“Talk to you tomorrow, girl,” Shawnelle said.

Elizabeth waved them off, her lips and her mind and her heart focused only on Gavin.

TWENTY-FIVE

SOMEHOW, GAVIN HAD GOTTEN IT RIGHT. HE’D MANAGED not to strike out when he’d gone up to bat in the most important game of his life.

Now he stood outside the locker room with his lips locked with the woman he loved.

He’d won the girl.

Elizabeth slid her fingers into his hair and curled her body against his. God, it felt like it had been months since he’d touched her, since he’d breathed in the sweet honeyed scent of her, since he’d been inside her.

They stood in a hallway outside the locker room in a baseball stadium, and he was getting a hard-on.

Not good. Not good at all.

He broke the kiss and stared into her eyes, still not believing that he’d been forgiven for all he’d f**ked up, that she’d said yes. He still felt like he had so much to make up for.

Time. He needed lots of time.

“We have to get out of here. I need to get you alone.”

Her lips lifted. “That’s a very good idea.”

“Follow me home?”

She nodded. “Try not to break any speed limits, but hurry.”

HE STAYED AT OR JUST ABOVE THE SPEED LIMIT THE entire way to his house, glancing in his rearview mirror every few seconds to make sure Elizabeth was right behind him. He kept expecting her to ditch him, that maybe he’d dreamed everything that had happened today.

They pulled into the driveway together and got out of their cars, and he linked his fingers with hers as they strolled up to the front door. He held it open for her, his heart pounding the entire time.

“Your hand is sweaty,” Elizabeth said after they stepped inside and he closed the door.

“I’m nervous.”

She arched a brow. “Why?”

“I keep waiting for you to bolt. I keep thinking this isn’t real.”

She turned to him, wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m not leaving you, Gavin. Not now, not ever.”

He laid his hands on her hips. “I messed up bad. There were so many things I wanted to say to you today, to make you understand how sorry I am for what I said. But there isn’t a decent excuse for hurting you the way I did.”

She pressed a finger to his lips. “And sometimes you just have to let it go. We could rehash everything we’ve both said to each other during our relationship, the stupid things we’ve said and done, but what would be the point? Every step we’ve taken led us here, right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you love me, Gavin?”

“I do.”

“I love you, too. I’ve loved you for so many years, and I was afraid to tell you. I was afraid if I let you know how I felt about you, I’d lose you.”

“Why?”

She dropped her hands and stepped back. “I don’t know. The fact that I was your agent, that I’m a few years older than you, that you went through women as fast as you went through underwear.”

“Hey.”

She laughed. “It’s true, isn’t it?”

“I played the field a little.”

She cocked a brow. “A little? Gavin, you were all over women all the time. And that’s fine. It was good for your image and good PR. I played it up as much as possible.”

He stepped up to her, smoothed his hand over her hair. “And you loved me. Didn’t it hurt you?”

She shrugged. “A little. But I did my job. I did what was best for you.”

He inhaled, blew it out, took her hand, and led her to the sofa. She sat, and he kneeled in front of her. “I’m sorry I never knew, never picked up on it. What kind of man does that make me?”

“It makes me a very good agent who made sure you never knew.”

He didn’t smile. He lifted her hand. “I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”

“Not necessary. I have you now. It’s all that matters.”

“I really don’t deserve you.”

“Yes, Gavin, you do. As much as I deserve you. We belong together.”

He lifted up and brushed his lips against hers, feeling like the luckiest man alive. His heart swelled with so much love his chest felt like bursting.

This was what love felt like. This feeling of joy, of knowing you’d never be alone again, never feel like something was missing from your life; the feeling that you now had someone to protect, to keep safe from harm.

He got it now; he understood where his brother was coming from.

He’d die to protect Elizabeth.

He pulled a box out of his pocket. “This part I didn’t want to do at the stadium. I wanted it just to be the two of us.”

ELIZABETH STARED AT THE BLACK VELVET BOX.

She hadn’t expected this. She raised her hand to her heart, then looked at Gavin.

“Oh.”

He opened the box and inside was a princess-cut diamond in a platinum setting. And wow. The diamond was huge, the band covered in tiny sparkling diamonds, too.

It was perfect. Gorgeous and everything she could have dreamed of.

“Oh, Gavin. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

He held her hand. “Elizabeth Darnell, I love you. I don’t care how old you are or how old I am. I want you to be my wife. I want to have babies with you if you want them, too. I want you to continue to love your career as much as I love mine. I want us to love and respect each other forever. Will you marry me?”

This time she didn’t try to fight the tears. She let them flow down her cheeks and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, Gavin. I love you, too. And I’d be honored to marry you.”

He slid the ring on her finger and pulled her off the sofa and into his arms. On her knees, she met his lips with equal passion. Her carefully coiffed updo was gone in an instant as he pulled the pins from her hair and shook it out, his hands diving into the strands as he fell onto his back on the floor and pulled her on top of him.

God, it felt good to feel his body against hers again. She’d missed his touch, the way his hands glided over her back and to her hips, the way he dug his fingers into her as if he couldn’t seem to get enough of her.

She’d missed his passion, his almost desperate need for her, because she always needed him. Would it always be like this between them? She hoped so.

She lifted, stared down at him, smoothed his hair away from his brow, and listened to his heavy breathing, felt his heartbeat jamming away against her chest.

He tilted his head and smiled up at her. “What?”

“I was just wondering if it would always be like this between us. This hunger we seem to have for each other.”

He cupped her face and brought it down to meet his. “Hell, yes.”

He kissed her with such deep longing that she had no doubt he was right. Her heart melted, and so did her panties as he lifted against her, his erection driving against her sex. She planted her hands on his chest and surged against him, the need so powerful to have him inside her she quaked with it.

He broke the kiss, and she was breathless, especially when she saw the passion in his eyes. She sat up and began to unbutton her blouse, her fingers shaking. Gavin watched her undo each button, and try as she might to be slow and sexy, all she could do was fumble it.

Maybe him lifting and teasing her with his hard c**k had something to do with it.

“You’re distracting me.”

He cocked a brow. “Hurry up.”

“Trying.”

She let her blouse slip from her shoulders. His hands were on her br**sts in an instant, his thumbs sliding over the swells, then her nipples. The silk of her bra was no defense, and her ni**les hardened as he swept his fingers over her bra.

He sat up and undid the clasp, and she shrugged the bra off. He pulled her forward and caught one aching bud between his lips, suckling her and driving her mad with his tongue, teeth and lips while using his hand to roll the other nipple between his fingers. She tangled her fingers in his hair and tried to hold on through the myriad of sensations shooting pleasure sparks straight to her core.

This wasn’t happening fast enough. She pulled away and scooted down his thighs, reaching for the button of his jeans. He leaned back on his palms and let her unzip him, her knuckles brushing his erection, causing him to jerk against her in response.

Yes, he was as primed as she was. And she wanted him in so many ways, all at once. She pulled his jeans and shoes off and got them out of the way, then dragged his boxers down, too.

His c**k sprang up, hot and hard and delicious. She circled it with her hands, loving the soft, steely feel of it, the way the skin moved around the erect muscle, the engorged head just begging for a taste. She bent over the shaft and put her lips over the wide purple crest and swept her tongue over it, loving the way Gavin thrust against her mouth and groaned, then grabbed a handful of her hair as if he couldn’t control his reaction.

She wanted him out of control, wanted to see how far she could push him.

“I haven’t come since the last time we were together, Lizzie. If you’re going to suck me, I’m going to come in your mouth.”

She lifted her gaze to him, then took his c**k all the way in her mouth. He thrust, giving her more. She took it, wrapping her hand around the base of his cock, stroking him as she wound her tongue around his shaft, dragging her tongue down the underside and licking him all the way down to his balls. She took them into her mouth and flicked her tongue over them. Gavin let out a guttural groan.

She swept her tongue up his shaft again, then took it between her lips.

“Suck it. Suck it hard.” She pressed his c**k between her tongue and the roof of her mouth, and gave him the suction he asked for, cradling his balls in her hands and massaging them.

He tightened his hold on her hair. “Yes. God, yes. That’s going to make me come, Lizzie.”

She bobbed up and down on his shaft, her hands on his thighs, feeling his muscles tighten, feeling the sheen of perspiration coating his skin as he thrust upward into her throat.

“Yeah, like that. Suck me. I’m coming.”

She loved listening to him, loved knowing she could give him this pleasure. And when he let out a wild groan, his whole body jerking as he jettisoned into her mouth, she swallowed, gripping his thighs and taking all he had to give her.

He smoothed his hand in her hair, and she licked his shaft, then moved up to kiss his belly. She rolled his shirt in her hand as she kissed up his abdomen, loving the rock-hard feel of him. He lifted and allowed her to pull his shirt off, then surprised her by rolling her over onto her back and laying a deep, penetrating kiss on her that left her breathless. He plundered her mouth, licked against her tongue, rubbed his lips against hers until she was mindless and her bones felt like butter.

“Now it’s my turn,” he said, kissing his way across her neck, her collarbone, and when he got to her breasts, he licked her nipples, taking his time to enjoy both until each peak stood hard, wet, and aching. Her body vibrated from his touch and his kisses as he moved down her body, dragging her Capris down until all she wore were her panties.

“These are pretty,” he said, kissing her hip bone where one of the ties of her cream silk panties lay.

“Thanks.”

“It’s like a present for me.” He untied one of the bows, kissing her next to her sex, then went to the other tie and undid the bow, pulling the material free and baring her sex to him.

She shuddered. “Gavin, I haven’t come either since the last time we were together.”

He lifted his gaze to her. “I’m going to fix that right now.”

He pressed his mouth to her pu**y and laid his tongue on her.

“Oh,” was all she could manage, because he moved his tongue across her cl*tand any coherent thought was gone. Now she was merely a center of pleasure, focused on everything Gavin’s hot, wet tongue did to her as he glided across her sex.

Tension built in a hurry, and as he slipped a finger inside her, she quivered and knew she wasn’t going to last long. It was amazing the way he knew her body so well and could take her right to the edge in minutes. He pumped his finger in and out of her and moved his tongue in a slow circle over her clit. The sensation was like a lazy Sunday afternoon; her reaction anything but.

“Harder. Faster. Take me there, Gavin.”

He listened, inserted another finger inside her, pumped up the tempo, put his lips around her clit, and sucked.

“Yes. That’s it.” She arched against him and came, the torrent of sensation almost unbearable because it was just so damn good. She thrashed against him, and he placed a hand on her belly to hold her in place as he continued to lick her while she cl**axed on his face and his fingers, rolling from one orgasm right into another in an endless stream of pulses that left her weak and shaking.

And when he hovered over her, smiling down at her, she reached for him, and he covered her with his body and his lips, rolling them over again while he was kissing her, placing her on top once again.

His c**k was hard, and she slipped it inside her still-pulsing pussy, then sat up, linking her fingers with his as she surged against him, burying him fully inside her.

His gaze narrowed, and he lifted against her. “Ride me.”

She placed her hands on his chest and leaned forward, then lifted, setting the pace as she f**ked herself on his cock, drawing out each movement for maximum sensation, loving the feel of his c**k thickening inside her.

Gavin reached up and grasped her breasts, sliding his thumbs over her nipples. She arched into his hands, filling them with her breasts. He rose up and took alternating ni**les in his mouth, sucking them deeply, making her shudder at the shock of pleasure that shot straight to her pussy.