“Mmh. Okay.” His big hand slid down to her back, its heel pressing reassuringly between her shoulder blades. “Just try to relax.”
A kiss landed on the top of her head. Georgia took a slow breath and let it out again. His heartbeat beneath hers was slow and steady. Leo Trevi was the source of all her stress at the moment. How odd that he could also be a source of comfort, too. She closed her eyes and let herself drift.
While she flirted with drowsiness, his fingertips continued to stroke her back. Her mind began to revisit the rink, with its crowds and lights. The white oval of ice danced in her sleepy mind. Just as she fell asleep, it almost sounded as if someone whispered, “Come back to me, Georgia.”
SEVENTEEN
FEBRUARY 10
19 DAYS BEFORE THE NHL TRADE DEADLINE
PHOENIX, ARIZONA
TOP TEAM HEADLINES:
“Brooklyn Beats Arizona on the Road. Can They Make It To the Play-offs for the First Time since the Franchise Was Reborn?”
—The Post
Leo woke up to the pleasant sound of someone else padding around his hotel room. In his sleepy cloud, he didn’t think too much about it. He knew that it was someone he loved. And that the room was still mostly dark and quiet. The soft footsteps retreated to the other room, where they mingled with the sound of water running. The muffled flush of a toilet. The sound of a toothbrush in use.
Georgia.
Her name in his conscious mind woke him up. He opened his eyes, finding only gray predawn light filtering under the hotel curtains. He’d slept well all night, occasionally reaching out to place one lucky hand on the warm, sleepy body on the other side of the bed.
Having her next to him had been perfect, though he wished he’d woken up in time to appreciate it.
Leo got up, too, and spent a few moments in his own hotel bathroom. He felt stumbly and half-awake, and unwilling to entirely let go of last night.
Still in his boxers, Leo went to stand in the open doorway between their two rooms. The bathroom door opened, revealing Georgia in a towel, her hair clipped to the top of her head the way she sometimes had it when taking a shower. Random memories of waiting for her to get ready to go out with him hit like a punch to the gut. How’re these jeans? she might ask him, turning in a circle to show him the full effect. Perfect, he’d answer.
They always were, as long as she was wearing them.
Now she stood across the room, blinking at him, looking unsure.
“Come here,” he said, his voice thick with sleep. She obeyed, and he opened his arms to pull her in. Her chin landed on his shoulder. “You sleep okay?” he asked. Not the most creative inquiry, but he just wanted to hear her say something. To tell him that she wasn’t going to run away again.
“Yeah,” she breathed, wrapping her arms around him.
Leo’s heart skipped a beat at the feel of her warm body aligned with his. This right here was exactly what he needed. He tilted his chin and dropped a gentle kiss on her bare neck. And Georgia shivered in his arms.
Jesus. His awareness of her was dialed up to eleven. Slowly, he traced her jaw with his lips. Her skin was velvety and damp from the shower.
In the stark silence, he heard her breath catch. That little sound was all it took to get him going. His desire for her would forever be waiting on the bench, geared up, ready to leap into action. Even now, his cock began to feel nice and heavy.
Down, boy. He needed Georgia to know that she was his, but it didn’t have to be about sex. “It’s early,” he said, his voice pure gravel. “Let me hold you a little longer.”
He expected to be shot down. In the cool light of day, Georgia might go back to keeping her distance.
But she did not, in fact, pull away. Another moment ticked by while he hugged her in the doorway. Then he took her hand and led her back to his bed. He slid onto his back in the still-warm sheets. When Georgia curled up beside him, her head on his shoulder, he thought he might burst from happiness.
She was wearing only a towel, and his body wasn’t about to forget it. So he tucked her against his side, where it wouldn’t be so obvious that barely touching her had left him raring to go. He smoothed his hand down the silk of her hair and sighed. “It’s been too long, Gigi,” he whispered. “I like having you beside me.”
Georgia didn’t say anything, but she spread her fingers across his stomach. The weight of her hand was delicious. They’d always been one of those couples who’d had to touch each other. All that clinginess had driven their high school friends nutty, but that’s just how they were. He’d had several girlfriends in college, and never felt this way about any of them. It had never made him feel such bone-deep satisfaction to lie quietly beside anyone except for Georgia.
And why was that? His irritating brother probably had a theory or two. Leo pushed that out of his mind and concentrated once again on the way Georgia’s soft hair tickled his jaw. He kissed the top of her head again, just because he could.
Georgia’s smooth fingers played with the hem of his T-shirt, which had ridden up. Then her hand slipped beneath the fabric, meeting his skin.
Leo held his breath. He’d take her touch any way he could get it. But the thumb which had slowly begun to stroke his abs was pure, sweet torture. “Mmm,” he hummed.
“Mmm,” echoed a soft voice. And then a pair of soft lips arched to meet his neck, kissing sweetly in the sensitive place just beneath his chin. And the magic of her touch began to seep through his consciousness, heating his skin, lighting every nerve ending in its wake.
Leo bit the inside of his cheek to keep from moaning. Georgia curled in even closer to him, nuzzling his jaw. Meanwhile, he was hard and getting harder.
There had been so many times he’d wished for this—waking up beside Georgia in bed. It’s something they’d never managed as teenagers. It was strictly against everyone’s rules. So he was living out a fantasy right now. Part of one, anyway.
Georgia slid her hand farther up his chest to tease his nipple. Then she began to suck on his neck.
Leo gave in and groaned. “I love that, baby. But you’re giving me big ideas.” Then, unbelievably, her naughty hand skimmed down his chest again, then over the waistband of his boxers where her fingertips grazed his aching dick. “Ungh,” he grunted, shocked.
Georgia had always been able to reduce him to a throbbing heap of need with a single hot glance. That obviously hadn’t changed. Although one thing had. He turned his head and cupped her chin so he could see her better. Temporarily blocking out the awesome feeling of her hand on his dick, he asked her a question. “Are you sure?” he asked. If this encounter ended up with another text telling him it was all a mistake, he’d be crushed.
Her gorgeous blue eyes blinked back at him. The whisper was so low he was almost lip-reading. But the words were unmistakable. “I need you, Leo.”