Page 82 of Hot for the Hockey Player
“Looks like you thought about mea lot.”
Of course I did.
“It’s nothing.Allergic reaction to … the rubber.”
“Then take them off.”He snorted.Without asking, he rolled the rubber bands off my right wrist, and dear god,thatmade my lashes flutter and between my legs throb.Then he did it to the left side, before bringing my wrists to his mouth and kissing the tender spots.With his lips on my skin, he glanced up at me.“I thought about you too.”
“Maverick,” I breathed.
“I still love the way you say my name.Everyone else calls me Mav, but you say my whole name like a sigh, and I love it.”
I swallowed as his mouth traveled up my arm to the crook of my right elbow.“Maverick …”
“We’d be really good together, Gabrielle.You know it.I know it.”
I shut my eyes and tilted my head to the side when he reached my neck, sucking in a deep breath before raking his teeth up my jaw.My breath stuttered out and my chest shook just as his mouth skimmed across mine.“We need to talk about what’s going on here,” I croaked out.“This … this …”
This man helped me with my son.Damon was drowning, and I didn’t even know it, and Maverick helped me see that my son needed me.That he needed my help.Not only that, but everyone on the island seemed to love him.The kids adored him.And I … I couldn’t get him out of my head.
Blinking open my eyes, I met his gaze.His brows rose a little in question as he held my wrists, and probably felt my insane pulse.“Don’t say no,” he whispered.
I swallowed again, but then I nodded.“Okay.”
I only caught his excited smile for a second before he grabbed me by the face with both hands and claimed my mouth with his.
I hung there, held by his hands like a rag doll, as he consumed me.As he pried my lips apart with his tongue and showed me all the ways he could use that muscle.My core clenched with need and I melted deeper into his kiss, fell further under his spell.I’d never been so reckless before, and while in a lot of ways it felt like riding a motorcycle without a helmet, it also felt really … freeing.
The opening of the front door had me shoving him away and wiping my mouth.
“You coming, Mav?”Austin asked.
“Yeah.Sorry, kiddo.On my way.”Maverick’s rakish grin only galvanized my libido and desperation for an encore.“Come over tonight,” he said with a whisper as he headed to the door.“Please?”
I nodded.“I … I’ll try.”
Then he winked at me, and I nearly came on the spot.
And I think he knew it too.
I started dinner prep.I took out some frozen homemade spaghetti sauce from the freezer and boiled up some pasta.I was too frazzled to do anything more elaborate.If I tried, I’d probably burn the whole house down.
I couldn’t go to his cabin.Not when the subtext for my visit was absolutely going to be sex.I needed to do some trimming.I needed to shave my legs.I’d also been several years since I’d had sex.Was it like riding a bike?Would I always know how to do it?Or would I fall off and skin my knee?Also, what was I supposed to tell the kids?
I never left in the evenings.I was a homebody, a workaholic and, by all accounts—boring.They’d definitely call me weird, among other things, I’m sure, if I told them I was going out at eight or nine.I also went to bed at ten because I got up at five every morning.
Nope!This wasn’t going to work.Not the nighttime booty visit, or thiswhateverit was with Maverick.I was delusional and needed to figure out a way to nip it in the bud.I had to cancel.
The door opened and Raina announced herself like Tigger, “Halloooooooooo.”
She took one look at me as she rounded the corner and plunked her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side.“Something’s wrong.What is it?”
Stirring the spaghetti sauce, I rolled my eyes.“Nothing.Go away.”
“Oh, now something isdefinitelywrong with a response like that.Normally, Gabrielle Campbell is much more articulate when she tells me to get lost.What is it?Cat got your tongue?Or rather … a certain, hunky hockey player?”
I stupidly slid my gaze sideways at her, and she took that as confirmation and, hopping up and down on her toes, clapped her hands with glee.“I knew it.So … how was it?”
“We’re not having this conversation?”
