Playing the Player, page 17
“I’m looking forward to it. I miss the country.”
I reached over and took Mia’s hand as we walked. It felt natural to entwine our fingers together. She was wearing a short dress that showed off her legs, and for once, she’d left her giant handbag at home. She was carrying a small square beige purse. “Amelia misses you, by the way. She’ll be happy you’re staying over tonight.”
“How is that little girl? I miss her too.”
“She’s chewing everything in sight. And I may be turning into a sucker, because the last couple of nights I brought her into bed with me when she wouldn’t stop crying.”
“James,” Mia said, giving me a look of reprimand.
“I’m not a disciplinarian like you are,” I said, not even bothering to defend myself. “I fold. Cave. Crumple. I probably would have bought Margaret a six-pack by now if she was my mother.”
“My mother does not need beer, so don’t let her work you over. She’s settled in and watching her shows, but I do think she’s bored. I caught her downloading a dating app.” Mia shook her head. “Which she has every right to do. She’s an adult. But that just gives me another reason to worry. She has terrible taste in men.”
“As long as it’s not the guy next door to you. That dude is into something illegal, I can tell. Your whole apartment complex is sketchy.”
“The rent is cheap,” she said. “Well. Relatively speaking it’s cheap. At any rate, it’s all I can afford.”
“I need to tell you something. You’re probably going to be mad at me, but just remember how much you like me and my cock.”
Mia eyed me. “I do like your cock,” she said, dryly.
That made me grin. “Hold on to that romantic thought, baby.”
“Why am I going to be mad at you?”
“I have Ji-Ho screening home health aides for your mother. You can talk to him about setting up interviews so you can pick the candidate you think is the best. I’m paying for it, obviously.”
“Wow, James…” She took a deep breath, but didn’t say anything further.
“I’m not taking no for an answer,” I said. “You need to feel like your mother is safe at home when you’re at work. At least short-term for the next month or two.”
“I’m trying to be better at accepting help,” she said. “It’s hard. Especially since you don’t even know me that well. Why would you be doing all of this for me?”
Did she really not get it? If she didn’t get that, then she wasn’t ready for me to tell her I was completely in love with her. I bit my tongue and picked my words carefully. “I know your character, who you are inside, and you deserve help. But you’re right. We’re still getting to know each other. Tell me something about you I don’t know.”
“I love thrift shopping,” she said. “Bargain hunting. I use coupon apps on my phone.”
“I am not surprised by that at all. You said your shoes cost eight dollars. Bargain hunting is a good skill to have.” Not a skill I possessed. Or wanted to possess.
“It’s an adrenaline rush, to be honest, to score something for a few bucks, way under its value. It started when I was a kid and I would go to garage sales with my grandmother in Georgia.”
“It sounds like your grandmother was a positive influence in your life.”
“She was. Is. How about you? Are you close to Essie?”
I was impressed that she remembered my grandmother’s name. “Yes, very. I really should go visit her soon. She was a nurse in Vietnam and she saw some horrible shit go down. But mostly I remember as a kid baking with her. I can bake, can you believe it?”
“That is hard to believe.”
“Hey. That feels like an insult.”
“It wasn’t meant to be. I just can’t picture you in an apron.”
“Oh, I fucking rock an apron. You think I’m getting my clothes dirty? Hell, no.”
That made her laugh. “Good point.”
“Now my grandfather, on the other hand, spent a lot of time with me fishing and playing football and camping. I was a regular Texas boy. Don’t let anyone tell you different.”
“Who would tell me different?” she asked, looking amused.
“Haters. You’ll get to see my tough side in Nashville.”
Mia rose up on tiptoes and gave me a kiss. “I kind of like your sweet side. You’re a cinnamon roll, James. Soft on the inside.”
She could call me any damn baked good she wanted as long as she kept getting naked with me. “Don’t tell anyone. It might make the locker room awkward.”
Mia laughed softly. “Your secret is safe with me. Thank you for the home health aide, by the way, I really appreciate it.”
That was just the intro. Time to lay it all on her. “Then you should probably know that I also bought you a house.”
Mia let go of my shoulders and dropped back down onto the sidewalk. She stared up at me. “What? A house? That’s… absurd.”
Her favorite word. “No, it’s not. The house barely cost more than my watch, and this is way more important than an accessory for my wrist.” Well, maybe a hundred grand more, but she didn’t need to know that right now. “I have the money, and it doesn’t mean anything to me. Knowing you and your mom and Christina and her son are somewhere safe does mean something to me.”
“But I can’t pay you back. I’ll never be able to pay you back.”
I pulled her into my arms. “It’s a gift. You’re supposed to just say thank you and then enjoy it. It’s paid for, so you can live there forever if you want. All you have to do is pay the property taxes, which are like two hundred dollars a month.”
“James…” She was shaking her head.
My hand drifted to her lower back, then even lower, to the curve of her ass. Not so much to be sexual as because I wanted to pull her in as close to me as possible. I wanted to feel every inch of her and have the right to touch her freely. “Mia. We do this a lot, you know. James. Mia. Mia. James.”
She stuck her tongue out at me.
I practically growled. “It’s stupid sexy when you do that,” I said. “All I can think about is the way your tongue looks sliding over my cock.”
“You’re trying to distract me,” she said. “From the fact that you just went and bought me a house. A whole house. When we just started dating.”
It sounded a little crazy when she said it out loud, but fuck it, it was only money. Mia was my future. I wasn’t taking no for an answer. She was going to be mine, forever. But I had to play it cool for now. “Look, if you decide in six months that I’m the most irritating man on the planet and you never want to see me again, at least something good will have come out of our relationship.”
The corner of her mouth turned up. “What makes you think it will take six months?”
I patted her on the ass in reprimand. “Hey. Don’t be like that.”
Mia laughed, but then she quieted, her expression serious. She furrowed her brow, studied me. “Why would you do this for me?” she asked, softly.
My throat and gut felt tight. “Because you’re you.”
That was it. That was everything. In one sentence.
Chapter Fifteen
Mia
James had bought me a house. A. House.
Who did that?
Pro football players, apparently.
Maybe I was getting used to his surprises and over-the-top gestures because instead of being horrified or worried, I was excited. And really, really turned on. What could be hotter than a man who was absolutely determined to make my life easier?
Nothing.
Especially since he was six foot five and looked like he had been chiseled out of stone.
I felt special and that was a new feeling. I didn’t hate it. Not at all.
He could also dance, which surprised me. He’d readily agreed to go to a nightclub, and moved easily with me to the grinding music. I loved to dance. It was the most freeing feeling in the world to spin around, arms up, hips moving. There were no worries about Mama, no bills, no demanding managers when I was just dancing under the hot pulsing lights.
James matched his rhythm to mine and held me loosely against him. He smiled down at me. “I told you I can dance.”
“I’m impressed,” I yelled over the music. “I might want my Magic Mike routine after all.”
He grinned. “There’s a price to pay for that.”
I didn’t have a chance to ask what that was. Someone bumped me and I realized it was a woman who was trying to insert herself between me and James and make it look like an accident. I was annoyed, but not jealous. Before I could react, James had shifted and cut her off. He firmly pulled me to him again.
She went right up to him and said something in his ear that I couldn’t hear.
He shook his head.
She was a pretty woman with expensive clothes and influencer-worthy makeup.
Okay, maybe I was a little jealous.
I wasn’t mad at her for throwing her hat in the ring and attempting to get his attention. As far as the world knew, JJ Beckett was single.
Would it be selfish of me to want him to go public with our relationship? Probably. The man had bought me a freaking house, now I wanted love posts on social media? That might be expecting too much.
His arm was still around me and I swayed awkwardly in our little dance floor trio.
I debated walking away to get a drink, but I didn’t want that to register as petulant.
But even though it felt like ten years, it was probably only a minute before he was pulling me away and over to the bar. “Sorry about that,” he said, brushing my hair back as he murmured in my ear. “Sometimes they catch me off guard.”
“It’s fine.” It was. He wasn’t responsible for women approaching him. I couldn’t be mad at him for that.
He cupped my cheeks and searched my expression, like he didn’t believe me. I smiled up at him. He shook his head. “You’re perfect, do you know that?”
Then he kissed me.
Which was a public declaration of sorts.
God, I didn’t just love him. I liked him.
I kissed him back with everything inside me.
There was nothing I could ask for from him that he wasn’t already doing. He was perfect. We were perfect.
When we broke apart, breathing hard, I said, “Take me home.”
* * *
JJ
* * *
Normally I wasn’t one to curse the traffic on the Strip. It was what it was. And I tended to get appreciative glances and catcalls over my car and I didn’t hate that. But now I impatiently shifted as we crawled along, wanting to get Mia home.
Especially when she put her hand on my thigh. Lightly, she brushed right over my cock. I swore. “What are you doing, trying to get me to wreck the damn car?”
“I was just checking.”
“Checking what?” I asked in disbelief. “It’s there, trust me.” And throbbing with need for her.
She laughed. “I wanted to see if you’re as turned on as I am.”
The light turned green and I sped up, glancing over at her as I shifted gears. “Are your nipples hard? Are you wet, Mia?”
She nodded. “Yes. To both.”
“Are you aching with need and contemplating pulling over so we can fuck right here in this car?”
“Aching with need, yes. I hadn’t thought about sex in the car.” She sounded intrigued by the idea.
“Then I’m definitely as turned on, if not more, than you because I can’t think of anything but you and how soon I can be inside you.”
I switched lanes, seeing an opportunity to get off the main drag and avoid some of the congestion. “Tell me your fantasy. What do you want me to do to you?”
“I… I don’t know.”
“I find that hard to believe. You seem to always know what you want.”
“That’s true,” she said, with a hint of pride in her voice. “Okay, honestly, I want the massage you mentioned the other day.”
That surprised me, but then I wasn’t sure why. She worked her ass off and was constantly tired. She wanted to relax. She didn’t need to get railed, she needed me to focus on her. The thought of that got me even harder, and I hadn’t thought that could be possible.
“I would love to rub you.”
Mia laughed. “That doesn’t even sound right.”
“Then I’ll just quit talking.”
Twenty minutes later, after we took Amelia outside as quickly as possible, I led Mia to my bedroom. Amelia gave me a sad look when I left her in the hallway, but I firmly shut the door in her face. “Sorry, kid. It’s grownup time.”
Turning, I kissed the corner of Mia’s mouth, enjoying the way she shivered. I trailed my lips over her jaw, and up to that sweet little spot behind her ear. Easing the straps down on her sundress, I gave it a little push and it fell to the floor, pooling around her ankles.
I buried my lips in her hair, breathing deep in appreciation. God, I was so in love with her. I’d never felt this way, ever. It was all-consuming. All I wanted to do was make her smile, make her life easier.
Lifting her up, I laid her out on my bed. She looked up at me with hooded eyes, her lips parting like she was going to speak. But she remained silent. I felt her vulnerability, felt her trust in me. I kissed her, teasing open her lips with my tongue, wanting to taste her.
Then I pulled back, put soft music on my phone, and kicked off my shoes. Then I opened my nightstand drawer, pulling out lotion. Squeezing the bottle, I rubbed my hands together to warm the lotion up, then ran my hands over Mia’s shoulders. She sighed. It was all the encouragement I needed. I shifted her bra straps down over her shoulders, and settled over her, one knee on either side of her as I massaged her. Her neck, her shoulders, her arms. She closed her eyes and her breathing evened out.
Mia gave occasional soft moans of pleasure and I fell into a rhythm, taking the motions all the way down to her fingertips. It was an unexpected form of satisfaction, giving her relaxing, tactile pleasure, and seeing how much she trusted me.
“Turn over,” I said, and my voice sounded raw. Commanding.
As she obeyed, I unbuttoned my shirt and peeled it off. When Mia was on her stomach, I undid her bra so that I could massage her whole back without interference. I got a refill on the lotion and eased my thumbs up her spine. “Move your hair so I don’t get lotion in it.”
She gathered it and piled it on top of her head. I loved the color of her hair. There wasn’t really a word to adequately describe it, because it changed in every light. I bent down and kissed the back of her neck, and drew her earlobe between my teeth, enjoying the gasp she gave into the pillow. I wanted to tell her that I loved her, but I didn’t want to distract her from just sinking into the bed fully, completely relaxing.
Murmuring into her ear, I said, “Do you want a glass of wine?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m good.”
“Do you want to do this forever?”
She laughed softly. “Maybe.”
I lost track of time as I eased my hands over her back, going on instinct, and listening to her responses. I was rewarded with a few deep moans and soft words of gratitude.
“James, oh my God, that feels amazing.”
When she turned her head to the opposite side, I took my T-shirt off that I had on under my dress shirt. Leaning down, I ran my fingers through her hair, drawing it out across the white pillowcase. It was like fire and ice. Red on the crisp white backdrop. I traced down over her spine, watching the goosebumps rising on her skin in my wake. Her skin was soft, the music a lilting love song, the scent of the lotion rising up into my nostrils.
I eased her panties down. After removing them entirely and dropping them on the floor, I used the opportunity to take my pants and socks off. I wanted to feel my skin on hers.
Massaging the backs of her thighs, I let my thumbs slip between her legs, brushing over her pussy. Given that she was on her stomach, it was just a teasing light touch. There was still a little bit of lotion on my hands and I knew I couldn’t use my fingers inside her.
But I could use my tongue.
I slid it over her and she jerked on the bed. “James.”
“Yes?” I murmured from between her thighs. It was an intriguing angle, a tease for both of us.
“This is…”
“What?” I eased my tongue inside her.
“I… I don’t know… holy shit.” She lifted her hips a little so I had better access. “This feels so naughty.”
Gripping her hips, I lifted her higher so I could stroke in and out. Her moans got higher-pitched, desperate. The sound drove me like a whip. Fuck, yeah. When she came, the sensation was heady, thrilling.
I eased her back onto the mattress when she calmed down and shoved my boxer briefs down. I had a condom on in record time as she lay there, limp, eyes half-closed. I placed my hand on her ass, amused that it nearly covered all of her. I squeezed a little, just wanting to feel the softness of her body, and to get a reaction from her.
She gasped and glanced back at me. “That was the best massage I’ve ever had.”
“Good.”
I eased her hips up and back a little. She didn’t move her upper body, so she ended up stretched out, face down on the pillow, hands over her head. With her ass up, it looked like such a position of submission, of offering, that my cock throbbed, and my nostrils flared. I swore. “You’re so fucking sexy,” I said.
“I feel lazy,” she said, her voice flirty and satisfied. “You don’t mind if I just lay here, do you?”
“No. I do not mind.” I held her hip and thrust inside her. “As long as you don’t mind me taking you hard.”
Not only did she give me a very rewarding gasp, her pussy gave me a very tight and wet welcome.
“I don’t mind at all. Do whatever you need to do.”
What I needed was to fuck her hard as an outlet for all the emotions I was feeling. The physical need was intense and building, desperate to explode, but I was also on the edge emotionally. So I held onto her waist with one hand, and the headboard with the other, thrusting in and out of her.
