He looked into her slay-me eyes. “Yeah.”

She let out a breath. “Seems neither of us can cut our dads out of our lives entirely, even though neither of them has been much of a parent.” She surprised him by taking his hand in hers. “I’d like to believe that makes us good people.”

He nodded. “I’d like to believe that, too.”

Her mouth curved slightly as she stepped close and slowly set her head on his shoulder with a sigh. “I suppose I can forgive you for being an ass.”

He let out his own sigh and wrapped his arms around her. “Thank you.”

The waves were low and mellow today, the sun the same. Looking down at Sam’s head on his chest gave him the sense of peace he’d been looking for.

“Too bad we can’t pick our families,” she said, watching the water.

“Too bad.”

She cocked her head and looked at him, really looked, as if she could see right through him. Aware that she now knew far more about his childhood than he was comfortable with, he had to resist the urge to squirm. “What?”

“I feel for the boy you were,” she murmured. “So much. But mostly I’m glad you made it, and very proud of the man you’ve become, Wade. You should be, too.”

He let out a breath and stroked a strand of hair off her face. “You have this way of getting straight to the heart of the matter, don’t you?”

“I don’t care that you have bad days. I don’t care that you have a very busy life with lots going on. I care about the fact that all I can think about is how you said you were falling for me, or how in spite of myself, I’m doing the same. I only care that suddenly I feel like I’m hanging out here all alone because you’ve changed your mind.”

He met her gaze. “I haven’t.”

“No?”

“No,” he said firmly. “It’s just that I thought we were moving along nice and slow, seeing where it takes us.”

“Such as maybe some more elevators, bathrooms, and couches.”

He let out a little smile. “Well, actually, I’m really hoping for that bed. I’m getting a little old for that back of the car shit.”

“It’s been a little crazy,” she allowed, not committing.

Which was usually his MO, the not committing. “Yeah,” he said, wondering where this was going. “Just a little crazy.”

“And not quite the easy and light and fun you expected.”

Unease settled in his gut like a lead ball. “True.”

“Problem is, you didn’t see the fatal flaw in your plan,” she said, watching him carefully. “That nothing is easy and light and fun all the time.”

“Also true,” he admitted.

“As is the fact that you’ve never tried to manage a relationship during a season, correct?”

“Not so much as a pet snake.”

“And yet here you are with a woman looking at you,” she said. “One with an impressionable kid in her care, taking a serious bite out of the light and easy. Not to mention a father who needs your attention.”

Yeah, he thought a little bitterly. Let’s not forget him.

Sam turned to face him, staring deep into his eyes. “Maybe it’s a good thing you only have a week left on your sentence, and then your biggest problem is over.”

The words tugged low in his gut. “Is that what you want? For it to be over?”

“This was never about me, Wade.” She took his hand and walked with him down to the beach. They kicked off their shoes and sat on the big rocks, hidden from the rest of the world. “Since you’re unnerved and I’m not that far behind you,” she murmured, leaning back, tipping her face up to the sun, “maybe for now we should just stick with what we’re good at.”

“Which is?”

She smiled. “It’s more of a show than tell thing.”

“Yeah?” Just her sultry smile made him feel better. It made him hard, too. “Show me then.”

She shrugged out of her jacket, leaving her in just that little tank top he loved. Her br**sts strained against the material, her ni**les hard. “You have my full attention,” he murmured.

She very carefully peeled his T-shirt off over his head. “Good to know.”

“Even though I was a jerk?”

“The fight’s over, Wade.” Her finger ran down his chest, his abs. “Now we’re making up.” Her mouth curved warmly. “Keep up.”

She undid him. Completely undid him.

And clearly knowing it, she just smiled. “I’m quite sure this will put us back on that light and fun and easy track.”

“Tell me more about this making up.”

“It involves me having my merry way with you.”

He pulled her in against him, the circuits in his brain blowing. “I’d like that. I’d really like that.”

She smiled and straddled him, a move that had her skirt hiking up, revealing a pink silk thong that made him groan. He stroked a hand up her thigh, letting his thumb brush across the center of the silk.

She was wet. “God, Sam, is this for me?”

“Well, there was this really cute guy back at the hotel—” She started to crack herself up but it backed up in her throat when he slid a finger beneath the wet silk and inside her.

“Wade,” she gasped, wriggling her h*ps for more, which he gladly gave. She leaned over him and nipped his bottom lip, sucking it into her mouth as she rocked into his touch. “How am I doing on the making-up thing?” she asked breathlessly.

With his free hand, he tugged the thin straps of her tank down, baring her breasts. He kissed first one, then the other, stopping to suck a nipple into his mouth. “Good. God, so good.”

Her eyes were fixed on the bulge in his shorts, which she liberated. “Inside me. Now.”

He wanted that, too. Leaning back against the rock, he lifted her up so that she could sink onto him, inch by inch. When her muscles clenched around him, his eyes drifted shut. He was breathing like he was running his five miles, but then she began to ride him, grinding her h*ps against his, increasing her pace with the steady pounding of his heart, and he stopped breathing entirely. “God, Sam.” He groaned, his fingers digging into her h*ps to slow her down, probably nearly bruising her in his attempt to keep himself from coming too soon.

Curving her body over his, she put her mouth to his shoulder, kissing him, softly breathing his name over and over, panting for him, and when he reached between them to stroke his thumb over her in just the right rhythm, she burst, her explosion triggering his.

They leaned against the rocks together, out of breath. He brushed her damp hair out of her face and pressed his mouth to her temple, then lifted her face so he could see into her eyes.

She smiled.

And just like that, everything truly was okay in his world.

Chapter 26

Well, boys, it’s a round ball and a round bat and you got to hit the ball square.

—Joe Schultz

The Heat played San Francisco at home for two more nights, which Wade was forced to sit out.

They lost both games.

The following day, they flew to Florida, where he was finally cleared to play. They lost that first game, and frustrated, Wade turned down Joe’s and Mike’s offer to go out and shake it off, which was code for trolling the bars. Instead, he went up to his hotel room and called Sam. “Hey.”

“You okay?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “Maybe you should come cheer me up.”

“You think wild monkey sex can cheer you up from a loss like that?”

“Who said anything about wild monkey sex? I was thinking of playing cards or something.”

“Uh-huh,” she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice.

“But hey, if you want wild monkey sex, I suppose I could oblige you.”

She laughed softly. “You’re such a giver, Wade.”

“That I am.”

“I have to get Tag fed and in bed. Then his tutor is going to stay with him. I have a quick meeting with Gage and a local reporter in the bar.”

“I’ll meet you down there.”

He showered and changed and hit the bar. Some of the guys were still there. He pulled up a chair to where Kyle, Henry, and Mason were sharing a pitcher and a few laughs.

Mason nodded at a group of women walking into the place, working their way closer. “Think they’re Marlin fans and just feel sorry for us?”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Kyle said, smiling at one of the women, a pretty blonde. “Sometimes pity’s hot.”

“When?” Henry asked. “When is pity ever hot?”

“When it looks like that,” Mason said, winking at the blonde, who winked back.

Sam walked into the bar with Gage and they ended up on the other side of the room at a table with some suits, one of which was her father.

Wade watched as Mr. McNead barely greeted Sam or Gage. They’d lost today and the man hated to lose. In fact, steam was practically coming out of his head, and after a few minutes, the suits left and Sam’s father proceeded to chew off Gage’s ear for a good five minutes. Gage, never one to back down, coolly said his piece in return. Then McNead started in on Sam.

Meanwhile the women at the bar had made their way to the table with Wade and the others, and the introductions were made. There were four players and six women, two of whom sat one on either side of Wade. They were pretty and smiley and touchy-feeling, a situation that only a few months ago might have made his night.

Instead, he couldn’t take his eyes off Sam. He was hoping she was going to work her way over here and kick some ass. He loved it when she did that, when she claimed him as hers.

After a few more minutes, Gage got up, squeezed Sam’s shoulder in silent commiseration, and left. Sam and her father continued what looked to be a heated conversation, and though Wade couldn’t hear their words, he could sense the anger vibrating off her.

Wade pushed away his drink. His own father was doing God knew what back in Santa Barbara. He’d stayed to attend his AA meetings, saying he wasn’t ready to travel and face all the hotel bars.

“He’s not usually so deaf,” Mason said to the woman on Wade’s left, nudging Wade with his foot as he answered a question that had been clearly meant for Wade. “He loves dancing.”

“Then let’s go,” one of the pretty blondes said, and everyone rose but Wade.

“I’m sorry, but you should go on without me.”

Kyle reached down and laid a palm on his forehead. “You sick?”

“Management’s waiting to talk to me,” he said, standing.

“Are you in trouble for today?” the blonde asked, eyes wide. “For losing?” She pressed herself close and kissed his jaw. “Dancing will make you feel better.”

“Sorry,” he said, gently disentangling himself. “I’m . . . taken.”

She sighed. “Still?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be with the others if you change your mind,” she said.

“Thanks.” He headed across the bar, toward the woman he was “taken” by, for the next few days anyway, and suddenly wished he’d argued for two months instead of one. Hell, maybe he should look up Tia and get her to stalk him some more, and get himself “taken” by Sam for the rest of the season . . . .

Sam was sitting with her father when Wade came to their table. Her father was still brooding over Sam’s decision to open her own PR firm, but she’d already been approached by several potential clients, and nothing was going to change her mind now. She knew she’d been good enough at her job that he would still want her to handle the Heat’s publicity, and she looked forward to doing so as an independent contractor, not a Heat employee. They’d just finished discussing it when Wade had been kissed by the woman.

Her father had looked amused.

Sam didn’t feel amused, so she doubted she looked it. For how aggressive Wade could be on the diamond field, when it came to women, he tended to be laid-back and easygoing, letting them come to him.

And come to him they did; big, little, curvy, skinny, they came in all shapes and sizes and ages, most falling all over themselves for a piece of him.

He’d been good at doling out pieces. He’d had girlfriends, casual relationships that he’d played at. But Sam had never, not once, seen him hand over the whole of his heart and soul.

And in spite of the fact that he clearly felt something for her, maybe something more than the usual, in the end, she knew she’d be no exception. Not a pleasant realization, especially since she could honestly say she’d most definitely given him a piece of her heart and soul.

Which hadn’t been in her plan.

“Is the month up already?” her father asked Wade.

“No,” he said, looking at Sam.

“Tomorrow,” she said, and saw his surprise.

“Tomorrow?” Wade frowned. “I thought we had a few more days.”

“Time flies.” Her father gestured to a chair for Wade. “Wanted to thank you, O’Riley. I appreciate you handling the month with as much grace as you did, pretending to have a relationship with Samantha here. I know it wasn’t what you wanted, and it probably wasn’t easy.” He smiled at Sam. “She’s good, but never easy.”

Sam stood up and grabbed her purse. Wade stood as well, and set a hand at the small of her back in silent but clear support. “Ready?” he asked her.

Beyond ready. “Yes.”

Wade nodded, then looked at her father. “You don’t have to thank me. Sam did all the work, and that she did so was because of me in the first place.”