Seduced by the Scrum-Half (Strathstow Sharks) (3 page)

The joke broke the tension in the room. He widened his smile, rounding his shoulders to reduce his height and “loomy-ness” as he went for charming and lovable rather than big and dangerously turned-on.

His reward was a small flicker at the corner of her lips as she looked down to fasten her buttons. Crap, she had fantastic breasts. As she pulled the fabric taut, his mouth watered at the memory of them filling his hands. Instantly, he snapped his head up so she didn’t catch him staring. He was a pervert. A dirty, bloody pervert. All he could think about was getting her onto the counter again, getting between her thighs, and taking them both to heaven and back.

“Daisy Hardy. Pleased to meet you, Will.” Her eyes narrowed, and she shot him a direct look. “Will Peters? The rugby player, Will Peters?”

“Yeah… One and the same. You follow the game?” he asked in surprise. He could not be this lucky surely…that his neighbor was not only hot as hell, but that she actually liked the rather brutal game he loved and played for a living.

The flicker of a smile became a smile. “I should say so, been a fan for years. Hadn’t a clue what it was all about when I started to watch, just watched it for the nice scenery.” She winked, pulling her self-composure around herself as he watched. Amazing. “After a few years though, some of the rules started to sink in. Nice game against the Charnwood Chiefs last week. You played well.”

Pride filled him. She’d watched him. Noticed him on the pitch. Saw him doing what he did best. Male triumph washed through his veins. Then he grimaced, remembering the tackle he’d completely and utterly fucked up.

She caught his expression and chuckled as she bent to collect the mail scattered over the floor. He tried and failed not to look at her ass. Pert and heart-shaped, he ached to palm it, run his hands over her delectable curves. His cock pulsed, the part of his brain that was locked onto sex—with her—feeding him images of that ass bare as he pounded into her from behind.

Fuck. No, not fuck. He wasn’t thinking of fucking. Not at all.

She straightened up, lips pursed as she sorted the mail into a pile. Images of those full lips wrapped around his cock made him smother a groan. Taking refuge behind the return of the island in the middle of the kitchen, he willed his cock to deflate. He needed to calm down. Now. Yesterday, if not before.

“I was going to drop those off at the estate agents on Monday,” he offered. “But if you’ve been collecting them for the family…”

Ask her to dinner, you fucking idiot.

“Hmm…since we got off on the wrong foot—like
really
the wrong foot—can I take you to dinner? Tomorrow? The pub in the village does a nice meal apparently.”

He held his breath until she nodded, just once, and favored him with a smile. “Okay.”

Triumph surged through him and he had to resist the urge to pump his fist. Instead he offered a smile. “Great. About seven? I’ll book a table.”

***

Daisy had a date. With Will Peters of all people. Will Peters, who had pinned her down, and then kissed her until she was senseless last night. No, early this morning. After months of watching him on the pitch, admiring his skill—and she had to face it, his body—she’d come face to face with him—or lip to lip—and hadn’t bloody recognized him. Total brain freeze.

She groaned. At least she hadn’t thrown herself at him when he’d backed off, putting a counter between them. That would have been too embarrassing for words. She pressed cool hands to her cheeks. Will Peters was her new next-door neighbor, and he was taking her out tonight. He’d be here in—she checked her watch—three quarters of an hour. Shit. She needed to get a move on.

A bundle of nerves, she glared at the contents of her closet spread across her bed, trying to figure out what to wear. He’d kissed her last night. If he hadn’t pulled away when he had, they’d have gone right at it there in the kitchen.

God, her body hummed just at the thought of it, heat slithering through her to settle between her legs. But then he’d apologized and hadn’t touched her again, not even when he’d escorted her to her front door.

Perhaps the meal was just that, an apology for nearly assaulting her and not anything else. Perhaps when he’d put the light on and had time to think about it, he hadn’t been interested despite his initial reaction. But then, he’d also sent the hugest bunch of flowers this morning, as well as the note tucked in them simply saying “Sorry, W xx” in a bold scrawl. Heavens…a girl could go mad thinking about it over and over.

She chewed her lip. Did she wear a little black dress or was that too forward? She looked at her jeans, and then grimaced. Too causal. Shit, it would really help if she knew what he was wearing.

As if on cue, a car door banged shut outside. Hurrying to the window, Daisy peeked through the drapes to see Will heading for his front door. Wearing black pants and a deep grey shirt that highlighted the breadth of his shoulders, he was threading something through the cuff of his shirt. A cufflink.

The door shut behind him, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Cufflink going in meant he was putting the shirt on, not taking it off. Perfect. Spinning on her heel, she headed for the bed and picked a dress from under the others. A smile curved her lips as she slid it off the hanger and wriggled into it.

Zipping it up, she turned to the mirror and struck a pose.

The smile morphed into a grin. This wasn’t just any dress, it was
the
dress. The “get him into bed” dress that made her feel like a million dollars. Deep red satin, it clung in all the right places. The wide neckline emphasized her collarbones without making her ample bust look vulgar, and the nipped in waist made her feel like a fifties sex-bomb.

Apology dinner indeed. She’d have him begging for it before they reached dessert. Pouting one last time at the mirror, she moved to sit in front of the dresser to apply her makeup. In fact, if she had anything to say about it, Will would end up as dessert.

Just over half an hour later she was primped and preened to within an inch of her life. Her hair was pinned up in a simple, messy up-do, a few strands teased forward to frame her face. The whole thing was held in place with a few pins at her crown, so if someone should remove them, it would all tumble alluringly over her shoulders. That was the plan anyway.

Checking her purse, she squeaked when there was a knock at the front door. Hell, he was early. A quick glance in the hall mirror assured her that her appearance hadn’t changed since she’d looked in the mirror upstairs five minutes ago. Smoky eyes, but not too heavy, check. Red sheen over her lips, check. Little bit of cleavage, all good to go.

Taking a deep breath to quell her nerves, she hurried to open the door. And promptly forgot how to breathe.

“Wow.” Will blinked, and then grinned as he looked her over, appreciation in his eyes. “You should have warned me you were pulling the big guns. You look great.”

The color hit her cheeks before she could stop it.

“Thank you. You don’t look bad yourself.” Lord, wasn’t that the truth. The grey shirt clung to him lovingly, highlighting his solid musculature in a way any red-blooded woman would appreciate. “Just as long as you don’t plan on tackling me again. These heels won’t take it.”

His smile turned wicked, the sudden darkening of his stormy eyes almost doing her in right there on the doorstep. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to take them off you first.”

Holy hell, not even make her take them off, but take them off her. And she had no doubt he would, the look in his eyes hitting her down low. The man should come with warning labels. She swallowed her whimper, muttered something about her coat and waved him in.

Less than a minute later she was back, color in her cheeks controlled and a smile on her face as she took his offered arm, and they stepped into the crisp evening air.

***

Daisy was a delight and a temptress, all wrapped up in one sexy little package. Dinner passed quickly for Will. Wonderful food and great conversation stole the hours, until, before he knew it, the bill was paid, and he held her coat for her to slip into before they stepped out into the cold night air.

He stood to the side as she thanked the waiter with a smile. Jealousy curled in his gut that she was smiling at—hell, that she’d even noticed—another guy. He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and haul her back to his lair. Lock her up so no other man could steal her away from him.

O…kay, a little caveman there. He nodded to the guy as he slid his wallet away into his pocket, knowing better than to let it show. Hell, if she had an inkling of what was going through his mind, she’d run for cover.

“Are you sure you don’t want dessert?” He asked, knowing how much women craved chocolate at times. “You’re not watching your weight, are you?”

As soon as the words left his lips, he froze.
Oh, fucking great move, Peters. Now she’ll think you’re having a crack about her figure
.

“I mean,” he added hastily, dread settling in at her suddenly careful expression as he turned her for the door. Shit, best get her out of here before she went postal on his ass. “You don’t need to… I think you’ve got a fantastic figure.”

“Thank you.” She relaxed, the movement tiny but as clued in to her body language as he was, she might as well have hired a billboard. “That’s a nice thing to say.”

The cute blush was back, and when she looked up at him through her lashes, the expression all innocent-sexy, his cock jerked in his pants.

“No, I’m okay for dessert, thanks. I—” She paused for a moment, frowned, and then carried on quickly. “I figured you guys must have to be careful about your diet, so I didn’t want to eat something sweet when you couldn’t.”

Oh, bless her. Stunned, Will looked at her as she let him herd her through the door, a hand on the small of her back. He shut out the temptation to let it wander. The cool night air hit them, crisp in his lungs as he took a breath and turned her toward him.

“Sweetheart, I fully intend on dessert.” He dropped his voice, going for low and sexy. “In fact, I plan on gorging myself on your sweet body, picking up where we left off last night, just as soon as I can get you home.”

“Oh…” Her face turned up to his, and highlighted by the pub sign right above them, he saw every flicker of emotion that crossed her expressive features.

Surprise, pleasure, and then heat. Her eyes darkened, the puppy-dog brown melting into wicked, dark chocolate. Emboldened by her response, he lifted a hand to thread his fingers through her hair, scattering the pins that held it in place. It flowed like warm silk over his skin. A shiver hit him, using his spine as a helter-skelter.

Stepping closer, he leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. Not a proper kiss, he didn’t trust himself. The way he felt, the lust rolling through him, he’d take her right there up against the wall of the pub. He could do without being banned from the only pub in the village less than twenty-four hours after moving into it.

She sighed, melting against his chest. He bit back the growl of satisfaction. He wasn’t the biggest guy on the team. Some of the locks had more than a few inches on him and were built like damn barns, but with her in his arms, clinging to him like that, he felt like Goliath. He just had to hope she wasn’t his David.

Resisting the urge to pick her up and carry her the short-distance home, he limited himself to brushing his lips over hers again. Just a little kiss to tide him over.

“In fact,” he said, as he rested his forehead against hers for a second. “You just have one choice. My place or yours?”

Oh, heavens.

His low words, delivered in that sexy, husky voice of his, reached deep inside Daisy, and the resulting heat made her press her thighs together right there outside the restaurant. Sure, she’d been thinking of it, but she’d an
ticipated a slow walk home, then she could invite him in for coffee and work around to suggesting “dessert.” What she hadn’t expected was for him to be so blunt.

“Unless,” he stroked his thumb over her cheek. “I’ve been reading the signals all wrong.”

“Huh. What? No,” she blurted out when it looked like he would remove his hand.
Hell
no. He was lucky they were in public, or she’d have run the risk of being arrested for molestation. “No, not at all.”

She paused for a moment to drag some air into her lungs. Lord, he should come with a damn warning label.
Danger: Male specimen enclosed could cause dangerous complications with female systems
.

“I don’t mind,” she said, ignoring the heat that wanted to spread over her cheeks. “Where would you be more comfortable?”

He chuckled, the deep sound pure carnal temptation, and yanked her closer again. She gasped as she collided with his solid body, and then moaned as she felt the hard bar of his cock pressed insistently against her soft belly. “Comfortable? Sweetheart, I plan on fucking you until you scream. Comfort doesn’t come into it.”

“Flipping hell. You don’t mince words, do you?” She chuckled to cover her surprise, liking the way his big hands spread over the back of her ribs. Possessive, protective. Hot as hell.

He grinned in response, the wicked glint in his eyes making her weak at the knees. “Not when I see something I want. I warn you, I’m ruthless like that.”