She finally turned her head and met his eyes. “I know we’re good together, okay?”
It was incredibly hard admitting it, but it was the truth. Brody made her body sing, he made her heart soar, and she couldn’t imagine any other man doing that. But she also couldn’t imagine them ever having a stable life together.
“But I want someone I can build a home with.” Tears pricked her eyelids. “I want to have kids, and a white picket fence, a dog. I did the whole hockey-lifestyle as a kid. I don’t want to be sitting on airplanes for half the year, and when I have children, I don’t want to be home alone with them while their father is gone.”
He was silent for a moment. “I won’t play hockey forever,” he said finally.
“Do you plan on retiring soon?”
After a beat of hesitation, he said, “No.”
Disappointment thundered inside her, but really, what was she expecting? That he’d throw his arms around her and say, Yes, Hayden, I’ll retire! Tomorrow! Now! Let’s build a life together!
It wasn’t fair to ask him to give up a career he obviously loved, but she also wasn’t willing to give up her own goals and dreams. She knew what she wanted from a relationship, and no matter how much she loved being with Brody, he couldn’t give that to her.
“I wish you’d reconsider,” he murmured. He shifted her around and moved closer so that his body was flush against hers. “Damn, we fit so well together.”
She rubbed her pelvis against his. They did fit. Even though he was a head taller, their bodies seemed to mesh in the most basic way, and when he was inside her…God, when he was inside her she’d never felt more complete.
A soft moan escaped her lips at the delicious image of Brody’s hardness filling her, and suddenly the tension of the day drained from her body and dissolved into a pool of warmth between her legs. Suddenly everything they’d just been talking about didn’t seem to matter. Brody’s job, her need for stability—it all faded away the moment he pressed his body to hers.
“Let’s not talk anymore,” she whispered. “Please, Brody, no more talking.”
Her arousal must have been written all over her face because he ran his hands down her back and squeezed her buttocks. “You’ve got a one-track mind,” he grumbled.
“Says the man who’s fondling my ass,” she murmured, relieved that the tension had eased. The heavy weight of the painful revelations they’d just shared floated away like a feather.
Brody bent his head and covered her mouth with his. The kiss took her breath away, made her sag into his rock-hard chest as his greedy tongue explored the crevices of her mouth. Keeping one hand on her ass, he moved the other one to the front of her slacks, deftly popped open the button and tugged at the thin material.
Pulling back, he pushed her slacks off her body, waited for her to step out of them, then tossed them aside. Goose bumps rose on her thighs the second the night air hit her skin. She wore a pair of black bikini panties that Brody quickly disposed of.
“Your neighbors can see us,” she protested when he reached for her blouse.
“Not where we’re going.” He quickly removed her shirt and bra, then lifted her into his arms and headed for the steps of the deck.
She wriggled in his embrace, self-conscious about her naked body being carried around in his backyard, but he kept a tight grip on her. Quickening his strides, he moved across the grass toward the gazebo, ascended the small set of stairs leading into it and set her on her feet.
Her heels made a clicking noise as they connected with the cedar floor of the little structure. She looked around the gazebo, admiring the intricate woodwork and plush white love seat tucked in the corner. When she turned back to Brody, he was as naked as she was.
She laughed. “Let me guess, sex in the gazebo is one of your fantasies?”
“Oh, yeah. I’ve wanted to do this since the moment this damn thing was built.”
“What, none of your hockey groupies ever wanted to do it in the wilderness of your backyard?” she teased.
“I’ve never brought a woman home before.”
She forced her jaw to stay closed. He’d never brought a woman home before? The implications of that statement troubled her, but she didn’t feel like dwelling on them now. As she’d said, no more talking.
At the moment, all she wanted to do was fulfill this gorgeous man’s fantasy.
11
HE’D STARTLED HER with his admission. He’d seen it in Hayden’s eyes the moment he’d confessed to never having brought a woman home, but fortunately that flicker of wariness had faded. Her eyes now glimmered with passion, and he loved that she wasn’t complaining about the way he’d stripped her naked and carried her out to the gazebo.