Page 22 of Here Be Dragons
She walked out of the bathroom to find him sitting on her bed, his torso naked and the sheet covering up those boxer briefs of his. They were basic black, sure, but they looked amazing on his lower body last night. Black just accentuated all those things that Ava loved about a hockey player's thighs and ass, and Shane's body was one of the best.
Not that she slept with hockey players all that often. She could only think of one other and that was back in law school, way before her brother bought a professional hockey team. She was smart enough to not mix work with pleasure, at least most of the time. Now was not most of the time.
"Morning."
Shane looked up, his eyes skimming her curves as she walked over to him.
"You look good in that shirt," he said with a husky voice. "Can I get it back?"
She climbed on the bed and crawled over to him, watching as he took in the gap in the v-neck of his shirt that gave him a great view of her breasts. He closed his eyes and exhaled.
"I have to go," he said.
She leaned into his personal space and gave him a soft, lingering kiss on his cheek. "I know."
Ava tried to push down the disappointment, but he was right. He had to go and get ready for the day and so did she. They both had to face the reality of their situation now that the sun was coming up. They couldn't be seen like this together in this hotel. For one night, he wasn't the enemy. They did want the same thing, but they were still on two different sides of this situation. They were negotiating against each other, and this was just another part of that negotiation.
Shane's phone bleeped again in his hand and he growled in frustration. If Ava didn't have to face off against him later today, she would've had her way with him again. But she needed to be an adult and do her job. The fun would have to wait for another time.
"That's been doing that for a while," she said. "Problems?"
Shane shook his head. "I was just supposed to meet Jordan at the gym this morning and he's wondering where I am."
She gave him a wicked smile. "Did you tell him you were up late last night ravishing the opposition?"
He turned and smiled back at her. "Ravishing?"
She nodded and bit her lower lip, wishing she could put them against his one more time. But that would lead to other things and she did not have time for that this morning. Shane didn't either.
"You need to go," she told him.
The voice she heard come out of her mouth wasn't her normal voice. It was sultry but demanding. He did need to go or there would be problems later. Real problems.
Shane's smile faded on his lips, and Ava was thankful that he understood the same thing. She didn't need to explain to him what she was thinking because she knew he was thinking the same thing. He wanted to stay and be with her, but he couldn't be seen with one of the owner's lawyers. And she couldn't be seen with a player.
"I need to go." He sounded defeated, but then he sat up a little straighter and started looking around the room. "Where's your phone?"
He didn't wait for her answer. As soon as his eyes landed on it, he snatched it off of the nightstand and held it out to her.
"Put your thumb on it." She gave him a confused look and he rolled his eyes in response. "Do I need to negotiate this with you or can you just trust me?"
She gave him an apprehensive look, then slowly reached out and put her thumb on the phone to unlock it. He pulled it back towards him and deftly opened up the directory on it. She watched as he created a new contact and started putting some numbers into it.
"I don't expect you to call me or text me today or anything like that. I'm not that kind of guy." His eyes darted around her screen. "It's just for emergencies or whatever."
"Emergencies?" she asked.
"Yeah, like in case the hotel catches fire or you're lying in bed alone tonight or whatever."
"Sleeping by myself is an emergency?"
He turned and gave her a smile before handing her phone to her. He stood up and started to put his gorgeous track pants back on as she looked down at the screen. He had added his name and phone number to her list of contacts. Well, not his actual name.
"Big Dragon?" she asked incredulously.
He just gave her a dumb lopsided grin and shrugged. For as much as he seemed vulnerable to her last night, he was equally smug this morning. It was like he knew he satisfied her itch last night. And to be fair, he did. He definitely did. But she wasn't going to just come out and admit that.
Shane put his own phone in his pocket and slipped on those dumb athletic flip flops all the hockey players insist on wearing. Then he looked back up at her with a smile.
