“So?”
“And I’m the best? The virgin? The most inexperienced of all your…conquests?”
Inexperienced? Sure. She didn’t understand her own desires, but she knew me, and I’d always been the man who understood her best. That was an intimacy I’d never felt with any other woman.
“You were the most insatiable, hottest, tightest, wildest fuck of my life,” I said.
She squirmed, almost unsure if she should be embarrassed or proud. I liked that about her. Humility blended with unabashed curiosity.
Clover nibbled on her lip. “That’s all the foreplay I need. Hop on.”
“I’m serious. I couldn’t get enough of you last time.” I debated on shutting up. Instead, I went for it. “I think I needed that night more than you did.”
“Why’s that?”
“Had to prove to myself that I could still…” No need to talk about the injury. She understood. “It was a confidence booster. A good one.”
“I’m just surprised I’m the one doing the boosting.”
“You and be both.”
She smiled, and the brightness nearly seduced me with her perfection. “I mean…why didn’t you have anyone else before now? There’s gotta be dozens of girls out there waiting for you. But you don’t date. Why?”
“Why would I?”
“Because that’s what normal men do, Adrian. They find a woman. Settle down. Start a family.”
“Thought I was already doing that.”
“And you have no regrets that you’re doing it with me?”
That didn’t make any sense. “Instead of with who?”
“Anyone else.”
I sat on the bed, risking revealing a little too much about me and a hell of a lot more skin.
“I don’t date, Clover,” I said. “I have two important things in my life. First and foremost is you. Second is the team. The game takes up all my time and energy and you steal whatever patience remains.”
She warned me with a wagging finger. I took her hand and captured her tight.
“Then I got hurt…” I cleared my throat. “And that sort of injury made taking a woman home complicated.”
“But you’re healthy now.”
Yeah, but just as uncomfortable for a different reason.
Clover leaned in close, her dark skin a lovely contrast to my white sheets. Her toned legs folded beneath her, and the shorts rode up, up, up, cupping her ass in a perfectly modest tease.
The woman had no idea how beautiful she was—and I had no idea if I was the right man to tell her that truth.
“I’m healed now, sure. But I never found a woman worth my time.”
She shifted, and her spicy vanilla scent clouded my every thought.
“Have you looked?” she asked.
“Who doesn’t?”
“But you never found anyone you liked?”
“No.”
“What was so wrong with them?”
That was easy. “They didn’t measure up to my ideal woman.”
“Oh?” This entertained her. She leaned close, scrunching her nose with a playful giggle. “And what sort of girl attracts the attention of the professional hockey league’s most eligible bachelor?”
“You should know.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m waiting for one like you.”
Clover quieted. “Oh.”
“Can’t seem to find anyone as beautiful as you. As exciting as you. As frustrating as you. As compassionate as you…”
“Sweet talker.”
I broke into a smile. “You make dating difficult. Hard to find anyone good when I compare every unlucky lady to you.”
She forced a laugh. “You know how I love to annoy you.”
“There’s not a woman alive who could annoy me more.”
She invited me closer, reaching for my hand. Such a simple gesture that never used to mean anything. But now?
Her fingers squeezed mine with soft comfort. A little secret shared just between us.
“Do you remember what you said to me after your surgery?” she asked.
I’d tried to block most of the gory details.
I took a guess. “No, I’m not going to show you my sutures.”
“After that.”
“Yes, I still have two.”
“After that.”
“Let me sleep or I’ll call security.”
Clover arched an eyebrow. “I’m being serious.”
“So am I. I don’t remember a fucking thing. They doped me up so I wouldn’t remember.”
She surrendered with a resigned sigh. “Fair enough. But you said some really sweet things to me that night.”
“You’re already my life insurance beneficiary, so I’m not sure what else I might’ve promised you.”
Clover kicked at the blanket just to avoid my gaze. “It wasn’t a promise. You were just…”
Now I was worried. The drug cocktail had been the good kind—all dizzy and no hangover. That meant I might’ve said or agreed to anything.
“What?” I asked.
“You were sweet.”
“Gonna tell me what I said?”
Clover’s eyebrows wagged with glee. “Why? Afraid you confessed your undying love to me and begged for a baby?”
Christ. At least she was joking. “These things happen.”
“You were sweet.” Her shrug hid a thousand secrets, but I doubted she’d reveal any. “Just made me realize how I almost lost you.”
“The puck cracked my eggs, but they put Humpty Dumpty back together.”
“Good. Because, right now, that’s a part of you I really don’t want to lose.”
“My balls are blue, not broken.”
“Not for long, if you let me have my way with you.”
I snickered. “You’re the one woman who wouldn’t show me any mercy.”
“Only because I know what you’re capable of.”
“And what’s that?”
Her expression stilled. “Everything. You’re an amazing man, Adrian Alaric. I just never imagined these amazing things we’ve done together.”
“You never imagined it?”
She looked good squirming in my jersey. “Don’t put me in any awkward positions.”
“I’ve already put you in plenty of awkward positions.”
A pillow launched for my head. I dodged it with a grin that hid none of my intentions. Wasn’t sure it was even worth hiding them anymore. Not when I craved a brush of her skin, the heat of her kiss, or the pleasure of her body.
But I could only blame so much of my desires on pure attraction.
Even after we’d spent that night tangled in my sheets, indulging ourselves until we were sweaty and satiated…
I needed more.
And that craving was something new. Something complicated.
Clover met my gaze with a solemn curiosity.
“Do you think we can stay best friends if we’re having sex?” she asked.
Shit. Complicated question. Dangerous question.
My feet turned heavy, laden with concrete and reluctance. Still, I closed the distance between us.
“We have to,” I said.