Kate Hoffmann - The Sexy Devil

“And now you do?”

Max took her hand and wove his fingers through hers. “I care about what you think,” he said. “I don’t want you to have any regrets.”

“I don’t,” Angela said.

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of her wrist, his warm mouth lingering on her skin. Angela’s heart fluttered and a tiny sigh slipped from her throat. The sensation was so familiar. Her mind flashed back to a time when his lips had traveled all over her naked body.

How difficult would it be to just pull him down on the bed and kiss him? How would he react? Angela didn’t have to guess. The answer was in his touch, in the gentle caress of his fingers on her wrist. He still wanted her as much as she wanted him. “How is your shoulder?” she asked. “Better.”

“So, you’ll be going back to Florida soon?”

He nodded. “Actually, I’m flying back tomorrow.” He paused. “But I don’t have to. I mean, I could fly back-”

“I’m glad,” she said, pasting a bright smile on her face.

“That I’m leaving?”

Angela shook her head. “No, that your shoulder has healed.”

Without warning, Max took her face in his hands and kissed her. Angela drew back, startled, staring up into his gaze without blinking. But then, he tried again and she felt her defenses crumble. Why go on fooling herself? She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to rip off all her clothes and make love to him on his baseball bedspread.

He must have had the same thought because as the kiss spun out, he gently drew her down onto the bed. It amazed her how perfectly they read each other’s desires. Her fingers fumbled with the buttons on his shirt and when she’d managed to undo three or four, Angela smoothed her hand over his muscled chest.

“I’ve missed you,” he murmured, furrowing his fingers through her hair and pulling her into a deeper kiss.

“You better find a way to stop that,” she said. He frowned, meeting her gaze. “You’re going back to Florida tomorrow.”

“If you ask me to stay, I will.” He kissed her again, his passion rising. “Ask me.”

It was just one word. “Stay.” And her entire life would change. But it wasn’t that simple. He had a job in Florida, a life, and a career. And everything she’d built for herself was here in Chicago. But for a chance at love-at real, forever love-wouldn’t she give it all up?

“I can’t,” she said. “You have to go back.”

“You could come with me?”

Angela shook her head. “We’ve known each other for…well, it hasn’t been two weeks yet.”

“It doesn’t make a difference,” Max said.

“Yes, it does,” Angela said. “We’re in that stage when all our flaws are hidden and we think we’re perfect for each other.”

“You have no flaws,” he said, finding a spot just below her ear to kiss.

Angela gently pushed him away. For once in her life, she wasn’t going to give in to her fantasies. She was going to do the right thing, the practical thing. “You need to go back, Max. And then, when the season is over, we can see how we feel.”

“I already know how I’ll feel,” Max said. “I need you.”

She opened her mouth, then paused before speaking. “Do you need me? Or do you just need a woman? Maybe you need to find out for sure.”

An astonished look crossed his face and he regarded her warily. “That’s a lovely offer, but I don’t think I’ll be taking advantage of that. Now that I’ve decided which woman I want, another one won’t do.” He reached out and cupped her face in his hand. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Angela. There won’t be any other women in my life from now on.”

Angela felt emotion clog her throat. How long had she waited to hear those words? Every dream she’d had about him had always ended in a sweet confession of his feelings for her. But now, she couldn’t quite bring herself to believe him.

Ceci was right. The Web site had changed her. She couldn’t look at love without a healthy dose of cynicism. She wanted to believe it could exist, but Angela needed proof. If he went back to his life and then returned, she’d know for sure. “I think you should go,” she said.

“We’ll both go.”

She shook her head, but Max kissed her again. “I was about to leave anyway. I came to meet this girl and she didn’t show up. Besides, I only have a day left in Chicago. I don’t want to spend it with my parents and their friends. I want to spend it with you.”

They walked to the door. “I should at least go in and say hello to my parents,” Angela said.

He took her hand and led her to the stairs in the front of the house. “If we sneak out, no one will even know where we’ve gone.”

“Where are we going?” Angela asked.

“Somewhere we can be alone.”

The girls were waiting at the front door. Max ruffled their hair. “Go tell Grammy that I really like the girl she found for me and I’m taking her home with me.”

The two girls giggled and ran off as Max pulled Angela out the front door. Every shred of common sense had fled. Angela knew she shouldn’t jump into bed with him, but that’s all she really wanted-to feel his naked body next to hers. To lose herself in the delicious sensations of their lovemaking. She’d survived it all before. One last time couldn’t hurt her.

“I’ll meet you at your place,” she said.

MAX STARED OUT AT THE water of the Gulf, watching a trio of pelicans float lazily on the surface. He ran his hands through his hair, waiting for that sense of calm to settle in. That’s what he loved about his house in Florida. He could just open the door and listen to the waves on the shore, Everything was perfect.

But since he’d returned, that calm had been disrupted by nearly constant thoughts of Angela. They’d spent one last day and night together and then she was gone, sneaking out of his bed in the predawn hours.

In truth, Max had been glad there wouldn’t be any dramatic good-byes. It would be as if she’d just gone to work while he slept late. A day would pass, he’d call her and they’d pretend they weren’t miles apart. The months would pass and the season would end and they’d be together again.

They’d talked on the phone a few times, but once again, they never seemed to have the same connection. She sounded distant and he fumbled for things to talk about. He needed to be able to reach out and touch her, to let his hands and his lips say the things he couldn’t put into words.

The team had a three-game series in Chicago next month. Even though he was still on the disabled list, the series would give him a good excuse to fly back to Chicago for the weekend and see her.

Max sighed. He shouldn’t need an excuse, but there was so much unsettled between them. It was clear that Angela was not hopeful about their future. Already, she’d begun preparing for the worst, assuming that everything would fall apart once they were apart. Somewhere along the line, the fantasy had disappeared and she’d begun to see the reality in front of her.

Max’s doorbell buzzed and he glanced at the clock on the mantel. He walked to the front door, his footsteps silent on the cool tile. His agent, Bruce Carmichael, was standing on the other side, dressed in a ridiculous Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts. “You look hot,” Max said, stepping aside to let him in. “And I don’t mean that in a sexual way.”

“I love you, too, Max, but I hate where you live. You know, it’s exactly the same temperature here as it is in L.A. And yet this feels so much more like hell.”

“It’s the humidity,” Max said walking back into the airy living room. “Sit. Do you want something to drink?”

“Ice water. Lots of ice,” he said.

In the kitchen, Max filled a huge glass at the sink and then grabbed a beer for himself before returning to the living room. He sat down and took a long swallow of his beer.