necklace? Because your job doesn’t pay well?” He asked it casually, but Lorelei could hear the edge he tried to hide in his voice.
She removed her hand from his body and placed it on her hip. “I can’t tell you why. It’s too personal.”
His body tensed and steel entered his voice. “I think we just got pretty damn personal, Lorelei. I deserve an answer and I want to know why you did it.”
He was right. He did deserve an explanation. But she couldn’t give it. If she did it meant laying her family open to an outsider’s view, giving them opportunity to judge. And once they started, they never stopped.
For as long as she could remember she’d had it drilled in to her that family business stayed in the family. It didn’t get shared for other people’s scrutiny. After her sister’s death her parents became almost fanatical about it in their grief. Even now, after they were gone, being closed-lipped was a habit she couldn’t break. Even if it upset Mark not to get an answer.
If she told him one thing, it would lead to another. Then another. Pretty soon her family’s entire closet of skeletons would be on display for his perusal. He would eventually find out the truth about her mother. Though her mom had always had problems, after Lucy’s death she had gone off the deep end and hurt a lot of people. Lorelei was sure that’s why her parents had become so paranoid about privacy. Because Barb Littleton’s crazy behavior had created more buzz than a swarm of bees. There were still things that happened that she and Logan never talked about, shared traumas that had shaped and molded them both. More things still that her father had kept from them.
It was her mother who had started the barn fire. On purpose. Though it had never been openly acknowledged by their parents, Logan was sure that she’d been schizophrenic and had lit the hay on fire during a delusional episode. Her father had tried to save her, but they didn’t make it out on time.
What would Mark think of her if he knew all that?
She wasn’t willing to be that exposed and vulnerable—that open to rejection. She didn’t have that kind of trust in her. She could, however, turn the conversation back to him, and ask him about his necklace. Put the spotlight back on him and see if he was willing to open up.
“Why is that cross so important to you, Mark?” She really wanted to know.
“Why’s it so damn important to you?” he shot back. With a curse he moved and rolled Lorelei on her back. Pinned her arms above her head. His hard thighs straddled her and his hands gripped her wrists. The hair on his calves rubbed against her legs and his feet wrapped over her shins, held them to the floor. Instantly heat flashed in her stomach and her blood warmed. All her senses were alert in the dark and it excited her to feel his large, hard body over her but not be able to see him clearly. It sent a shock of feminine wariness zinging through her.
“I’ll make a deal with you, Mark. When you tell me your secrets, I’ll tell you why the necklace means so much.”
“They’re none of your business. They’re mine.” His silhouette lowered toward her on his warning. His breath washed over her neck and she felt the weight of his erection on her stomach. Annoyance mingled with arousal inside her. Arousal won when his mouth found her jaw and he began kissing a moist, slow trail to her mouth. She strained against the hands still holding hers and released a soft moan. In one fluid motion he stretched his large body and settled over her. Hot flesh came up against her and her nipples grew tight. It was full body contact, bare skin to bare skin.
His mouth reached hers and he licked the corner of her lips until she opened it for him. Then he whispered, “Do you know what a triple is, Lorelei?”
She was melting again. “Yes.”
“Good, because I plan on hitting one tonight.”
Chapter 18
MARK HIT TRIPLES for three straight days off the field. By the time they were back in Denver, Lorelei was pretty darn sure she’d made up for her celibate streak of the past two years in spades. Boy, he’d been right about one thing: When he found something he did well he kept at it.
The door opened and he