Hard and Fast Read online

  “Looking for these?”

  Amanda’s eyes went wide as she found Brad holding her silk undies by one finger. She rushed forward, issuing a reprimand. “I have to hurry. They’re waiting for me.”

  When she reached for her panties, he yanked them out of reach, his arm circling her as he pulled her across his chest. “Let them wait a little longer.”

  Her pulse kicked into double time as the warmth of his body seeped into hers. A bit of laughter escaped her lips despite her best effort to stop it. She schooled her features with determination. “Brad. I have to go.”

  “Not until we get something clear,” he said.

  She glared at him. “What?”

  “I would never do anything to jeopardize your career. I just wanted to help you. I’m trying damn hard to clean up my reputation, too. As I’m sure you know, my contract is almost up and I don’t want trouble any more than you do.”

  He said the words with so much sincerity, she felt herself go soft inside, the tension sliding away. “I—I guess I overreacted.” On impulse she ran her hand over the sexy stubble on his jaw. “I’ll be right back.” She reached for her panties.

  He yanked his hand out of reach again. “I like you better without them.” Their gazes locked, desire spiking between them. “Leave them off and think about what I’m going to do to you when you get back to the room.”

  A tiny ache began to build between her legs. The man had just given her an amazing orgasm and already she was wet again. She was curious what he had in mind. “And what exactly would that be?”

  He smiled, and brushed his lips over hers, his hand sliding under her skirt, and over her bare backside. The touch transformed that little ache into a big one as his fingers dipped intimately lower. More of this and she’d demand he do her right now.

  His teeth nipped her bottom lip. “Let your imagination run wild, sweetheart,” he said. “I promise I will.”

  The phone rang again and she jerked back. “I have to go.” Damn. He had to stop distracting her. She needed that car.

  She tried to push away from him, but he held her close, ignoring the ringing. Ignoring her urgency. And just when Amanda was sure Brad couldn’t do anything to blow her away any more than he already had, he did.

  THE HOTEL ROOM DOOR shut, leaving Brad alone with his thoughts and the growing pain in his arm. He’d watched Amanda’s face when he’d told her he cared about her job. He’d seen how much it meant to her.

  He let out a breath and ran a hand over his head. What should have been a simple round of sex to win the bet and deliver a serving of humble pie to the rookie just got more complicated. Now Amanda was his secret and he’d have to find another way to put Becker in his place.

  As for Amanda, Brad would have to ensure she never found out about the bet because he was nowhere near getting his fill of her. He doubted one night would even begin to do the job.

  He swung his legs over the side of the bed and pushed to his feet, forcing himself to put his clothes on. It was going to be a long, hot night, and he needed Advil. Even though she knew about his injury, he’d prefer to down the medication in private and his stash was in the truck. His ego wouldn’t let her see how right she was about his arm.

  He actually needed something stronger than over-the-counter, but that entailed a doctor’s visit and he couldn’t trust anyone local. Lord only knew which doctors were cozy with team management. That meant he had to wait for the Texas series to see someone he knew would keep his secret.

  By the time he tugged his shirt over his head, his arm felt like a lead weight. Amazingly, when he’d been buried deep inside Amanda, he’d tuned out the pain. Judging from the spasms darting from his shoulder to elbow, he was in for a rough night.

  Brad was ready to go before he realized his predicament. If he left this room, Amanda would freak, afraid he’d be recognized.

  Until he’d heard Amanda’s concerns about Jack and her career, Brad hadn’t given much thought to the scandal an affair between them might create. When he’d entered into this bet, he’d been so ready to smash the kid’s giant ego, Brad had forgotten to think it all the way through.

  He accepted the inevitable. He wouldn’t be getting that Advil. Instead, he headed for the room service menu. He needed sustenance. He dialed the operator and ordered a broad selection of food. He didn’t know what Amanda liked, but he was determined to make sure she was satisfied. In all ways possible.

  IT TURNED OUT exchanging vehicles was a huge ordeal involving far too many forms to sign. At least thirty minutes had passed since Amanda had left Brad in the room, and she was more than a little eager to get back to him. The whole time she’d been filling in information, her imagination had been in overdrive. She could think of all kinds of naughty things Brad might do to her. And then there were the things she planned to do to him.

  A fast swipe of her key card and Amanda was inside the room.

  Alone.

  Brad was nowhere in sight. His clothes were missing from the floor. Her chest tightened at the emotions rolling inside her. He left her? Without saying a word?

  Her gaze slid to the closed bathroom door just as it opened, displaying a now fully dressed Brad. Amanda sucked in a breath at the sight of him. His shoulders filled the doorway. A snug T-shirt hugged the rippling muscles of his torso, tapering down to a trim waist. His powerful legs were covered in soft denim. The man had a body to die for.

  “Hey,” he said, giving her a one dimple smile.

  No rejection in that smile.

  She let out a breath, relieved in a way she didn’t want to begin to explore. “Hey.”

  He started toward her and her heart kicked up a beat, her body humming with the anticipation of his touch. “I ordered room service,” he announced, pulling her close.

  Amanda grinned, his spicy scent teasing her nostrils. His strong arms surrounding her. “You read my mind.” Before she could ask what he’d ordered, a knock sounded on the door. “I guess that’s it.”

  A few minutes later, Amanda rolled the second huge tray of food to the side of the bed where Brad sat waiting for her. “Did you order the entire menu or what?” she asked incredulously.

  “I was hungry.” He positioned her between his splayed legs. “Still am. Just not for food. Not when I know you’ve been walking around without any panties.” His hand snuck beneath her skirt. “Were you thinking about what I was going to do to you when you were talking to the rental agent?”

  Not that she’d admit to. “No.” Her breath caught as his hand moved along the crevice of her backside, lower, lower, fingers intimately touching and teasing her sex.

  “Liar,” he whispered, leaning forward and claiming her nipple with his teeth right through her clothing. She gasped with the contact, her nipple pebbling with the rough pleasure he delivered. Resting his chin between her breasts, he stared up at her with simmering heat blazing. “You know you were.”

  He didn’t give her time to respond, apparently determined to deliver on his promises of pleasure. One minute she was standing, the next she was on her back on the mattress, her legs over Brad’s shoulders, skirt to her waist. The warmth of his mouth closed around her clit. The gentle sucking and teasing sent her into a haze of pure pleasure, just as he’d promised.

  A real man of his word. And Amanda liked a man of his word.

  THE SOUND OF Amanda’s cell phone ringing drew Amanda from a warm, half sleep on top of Brad’s chest. God, what was it about phones tonight? She was exhausted. After Brad had eaten dinner, he made her dessert. Several times.

  Amanda glanced at the clock and saw that it was two in the morning. Didn’t late-night calls always deliver bad news? Her heart kicked at the thought of someone being hurt. She crawled across Brad and grabbed her purse from the floor, digging out her cell.

  Amanda frowned as she noted the unknown caller ID. She punched the Answer button. “This is Amanda.”

  “Amanda.” A sniffling sound. “It’s…” Sniffle. “Laura.”

>   Laura? Amanda thought a moment before it dawned on her. The groupie who had a thing for Tony. She turned away from Brad, feeling a bit awkward. “Hi, Laura. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I just…Tony went home with that other woman.”

  The news didn’t surprise Amanda at all. “I’m sorry.”

  She wasn’t sure what else to say. From the few conversations they’d had, she got the impression Laura had a distorted perception of her relationship with Tony. She seemed to think there was more to it than sex. From what Amanda had observed, Tony wasn’t encouraging Laura or promising any loyalty to her.

  “I’m tired of the way he treats me,” she said. “The things I could tell you, Amanda. Big things. I could hurt him so bad.”

  This wasn’t Amanda’s method to get a story. Relying on sources such as this one—ex-lovers with revenge on their mind—often bit a reporter in the ass. “You’re upset. I think you should wait until you calm down a bit. Once you cross certain lines or betray certain confidences, you can’t ever go back.”

  “I don’t need to calm down. I know exactly what I’m doing. And if you don’t want to talk to me, there are plenty of other reporters who do.”

  Namely, Jack Krass. Amanda thought of him cozying up to Laura earlier tonight and figured he’d been trying to gain her confidence, not get laid. That realization added pressure because it suggested he thought Laura had information to spill. The reporter in Amanda wanted that information before Jack, even as she felt uneasy. Talking to Laura about Tony somehow betrayed him and Brad, who was listening to her side of the conversation. What a mess. This was precisely one of those situations she’d wanted to have a plan for before having sex with Brad.

  “Okay,” Amanda said, buying time, trying to think of the best way to handle this. “Why don’t we meet for coffee in the morning?”

  “Tonight.”

  That one word held enough conviction to give Amanda pause. If she didn’t do this, there was no telling what Laura would do. Still, Brad was here and Amanda barely knew Laura. She could be spouting nonsense, Jack’s interest aside. “Coffee in the morning. Name the time and place.”

  Amanda grabbed the notepad and pen on the nightstand and scribbled down the directions. “Now, promise me you won’t do anything until we talk.” After getting Laura’s agreement, Amanda ended the call. She tossed the pen down and stuffed the directions and her cell in her purse.

  “Meeting someone in the middle of the night is dangerous.”

  Amanda found Brad standing up, already dressing. Regret settled in her stomach and she yanked the covers to her neck. “You heard the arrangements. We’re meeting in the morning.”

  He stared at her, his expression hardening. “With Laura. To get a story.”

  Amanda stiffened, her fingers digging into the blankets. She could appreciate he’d feel protective toward his teammate, so she refrained from snapping a retort. “No. Not for a story. I’m going to listen to what she has to say but that doesn’t mean I’ll print it. I’ve given you no reason to distrust me,” she said, her tone even. “In fact, just the opposite.”

  “Because you say you aren’t going to tell everyone about my arm?” he challenged. “We made a deal for that silence, remember? Tonight stays private and so does my injury.”

  “You think that’s the only reason I’m not telling? Didn’t we already have this conversation? I could have exposed you before tonight.”

  Long moments of silence passed. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, his stance aggressive. “Groupies are trouble,” he said, ignoring all of her points. “Laura is trouble.”

  “She’s a kid who needs a friend.”

  “She’s trouble. Walk away from this.”

  “I can’t turn my back on her. She’s upset.”

  “Can’t or won’t?”

  “Brad—”

  “If you print anything she says without the facts to back it up, Amanda, you’ll never get another interview in the Rays’ locker room.”

  Amanda swallowed, feeling a bit sick. “I’d defend myself but it seems I’ve already been convicted.”

  He didn’t respond, didn’t even glance in her direction. Amanda watched as he finished putting on his clothes. He’d shut her out before he’d gotten out of her bed. He tossed her a brief goodbye, then left.

  She pulled her knees to her chest. Why was Brad so fearful of her getting close to Laura? Amanda couldn’t help but wonder if Kevin’s suspicions about Tony were true and Brad knew it. Maybe Brad feared Laura did, too.

  The situation was complicated and her emotions weren’t helping. The way Brad had turned on her hurt like hell. He hadn’t listened to a word she’d said after Laura called. What was Amanda to take from his behavior? Was she a groupie to him and now that he’d had her—not to mention a surefire guarantee that she’d never print a word about his injury—he was tossing her aside? The idea stung given that she’d thought they’d shared more than sex.

  Damn, she should have waited until she’d worked through all of the consequences of sleeping with Brad. She could kick herself for not giving this more thought. But, no. She’d let lust beat out logic. And look where it landed her—her career resting in the hands of a man who didn’t trust her and a heart that felt a little too bruised for a one-night stand.

  What a mess.

  11

  REACHING FOR the takeout coffee cup perched on the edge of her desk, Amanda took a sip. She winced at the bitter taste of the too-strong brew. It was 8:00 a.m. after a night of too little sleep and no matter how bad the flavor, she needed the caffeine. She’d gotten up early to meet Laura only to have her leave a message canceling while Amanda was in the shower.

  Since she was already awake and not likely to return to sleep with Brad on her mind, she had come in to work. Focusing on her computer screen, Amanda ground her teeth and hit the Delete button. Her column ran tomorrow and it needed to be brilliant. So far she wasn’t off to a great start. She had an idea, but not the spin that really made it edgy.

  “Coffee has arrived.” Reggie held two grande Starbucks cups.

  “Oh, my God, I love you.”

  He grinned. “White mocha or caramel macchiato. I’m fine with either.”

  “White mocha, please.” He handed her the cup and she took a long sip. “That is so good.”

  “I’m addicted,” Reggie confessed. “I swear they drug the stuff. Some say Starbucks is a cult, you know.”

  “Cult? You’re kidding.”

  He gave her a serious look. “They say the drinks have some special ingredient that makes you want more.”

  She wasn’t quite sure she’d heard right. “You’re telling me you believe an entire chain would drug their coffee.”

  “Something makes it addictive,” he said, his expression still dead serious.

  She shook her head in disbelief, staring at him as she searched for mischief and found it. “The drug is called caffeine and I’m a willing addict. And until I’ve had mine, I suggest you don’t give me a hard time.”

  Reggie started laughing. “All right, all right. I’ll go easy on you the rest of the morning.” He grabbed a chair from the cubicle beside hers and sat. “I figured you’d need a boost after a night at the bar. So. Tell me everything.”

  Amanda took another sip to break eye contact so he wouldn’t figure out everything amounted to more than she was willing to share. “Well, let’s see. Jack was an ass, as usual.”

  Reggie snorted. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  “Here’s an interesting subject. One of the groupies was hanging all over Tony.”

  He made a face. “Like I said, tell me something I don’t know.”

  “Will you just wait? I’m getting to it.”

  Reggie took a drink as he waved her on.

  “She was hanging all over Tony but he was more interested in another woman,” Amanda continued. “I didn’t think much about it at the time. But a couple of hours after I left, she called me.”

&nb
sp; “And?”

  She detailed the call and the cancellation that morning. “Needless to say, I’m tired and frustrated. Part of me was glad she pulled a no-show. I don’t like the idea of getting a story through an ex-lover and that’s how this is feeling. And this is so bad—” she hated admitting this out loud, hated what the competition was doing to her “—but another part of me worried she went to Jack instead.”

  “I doubt she went to Jack. He has a way with the guys. Women are another story.”

  “I can vouch for that.”

  “You’re in a spot, though. How you handle anything Laura tells you will be delicate. You don’t use it and she clams up, never telling you another thing and passes the word to everyone she hangs with. You do use it and it pisses off the team, then they won’t talk to you. And that’s presuming she’s telling the truth. Nasty all around.”

  “You don’t mince words, do you?”

  “Nope, I do not. A wingman tells it like it is. But he also brings coffee. And on really rough mornings, chocolate doughnuts.”

  “I’ll hold you to that,” she said with a smile. “And it just so happens that I’ve been thinking about exactly this subject. The way I see it, if I get this steroid story and go to the player and give him a chance to tell his version, then I’ll earn trust rather than destroy it.”

  “Sounds like a plan. The key is to beat Jack to the story. Despite what I just said, I think you have to work Laura.”

  “I know. I don’t want to, but I will. Since we have a game tonight I’ll try to catch her at the stadium. Until then I need to work ahead on feature ideas.”

  Reggie pushed to his feet. “Check. Reading between the lines—get lost.”

  Amanda grinned. “Yes, but only after I’ve used you thoroughly. I need the best action shots of Brad and Casey pitching you can get me.” She mentioned several other photos for potential stories. With so much performance pressure, she needed options in case she changed her mind.