Desperate Situations (14 page)

Megan took the bottle and chugged. Then she handed it back with a smile.

"Smooth, Darlin'. You definitely smoothed your way into this one," he whispered. With a wink, he left, shaking his head at Jake who was just heading out onto the court. "Jake, a word of warning… She's fast."

Jake didn't answer but his smile
broadened. "I guess you're not my Chief for the next twenty minutes or so, uh Megan?"

"No way, Jake. It's one-on-one. That means looking out for number one. And I'm best at that."

Jake's smile grew.

"Rules," Megan said.

Jake nodded at her and took a drink from his water bottle.

"Half court rules apply. Every possession has to be cleared past the line." She pointed at the half court line.

Jake nodded.

"Where do you want the two point line to be?"

Jake looked at the court then at Megan. "Line across the top of the key."

Megan nodded. "Loser outs?"

"Fine."

"Fouls?"

Jake shrugged.

"Either can call?"

"Sounds good to me." Jake took another drink. "What are we playing to, and how do we score it?"

"Every basket is one point. Anything beyond the key is a two-er. Do you want to do seven, fifteen, or twenty-one?"

Jake narrowed his eyes.

"Maybe we'd better do a game to seven. After all, you just played
…"

"Fifteen."

Megan chuckled softly. "I think seven will be plenty. And win has to be by two. Okay?"

"Whatever."

"Anything else?"

"Nope."

"Who gets first out?"

"Ladies first."

"I told you I'm no lady, but…" She winked. "Okay." She bounced the ball to the clear line then put it on the ground.

The court cleared fast.

Megan stretched her shoulders then looked at her co-pilot. "What's the odds, Kelly?"

Cowboy snorted in laughter. "Even."

"Good. Take some bets for me. I'll cover anything." She smiled even bigger at Cowboy who was converged upon. She watched him while she grabbed her ankle and pulled her right leg behind her, stretching the front of her thigh, and then did the same with the other foot.

Jake tossed his water bottle to Gunner, walked up to her, wiped his brow with his hand and waited.

Megan squatted down, stretched one way and then the other. She did a couple of twists and jumped up and down a couple of times. Finally, she smiled at Jake who was merely watching. "Kelly?"

"Yeah?"

"Last call."

Cowboy covered bets left and right.

"Done?" she asked.

"Done, Darlin'."

"Give me some incentive." She smiled even broader at Jake.

"Let's see." Cowboy quickly added in his head. "What you won from Bob won't even scratch the surface of the bets, Darlin'."

Megan chuckled. "Incentive," she said softly to Jake. Jake chuckled. She held out her hand. "Good luck."

Jake hesitated but shook her hand. "Yeah, good luck."

Megan picked up the basketball. "Play ball." She tossed the ball hard at Jake who caught it in his gut with a woof of expelled air. She stood beyond the clear line.

Jake narrowed his eyes but gave her a slight bow. Gently he tossed the ball at her, putting the ball in
to play. He backed up several steps.

Megan bounced the ball once as she stepped onto the court. She stopped, jumped and fired at the hoop.

Swoosh.

"That's two." She smiled at Jake.

"Damn," he said softly, his eyes narrowing.

Megan turned, catching the ball one of the guys tossed. When she turned back, Jake still looked stunned. She made a motion for him to take it out. "Loser's out."

"Damn," he said with a smile.

Megan chuckled. When he was ready, she tossed him the ball, then bent slightly
, resting on the balls of her feet. With a bounce she waited, eyes on his blue eyes.

Jake came at her full force. She blocked his advance and he rolled left. She moved to block. Now with his back to her, he tried working one way then the other, slowly advancing, pushing his way down court. Megan stuck with him like syrup on pancakes. With a hand on his back, she felt his muscles moving under his shirt. She rubbed gently, lightly massaging. She could feel his reaction
―the muscle twitching ever so slightly. A reach in with her hand brushed his stomach, her hand lingering just a little longer than necessary. Finally, she pushed him into the corner, and he made his move along the base line, muscled past her with a hard push and laid the ball in the basket.

"That's one."

She smiled. "You've got a good base line move. Won't happen again."

Cowboy started laughing. "Hey Meg, I've got more suckers."

"Take'em," Megan said, bouncing the ball as she headed back down court. She tossed the ball to Jake and waited for the pass in.

He smiled, tossed her the ball but this time didn't move back. Now he got in the ready position.

She moved onto the court, bouncing the ball with her right hand, eyes and head up. She did a stutter step to the right and just a slight head bob in that direction. Jake made a hesitating move in the indicated direction. Megan pounced to the left, swept by Jake and laid one up as he followed her to the edge.

Megan took a deep breath. "Three, one."

"Good fake. Won't happen again."

A smile crept on
to her face. She was again handed the ball by one of the guys. This time she waited for Jake at the end of the court.

A stage whisper came from the Cartwright crew table. Cowboy's voice. "She's fast."

Megan chuckled.

"
Under exaggerated your contribution in Iraq? Distracted them, huh?" Jake asked standing at the clear line, very amused.

Megan shrugged. "Ready?"

"Bring in on, Lady."

Megan passed him the ball. This time he made a fast beeline for the basket. Megan hugged him hard keeping him from having
a straight line like he wanted. They bumped bodies. Her hands were everywhere: his back, his shoulders, a light massage on his butt. He rammed her hard in the gut with his elbow, then with his other hand, looped the ball in.

Jake turned with an expectant
but devious look on his face. Megan rubbed her stomach. She relaxed her eyes, knowing that he had jabbed her on purpose. She smiled.
So this is how he wants to play.
The crowd was groaning and yelling for her to call the foul. She ignored them and let Jake bring the ball down the court this time. "Three, two."

Jake nodded back and passed the ball to her. She came at him just as hard. Then she turned and put her back to him, pushing him down the court. He put his hand on her lower back but his eyes were on her head. She moved right, then left, then right. Jake stayed with her. One hand defending high, the other, on her back
, ready to defend low. His hands gently brushed her body giving a warm embrace with sparks, looking as though to keep her in check. She began another hard drive, then in a fast move, spun on him. His fingertips traced her back and side. In the blink of an eye, she was past him and laid in another basket.

As she walked
past him, breathing a little harder too, he said low so only she could hear, "Damn."

"Damn back at you," she whispered. With a quick glance around, she saw that no one was interpreting the real touching going on between them. Megan turned a smile on him and spoke in a normal tone, "Four, two."

She tossed him the ball, and he drove for the base line again. This time she blocked his drive to the basket, and he had to come up court to get any free space. With another hard shove, he pushed her, then leaned into her. His hard body came into contact with the full length of the front of her body. She gave just a little rub. He rubbed back as he looped the ball into the basket.

"Four, three," he intoned trying to catch his breath.

"Hmm," Megan said once more rubbing where he had pushed her hard.

He tossed the ball to her
, and she came like hell on wheels at him. Within seconds, she had him pushed to the base line. His hands were everywhere. Touching. Massaging. Groping. This time she elbowed him, swept under his arm and under the basket. She did a jump and put one in the opposite side.

"Five, three," she said as she passed him. "And watch the hands." The tone in her voice sounded hard, but the sparkle in her eye belied
her words.

Jake smiled. "Nice elbow, Lady."

"You started it."

Jake laughed and tossed her the ball to pass back to him. "Let's do it."

Megan smiled with a wink and tossed him the ball.

He drove again. This time Megan kept her hands on him, in his face and all over his body. This time she gave his butt a quick cup and grope. As he turned around to face her, she brushed his
crotch area. His eyes met hers as he again muscled his way to the bottom of the basket then leaned on her with a rub and bump, and made another point, height and muscle giving him the advantage. He seemed to know that too.

"Five, four," he said out of breath.

"Yeah." She was out of breath too.

"Time out!" Cowboy yelled from the sidelines. He carried Megan's water to her, as Gunner walked Jake's to him. The two combatants stood staring at each other while they drank, eyes locked. After wiping away sweat with the towels, play resumed.

This time when Megan pressed, Jake let her gain ground quickly. She faked a move, but as she passed him, he twirled the other way, stuck his hand out and stuffed the ball. She recovered it and once again backed into him. His hands were again all over, touching her lower back, brushing the side of her body and with a very quick move swatted her butt gently. One hand slid slightly down her outer thigh rounding to the inside. She faked a move toward the basket. He moved with her, but she took a quick step out and pulled up to a jump shot. He snagged the ball down out of the air.

With a cocky grin he spoke, "Still five, four. My out."

Megan narrowed her eyes. "Could've been goal tending."

"So call it."

Megan smiled, tossing the ball hard at him out of the clear line. "Play."

Jake chuckled. He again pressed her hard as they smashed their bodies together. He pushed toward the basket. He stepped between her legs as he leaned in and tensed his muscle hard as he pushed off with his other foot. She felt the pressure on her
crotch. Once more he used his height and muscle to get the basket. Again, they both paused momentarily to catch their breaths.

"Tied. Five all," Jake said still bent over.

Megan stood up straight from her bent position as she tried to suck in more air. "Yep."

Jake tossed her the ball. She drove hard, seeming to head for the base line. He blocked hard to the outside
, his hand massaging her side all the way down. She stutter stepped again to the base line and he stepped in that direction. With a twist and a turn, she headed back out. He was a half second behind her and she stopped. Jumped and shot. Swoosh.

Jake shook his head.

"Seven. I win," Megan said with a huge smile.

"No. Look at your feet. You're inside the key. One point only."

Megan looked down. Sure enough, she hadn't stepped out far enough. She grimaced.
Gotta end this soon
. It was getting hard to control her hormones. Pretty soon she'd just lay him out and make love to him. "Damn. Okay. Six, five."

Jake took possession and did his usual drive. This time she kept her hands under control. When he was almost to the place he usually leaned into her, he tripped and fell.

Megan caught him, breaking his fall. He looked up at her with narrowed eyes. She shrugged looking down at him, his shirt still bunched in her hands. "Call it, if you think I did something wrong."

Jake narrowed his eyes more.

Again the crowd was calling for a foul.

Megan released his shirt, then offered him a hand up. She smiled a cocky g
rin at him, both of them knowing that she had tripped him on purpose. They were still holding hands as their eyes stayed locked for several seconds―the tingling mingled with the pulse of the other's heart rate.

Jake finally grinned and released her hand. H
e spoke to the crowd. "My feet must be getting tired."

The crowd jeered and cheered at the same time.

Megan took possession of the ball. She faced him this time, pushing him down court, keeping the ball off to the right of her. Also no hand-play this time. She paused as though to catch her breath, sliding her hand to the side of the ball. With a quick, intense snap of her wrist and fingers whipping, she bounced the ball across to the other side of her body and scooped the ball in a low position off the court. At the same time, she moved in a fast, short, chopping direction around Jake. His hand brushed her breast as she flew passed him. Swoosh.