RISKY PLAY (RED CARD #1) BY RACHEL VAN DYKEN Page 0,59

down my underwear. I felt both longing and loss when he moved his hands.

“Come on,” he urged. “The water’s hot.”

So it really was a shower?

No seduction?

Why did I feel disappointed when that’s what was necessary so I didn’t get hurt again?

Why was I standing there naked in his bathroom?

I hurried into the walk-in rain shower and nearly moaned when the hot water hit my face.

“See?” He chuckled. “I have all the good ideas.”

“The best ideas . . .” I let the water pour over my face and then opened my eyes.

He was staring at my mouth.

Not my naked skin.

But the thing that he saw every day.

As if he was so obsessed nothing else mattered.

“Slade!” Matt’s voice boomed through the large bathroom. “Seriously, answer your phone, you got the Gucci deal.”

My eyes widened in panic as Slade shoved me against the nearest wall and pressed a finger to my lips.

“I’m naked, don’t come in,” he shouted over his shoulder. I took that opportunity to stare at his dazzling cheekbones, plump lips, and perfect hair even under all the water . . . and gulped.

“You realize I’ve seen you naked more than your own mom, right?”

“Don’t make shit weird, Matt!” he yelled back while I gave him a Really? look.

His eyes narrowed as he ran that same finger down my chin and then tugged my lower lip with his teeth, bringing just enough pain with all the pleasure.

I reached for him, only to have my hands slide down his slick, hard stomach.

“Do you . . . are you? There’s wom—do you have company of the female variety? God, you’re such a jackass. You text me last night lamenting the fact that Jagger and Mackenzie were in the same room together alone—almost fucking crying into a bottle of wine—and now you’re with another woman? See! This is why I told you to stay away! Guys like you don’t deserve pretty trust-fund daughters with more brains than you have in your tiny head!”

With every word my smile grew wider until it felt like I was going to bust up laughing.

Slade chuckled under his breath, then whispered to me, “I wasn’t crying . . . my eyes were dry, I used eyedrops, not real tears.”

“Sure?” I said.

“But I did text him like a bitch.”

“Huh, Slade Rodriguez, insecure? I wouldn’t have guessed.” I nuzzled his neck just as he slammed a hand against the wall like he wanted Matt to be anywhere but a few feet away from us.

“Who are you talking to?” Matt roared. “Did she sign an NDA?”

“Fuck the NDA!” Slade yelled back at about the same time I said, “Hey, Matt!”

“Mackenzie!” Matt shouted. “Slade, what did you do!”

“He made me take a shower!” I yelled.

Slade grinned. “Nothing happened!” And then he lowered his voice. “Yet.”

I gasped.

“I should have just gotten a cat,” Matt muttered.

“What was that?” Slade yelled.

“A cat! I should have gotten a cat! And now I have you and Jagger and another pissy athlete that yelled at me when you beat him out for Gucci. You need to be there next week for the photo shoot, they want to use body oils to bring out your muscles in the pictures. Good luck with that one.”

Slade scrunched up his nose.

“And keep it in your pants!” Matt yelled. “You too, Mackenzie! I’ll be watching, well, not watching because that crosses a very professional line, and we both know that sexual harassment is—”

“Matt!” Slade laughed. “Go. Away.”

“Right. Doing just that.” I thought he left and then his voice was back. “Seriously, Slade, don’t . . . just . . . please don’t do anything stupid.”

“Do I often do something stupid?”

Matt was silent.

I wrapped my arms around Slade’s neck and pulled him close until the tips of my breasts were sliding across his chest.

He let out a groan.

“Seriously,” Matt added.

Slade looked down at my lips, captured them with such ferocity that my head slid back against the tile, and then pulled back just long enough to whisper, “Too late.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

SLADE

It had been years since I’d just made out with someone for the sake of making out and not to prime them for more.

I’d forgotten how erotic kissing was.

I’d also forgotten how hard it was when a beautiful naked woman was rubbing against me not to slam her against the wall and pin her there.

I dug my hands into her wet hair as she opened her mouth to me, and hot water fell between our bodies as we kissed. I tasted water against her mouth, with