Wild Card: Boys of Fall Read online

  The problem was Lorelie wasn’t intent on just stripping him out of his shirt. Her fingers started working on the button and zipper to his jeans.

  He gripped her wrist. So far, he’d managed to keep his dick in his pants around her. Barely.

  And tired as he was, his cock apparently hadn’t gotten the message that his body was out of commission. While the contrary appendage appeared willing to give it the old college try, the rest of him had checked out.

  “Lori, I—”

  “I’m not going to jump on you, Glen. I know you’re worn out. I just want to help ease some of the hurts.”

  His brow creased and she laughed.

  “Not that hurt,” she added. Then she shook off his grip—not that it was hard to do, he had zero strength left—and finished unfastening his jeans.

  She worked the stiff denim and his boxers over his hips and down his legs. Then she put the lid down on the toilet and told him to sit while she tugged off his boots and finished divesting him of his clothing.

  It was the first time in his life he’d been naked with a woman without hope of having sex. Lorelie guided him to the bathtub and he groaned in absolute pleasure as the hot water hit his fatigued muscles.

  “Jesus Christ, that feels good,” he muttered.

  Lorelie tossed a folded towel on the floor next to the tub and sank to her knees. She reached for a bar of soap as he watched, fascinated.

  “What are you doing?” he asked as she worked suds up on a washcloth.

  “Washing you off.”

  Glen was thirty-eight years old and couldn’t remember the last time anyone had ever taken care of him. Probably his mother when he was a little kid. He’d suffered through injuries, flu bugs and food poisoning on his own, laying alone in bed and dealing with whatever was wrong the best way he could until it passed.

  He didn’t resist when Lorelie ran the washcloth over his chest and along his arms. His whole body hurt, but that pain disappeared in the face of the amazement he was feeling.

  “Lean forward,” she instructed, and he moved without question as she ran the soapy cloth over his stiff back. She applied pressure to her scrubbing, so in addition to getting him clean, she was massaging the soreness out. It felt like heaven.

  Moving toward the other end of the tub, she offered the same cleansing kneading to his feet, calves and thighs. She hadn’t ventured toward his waist/hip region and it occurred to Glen, he hadn’t even been thinking about that, about sex.

  Here was the most beautiful woman he’d ever met, rubbing her hands all over his naked body, and sex hadn’t even entered his mind. Instead, he was blown away by the idea that she was taking care of him.

  Rising, Lorelie grabbed a cup from the sink, dipped it into the water and poured it over his head. She repeated the action several times before squeezing a dollop of shampoo into her palm and washing his hair.

  Part of him wondered why he wasn’t resisting. He wasn’t helpless. In fact, the longer he sat in the tub, the stronger he felt. The stiffness was fading, along with the twinges, aches and pains.

  “You don’t have to do this, Lori,” he said when she started to rinse the shampoo out of his hair. He slid down in the tub, submerging his head in the water to sluice out the rest. When he came up for air, she was still kneeling there.

  “I like taking care of you.”

  “Just me?” Glen didn’t have a clue where that question came from or why it mattered. It shouldn’t make a damn bit of difference to him. But it did. If she was one of those natural-born caregivers, that was one thing. However, he wanted to be special to her. Liked thinking her gentle ministrations were just for him.

  He was a jackass. And he was letting himself wander down a road he had no business taking.

  “Never mind,” he muttered.

  “Yeah,” she answered anyway. “Just you. This feels weird to me too, you know?”

  Lorelie never minced words, but more than that, she was really good at reading his mind and finding the words to make him feel like less of a fool.

  “Never given anyone a bath?”

  She shook her head. “Not like this. Shortly after my dad’s heart attack, he was bedridden. I gave him sponge baths, but that was just me running a warm rag over his arms and legs and face. This…”

  She didn’t finish her sentence. Maybe she couldn’t find a word for it anymore than he could.

  “I like this,” he admitted.

  “So do I.”

  “You worked a miracle. I feel alive again. Don’t tell your dad, but today nearly killed me.”

  She laughed. “I’m pretty sure he knows that. Actually, we all knew it. You really don’t have to go back tomorrow if you don’t want to.”

  He knew that. But he was going anyway. Initially, he’d been trying to impress Lorelie and her dad, to prove to the ranch hands and the football players that they were wrong about him. But now, it felt like he needed to prove something to himself.

  “I’m going back.”

  His answer pleased her, which pleased him. More than he cared to admit.

  Lorelie stood and grabbed a clean towel. Glen rose as well and took it from her. He was ready to take the reins back. Drying off, he worked quickly and efficiently, so that he could use the towel as a shield. His cock was rock hard and pretty much impossible to miss.

  Not that Lorelie was trying at all. Her gaze left his face and traveled south, hanging out for a nice long time.

  She licked her lips and he groaned, prompting her to glance at his face once more.

  “Can you answer something for me, Butterfly?”

  She nodded.

  “How far is the guest room from your bedroom?”

  Lorelie tried to look innocent, but failed miserably. “They’re right next door to each other.”

  “Fuck,” he whispered as she giggled.

  While he felt better than he had when they’d walked into this room, he was still physically wiped out. He wanted Lorelie with a need that was becoming painful, but there was no way he could do that passion justice in his present state.

  With the towel wrapped securely around his waist, he only felt minimally better. It didn’t do much to hide his erection.

  “Let me throw some clothes on and then we can head back to the ranch.”

  Glen tried to step around Lorelie in the small room, but she didn’t give way, remaining resolutely in his path. “There’s no rush. There’s something else I’d like to take care of first.”

  He knew what she meant. Lorelie had made no secret of her desire to have sex with him.

  “Lori. I know it looks like I’m good to go, but—”

  “Glen?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Just stand still.”

  Before he could respond, she jerked the towel loose and dropped it to the floor. And then she wrapped her hand around his cock.

  He sucked in a deep gasp. “Lori, baby.”

  She stroked him from root to tip…and Glen reconsidered his previous assessment. Maybe he could find the strength after all. Lorelie stretched up on tiptoe, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. He reached to catch her lips, to give her a longer, deeper kiss, but she moved too quickly.

  One minute she stood in front of him, the next she was on her knees. Glen grasped her cheeks, forcing her gaze upwards.

  “Lori, honey, you don’t have to—”

  “Not a question of having to. I want to. Now hush.”

  One of these days, Glen was going to find a way to hold on to the reins this cowgirl kept yanking out of his hands. He stroked his fingers through her hair, his eyes closing briefly when she sucked the tip of his cock into her mouth.

  Jesus. She’d barely touched him and he was already perilously close to blowing. He blamed it not just on tonight, but the last few times they’d been together, and every night he’d spent alone since the first time he’d met her. Her face was the last thing he saw every night when he closed his eyes, and he’d woken up too many times in the wee hours
after midnight, hard and hurting and wanting her.

  She took him deeper as she wrapped her hand tighter around the base of his dick. His fingers gripped her hair as he struggled to hang on.

  Lorelie either didn’t notice or care about the way he was pulling her hair or the instant, overwhelming effect she was having on him. She wasn’t giving him an opportunity to steady himself, to catch his breath. Instead, she started sucking him harder, moving faster, gripping him tighter.

  “Dammit,” he muttered. “I’m not going to last long if you keep…” His words faded away when Lorelie used her free hand to grip his balls.

  He sucked in some much-needed air, but it didn’t help. She was too fucking good at this. When she giggled, the action vibrating along his hard cock, he realized he’d said those words aloud.

  Glen decided it was pointless to wage a battle he wasn’t going to win. Tightening his grip in her hair even more, he started thrusting toward her. Lorelie hummed her approval, so he gave in. Taking her the way he’d dreamed of every night since October.

  Lorelie met him thrust for thrust and then put the final nail in the coffin when she dragged one fingertip between his ass cheeks and circled his anus.

  “God. Dammit!” Glen tried to pull out of her mouth, but Lorelie followed him as his come erupted. And then, holy mother, she swallowed. Neither of them sought to separate as his dick softened. Lorelie simply held him there until the gray spots that blinded him began to fade.

  Then he realized his fingers were still in her hair. He loosened his grip and pulled his hips away from her.

  “I’m sorry, Lori. Did I hurt you?” he asked, rubbing her scalp.

  She shook her head. “Not at all. That was hot.”

  He reached under her arms and helped her stand, tugging her into his embrace and holding her. Stroking her back, Glen tried to find the words to thank her for…well…every single thing she had done since they’d walked into this room.

  Lorelie’s arms were wrapped around his waist and he realized he could spend the rest of his life standing here just like this, and never want for another thing.

  He wasn’t sure what the hell that meant, but he understood that he’d just taken a hard left…and his life was never going to be the same again.

  6

  Toby: You still in Texas?

  Glen: Yes

  Toby: Truck fixed?

  Glen: Yes

  Toby: Good. Stay there. I’ll be in touch soon

  Lorelie stood on the front porch as afternoon gave way to evening and hugged her dad. He chuckled when she finally released him.

  “I’m only going to be gone overnight, Lori,” Dad said.

  “I know that.”

  It would be the first time she’d spent a night away from her father since his heart attack. He and Joel were driving to Austin for a stock sale. They planned to put most of the driving behind them tonight, pull over at a hotel off the interstate when they got tired, and then drive the rest of the way early in the morning. Stock sale started at nine and her dad liked to get there early to check out the cattle.

  “Besides, Joel will be doing most of the driving.”

  The only reason she was feeling partly okay with the trip was the fact Joel was going.

  But currently Joel was glancing at Glen, who was standing next to her on the porch.

  It had been one week—seven days exactly—since Glen had moved into the guest room. Oakley and Joel were warming up to him, but every now and then—like now—they’d revert to protector mode. Joel clearly wasn’t happy about Lorelie and Glen spending the night alone together in the house. He’d even made a pretty strong case for why Glen should go with Coach instead of him, but her dad didn’t bite.

  The only person she didn’t have to worry about accepting Glen was Dad, which surprised her. Dad had welcomed Glen with open arms from the beginning, and, while he’d done nothing overt, there was a tiny part of her that felt like Dad was even trying to push her and Glen together romantically. She usually dismissed that idea whenever it reared its head. Her dad had never taken an interest in her love life. Of course, she’d never had one worth paying much attention to before now.

  “Okay—text when you stop at the hotel and let me know where you’re staying,” she said to Joel, who nodded even as he sighed.

  “We’ve made this trip at least twenty times before, Lorelie. We know what we’re doing.”

  “Fine. You guys better hit it or it’ll be midnight before you get to lay your heads down.” She waved as they walked to the truck.

  Her dad turned before climbing in. “Take care of my girl, Glen.”

  Glen smiled and gave Dad the thumbs-up. “Will do, Coach.”

  Joel frowned. “Oakley will be back soon.”

  If he meant his words as a threat, they missed the mark by a mile. Lorelie laughed, which clearly annoyed Joel even more. Regardless, the two men got in the truck, fired it up, and were on their way.

  “What’s so funny about Oakley?” Glen asked.

  “He’s closing Pitchers with Sadie tonight. He won’t be back soon, and there’s no way he’ll be checking on us afterwards anyway. I have Sadie in my camp. She’ll have him seduced out of his pants five minutes after they get back—and Joel knows it.”

  Glen gave her a look so sexy, she realized Oakley wasn’t the only one in danger of being seduced. “If I’m not inside you in the next fifteen minutes, I’ll explode.”

  Though she and Glen had found countless opportunities to mess around during the past week, they hadn’t managed to seal the deal, so to speak.

  For one thing, the stubborn asshole was insisting on a bed and romance. No matter how many times she dragged him to the hayloft, he wouldn’t do more than some seriously heavy petting.

  And then there was the issue of her dad. Glen said it would be extremely disrespectful to sleep with his boss’s daughter while he was in the house. When she pointed out that Dad wasn’t technically his boss, Glen made some very sweet speech about being grateful for the opportunity to work on the ranch and spend time with her and how there was no way he’d take advantage of her father’s kindness.

  It was a nice sentiment—that left her alone in her bed every night, and so freaking horny she’d wanted to scream. She’d considered throwing caution to the wind and sneaking over to his room just last night, but then she recalled the squeaky floorboards, and realized the mattress springs were bound to be just as squeaky. Despite how badly she was hurting, the idea of her father hearing any of that was too mortifying to consider.

  But now…Dad was gone. The house was empty. They were alone. At last.

  “Come on.” She took Glen’s hand and led him into the house and straight up the stairs. Lorelie hesitated briefly just inside the doorway to her room.

  Glen placed his hand at the base of her spine. “Now you’re having second thoughts?” There was no anger in his tone. In fact, she didn’t doubt for a second if she said she was, he’d call a halt to the whole thing.

  Lorelie shook her head. “No. No second thoughts.”

  “Maybe you should think harder.” His words were said lightly, almost as a joke, but she could read the seriousness in his eyes.

  Ever since he’d arrived, she had been the aggressor in their sexual exploits. She’d been the one constantly pushing for more, while he’d tried to put on the brakes, to give her space and romance and time and…

  She bit her lower lip, trying to figure out why she was hesitating. “I want you. So badly.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you, Lori.”

  And then she knew why. It was a little late to hope that Glen wouldn’t hurt her. If he’d gone the one-night-stand route, maybe she would have had some hope of holding on to her heart.

  Now…yeah. It was definitely too late.

  Then she saw something in his expression that told her this wasn’t a one-way street. “I don’t want to hurt you either.”

  Lines formed in his forehead, as if he hadn’t considered that. Had
n’t realized that she wasn’t the only one who was vulnerable.

  “We’re playing a game we can’t win here.”

  She nodded. “I know that.”

  “I can’t get up from the table and walk away.”

  Lorelie reached for the hem of her T-shirt and tugged it over her head. “Good.”

  Glen’s gaze drifted to her breasts as he reached out to cup one. “Lori?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m going all-in. And I’m playing my wild card.”

  They’d turn the corner together. Whatever happened in the future was going to happen. None of that mattered right now. It couldn’t.

  Glen’s hands slid to her back and he unhooked her bra, pulling the lace off and dropping it to the floor with her shirt.

  Lorelie went to work on his clothing while he freed her of her jeans. As far as finesse was concerned, neither of them bothered. They needed naked and they needed it now.

  They’d both seen each other before, but once the clothes were gone, Glen took a step away, eating her up with his eyes. She followed suit. It was amazing what just one week of working on the ranch had done to Glen’s body. Lorelie had thought he was built before, but now…

  “Holy Moses.”

  He chuckled. “Ditto. You’re fucking gorgeous, Butterfly.”

  She glanced across the room. “Bed?”

  “In a minute.”

  Lorelie put her hands on her hips. “Glen…” she started. He’d put her off for days. They were alone and the requisite bed he kept insisting on was right there. She wasn’t about to wait much longer.

  Before she could tell him that, he gripped her waist, pulling her against him. His erection brushed her stomach. “You gotta stop trying to run the show, Lori.”

  He’d said as much before. And he’d shown her what benefits came from trusting a lover to give her what she needed.

  “I know. It’s just—”

  “We’ve got all night. We’re both going to get exactly what we want. There’s no need to rush things or force them.”

  “Okay,” she whispered, resting her cheek against his chest. She could hear and feel his heart pounding, racing. It matched hers.