Stealing Home (9 page)

Which I might have.

“I still can’t believe you almost came up empty in the condom department.”

Luke’s arms caged around my head, his head lowering until it was level with mine. “I wasn’t exactly expecting last night.”

“You weren’t?” I raised a doubtful eyebrow at him.

“Hoping, always hoping.” The corner of his mouth twitched. “But I didn’t think I’d worn you down anywhere close enough for that.”

“So I’m easier than I seem,” I teased. “My parents would be proud.”

He chuckled. “Thank god for that, because you had me worried we’d finally be doing it on my deathbed by the time you came around.”

“Yeah, that condom hiding in your wallet definitely would have exceeded its shelf life by then.”

“Although if you were ninety, I think your baby-making days would be over.”

I made a clucking sound with my tongue, running my hands down his sides. His skin was warm, and a sheen of sweat clung to him. “Ah, the perks of geriatric sex. I mean, sure, you might break a hip, but you can ride bareback without worrying about knocking a grandma up.”

Luke shook his head before kissing my forehead. “You’re strange.”

“Thank you,” I replied, right before the alarm on my phone went off. “Time for your bath.”

Luke groaned. “Can we just say we did and not?”

My hand dropped to his right leg, lightly curling around his inner thigh. The swelling had gone down some, but it was still inflamed. “Definitely not. You’re lucky you didn’t injure it worse with all of the
thrusting
you did last night. As it is, you’re lucky I’m not putting you on a two-hour rotation instead of a three-hour.” Ducking beneath the brace of his arms, I headed for my phone to turn off the alarm. It was seven in the morning, and the team was to head out from the hotel at nine. I had a lot to get done in two hours and, unfortunately, no time to
do
Luke anymore.

“I think your and my definitions of lucky are different.”

Laughing, I paused just outside the bathroom door to admire him. He was still buttressed up against the wall he’d just gotten me off on. The morning sun coming through the window across from him bathed him in golden light, almost making him glow, highlighting a body that hinted at perfection. When his face turned toward me, my breath caught in my lungs. This man could not be real. That this man seemed into me and almost made for me could not be real either.

When his smile crept into place, I accepted that, real or not, I was going to let myself enjoy this time with Luke Archer. No matter how brief it was, no matter how careful we had to be, I was going to enjoy it because life didn’t hand out an abundance of these kinds of experiences.

These were the kinds of memories people held onto instead of trying to forget.

“Thank you, Luke.”

His head tipped. “For what?”

My answer was forming when a pounding sounded on the outside of the door.

“Room service,” he said, snagging his sweats from the floor and sliding them into place.

“Good. I’m starving.” Pulling one of the hotel robes from the closet, I slid into it.

“Can’t imagine why.” Luke smirked at me before pulling the door open.

“You are so lucky I’m not Coach right now.” A voice I was not expecting broke into the room right before Reynolds did. “Because heads would roll if he saw you upright, starting with yours.”

Lunging the few steps into the bathroom, I shut the door and locked it. Reynolds hadn’t seen me, but that had been close. So much for placing such a high priority on being careful.

I’d just have to hang out in here until he left, and we’d have to implement a check-the-peephole policy before opening the door for anyone when I was traipsing around Luke’s hotel room, freshly fucked and wearing a bathrobe.

“Does Eden know you’re up on your feet right now? Because I’d be more scared of her seeing you up than Coach.”

Shit. It would seem strange if Reynolds didn’t see me doing something that an athletic trainer who hadn’t spent most of the night naked with the man she was tending to should be doing.

Thank god I’d stuffed my suitcase in here last night. I could step out of the bathroom in clothes instead of a plush white robe with the hotel’s emblem and fine print that read
Archer and I Got It On Last Night.

As I rustled through my suitcase, scrambling for a fresh set of clothes, I could make out Luke’s and Reynolds’s voices in the other room. It sounded like they were talking about the upcoming game, but there was a little too much adrenaline shooting through my system to focus on anything besides getting dressed before Reynolds got suspicious.

I’d guessed that if Luke and I kept this kind of relationship up for any kind of duration, someone would eventually figure it out—I hadn’t guessed it would happen less than eight hours later.

Once I’d wrestled into the usual khakis and team polo I wore during the season, I flew to the bath and cranked on the water. There were a few bags of fresh ice piled on the floor, so I started upending them into the tub while it filled.

After a couple of minutes passed and I was reasonably certain I’d composed myself and would be up to the task of convincing Reynolds I’d done nothing more than perform my role of athletic trainer last night, I moved toward the door. Luke and Reynolds were still talking about the upcoming game when I pulled open the door.

“Hey, Doc.” Reynolds’s gaze immediately shifted my way as I stepped out of the bathroom. “Morning.”

“Oh great.” I crossed my arms and tried to ignore Luke watching me. Even just looking at me, he could fluster me. “You’re calling me Doc now too?”

Reynolds shrugged. “Everyone is.”

“Beautiful. Shepherd ought to love that,” I muttered, casually scanning the floor to find that, somehow, Luke had managed to kick all evidence of an all-night sexathon under the bed. Except for . . .

Before my heart leapt into my throat, Luke moved toward the wrapper and discreetly stepped on it to hide it from view.

“Wow.” Reynolds’s forehead creased when he took a good look at me. “You look like he rode you hard and put you out wet. Forgive the analogy.”

Luke was behind Reynolds, so he was free to laugh silently. I didn’t have the same luxury.

“Forgiven,” I said, moving toward my training bag to look busy. “And good for you for knowing what an analogy is.”

“He didn’t give you a hard time, did he? Archer can be a real hardass when he puts his mind to it.”

My fingers fumbled with the zipper as I pulled the bag open. Luke continued to chuckle to himself across the room. “He gave me a pretty hard time.”

“Dammit, Archer, I like this one.” Reynolds lifted his middle finger at Luke. “We all like Doc. You mess this up and she leaves, my cleats are going up your ass.”

“Is there a reason you’re here? Other than to threaten to sodomize me with your size twelves?” Luke checked the clock, a pensive look casting over his face. I knew what he was thinking, but no, we did not have time for one more round.

“Yeah, I wanted to check on Doc. Make sure she survived the night with you.”

“She survived the night. I think she might have even enjoyed herself a little.” Luke’s eyes flashed as he slowly licked his lips when Reyolds wasn’t looking.

Ignoring the chills tumbling down my spine, I smiled at Reynolds. “Who wouldn’t enjoy giving a guy like Archer six ice baths in one night, right?”

Reynolds snorted a laugh before tipping his chin at me, flipping Archer off again, and heading toward the door.

“Hey, Reynolds,” Archer called as Reynolds was pulling the door open, “would you mind if I borrowed . . .”—he jacked his brows at me a few times, my heart calcifying in my chest—“an extra pair of socks?”

My whole body sagged in relief. Right before I shot a glare Luke’s way for nearly giving me a heart attack.

“Sure. No prob,” Reynolds replied. “For a minute you had me worried there. I thought you were going to ask to borrow my jock or something.”

“Oh no. Yours wouldn’t fit me.” Luke shook his head, glancing at his jock region. “I have to special order. They don’t make them in my size.”

Reynolds grunted. “Yeah, well, that’s what you get for wearing too tight of briefs growing up. You stunted its growth.”

Luke smirked at him. “Come on, Reynolds. You know I grew up by a nuclear reactor. Don’t be a hater. Penis envy is a real and treatable disorder. There are professionals you can talk with about your feelings of inadequacy and impaired size.”

Luke got the double bird that time. Reynolds left the room with a string of good-natured curses laced with comebacks.

My shoulders slumped when the door closed. “That was close.”

Lifting his foot, Luke bent to grab the condom wrapper before tossing it in the wastebasket by the desk. “Yeah, sorry. I totally thought that was our breakfast.”

“You don’t think he suspects anything, do you?”

“About the real
hard
time I gave you last night?” His dimple set into his right cheek from his smile. “No. Reynolds is convinced the only game I have is what I exude on the field.”

When the next knock pounded on the door, I lifted my finger when he lunged toward the door.

“But you’re dressed now.” He shrugged before his face lined. “Speaking of, why are you dressed? We’ve still got two hours before we have to be downstairs.”

My eyes lifted. “Just check the peephole, please.”

Luke shrugged but did as asked. A second later, his hands came together. “Breakfast.”

My stomach rumbled at the promise of sustenance.

Once the employee had rolled the cart into the room and turned to go, Luke stopped him at the door. Even though he’d turned his back toward me as he riffled through his wallet, I didn’t miss the tip Luke gave the employee. If I’d missed the bill, the look on the guy’s face would have given it away.

“Breakfast didn’t cost a quarter that much probably, you know that?”

“Do I know what?” Luke gave me an innocent look as he settled his wallet back on the dresser before rolling the breakfast cart toward the bed.

“How about the table?” I nodded at the table and chairs propped by the window. “I don’t trust you to eat breakfast if you and I are on the same bed together.”

Luke’s mouth curved. “Breakfast in bed is my favorite way to dine.”

My stomach muscles tightened. “Do you ever
not
have that on your mind?”

“When you’re around?” Luke shook his head. “Never.”

“Then breakfast at the table far away from the bed for sure. I can’t have you malnourished in addition to injured.”

Luke rolled the cart toward the table, his smirk amplifying. “Please. I was up all night eating. Malnourished I am not.”

I should have been oversexed and exhausted, but at his words and his look, that very part of my body he was alluding to pulsed with desire.

In an attempt to ignore it, I started laying the breakfast trays on the table. “I was a little too preoccupied last night to notice, but why is Luke Archer in a standard room? The same kind of standard room the team puts grunt workers like myself in? I would have thought they’d put their prized possession in some suite complete with a bowling alley and a lap pool.”

Luke poured two cups of coffee from the silver carafe, stirring milk and sugar into the cup in front of me. “I don’t need a big room. I don’t need a fancy suite with bowling alleys and lap pools and pinball machines. Or whatever the hell are in them. I just need a place to sleep before heading out for the next game.” He mixed some sugar into his cup, then sat down across the table from me.

“So Luke Archer is low maintenance?”

His head shook. “Luke Archer is
no
maintenance. I mean, yeah, maybe one day if I’m still doing this when I have a family, then a bowling alley would be fun, but for now, it’s just me. I don’t need a whole lot.”

“My experience with you last night leads me to another conclusion.”

“Sex is different. Everyone needs a whole lot. I need a whole,
whole
lot. I thought we were talking about hotel rooms.”

Fighting my smile, I lifted the metal cover from my plate to find pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. The skin between my brows pinched together as I stared at the plate in front of me.

“Something wrong?” Luke asked as he took the cover off his plate.

Checking to see if he had the same thing, I discovered that no, he had a big omelet with a side of hash browns and toast. “Who ordered this?”

“I did.” He shrugged, his tone hinting that it should have been obvious.

“Did you make a lucky guess or something?” When his brows stayed lifted, I circled my fork at my plate. “This is my favorite breakfast. What I almost always order when I’m on the road.”

“Yeah, I know.” Luke scooted the syrup toward me. “That’s why I ordered it for you.”

“How did you know that?” I moved past the initial shock to take a bite of my bacon.

“I told you, Allie. I noticed you from the first day you started. I haven’t stopped noticing you either.” Luke winked across the table at me. “Right down to what you like to eat every morning for breakfast.”

I froze with the piece of bacon still in my hand. “You noticed that much about me? Right down to the way I like my eggs cooked and my pancakes butter free?”

He shrugged again, his face indicating that this all should be obvious. “Yeah.” He lifted his coffee cup and drained it in one drink. “Someone in my position—someone in your position—can’t just rush into something. You need to take your time. Observe someone from way back before coming closer. That’s what I did with you.” He watched me pour him another cup of coffee like I was proving some point he was trying to make. “I noticed how you were always at work before anyone else. How you were usually the last one to leave too. How you hustled everywhere you went, were the first on the field when a guy needed help, and didn’t take crap from anyone. That told me everything I needed to know about your character. That you’re hard-working, dedicated, and compassionate.” He cut into his omelet with the side of his fork. “The rest, I’d figured out way before that.”

“The rest?” I asked, pouring a stream of syrup over my pancakes. I added more than usual, hoping the extra sugar would make up for the lack of sleep.