Sinful Longing

“See you later then,” he said, then ended the call.

Rex shoved his shoulder. “Hello? You said yes, didn’t you? You better have.”

Colin narrowed his eyes. “Did you know he was calling me?”

“No, but I heard your end of the conversation. It didn’t take any of my new math skills to figure it out.” Rex walked around to the passenger side, grabbed the door handle, and yanked it open.

Colin got into the driver’s side and turned on the engine. He was quiet, contemplating the phone call that had come out of the blue.

“You gonna go see her now?” Rex asked, picking up the thread.

Colin glanced at the time on the dashboard. “She’ll only be there for a little longer.”

Rex held his arms out grandly. “Then you better step on it, man. Because you need to make a big-ass entrance.”

Colin scoffed. “I don’t think so.”

Rex nodded. “Oh, trust me on this. You might know math and outdoor shit, but I know women. They love all that grandiose stuff.”

“Do they now?” Colin asked with a wry smile as they headed back to town.

“Absolutely. What does she like? What are her favorite things?”

Things he couldn’t give her right now.

Tattoos. Neck kisses. Multiple orgasms.

Wait. He could definitely give her those. Hell, he could give her enough of those to keep her toes curled all night long.

“Mob movies. Roller-skating. Laughing. Time with her family. Giving back,” he said, detailing what he knew of the woman he loved.

Rex counted off on his fingers. “Take her to a Hollywood movie set. Buy her a roller rink. Tell her a dirty joke,” he began, and Colin cracked up as Rex continued working through his list.

But then, he had an idea.

*

She longed to be the one sending Janine racing around the curve. She craved the rush of the wheels, the speed of the chase, the vibrations of the music in her bones. Instead, she cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted her encouragement from the half-wall at the edge of the rink.

“C’mon!”

“Block her!”

“Go, Cool Hand Bette!”

She screamed and cheered the loudest from the sidelines, rooting on the Fishnet Brigade. The league championship was in their grasp. Just a few more points. Just a few more minutes.

“Bet you twenty bucks they win, even without their best player.”

That voice. It sent goose bumps over her skin. It lit up her chest. All her lady parts tingled.

She turned around. Her heart skipped, and her skin sizzled. She was fighting a losing battle if she even tried to pretend she wasn’t ready to fling herself at him, or climb him like a tree. Especially with him here at the roller rink, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, his tanned, inked arms on display, his dark eyes sparkling like he had a secret.

“I bet they win, too,” she said, and her heart beat fiercely against her ribs.

“You know,” he said, taking his time with the words as he inched closer, “if they do, we should celebrate.”

Celebrate.

Heat raced through her body. Sparks roared through her. A celebration with Colin Sloan was code for the most mind-blowing sex of her life. But it was also code for so much more. It was how they’d spent their night together at the Venetian, and that evening had sent them hurtling down this twisting, turning path to lust, longing, and love.

Wait.

She pressed her foot on the figurative brakes. She couldn’t leap back into his arms just because he showed up. They’d agreed to take a break. She’d retreated because of her son. He was her top priority and would be until he left her home. But she didn’t have to shelter him, either. She couldn’t shield him from all the dangers of the world by shutting out love. She could, however, teach him about taking a chance. Taking the right chance, with the right person. Seizing the opportunity.

She’d cooled things off with Colin because of her need to protect her kid. The threat had never been about Colin though. It had been because of her work, because of what she did, because she was involved. That wasn’t going to change. The one thing she could adjust was her approach.

Including her approach to Alex. She needed to tell him she was going to take this chance.

She held up her finger. “I just need to find—”

A hand touched on her arm—her son’s hand. “I thought you were playing pool with your buddies,” she said, gesturing to the pool table at the rink.

“I was, but I wanted to let you know I called Colin and asked him to come down.”

“You did?”

He nodded, and he looked proud of himself. “I’m sorry I freaked out the other day.”

“It’s okay to freak out sometimes. I was freaked out, too,” she said, fighting to stay calm, even though every cell inside her buzzed with elation. Her son, her sweet, wonderful son, had made this reunion happen.