Eight months ago

Waiting outside the hotel, Rachel glanced at the time on her phone nervously. She felt like a teenager again, waiting for a date to pick her up. They hadn’t even exchanged numbers, so if he didn’t show up, she would feel like an even bigger idiot than she did right now.

Last night—this morning—had been amazing. Playing blackjack with him all night had been so much fun, she couldn’t believe she’d found a guy who wanted to play cards all night at a casino without hitting on her. She didn’t do it often, but once in a while it was fun to test her brains against the house. The casinos undoubtedly had some kind of edge—how else could they make money—but she had the means to play for fun. The fact that she’d won over nine thousand dollars last night had been a combination of luck and skill that left her feeling victorious. Nine thousand barely paid for one of her purses, so it wasn’t like she needed the money, but it felt good to win for once. Vlad seemed to know a thing or two about cards, too, walking away with more than four grand.

She’d liked that about him. Hell, she’d liked him. She still couldn’t believe she’d told him about her and Jamie and then asked him if he could get it up for her. She nearly groaned just thinking about it, but damn, it had been months since she’d had sex and she’d been ready to seduce him until she’d seen something in his eyes that made her pause: Vulnerability. Indecision. Longing. It was weird and exciting at the same time. She’d heard Jamie talk about the way the young Russian on the team went through women, so she’d figured he would be the perfect mark for a night of no-strings sex. Instead, she’d met an incredibly sexy guy who seemed to be just as confused about life and love as she was.

A sleek royal-blue Corvette pulled to a stop and the window rolled down. Vlad’s handsome face smiled out at her. He jumped out and ran around to get the door for her and she laughed at his thoughtfulness.

“Hi!” she said happily, meeting his lips as he lightly kissed her.

“Hi.” He got back in the driver’s seat and pulled onto Las Vegas Boulevard.

“Nice car,” she remarked, looking around.

“Thanks.” He paused. “What do you drive?”

“A Mercedes E300.”

“Nice!” he nodded. “I look at those, but I prefer this. American power.”

She laughed. “Too much traffic to drive a fast car in L.A.”

“Here, I go to desert and drive very fast.” He gave her an impish grin.

“Will you let me drive it sometime?” she asked, running her hand over the smooth leather.

“Yes.” He nodded with a smirk. “You are rich movie star—you break her, you will replace!”

“Her?”

“Yes, this is Lucia.”

“Lucia?”

“B.B. King—very good blues guitar player? He has guitar with name Lucille—my car is Lucia.”

She laughed out loud. “Very nice. My car is Eastwood.”

He glanced at her. “Like Mr. Clint Eastwood?”

“Exactly!” She sighed happily. She liked him more and more; he got her.

“I did not have your number,” he said after a moment. “So I do not know what to order for dinner.”

“I don’t care,” she shrugged. “This is a cheat day.”

“Cheat day?”

“From my diet.”

“You are on diet?” He glanced at her with a frown. “You are very small!”

She chuckled. “Okay, let me say it differently; I live on a diet. I can’t eat like a regular person, because the camera can add ten pounds easy. So I eat fruit, salad, and lean meat.”

“That is all?” He looked horrified.

“Welcome to the glamorous life of a movie star.”

“This is hard,” he said. “I do not think I could do this always.”

“It is hard,” she admitted. “But I make a lot of money looking like this, so I do what I have to do. I’m trying to be better about spending money so that I can save up and not have to do this anymore.”

“You do not want to act?”

She sighed. “I love acting—it’s just everything else. Getting mobbed by reporters and fans no matter where I go, having to make sure I don’t put on any weight, ever, the crazy hours…and the worst thing is the men in the industry. They think because we’re all in the same industry, and I’m a woman, I should trade sex for a good role.”

“You have problem with this often?”

“Not often, but sometimes.”

“I would be very angry with this.”

She let out a breath. “I’m making a budget for this year because I want to be more frugal. The better I’m set up financially, the less reliant I am on taking jobs I don’t want.”

“Frugal? Cheap?”

She laughed. “Not cheap, just less extravagant. No more $30,000 purses or $100,000 trips to the spa with my girlfriends.”

He swallowed. “One hundred thousand to go to spa?”

“I know,” she smiled sheepishly. “But I’m going to be better this year.”

“I spend a lot, too,” he admitted. “Trips with friends, video games, music, movies—and many nice suits.”

“Nice suits?” She gave him a sideways glance. “I like a guy who can wear a good suit.”

“I have a lot.” He met her gaze. “Next date, I will wear suit.”

“Next date you will wear hockey uniform,” she teased.

He laughed. “Next next date!”

“That’s a lot of dates!” She laughed.

“We have time.”

She looked at him. “You’re leaving day after tomorrow, right?”

He nodded. “But we will play Anaheim in few weeks. You can go to game? Is on Sunday.”

“I’ll make sure I’m free.”

They picked up pizza from a place Vlad liked and brought it back to his condo. It was in a high-rise building in North Las Vegas with a great view and a balcony that wrapped around the side of the building. He had the most up-to-date appliances and technology, including big screen TVs and a video game set-up that made her mouth fall open. She’d never seen anything like it and she peered at all the consoles and multiple video screens in amazement.

“So I buy purses and you buy…video game stuff.” She was amused, looking over at him.

“I do,” he admitted. “But this year, I will also buy less. I am saving nothing. If I get hurt, could be very bad.”

She nodded knowingly. “I think about that, too. I know it sounds ridiculous to say it out loud, but by the time you’re thirty in Hollywood, parts start drying up. It’s gotten a little better over the years, but it’s still not the same for women as it is for men. If I’m lucky, I can work in TV a lot longer, but I still have to be lucky.”

“One injury can end career,” he said, sinking onto the couch after putting out the pizza, napkins, a bottle of wine and two glasses. “I have contract, but after two years, is all done.”

“I hear you.” She reached into the box and pulled out a piece of pizza, sighing happily. “Oh, happy birthday to me!” She took a big bite and closed her eyes. This was heaven. It would be months before she had pizza again.

“You look like you are having orgasm.” He watched her intently.

Her eyes opened and she gave him a smirk. “But you know I’m not having an orgasm because I’m quiet!”

His mouth opened but then he closed it again. He had no idea why he got uncomfortable when she talked about sex; he’d had sex with hundreds of women. This one, however, seemed able to get under his skin any time the subject came up.

“What?” she asked when he didn’t say anything. “You don’t yell or anything when you get off?”

He nodded. “Yes, sometimes, but I don’t talk about this.”

“Why? Are you embarrassed talking about sex?”

He frowned. “In locker room, no. With nice woman? Maybe.”

“Nice women like sex, too. Especially ones who haven’t had sex in a long time.”

“How long?” he asked after a moment.

She shrugged. “September.”

His eyes widened. “Months! I have never gone so long.”

She sighed. “I like sex, but I can’t just sleep with anyone. I’ve had a few one-night stands, but I have to be careful. If I sleep with another actor, I have to trust him or he might tell everyone I’m a slut. If I sleep with a stranger, like a fan, he could be taking pictures or video or who knows what. If I sleep with someone else who’s famous, like a rock star, we wind up in the tabloids. There’s a real double standard for women.”

He shook his head. “I would tell no one. And no pictures—this is bad for me also.”

“Jamie and I learned a hard lesson with that.”

“I remember.” He spoke quietly. “Jamie was angry.”

“He thought Marco stole the DVD out of his bag.”

“Asshole.” Vlad shook his head. He hated to think ill of the dead, but he was glad the team’s starting goaltender, Marco Rousch, had been killed; the guy had been a menace.

“At least we don’t have to worry about him anymore.” She concentrated on the pizza, chewing slowly and enjoying every bite. She only got to have pizza three or four times a year, so this was special. She always ate whatever she wanted on her birthday, even though it would mean hours at the gym in the next week to make sure the fat stayed off her ass.

“I like to watch you eat pizza.” Vlad smirked. “Is sexy.”

She met his gaze and tipped her face up, letting the pizza dangle down into her mouth. She wrapped her tongue around a long string of cheese and then closed her lips around it, sucking it in. His eyes never left hers and she gave him a look before closing her eyes and moaning as she chewed, slowly and deliberately.

“You said you are not a tease,” he whispered huskily. “But you are.”

Her eyes opened and she swallowed. “I said I wouldn’t tease you last night in my bed. I didn’t say anything about later. And anyway, who’s teasing?”

He slid closer to her on the couch and wrapped an arm around her neck before finding her mouth with his. They’d both known this was coming, but the real thing was so much better than what either of them had imagined. Her mouth was soft and sexy beneath his, her tongue eager to mate. He used his other hand to grip the back of her neck, stroking her soft skin. He wrapped a thick lock of hair around one finger and sighed at how silky it was to the touch. She was magnificent, and when she turned her body to press her chest to his, he was lost. He had no idea what was happening, but this woman changed everything he knew about sex. For the first time, he was in no hurry. Kissing her, exploring her skin with his fingers, and listening to her breath close to his was almost more than he could stand. The sensations rippling through him were so erotic he was almost frozen with desire.

“You are beautiful,” he whispered, moving his lips down her throat and nibbling along her jaw. “This is nice.”

“This is even better than pizza,” she murmured. She’d known he had a great body after seeing him take off his shirt early this morning, but feeling it up against her was amazing. He was hard and toned all over, with biceps that made her feel tiny. The need to lose herself in him was overwhelming but she didn’t want to rush. Something about Vlad was different and suddenly she wanted him to be more than just a way to have an orgasm.

“This is soon,” he said reluctantly, almost reading her mind as he pulled away, his hands resting at her waist.

“You want to wait?” she whispered, her face close to his.

“No,” he admitted. “But maybe waiting is good? You are not like other women I sleep with—you are lady.”

She flushed, surprised and a little embarrassed that he held her in such high esteem. “Believe me,” she whispered. “I’ve done my share of mindless fucking. I’m no angel, but eventually you get to a point in life where you want more than that. It doesn’t have to be forever—I think that’s where a lot of guys get hung up. You don’t have to be in love to make love. Know what I mean?”

He nodded even though he didn’t understand, since fucking was all he’d ever done. He was pretty sure he’d never made love to a woman because he’d never been in love, but now she made it seem like love wasn’t part of it. On the other hand, he did understand that sometimes women liked slow and sexy, with lots of kissing and touching, instead of fast and hard. He liked all of it, and apparently Rachel did, too, since she’d been quick to admit she’d done her share of sleeping around. He didn’t want to disappoint her, and something in his gut told him honesty would be very important in this situation. “Maybe I am not good at…making love.”

Her eyes met his in surprise. “I don’t think a guy who kisses like you do has problems in bed.”

“Not problems…” He hesitated. “I am worried maybe I am only able to fuck?”

She leaned up to kiss him again, her lips hovering for a second before pulling away. “Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned all that,” she said quietly. “I don’t want you to worry about it—I like it almost any way you want to do it. I’m just telling you up front that I need romance sometimes, too. After the way you just kissed me? I’m positive you know what you’re doing.”

“I have never been in love,” he said slowly. “Except as teenager, but not adult, not real love. I don’t understand if to make love requires real love.”

“No. I’ve made love with guys I wasn’t in love with—it’s not all about the feelings. I don’t think you can make love during a one-night stand, but you can definitely do it with someone you’re dating that you like a lot.”

“I like you a lot.” He pulled her close, nuzzling her neck. “And I still think to wait is better.”

“How long?” she asked, pursing her lips and pretending to pout. “It’s been three months for me. How long has it been for you?”

“Last night does not count because we start but did not finish,” he said slowly. “So two weeks.”

“And how long do I have to wait?” she teased, her eyes glinting with amusement. “Three months is a lot longer than two weeks.”

“Tomorrow I have practice,” he said slowly, finding her fingers with his. “The next day is game, then I leave for Vancouver. We go to Anaheim in two weeks. Can you wait two weeks?” His eyes met hers with a mixture of amusement and curiosity.

She groaned loudly, though she was laughing. “And what do I get in two weeks?”

“Everything.” He smiled. “There will be…” His voice faded as he searched his mind for the words in English. Finally, with a frustrated sigh, he pulled out his phone and sent Toli a text. A moment later he got a response. “Sexual tension?”

She burst out laughing, climbed into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Okay, we can wait until you come to Anaheim, but if we wait, the deal is off with teasing.”

His eyes narrowed. “What this means?”

“This means I get to tease you all I want.” She ran a hand down his broad chest. “We still get to make out tonight, right?”

He nodded, swallowing hard. “Yes?”

“Kiss me, Vlad. It’s been a long time since I spent the night making out on the couch without winding up in bed. Think you can do it?”

He grinned. “Oh, yes. I can do this.” He found her mouth again, kissing her with slow, delicious strokes that made his dick stiffen in his jeans and her breath get raspy. He found her nipple through her clothes and used his thumb to tease it erect while his other hand cupped her sweet ass. This was going to kill him, but she was worth it. He was going to give her a taste of what was to come, and then he would go back to his pizza. It might mean two weeks of cold showers, but he didn’t care.

He brought her around so that she straddled him fully, and he slid his hands under her blouse, stroking the silky skin of her back.

“No fair,” she whispered, meeting his eyes. “Now you’re teasing me.”

“I will stop,” he whispered back, pressing light kisses behind her ear. “We have more pizza. And birthday cake.”

“There’s birthday cake?” Her head snapped up.

He laughed. “Yes. Vanilla and chocolate—you have choice since I did not know what you like.”

“Both!” She laughed, too. “Can we have cake now?”

“Yes.” He slowly pulled away, adjusting his jeans so that he didn’t lose all the circulation in his dick.

“Are you okay?” she asked with a chuckle, patting his crotch.

He arched an eyebrow. “I am fine. Two weeks,” he said firmly.