Shay nodded. "Better than good."

A wicked grin broke out over his face. "Excellent," he said as he thrust into her several more times before finding his own release with a heavy groan as he collapsed on top of her. Shay luxuriated under the weight and warmth of his hard body, gently trailing her fingers down his spine. Then she did something she never imagined doing in a man's bed: She fell fast asleep.

Twenty.

The sixty-inch flat-screen television mounted on the wall provided ambient light to the room. Brody had the sound on low as he watched Jimmy Fallon from his post on the bed. Shannon lay next to him, curled up in the thick comforter fast asleep. She'd been that way for the past five hours, sated and tousled in a deep slumber, her breath steady-he'd checked it often enough. He'd slept, too, but his hunger for food had eventually won out over his hunger for her and he'd ventured down to the kitchen for something to keep his blood sugar stable.

Diving into a bowl of Greek yogurt-Shay had purged the ice cream from his freezer long ago-drowned in fresh blueberries to kill the bitter taste, Brody sat quietly beside her, his back resting against the headboard, feeling at peace for the first time in weeks. Desire for the woman dozing next to him had definitely been distracting these past few days, not that he was going to admit that to Connelly, Coach, or anyone else. He was glad to finally be able to move on in their relationship.

Whatever he expected from his encounter with Shannon, nothing could have prepared him for what he got. While she was innocent in some ways, she was also uninhibited and exuberant in others. Not surprisingly, she was a conundrum even in bed.

A breathy sigh slipped through her lips and Brody's semi-aroused state became a bit more interested. He'd wanted her again five minutes after he'd had her the first time, but she'd relaxed into sleep so quickly-a sleep she needed from the look of her weary face-that he didn't have the heart to wake her. Not that he wasn't hoping for a second set of downs before morning.

With a m.u.f.fled groan, Shannon rolled over onto her back, her eyelids fluttering open. Brody smiled down at her as wonder adorned her face before it was replaced by a flush of pink.

"Oh, gosh." Her voice was huskier than usual and Brody's skin tingled. "I fell asleep." She glanced around the room. "How long have I been lying here?"

Five hours and twelve minutes. "I don't know. I just woke up myself."

"I'm sorry, Brody. I didn't mean to."

"There's nothing to be sorry for. Great s.e.x will do that to you. It makes you sleep like the dead." He winked at her. "I take it as a compliment that you pa.s.sed out so soundly."

"Um, well, I'm sure you want to get some sleep yourself. I should be going." She eyed her clothes that Brody had brought up from the great room, now neatly piled on a chair.

"Going where?" He nearly laughed at the obvious inner battle she was having about how she would get to her clothes without parading naked in front of him. "It's the middle of the night and it's raining. Have you got another job to go to or something?"

She propped up on her elbows, the comforter slipping down to expose the tops of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. His teasing had roused her completely out of her slumber. "No, Brody, I don't. It's just . . . I can't sleep here."

Brody arched an eyebrow at the comical statement. "I think we've just established that you can."

With an exasperated sigh, she flopped back down on the mattress. Brody set the bowl between them as he lay down on his side, his head resting on his hand. "Stay, Shannon," he said quietly. "That's how this usually works. We spend the night and one of us sneaks out of the other one's house the next morning. You'll miss out on that part of the ritual if you go now."

She rolled her eyes at him. Opening her mouth to likely lodge another crazy protest, she clamped a hand over her lips instead as the sound of her growling stomach filled the room.

"Well, if your excuse is that you're hungry, I happen to have plenty of food downstairs in my kitchen. I'll even share my snack if you'd like some." He dipped the spoon into the bowl of yogurt. "Open up."

She pushed up on her elbows again, this time the comforter fell lower and Brody was distracted by the peek of pink nipple he got. He held the spoon up in front of her mouth, but just as she leaned in, he dumped its contents on her breast.

"Oh, wow. What a mess. Here, let me clean that up." Brody leaned over and lapped at the yogurt, cool on her warm skin. A hiss escaped Shannon's lips as he took her nipple in his mouth and suckled. Before he knew it, he'd slathered another spoonful down her belly and beyond. Squirming beneath his tongue, she clenched her fingers in his hair as her hips rose up to meet his lips. The yogurt now forgotten, Brody crawled up her slick body to find her hot silky mouth. His fingers threaded through her hair as he devoured her lips. Shannon wrapped her long legs around his waist and he could barely hold on long enough to sheath himself with a condom.

The erotic moan she uttered when he entered her caused him to shudder. She nipped at his shoulder. "Please, Brody," she pleaded. He was only too happy to oblige, burying himself deep inside her until her body squeezed around his in climax, pulling him to his own release.

It was a few moments before both their breathing returned to normal. He pushed up on his forearms so as not to crush her, but she kept her legs loosely draped around his hips. Her stomach rumbled again.

"Brody," she whispered, her whiskey eyes dancing. "Can I please have my own bowl of yogurt?"

Leaning down, he dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. "If you promise not to leave, you can have anything you want."

She nodded and the tightness in Brody's chest disappeared as he left the bed in search of food for his woman. He'd definitely gone caveman, all right.

Shay quietly slipped out of Brody's bathroom, where she'd hurriedly washed and dressed. The sunshine had returned and she worried the bright bedroom would wake Brody. h.e.l.l's bells. Too late. He was sitting up in bed, wide awake and naked as a jaybird.

"When I mentioned the sneaking out part, I meant sneaking out so you aren't seen by neighbors and paparazzi, not sneaking out without saying good-bye."

"I-I was going to say good-bye," she lied, his nude magnificence unnerving her.

"Uh-huh," he said, climbing out of the bed and stalking toward her. She focused on his face so she wouldn't get weak at the knees. His eyes told her that he didn't believe a word she said.

"Shannon, there's nothing to be ashamed of here. This doesn't have to be awkward." He cupped his hand against her cheek and she unconsciously leaned into it.

"But it is awkward," she whispered. "I'm not good at this."

He chuckled softly. "I beg to differ. You're very good at this."

Her cheeks burned as his hard body penned her in. Brody brushed his lips across her hairline. "Okay, go home, but walk tall. You were amazing last night."

His words made the fluttering begin in her stomach again.

"I'll see you later, right?" he asked.

Shay nodded. "I'll be at the practice facility today. Then I have to drop off your dinner."

"Don't make me dinner tonight. Let me take you out. Some place nice. You can tell me what to order and everything."

His lips had found her juncture of her collarbone and neck and she was having trouble thinking. "I-I can't. It's Friday night and I have to work."

Brody pulled away and stared at her.

"Celtic Charm. I'm a bartender there, remember?"

He shook his head slightly as if to remind himself what they were talking about. "Call in sick."

"I can't call in sick. The money I earn pays my rent, my Internet, my cell phone bill." She didn't bother mentioning all the other things her tips helped her pay for. Brody was born with a platinum card in his hand and he'd never understand her precarious finances.

Lines appeared along his brow. "How much would you miss if you didn't go in one night?"

"A lot." A trickle of unease began to worm its way through her. "Thanks to you and my newfound celebrity, I make nearly double the tips I used to."

Brody's blue eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. "Fine. Tell me how much that is and I'll give it to you. You shouldn't be slaving away there anyway."

The unease was now a full-blown storm rolling over her as Shay backed up against the wall. Her mouth gaped open, but for once, words failed her.

"That didn't come out right," he said, tugging his fingers through his hair as he swore.

"No, it certainly didn't," she managed to say.

He swore again. "It's just that you never seem to have any time for yourself. Let me give you that."

Shay swallowed around the ma.s.sive boulder in her throat. "In exchange for s.e.x?"

"G.o.d, no!" He paced the room, his naked body still gorgeous even in anger. "It's just . . ." His words petered out as his eyes pleaded with her to understand. But Shay already did understand. It was Brody who didn't.

"I didn't stay last night because you're a superstar athlete. I don't want to be your arm candy. And, I certainly don't want you to buy me anything or take care of me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Shannon-" He took a step forward, but something in her expression must have stopped him because he halted after two paces.

"I have to go now, Brody. Please don't make this any more awkward than it has to be."

Turning on her heel, she made it through the door without him following.

Four hours into her shift at Celtic Charm, Shay poured a gla.s.s of pinot grigio for Bridgett.

"So you caved under the pressure," Brody's sister said as she sipped her wine.

"I guess I wasn't prepared for the all-out a.s.sault by everyone a.s.sociated with the Blaze," Shay said, wiping the condensation off the bar. "It was a relief to have things back to normal in the commissary today, though."

She'd been a little nervous when she arrived at the practice facility that morning, wondering what sort of ambush awaited her, but the players had, thankfully, all kept their distance. It was almost as if the day before hadn't happened. Almost. DeShawn gave her a knowing wink when he'd grabbed his protein shake, making Shay wonder what had been said in the locker room earlier. Had Brody bragged of his conquest? Her breath still caught at the thought. Or had Will Connelly talked, recounting for his teammates her embarra.s.sing outburst in Brody's great room the evening before? Fortunately, no one had mentioned anything in the commissary, instead the players had gone about the business of readying themselves for their nationally televised game against their rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, on Monday Night Football.

Shay had also avoided any embarra.s.sing run-ins with Will Connelly. She wasn't sure she could ever face the man again. Brody was a different story, however. As angry as she was about his heavy-handedness in his bedroom early that morning, she knew he'd meant well. Shay just wasn't used to dealing with the opposite s.e.x-and with men like Brody, in particular. But he, too, had bypa.s.sed the cafeteria on the way to the practice field, leaving Shay to wonder where they stood.

"So, does this make you an official couple?" Even sitting and relaxing at a bar, Bridgett couldn't resist asking the probing questions.

Shay thought of how she'd left him early that morning, angry and naked in his bedroom. But she'd been angry, too. Most of all, she'd been hurt. "Brody's got a lot of growing up to do before he's ready for an official relationship."

Bridgett saluted her with her gla.s.s of wine. "I'll say it again, you've got my undying admiration. I didn't think I'd meet a woman who was unsusceptible to my brother's charms."

Shay's face grew warm. "I didn't say I was unsusceptible to all of his charms."

"Ick!" Bridgett held up her hands. "I seriously don't want to know the specifics of my brother's charms-especially the ones he employs in the bedroom. Just knowing that you're using him the way he uses women is enough for me. I can't wait until he finds out he's your fling before your sojourn in the big house."

Grabbing two bottles of beer out of the cooler, Shay wasn't sure how she felt about Bridgett's description of her. She was pretty sure she and Brody had both used one another last night, but her emotional commitment might be a little deeper than his sister suspected. He wanted her to come back to his place after her shift tonight, and she was sorely tempted. But Shay was a rookie at all aspects of a relationship. Was she capable of having just a fling with Brody like his sister said? After enjoying last night, though, could she just walk away?

Bridgett waved a twenty-dollar bill in her face, getting Shay's attention. "I didn't realize how late it was. I really need to go."

"You barely touched your wine." Shay followed Bridgett's eyes down the bar where several of the Blaze management congregated. Donovan Carter was talking about the blogger with the only man within the Blaze organization who rivaled Brody in magazine cover appearances: the owner's G.o.dson and heir, Jay McMa.n.u.s. Rich, politically motivated, and obscenely gorgeous, McMa.n.u.s seemed to pull everyone in the bar's attention to him. Everyone but Bridgett, who couldn't seem to get away fast enough.

"Keep the change, Shay." Bridgett was out the door faster than her brother ran the forty-yard dash. Even more interesting to Shay was the way Jay McMa.n.u.s's eyes followed Brody's sister's progress out of the bar.

In the end, there wasn't any question where Shay would spend the night. Brody's Range Rover dwarfed her aging Corolla in the parking lot of Celtic Charm when her shift ended at two A.M. He was waiting inside, Muse blasting over the satellite radio while he played Candy Crush on his iPad.

"What are you doing here, Brody?" It was a stupid question, but she asked it anyway. His only answer was that wicked smile-the one that never failed to make her stomach drop. At that moment she hated him for his arrogant self-confidence that she wouldn't refuse him. But she hated herself more for the way that smile made her insides quiver in antic.i.p.ation.

"It's late. I just want to make sure you get home okay."

"Whose home?" she asked belligerently.

His smile faded and his blue eyes blazed with hunger and something else she couldn't quite identify. "Whichever one you want." The sheer desire in his tone was her undoing.

Driving through the quiet night, Shay imagined that, in his SUV behind her, Brody's smile was smug as she pa.s.sed her exit. As tired and frustrated at him as she was, however, she still wanted him. Shay wanted whatever Brody would give, and her overworked mind didn't care about the consequences.

They'd barely made it through the door before he began kissing her. His mouth was warm against her lips, chilled from the late October night. His tongue slid over hers and he tasted of coffee and cinnamon. Tugging at the b.u.t.tons of her wool peacoat, Brody reached a hand inside to caress her breast, his firm touch making her hips jerk toward his.

"Mmmm," he murmured as he left her mouth to trace his lips along her jaw line. "You taste like beer. My kind of woman."

"Gross. I should have gone home and rinsed off the eau de bar from my skin before I came over," she breathed.

"Good thing for you I happen to have a shower here." Brody placed an openmouthed kiss on her neck and Shay moaned in both pain and pleasure as his five o'clock shadow abraded her sensitive skin.

Smiling his cat-ate-the-canary grin, he pulled her up the stairs toward his bedroom. She tried again to work up a little anger at his arrogant self-confidence, but she couldn't; not while her body was thrumming with antic.i.p.ation of what was to come. Brody stopped at one of the guest bathrooms along the hall and pulled out a fuzzy white robe.

"Bridgett won't mind sharing," he said leading her into the cavernous master bathroom. The travertine tile and polished chrome fixtures glowed under the soft lights in the tray ceiling. The moon shining through the wide skylight cast an ethereal glow on the area. A giant whirlpool tub took up one end of the room while a gla.s.s-enclosed shower large enough to house a family of five stood at the other end. Between the two were a double vanity and a door that led to the commode room.

Using a panel on the wall, Brody flicked on the lights in the shower. He pushed another series of b.u.t.tons and a soft spray began to cascade from the waterfall-like fixture mounted to the shower wall. James Morrison's latest CD began to play from the speakers hidden in the ceiling. Most surprising of all to Shay was the minibar disguised as a cabinet, where he pulled out a bottle of water.

His blue eyes danced at her arched eyebrow. "Don't worry. I'm not h.o.a.rding sodas or ice cream up here."

That didn't mean she wasn't going to check it the moment he left.

Brody pulled an oversized bath towel from the linen closet and piled it and the bottled water on the counter. He strolled over to where she hovered in the doorway. "Help yourself to whatever else you need," he said, before kissing her on the forehead and leaving the bathroom.

Shay's knees nearly gave way when he walked out. As sensual as showering with Brody might be, she wasn't as comfortable parading around in the buff as he was. It was a relief to know she could rinse herself off and don Bridgett's robe without having to face his scrutiny of her body under the glaring lights of the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, her body had become so relaxed within the warm steam of Brody's incredible shower that Shay could barely move her limbs. The opening of the gla.s.s door quickly roused her, however, and she turned to see Brody striding toward her, naked but for the wicked grin on his face. He was so secure in his own body, it was unnerving. There was no place for her to hide in the vast shower.

"Don't," he commanded as she reached for the only thing available-a tiny washcloth-in a futile attempt to cover herself. Stopping within inches of her, his eyes never left hers as he gently traced a finger from the curve of her shoulder and down her arm. "I don't know who convinced you that you're not beautiful, but they were wrong, Shannon. You are an incredibly desirable woman."

His other hand joined the first, tracing from her hips over her belly to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, while their gazes remained locked. "You're beautiful here-" His hand moved to her back and lower. "-and here." Long fingers brushed against her sensitive nipples before tracing her cheek and her jaw. "Here, too." He slipped a finger inside her and she gasped, grabbing onto his biceps to keep from melting on the tile floor. "Oh, yeah. You're very beautiful here." She tried to keep her eyes focused on his face, but her lids were sliding closed as his finger stroked her.

"G.o.d, Shannon, just watching you gets me so fired up. Feel what you do to me." He pried one of her hands off his bicep and wrapped her fingers around his arousal. Her moan came from deep in her belly as his finger pleasured her and she gently ma.s.saged him. Both their hips began to buck, their wet skin sliding against one another as each moved closer to release. Her fingers dug into his shoulder and Brody pulled her in for a deep drugging kiss. Her body was highly sensitized from his touch and she whimpered in aggravation.

"Go for it, Shannon," he murmured as his mouth left hers in search of her hard nipple. "Come for me." He swirled his tongue around it first, before taking the pebble in his mouth and sucking. The pleasure was so great it was nearly painful. Shay's body clenched around his finger and with a deep wail, she fell over the edge of bliss.

Brody's arms supported her as he sat her sated body onto the bench built into the tile. "Don't move." Cold air swirled in as he left the shower, making Shay shiver, but she was too languid to move back beneath the warm spray. He returned a moment later, moisture glistening on his hard body and a condom sheathing his rampant erection.

"Turn around," he demanded, but Shay was having a little trouble getting her body to move and in the end he had to lift up and turn her to face the wall. He placed her palms flat on the tile bench, bending her at the waist. "Hold on," he murmured and then he was sliding into her from behind. She gasped at the sharp fullness and Brody instantly stopped leaning his body over hers. His breathing was heavy on the back of her neck as he held himself in check.