Page 44 of Score to Settle (Oakwood Ranch #1)

THIRTY-THREE

JAKE

The weights clang as I place them back on the rack, my muscles burning from the intensity of the workout. Despite the vast space of the gym at Stormhawks Park and the blast of AC, the air reeks of the sweat of my teammates as the coaches push us through a grueling gym routine.

It’s Tuesday morning and even though spirits are high from Sunday’s win, every one of us is focused—our thoughts on five days’ time and the penultimate game of the season against Chase’s Kansas City Trailblazers.

“Looking good, Jakey-boy,” Billy calls from the bench press beside me. “Trying to impress a certain journalist, eh?” He waggles his eyebrows at me and laughs. If there was a bad bone in Billy’s body, I might be tempted to tell him to eat shit, but Billy is all about the fun, so I just roll my eyes.

“Any truth to those luuuurv rumors?” he continues.

I chuckle. “They’re called rumors for a reason, Vargas.” I turn away before he can see the smile I’m fighting. I might love Billy, but he’s as discreet as Mama when someone is stupid enough to be standing in the way of her getting what she wants.

The reality is, I can’t stop thinking about Harper.

The way her eyes sparkle when she laughs at one of my stupid jokes.

How soft her skin feels under my fingertips.

I’m counting down the minutes until I can be alone with her again.

It’s great to have Mama and Dylan home, but I wasn’t joking about getting a hotel room.

I already miss the feel of Harper naked in my arms. Especially knowing we’ll be apart from tomorrow as Harper spends Christmas with Mia.

Maybe it’s time I get my own place in the city again.

I have tonight to make the most of Harper—to show her how special she is before we spend three days apart. It already feels too long. I can’t even think about the assignment ending on Sunday and not seeing each other every day.

It was a struggle to drive straight this morning with how much I wanted to pull over and kiss her. The only thing that stopped me was the knowledge that Harper deserves better than a fumble in my truck. That and knowing she’s packed that red two-piece to join me for a swim later.

Music thuds from the speakers, drowning out the grunts of the team and the light ribbings.

I throw myself into the weights, forcing myself to think of nothing but the workout until my thighs and arms burn.

Only when Coach Allen calls us for the tactics talk do I catch my breath and grab some water and a towel, wiping the sweat from my face.

We might be leading the AFC West, but with two games left, nothing’s locked in.

Our playoff spot isn’t guaranteed yet. Coach is straight to business, jabbing a finger at the whiteboard covered in arrows.

The passion in his voice is contagious as he talks us through the plays we’ll be running ahead of Sunday’s game.

When Coach wraps up, I lag behind as the team hits the showers, pretending to study the whiteboard as the locker room empties.

I spend longer than I need to in the shower, and when I shut off the water, the locker room is silent.

This close to Christmas my teammates are all focused on last-minute shopping and spending time with their families.

I throw on a tee and a pair of shorts and go in search of Harper.

I find her in the corner of the empty lounge, sitting cross-legged on the couch, her laptop balanced on her thighs.

Her hair is swept up into a loose ponytail and she’s lost in concentration, biting her lower lip, fingers flying over the keys.

She looks up as I stride toward her and the smile on her face makes my heart judder.

“Hey,” she says, and I catch a glimmer of uncertainty in her features, like she isn’t sure how to greet me. Is it because we’re in public or because we haven’t defined what this is yet?

“Hey yourself,” I say with a smile. “I really want to kiss you right now.”

She closes the lid of her laptop, a cute little smile touching her lips. “What’s stopping you?”

I arch an eyebrow. “You OK to make this public? Because for the record, I am!”

“It’s already public.” She swipes her phone and shows me another story on the gossip site. It’s my soppy face from the game and beside it is one of Harper in the skybox looking back at me with the biggest grin on her face. “I’m named in it now, too. They know I’m from Sports Magazine .”

“Shit. Are you OK?” I search her face as I drop onto the couch beside her.

Harper frowns. “I hate that people might think I’m sleeping my way to a big scoop.” She looks down, avoiding my gaze.

I gently tilt her chin up so her eyes meet mine. “Harper, why do you care what anyone else thinks? I know the truth. You know the truth. Screw everyone else.”

She sighs. “You’re right, but I’ve spent my whole life wanting people to like me and pretty much failing at it.”

“Hey, not everyone. Mia likes you,” I tease.

Harper laughs. “Mia is… different,” she finishes with a grin.

“I guess… I might like you a bit too,” I say, flashing her my Jake Sullivan smile. “So it’s not everyone.”

“Most people then. Plus, it’s in the public eye. I’m feeling pretty judged right now by people who don’t even know me on top of those that do.”

“Trust me, I get it.” I think back on all the rumors and stories that have swirled around me over the years. “But at the end of the day, the only opinion that matters is yours. Everyone else? Background noise.”

Harper nods reluctantly.

“And you’ve still got a job?”

She nods again. “So far, although I’m not looking forward to my meeting with Tim after Christmas.”

All I want to do is take her in my arms and kiss her, but I can tell there’s more. “But?” I push.

“Even if Tim doesn’t directly fire me for this, I’m still in my probationary period.

At the start of January, he’s going to choose me or another journalist, Callie.

The truth is, Callie deserves it more than I do.

I shouldn’t have lied in my interview. I feel like I’ve made a mess of my fresh start. ”

“So talk to Tim,” I suggest, slipping my hand into hers and giving a reassuring squeeze. “He loves the notes you’ve been sending him and you’re going to write an amazing feature about me?—”

“You don’t know that. And I’m not exactly Tim’s favorite person right now.”

“I do know that. Come clean to him at the right moment and he’ll probably understand. You say he’s a good guy.”

“Yeah. One I’ve spent the last four months lying to.”

I nod toward her laptop. “Are you writing about me or are you writing about sexy vampires right now?”

Harper’s face lights up and the tension lifts. “Vampires.”

“It really makes you happy.”

“It does. But don’t worry,” she adds, tapping the purple notebook she takes with her everywhere. “All my notes about you are here. I want to wait until the end of the week to start writing the feature. Just to make sure I’ve got all the details.”

“Sounds like you still need to get to know me a bit better.” I flash a grin and run my thumb down the side of her face. “I’m happy to accommodate any interview techniques you have in mind.”

She tips her head back and laughs. “Says the man who spent our first week together scowling at me.”

I groan. “Yeah, sorry about that. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

“What do you have in mind?” she asks with enough suggestion in her voice to wake my dick.

“Come for a swim with me.”

Harper pretends to think about it for a beat. “See you in the pool.”

Ten minutes later, I’ve never been so relieved to see a pool empty as Harper appears in that sexy red two-piece.

I give a low whistle of appreciation. “Damn, Cassidy. You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

“You’ve seen me wear this before.”

“That was when I was trying to be a gentleman and keep our professional boundaries.”

She gives me a teasing smile. “So you’re not trying to be a gentleman anymore?” She trails her fingers over my chest where my muscles are still aching from the weights.

“With you wearing that—definitely not.”

Unable to resist any longer, I capture her lips in a searing kiss. She responds by wrapping her arms around my neck and pressing her body to mine.

“Are you sure we’re OK to be here?” she says when we pull apart.

I nod, and when I speak, my voice is husky. “But maybe you should get in the water before I fuck you against this wall.”

She turns and dives gracefully into the water. Then she swims like the last time—strong, even strokes, giving herself to the workout. This time, I float around, allowing the water to ease my muscles.

When Harper is finished, she draws to the side of the pool and catches her breath.

“Sauna?” she asks and I nod.

The heat hits me like a wall as I open the door, the air thick with the smell of heated pinewood.

Harper steps inside and I follow, shutting the door behind us with a soft click.

She takes a seat on the wooden bench, leaning against the wall.

Beads of water still cling to her skin, glistening in the dim light.

I sit beside her, our thighs touching. Anticipation crackles between us as my eyes roam over her body.

She opens her eyes and catches me staring.

A sly smile plays at her lips. “So about me getting to know you better…”

“You had something in mind?”

She glances down to where I’m straining against my swim trunks and trails a finger down my chest, following the line of my abs. Her hand dips lower, skimming over the waistband. I suck in a sharp breath as she palms my length through the fabric.

Slowly, teasingly, she tugs my trunks down in the front, freeing me. My dick juts out, hard and ready, and she wraps her hand around the base, stroking upward. I groan at the touch, my head falling back against the hot wood of the walls.

She shifts to kneel between my legs, and holding my gaze she parts her lips and takes me into her mouth.

The feeling of her tongue swirling my tip has me rasping out a low “fuck” as jolts of electricity race down my spine.

I’ve been dreaming of having her lips on me since the first time I saw them painted in her favorite red, but I could never have imagined quite how good it would feel.

She takes me deeper, my tip hitting the back of her throat.

Harper’s lips work me with slow, sensual strokes, her tongue swirling and teasing.

The feeling of her mouth around my cock combined with the heat of the sauna makes me gasp.

Each bob of her head takes me deeper into the wet heat of her mouth.

I groan, my fingers threading through her damp hair, gently guiding her rhythm.

The sight of her lips stretched around me is the most erotic thing I’ve ever seen. “That feels so good,” I groan.

Beads of sweat trickle down my chest from the heat, but it’s nothing compared to the fire Harper is stoking inside me.

She releases me from her mouth and I almost whimper at the loss of contact.

But then her hand is there, stroking me base to tip as her tongue swirls around my sensitive head and over the bead of pre-cum building there.

I let out a growl as she takes me deep again.

I’m so damn close already, but I need to feel more of her.

I pull on the string of her bikini top, the red triangles falling away to reveal her perfect breasts.

I cup them in my palms, tweaking her nipples between my fingers and she moans around my shaft.

“I’m going to come,” I rasp as the pressure builds.

She draws her mouth slowly up my length before she speaks. “Good. I want to taste you.”

Harper doubles her efforts, sucking me faster, harder. My muscles tighten as I reach the edge. Harper looks up at me through her lashes. Our eyes lock and the raw desire in her gaze as she takes me deeper into her mouth sends me hurtling over.

“I’m coming,” I growl in warning, but Harper doesn’t release me as I explode, pulsing down her throat. Harper swallows every drop of me, sucking me through my orgasm, and then slowly pulls back. She gives me a coy smile and I lean my head back against the wood and close my eyes, my head spinning.

Fuck, I am so gone.