Down by Contact - A Seattle Lumberjacks Romance (30 page)

Kelsie bit her lower lip, her gaze slipping
to the window and back to him. “I was just lonely. It was so late,
and I hadn’t heard from you.”

“Sorry, I’m not used to updating someone
else on my plans. I was watching game film. It was damn hard
though.” He ran his hand up and down her spine.

“Because of me?” She lifted her head.

“Yeah. The sex between us is fucking
fantastic. I’m a man. How can I not be distracted?” He sat up and
pulled away from her, unable to think clearly when she rubbed her
body against him like that. “I’ve been thinking. We’re halfway
through the season. I can’t afford to lose focus. Maybe I should
sleep in a separate bedroom for the rest of the season.”

He rolled to a sitting position and swung
his feet to the floor.

Kelsie grabbed his arm with amazing strength
and surprising desperation. “No, that is so not going to happen,
buster.”

A warm feeling settled in his gut. She
wanted him here with her. Zach couldn’t deny her. Once the season
was over, she’d leave him, and he’d never know the feel of her
silky skin sliding across his rougher skin. Or hear her whimper
when he touched just the right spot. Or see her brilliant smile
when he made her laugh.

He hated his weakness for her, hated that
she only had to say a few words, and he panted at her feet,
lovesick fool that he was.

Love?

Yeah, dumbshit, love.
He’d loved her
from the minute he’d laid eyes on her in ninth grade, and despite
what she’d done to him, he still loved her. No one would dispute
his stupidity or his insanity. Especially considering how cruel
she’d been to him, yet he kept coming back for more.

But right now, the object of his high school
obsession wanted more nights with him and he couldn’t deny her. He
might be a strong guy, but he sure as hell wasn’t that strong.

Fumbling for a condom and putting it on, he
rolled back onto the bed and pulled her into his arms. She came
willingly, placing one of her longer-than-heaven legs across his
body to straddle him. She might be a she-devil in disguise, but
he’d gladly burn in damnation for the rest of his life for one more
moment with her.

After flipping on the bedside lamp, Kelsie
placed her palms on his chest, pushed him back down on the bed and
leveraged her hips over his large dick. “I want to see you.” Her
throaty whisper sent a shiver running along his thighs.

He closed his eyes and waited for flesh to
meld with pleasure. She lowered herself onto him, sheathing him
inside her like an expensive glove made just for him.

Him, and no one else.

When she’d taken him inside fully, he opened
his eyes and met her starkly blue ones. Something lingered behind
her attempts at bravado, something he couldn’t put a finger on.
Could it be regret that she’d sold her soul to this particular
devil? Or was something else putting those wrinkles above her
pretty brow. He didn’t want to be the one who made her unhappy. He
wanted to make her happy, find a way to keep her in his life,
regardless of the circumstances.

Not a good situation for a man who prided
himself on not needing anyone. The sooner he faced facts and
admitted he meant nothing to her but a means to an end, the sooner
he could accept this false marriage as nothing but a farce and quit
trying to read more into it.

Using her arms for support, she lifted
herself up and then lowered herself back down, one excruciating
inch at a time. And there were a lot of inches, if he did say so
himself. She threw back her head, her blond hair a tangle of tawny
curls. Then she lowered her head with a feral growl of female
satisfaction as she fully seated herself on top of him. Her hair
danced across his chest in silken waves, and he groaned the groan
of a dying man. What a helluva way to die.

Over and over again.

If he could, he’d convict her of homicide
and lock her up in this bedroom to serve out her sentence.

A few more times she tortured him with
sensual slowness. Unable to take it anymore, he grabbed two
handfuls of her incredible ass and drove her home. A wild woman
smile dominated her beautiful face. He raised her up and drove her
back down. She added her own power to their combined thrusts. She
lifted him to ecstasy and took the trip with him, as his orgasm
came in wave after incredible wave.

Definitely murder in the first degree.

She collapsed on top of him and soon fell
asleep. Zach stared at the ceiling, his mind whirling with how he’d
keep himself focused on his goal of winning a Super Bowl.

Somehow that goal seemed to pale in
comparison to the woman cuddled against his chest.

He loved her.

Now what the hell was he going to do about
that?

CHAPTER 21

Tyler’s high-rise condo was so silent you
could hear the tension crackling through the room like rain on
high-tension electrical wires. Kelsie wrung her hands and racked
her brain for something witty and ice-breaking to say. Nothing came
to mind. She glanced at her girlfriends. Rachel raised one eyebrow
while Lavender just shrugged.

Tyler sat on one side of the table, his
handsome face as hard as granite. Zach sat on the other. His chin
jutted out at that stubborn angle Kelsie recognized meant trouble
to anyone crossing him. Derek sat at the head of the table, looking
every bit like a man being led to the gallows. Tyler’s cat, Coug,
jumped onto Ty’s lap and purred so loud he could have been heard on
the street several stories below. Ty stroked the cat and acted as
if the rest of the room didn’t exist.

Standing behind Zach, Kelsie took a chance
and stepped close enough to rub his knotted shoulders. He didn’t
move or react. In fact, his shoulders tightened all the more.

Careful not to disturb the cat on his lap,
Tyler propped his booted feet on an empty chair. He pasted a surly
grin on his face. Zach glared right back, not budging an inch.

“You need a cat, Murphy.” Tyler finally
broke the silence.

“A cat? Her little rat dog is bad
enough.”

Kelsie glanced around at the mention of said
rat dog. She should’ve left him home but he hated being alone. As
soon as she’d put him down on the floor, Tyler’s evil cat started
stalked him until Scranton cowered under the couch and refused to
come out. Meanwhile, the cat appeared insufferably pleased with his
furry little self.

“Yeah, a cat.” Tyler turned to Lavender.
“Hey, Vin, find a grouchy tomcat for Murphy next time you volunteer
at the animal shelter.”

“I don’t want a cat. I hate cats.”

For some reason Lavender and Tyler found
that statement hilariously funny.

“I know just the cat.” Lavender winked at
Tyler.

“Good. Cats are humbling experiences. You
could use one.” Tyler grinned with smug satisfaction while Zach’s
scowl turned downright stormy.

“You get me a cat, and I’ll—” Zach came
halfway out of his chair. One hand on each shoulder, Kelsie pushed
him back down in his chair. He was fuming to the point that steam
should’ve come out of his nostrils.

“So guys, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Kelsie leaned over Zach’s shoulder and smiled at him, but her smile
wasn’t working. Not tonight. He looked as if he’d rather do wind
sprints than give an inch.

Tyler slammed his feet to the floor with a
bang that sent all three women jumping and catapulted Coug onto the
carpet. Shaking himself off, Coug glanced over his shoulder with
one of those death looks only cats could administer. “We do not
have a lot of work to do. You three do. You set us up. You fix it.
I’m getting drunk.” On that note, Tyler rose to his feet, stomped
to the refrigerator, grabbed three beers and an opener and popped
the caps. Returning to the table, he plunked down in the chair and
passed out the beers to the men. Then he held up his bottle. They
clinked bottles and effectively ignored the women.

Well, at least they were
getting
along.

Sorta.

Zach took a long pull on his beer and leaned
the chair back on two legs. He stared at the ceiling and said
nothing. Tyler whipped out his cell phone and started pressing
buttons. Derek yawned and glanced at Rachel. Clearly, none of them
wanted to be here.

Kelsie couldn’t blame them. She didn’t
either, but she felt responsible for this mess. Taking a deep
breath, she pulled up a chair and sat down beside Zach, notepad in
hand. “So gentlemen, how are we going to raise enough money to beat
last year’s donations? Let’s brainstorm some ideas.”

Pen poised, she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

“Brainstorming means you just throw out
ideas. No idea is too stupid or too outrageous,” Kelsie
suggested.

Nothing.

“No one criticizes ideas. Just throw them
out.”

Nothing.

“Throw them out.”

Nothing.

“Uh, now.”

Kelsie looked to Derek, Rachel, and Lavender
for help.

Lavender sat down next to Tyler. “We need to
start calling the wealthiest people in the area.”

“Yeah, and we offer free tickets to a
playoff game for each donation over a certain amount,” Rachel
added.

“I can hit up some of the software companies
in the area,” Derek suggested.

Tyler rolled his eyes, and Zach snorted.

“Do you two have better ideas?”

Tyler blew out a long-suffering breath, or
at least it sounded like one. “We need to go after the heavy
hitters, and they already have season tickets.”

“Then how do we suck them in?” Zach flicked
his gaze to Kelsie for a brief moment. The heat in his dark eyes
sent a tingle of desire to her sex. Dang, she’d never been so
crazed when it came to sex as she was with this guy. They’d both
discovered sleep was highly overrated.

“We offer them a night out with a jock.”
Kelsie threw it out there. “Dine with the team captains at the
Space Needle. All proceeds to charity.”

“Oh, no, I’m doing this stupid-assed gala
because I don’t have a choice, but I’m not doing one more high-brow
affair. No way.”

“Sounds stupid to me.” Tyler actually agreed
with Zach.

“Fine, then you two come up with something
and don’t leave the room until you do.”

Zach frowned, his mouth turned down so far
at the corners it almost reached his chin. Tyler threaded his
fingers behind his head and stared at the ceiling. Neither of the
stubborn children were budging.

Nodding at her friends, the three girls left
the room and slammed the door after them.

* * * * *

Zach stared at the closed door. Nothing
worse than one pissed-off woman unless it was several pissed-off
women. He knew women. If he didn’t comply with Kelsie’s demands,
she’d withhold sex from him. Even Harris and this fucking gala
weren’t worth losing one night in bed with Kelsie. The scary-assed
thing was that it wasn’t just the sex. Oh, he’d wanted it to be
just about sex, but it wasn’t. His crush had turned into something
worse, something more fatal to his emotional health.

Love.
It had to be the most
frightening four-letter word known to man.

If only she felt the same. But she didn’t.
He was a means to an end. A way to get what she wanted, and also,
he now believed, a way to give back to him.
She wanted to give
to him
. Imagine that. He’d be a fool to read more into her
affections. She didn’t love him, but she did feel guilty, and she
was fond of him. At one time, that would’ve been good enough, but
now he wanted more.

Tyler snapped his fingers in front of Zach’s
face, causing him to startle. “Hey, dumbshit, come back to earth.”
Tyler blew out a long sigh. “Lavender’s going to make my life a
living hell if we don’t come up with a viable plan.”

Derek shot them both a murderous glare.
“Hey, how do you think I feel? You two assholes are the reason I’m
stuck here instead of in bed with my lovely wife. Let’s make a list
of possible donors and start calling them. Nothing new or exciting,
just plain, old-fashioned fundraising.”

“Where do we get a list like that?” Zach
rubbed his forehead. He had the mother-of-all headaches. The cat
climbed off Tyler’s lap and onto Zach’s. Lying down, the little
shit dug his claws into Zach’s jeans. “Dammit. That hurts.” Zach
glared at the cat.

“Jacks headquarters. They have all that kind
of crap. And Veronica. She keeps track of who’s who in Seattle,”
Tyler smirked at the cat, as if telling it to dig deeper. “I’ll
take HQ.”

“Then who’s talking to Veronica?” Zach
feared he already knew the answer.

Both Tyler and Derek’s heads swung in Zach’s
direction. He threw up his hands. “Oh, no, not me. She hates me,
thinks I’m a Neanderthal.”

Tyler snickered. Derek ran his hands over
his face and groaned.

“You’re just the person to talk to her. Show
her how far you’ve come, what a great job Kelsie’s done smoothing
those jagged edges in just a few days or marriage.” Derek seemed
way too fucking pleased with himself. And Zach used to like the
guy.

“Yeah, that’s true. Show her how our pageant
queen soothed an angry beast.”

“I’m not an angry beast.” He’d never been a
fighter or a troublemaker off the field. He left it all out on the
field. Just because he didn’t subscribe to Mabel Fay’s Manners
Magazine or see the value in bullshit social niceties, didn’t mean
he was a jerk.

“Take Kelsie with you so she can run
interference.”

“I don’t need to take Kelsie. I’m not a
total moron.”

Derek and Tyler exchanged looks. “You’d
better take Kelsie,” Derek decided.

They were right, yet it pissed Zach off that
he had to depend on someone else. Still, the owner’s ball-busting
daughter did instill a bit a fear in every man who ventured near
her. She emasculated any guy who wandered within her sphere of
influence and turned him into a wuss who lived with his mother.