Charlotte, who didn't believe in following one’s heart, much less a gut instinct—too often that led you to dark, ugly cliffs.
    Her heart thudded hard and fast, more than ready to take a leap. “But you won't run?”
    “Can't.” He closed his mouth over hers.
    She grabbed his shirt's collar, her knuckles pressed into his firm skin. So warm. If they kissed like this for hours, she wouldn't mind it one bit. Especially when he wrapped his arms around her waist and all she could feel and smell was him.
    Eventually, he let her up for air, so she said, “I need more clothes if I'm staying the weekend,” she said.
    “You may be the first woman I've met who packs an overnight bag for what she thinks is a one-night stand. You are a unicorn.”
    “Did you see any rainbows last night?” Charlotte's blush ruined the effect of her salty words, but he still laughed.
    “Let me make a call so you don't have to leave.”
    “For clothes?” She tried to wrap her head around that. Logically, she knew football players had money to burn, but they had on call gophers, too? “And what happens after this call?”
    “Don't know, but today, a size 36DD bra