. . .”
He pulled her inside, closed the door, and put her up against it so he could give her a proper kiss. Her lips were chilly, her coat bulky between them, but she still felt incredibly good, especially when she sank her hands into his hair and held him to her.
Behind him, Ranger gave a woof.
When they came up for air, she looked around Adam. “So you’ve got other company.”
“Ranger decided I shouldn’t be alone at night since you’ve deserted me.”
“It’s been two days,” she said, laughing as she put her hands on his chest and pushed.
“Two long days where I get to see you and not touch.” He backed up a step as she took off her coat and hung it on one of the hooks beside the door.
Her smile faded as she regarded him. “Is our undercover secret not working for you?”
“I didn’t say that. I’m just all hot and bothered from those sketches, and I almost threw snowballs at your window.”
Brooke moved toward the fire, petting Ranger, then holding out her hands to the warmth. “I don’t know why you’re hot and bothered—they’re not pornography.” She sent him a smile.
“I don’t need pornography. You’d turn me on wearing cowboy boots and hat and nothing else.”
She held out a hand to him and he joined her in front of the fire. He shooed Ranger away and sat down on the rug, back against the couch, and pulled Brooke down to sit between his legs. She leaned against him with a sigh of contentment.
“I did feel bad for Whitney,” she said quietly. “That was an ugly thing Sylvester said.”
“He was just spouting for an audience. He’s got to recruit for the town-council meeting after all.”
“How did she act afterward?”
He pulled the band off the end of her braid, then ran his fingers down through her dark brown hair until the wavy curls spread freely down her back. “You saw her. She’s not giving up. And it was only a couple blocks to her B&B. She didn’t say much in the car.”
“Your grandma must have been steamed.”
“Partly. And then she blamed herself. She never meant any of that to happen.”
“I’m sure you reassured her,” Brooke said, tipping her head back and snuggling beneath his chin. “I saw you and Chris talking. You know he’d be happy to reintroduce you to people.”
“We’ll see. I also heard about another teammate today. We used to call him Deer.”
She laughed. “I haven’t thought of that nickname for Howie Junior in I don’t know how long.”
“If I remember correctly, he dated you in high school.” He nipped the side of her neck with his mouth.
“Oh, yes, you should be jealous. I’m always attracted to men who tell everyone our private business.”
“So he ran at the mouth about as fast as he ran with a football?”
“Maybe faster. Guess that’s why I like you.”
She twisted her head as if to glance at him, but he could only see her profile.
“You seem pretty good with secrets,” she continued.
He wasn’t stupid—she was talking about more than their sex life. But he wasn’t going to burden her with his problems. “Deer never said much to me about you. What did he have to say to other guys? If he got to first base or not?”
“That about covers it. We didn’t last long, so that was all the baseball we played. But he’s a nice guy, even if he’s no longer able to run quite so fast.”
“Hmmm, first base,” he said, nuzzling behind her ear. “I got there the moment you walked in the door.” Then he slid his hands up and over her breasts, cupping their fullness. “Second base.”
She gave a soft gasp that was nearly his undoing, arching her head back to his shoulder. He kissed his way from her earlobe down to the collar of her shirt, while he gently rubbed her nipples through her clothes.
“A thin bra,” he said.
“Not quite as impressive as the ones in the sketches.”
“Let me be the judge of that.” He slid one hand down and cupped the warmth between her thighs. “Third base.”
“Oh, please,” she said breathlessly. “You call that third base?”
“Is that a challenge?” In an instant, he had her on her back on the rug, her hair spread all around, her face glowing with the firelight and her good, sweet nature.
Sweet? Brooke? He would never have thought that before. She was clearly addling his brain. But then he was taking off her clothes, and his brain shut down altogether.