Page 36

Twenty-One

Hattie rushed up to greet her when Sheridan walked in from the garage. The dog looked past her, presumably for Finn. She rubbed Hattie’s head.

“He’s not there,” she told the dog. “He’ll be home tomorrow.”

The dog sighed before lumbering off to the mudroom, where she plopped onto her bed with a groan.

“Right there with ya, girl. It’s been a long day.”

Sheridan followed the scent of bacon to the kitchen. Alek was at the stove making an omelet.

“Yum.”

He laughed as he slid the omelet from the pan onto a plate. “Bacon makes everything better.”

Except it wasn’t the bacon that had her moaning.

Alek had changed out of his game night suit into a pair of soft black joggers that fit his ass like a glove.

The muscles in his back rippled beneath his blue cashmere sweater.

For some reason, the dish towel draped over his shoulder made him even sexier.

“Come. Eat.” He gestured for her to sit at the table.

“You didn’t have to make me dinner. I’m not that hungry.”

Her stomach betrayed her by growling.

“Uh-huh.” He pulled out the chair for her. “Sit.”

She did as he asked because she realized she was in fact, starving—not to mention too exhausted to argue with him.

Alek poured some white wine into her glass. “How is Jackson?”

She sighed. “He’s still out.”

He whipped up an omelet for himself. “And Brad?”

“It doesn’t look like they will involve the police, thank goodness.

Brad is a jerk who was incredibly careless, but it wasn’t premeditated.

” She chomped on a piece of bacon. “Lori worked the angles all day to keep the story from getting out. More to protect the team than Brad, I think. Everyone at the hospital is obligated to keep it under wraps. Now, all we need is Jackson to open his eyes.”

“He will,” Alek said with more confidence than she felt. “Tomorrow morning, he’ll wake up as good as new and with a raging case of the munchies.”

She smiled as she sipped her wine. “Someone is feeling very confident this evening. Could it have something to do with having eight shutout periods under your belt?”

Alek shot her a wicked grin as he sat down next to her. “I have lots of things under my belt that you might be interested in.”

A flush burned her cheeks. “You know you didn’t have to make me dinner. You were going to get lucky anyway.”

“Yeah, I know. But I need you to have the strength for all the things I want to do to you later,” he teased. “Besides, this has easily become one of my favorite parts of the day.”

“Bedtime?”

He chuckled. “Well, that too. But I meant this quiet time after a game. Sitting here enjoying a meal with you. Talking about the day. It feels”—he shrugged— “nice. Natural, even.”

His admission had her feeling warm all over. Sheridan got up and straddled his lap. She gently pressed her palms to his cheeks before leaning in to deliver a tender kiss to his lips. As with every time their lips met, things didn’t stay tender for long.

Alek moaned when she shifted forward slightly.

Skin met skin when his fingers slid beneath her scrubs to trace her spine.

Her hands left his cheeks to dig into his damp hair.

She adjusted his head to give her better access to his mouth.

He gripped her hips with his fingers, grinding her core against his erection.

She jumped at the contact, pulling her mouth from his demanding one.

“I need to shower the hospital off me,” she panted.

He donned another one of those wicked grins. “Good idea,” he said, lifting her from his lap and circling her wrist with his fingers.

Alek handed Sheridan her wineglass, then picked up his protein shake. They were both breathing hard when they rushed up the stairs. He steered her into his bedroom and its adjacent en suite.

The bathroom was bigger than most apartments Sheridan had lived in.

With a heated floor, a mini fridge, and two tubs—one a cold plunge—it even had better amenities than some of her former residences.

And that was without mentioning the spacious shower with dual showerheads in addition to a rain shower element overhead.

There was even a function for it to operate as a sauna.

Sheridan set her wineglass on the quartz countertop and stepped out of her sneakers.

Alek picked up a remote control to turn on the water as well as heat the floor.

The hiss of the shower filled the room as she lifted off the top to her scrubs.

Alek’s gaze made a beeline for her nipples, already puckered beneath the long-sleeved pink compression shirt she wore.

“Allow me,” he murmured, reaching for the string to her scrub bottoms and tugging on it. He rolled them down over her hips, leaving her in nothing but her clingy shirt, pink panties, and My Little Pony compression socks. She shivered.

“Right. Let’s get you in the warm shower.”

Alek got down on his haunches and peeled off one compression sock.

He traced his thumb along the indentation the socks made on the skin beneath her knee, following it with his lips.

She felt his smile against her skin when she sighed.

The other leg was next. He dragged his tongue up the inside of her thigh.

When her knees buckled, she had to prop her hips against the counter to keep from falling.

He bypassed her panties, taking her shirt with him when he stood back up. His nostrils flared at the sight of her in her bra and panties. He gave his head a little shake.

“The water’s warm. Get in.” He spun her around and unclasped her bra before swatting her butt and aiming her in the direction of the shower.

Sheridan dropped her bra and stepped out of her panties, then moved beneath the warm spray. Groaning, she pressed her palms and her forehead against the wet tile, allowing the water to sluice over her tired muscles.

“This feels heavenly.” She sighed.

“Yes, it does,” Alek replied when he pressed his hard naked body against her back, reaching his hands around to cup her breasts.

She leaned her head back against his shoulder, giving his lips access to her exposed neck.

He reached for the soap instead. Once his hands were full of suds, he took his time lathering up her body, gently massaging the sore muscles in her shoulders, her back, and her hips.

His actions were both erotic and nurturing.

Sheridan had never felt more treasured.

“Sit,” he commanded, gesturing to the long teak bench along one wall.

She had no objection to complying, given how tired her body was. He crouched down on his haunches again, picked up one of her feet, and placed it over his rock-hard thigh. Her eyelids slid closed when he began to work his magic on the sole of her foot. She whimpered when he stopped to switch feet.

Alek stood to retrieve some bodywash, giving her an excellent view of his six-pack—and everything below it. She reached out to finger his balls. He groaned.

“Mmm.” She wrapped her fingers around his hard length.

“Sheri.”

She leaned forward to slide her tongue along his erection.

He swore. “This is you time, Sher.”

“Good,” she murmured against his skin. “Then I get to do what I want.”

He slammed his hands against the tile when she took him in her mouth. “I mean it, Sher,” he ground out. His protests didn’t last long, and his fingers found her scalp. He dug them in, guiding her head up and down along his length.

Less than a minute later, he pulled away, yanking her up off the bench and driving into her.

“Yes!” she cried, wrapping her legs around his waist.

He braced her against the wall. The steam from the shower cast a shroud around them, and the air was filled with the sound of their wet bodies slapping against the wall.

She dug her nails into his back right before the world went black.

He swore against her neck as his body shook with its own release.

Sheridan clung to him like a wet noodle while he tenderly dried her off with one of the giant towels.

He slipped one of his T-shirts over her head and carried her to his big bed.

The sheets were cool against her damp body.

She shivered. He pulled the comforter over her, tucking it beneath her chin.

Through the fringe of her lashes, she watched him squat before the fireplace to click the fire on.

The glow of the flames illuminated the droplets still clinging to his body.

“Alek,” she mumbled.

He was beside her in an instant, placing a butterfly kiss on each of her eyes. “Shh,” he told her. “Sleep.”

“I want you.” Exhaustion threatened to overtake her, and the words came out more garbled than she would have liked.

“I’ll be right back,” he told her. “I promised Finn I’d tuck in Hattie.”

Could he get any more perfect?

The man tolerated having a dog in his house for the sake of another man’s son. That he loved Finn was becoming increasingly apparent. She knew he desired her. And she was beginning to hope it could be something more. Sheridan fell asleep, allowing herself to dream of the future.

She woke with a start eight hours later. The sun was almost up. She was in Alek’s bed. Alone. The pillows next to her were cold. So were the sheets. She felt around on the nightstand for her phone, only to realize it was probably still down in her purse.

Finn!

Scrambling from the bed, she barely managed to avoid stubbing a toe as she searched for her clothes.

Of course, Alek had tidied up the bathroom after their shower.

Her scrubs were likely already in the laundry.

Not wanting to waste time hurrying to her own room, she reached into his dresser drawer and stole a pair of joggers.

She ignored the fact that they sort of fit her and raced to the catwalk landing overlooking the two sets of staircases in the house.