Elizabeth waited, no doubt thinking Tara was going to spill her guts about her background. Wrong. It was time she told Mick about it, though.
“Hey there, gorgeous. Glad you came by.”
Gavin spun Liz around, and Tara’s jaw could have dropped at the way Elizabeth’s face changed. The haughty, holier-than-thou cemented expression disappeared and the icy chill in the air melted. The woman even sported a genuine smile. She looked about sixteen years old when she smiled at Gavin. Her eyes just melted.
Holy cow.
“Hi, there, handsome. Happy birthday.” She did maintain distance and gave him what Tara would consider a professional hug, but Gavin pulled her into his arms, put his lips on her, and gave her a kiss that wasn’t at all professional. When she pushed back, her cheeks were flushed. She licked her lips. And she couldn’t quite tear her gaze away from Gavin’s face.
Well, well, well. So the ice queen was human after all.
“Come with me,” Gavin said. “Some friends of mine are here I want you to meet.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and said, “The things I have to do to keep a client happy. Ta-ta.”
Gavin took her hand and tugged her along.
“Oh. My. God,” Tara said, watching Liz disappear into the thick crowd with Gavin.
Mick scratched the side of his nose. “Yeah, I know. Liz can be a real bitch sometimes. Never thinks before she speaks. Hell, you should hear the insulting things she says to me. But she’s really good at her job and—”
“No, Mick. Not about that.” Tara waved her hand, dismissing his worries about Liz’s nasty comments. “That didn’t bother me at all.” She lifted her gaze to Mick. “But did you see the two of them together?”
“The two of—” He followed her gaze. “Gavin and Liz? Oh, yeah, she represents him, too.”
She shook her head. “Not what I meant. It was like as soon as he showed up, a switch went off inside her. Total personality transplant. She went warm. Melty, womanly warm. You know what I mean?”
“What?” Mick shifted his gaze to where Liz sat at the bar next to Gavin and his friends. He looked back at her. “No. No way. Liz doesn’t have feelings.”
“Yes she does, Mick. She has them, and she has them big. For Gavin. I mean, I don’t know her at all, but I can read a woman’s signals with a man, and her signals were pinging loud and clear. She’s in love with him.”
Mick frowned and shook his head. “Liz doesn’t love anyone. Liz loves money. And her career as a sports agent. Believe me, I know. She’s been my agent and Gavin’s since we started out. Besides, she’s older than Gavin by like ... four years. She’s like ... thirty-two or something.”
Tara laughed. “So?”
“So she doesn’t have those kinds of feelings, I’m telling you. Gavin’s a commodity to her. We all are. And if you thought all the stories about me being a man whore were true? Trust me, the ones about my brother are true. He goes through women like he goes through shirts. He doesn’t see Liz as anything but his agent. He’s sweet to her because she helps his career. There’s nothing between the two of them.”
Tara shrugged. “Well, there might not be anything on his end, but I can guarantee there’s something on hers.”
“I think you’re wrong. Liz is a great actress, and you just read her wrong. She plays up to Gavin’s weakness, which is a gorgeous woman with great legs.”
“If you say so.”
But Tara wasn’t buying it for a second. If there was one thing she could spot, it was a woman with warm gooey love yearnings for a man.
And Elizabeth Darnell had it bad for Gavin Riley.
TEN
MICK HAD HAD ENOUGH OF TOSSING AND TURNING IN the bed that was too damn small for his frame. And knowing Tara was at the end of the hall was driving him crazy.
Nathan had ended up going home with one of Mick’s aunts for a sleepover with her and her husband’s two teenage boys, since they’d pretty much hung out nonstop at the bar anyway talking football and some online video game that they were probably going to stay up all night and play. Tara was thrilled he’d found some friends, so she’d been fine with it.
But Mick had spent the entire night at the bar watching Tara, touching her but not really touching her, breathing her in and wishing he could do what he wanted to do with her. Instead, he’d had to be content with holding her hand and the occasional kiss, and that just wasn’t cutting it.
He finally threw on his shorts, grabbed a couple condoms, and as quietly as he could, opened the bedroom door. The house was quiet, no TV noise or movement from downstairs, which meant everyone had gone to bed. He crept down the hall to Tara’s room. He didn’t want to knock because he didn’t want to wake his parents, but he also didn’t want to scare the hell out of Tara by just walking into her bedroom, either.
He decided to risk it, turned the knob, and opened the door.
“Tara?” he whispered.
“I’m awake. Come in.”
Thank God. He slipped in and shut the door, locked it for good measure.
She was sitting up, the pillows propped up behind her. She had the shutters open, moonlight spilling in and shining on her as she sat there and watched him approach.
She wore his team T-shirt. It swallowed her up, but damn if she didn’t look sexy as hell in it. It was worn and threadbare, one he’d gotten when he first joined the team. She’d snatched it from him and said it was soft and comfortable and she intended to sleep in it. It made him hard just thinking about her br**sts brushing against it, her skin against something he owned.
It made him feel possessive of her, and a rush of heat tightened his groin.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “I was hoping you’d find a way to come in here.”
He dragged her into his arms. “I couldn’t stand not touching you for one more night.”
“Good, because I was only going to give you about another half hour, then I was coming to you.”
His mouth came down on hers with a hunger that he’d held in for too long. He was afraid he wasn’t going to be able to hold back, that he would hurt her, but she seemed as needy as he was. She climbed onto his lap and slid her fingers into his hair.
“It’s been a long, dry weekend,” she said, brushing her lips against his.