Page 68 of Putting Out
Naturally, she was going to let him because that’s what always happened. She couldn’t resist him. He was like ice cream to her. Or cake. Or sun. All things irresistible.
Then he’d pulled away and images of some unknown woman leaped into her mind. No doubt she was a brunette. All of his ex-wives had been brunettes.
So what the hell was the comment he’d made about what he'd said and what she'd heard? And why, if he was so damn smitten with his new woman, had he tried anything in the first place? Wasn’t it bad enough he’d gotten her all worked up by taking her the first time?
Having him pull away after sex that night was harder than if he’d simply cut her off before she could remember how good it was between them. Now she had a memory and she couldn’t seem to shake it. Every time he walked into a room she felt his presence. Every time he left it, his absence.
It was pissing her off.
Because he was here and she was here. What the hell kind of thing was that to say? Ruefully, she shook her head. She supposed she couldn’t blame him. The two of them being in the same room together was enough to set the spark.
Even when she’d been married. Christ.
Reilly tucked her face in her hands as she tried to push out the images of him standing there in the first row of the small church in Little Creek. His wife next to him. While she’d married Jamie, her college sweetheart.
She’d wanted him then. If she could have stripped off her wedding dress and climbed into his lap, she would have. Wife be damned.
It had been her first indication it wasn’t going to work between her and Jamie.
But Jamie had been steady. A scholar instead of an athlete, she’d thought he would balance her. Yin to her yang. They had nothing to compete over, which at the time seemed like the answer for a successful relationship. But the more she was with him the more she realized his lack of interest in golf wasn’t necessarily a good thing for their marriage.
She’d barely understood what he did for a living. All she knew was that he was forever going to classes, and he hadn’t care what she did.
In the end, he’d said she was too much for him. He couldn’t handle her fame and always being on the road. The reality was they simply had run out of things to talk about. Instead of steadying her, he’d ignored her. Instead of her balancing him by introducing him to people and trying to help him socialize, she’d gotten on his nerves.
Marriage one: done.
Looking back on it she could probably blame the disaster of her second marriage on Luke as well. He’d already divorced the TV actress and had his eye on a tennis pro. He’d explained, after a particularly intense romp between them when their respective tours were playing in the same city, her next husband should understand the demands of fame and the pressures of professional sports. Which is why he’d wanted to hook up with the tennis pro. Well, that and she had sexy forearms. He’d convinced Reilly she needed someone not the opposite of her, but like her.
Just not a golfer. Like him.
He went on to date and marry Marta, the Wimbledon winner. She’d found Boomer Diggs, recently signed quarterback for the Houston Texans.
Only Reilly couldn’t make it work with Boomer. He’d wanted her to be an old- fashioned wife. Always there to support him and his career. She’d wanted him to grow a brain. After no more than six months of marriage, five of which they had spent apart, they’d called it quits.
Luke and Marta had followed them to divorce court the very next month.
Then there had been that time at the ESPY’s. She and Luke hadn’t seen each other in months. They hadn’t had sex in over a year. They were completely unattached.
And they’d fallen on each other like dogs in heat.
Reilly couldn’t think about that night without remembering the feel of having her skirt lifted to her waist while he slid inside in a smooth deep move that took her breath away. It had been reckless and crazy and absolutely necessary. As if their bodies took over for them and decided they had been separated long enough.
In some ways that night, which turned into a three-day weekend, had freaked her out. They had gone from the theater holding the awards ceremony straight back to her hotel room and if it hadn’t been for the need for fresh air and sun, they might never have come out.
The intensity of the two of them had rattled her. It always had. It was the other reason why she knew a real relationship wouldn’t work between them. The first being the need for each of them to be on top. Figuratively, not literally.
After three days of mind-blowing sex, general teasing and good humor, he’d practically mumbled his goodbye when he left.
Jeez, how messed up were they? They could barely walk after the sexual marathon, but despite the intimacy of their mating, they couldn’t look at each other when they parted.
The following month, Reilly discovered on TMZ that Luke was dating an Academy-award- winning actress. The month after that, she had her own TMZ sound bite when her engagement to Buck was announced.
Reilly rolled herself to her feet and decided she wasn’t going to think about it anymore. She wasn’t going to think about Luke or whatever game he was currently playing. She sure as hell wasn’t going to think about some mystery brunette he may or may not marry.
May or may not… love.
Reilly shuddered at the thought.
