Jill Shalvis - Time Out

Definitely, she needed to go.

Sitting up, she slid off the bed and began to search for her clothing, not missing the irony-she’d told him to stop interfering with her life, and yet she’d been the one to bring them to this point. The naked point. Which was about as deep into the interference of one’s life as it got. At his soft chuckle, she looked up.

Mark was still sprawled across the bed, arms up behind his head, feet crossed, casual as could be, seeped in the supreme confidence of someone who didn’t have to worry about whether or not he looked good naked.

Because he did.

So good.

So.

Damn.

Good.

“Why are you laughing?” she asked, wearing only her bra and one sock. “And where are my panties?”

He sat up, the muscles of his abs crunching and making her mouth go dry. In one fluid motion, he was off the bed and handing her the panties.

She reached for them, but with a wicked smile, he held them high above her head.

“Give me,” she said.

“Don’t you mean please give me?”

“You want me to beg?”

That smile spread slightly. “Nah. I just heard you beg plenty.”

“I did not beg.”

But she had. She so had.

Still grinning, still naked, he pulled her against him and pressed his mouth to her shoulder.

“My panties, Mark.”

Eyes warm, he handed them to her, and then suddenly it was like her brain disconnected from her mouth because she heard herself say, “Do I really have all the power?”

“After what we just did, you can doubt that?”

“I want the power to do something with this thing between you and me. Something more than just sex.”

He went still, and her heart stopped. “Or not,” she said. Feeling very exposed, she backed away. She shoved her legs into her panties and pulled them up. Then her jeans.

“Rainey-”

“No, you know what? That was leftover pheromones talking. Ignore it. Ignore me.” Oh, God. “I gotta go.”

He let out a long breath, then reached for her. “I thought you had me figured for a bad bet.”

“You are. A really bad bet, at least for me, because you operate day-to-day.”

And she operated long term. They both knew that. “I’m not a keeper, Rainey.”

There was something in his voice, something terrifyingly regretful and terrifyingly firm.

Did he not realize that to her, he was the ultimate keeper? Sharply intelligent, funny as hell, hardworking, caring… But she wouldn’t argue this, because as he’d pointed out, she’d already done her begging tonight. She went back to dressing, getting out of here her only plan. He’d told her that she had the power, but that was all wrong. He had the power, the power to stomp on her heart until it stopped functioning.

She turned to look for her shoes and bumped into his chest, which was a little like walking into a brick wall. “Excuse me,” she said.

“I want to make sure you understand.”

“I do.”

“I don’t think so,” he said. “This isn’t just sex for me, Rainey.” He took her arms in his big hands to keep her from escaping and her belly quivered.

Stupid belly.

“I just don’t have anything to offer more than what we have right now,” he said quietly.

“Which is what, that day-to-day thing?”

“Yeah.”

Okay, she got that. Loud and clear. Sex was great. More than sex…not so much.

“Where does that leave us?” he asked, his eyes serious.

“In the same place we’ve always been,” she managed to say.

“So then… why exactly are we dressing?” His eyes were dark and focused on her breasts. “Because from here,” he said softly, “going back to bed looks like a great idea.”

“Because…” Hell. This was getting complicated. This had been all her doing, she should be fine. She wanted to be fine. But her feelings for him had deepened, and she was afraid. He was going to hurt her without even trying. “Excuse me a minute?” Vanishing into the bathroom, she locked herself in and whipped out her cell phone. “Lena,” she whispered when her best friend picked up. “I need your help.”

“What’s the matter?”

Rainey sank to the closed toilet lid and dropped her head to her knees. “I’m with Mark.”

“Nice.”

“No, I mean I’m with him with him.”

“Like I said, nice.”

“Listen!” Rainey lowered her voice with effort. “He fooled me!”

“Huh?”

“You said I should go for a guy who isn’t a fixer-upper, right? And I figured I was safe with Mark because he is a fixer-upper, the ultimate fixer-upper, actually. But I was wrong. He’s not a fixer-upper at all. I like him just how he is. And now I’m screwed.”

Lena laughed.

“I don’t mean that in a good way! Okay, well it was good, but you know what I mean!”

“Ah, honey. You’re afraid.”

Yeah. She was. So deeply afraid she’d fallen in love-madly, irrevocably in love.

“Look, I realize I’m speaking Greek when I tell you this,” Lena said. “But just enjoy the ride on this one.” She paused. “Pun intended.”

“But the plan was for this to be light!”

“Honey, you don’t always have to have a plan.”

Rainey sighed and hung up. God, what to do? Could she really just go with the flow and let this thing play out?

Yes, said her body.

No, said her brain. Hell, no. Because when he left, and he was going to, she’d be devastated. With a sound of frustration, she shoved her phone into her pocket, drew a deep breath, and stood up. Gathering her courage, she opened the door.

Standing there in the doorway, hands up over his head and latched onto the jamb, was six feet plus of pure testosterone wrapped in tough, rugged sinew.

They stared at each other for a long beat.

“She tell you to dump me?” he asked quietly.

“She told me to enjoy the ride.”

His smile was slow and sure and sexy. Damn. She pointed at him. “None of that or my clothes will fall off again. Move. I need space to think.”

He moved. He moved into her, sliding his arms around her and melting her damn knees.

A PART OF Mark had been braced for Rainey to grab her purse and walk out of his motel room.

And out of his life.

He’d fully expected it. Hell, he deserved it. But she let him pull her in, even pressed her face to his throat and inhaled deeply, and relief flooded him. Knee-knocking, gut-squeezing relief. “Rainey-”

“I don’t want to talk about it. You’re not sticking around, we’ve never made each other any promises. There was no plan, so there’s no reason for me to try to back you into one now.” Her cell phone vibrated. “It’s Lena,” she muttered. “Probably apologizing for being a bad wingman.” She opened her phone. “It’s too late to help me now, I-” She broke off and came to immediate attention, straightening up. “Sharee?”

Mark watched the furrow across Rainey’s brow. Her hair was wild, probably thanks to his fingers. Her make-up had smeared beneath her eyes a little and she had a whisker burn down her throat. Lifting his hand, he ran a thumb over the mark.

“Sharee?” Rainey said. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

Mark shifted in closer and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, her eyes dark with concern, and surprised him even further when she leaned into him as she listened. “I’m coming right now,” she said. “Stay in a lit area-Hello? Sharee?” She stared at her phone. “Dammit, her battery died. I’ve got to go.”

Mark was already grabbing a shirt and keys. “I’ll drive.”

RAINEY’S NERVES WERE in her throat as she picked up her purse. She’d never heard Sharee upset before. Pissed-off, yes. Pure bravado, often. Upset and scared, no. “She’s at the high school,” Rainey told Mark. “She got dropped there after shopping with friends. Her mom was supposed to get her but isn’t there yet and Sharee said those boys are there, the ones I kicked out of the rec center last week. They’re harassing her because she’s the one who told me who they were.”

Mark opened the door for her, then followed her out. “Oh, you don’t have to-”

“I’m driving,” he repeated in that quiet but firm voice she’d heard him use in interviews, on the teens, and on his players. It was a voice that brooked no argument while at the same time instilled confidence and a belief that everything was going to be okay.

She wanted to believe it. They moved through the lobby. The guys were still there and waved at them.

“The walk of shame,” Rainey murmured.

Mark’s hand slid warmly to the back of her neck. “They won’t say anything.”

“Are you kidding? Look at me.”

He pulled her around to look at her, and his eyes softened. “You look like you just-”

“Rolled around in bed? Had an orgasm?”

An affectionate smile crossed his face. “Or three.”

She smacked him lightly in the abs-which didn’t give-and he grabbed her hand, holding her at his side as they continued to walk.

True to Mark’s word, Casey and James didn’t say a thing, but that was because Mark was giving them a long look over her head, which she managed to just catch. She waited until they were outside heading to his truck. “What did you threaten them with?”

He slid her a glance. “You were standing right there. I didn’t say anything.”

“Uh-huh.”

He smiled. “Push-ups. Laps. Sitting their ass on the bench. Pick one.”

“They’re grown-ups. You’d do that?”

“I don’t care how old they are, their asses are mine.”

She shook her head and laughed. “You sound like a dictator.”

“I am.”

“And you like it? All that power?”

He just shot her a look.

Yeah. He liked it.

They stepped out into the cool night. Rainey reached into her purse for her keys while Mark caught sight of her car and went utterly still.

Someone had spray-painted Bitch across the trunk.

“Huh,” she said. “That’s new.” And unwelcome. And more than a little unnerving.

“The boys?” Mark asked, hands on hips, grim. Pissed off.

“I don’t know.”

Mark pulled out his phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Calling the police. We need to make a report.”

“Later. We need to get Sharee first.”

Not looking happy, he took her hand again and led her to his truck. As they drove, the moon slanted into the windshield at an angle, giving her only peeks at the man beside her. He took two calls and made one, though she missed out on eavesdropping because she was busy demon-dialing Sharee, who wasn’t answering.

Mark slipped his phone away and continued driving with single-minded purpose, fast, but steady. In his zone. He pulled into the high school parking lot, where they found Sharee huddled on the front steps. Rainey ran out and hugged her. “You okay?”

Sharee allowed the contact for a brief moment before pulling back. “Yeah.” She looked around uneasily. “I think they left.”

Mark was alert, his eyes missing nothing as he scanned the lot, his posture both at ease and utterly ready for anything. “Let’s get out of here.”

Twenty minutes later, they pulled up to the trailer that Sharee shared with her mom.

It was dark.

Rainey turned to face the girl in the backseat. “Sharee-”

“I’ll be fine,” she said, getting out of the truck. “Thanks for the ride.”

Mark got out with her and looked at Rainey. “Stay here.”

Before she could say a word, he’d engaged the locks and walked Sharee to the door. He waited there, keeping both Rainey and Sharee in sight until lights were on in the trailer. Then he came back to his truck and drove Rainey to the motel, where they met a police officer and filed a report about her car.

Then Mark followed her home and saw her to the door just as he had Sharee.

But the smoking hot kiss he laid on her was hers alone.

THE NEXT DAY Mark poked his head into Rainey’s office and surprised her. “Hungry?” he asked.

It was late afternoon and she’d worked through lunch. She was starving. “Maybe,” she said. “Why?”

“Thought we’d go get dinner.”

A date? She wasn’t sure what that meant, not that it mattered. “I can’t. I have plans.”

Nothing about his body language changed. He was too good for that. But she sensed that her statement hadn’t made him happy. “Plans?” he asked.

“I’m going to my parents’ house.”

“Are you taking a date with you?”

No. She’d decided she couldn’t be dating while she was doing…whatever this was that she was doing with him. It wouldn’t be fair to anyone else. She barely had the mental capacity to handle Mark, much less another man as well.

And…

And the truth was, she didn’t have the emotional capacity either. Mark was currently using up all she had. “Would that bother you?”

“Hell yes.”