Stone

I’m pretty sure I just had an out-of-body experience.

I’m not even positive what just happened besides I had the most intense orgasm of my entire fucking life. Better even than that first night with Savannah. And truthfully, I hadn’t thought it possible. Except, this time…I know her name and I can tell we’ve got a connection that goes further than the mere physical.

And now, the only thing my brain seems to be processing is the fact that I’m crushing this woman into the mattress. Yet I’m having a difficult time moving. Her warmth, her smooth hands on my back…I don’t want her to stop touching me. And moving means the possibility of her silky heat leaving me.

Unfortunately, I have to or I’m going to do some serious damage to this incredible woman who’s still beneath me. The same woman who just shattered my mind, depleted my body, then miraculously pieced me back together in the span of a few intense minutes.

Somehow, I manage to flip onto my back, bringing Savannah with me, my arm curling around her back as I hold her close. I’ve never been the cuddling type, but I can’t seem to let her go. Maybe in a minute when my brain comes back online I can figure out my next move.

Until then, I’m just going to close my eyes.

Only for a minute.

---

When my eyes open, it feels like I’ve been asleep for an eternity, but the clock tells me that it’s only been twenty minutes. Shifting, I manage to slide out from under Savannah, hating that I’m letting her go. However, the condom has to go and I need a second to catch my breath.

Seriously.

What the fuck just happened?

It’s quite possible what we did transcended time and space and left me altered in a way I’ve never experienced before. I’m not sure I can even explain it.

On the other hand, I think my dick is quite aware of what happened and he’s already interested in round two based on the fact that I’m still hard, aching, even eager. That doesn’t usually happen to me. I mean, not this quickly, anyway.

Once I’m in the bathroom, I shut the door, dispose of the condom, then give myself a good once-over in the mirror. Although I feel different, I don’t look it.

Figuring I have time for a fast shower, I turn on the water, then climb in. I close my eyes as the heat consumes me, wishing like hell I’d thought to invite Savannah in here beforehand. Instead, I find myself fantasizing about her joining me, that sweet mouth of hers wrapping around my dick.

Yeah. Not helping.

It takes effort, but I manage to go through the motions, washing up then hurrying to dry and yanking on some shorts before returning to the room. My eyes instantly shoot to the bed but it’s empty.

Disappointment floods me and I turn, finding Savannah jerking on her clothes near the door.

I stand there, staring at her.

She’s about to bolt on me. Again.

Her eyes lift to mine.

I don’t say anything because I can see by the look on her face that it won’t matter if I do. What do I say anyway? Stay here tonight? Don’t leave my bed until you absolutely have to? Neither of those are going to go over well. I’m well aware of the fact that Savannah isn’t looking for anything more than a quick romp, so the best thing to do would be to let her leave, even though that’s the last thing I want.

“I…uh…” She buttons her jeans, then reaches for her shoes.

My jaw clenches tightly, anger replacing the confusion. No, letting her leave is not the best thing. Not by a long shot.

“I have to go,” she blurts, turning toward the door.

Before she can get her hand on the knob, I’m behind her, halting her progress with a hand on the door.

“Don’t go,” I whisper.

“I have to.”

“No, you don’t.”

She nods, but doesn’t turn around.

“This isn’t me,” she whispers and I can hear pain in her voice.

That pulls me up short, so I take her hand and turn her around. I need to see her face.

“What isn’t you?”

She waves a hand. “This. The…casual sex thing.”

I lift an eyebrow. “Casual sex?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t recall anything casual about what we just did.” Mind-blowing, body-numbing, maybe. Damn sure not casual.

She doesn’t say anything more and I feel the need to fill the void with something. “What? You don’t usually blow a guy’s mind like that?”

That’s hard to believe considering it was the second time she’d done as much with very few words involved.

Her eyes snap up to mine.

“I…We shouldn’t have done that,” she says, her tone almost frantic.

At least she’s smart enough to realize we’re both in this together.

“No?”

“No. This is…”

Cupping her face, I hold her so I can look in her eyes. “Don’t make excuses, Savannah.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

She shakes her head. “I shouldn’t have slept with you.”

Okay, so it’s clear she’s trying to piss me off. If she’s not careful, it’s going to work.

“That wasn’t part of the plan and I…” She sighs, then pulls away from my touch.

“Plan? I didn’t realize there was a plan.”

Savannah shakes her head. “I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you like that.”

I laugh, can’t help it. “Well, that’s a first.”

“What?”

“You think you took advantage of me?”

“Well, yes,” she says, her tone firm. “I came over here. I’m the one who came on to you.”

“And you think I didn’t want that?” I ask, keeping my voice low. She’s clearly spooked and the last damn thing I want is for her to leave right now. “Trust me, I wanted it. I’ve wanted it since the first night when I woke up to find you gone. Shit, I’m ready to go again in case you haven’t noticed.”

I would much prefer an instant replay—in slow motion, of course—of what we just did a few minutes ago right there on that hotel bed. From the look on her face, that isn’t going to happen, but I still don’t want her to leave.

I like this woman.

I like her a lot.

And not only because sex with her proves to be the most fantastic sex of my entire life, but also because she’s smart and funny and sexy as hell. I just want to spend some time with her.

“What if what we just did affects your game?” The somber note in her voice tells me she’s really worried about that.

Unfortunately, I can’t give her a serious answer. Instead, my eyes widen and I stand there in shock.

“I didn’t think about that,” I tell her.

“See.” Savannah shakes her head again. “What if you lose tomorrow’s game because I threw off your mojo?”

I laugh. It’s probably not appropriate, but I can’t help myself.

When she looks shocked, I reach for her, pulling her into my arms. “It doesn’t work like that, Savannah.”

“Sure it does.”

“No,” I say, kissing the top of her head. “It doesn’t. I’m not superstitious.”

“Maybe you should be.”

Again I chuckle, then pull back and stare down into her face. “No. I shouldn’t. And neither should you.”

I can tell she’s not on board with that just yet.

But she will be. Eventually.

Because I’m going to prove it to her.

Savannah

I will admit, I freaked out.

While Stone was in the shower and I was lying naked in his bed, I panicked. Not only that, but I royally fucked up. Although I thoroughly enjoyed myself—more so than I ever even thought possible—I crossed a serious line and the regrets are strangling me right now.

The first night was innocent, or so I try to tell myself. We both wanted it, we were both walking into it with no expectations, no agenda.

But now…

This stupid plan of my father’s did not consist of me seducing this man. I don’t care how much I love being with him, how eager I am to do it again. I overstepped in a major way.

If my father finds out what I’ve done…

Oh, shit.

My father.

I pull away from Stone. “I have to go.”

“Savannah…”

“No, really. I’m supposed to meet my dad for dinner.” I spin around toward the door. “Shit. I am so screwed.”

Before I can grab hold of the doorknob, Stone’s big hand is on my shoulder, gently urging me to turn around. Knowing I won’t get out of here unless I do, I give in.

And when he cradles my face and gently presses his lips to mine, I find myself leaning into him. This man is dangerous. He has the ability to throw me off track when I least expect it. And it’s obvious I have no self-control when I’m around him. I want him in a way that scares the shit out of me.

“Come back after,” he whispers against my mouth.

I shake my head. “I can’t.”

“It’s not a request,” he says softly, demandingly.

And I’ll be damned if my body does not ignite from that gruff voice, those commanding words, the intensity in his dark brown eyes. Still, I know I have to hold my ground. If I don’t, I’m going to lose a piece of myself that I can’t afford to lose.

“I have to go,” I finally say, pulling back before kissing him quickly one last time.

With that, I slip out the door and into the hallway, praying no one I know sees me emerging from Stone’s room. Sure, I could say that I was there on business, but really? I’m sure I look like I was well-fucked not twenty minutes ago because…well, because I was.

Rather than chance running into someone on the elevator, I run for the stairs, then descend two floors. I peek out and when I realize the coast is clear, I take off at a jog toward my room.

Fortunately, I’m the type of girl who can shower and dress in a short amount of time. I’ve accomplished my goal in under twenty minutes, which means I’ll only be ten minutes late to dinner with my father. I’m sure he’ll understand, but admittedly, I’m not very good at lying. Certainly not to my father, and I get the feeling he’s going to ask where I was.

Not like I can tell him that I was with Jason Stone. Definitely can’t tell him that we met in his room. That would be bad.

So there’s only one thing to do. While I’m heading down to take a car to the restaurant, I dial Allison’s number.

“What’s up, chickadee?” Allison greets.

“I slept with him again,” I whisper, praying no one besides my best friend hears me. There are plenty of people wandering around the lobby, probably even a few I know, but I pretend not to notice.

“Hallelujah!” Allison sings. “You go, girl! Was it amazing?”

I can feel my face heat even though Allison isn’t here to see me. “So amazing.”

I mean, I’m inundated with regrets, but I can’t deny that being with Stone has left me feeling a little off-kilter. No, a lot off-kilter. Like I’ve been obliterated and then put back together piece by trembling piece without time to gather my wits or my common sense.

“And you’re whispering why? Because he’s asleep?”

“God, no. I ran out of there.”

Okay, that sounded really bad.

Silence.

I laugh. “Not like that. Well, not totally like that. I tried because I freaked, but he caught me. Asked me to stay. Now I’m late to dinner with my dad, so I had to jet.”

Allison breathes heavily. “You pick dinner with your dad over marathon sex with a super-hot QB?”

“I didn’t pick anything. I promised my dad.” The attendant opens the limo door and I hop inside, rattling off the name of the restaurant. “If I don’t go, he’ll get suspicious.”

“Well, I hope you’re gonna go back to his room after dinner.”

This is the reason I called Allison. “I wasn’t planning to, no.”

“What?” Allison squeals. “Why the hell not?”

I shrug, but I realize she can’t see me. “Not sure.”

Now that I’m in the car, it isn’t like I can elaborate. As it is, the driver is glancing back at me a little too often. I could easily close the partition between us, but I don’t even have the energy to do that. Holding the phone is hard enough. My hands are still trembling.

“So, I take it your version of amazing is totally different than my version,” Allison says, disappointment in her voice.

“No. Why?”

“Because in my version, I don’t get dressed and run out of the room.”

I sigh. She’s right. As freaked out as I was, I do wish I had stayed with Stone. At least for a little while longer. I’m sure I will flip-flop a million times between now and when I return to the hotel later, but right this second, I wish that I was with him.

However, I don’t have time to think about that because the car just pulled up in front of the restaurant and the valet is moving toward me.

“Thanks for the sage advice,” I tell my best friend. “I’ve gotta run, but I’ll holler at you later.”

“Hopefully not tonight,” Allison says sweetly. “Because that means you’re not having amazing monkey sex with the hot QB.”

“I won’t be—”

“Don’t call me back tonight, Savannah,” Allison says with a chuckle. “Go have amazing monkey sex. You can call me tomorrow.”

I don’t even get the chance to argue.

My best friend has hung up on me.

I stare down at my phone.

“Miss?”

Shit. Right.

The door is open and they’re waiting for my exit. I smile shyly, then shove my phone in my purse and drop my feet to the concrete outside.

“Sorry,” I say absently, not even sure what I’m apologizing for.

I sure hope this isn’t a prelude to how my evening with my father is going to go.

---

“Were you able to set up the photo op with the elementary school?” Aaron Jr. asks as soon as I ease into my chair at the table.

It takes a second for me to piece together what he’s talking about. When it makes sense, I force a smile. “I did,” I tell him, taking the napkin from my plate and draping it over my lap. “I’m finalizing the details, but it’ll be in a couple of weeks.”

Aaron Jr. nods, then glances over at my father.

I follow his gaze, noticing my father is looking at me. I instantly feel my cheeks heat, hoping he can’t read my mind, can’t guess where I was before I arrived.

“Have you had a chance to spend any time with Stone?” my father inquires.

I nod, lifting my water glass to my mouth. “A little,” I tell him. It’s the truth. When it comes to business, I’ve only spent a small amount of time with him. As for other recreational activities…

No.

I can’t think about that right now. My father knows me too well, and I’ll give myself away if I start thinking about what Stone and I did earlier.

Thankfully, Will arrives, taking some of the heat off me. Then my brothers and my father jump right into business talk, and I’m left to my own devices, pretending to be interested in their conversation while doing my best not to think about Stone.

Admittedly, it’s not easy.

Not easy at all.