Most Valuable Playboy Read online

  Talk. What’s that? I can’t even string words together. All I can manage are grunts and growls. This is primal. This is physical. This is so fucking intense as I push against her and kiss those lips that own me.

  I thread my hands through her hair. “Vi, I thought about you so much.”

  She breathes out hard, nodding as she drops her purse to the floor. “Me, too. You, that is.”

  I push her skirt to her hips. My gaze drifts down, and my throat is dry. She wears pink panties with white foxes on them.

  I can’t speak.

  I’ve been reduced to nothing but muscles and blood and heat and desire. That’s all that works in me, and it’s working in overdrive. My hand slides between those gorgeous thighs, then across her panties, and I’m done.

  She’s so fucking wet.

  “Need to get these off,” I mutter, and she nods vigorously.

  “Yes. Off.”

  I kneel, tugging her panties down, helping her step out of them in her high-heeled boots, while she shrugs off her jacket. She wears a pink sweater, and I could fucking die. She’s so sexy. She’s so pretty. She’s so mine.

  But she’s not mine.

  She’s only mine for now, and I’ll take what I can get. As soon as I stand, she grabs at the hem of my shirt, and I yank it off.

  I pat the back of my jeans for my wallet, but it’s on the kitchen counter. Besides, I’m honestly not sure I have a condom in it. It’s been months since I needed one.

  “Vi,” I say, heavily. “I don’t think I have a—”

  “—I do.”

  She grabs her purse and snags a condom in five seconds flat.

  “You’re prepared,” I say, surprised for some reason that she’s carrying.

  She levels me with her gaze, her eyes intense and her tone brutally honest, it seems. “Cooper, I’ve been prepared for this since the first night at your house. I’ve been ready for a long time.”

  Those words grab hold of me, touching my heart, rekindling my hope. I try not to read too much into them, but they feel so true. I take the condom from her hand as she lets go of her purse, and I kiss her once more. “I’ve been ready for a long time, too,” I say softly.

  A desperate oh comes from her, and I sweep my thumb over her lips, almost as if I can catch the sound, hold it close, keep her.

  I look down to tear open the condom when I feel a hand on my shoulder. “Are you sure? The superstitions and all that stuff?”

  I don’t know the answer, but I also don’t care. “I don’t care. You’re all I want.” I unzip my jeans, push them to my hips, and roll on the condom as she watches with wide, hungry eyes. My phone bleats again from the couch. “I don’t care who’s calling. I don’t care about anything else right now.”

  “I don’t care about anything else, either,” she says, in a breathless rush, and I know we said we’d talk after the game, I know there are so many things to discuss, but I need this woman more than words.

  I need her right now against the door.

  God bless her high-heeled boots. All I have to do is bend my knees slightly and we line up. I rub the head of my cock against her sweet, hot pussy. She trembles, and I shudder. I’m not even inside her, and I’m shaking. I’m fucking shaking with desire.

  She loops her arms around my neck, and I look into her eyes. I nearly tell her right now that I’m madly in love with her. I bite back the words, murmuring only a desperate “you’re so beautiful” as I grip the bottom of her thigh, hiking her leg up and over my hip.

  A shuddering gasp is her response, and then I sink into her.

  The most sensual oh I’ve ever heard falls on my ears. It sweeps over my whole body.

  And I know. I just know. Nothing compares to this.

  This is heaven.

  I still myself before I’m all the way in, sensations rocketing inside me, but it’s more than just the physical. It’s the overwhelmingness of this moment. I’ve thought about this. I’ve imagined it. I’ve longed for it.

  Now it’s here.

  “Vi,” I whisper, and that one syllable comes out reverently.

  “Oh God,” she whimpers, and her body goes softer in my arms, as if she’s falling into me. She’s paradise, so warm and tight, and she grips me so intensely I feel like I could come now. That’s not permissible, though, so I squeeze my eyes shut and count to three. I push in deeper, and she wraps her leg tighter around me. She whimpers as I nestle my cock all the way inside her. The sound she makes sends shockwaves through my blood.

  I stroke into her, heat blasting through all my cells, sparks flying across my skin as I look at her, as I stare into those eyes that don’t stray from me, either. Nothing has ever felt like this. This good. This intense. This necessary.

  With one hand holding her leg firmly, I raise my other hand to her face, and grip her chin.

  She gasps, and it almost sounds like a cry. Like a wonderfully needy plea for me.

  The world slows.

  The city fades to a distant blur.

  Time ceases to matter.

  Her eyes stay locked with mine, and I swear, I fucking swear, she’s unmasked right now. I can see everything in her eyes. She looks at me like she feels all the same things I do. I see my emotions reflected as she holds on tight.

  “Vi, baby. It’s never been like this.”

  “I know.” Her voice sounds as if it’s breaking.

  I thrust, and a shudder wracks my whole damn body. “Never.”

  She swallows, keeping her gaze on me. She has to feel it, too. She has to know. She has to get it. This isn’t sex. This isn’t a wild fuck against my door. This is two people who are meant to be together.

  I pull back, then push back in. I do it again, filling her all the way, and stilling myself inside her.

  She bites down hard on her lip, and her back bows, her chest pressing against me. It’s the most seductive thing I’ve ever seen. Pleasure spikes in me as I move in her. As I stroke. As I fuck. As I watch her, my hand tight on her jaw, her eyes locked on me. At one point, I go so deep, she nearly screams, then her eyes float closed.

  That won’t do. “Look at me,” I demand.

  She squeezes her eyes then opens them. “I’m looking at you. I can’t stop looking at you.”

  “Fuck, baby,” I mutter as I yank her closer, fucking her hard and deep. “Do you feel it?” I rasp out as I stroke into her.

  She manages a desperate nod. “I feel it all.”

  Her head falls back, her neck stretched long and inviting, her words landing on my ears.

  So good.

  So close.

  More.

  Deeper.

  You.

  Coming.

  Oh God, I’m coming.

  She trembles. Her shoulders shake, and she cries out in pleasure. That’s enough for me. I need nothing more. I’m there with her, my own orgasm insisting on appearing right fucking now as my thighs quake, and my balls tighten, and I come hard and deep inside her, filling the condom.

  I groan for what feels like minutes. She does, too. We pant and moan, and come down from the highest high. My hand is still curved on her face, gripping her jaw, and when I let go, I realize I’ve held her so hard, I left fingerprints on her chin. “You okay? Did I hurt you?”

  She shakes her head. “No.” Her voice is like a feather. “It only feels good.”

  Gently, I slide out of her and excuse myself for the bathroom. After I toss the condom, clean up, and zip my jeans, I return to the living room, but she’s not there. Her purse is gone, too, and my heart stops beating. Fear takes over, and I actually look out the bay window to see if she’s pulled off a dine and dash.

  I spot her green car parked right outside, and another car pulls up in front of it.

  Why the hell would I think she’s taken off? Maybe because we still haven’t talked. We still haven’t figured out what we’re doing.

  Her heels click across my floor, and I turn around, my breath coming fast. “I thought you left.”


  She narrows her eyes. “I’m not going to just take off without saying goodbye.”

  “I know. I’m going crazy.”

  She hooks her thumb in the direction of one of the bathrooms. “I was straightening up. I have an appointment. Remember?”

  “Right, yeah.” I scrub my hand over my jaw, trying to make sense of the emotions steamrolling me. “Do you need to go now?”

  She looks at her watch as she moves closer to me. “I should leave soon. I have a couple of up-dos for a Christmas party.”

  I lean in and give her a kiss, lingering on her lips. “I have to go to the team hotel tonight.” We always stay at a hotel the night before a home game. It’s the team rule, so we don’t have to worry about spouses, girlfriends, sick kids, or cars that won’t start in the morning. “Let’s figure out a time to see—”

  A wild knocking sounds on my door.

  She arches a brow. I peer in the peephole. Just outside, Ford grins as if he’s won the lottery.

  34

  “Who’s the man?” Ford holds his arms out wide. His smile extends to Pluto and back.

  “You’re the man?” I ask playfully, gallons of hope rising inside me. If he’s here, that means one thing. One awesome, amazing thing.

  He claps me on both shoulders. “You. Are. The. Fucking. Man.”

  Anticipation bursts in my chest. “And why am I the man?”

  Ford stops and gives Violet a cheek kiss. “Hello, beautiful. Wherever are my manners? Good to see you.”

  “Hi, Ford. Why is Cooper the man? Are you going to tell him?” she asks, practically bouncing on those skyscraper heels.

  My agent raises his right arm toward the ceiling, like a warrior issuing a battle cry. “Four years. Four beautiful, amazing, incredible, make-it-rain years.”

  My jaw comes unhinged. It falls to the motherfucking floor when he says the dollar amount. It’s mind-boggling. It’s staggering. I slide my hand through my hair. “Holy shit.”

  “Holy fucking multimillion-dollar-face-of-the-team-starting-quarterback-for-the-next-four-years shit.”

  Ford punches the air several times, and Violet throws her arms around me. “I am so proud of you. This is amazing. This is incredible. You deserve everything,” she says, her voice bubbling over with excitement. She sounds like champagne. Like diamonds. Like all the stars in the sky.

  I’m floating. I’m in shock. “Thank you,” I say, surprised I can even get those words out because I’m too stunned. Too overwhelmed. Ford already banked me life-changing money when he negotiated my rookie contract. This is many-lives-changing money.

  I walk to the couch and sink down because I’m not sure I can stand anymore as I process this news.

  “Don’t sit. We need to go out and celebrate. We have points to review. We have things to discuss. Get up, brother,” Ford says.

  Violet sets a hand on his arm. “I think he needs a little time to process this.”

  Ford turns to Violet, pressing his hands together. “Speaking of time, how can I thank you? You were amazing. You were incredible. Thank you for everything you did. And guess what?”

  “What?”

  Ford waves his arms as if he’s flying. “You’re free now. You don’t have to pretend to like this guy anymore.”

  She narrows her eyes. “What do you mean?”

  He shoots her a look. “He told me you were never into him in the first place, and that’s why it’s all the more amazing that you pulled this off. You were so believable. Kind of ironic, though, that in the end, our man went all Boy Scout and told the truth that you guys were never a real thing.”

  Violet snaps her gaze to me, her voice wary. “Cooper, what is he talking about?”

  My brain is sluggish, still processing the shock and thrill of this news. “I told the coach the truth before the game.”

  “What did you tell him?” she asks tentatively.

  “That it was all smoke and mirrors,” Ford says, waving his hands like a magician.

  “Smoke and mirrors?”

  “Fake. False. Made-up. Whatever you want to call it,” Ford adds, like he thinks Violet doesn’t understand words.

  “I know what smoke and mirrors means,” she says to Ford, then turns to me. “I just don’t understand why you’d say that.”

  “I didn’t want the coach to think I was a liar,” I say, the words coming out slow since my head is a swirl of numbers and deals and life-changing news. But even in this daze, I try to explain what went down as best I can. “I didn’t want to earn the job under false pretenses. I wanted him to know the whole truth.”

  “What is the whole truth?”

  I part my lips to speak—to tell her nothing is false with her—when an alarm sounds from inside her purse. She grabs her phone and mutes the noise. Her shoulders tense, and she mutters something about her appointment as she heads for the door.

  “Vi,” I say, standing and walking to her. “But I also realized—”

  She turns around. Her eyes brim with sadness, but her voice is resolute. “I can’t be late, Cooper. This is a new client, and I can’t take a chance.”

  I nod. Of all people, I understand how sometimes—even most of the time—business has to come first. “We’ll talk later?”

  She offers a smile, but it feels forced. Or maybe confused is the better term. Because fuck, I am, too. This offer should be the greatest moment on the business side of my career. The chance to step into my own. To have security and a bright, bold future. But as I look at Violet, suddenly the contract isn’t the most important thing. I want the girl, too. I want a future with her. She’s the thing I can’t live without.

  I grab her hand. “I’ll call you later. I promise.”

  She swallows and nods tightly. But she says nothing, almost as if she doesn’t want to chance speaking. She turns on her heel, walks down my steps, and leaves. I don’t look away, not yet. Finally, when she’s in her car, I turn around to see the smiling face of my agent. I want to ask him how I can negotiate my way back into her heart.

  But he’s not the guy who knows those answers.

  Instead, we spend the next few hours reviewing the deal over a fantastic steak dinner, and he offers to take me to the team hotel, but I have sixty minutes before I’m due there, so I ask him to drop me off at Trent’s bar instead.

  Trent nods at me from his spot behind the bar. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the king of San Francisco.”

  I wave him off, like the adulation is all too much. “Please. I insist on a parade now everyplace I go.”

  He tosses a dish towel in my direction. It lands on the wooden counter. “You came to the wrong place. In fact, you might have to pay for drinks now.”

  I feign a look of shock. “Money for food and drinks? Never heard of such a thing. By the way, what are you doing behind the bar?”

  “I like to help out now and then. What the hell are you doing here?” He looks at an imaginary watch. “Don’t you have to go to your nun cloisters and put on blinders like a horse before the Kentucky Derby, so no one can see you?”

  “Something like that. I have thirty minutes before I have to be at the hotel. If I’m not there, it’ll be lights out,” I say, slicing a finger across my neck.

  “Really?”

  “No. But yes, I need to follow the rules.” I slap my palms on the counter as if it’s a drum. “But also, the team offered,” I say, then tell him the amount, and he blinks about five million times.

  “That’s insane.”

  “I know. It’s ridiculous. It hardly feels real.”

  He grabs a glass and pours from the tap. “So you came here for a celebratory drink before your last game of the season?”

  I shake my head and draw a deep breath. “I don’t drink before games. I came here for something else.”

  He sets the glass down. “My potato skins recipe is under lock and key.”

  “Dude, you told me years ago the secret was how long you bake the cheese.”

  “Dammit.�
�

  I glance behind me. His bar is full of too many ears. “Can we go to a table in the corner?”

  “Ooh baby, I thought you’d never ask.”

  I roll my eyes. Trent waves over another bartender to cover for him, and we head to a quiet table. Funny, the last time I was here he told me the notion of me being with his sister was absurd on account of my supposedly straying eyes.

  Looking back on this last season, I can say with certainty I’m not a playboy at all. I’ve been with one person, and she’s the only person I want to be with ever again. I stroke my chin, like I need to steel myself for a tough conversation. But honestly, there’s nothing hard about what I have to tell him. When you speak from the heart, you don’t need a dose of courage to get the words out. You just need to open your mouth.

  “A funny thing happened while I was pretending to be involved with Violet.”

  He cocks his head to the side. “Yeah?”

  I nod. “It’s not pretend.”

  “It’s not?” he asks hesitantly.

  I lean back in the chair, hold my arms out wide. “I’m in love with her.”

  He knits his brow and rubs his ear like he has water in it. “What did you just say?”

  “I’m crazy fucking in love with her. Like, to-the-moon-and-back shit. Like rest of my life, no one else, she’s the one. The sun and all the stars in the sky.”

  “Wow. Did you just have a brain transplant with a poet or something? Because this is not you.”

  I rub my hand over the back of my neck. “I know. But now it is me. Because that’s what happened. And the truth is, I think I’ve been falling in love with her for a long time, and this pretend deal brought it all to the surface.”

  He blows out a long stream of air. “Does she know?”

  That’s the biggest issue. “She knows I like her. I’m not sure she knows I’m in love with her.”

  He frowns as if he’s still trying to make sense of this. “Are you looking for my blessing, or something?”