Page 85 of Her Player

She grinned as she took another pull from her Dr. Pepper. “So bossy.”

I tossed her a wink. “Only for you.”

“Ah, lucky me,” she said flatly.

But the smile that reached her eyes told me she was only playing. “You know you like it.”

“Oh yeah?”

I placed my soda down onto the kitchen island and slowly stalked toward her. “Yeah.”

She took a small step back. “Well, personally, I think your bossy side is a bit much.”

“You do, huh?” I asked, prowling in her direction.

Every step back she took only pushed me forward. “I do, yes.”

“Mmm, that voice is a bit breathless, Victoria.”

She lifted her chin as her back thudded softly against the kitchen wall. “No, it’s not.”

I placed a hand over her head, my palm planted into the wall as my free hand came up. My thumb grazed along her jaw, tipping her gray eyes up to mine, and I licked my lips.

“Yes, it is,” I said.

She clicked her tongue. “So demanding.”

But her breathlessness made her blush and I tracked that blush with my eyes as it moved down her neck and disappeared beneath her blouse.

I wanted her out of these fucking clothes.

“Well, like you said, we did win today,” I said as I slid my thumb along her lower lip.

“Uh huh,” she said, not even trying to hide it any longer.

“And we did work hard all season,” I muttered as I pressed my leg in between hers.

“Oh,” she breathed softly.

My lips fell to the shell of her ear. “And I did take a hell of a hit out on that ice.”

She drew in a trembling breath as her hands slipped to my hips, teasing the loops of my jeans. “You scared the hell out of me.”

“Look at me.”

“Rhett—”

“I said look at me, Victoria.”

She swallowed hard and dragged her eyes back up to mine. “Yeah?”

My eyes held hers. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know.”

“No, I don’t think you do. Don’t you see how I yearn for you, Victoria? How my body can’t help but be close to you?”

Tears crested her eyes as I brushed my knuckles along her cheek.