“You know what I mean.” He slid his hands over her knees. “I should have called you and given you a heads-up. I wasn’t even thinking that we were attending the same event as you. I was just operating blind here, assuming I was going to do this good deed and tell you about it tomorrow. I didn’t want to call and bother you with something trivial like this when I knew you were busy with work.”
Tara leaned forward and tangled her fingers in his hair. “I know. And then you ran into me, and I acted like a giant bitch about it all.”
He gave her an impish grin. “I’m going to assume it just means you care about me.”
“If I didn’t, you wouldn’t have seen me act like a giant bitch.”
“So we’re good?”
“We’re good. And I’m really sorry. I acted petty and jealous and I don’t know why. It’s a very ugly side of me, and I don’t like it. Did I mention I was sorry?”
“You don’t need to be. Next time I’ll give you a heads-up when Liz tosses some stunning, sexy young babe at me.”
Tara mimicked a knife stabbing repeatedly into her heart. “You’re killing me here, Mick.”
He laughed and stood, pulling her into his arms. “Just kidding.”
She leaned against him. “No you’re not. It’s likely to happen again. It’s your job to do these promotional things. I need to learn to live with it.”
“No, it won’t happen again. No one needs to be on my arm but you.”
Tara swallowed, her throat gone dry. She tried to say something, but what retort could she come up with for that statement? Instead, she reached up and cupped the back of his neck, drawing his lips to hers. Enough had been said, and they were already headed into dangerous territory. Kissing was a much better idea.
When his lips met hers, the anguish of the night dissolved and she felt settled again. Every time she was in Mick’s arms she felt ... she didn’t know how she felt. She wanted to say calm, but that wasn’t it, because whenever he touched her he riled her up and got her excited, so calm definitely wasn’t the right word.
Perfect. It felt perfect and right to be with him, and when he wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss, exploring her tongue with his, she sighed, because everything was in balance again.
He broke the kiss and leaned back. “Can you find someone for Nathan to hang out with for a weekend?”
His question made her pause. “What? Why?”
“I bid on and won that private island in the Caribbean. I want to take you there.”
She reached up and laid her hand across her heart. “You do?”
“Yeah. What did you think I was bidding on it for? To take my mother?”
She was in total awe of this man. “Wow. Well, uh, I guess I could ask his coach.”
“Do that. We’ll have to do it soon because once we get into preseason games, my weekends are shot.”
“I’ll ask Coach tomorrow.”
He slid his hands down her back and cupped her butt in his hands. “I’d like to have you to myself for a couple days, where no one bothers us.”
She shivered in his arms, already imagining what that would be like. “I’m already packing.”
“Better make that phone call tomorrow, then. We can go next weekend if you’re free.”
“As a matter of fact, I am free next weekend.”
His eyes crinkled as he gave her a devilish smile. “Then if it’s okay with Nathan’s coach, we’re on. Start packing.”
SIXTEEN
OKAY, SO PRIVATE ISLANDS AND HAVING YOUR OWN butler and wearing very little clothing was as far away from Tara’s normal daily existence as she could get.
She could get used to this kind of lifestyle. She’d thought when the auction item said “private island,” they meant a little slice of an island with a privacy fence.
Uh, no. They’d flown to the Virgin Islands, then taken another flight somewhere. Tara had gotten lost and had no idea where they were. Maybe that was the point. They’d taken a boat to a tiny island that was truly uninhabited by anyone other than the two of them and their butler, who served them meals, took care of their every need, and other than that made himself totally invisible. If they needed something, they picked up a phone and called him. He told them his quarters were off island, so they could be assured of their privacy. Which meant they could walk the island naked if they wanted to.
Tara couldn’t imagine doing that, but it had taken Mick all of an hour to throw off his clothes and sunbathe naked on the sand. Who was she to argue with the primal urge to go native? Soon she was lying on a cozy beach chair with no clothes on, and she’d never felt more decadent in her entire life.
The island—what could she say about this island? A stretch of sand that looked out over turquoise waters with no other land in sight, making her feel totally isolated. Lazy palm trees that bent and swayed in a gentle breeze, providing shade over the sand. Their own two-story home nestled in the forest that overlooked the bay. It was heaven.
The warm breeze sailed across her skin, and she inhaled the salty air, lifting her arms to stretch and roll over. After about an hour in the sun, she’d pushed her chair under a palm tree to soak up some shade, careful not to sunburn her skin. The last thing she’d want is to miss any of this glorious tropical paradise while nursing a burn.
It was too perfect. Warmth, breeze, and utter relaxation. Her eyes drifted closed, but then she felt warm lips against her back, and she smiled as a hand followed, smoothing down her spine to rest at the spot where her lower back met her bu**ocks.
“Mmmmmmmm,” was all she could manage.
“I like you like this,” Mick said, teasing between her butt cheeks with his fingers. “Your body warm from the sun, every muscle like liquid.”
“I’m pretty much at your mercy right now. You can do whatever you want with me.”
“Is that right. Anything?”
Her limbs felt heavy, and so did her head. She couldn’t even muster the strength to nod, but the other parts of her—the female parts—they were firing up like a roaring engine. “Anything.”
He continued to massage her back with light touches, and it felt so good, especially when he kneaded the small of her back, teasing her by lightly tracing his fingertips over her butt cheeks. From hard pressure on the muscles of her back to the torturous caresses on her butt, it was driving her crazy, making her relaxed and tense at the same time. Her ni**les peaked against the chair, and she wanted to rub them against the towel, anything to get some friction. Being naked meant her clit was getting some contact, too, and she felt the urge to reach between her legs and rub the throbbing ache Mick had caused.