Fair Play (Hat Trick, Book 1) by Samantha Wayland Page B

left his house. They had been having such a lovely evening,
and he’d been such a gracious host, she’d completely forgotten. Why ever
would a man as handsome and charming as Reese sequester himself?
    Reese regained his composure, his momentary lapse only
evident in the now-visible lines around his eyes. His smile returned, albeit
tentatively. “I hope you’ll consider coming to see us again next time you’re in
town.”
    Rupert abruptly stopped speaking to Garrick and peered at
Reese as if he’d grown an additional head.
    “We’d like that,” she said.
     “Wonderful,” Reese said, shooting a dirty look at the still
wide-eyed Rupert before ushering them to the door. “Hodges will see you back to
your hotel. Good luck at your game tomorrow night.”
    They’d accepted the offer of a lift back into town from Reese
when the hour had grown late and their town car had been ready to go off-shift.
She hadn’t really thought Reese would drive them himself, of course, but the
sleek black limo and liveried driver hadn’t been expected either.
    With a final wave, she and Garrick slipped through the door
and into the waiting car. She climbed in first, sliding across the soft leather
seat to make room for Garrick. The door clicked shut behind him and sealed them
into a warm cocoon.
    Garrick turned to her in the intimate darkness and something
tightened deep in her core. She’d been harmlessly flirting with all three men
most of the night and hadn’t given it a moment’s thought until Garrick had
hugged her in the billiards room. She’d felt his erection against her hip and
her blood had heated, running thick through her veins. She’d struggled to
recover her composure, grateful for jokes about fellatio-performing moose to distract
her.
    Until now.
    “Thank you.” His voice was soft, rough along her skin.
    She clamped down on her body’s betrayal and scolding herself
for being foolish.
    Crossing her legs, she shivered as her bare thighs skimmed over
lacy stocking tops. The press of her tightly clenched legs did nothing to stop
her growing need.
    God, what is the matter with me? She stared at her
hand clutching the leather seat between them and counted her breaths.
    The heat in the car was high, forcing back the bitter cold
outside and carrying the scent of Garrick’s cologne. She wanted to bury her
face in the crook of his neck and inhale deeply, until she was dizzy from the
heady musk hiding beneath the smooth hint of pine.
    He watched her, no doubt waiting for her response, hopefully
unaware of how ferocious it truly was.
    She met his gaze, determined to say you’re welcome or
something equally inane and nothing like touch me please . The words
wouldn’t come. Not even the plea, though she suspected he could see it written
in every line of her face.
    She felt drunk, but her spinning head had nothing to do with
the two beers she’d sipped, and everything to do with her pounding pulse and
swelling body. Warm liquid arousal pooled between her thighs.
    He was forbidden fruit. Untouchable by her own rules, and
yet had proven more desirable than any man she’d known. He was her friend.
Trusted.
    And fucking beautiful.
    She saw the questions in his patient eyes. Was aware of how
unlike his nature it was for him to sit so still. It didn’t take a glance at
the increasingly poor fit of his trousers to know he held back. It was just
there, on his face, in his gaze.
    She turned away, her eyes fixed on the blank wall of the
privacy screen. They were alone, behind dark tinted windows and thick sound-proof
barriers, shielded from the rest of the world.
    A small pocket of time and space all to themselves.
    It was this thought, this reckless belief that she could
steal a few minutes from a life, a career, a friendship that should prevent her
from stealing any such thing, that made her turn back to Garrick.

Chapter Nine
     
    Garrick watched, wide-eyed, as Savannah slid across the
bench.
    His hands shook with the need to take,