Page 66 of Wild Love
Blythe holds back a smile. “Do you have what you need?”
“I think so. I want this to work. It has to work.”
“It will.” Her ever-present phone rings in her hand. “I have to step out to take this. You have it under control here.”
“I hope so,” I whisper as she leaves me scrambling.
The bass of the music changes the mood almost immediately. Everyone, including Johnny, relaxes a little with an old, catchy Pitbull song, but when Reese places the hockey stick in his hands, I want to cry with relief. His shoulders relax, and his smile is genuine.
He wraps a big hand around the end and holds it up, aiming the other end at me and winking. Swoon. Damn it all to hell. Swoon. I roll my eyes and cross my arms over my chest. “Okay, everyone, let’s do this.”
The rest of the shoot goes well. Really well. Lindsey takes a bunch of shots with Maverick and his hockey stick, and then Quinn and I start handing him products. He poses with them in all sorts of ways. Some are silly and ridiculous, others serious. How does one spritz ball spray and make it look sexy?
But by far, the best material is when we turn on the shower and have Maverick wash himself. Okay, it sounds seedy. It isn’t. I mean, he looks…so good, but he has fun with it, smiling and keeping the vibe really cool and casual. His dark hair slicked back, his hands working over his chest. Maverick meets my eye and smiles. I try to smile back, but I don’t seem to have control over any part of my body. If I did, I’d surely be able to ignore the ache between my thighs. I can’t imagine what he sees in my expression. I don’t even know myself what I’m feeling.
But whatever it is, that smile on his face falls and is replaced with heat that has a direct line to the butterflies swarming in my stomach.
I want him. And he wants me too.
21
Johnny
I’m shockedwhen Dakota comes home early from work. I’m doing sit-ups in the living room, and instead of heading straight to her room, she plops down on the couch with a tired groan.
“Long day?” I ask, stopping at the top of a rep.
“Being in charge is exhausting.” She grins. “But totally awesome.”
“You killed it.”
“I actually believe you.” She kicks off her shoes and goes into the kitchen.
I follow her, and she pulls out two wineglasses and then uncorks a bottle of wine, pouring two and handing me one of them. She hops up on the counter. Energy and excitement vibrate off her. “Even Quinn told me good job before we left.”
“Look at you making friends.”
“Yeah, she invited me to hang out tomorrow.”
I make a sound like a buzzer going off. “Wrong answer. You’re booked tomorrow.”
She cocks a brow and takes a sip of her wine. “I am?”
“Yep, Jack is having a pool party. Starts early, will definitely go late.”
“I don’t think that’s a great idea,” she says, pulling that wall back up between us.
“I promise not to let you strip off your clothes and sleep with anyone,” I say with a playful roll of my eyes as if I’m doing some noble deed instead of keeping her from hooking up with any of my teammates. It has the desired effect, and she smiles.
“Ha ha.”
“I’m serious. It’ll be fun. We cannot stay in this apartment another day. My couch is going to have a permanent indent of my ass.”
Her gaze drops to my butt, and then she catches herself.
“Spending time at a pool does sound fun.”
I clap my hands. “All right. It’s settled.”
