“I hope that will be some comfort to you when you lose,” she countered.
“No, but it’s going to add to the pleasure of winning.”
He missed his first swing, too. Charlie wasn’t as gracious and laughed out loud. He missed his second pitch because he was too busy pointing at her and telling her to behave. After that, he only missed twice more. They were tied. This was even more fun than she’d expected.
Charlie ignored her aching shoulders and took the bat from his hands as he held the gate open for her. “Again?” he asked.
“Oh, yes. Again.”
His hot gaze let her know he wasn’t thinking about the batting cage. Good. Neither was she. She was thinking that later he’d be her prize or she’d be his. And they’d both win no matter what.
Her adrenaline was pumping as she took a stance and raised the bat. The machine ground loudly away ahead of her. The first ball flew. She narrowed her eyes and slammed it back the way it had come.
“Goddamn, you’re sexy, Charlie.”
She spread her legs a little farther and wiggled her hips. Walker groaned. She hit the next pitch. And the next. Her heart beat hard with lust and awareness and competition. She wanted to beat him at this game and she wanted to be pushed to her knees and taken hard from behind. Wanted triumph and submission all at the same time. An altogether delicious contradiction.
She only missed three pitches.
Walker missed four.
She bit her lip as he came out of the cage, and tried her best not to laugh as he exchanged the helmet for his cowboy hat. Walker threw her a serious glance. She pressed her lips tight together. It didn’t help. Before she knew it she was grinning so hard her cheeks hurt.
Walker reached for her and tugged her close. “You got something to say, Charlie?”
She shrugged and pretended to be unaffected by the press of his hot body against hers. “You’re pretty quick on your feet for a big man. But not quick enough.”
“Yeah.” He spread his hands over her shoulders. His thumbs traced along her collarbone. “But that’s not what you’re looking for, is it? Speed?”
Her nipples tightened at that faint slide of his skin against hers. “No.”
“Especially not for your victory round.”
“Oh, I get a victory round?” she asked.
“Don’t you want to celebrate your dominance?”
Her instinct was to say no. Definitely not. She’d gotten her victory and now she wanted to be used. But then she thought of him lying beneath her. Thought of riding him. Using his cock just the way she wanted for as long as she wanted. With what they’d already done today, he could last a very long time....
Yes. She definitely wanted to lord it over him. Charlie pressed her hands to his wide chest, sneaking her fingers beneath the edges of his coat. His body heat was trapped here. “You’re a gracious loser.”
“You have no idea how gracious.”
“Oh. Maybe we should skip mini golf so we can get dinner out of the way.”
He smiled and ducked his head closer. His beard brushed her cheek and she fought off the urge to snuggle into him with a needy groan. God, he smelled so good. “Come on. Let’s get dinner out of the way.”
“All right. But I need to powder my nose first. Don’t move.”
A few minutes later, after powdering the sweat off her face and fixing what the batting helmet had done to her hair, she hurried back to where she’d left Walker. She wasn’t surprised to find that he’d wandered off. He’d done it every time she’d left him alone at the school library, too, always looking for someone to talk to or interact with. She strolled past the batting cages and over to the snack bar, but there was no sign of a big, sexy cowboy. The place wasn’t that crowded on such a cool, late-season night, and just as she’d decided he was in the men’s room, a wild burst of high-pitched laughter caught her attention. It sounded like the excited squeals of a pack of small animals. Charlie scanned the area until she sp
otted the source.
On a wide expanse of grass that families used for picnics in the summer, a dozen kids were gathered in a densely packed group. In the middle of them, rising like Godzilla from the sea, was a roaring Walker.
The kids screamed again as he grabbed one child and hefted her over his shoulder.
“Me! Me!” Several of the others called, tugging at any part of his clothing they could reach. She noticed how frail some of the arms were, and that several of the laughing kids were in wheelchairs.