I push my way through the crowd and reach the coat check, but there’s no Kelsey.
Damn it. Am I too late?
I hurry to the restaurant door and push it open into the cool evening air.
There’s no Kelsey and no car at the curb. She’s already gone.
“Fuck!” I shout into the night air.
I don’t know why I’m so disappointed. It’s not like I’ll never see her again. Maybe I let Cole’s little speech get to me.
“Brock?”
I turn when I hear my name. Kelsey stands in the doorway to the restaurant wearing a jacket and a concerned expression.
“Are you okay?”
Relief floods me at the sight of her and I step forward, cupping her face in my palms. “I thought you’d left.”
There’s that warm buzz in my hand where our skin meets.
She licks her plump lips and stares up at me. “I realized I forgot to even say hello to Cole and give him my congratulations, so I went to do that before my Uber arrived.”
“Good, because I needed to tell you something else.”
“What?” Her voice is breathy and I can’t help but wonder if this is what she sounds like after she comes.
“I know you think this isn’t a good idea. That we aren’t a good idea. But there’s something between us. I can feel it and I know you can too. How can we ignore that? I understand your reasons for being wary, but there has to be a way for us to figure this out. We’d be stupid not to find out what this could be.”
I lean in slowly, making my intention clear and giving her ample opportunity to push me away, tell me to stop, slap me… anything. Instead, her breath hitches and her nostrils flare the moment before I seal my lips with hers.
Our kiss starts off slow, lips pressed together, inhaling each other’s breath. Then I flick my tongue across the seam of her lips and she opens for me. As soon as I taste her, I’m starved for more.
Her hands tangle into the hair at the back of my head, tugging at the roots and a gruff moan slides up my throat. She pushes her body into my chest, and I let one hand slide over her shoulder and down her back until I’m cupping her ass in my hand, pressing her against me so she can feel the hard length of me against her. Feel what she does to me.
We devour each other and instead of easing our thirst, it only makes us more desperate.
The sound of someone coming out of the restaurant causes her to pull away with a shocked breath. Her gaze darts around us and a car pulls up to the curb.
“I’m sorry, I can’t.” She rushes off to the car until she comes to an abrupt stop with a cry of pain.
“What happened?” I look down to see that her heel is caught in the gap in the sidewalk. “Here, let me help.”
“No, it’s fine.” She tugs and tugs her leg up when I drop down to my haunches, refusing to accept my help.
“Kelsey, just wait a second. Let’s get your foot out of your shoe—”
She gives one final tug, and the heel separates from the shoe, but she doesn’t let it stop her, hobbling over to the car.
I wrench the abandoned heel from the crack in the sidewalk and fall down to my ass, watching the car drive away.
She may be running away now, but I know as well as she does that that kiss was too good to ignore.
She can’t deny our chemistry after that.
6
Kelsey
I warily glance around the hotel lobby in Los Angeles to the reception desk to check in.
This is the first time since I ran away like a scared animal the other night that I have the opportunity to see Brock and I’m hoping I don’t. My reaction to our kiss was mortifying, to say the least.
At least this time my embarrassment didn’t come with the entire internet watching. And I know. Because I scrolled through every sports gossip blog and YouTube to make sure no one had snapped a shot or video of our kiss.
I don’t know what came over me. It’s just… I’ve never had a kiss that intense. Ever. It felt like my entire body was plugged into an electrical socket. And the want, the desire, was uncontrollable…
When we got interrupted, panic took over. Getting involved with Brock would only draw more attention to me and increase the vile things people were saying. But one kiss and I knew—trying to keep denying him felt impossible.
So I am going to be really mature and just try to avoid him unless we are in a roomful of reporters. Solid plan.
I give the woman at the reception desk my information, and once she finishes, she hands me my key card.
“Oh, one more thing. This is for you.” She lifts and holds out a box wrapped in pink and light-blue wrapping paper with a pink bow on it.
My forehead creases. “I’m sorry?”
“This was left with us with the instructions to pass it along to you when you checked in.” She winks and I don’t know what to make of this.
“Okay… thanks.” I accept the box from her and make my way to the elevator with my small piece of luggage.
The entire ride up, I try to figure out what could be inside and who it could be from. My birthday isn’t close, and I don’t know anyone in Los Angeles.
Once I reach my room, I sit on the edge of the bed and rip the paper off, curious to see what this surprise is all about. When I stare down at a Christian Louboutin shoebox, I know the gift is from Brock and my heart melts just a little.
Pulling the lid off, I find a pair of black, strappy red-bottom shoes similar to the ones I’d broken the night of the restaurant opening. Tucked into the side is a note.
* * *
Just a little something to make up for the other night. I have to say, I’ve never had a kiss send a woman running before.
Brock
* * *
Below that is a phone number I assume is his.
The gesture is very sweet, and now, if I don’t reach out to say thank you, I’m a complete bitch.
I huff and walk over to my purse, pulling my phone from inside. I’ll text him. That way, I don’t have to listen to his deep, sexy voice.
Me: Hey, it’s Kelsey. I just checked into my room. Thank you so much for the shoes. That was a very sweet gesture.
Unwilling to admit to myself that I’m anxious to see his reply, I force myself to set the phone down on the nightstand and start unpacking. I don’t have much since I’m only here for two nights. When I’m done unpacking, I pick up the phone to see no response.
Rather than pace away the anxious energy thrumming through my body, I force myself to take out my laptop and sit at the desk so I can go over some of the player stats before tomorrow night’s game.
Sometime later, I hear my phone ding from over on the nightstand and I make myself wait at least five minutes before closing my laptop and grabbing it.
I glance at the clock after one minute.
Then three minutes.
Four minutes.
Finally, the five minutes are up. Longest five minutes of my life.
Brock: It’s the least I could do. I didn’t realize I would be committing a crime against fashion when I kissed you.
I chuckle and my face heats at the same time, remembering how frantic I was after our kiss. It’s just… I’ve never been kissed like that. My body has never reacted like that from a simple kiss.