Michael knew what she was thinking. That he would bring her back to his place with him. That they’d pick up where they left off before she went to work. That he’d use the fact that he paid for her as an excuse to get her in his bed.
Kat’s eyes were wary as he unlocked his door, then opened it. And even more so when he motioned for her to come inside with him. But there was also anticipation. And no hesitation as she followed him in.
The second the door closed behind him, he was on her, cupping her face and kissing her deeply. Her arms immediately wrapped around him, pulling him tighter against her, pressing her own body against his.
He backed her up against the wall beside his door, hands roaming, moving down to cup her breasts, her hips, her ass until one knee rose and he caught her under the leg to hoist her up. She grunted as her back more fully hit the wall, but not in a pained way. Not from the way she attacked his mouth.
He nearly lost control when he felt her sweet core cradle his erection so perfectly. And that was when he knew it was time to stop. Stop before he took it too far.
He pulled his head back, breathing hard until his forehead met hers.
“Jesus, you know how to kiss, Manny.”
He laughed and maybe groaned a little. The movement rubbed his cock against her, only serving as punishment for letting it go this far.
“We have to stop.”
“We don’t have to stop,” she countered. “There’s a bed that way, over there, if memory serves. You could use your muscles to walk me thataway.”
“I could, but I won’t.”
Kat turned her head to the side, dislodging his resting place and making him thump his head against the wall. Damn. Fuck, that hurt.
“Why the hell not?”
“Because… becau— Stop wiggling. I’m going to drop you.”
“Good. Put me down, please.”
He let go of her but kept her caged within his arms against the wall. “Would you just listen to me?”
“Why?” She glared up at him. “I feel like this has all been some sort of sick lesson. ‘Look what happens when you don’t play by the rules, Kat. Some guy could have done a whole lot worse if he’d gotten you instead of me, Kat.’” Her lowered voice, clearly meant to emulate his, would have made him laugh if the accusation hadn’t slapped him in the face.
“You think I brought you in here, kissed you like that, and then stopped… because I’m teaching you a damn lesson?” Fearing his anger would spin, he heaved himself away from the wall and stalked off, only to turn back again. “Don’t… no. You know what? Not tonight.”
“Not tonight, what?” she challenged, because of course she would. Damn woman couldn’t let anything go.
“You wanna do this now?” He crowded her then, because he wanted to see if she’d cower back. Testing her, yeah. Testing himself too. Would he want to see her back down or face up?
She faced up, taking a small step into his space so that her breasts brushed his chest. “Yeah. I do.” The fire there in those dark eyes sent his blood thrumming.
“I’m not taking a woman back to my place and spending the night with her when I literally paid for her company an hour earlier. It’s underhanded and wrong. And don’t give me crap about how it’s not like that. To me, it’s wrong. I’m not a guy who can’t control himself. So this is me, controlling myself.”
She started to speak, then closed her mouth and looked away for a moment.
“And I don’t spend the night with anyone before a game.”
That made her brows raise in question.
“It’s just… shut up,” Michael muttered, stepping away and rubbing at the back of his neck. It felt hot to the touch. She did horrible things for his blood pressure. “It’s not my routine.”
“You’re telling me you’ve never had a girlfriend during a season,” Kat said dryly. “Bull.”
“I never said that. They just didn’t… spend the night on game nights. Okay, I don’t really want to talk about this with you right now.”
“Oh, we can’t have the ‘exes’ talk right now?” Kat smirked, and he wanted to wipe that expression off her face with another blistering kiss. But he refrained. “Good. Then I won’t have to tell you about my time as Bertha’s prison bitch.”
He snorted before he could stop himself.
“Manny,” she said on a sigh, and he growled at the name. God damn, she wouldn’t let that go. “Look, if you want me to leave, just say so. If anyone’s going to get the whole pregame ritual, it’s going to be me.”
She would, he realized. Would get the odd things athletes did for luck, for mental clarity, for the simple sweet routine of it. And probably wouldn’t mock him, no matter how stupid the superstition was. But that wasn’t all…