Playing to Win

personal life. Not my business.”
    She looked away to stare at a rosebush. “It’s my fault. I never talk about it.”
    “Maybe you should.”
    When she turned to him, he saw sadness in her eyes and wished he could turn back the clock, erase the time when he’d pried about her past.
    “It’s best if I don’t.”
    He didn’t agree. Things held inside festered. “Look, I’m like the worst person in the world to give advice since you obviously know I have character issues, but that shit boils inside you. Eventually it’ll find its way out.”
    She laid her hand on his arm. “There’s nothing wrong with your character, Cole. Nothing that I’ve seen of your behavior indicates you’re anything but a fine, honorable man. Remember, it’s all about image.”
    He liked what she’d said about him. It struck something deepinside him that was rarely touched. He also liked her touching him, didn’t want to do anything to change it.
    But he wasn’t going to take advantage of her when she was vulnerable. That would make him the asshole the media portrayed him to be. “Well, my image needs work. That’s why I have you.”
    He covered her hand with his and continued walking down the path.
    “You confuse me,” she said.
    “Do I?”
    “Yes.”
    “How’s that?”
    They stopped at the end of the path where the water fountain and lights met. Benches surrounded the fountain, so he sat her down, opened the bottle of water, and handed it to her. She took a couple sips, then recapped the bottle and handed it to him.
    “You’re angry and tense half the time, and the other times just so damn sweet. I don’t know what to make of you.”
    “I’m just a regular guy, Savannah. Not perfect, but not the big bad ogre the media makes me out to be.” He shrugged. “I have flaws. Maybe mine go under the microscope more than the average guy.”
    She shook her head, then raised her hand and swept it along the side of his face. He actually found himself holding his breath, and he never did that. Not for any woman. But he did for Savannah, because her hand was like silk across the roughness of his face and he wanted to lean into that buttery softness so she’d continue to touch him.
    “No, you are most definitely not just a regular guy, Cole.”
    He shouldn’t do this. In fact, he’d just made a mental promise he wouldn’t. But he couldn’t help himself. He laid an arm around Savannah’s shoulders and tugged her against him. She went willingly and her head tilted back.
    This time, she knew what was coming. Her lips parted, and he took the kiss.
    He’d meant to just brush his lips across hers, something brief, and then he’d let her go. He wanted to give her comfort, a little reassurance. But that’s not what this was about, because a hunger took over, especially when she touched him.
    Heat burned through him, and when she leaned into him, the inferno burst. He groaned and hauled her onto his lap, deepening the kiss, letting his hands roam over her back and down her sides.
    She felt good. He wanted to feel more of her, wanted to taste more than her sweet, sassy mouth. His tongue dove inside and tangled with hers, and she whimpered.
    He swept his hand across her rib cage. As he listened to the sounds of approval she made, he palmed her breast. She arched against him and his cock, already hard and straining against his pants, jerked.
    He slipped his fingers inside the opening to her dress, inside her bra and found her nipple. He brushed his thumb over the taut bud and Savannah whimpered, sucking against his tongue.
    Jesus. She made his balls throb. He could take her right here in the garden, undo his pants, pull out his cock, and pull her astride him. She could ride him until they both came. He needed her so badly he was shaking. Her lips licked across his, her tongue taking his in a frenzy of need and desire.
    She wanted this as much as he did. He felt her desperation.
    But the breeze whipped her hair across his face, reminding him where they were.
    Outside. In the garden at his cousin’s wedding. Where anyone could come out. And as hot and oh-hell-yeah ready as he was to slide inside her, he wouldn’t do that to her out here in public.
    He pulled his hand away and righted her dress, leaving his hand on her rib cage to feel the hard thump of her heartbeat. It felt good to know she was in this as fiercely as he was, that it wasn’t one-sided.
    Savannah drew her lips from his. Her eyes were glazed with passion, her