Chapter 23

CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE

London wasn’ta post coitus cuddler. Go figure. Although Trey gave her extra points for that. He hated the clingy pillow talk most women seemed to need. The dull pain in his chest was not because, for the first time, he wanted to lay around tracing lazy circles on her body while they talked about . . . whatever it was couples were supposed to talk about after sex.

When he emerged from the bathroom after disposing of the condom, the bed was empty. The sound of running water came from the kitchen. He pulled on his boxer briefs and went to look for her.

Hard to believe, but the woman in the kitchen was even sexier than the one he’d left in the bed. She’d pulled her hair up into a messy bun and donned a peach-colored silk robe that brushed her bare feet. She appeared to be cleaning her kitchen. Definitely a first for him.

He stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Having fun?”

She wiped a sponge over the counter. “I remembered that I left the ice cream out. It all melted.”

The dejection in her voice had his heart nearly melting too. He’d overheard enough locker room chatter to know to never get between a woman and her ice cream.

“I can go out and get you some more,” he offered. Not that he was ready to leave her.

She leaned her back against his chest, dropping her head back to brush a kiss along his jaw. “You’re sweet, but that’s not necessary. I just wanted to clean it up before it got too gross.”

The feel of her silk-covered ass was making him hard again. He pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her neck.

“Mm.” She slipped from his embrace and padded over to the refrigerator. Grabbing two glasses from a cabinet, she filled one with water before handing it to him. He took it and pounded back its contents before she’d even finished filling hers. Propping her back against the stainless steel, she eyed him over the rim of the glass.

“What happens now?” she asked softly.

His body shouted ideas to his brain. None of them suitable to be repeated. His brain warned him to tread carefully.

“Whatever you want to happen,” he replied. “I told you before, you’re in charge here. I’ll do whatever makes you happy.”

She blinked a few times.

A lick of panic raced up his spine. Was that not the right answer? Trey never had to be careful with his words around a woman before. But he couldn’t mess this up a second time. His breath began to flow again when a slow smile formed on her lips. She placed her glass onto the island and walked close enough that her body heat warmed his bare chest.

“By my count, you’ve made me happy twice already today.”

“Twice is for amateurs.” He tugged on the tie to her robe until her body was flush with his. “You’re now in the hands of a professional, sweetheart. The sky’s the limit.”

He snaked a hand inside her robe to palm her breast, eliciting a lusty sigh. She pressed her lips to his sternum before licking her way to his jaw. Their mouths met in a kiss so feverish, it was as if they’d been apart for years and not minutes. The need Trey felt for London was too overwhelming to contemplate. He didn’t want to consider that he may never have enough of her to be satisfied.

Pushing the thought aside, he used his hands and his mouth to work London into a writhing ball of lust. Somehow, they ended up in her living room where he bent her over the sofa. He plowed into her gorgeous ass while she screamed with encouragement. The skill and finesse he’d bragged about minutes earlier was long gone, stripped away by her wanton response to him.

With any other woman, he’d be able to hold on until she reached her climax first. But whatever this thing was with London it had short-circuited him. He was in high school the last time he’d left a woman behind. His climax lurking, he managed to tuck a finger between them, flicking wildly at the spot he knew now would set her free. She came in a frenzied rush, pulling him into ecstasy right along with her.

They stayed like that for several long moments, both of them trying to catch their breath, his bare chest pressed against her bare back. When she made a noise beneath him, he hurriedly stood to give her space. He headed to the kitchen to toss the condom and wash his hands. She was tying her robe again when she followed him in.

“I owe Lucy season tickets for her very useful birthday gift,” he joked.

“I suppose the Growlers test you boys for all kinds of things that would be awkward if the media got wind of it.”

“That and I don’t want to have some woman show up with a surprise I want no part of nine months later.”

She froze with her water glass at her lips. He didn’t recognize the callousness of his words until they had left his mouth.

“Jesus, London. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—I. . .”

She held up a hand. “Don’t apologize. At least you are thinking ahead.” She hurried from the kitchen.

Shit.

He stood there for a long moment, feeling stupid in his nakedness and his thoughtlessness, cursing himself for hurting her. London’s father hadn’t bothered with preventing her creation. A mistake Trey for one was profoundly grateful for. That didn’t mean he didn’t want to kill the bastard. He scoured the floor for his underwear, yanking them on before he went groveling to London.

She was seated on the sofa, staring out the window at the partial view of Lake Michigan. He brushed his fingers over her shoulder, relieved when she didn’t flinch or swat his hand away. Circling in front of the sofa, he cautiously sat down beside her. She lifted his arm and draped it over her shoulders.

“Please don’t apologize or look at me with that pitying look.”

His gut clenched with even more remorse.

“My life situation is what it is. It worked out the way it was supposed to.”

He wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her back against his chest. “He doesn’t know what he missed out on.”

She scoffed. “Actually, he does.”

Trey leaned in and brushed a kiss along her cheek. “You don’t know that.”

Sighing, she settled her body more comfortably against his. “Yeah, I do. That summer⁠—”

He felt her swallow roughly.

“Um, the summer when we met, things were a bit crazy. First there was the whole situation of you ghosting me.”

The guilt he was already feeling went from painful gnawing to a python squeezing his chest.

“Then there was the ridiculousness with my mom eloping with a man she barely knew. She and Jay were so hung up on each other, my mom barely paid attention to me.”

Beneath his breath, Trey cursed his father.

“I was feeling really confused and lonely. I was so angry with my mom, I began to doubt all the things she ever told me, you know? I thought maybe my dad did want to know me. So, I stole her buddy pass and hopped on a plane to Connecticut.”

He had a bad feeling about where this story was headed.

“I wasn’t foolish enough to just show up on his doorstep. Before I left, I reached out by email. I was so excited when he sent a car to pick me up at the airport. We met at his country club.” She tilted her head back to smile at him. “They do country clubbing a lot differently than we do in Lake Geneva. It was all I could do to keep my eyes from popping out of my head at the opulence of everything. You grew up with that. But for a girl from small town USA, it was pretty mind blowing.”

“Mm.” He brushed a loose strand of hair back from her cheek.

“My amazement quickly turned to anger when I realized what I’d missed out on all my life. And then he showed up at the table and . . . wow. I could easily see how my mom was duped by him. He’s very handsome.”

She patted his thigh.

“Not as sexy as you, though.”

Her teasing made his chest ache even more.

“He was very formal and proper. No hugging his long-lost daughter when a handshake would do. He knew all about my life. Even that I was headed to LA. Can you imagine? I was crushed that my mom hadn’t lied to me. Then he started in about child support. He assumed I was there to ask that he keep sending it even though I was eighteen.”

The rat bastard.Trey wanted to demand the asshole’s name and address.

“He gave me this eloquent lecture about how I needed to learn to forge my own way in life. Ha! As if my mom hadn’t been doing that for years. He said I couldn’t expect everything to be handed to me. The irony of it left me speechless. He rambled on about how teaching his kids to make their way in the world was the greatest gift he could give them.”

She sucked in a shallow breath.

“I was shocked that he had other children. My mom had never mentioned that part before. He and his wife have a son and twin girls. At the time, the boy was ten and the girls were seven. He proudly pulled out his phone and showed me their pictures. The twins have hair my color. I asked if they knew about me.” She chuckled. “You should have seen the look on his face. They were too young, he said. They wouldn’t understand.” Her voice seemed to grow smaller. “I’d never felt more like a mistake than I did at that moment. And unwanted. His three kids had each other. But I had no one.”

Trey growled. How dare that pompous dipshit make London feel as though she wasn’t good enough. Except, hadn’t he done the same thing when he left her at the boathouse with no explanation? Jesus. No wonder she’d pivoted and stayed in Wisconsin. The men she thought wanted her not only broke her heart, but her spirit, too.

Now he was the one feeling small.

She patted his thigh again.

“Down boy. I got over it pretty quickly. Mom and I had a huge argument when I got home, but we worked it all out. I really did try to give Jay a chance. He and Pops have always treated me like family even after the divorce. Then my mom met Chuck. And Kyle came along and there went my desire to be a big sister.” She laughed. “Just kidding. I wouldn’t trade Kyle for anything. He’s the best. My other half-siblings are probably spoiled rotten. Who needs them? Or my jerkoff sperm donor. I’ve got a really great family. And some amazing friends in Bennie and Lucy.”

And me, he wanted to shout. You’ve got me!

He kept his mouth shut, though. Did he even deserve her? London certainly deserved the fairy tale. Not him. Yet, the idea of walking away from her again scared the shit out of him. Especially after the things they’d just done. Unbelievable as it was, his thirst for her wasn’t close to being quenched.

“I need to shower,” she announced.

“Mm.” He tightened his hold around her. “I like that idea. I’ve got a very roomy walk-in shower at my house. We can head over there, enjoy the multiple shower heads and a few other perks I can provide. Afterward, I’ll order some dinner. I’ll even let you eat in bed if you want.”

She spun around in his arms, pushing him down flat on the sofa. “That sounds ah-mazing. But as much as I don’t want to leave this—” she trailed her fingers and her lips along his chest “—I have to head to Chicago shortly.”

Wait, what?

“Chicago? What’s in Chicago?”

“The editing bay for one. And the voiceover actor for another.” She grazed her teeth along his jaw. “I have to package up your commercials, remember?”

“They don’t have edit bays here?” The question sounded petulant even to his own ears.

London stacked her hands on his chest and laid her chin on top. “They do, but we’d have to rent one. One of the reasons we collaborated with Nolan and Hemphill is because they do everything in-house. They manage the crew, their brokers buy the media spots, and the production is all done under one roof. For one flat fee. This is Westbrook’s first big national campaign. We didn’t have the connections to pull it off on our own.”

He tucked that pesky stray piece of hair behind her ear. “You would have figured it out. You’re a genius where that’s concerned.”

“But you’re not biased,” she teased. “I could have done it all except brokering for the media spots. That’s outside my field of expertise.”

Trey sighed. “You have to leave before dinner?”

“Yep. If I wait too late, all the other out-of-town travelers get the good rooms, leaving me with one by the elevator or the dumpsters. I learned pretty quickly the early bird gets the best choice.”

He had a better idea. “Or, you could stay at Pops’ condo. It’s right downtown.”

“I know where it is. Olivia used to have a place in the same building. She invited Kyle and me to stay there a few times.”

“Well, there you go. I happen to know it’s empty right now. Pops and Olivia are extending their honeymoon at Lake Como another week.”

She smiled wistfully. “They’re so sweet together.”

He snorted. “Give it time. Pops will mess it up. If there’s one thing the Van Horns are good at, it’s screwing up relationships.”

Something shifted in her expression. “Good to know.”

“Wanna know the best part about staying at Pops’?”

She arched an eyebrow in question.

“I can be there every night to keep you company.”

Her brow crinkled. “It’s a ninety-mile drive. Don’t you have to practice your football moves every day?”

“Ah, but it’s only forty minutes by private jet, door-to-door.” He nuzzled her neck. “Besides, the season doesn’t start for another two weeks. And I’ve got my football moves down pat. I’d rather work on my other moves. With you.”

“I don’t know. I think I’m going to need to see another demonstration of those moves before I agree.”

She slipped off the sofa and held out her hand to him. Trey took it eagerly, ignoring the overwhelming feeling to never let go.