Playing Catch: A Baseball Romance Page 9

  A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of the man just outside the door. Kirk had been melting her with kisses so expert it left her head spinning. Her lower belly was warm and glowing, and pressure thrummed in the region between her thighs. Her hormones were definitely working overtime. Kirk would be a great warmup to whoever she chose for the main event. Nothing else. She couldn’t give into his magnetism and end up in bed with him, especially since she’d see him in the morning. No escape.

  She’d also have to deal with him after Vegas. He was a regular at her bar and a teammate of her friends. It was too bad and a waste of a good, hot man. She had no choice but to keep him in the friend-zone. Besides, she wasn’t going to fall for his bait-and-switch fingers or lips again.

  “You ready in there?” Kirk knocked on the door. “Let’s get rolling.”

  “I’m freshening up my makeup.” Jeanine jolted herself out of her daydreams and grabbed her makeup bag. “I’m ready to hit the Bordeaux.”

  “I take it you want to go to a high-end wine bar.”

  “Reserve collection.” She brushed on mascara and powdered her face. “Nothing but the best in wine and men.”

  After lining her lips and smoothing on red, glossy lipstick, she was ready.

  “Wow,” Kirk exclaimed when she opened the door. His face beamed with pure delight, and he acted as if she were a present reserved for him.

  Fat chance. Even though she couldn’t help but twirl around, giving him the full effect of the high side slit and deep cleavage, she had to lay down the rules.

  She took his arm and leaned against him. “We’re friends, right?”

  He arched an eyebrow. “Oh, really? You mean I get benefits?”

  “Absolutely not.” She shook her head and jutted her lower lip to make a point. “We’re kissing friends and nothing more.”

  She wasn’t going to let on how much his kisses had affected her. That was plainly because she hadn’t had satisfying sex for a very long time—having struck out with a string of losers in bed.

  “I’m fine with the lip service.” He flickered his tongue suggestively. “Anything else?”

  She resisted gulping and swallowing, but the drool collected under her tongue. Why was she flashing images of Kirk’s handsome face planted between her thighs, those majestic eyes closed and that tantalizing tongue busily melting her icy core? She swallowed anyway and coughed to knock the vision away.

  “When we return to Phoenix, if anyone asks, you’re to say we’re only friends and we slept with other people—you and I went out partying as buddies.”

  “I agree one hundred percent.” Kirk nodded decisively. “I can’t see you as anything other than a good friend and a wingwoman. What are we waiting for? Our good time awaits us out there.”

  Jeanine shaped her lips into a smile. Somehow, his acceptance of the friends-only deal had been too quick. Was he up to something? Or, he truly wasn’t interested in her as anything but a challenge and brag. The glow that had surrounded her dampened, but she still had the night to look forward to. Who knew what goodies roamed out there?

  “I have your word as a gentleman and a friend, that you will not mislead anyone into thinking we slept together?” she reiterated. After all, she was an astute businesswoman and she had a reputation to maintain, especially back at The Hot Corner.

  “Of course you do. I wouldn’t want anyone to think such a horrid thought. What will it do to my reputation?” His eyes opened wide, as if in shock. “Don’t you worry about a thing. Your virtue is absolutely safe with me. Let’s go out there and get you that bucking bronco you’ve been waiting to ride.”

  Somehow, his words dowsed her earlier enthusiasm. Not that she was disappointed. Not at all. She’d come to Vegas to get that prize booty-call, and she was going to enjoy it to the fullest, because only with a man she’d never see again could she loosen herself enough to truly embrace and enjoy sex. There would be no pressure and no expectations. Each encounter new and fresh, full of discovery and promise. A challenge to her to let go and allow herself to climax, to seek that fleeting nirvana, no matter how transient and soon it was over.

  Taking his hand, she swung him toward the door. “I can’t wait to get naked.”

  “Me either.” He grinned. “Promise me you won’t come before me.”

  With that, they exited their suite and wound their way down the elevator and into the plaza, looking for the reserve collection wine bar full of prospects and promise.

  * * *

  Kirk checked out the posh bar as he pressed his hand to the small of Jeanine’s back. Leather, dark woods, and soft jazz gave it a classier ambience than the typical loud bars filled with electronic gaming machines and raucous music. A tablet computer graced each table, but was propped on one side so it wouldn’t be a distraction to the clink of wine and whiskey glasses and the conversation around the grand pianist.

  “We’d like the Reserve collection,” Kirk said to the attendant, who waved them through the main section of the bar to a private lounge.

  “Decadent,” Jeanine said, turning her eyes to the Baccarat chandeliers hanging from the lush brocaded ceiling. Ornate, gilded mirrors lined the room full of blood red velvet and dark woods. The antique French style tables and chairs featured the curved legs shaped like those of four-footed beasts. Every surface was covered with either gilt, lacquer, mirrors, or crystals.

  Kirk leaned to whisper in Jeanine’s ear. “The gentlemen at the pool table are eyeing you. Shall I leave your side?”

  “Not unless one of them orders a drink for me,” Jeanine said. “Let’s slide over to the bar.”

  The bar was a heavily lacquered monstrosity of black wood inlayed with precious metals, wrinkled silver, brass, marble, and precious stones. In contrast to all the visual overstimulation, Jeanine and her black dress drew every eye as she slid onto the burgundy red leather bar chair.

  “I’d buy you a drink, but I don’t want to ruin your action,” Kirk said.

  “No, you shouldn’t. But here’s the deal, if I introduce you as my brother, it means I’m interested in the man I’m talking to. Then you should make yourself scarce.”

  “Sure.” Kirk glanced at the women sitting on the far side from them. They eyed him speculatively, waiting for him to make a move.

  Before he had a chance to study the wine list, a bartender approached Jeanine. “Gentleman at the pool table sends you your choice of our reserve list.”

  Kirk couldn’t help looking over. “Which one?”

  The bartender regarded him steadily. “Man with the red tie. Are you ready to order?”

  “Actually, I’ll wait a bit.” He had the feeling one of the cougars would talk him up as soon as Jeanine was out of the way.

  “Tell the gentleman, I’ll buy my own drink,” Jeanine said. “But he’s welcome to join us.”

  Interesting. She didn’t want to be beholden to anyone. Smart move. Kirk looked over his shoulder as the bartender went to deliver the message.

  He returned and said, “The gentlemen challenge you two to a round of pool and drinks are on them.”

  “If we win,” Jeanine answered swiftly. She took Kirk’s arm. “How good of a pool shark are you?”

  “The best.” He flexed his hands. “I’m a catcher. Quick hands.”

  “But this is shooting, not catching.” She gave him a sidelong smirk.

  “I’m a pro at that, too.” He puffed out his chest and ambled to the red velvet pool table, making sure to place his hand possessively at the base of Jeanine’s spine.

  There were four men, all dressed to the nines in Italian suits, Ferragamo shoes, and all the accoutrements of the super rich.

  The man with the red tie spoke first, “I’m Thaddeus, and these are my cronies, Palmer, Ethan, and Royce.”

  “Kirk and Jeanine,” Kirk answered for them.

  The men said they were in the creative and talent field, implying they were in the movie industry, and Kirk said he was in the sports industry. It was a bless
ing those wusses had no clue who he was, which meant they didn’t know anything about baseball. Jeanine, of course, said nothing about what she did for a living.

  Instead, she confidently swept her hair to the side and asked, “What are we playing for?”

  “A round of drinks,” Thaddeus said. “But to be fair, Palmer and Royce will sit this one out.”

  “I’m on it.” Jeanine’s eyes sparkled while her mouth remained sedate without a smile.

  “You’re our guest, you can have the break shot,” Thaddeus intoned in a faux British accent.

  “I insist we flip.” Jeanine turned to Kirk. “Coin?”

  “I don’t carry any,” Kirk said, reaching into his pocket. He couldn’t tell if she was interested in any of the men or not. She was so cool about her actions.

  “Got one,” one of the guys who was sitting out the game said. He pressed a quarter into Jeanine’s hand, making sure to let his grip linger.

  Again, Jeanine didn’t appear fazed. She took the coin and waited for Thaddeus to call it.

  Kirk and Jeanine won the toss, so he decided to let her set up for the break shot. How could he concentrate on the shot when every eye in the lounge would be either glued to Jeanine’s dazzling cleavage sporting a single black gem surrounded by a sunburst of diamonds, or glancing up the hip-high slit on her right side?

  Jeanine chalked her stick, her nose in the air, calm as a tigress sniffing out her prey. Without taking a practice stroke, she leaned over the table.

  Holy mama! Kirk’s temperature rose, and his dick pumped to life. Her tight ass was barely contained by the skimpy skirt, and if her long, blond hair hadn’t been cascading over the table, he might have gotten a view in between her breasts.

  Whack! The balls scattered across the table, with two of them dropping into opposite corner pockets. She took stock of the table and called the low balls.

  She dropped an easy shot, and at the same time placed the cue ball down the rail to close in on the other side of the table. Three more balls went in, and from what Kirk could tell, she had carefully set up her cue for an across the table shot. Thwap, that ball neatly hit the pocket, and Jeanine strode around the table, taking her time. She chalked the stick, then bent and angled it, sighting her shot.

  None of the men were watching the billiard balls. Kirk’s heart hammered and he swallowed as his arousal became uncomfortable. He put his hands in his pockets and thought about his mother and how shocked he’d been as an eleven-year-old boy to walk in on her and the handyman humping on the kitchen table.

  That calmed him enough to not be embarrassed, but it also left a sickening dullness in his stomach. He returned his attention to Jeanine.

  She banked the shot and bounced it at another ball, it slapped into a second ball before dropping into the pocket. The last ball rolled to a stop in perfect position for the final shot.

  Jeanine licked her lips, long and slow, and oh, gosh, Kirk was sweating it now. Not even the thought of dear old mom and the plumber, the carpenter, the painter, and the tree trimmer could derail him from admiring Jeanine’s luscious body.

  She drew the stick back and set up the shot. Whack, she landed it and won the game, all without a shot from him.

  The men clapped and hooted.

  “Impressive,” Thaddeus said in that flaccid voice of the wealthy and bored. “Now, will you step to the bar and have a drink with me?”

  “But of course.” She allowed him to take her hand. “You owe one to my brother, too.”

  Brother? Gurg. How the hell could she find that fishface attractive? The other men turned and smirked knowingly as Thaddeus, with the butler’s name, guided Jeanine to the bar with his hand lowered over her possessively.

  Kirk wasn’t about to follow them to the bar. Heck no. He wasn’t her bodyguard or servant, and if she wanted to party with those entertainment poseurs then he wasn’t going to be a third wheel.

  As soon as he slipped away from Jeanine, a hand tapped his arm and one of the women he’d noticed earlier gave him a flirty smile. “My name is Susan. Care to share a bottle of wine with me?”

  She was decked out in a slinky red cocktail dress that was supposed to be high fashion if it weren’t for the overabundance of ruffles making her look like she was headed for a Texas hoe-down.

  “Delighted. I’m Kirk.” He nodded and gave her his trademarked seductive grin, then allowed her to steer him toward her friends. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jeanine give him a thumbs up, as if encouraging him to spend time with the women.

  “Hey girls,” Susan said. “This is Kirk and I have first dibs since I’m a doctor. Kirk, these are my friends, Anne, Jill, and Clare.”

  Each of the women shook his hand and told him her profession. They had been suitemates in college and were in town for a reunion.

  Susan was dressed hot and sexy, but Anne, the banker, and Jill, the lawyer were more conservative: wearing a navy sheath dress and a stiff gray power suit, respectively. Clare, the writer, was obviously the creative one. She had a brightly decorated paisley scarf dress full of contrasting colors.

  The bartender brought out a bottle of vintage Bordeaux. After toasting each other around the table, the women asked about his life. Kirk skimmed the surface, talking about playing baseball in college and living in New York City, but he kept one eye out for Jeanine, who was flirting heavily with not one, but all four of the men.

  Was she really going to hookup with one of them? He couldn’t tell which of the four she favored. His heart squeezed inside his chest as he assessed them. The guys were smooth, well dressed, and spoke in that lilting sing-song way he considered weak. Two of them wore horrid looking man buns, tufts of hair gathered in back and pinned like an old grandmother would wear, and the other two had thinning hair.

  Susan, the woman who’d approached him, tapped his arm. “Interesting show over there, isn’t it? Is this some kind of phase people these days go through?”

  Her friends turned to observe and then chortled, shaking their heads.

  “It’s obvious she’s trying to make you jealous,” Jill said.

  “No, no,” Anne cut in. “She’s enjoying the attention, but has you in the friend-zone. If you want her, you’d better do something about it.”

  “Actually, this is the new mating game.” Clare added her observation. “Both of them are trying to see how hurt they’d be if the other one left with someone else. Then they’d know if their love is real.”

  Kirk stared wide-eyed at the four women. “It’s really quite simple. I’m her wingman and she’s my wingwoman. We’re both here to pick up other people and go home with them.”

  “Oh, really?” Susan raised an eyebrow and lifted her wineglass to her lips. “You’re going to sit back and watch her leave with one of those twerps?”

  “Ah, that was the agreement.” Kirk felt two-feet tall under their disbelieving Mr. Spock expressions.

  “How will you feel if she ends up in bed with one of them?” the lawyer, Jill, challenged. “Man up and go cut in. You need to show her who’s boss.”

  “I agree,” the banker, Anne, said. “When you two walked in, I thought you were on your honeymoon. If this is some sort of test, you’re failing it big time.”

  The writer scribbled in her pad and added, “I can feel the pain oozing from your pores. But the only way to find out if she feels anything for you is for us to take you back to our room and have our way with you. That’ll show her and her flirty foursome.”

  “You’d do that for me?” Kirk blurted, his heart hopping despite the warmth of the well-aged Bordeaux.

  The four women looked around the table at each other and grinned.

  Susan, who seemed to be the leader, nodded forcefully. “Of course we’d help you. We came to Vegas for our reunion and you’re our main attraction.”

  “Let’s make this good,” Jill said, wiggling her shoulders and rubbing her hands.

  “Oh, this is going to be so much fun,” Clare said. “Mind if I record th
is? I could use these scenes in one of my books.”

  “Sure, but what exactly are we going to do?” Kirk still had one eye fixed on Jeanine who was sitting in one guy’s lap while another one rubbed her foot.

  The women affected a loud, boisterous giggle and swarmed around him. Susan kissed him and Jill hooked an arm around his neck, while Anne wedged herself between his legs and held his wineglass to his lips.

  Only Clare was busy with her camera phone, recording the entire encounter.

  “Hey, girls, let’s take this stud back to our room and have our way with him,” Jill, the lawyer who was used to barking in court, said in a loud voice which projected across the lounge.

  Jeanine shot Kirk a dagger look before pressing herself against one of the man-bun guys.

  “I can’t wait to see the bat between this one’s legs,” Susan, the doctor said.

  “Oh, I don’t just want to see it, I want to feel it deep.” Anne wiggled herself between his legs, looping her arms around his neck.

  “Well, let’s do it,” Clare whooped. “I get my turn, too, after taking notes.”

  “Hope you’re ready to stay up all night,” Jill broadcasted in her courtroom voice. “Let’s giddy-up and go.”

  The four women hung onto various parts of Kirk as they strong-armed him from the private lounge, past the wall of wine bottles, and through the bar to the plaza.

  Kirk’s pulse raced at what Jeanine was doing with the men, but he couldn’t catch a glimpse of her because the men had huddled around her.

  His heart sank lower than his knees. He’d failed playing wingman to her, and even worse, his stomach burned knowing he’d let her slip from his hands. The only saving grace was the shared suite. As soon as he could get away from the fearless foursome, he’d go back to the room and wait for Jeanine.

  It was going to be a long and torturous night, and he had only himself to blame.