Rock Solid (5 page)

“We should stop,” she managed to gasp as he buried his face in her neck, leaving a trail of hot little nips and kisses there. She let her head drop back, wanting more. Stopping was the furthest thing from her mind.

“I know. I can’t seem to get near you without wanting to touch, and taste,” he murmured against her skin. “You don’t know what it took to walk away from that bed last night.”

One hand drifted down to her chest, palming her breast before circling her peaked nipple with his fingers, and she groaned, pressing into him.

Her heart was slamming in her chest as she realized that right now she wanting nothing more than Brody as deep inside as she could get him. Right here, right now.

“Are you going to walk away from me this time?” Hannah challenged, pulling back slightly to look at him.

Brody’s gaze bored into hers, his chest rising and falling faster, his jaw tense as he shook his head.

“I don’t want to, but you might, after you know the truth.”

* * *

B
RODY
KNEW
HE
was about to send Hannah packing. It was for the best, he tried to convince himself. He wanted her, and he couldn’t be around her for five minutes without acting on that desire.

It wasn’t good for either of them. He should have let her say her goodbyes at the barn. That would have been the easy thing to do, but easy never was his preference.

And...the truth was that he hadn’t wanted her to leave. The whole time they’d been riding along, making small talk, he’d been trying to find some sane way to have his cake and eat it, too—to maintain his secret and have Hannah in his bed—but that wasn’t possible.

He either slept with her while lying to her about his situation, or told her the truth and watched her leave. Again.

Both options sucked, but at least if he told her the truth, he wouldn’t hate himself as much later.

“What do you mean? The truth about what?” she prompted. Her eyes widened and she looked worried. “Are you really sick? Brandi said she didn’t know why you would have retired, that you refused to talk about it with her or Reese,” she said hurriedly, putting all the wrong pieces together, so Brody shook his head, stopping her.

“No, I promise, I’m
not
sick, but...there is a special situation. What I tell you, Hannah, it has to stay between us. You can’t tell anyone, not even Reece or Abby. No one.”

Her pretty brow crunched, perplexed. “Okay, but why? If you aren’t sick, then what—”

“I didn’t retire. Not really,” he responded quickly. “It’s a...it’s a publicity stunt, basically. To rebuild my image, make me more appealing to the fans. The sponsor was going to drop me if I didn’t straighten up after the sex-club scandal. I sit out this season, lie low, live a quiet life and then they’ll stage a comeback for the new and improved Brody Palmer.”

Hannah was quiet, settling back on the bench, and Brody wasn’t sure what she was thinking. It was a relief, he had to admit, to tell someone the truth. Keeping it to himself had been difficult, but what would she say? Brody had always made a point of being a straight shooter, and now he was lying to everyone he knew.

After a long pause, she said, “How could they force you to do that?”

Brody took a breath. “They’re my biggest sponsor, and without them, the other sponsors would probably drop out, as well. I could try to finance the team myself, but not indefinitely. So I went along with it. It’s not as though they were wrong—my image was a little rough.”

He braced himself for Hannah’s no-doubt scathing response, but it didn’t come.

“So they basically blackmailed you into this?” she asked, the sides of her pretty lips turning downward.

“No, not like that. Well, I suppose it sounds that way, but it’s been done before. It’s actually more of a second chance, I guess. It was my choice, ultimately. I could have said no, but...I want back into racing. I’m not ready to quit yet.”

“But the only option would have been to lose all of your sponsorship or to quit? That’s not fair,” she responded, looking angry on his behalf. Brody stared at her in amazement, not having expected that response.

He didn’t know if he would ever be ready to quit racing. Was there anyone, anything, he wouldn’t sacrifice to get back in a car? Certainly, it had been easy enough to let go of his integrity.

“Well, I appreciate that, but I still had a choice. I made this one.”

“So you have to hang out here and not get into trouble?”

“More or less,” he responded with a nod. “Though I wasn’t doing a very good job. Being home has been...tough. I spent some time getting the farm renovated, getting the horses, but I was bored out of my skull. I ended up going back out, drinking a little too much. Then there was the accident. I thought I’d lose my mind in the hospital. Then somehow it got out that I was retiring and looking to build a life, wanting to settle down. It caused a whole bunch of other problems.”

“That’s absurd, them trying to control your life like that! And your family—they don’t even know?”

“They can’t know. I shouldn’t even have told you, but...with how things are with us, I couldn’t let
us
go any further without your knowing the truth. I also didn’t know if you might have thought, since I was retired, you know...that things could have changed,” he said with some degree of embarrassment. “I couldn’t sleep with you and let you think that, well—”

Realization dawned. “That marriage was a possibility. You couldn’t have me thinking
that
.”

“Yeah, but I realize that’s not why you came here now. I’m sorry about that. I completely understand if you’re upset,” he said, waiting for the moment when she would get up, walk out and tell him to go eat dirt. “But I don’t care about the others, or what they think. I do care about you, Hannah.”

“Thank you, but I wish you had told someone. Reece would have understood, surely.”

“Maybe. But it’s not only about me, Hannah. A lot of people’s livelihoods all depend on this. My team, the people who make what I do possible. I owe it to them to keep my mouth shut. If even one word of this leaked, it could leave a lot of people hanging out to dry.”

“Wow. You really are in a tough spot.”

Brody blinked, wondering why she still wasn’t marching off, telling him off or giving him the cold shoulder.

“So you see, we can’t be together, because... Well, things are complicated right now.”

“I guess the sex-club story was the one that broke the camel’s back with your sponsor?” she asked, her voice lower. The sidelong glance she sent him was hot with curiosity, as if she wanted to know what he was doing at a club like that.

“Yeah, they knew the truth, but it didn’t matter.”

“The truth?”

“Someone I know, a married friend, was there, and he got in a bind. I went to help out and the press showed up, so I covered for him and took the flack instead. I thought it would roll off, given my history, but not this time. That club has a reputation for being particularly kinky, and it was too much for the sponsor to swallow.”

“So...you weren’t there because you’re into anything, um, different?”

“Disappointed?” he asked, lobbing a challenge back in her direction, watching her blush slightly, which intrigued him.

“When I saw the news report, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something about you I didn’t know. Maybe things you liked that you thought I hadn’t been adventurous enough to try.”

He shook his head resolutely. “Nothing like that. I never held back with you when we were together. Believe me.”

She smiled slightly at that, and the kick of desire it delivered made his heart stutter. Was there something Hannah was thinking about that she’d like to try? Some secrets she was keeping?

Brody trained his mind away from the thought.

“So I’m the only one who knows?”

He nodded.

“I would never tell a soul, Brody,” she said, reaching over to put her hand over his. “But...”

Here it comes
.

“Maybe I could help. Maybe we could help each other. I have an idea.”

That wasn’t what he expected at all, and he stared at her blankly.

“Help each other? How?”

“I can see now why you’ve been acting like you have. You need to clean up your public image, right? And you’ve been fielding all of these...pies,” she added with a mischievous grin. “So what if I stayed a while? What if you said we were back together? That would make your sponsor happy and stop other women from coming around, right?”

Brody was completely confused now.

“Why would you do that?”

“Well, because...I want you,” she said, the admission warming her cheeks as she slid him another cock-hardening look. “I know that you’re absolutely not interested in commitment, and I’m not looking for it, either,” she said resolutely.

“Hannah—”

“No, really. That was the reason I came here. I needed
your
help. I was focused for so long on settling down and living this perfectly structured life, and where did it get me? Quitting my job was only the first step. I look at my blog, and I see that nothing I’m doing there is exciting because
I’m
not doing anything exciting. It’s time I did. I thought if I could blog about your retirement—”

“Hannah, you can’t write about this on your blog, I—”

“I know that. I promise, I won’t tell anyone. But maybe you could show me how to live a more adventurous life? Teach me how to take more risks. I could blog about that instead.”

“Hannah, sweetheart, believe me, you are plenty exciting, and I’m probably not the best—”

He didn’t get further than that, since Hannah levered herself up and over him faster than he could get the words out, planting a hand on either side of his face and lowering her mouth to his.

Her kiss was different—she took control, coaxing him, pressing into him and showing him that she meant what she said. The effects sizzled in his every nerve ending. Her tongue stroked his, muddling his thoughts as he splayed his hands on her hips, letting her have her way. He couldn’t remember what he was saying before.

When she pulled away, she nipped his bottom lip, looking down into his eyes, her hair falling in her face, her eyes sparkling.

“Believe me, you
are
the best,” she said with a chuckle, drawing one from him, too.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know, but what do you say, Brody? I can be your stabilizing influence,” she said with a naughty smile. “And you can help me learn how to live more dangerously. I don’t want to be the same old Hannah. All bets are off. I want to be more daring, take more chances—starting with you.”

He wanted to say yes more than he wanted to breathe.

But...

“I don’t want to hurt you, Hannah. I don’t want to take advantage of the fact that you’re in a vulnerable spot right now. Maybe you think you know what you want, but—”

She pressed in closer. “If you touched me right now, you’d find me ready for you, Brody. I know what I want, and I want it right now.”

“Hannah—”

“I get it. You don’t want to hurt me. But I don’t need you to protect me. I don’t
want
that. I’ve protected myself from everything for way too long. I thought I could build the perfect life around myself, but I couldn’t. I wasted so much time, Brody.”

“That’s why—”

She didn’t let him finish, interrupting with an impatient shake of her head.

“When Reece was racing, he almost died, but he fought his way back. Abby’s family home burned to the ground, but then she found Reece and started a new business. She goes to her house in France now, for goodness’ sake. You had to put your life on the line every day to race, and then you hurt yourself riding a horse, but you want to get back on the track. Everyone around me takes risks. Sometimes they get hurt. But look at what wonderful things happen, too. I sit and watch from the sidelines. No more.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Really? Do you remember when I asked you if you worry about dying when you get in the car before a race?” she asked.

Brody did remember. He thought about the safety of others on the track, and he knew the risks. They all did.

He also knew that even if he did everything perfectly, something could still go wrong, something out of his control, but he couldn’t get in a car thinking that way. He had to be all in.

When he got in the car, all he thought about was winning. Facing the unknown was part of the excitement. That was what he’d told her.

And right now, all he wanted to think about was Hannah.

He understood what she was saying, and so he did what she asked. Pushing all of his reservations, worries and what-ifs to the background, he tugged her closer. He’d walked away from her twice now, and he wasn’t going to do it again.

Brody snugged the V of her thighs against his erection and pressed upward, grinding into her. The sound she made in response, the way her lips parted, her eyes getting soft as her cheeks warmed, sealed the deal for him.

Leaning forward, he found the hard nub of a nipple, bare under the soft cotton of the T-shirt she wore, and closed his lips around it, drawing through the fabric, making her moan as she pressed back against him, her fingertips biting into his shoulders.

He wanted her naked, now.

But this was Hannah’s moment, and as much as he wanted to take her, he pulled away, reclining against the hard back of the stone bench. He pinned her with a look, loving how undone she was already.

He raised an eyebrow and smiled a challenge.

“Okay. I’m all yours, Hannah. In public, you can be my very well-behaved girlfriend, but in private...whatever you want, however you want it. If you dare...”

5

F
OR
A
MOMENT
, Hannah’s
thoughts blanked. It was so easy to hand over control, to get Brody to agree and then let it happen, but clearly he wasn’t playing that particular game.

No. If she wanted this—really wanted it—she was going to have to take it.

He was calling her bluff—not that it was a bluff, really, but it had been words. Now he was telling her to make good on them.

You can’t think about failing—you think about winning
, Brody had once told her. At least in his world, the results of failing could be fatal. They’d all seen crashes, seen friends and competitors hurt, and worse. He’d said that the pressure was so intense that if he thought about it too much, he’d never go out on the track in the first place.

Her second thoughts lasted less than a second. Her smile met the challenge in his eyes.

Hannah
wanted
to win. Big-time.

“Oh, I dare.”

Pushing everything else out of her mind and focusing only on the rise and fall of his chest, the way his hardness fit perfectly against her sex and the hunger that fed the challenge in his gaze, she leaned in and kissed him again.

It was a small kiss, almost chaste. Light, teasing and slightly naughty when she flicked her tongue out to taste him before standing up from the bench and stepping back.

Brody sat up, looking pensive. Wondering if she was changing her mind?

No way.

She grabbed the bottom of her T-shirt and peeled it over her head, throwing it at him as she let the sun filtering down into the glade play over her bare skin.

Hannah had never been completely naked outside before, in a place where someone could see her. Granted, there wasn’t anyone here except for the horses, but who knew? Maybe someone would come looking for Brody or appear on the path, out for a walk.

Even if the risks were imagined, they still sent a thrill through her as she unbuttoned her jeans, shimmying them down her legs while watching Brody’s expression grow taut with desire.

His eyes took her in as if he’d never seen a naked woman before, and that egged her on. She turned around, facing the pond, slipping her panties down as she bent slowly to take them off, one foot then the other and then threw those back at him, too.

Primal female joy rose inside of her as the slight breeze teased her exposed skin. She lifted her face to the sky, imagining herself as some magical wood nymph. Brody cursed under his breath.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said.

Turning to face him, she smiled.

He didn’t make a move except to watch, his eyes devouring her. He was letting her call the shots.

So she did.

Crooking her finger, she beckoned him in a manner as old as the ages. He stood, walked to her, and she took the edge of his shirt, pulling it up and over his head, throwing it onto the bench with her clothes.

Then his jeans, boxer briefs, boots...until he was naked there with her. Gorgeous and male, every strong muscle and angle exposed to her touch. She took advantage of that, exploring him thoroughly in the dappled light, lips chasing fingers until he was hard, jutting against her, trembling.

She was, too.

But a bite of sharp reality cut through the diaphanous haze of her desire when she remembered they were away from the house, away from—

“Wait,” Brody said roughly, reading her thoughts.

He turned to the bench, fishing something out of his jeans, cursing a few times as his fingers, clumsy with need, fumbled and his wallet fell to the ground. Then he turned back to her with what she’d thought they were missing.

“Oh, yes,” she said with heartfelt gratitude.

She took the packet from him, covered him. He was familiar in her hands, and yet this all seemed new. Unknown.

That was the end of sanity for them both.

Hannah turned to face the pond, and Brody’s arms came around her from behind. His hands covered her breasts as he buried his face in her shoulder at the same time he planted his cock deep in her sex, making her gasp, her body reacting around his.

Brody moved in long, slow strokes, pushing her higher as she bent back to press her lips to his for a deep kiss.

Hannah could feel the pleasure coiling, ready to strike, and murmured to him to stop. He did, and she motioned him to the bench, to where he’d been sitting.

Hannah grabbed her jeans and his to cushion her knees from the stone surface of the bench, crawled up over him, planting her hands on the back of the sturdy seat and then took him, deep and sure.

This was
her
win. The first of many, she hoped, setting a pace and losing track of everything.

As he thrust up into her, their cries and moans merged with the breeze and quieted the songs of the birds and frogs for several long seconds until the only sound was their breathing, filling the glade with sweet gasps.

Hannah collapsed over him, spent and slick with sweat, muscles almost too lax to think of ever standing up again.

It had been too long. Far too long without this. Without Brody. Even though it wasn’t their first time together—far from it—it was different.

Because she’d gone for what she wanted. Accepted the dare and hadn’t looked back.

She was giddy, and she immediately wanted more.

“I should have dared you more often,” Brody said, finally finding his voice as he hugged her closer.

“I wish you had,” she said, linking her arms around his shoulders. “I hope you will.”

Their skin cooled and Hannah unlinked her arms, putting space between them as she sat back on his thighs, reluctant to get dressed. This was like a dream that she didn’t want to let go of. Already, she was having a difficult time believing she’d been this bold.

“I guess we should get going,” she said, her fingers meshed with his.

“Let’s maybe swim first?”

“Oh, that would be lovely,” she said with a smile, letting him lead her to the clear green pond. Pretty white lilies floated on the surface, and Brody stood at the edge, holding her hand and gazing down into the water.

“Worried it’s cold?” she teased.

“No, double-checking for gators,” he responded seriously. “But we’re good to go.”

Hannah blinked in surprise, but let him pull her into the cool, clear water, gasping as they surfaced after submerging.

“This is wonderful,” she exclaimed, looking up at the sky through all the trees that surrounded them, cupping a lily pad in her hand and smiling at Brody. “It’s as though we’re lost in some tropical world.”

“It does have that feeling,” he agreed as he dived underneath again, his hands sliding up her legs and making her laugh as he pulled her back down under for a kiss. They relaxed and swam in the cool waters for a while, before it really was time to head back.

Emerging from the pond, the warm air dried their skin almost before they put their clothes on. When Hannah pulled herself up into Salty’s saddle, she bit her lip, loving the way her oversensitized body felt every bit of pressure from the saddle, the movement of the ride reminding her what had happened only a few minutes ago.

It had not been a dream.

But as they rode down the path, single file as the greenery closed in, her thoughts started to churn again.

Maybe her deal with Brody was as crazy as it sounded, but Hannah needed to do something crazy. Playing house while he faked his retirement was completely the opposite of anything she’d ever do. Which was what made it absolutely perfect.

She wasn’t in denial. Hannah knew she’d probably get hurt—at least a little. Being with Brody was addictive; it had been before, as well.

Or maybe she wouldn’t get hurt. She wanted to become adventurous, not tied down. She had to be sure to keep that in mind.

Finally, they emerged into the light of an open meadow and pulled up side by side again. The barns were in the distance, and Hannah looked at Brody, her serious thoughts receding.

“Race back?”

He looked pensive, but then nodded. Before she could say another word, he nudged Pepper from a walk into a run, and shot ahead of her before she could shout, “No fair!”

Laughing, she held on tight as Salty took off as well, but they weren’t able to catch Brody. He stood in the shade of the barn by a trough, letting Pepper drink while she and Salty caught up.

Hannah shook her head as she slid down from Salty, leading the horse over to the water.

“You play dirty, Palmer,” she accused playfully.

He grinned. “You snooze, you lose,” he teased.

They led the horses to the stable, where they washed and brushed them down before taking them to a shady part of the pasture. Hannah was surprised to see several large birds moving among the horses, pecking at the ground.

“What are those?”

Brody secured the gate behind the horses.

“Guinea fowl. My granddad brought a pair decades ago for pest control—they will eat every tick and mosquito around, and even clear out snakes. They kept multiplying and have been here ever since. Every now and then, when they overpopulate, we’d take one for Sunday dinner, but otherwise they just roam and keep the pastures and fields pretty free of pests.”

“Wow...I didn’t know birds could do that.”

“Yeah, chickens are good for mosquitoes, too, I guess, but we never really planned on farming birds. The Guineas seem to be more or less self-sustaining.”

“They
are
pretty fierce looking,” she commented as one ventured closer.

“You should see them face off over a snake. They probably scare the things to death.”

“You get a lot of snakes?”

“Mostly rat snakes, but some copperheads. The rat snakes are actually good to have around, too, but the birds don’t think so.”

Hannah shuddered as they walked back to the house. “I can’t imagine any snake being good to have around.”

“Afraid of snakes?” he asked.

“I was bitten when I was small. By a copperhead, in the Adirondacks. My father took us out camping to this island in the middle of a lake. You could only get to it by canoe. I was bitten, and we had to paddle back to the car to get to the hospital. I was in such pain. I was only seven, but I can still remember how bad it was. So, yeah, no snakes for me, thanks.”

“Aw, babe, that’s awful.”

His arm slid around her as naturally as if they’d been together for years, and her heart fluttered in her chest. Maybe more than it should as they walked back to the house.

“So how does this all work, do you think?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Our pretending to be a couple? For how long do you think? A few weeks? A month?”

“Are you sure about this, Hannah? I thought you were traveling around, seeing the country. Why do you want to be stuck here? It might take a while to convince someone we’re in anything permanent.”

“I need your help, Brody, and so it makes sense for us to help each other. I know the score. You help me with my lack of adventurousness, and I make you look like an upstanding example of the male gender. Clearly, I have my work cut out for me.”

Her tone was light, but there was a sinking feeling in her chest that it might not be that easy. Second thoughts and worries started to crowd her thoughts, but she pushed them away.

That was old Hannah. She’d made her decision—no backing down.

“Okay, well, we could talk more about it, and play it by ear on how long we’d have to keep it up. I suppose we should make some public appearances, let people see us together, and I should probably tell Jud I’ve met someone so they can stop pestering me about it in the news,” he said, still sounding hesitant. “It will mean media appearances, Hannah. You know that, right?”

Hannah the introvert cringed inwardly, but Hannah the adventurer nodded confidently.

“It will be good exposure for me. And maybe fun...and good exposure for the blog. I’ve never been interviewed before.”

“Okay, as long as you’re sure. It is the perfect solution for me, and if I can help you, I will. But if you want to go, you should, anytime you want. And you get to be the one who dumps me, even,” he said with a grin.

“I figured as much,” she answered cheekily.

As they approached the house, the sound of tires grinding on the loose rock of the drive drew their attention, and they turned in unison to see a van approaching, parking a few yards away. A slim blonde with her long hair tied back in a high ponytail slid out, a guy with a camera exiting the other door.

“Damn,” Brody muttered under his breath. “Well, we’re about to jump into the deep end. If you want out of this, say so now.”

“What?” Hannah asked, watching Brody’s expression tighten at the same time his arm around her shoulders did. “Who is that?”

“Marsha Zimmer. We call her Marsha Stalker as a joke, but the woman is not funny. She’s the one who broke the story on the sex club, and she’s been on me ever since. I can’t seem to turn around without her being there.”

“Who does she work for?”

“Tampa news. She’s a junior reporter, but she’s got sharp instincts. She’s been smelling blood in the water about this retirement thing, and it’s been a job trying to keep her out of my face. She wants to move up the ladder, and she’s not shy about stepping on whoever she has to.”

“Sounds like a sweetheart.”

Brody grunted in response as Marsha approached them.

“Brody, nice to see you looking well,” she said, her eyes traveling over him in a predatory way that made Hannah’s jaw clench.

“I don’t think we had an interview today, did we, Marsha?”

“No, but I was in the area, and I hoped to confirm a few rumors before I went with my latest story—”

“That would be a first,” Brody said.

“Now, now. Play nice,” Marsha said, clearly not fazed at all, from what Hannah could see.

Then the reporter’s gaze homed in on her. Yikes.

“You look familiar,” she said, narrowing her eyes, but clearly not able to remember.

Hannah had never been interviewed when she was with Brody before, but there had been some published pictures of them together. Hopefully that could work for them now. Hannah hoped her smile looked natural as she stepped forward with her hand out.