Page 108 of Blitzing Emily

She sipped her club soda. She knew her words were like waving a red flag in front of a six-foot-four, two-hundred-seventy pound bull who didn’t consider losing an option.

He met her eyes again. He reached out for her hand, and squeezed it. Despite having drunk enough alcohol to anesthetize an elephant, one side of his mouth twitched as the supremely self-confident, ultra-competitive Brandon McKenna roared back to life.

Chapter Twenty-One

EMILY ANDBRANDONmet at baggage claim. She was back from her previously delayed trip to Atlanta. He was home after his last pre-season game. Sea-Tac Airport wasn’t the most romantic place in town to schedule a meeting, but it didn’t stop Brandon from pulling her into his arms and making sure they’d be trending on Twitter within the hour. Emily could hear theclickand see the flashes of cell phone cameras going off.

One of Brandon’s teammates gave him a nudge. “Hey. Get a room.”

“Fu— Go to hell,” he said, but there wasn’t any heat in Brandon’s voice. “Maybe you could get a girl, if you weren’t so ugly,” he told the guy, who laughed out loud.

Brandon teased Emily the whole way home about a “surprise.” As they walked through the garage door into her house, he pulled his tie off, making a blindfold out of it for her.

“I can’t see—”

“I’ve got you,” he drawled. He slid his arm around her waist, and held her other hand to steady her footsteps. “One at a time. We’ll get there.”

Emily smelled roses as they moved into her house. The door shut behind them.

“What are you up to, Brandon McKenna?”

“This is taking too damn long.” Brandon swept her up in his arms. “You’ll see.”

She looped her arm around his neck. “I can’t see anything through this.”

She heard his low laughter. “So, take it off.”

She reached up and pulled the makeshift blindfold off as he carried her. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, but she glanced around.

A trail of rose petals covered the floor from the front door, down the hallway, and into Emily’s bedroom. More rose petals were heaped on the turned-down bed, and flickering candles lit the room. A bottle of champagne chilling in an ice bucket and two glasses waited for them on the dresser. Another bowl of fresh strawberries with a dipping bowl of thick, dark chocolate sauce sat next to it.

“This is incredible,” Emily said. “Did you do this?”

“I might have had some help.”

Amy was the only other person besides Brandon that had a key to Emily’s house. Even without the rose petals, it wasn’t tough to figure out who his helper was. Emily reached out to pick up one of the candles, flipping it over to examine the base.

“This must be one of those LED candles. They look real, don’t they?” she said.

“If that’s all you can think of at a time like this, sugar, I’m falling down on the job.”

He set her down on her feet. She set the candle on the closest flat surface and wrapped both arms around him.

“I always wanted to make love on a bed of roses,” she said.

He pulled her closer. “I think you’re going to get your wish.” His mouth took hers. “I missed you so damn much.”

Emily pushed his suit jacket off his shoulders, fumbling with the buttons down the front of his dress shirt. He responded by unzipping the pencil skirt she wore. A few minutes later, the only trace of two fully dressed people was a pile of clothes on the carpet.

“Leave your shoes on, sugar.” He picked her up again, setting her down in the bed.

“Lucky me,” was all she could say.

Emily lay in an unbelievably soft and fragrant pile of rose petals. Brandon heaped them over her breasts and abdomen, too. She marveled at how soft they felt against her skin, but she found herself a lot more interested in the six feet four inches of naked distraction lying next to her. Plus, he’d just licked the spot behind her earlobe that made her weak with desire.

“I miss you so much when I’m gone now,” she gasped out. “It’s awful.” She traced the shell of his ear with her tongue. “Maybe we should move somewhere there are no schedules, no agents, nothing else but you and me and—”

His voice was low but amused. “We can’t.”

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