Worth the Drive (31 page)

She towered over him, the front platform of the bleachers starting at his waist. Her hips were
even with where his arm rested
on the railing, and she curbed the desire to lean there, against his arm, his hand.

“Sorry
to keep you waiting,” he said, his shoulders raised apologetically.

“Not a problem. This is more important,” she said.

“Their bus is late for their pickup, so I thought I’d keep them company,” he said. As if it had been summoned, the bus appeared in the parking lot behind them and the kids started to put their clubs down and make their way toward it, waving to
Darío
, calling out thank yous.

“It will only take me a few minutes to clean up,” he said. “I’m sorry to make you wait. You l
ook so…fresh…so lovely. I didn’
t wish for you to be out in this heat.”

She shrugged her fresh and lovely shoulders, basking in his words. “It’s okay, really. It’s more important that these kids get your time. Your attention. They probably don’t get that a lot.”

He nodded his head, but seemed to be far away in thought.

“The First Tee is a great program for these kids,” she said.

He nodded again, waving goodbye to the kids as they were herded away. He looked back at Katie, his eyes full of some emotion she couldn’t quite read. Torment? Regret?

“These kids are me, Katie.”

The dinner was a blur to
Darío
. He couldn’t taste the food. He drank very little except water. The speakers seemed to drone on and on.

All he seemed to see was Katie in that dress.

When he’d seen her in the bleachers he was once again struck by her beauty. He should be used to it by now, but he wasn’t. And that dress. It was made of some type of material that floated, that shimmered. The part closest to her body – and it was very close to her body, skimming it deliciously – was light blue. There was a sheer, willowy layer over that which was a floral print, with creams, blues and yellows.

The dress was long, flaring after the waist into a billowy cloud, covering her long legs. Only her shapely ankles were exposed, leading to narrow, long feet. She wore sandals with more heel than
Darío
had seen on her before.

She had her hair up, her graceful neck exposed to him.

She wore ponytails quite frequently on the course, but this was different. Her golden hair was twisted in the back and held with some kind of thing that glittered when she turned her head. Small earrings dangled just below her luscious earlobes.

He’d never noticed her earlobes before. They were full and perfectly proportioned. Just right for nibbling.

Bah!
He was not going to make it through dinner at this rate.

He tried to take his mind off of Katie, off of the night to come. The fact that when they returned to their hotel after this dinner – unlike their dinners every other night – they’d be returning to one room.

One bed.

He noticed she seemed restless too. Unfocused.

That was good.

He caught her staring at his hands as he cut his meat.

That was very good.

Finally, the evening wrapped up. Normally
Darío
would have stayed longer, talked to the club members, but after a quick conversation with the tournament director,
Darío
was able to make a semi-graceful exit. Last year’s tournament winner was there, as well as a few other players. They would be enough for the group of clubmembers to talk with.

The drive back to the motel was like any other night, and yet it wasn’t. Their conversation was like every other week. Katie asked about what players he thought would do well on this particular course. How he felt about his chances this week.

Her questions sounded half-hearted at be
st. His answers were barely one
word.

When they entered the room, they both looked around as if it had gotten smaller while
they’d been away.

Katie walked a few steps into the room. He closed the door and leaned up against it, content to watch her move.

She turned around. The only light in the room was the lamp on the desk at the far end of the room that Katie must have left on when she’d left. It lit her from the back, showing him the outline of her body, her hips, her legs.

He looked to her face. That striking, stunning face. Which right now looked apprehensive. He watched as she looked at the carpet, not meet
ing his eyes. She chewed on her
lower lip.

Oh God, she
’
d changed her mind.

He’d have to do the right thing, of course. Offer to leave the room. Stay somewhere else. Give the room to her. It was the last thing in the world he wanted, but if she wasn’t sure, he wouldn’t press her.

If theirs was to be a short-term relationship he’d cajole, seduce, plead…whatever it took to get her into bed. But no, he’d be dealing with Katie – in some form – for the rest of his life, he had to be sure that she trusted him. That she wasn’t leery of him in any way.

His child’s future depended on it.

Dios mio
, how he wanted her.

He made no move toward her, still leaned against the closed door. “Katie,” he began. He dragged a hand through his hair, hoping the frustration wasn’t obvious in his voice. She looked up at him, her eyes questioning. “If you rather I leave,” he said, then stopped. Her eyes grew huge, the blue  exactly matching the blue of one of the flowers on her dress. The one near her collarbone.

Her head began to shake. “No…no,” she said and then she stepped toward him. Her heel caught in the hem of her dress and she fell into
Darío
, his arms barely able to catch her. He steadied her.

She let out a small groan. “Oh God, I can’t do this,” she said softly to herself, but
Darío
heard.

He dropped his hands from her. “It is fine. Really if you can’t do this –  ”

She cut him off. “I want to do
this
.” She waggled her hands between them, showing a form of togetherness.
Darío
pretended not to notice when she inadvertently hit him.

“God, how I want to. It’s making the first move that I can’t seem to do. Not without causing bodily damage anyway.”

“Making the first move?”

She nodded, her gaze still looking anywhere but him. “I’ve wanted to for weeks, but I just…I just… don’t know how.
That time in Texas was not the real me…I…
” She finally looked at him, her eyes full of chagrin, her shoulders gave a tiny shrug. “I’ve never had to before.”

He laughed. God, what an idiot he’d been giving her the space he thought she desired. He reached out and – gently
, lest some body part of hers ca
me into painful contact with his – pulled her to him.

“You’ll never have to again,” he whispered to her.

He felt so good. Warm, strong. She knew she’d wanted to be with him again. Had known that since she’d left his bed in Texas. But she hadn’t realized the physical ache to be with him was so strong until she was back in his arms again.

She slid his linen sportscoat from his shoulders, reveling in the curve of his shoulder, the
strength of his arms. She tossed the coat aside and started working on the buttons of his shirt. She heard him gasp as her fingers brushed bare skin. Saw his stomach contract. Good, he was nervous too.

She shouldn’t be nervous, she told herself. They’d done this before. And even if it hadn’t been graceful, it had been exactly what she’d needed.

She’d needed an escape then. Now she needed – what? To cement a foundation with
Darío
? To see if they had what it took to sustain a relationship – at least in bed?

No. Too much pressure to put on this. She’d just enjoy it, and worry about the rest tomorrow.

She was certainly enjoying seeing his bare chest, his dark hair swirling across the golden brown of his skin. She pressed her nose to his neck and breathed in his scent. He’d showered after the clinic, but she could still smell grass, earth, the outdoors on him. He wore cologne, but it was slight, she couldn’t make it out. Mixed all together it was heavenly.

And very arousing.

She nuzzled into him, trying to get closer. Get to the heart of him. Find a piece of his soul. Or at the very least, get his pants off.

She slipped the unbutton
ed
shirt off of him and reached for his belt.

He stilled her hands with his. “
Gata
, slow down. Please. Let me hold you. Let me feel you.” His voice was raspy, husky.

She started to twine her arms around his neck, wanting that too. Wanting to be held. She realized how badly she wanted to be held by
Darío
.

But he took her hands and instead turned her around, pulling her behind, her back up against him, wrapping his strong arms around her waist. She moved a little too quickly, forcing him back. She heard his head crack against the door.

“I’m sorry – ”

“Shhh,” he whispered into her neck. His tongue traced a line up her neck to her ear. She let her head fall back to his shoulder as he nibbled on her earlobe. He then started kissing her neck. Some small, tiny kisses, some long, wet, pulling.

She bowed her head forward and his mouth continued along the nape of her neck. She’d have to wear her hair up more often. She opened her eyes and saw his arms encircling her, her hands lightly resting on them. She ran her hands along his arms, feeling them tense beneath her touch. Where muscle met bone, where wrist met hand, where fingers met palm.

Her breath hitched and she felt hi
m chuckle into her neck. “That’
s right,
you’re hot
for my arms, eh?”

He took his hands from her and held them in front of them both, making an imaginary golf stance, setting up to an imaginary ball. “I wouldn’t say I’m
hot
for them, I think…” her response died in her throat as she looked down. Oh yes, she was
hot
for his arms.
And completely
turned on by what was not even her favorite body part on a man.

Until now.

She traced her hands down his arms, her stance taking the same as his, her hands making a grip on his hands as if they were a nine-iron. She did a pretend waggle, her bottom grinding into him. She felt the air rush out of him, but offered no apologies. She wasn’t sorry for that one.

“My girl, she likes to play games, eh?” he said, laughing.

He spun her to the side, then effortlessly swung her up in her arms and walked to the bed. He tumbled her down unto the middle of the huge bed. Katie pretended to be tossed around much
more than she was, hands flopping about, losing her balance. Then she saw the look of horror cross
Darío
’s tender face.

“The baby.
Dios Mio
, Katie I did not even think. I could have hurt…did I hurt you? Are you…”

She held her hand up for him to stop. She knelt up on the bed, her skirt tangling around her legs, her sandals hanging on by a strap. “I’m fine,
Darío
. The baby’s fine. I was just kidding around.” She slid the sandals off her feet, untangled h
er skirt and, figuring what the heck,
pulled
the dress all the way up and over her head.

She was rewarded by the sharp intake of breath by
Darío
. He mumbled something in Spanish that made Katie desperately wish she knew
more of
the language.

The rest of their clothes were off in record time, as was the bedspread. The feel of the cool sheets on Katie’s back was almost as delicious of the feel of
Darío
’s heat on her front.

They stroked each other, both trying to remember each other’s bodies, but it had been a long time. They discovered each other anew.

How he grunted when she touched him there. How she shivered when he licked her here. Soon, they needed more, and by tacit agreement, and with Katie only bumping
Darío
in the head with her elbow once, he thrust himself inside her.

They both exhaled in slow moans, the fit
was
so excruciatingly perfect. Katie looked up at
Darío
to see his warm eyes on her. He smiled, that small, lopsided smile and Katie realized she hadn’t even kissed him yet. Not on the mouth, anyway.

It was as if he thought the same thing, his eyes gliding down her face and resting on her lips. Knowing exactly what she was doing, she ran her tongue along her mouth, grabbing her lower lip with her teeth. Before she let go, his mouth was there, taking up the pressure, pulling at her lip, running his tongue along the outline of her mouth, making an exaggerated dip at the bow of her upper lip.