Jill Shalvis - Slow Heat

Dammit! “Fine. But I’m only doing this so you can’t hold it over me.” She eyed his body and had to fight not to leap over the seat again and eat him up. “And because as it turns out, I could use the cold dip.”

His soft laughter followed her out into the night.

Wade stood outside the dunking booth. He was waiting for Sam, who was changing her clothes for the booth. A few women approached him for an autograph, which he gave, but neither tried to write their phone numbers anywhere on his person.

Progress.

He had his picture taken by two other women, who asked where his pretty girlfriend was. He told them she was coming right back, and as they walked away, he realized with surprise that he was smiling.

He liked the idea of being taken. Go figure.

Pace and Holly appeared hand in hand, fresh off the Ferris wheel. Holly was glowing, Pace was looking pretty relaxed. Wade recognized the look, since he imagined he was wearing a matching one.

“Where’s your girlfriend?” Pace asked. “Oh, excuse me. Your pretend girlfriend.”

“Shut up.”

Holly smiled at Wade. “You’re getting close to figuring it out, aren’t you?”

“Figuring out what?” Pace asked.

“That it’s not pretend,” Holly said, still looking into Wade’s eyes.

Maybe.Still didn’t make it any easier. “Don’t you two have booths to work?”

“Aw.” Holly let go of Pace to give Wade a hard hug. “You’re so cute when you’re all turned upside down by a woman.”

Pace was grinning over her head at him.

“You’re really annoying,” Wade told him, and to return the favor, he hugged Holly in tight.

“Hey,” Pace said. But when Wade kept ahold of his woman, he just sighed. “You’ve been getting whatever you want from women for years with one crook of your little finger. Watching you even attempt to get what you want from Sam, when you don’t even know what that is… well, that’s just good entertainment all around. Now, Goddammit, let go of her, she’s mine.” He grabbed Holly’s hand and tugged her to him.

Holly laughed. “We still doing pizza after?” she asked Wade.

Wade sighed. “Yeah.” He turned to look at the booth in time to see Sam climbing out onto the platform. He spent a few minutes watching her try to get comfortable up on the bench seat in a borrowed bathing suit top and shorts.

She might be bossy and stubborn as hell, but she was one hell of a good sport.

The line was at least ten people long, which was good. Lots of people meant lots of money, and lots of money meant more resources dumped into the 4 The Kids pockets. That’s what this was all about, but he couldn’t help but grin as he watched Sam warily eye the little kid at the front of the line, specifically the lever he had to hit in order to dunk her.

Santos appeared with his boys and Tag at Wade’s side. “What’s Aunt Sam doing in there?” Tag asked Wade.

“She’s in there because she likes me,” Wade said as he received dark, murderous looks from Sam.

“Are you sure she likes you?” Tag asked doubtfully.

“Yeah.” Wade smiled. “She just doesn’t know it yet.”

“You’re weird,” Tag said.

The little kid at the front of the line threw his ball and missed the booth entirely.

From inside the dunk tank, Sam took a visible breath of relief.

The next kid in line missed as well.

And the third.

“Wow,” Tag said. “They all suck.”

“Maybe not,” Wade said.

“You know she’s going to get real mad if she goes in. She doesn’t like it when her hair gets wet after she straightens it.”

“No?”

“No. And she’s looking at you like you’re in big trouble. Are you in trouble?”

“What would being in trouble entail?” Wade asked him.

Tag shrugged. “Maybe no ice cream after dinner.”

“Huh. I do love ice cream.”

“Yeah,” Tag said. “But at least she’s nice even when she’s mad. She doesn’t ever get scary or anything. Well, except for tonight when she almost cried. That was scary.”

Wade’s gut tightened as he took his attention off Sam and looked down at Tag. “You get scared back home?”

Tag lifted a shoulder. “Sometimes. Like when I get left alone.”

A slow burn churned within him for the way he’d been treated. Knowing all too damn well exactly how shitty it felt, Wade gently set his hand on Tag, glad the kid was safe here with Sam for now. Tag accepted the touch with only a little squirm-progress.

The next kid missed and Tag made a sound of disgust. “What, can no one throw?” He shoved a hand in his pocket and pulled out a few bucks. “I’m gonna show ’em how it’s done.”

Wade gently squeezed Tag’s shoulder, holding him back. “Wait.”

“Why?”

Wade pulled another twenty out of his pocket.

Tag’s eyes lit up.

“To notdunk her,” Wade directed.

“You want me to stand in line and miss?”

“Yep.”

Tag eyed the line and all the kids in it, and slid his gaze back to Wade. “You paid all of them?”

Wade smiled.

Tag just stared at him. “You sure she’s not your real girlfriend?”

“Just don’t hit that lever, kid. I’m a lot tougher than your Aunt Sam.”

Tag grinned and pocketed the money. “You so like her.”

“Yeah.” Wade smiled. “Yeah, I do.”

At the realization that the big, bad Wade O’Riley was nothing more than a sorry sap, Tag just shook his head. But then he said softly, “I like her, too.”

The next morning the Heat left early for a trip to Colorado to play the Rockies. Sam brought Tag and his tutor, and on the plane, Tag pulled out his schoolwork. Sam ostensibly did paperwork herself, but in reality she stared out the window and thought about the night before.

The carnival had been an undeniable success business-wise. Personally? She wasn’t as sure. She and Tag had managed to turn their misunderstanding into a positive thing, or so she hoped. She felt like he’d let her get closer to him.

Wade had certainly let her get closer as well. So close she still bore the whisker burns on her breasts and between her thighs.

He’d been there for her, from soothing her raw nerves to making her forget the panic with mind-blowing sex. Hell, he’d made her forget her own name.

But she still didn’t know what to do with that.

In Colorado, game one, Wade delivered a pinch-hit, two-run, walk-off triple, capping a three-run ninth to give the Heat a series-opening win, three-two.

Afterwards in the hotel, the team ate together at the bar. It was a good crowd, easygoing and laid-back, the mood mellow and relaxed.

Sam did her job, moving between tables, making nice with the few reporters that were around, keeping one eye on Tag, who was once again with Santos’s boys. The mood was fun and jubilant. They’d won today’s game, the fans were happy, and so were their sponsors, so much so that Wade’s face was currently once again all over the country’s most popular cereal boxes these days. She caught little pieces of the conversations going on all around her, most of it about Wade.

“… He’s been phenomenal lately…”

“… Amazingly pinpoint with his control, commanding both sides of the plate…”

“… Strategized the perfect game plan, and executed it…”

She absorbed it all and felt a warm sense of pride for him, knowing he worked his ass off and had earned it. And yeah, maybe she couldn’t take her eyes off him-

“Nice job on the pretending,” Gage said, coming up next to Sam. “It’s hardly noticeable at all that you’re staring at him.”

“Just doing my job,” she quipped.

“Sam.”

She knew that tone, that soft but undeniably authoritative tone, the one that said, “Talk to me.” When he used that voice, most people willingly spilled their guts. He had the power that way. And thanks to his Latin father and supermodel mother, he really was almost too gorgeous to look at this close. “Is it still pretending?” he asked, his dark eyes solemn, concerned.

“A little late to ask me that now, isn’t it?”

“It’s never too late.”

She looked at Wade, who was surrounded by the other players, all laughing and having a good time. Wade was smiling but his eyes were… locked on Sam. “Actually,” she whispered to Gage, her gaze held prisoner. “This time it is.”

“A picture,” one reporter called out, and gestured for her to move closer to Wade’s table. “To show that the mighty Wade O’Riley is still off the market.”

Wade stood and took Sam’s hand, smiling that warm just-for-her smile. It momentarily caught her off balance, a situation he took full advantage of by sitting back down and pulling her into his lap, cupping her face and kissing her softly.

“Thanks,” the reporter said with a laugh after he’d gotten the shot. “You guys are great sports.”

Wade pulled back slowly, eyes on Sam. “My pleasure.”

Yeah, she thought shakily, feeling his hands on her back, one slipping low enough to cup her ass beneath the table. Her pleasure, too. And wasn’t that just the problem.

It wasn’t pretend.

And in less than two weeks, it’d be done.

Not letting herself go there, she moved out of the bar and into the hallway to check her messages, only to go still as she felt someone come up behind her and stand close enough to share body heat. Since her nipples hardened, she knew exactly who it was.

“Guess who?” He ran a finger over her shoulder.

She bit back the soft sigh of pleasure. “Oh, Gage.”

Wade let out a choked laugh and whipped her around to face him.

She arched a daring brow. They hadn’t been alone since he’d gotten her naked in her backseat at the carnival. It didn’t bode well that she felt like dragging him into the closest closet now for a repeat performance. “Nice game today,” she said “Actually, fantastic game today, but I’m mad at you, and you know why.”