They played on, and Georgia took the first set. “Had enough yet?” she asked.
“Fuck no.”
The tennis pro frowned at him for cursing. But that dude was just jealous. He’d been reduced to just standing there while Leo had the pleasure of getting sweaty with the hot chick who knew how to hit. Even if it wasn’t his favorite kind of sweaty.
“Okay, tough guy,” Georgia said taking one more swig from the bottle. “Let’s see if you can make a comeback.”
He bit back the innuendo on the tip of his tongue and readied himself for the next attack. He would never get enough of getting bested by the beautiful creature running around on the other side of the net. It wasn’t just her long legs in a short skirt, or the flush in her face. He might even be more turned on by her look of determination than the view of her cleavage when she leaned down to tie her shoe.
He’d dated quite a few women in college, but he’d never gotten to know any of them as well as he’d known her, had he? He’d never felt the same connection, or shared so much in common with anyone else.
What would his annoying little brother say about that? Leo wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
Focusing on the game again, he stayed even during the second set. It was four games to four, and he’d remembered how to use his longer reach to retrieve the ball when she wasn’t expecting him to. But Georgia wasn’t having that. For two more games she dug deep, finding some kind of extra mojo, and she handed his ass right over the net. And when she lunged hard for the ball on the very last point, the guttural sound she let fly was a force to be reckoned with. It was a sound so soulfully deep that he felt himself start to go hard.
Fate listened, and that ball went sailing past the end of his racket with no more than an inch to spare. Jesus. He might be the first guy in history to get all boned up while losing a tennis match. Down, boy.
They met at the net, both of them winded. “I guess you’ve still got it,” he panted. He’d meant her tennis game, but somehow it came out sounding X-rated. And damn if her nostrils didn’t flare.
To get even with her, Leo wiped his face with his T-shirt. When he caught her eyes on his six-pack, he had to bite back a smile.
Oldest trick in the book. He used to pull that shit back in the day, too.
Georgia thanked the tennis pro for his not-quite-useful time. And then the two of them walked back to the hotel together. They didn’t speak, and Leo tacked it up to sexual tension.
Either that, or Georgia was just tired from giving him a beat down. It could really go either way.
“Leo,” she finally said in a low voice, just as they crossed the hotel lobby, “there’s a favor I need.”
Please let it involve nudity. “What’s that?”
“There’s some people shooting a ‘Hunks of Hockey’ calendar tomorrow. They asked for your participation specifically.”
It took a second for the disappointment to sink in. But then Leo barked out a laugh. “So this request does involve nudity?” Just not the kind I was hoping for.
She raised an eyebrow. “That’s generally how those things are done. Nothing, um, vital will be shown.”
“Right.” He crossed his arms. “I’ll hide it behind a hockey puck.”
Georgia cleared her throat and studied the grip on her racket a little more closely than necessary. “No, probably something a little . . .” Her eyes lifted all of a sudden. “That was a joke, wasn’t it?”
He grinned. “Just a little one.”
“Oh Jesus.” She rolled her eyes, but her cheeks had become even pinker. “Will you do the damn calendar or not? I’m supposed to let them know.”
“Dunno, Gigi. I thought you were sick of me being such a . . . ‘spotlight hog’ were the words you used, I think.”
She bit her lip. “I’m sorry I said that. I know you’re not really a diva, Leo.”
“Thank you.”
“You can let me know either way by tonight.”
“Sure.”
They walked the rest of the way through the lobby together, another silence gathering between them. His desire for Georgia was a living, breathing creature. And maybe it was just wishful thinking, but he could swear he saw it reflected back in her. The way she held her breath when he got near her. And the way her eyes seemed to be asking for something before she looked away again.
He dropped off the racket with a nod and a smile at the concierge. Georgia was holding the elevator when he returned to her side.
The silence had stretched on pretty long by the time the elevator doors closed. Leo punched the button. “Hey,” he said, turning to her. He meant to say, Thanks for the game. But he forgot the rest of his sentence when he saw the flush of her cheeks, and an expression heavy with longing.
“Leo,” she whispered, her chin rising toward his.
“Yeah,” he whispered back. It seemed as natural as anything to take a step toward her, slipping a hand onto her waist. The curve of her body under his hand was exactly the way he remembered it. She was actually trembling a little. He reached up with his other hand and grasped the elastic in her hair, sliding it down, freeing all those silky strands, and she gasped right in his ear.
Without thinking too hard about it, he pressed his lips to her temple. That just felt right. He inhaled, and the familiar fruity smell of her shampoo misted his already hazy mind. Slowly, she lifted her chin, her nose tracing a line up his cheek. Then their lips found each other’s effortlessly, like magnets realigning.
The first kiss was soft and slow. Their lips slid tenderly together, as if they both needed a moment to just remember how this felt. But the sensation was so perfect that Leo heard a rumble from his own chest. He pulled her head closer and slanted his mouth over hers. Georgia opened for him, and he groaned at the first sweet taste of her.
“Mmm,” she replied. Warm hands found his chest.
Leo deepened the kiss again, needing more. Needing everything.
Then the elevator dinged its announcement that they’d reached their floor. They parted as the doors slid open.
“Goddamn it,” he heard her swear as she took off down the hall.
Was that a good “damn it” or a bad one? he wondered, following her. She hurried ahead, reaching her door, swiping into the room before he got there.
And she let the door fall shut behind her.
THIRTEEN
Jesus Christ almighty, why did we have to go and do that?
Georgia stalked into her hotel room with shaky knees. Leo’s kisses made her feel crazy and out of control. She hadn’t felt that way in a long time.