Various States of Undress (10 page)

She gave a skeptical laugh. “Okay.”

“Come on, now. You did great. I've seen grown men throw ceremonial pitches in the dirt, but you didn't. Plus you looked pretty cute.”

“Thanks.” Georgia's face felt hot. “Here I was thinking the bulletproof vest made me look like a block of wood.”

“No.” He gazed at her for a moment. “So what do you want to do tonight?”

Besides throw myself at you?
She hadn't thought that far ahead. She hadn't allowed herself to. What had she expected was going to happen tonight, anyway? Georgia shrugged. “Whatever comes to mind.” Okay. Could that have sounded any more like an invitation to her bedroom? She turned away and closed her eyes for a second.

Brett stood up and stretched. “Is that a segue into an interview?”

“No.” She glanced at him, watching his chest expand. “I didn't ask you here for that. I just thought . . . maybe if you got to know me, you would open up a little. I want to do a good story on you, Brett.”

He stared at her for a moment. “You have any glasses?”

“What?”

“For the wine.”

“Oh.” She pushed away from the counter and went to a cabinet next to the refrigerator. “Just plastic cups. I'm living the dream here in Memphis, aren't I?”

He laughed. “Well, you're only here temporarily, right?”

“True.” She pulled down two neon green tumblers and set them on the counter. “I've never been so unsettled in my life.”

“Me neither,” Brett murmured and reached for the wine. With a quick twist, he unscrewed the cap. “Classy, I know, but nonalcoholic is what I'm all about during the playing season.”

“That's okay.” She paused. “Why are you unsettled?”

His hands paused, the bottle in midair. “Forget I said that.” He poured liquid into the cups, and she watched him, her gaze flicking from his muscled forearms to the crook of his strong neck. He took a deep breath, and his nostrils flared. When he let it out, he turned to her with a cocky smile. An inviting smile.

“A toast? To Independence Day. Since we're missing the fireworks and all.”

“Okay. But first . . .” She trailed off, knowing she shouldn't ask him anything else because she ought to be afraid of the answer. Fear had everything to do with her visceral reaction to Brett Knox. Fear of rejection. Fear of being used. Fear of being out of control. But her sisters had always teased her—calling her Curious Georgia—saying she could never leave well enough alone. And she couldn't make herself step back from Brett.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I want to know why you feel unsettled.”

He took a step closer to her. “I'm not sure you want to find out.”

She glanced at him again, and the intensity of his gaze along with the heat of his body made her shiver.

“Cold?”

She pointed at the ceiling fan. “It's chilly in here.”

“No it's not.” He took a step nearer, his hand splaying on the counter near her hip.

Her breath quickened and she swayed forward—way too close to him to pretend that she wasn't interested. Still, her mouth moved and words spilled out. “I've been spending a lot of time outside in the heat. Not used to the air-conditioning.” Her breasts connected with his hard abdomen and she released a quick breath. “So it stands to reason—”

“Only one thing stands to reason, sugar,” he said, just as his head dipped lower. He whispered in her ear. “We aren't standing this close to talk about the weather.” When his hot breath tickled her neck, she shivered again. “Right?”

“Right.” She let out a short breath and lay her fingertips on his shoulders.

He slid an arm around her back and pulled her up against his chest. When his lips settled in the crook of her neck, her eyelids closed and her head fell back at the heat of his breath against her skin. He kissed her neck. Her jaw. And then, backing her against the counter, he lowered his mouth to hers, tasting the edge of her lower lip.

“Brett,” she said in a choked whisper and wrapped her arms around his warm neck. A second later, his mouth covered hers, the pressure and heat of his slow, deliberate kiss crushing her inhibitions. She kissed him back, arching against him, opening her mouth—inviting him inside. When his tongue slid underneath hers, he gave a low groan and threaded his fingers through her hair, cupping the back of her head. He kissed her again.

Georgia groaned too—the throaty sound echoing in the empty room—and she felt her nipples harden against his chest. She wanted him to go deeper, wanted him to kiss her until she couldn't think, but gradually he pulled his mouth away from hers. He nestled his head in her neck once more, and she drew in a deep breath, inhaling his clean, masculine scent. He held her close for a long moment, his chest rising and falling against hers.

When he eventually lifted his face to look at her, his eyes glittered with desire. “You're so beautiful, Georgia.”

She gazed up at him, hearing his words but not quite believing them. No guy had ever called her beautiful before. It was on the tip of her tongue to protest, but she didn't. She wanted to be beautiful—especially to Brett. “Thank you. I—you're incredible.”

“So I've heard.” He gave her a wink.

“And cocky.”

“Heard that too.”

She surveyed his handsome face. “And you've got lipstick all over your mouth.”

“Now that, I've never heard.”

At his alarmed expression, she let out a little laugh. “Go check in the mirror.”

Slowly, Brett let go of her. When she pointed toward the bathroom, he shut the door behind him. Georgia was glad that he had because she needed a good thirty seconds of freak-out time. Closing her eyes, she pressed her fists against her forehead and took several deep breaths. Then she took a deep drink of sparkling faux wine. She stared across the room and shook her head. “Oh my God. Oh. My. God.”

Well, she couldn't take that kiss back. That romantic, overwhelming, fantastic kiss. The best one she'd ever had. “Stop it,” she muttered to herself. Just because Brett had a magic mouth didn't mean that she had to—

The bathroom door swung open, and he walked out, rubbing that sexy mouth. “I did have lipstick all over me. You were right.”

“I usually am,” she said quickly.

“I'll bet.” He stopped near the edge of the counter, a half-smile on his face.

Georgia gestured with the cup in her hand. “Toast?”

“Yeah.” Brett lifted the other cup. “Happy Independence Day.”

“Same to you.” She touched her cup to his and drank.

He drained his wine and gazed at her, desire still lighting his eyes. “I don't want to say this, but I'd better get going. Doubt I have to spell out why.”

“No. I'd rather you didn't spell it out.” But she knew why. The hottest guy she'd ever laid eyes on—the most compelling guy she'd ever met—wanted her. Her! “I'll see you tomorrow?”

“Nope. We're off tomorrow, and then we're traveling to play Omaha—”

“Oh yeah. I forgot.”

“You're doing pregame interviews when we get back, right?”

She nodded.

“A piece of advice. Keep the questions simple. Real simple.”

Georgia didn't plan to do that at all, but she nodded again. “Okay. Thanks for coming over.”

“Sure. It was my pleasure.” He crossed to the door. “I'll give you that interview when we get back, Georgia. Next home game is the tenth, so I'll stop by the studio that morning.”

She followed him and opened the door. “Great. Maybe by then I will have wrapped up the story about ballpark giveaways.”

“T-shirt cannon day is a fan favorite,” he said with a wink. Then he gazed at her. “I'll be thinking of you, okay?”

Before she could answer, he stepped off the concrete block porch and jogged down the sidewalk. Georgia knew she shouldn't linger there with the door open—her agents would have a fit—but she stood in the humid evening air and watched Brett until he'd gotten into his Jeep and driven away.

A second later, fireworks exploded in the sky.

Georgia watched them for a minute before turning back into her mostly empty place. What to do now? Sit on her bed and stare at the blank walls? Obsess over the feel of his mouth on hers? She groaned and picked up her phone from the counter. Going for her phone when she felt uneasy was habitual, but scrolling apps gave her something mindless to do. Gave her time to think.

She flicked the phone on and saw that her sisters had texted her. Both of them. As she read the messages, a smile lifted her lips. Carolina and Virginia had said basically the same thing but in completely different ways because they were such different women.

“Just watched your baseball debut. Very impressive,” she read aloud. That was from Carolina. Then she looked at Virginia's text again. “Saw that pitch on YouTube. Noticed your shoes matched your hat. Good job.”

Georgia knew that if she texted them back, she'd soon be switching screens like a crazy person. It'd be easier to just call, and since Virginia was the night owl, Georgia tried her first. Virginia picked up in the middle of the first ring. “Hey, Curious Georgia. Guess what? Carolina and Jake are here visiting the Big Apple.”

“Oh, nice.” Georgia cleared her throat. “Are you having fun?”

“Not as much fun as you appear to be having.” She paused. “So, what's up, sis?”

“Not a lot now, but earlier—” Georgia let out an uncomfortable laugh, the memory of Brett's hands traveling over her body popping into her mind. “Yeah, earlier at the ballpark . . . well, you saw.”

“Hmm. You seem unusually tongue-tied. Why is that?”

Tongue-tied
. Georgia giggled.

“Oookay, you're being weird,” Virginia said. “We need Skype.”

Georgia rolled her eyes. Both of her sisters were addicted to video chatting. Well—when they weren't wrapped around their husbands. Virginia and Dex were known to “slip away” at work—they owned and managed a department store in New York City. And Carolina and Jake? Watching them look at each other was like watching a bonfire flare up.

Georgia wasn't jealous, even though no guy had ever looked at her that way. Correction—no guy had looked at her that way
until tonight
. Oh God. She let out a sigh and sank down on the bed. She couldn't quit grinning. She couldn't stop the silly girly noises that came out of her mouth. She—

“I'm hanging up on you,” Virginia announced. “Go get your laptop and call me right back.”

“Oh, I'm kind of tired,” Georgia lied.

“Bullshit. Besides, Jake wants to talk to you about baseball.”

Georgia sucked in a breath. Of course. Jake was a college baseball coach. “Perfect. I can't believe I haven't thought to call him yet,” she murmured.

“Okay, now I know you've gone off the deep end of the South. You're usually one step ahead of everyone,” Virginia said. “Skype. Now.”

“Bye.” Georgia hung up and reached for the laptop sitting next to her. A minute later, she pretended to smile casually as her sisters and their respective husbands crowded in front of the webcam. “Hi, everyone.”

“Hi, Georgia,” they chorused.

“We're proud of you,” Dex said with his arm wrapped around Virginia's waist.

“Thanks,” Georgia answered.

Carolina, who was petite, stood in front of the group. She pushed her hair behind her ears and leaned forward, peering. “Are you okay? Your lips look really chapped or something.”

Oh God. The kissing. All the amazing kissing. Georgia tried to hide her alarm. “My lips? What do you mean?”

“Looks as if your lipstick is smeared all over the place,” Jake said. When Carolina narrowed her eyes at him, he raised his palms. “What? You brought it up.”

“I was going to be more tactful, but yeah.” Carolina cocked her head to the side. “You look as if . . .”

Georgia feigned confusion, even as she turned her head to the side. But how did a person hide her own
mouth
in a video chat? If she put her hand over it, her sisters wouldn't let the subject go.

Virginia gasped. “Oh. Hang on a second.” She disappeared from the screen for a moment and bounced back in, holding a phone up, the screen facing Georgia. “This has something to do with it, I bet.”

Georgia squinted at the screen, watching the Redbirds video play on Virginia's phone. She watched herself throw out the pitch. Not bad, actually. She watched herself standing there on the pitcher's mound, looking a little nervous. And then she watched as the camera followed Brett trotting out to her. It zoomed in. And the look on Brett's face—oh God, the look on
her
face—it was that inferno look. And it was on YouTube.

She took a deep breath. “Yeah, I must have bumped into my lips when I threw the ball. I guess I did smear my lipstick.”

When Virginia moved the phone away, she stared at Georgia with an incredulous expression. So did Dex. Even Carolina. Jake just grinned.

Georgia couldn't take any more teasing tonight, and though she was dying to ask questions—like how to handle falling for someone when the whole world is watching—she just grinned back and thought about how to change the subject. She wasn't about to discuss her feelings for Brett in front of half of her family. Georgia pointed at Jake. “I need to ask you a favor, big guy. Would you give me some baseball tips?”

“Of course.” He continued to grin.

“Great, great. Well, I'm pretty tired now, as you all can imagine. Long day.” She faked a yawn. “Have a great time in New York. Don't do anything I wouldn't do.”

Carolina leaned down again. “It appears that you're doing a lot more than we thought,” she whispered with a wink.

“Okay,” Virginia said. Her face filled Georgia's screen, and then the view tilted as she walked away. A few seconds later, the display righted and Virginia was alone. “Spill,” she said.