The Screw Ball (Indianapolis Lightning Book 3) by Samantha Lind (the lemonade war series .TXT) 📕

work. He’s slipped in his AirPods and has closed his eyes as he leans back in his seat. The man sitting next to me is nothing like the one that showed up a few months ago. He’s like an onion. Has multiple layers and once you peel them back, you realize that he’s not so bad.

Eleven

Lucas

I sit in the hotel bar, the feeling a little déjà vu-ish, however, this time, I’m not worried about getting a call that someone has dropped a bomb and used my name in the mix. The biggest difference, this time, is the fact that Carmen is sitting right next to me. Because we’re in a large booth, her leg is next to my own and as people move about, we occasionally touch. The control it is taking to keep from reaching down and caressing her leg is strong right now.

I watch her as best as I can from the corner of my eye, and use talking to JJ, who’s on the other side of her, as a good excuse to almost always be looking that direction. I watch as she takes sips of her glass of wine. It isn’t lost on me that she’s been nursing the same glass the entire time we’ve been down here.

“You don’t have to hoard your wine, I’m sure they can bring you another glass,” I tease her as she takes yet another small sip.

“Aren’t you just full of jokes.” She smirks at me. “I’ve limited myself to just one glass, I don’t need to wake up with a wine headache tomorrow, plus, I’d like to make it back to my room in one piece.”

“I’ll make sure you make it back in one piece,” I tell her as my eyes scan the parts of her body that I can easily see with the table in my way. I press my knee against her and don’t miss the way her breath hiccups and her skin turns that fucking shade of red I love so much at my touch.

My dick presses against the zipper of my slacks the rest of the time we’re in this damn booth. Carmen doesn’t move her knee from pressing against mine, so I don’t move, either. If anything, we move closer to one another. She’s like a magnetic force and I’m drawn to her.

As some of the other guys start heading toward their rooms for the night, Carmen takes the opportunity to slip from the booth, as well, so I follow her out. “Thanks for letting me crash your evening, boys, but it’s time for me to turn in before I turn into a pumpkin,” she jokes.

“Of course, you’re welcome to join us whenever,” Matt O’Riley tells her.

“I’ll walk you back to your room,” I say only loud enough that Carmen can hear me. “This hotel might have tight security because we’re staying here, but that won’t stop some creep from following you.”

“Thank you,” she says, biting at her bottom lip. I didn’t think that it was possible, but my cock swells a little more. At this point, I’m sure I’ll have an imprint of my zipper for days to come.

I drop a hand to Carmen’s lower back as we walk through the lobby of the hotel and onto a waiting elevator. The entire team is on the twenty-second floor, which requires a key card to get to. Carmen slides her card into the slit before hitting the button. I don’t know if she realizes, but she leans back into my touch. The press of her against me has me wishing I could feel a whole lot more of her body pressed against my own, preferably with less clothing between us.

The elevator ride is quick, and before I know it, we’re exiting and heading down the long hall. She comes to a stop outside room twenty-two-twenty-two. “This is me, thanks for making sure I got back safely.”

I take a step closer, reaching out and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. My fingers caress her soft skin, and that feeling from a few minutes ago is back and stronger than ever. I watch her eyes as my fingers caress her skin, she isn’t pushing me away, which I’m taking as a win. I take another step closer, she’s now backed up against her door and I’m mere inches from her. “I’m going to kiss you now, unless you tell me not to,” I whisper, giving her a few seconds to process my words. When she doesn’t protest, my lips cover hers as I pull her in until we’re flush against one another.

My senses are on overload. I can feel her hardened nipples through the thin T-shirt she’s wearing. She not only lets me deepen the kiss, but she also pushes up onto her toes, giving me better access to her mouth.

I break the kiss; we are in the hallway, after all, and could get busted at any moment. I rest my forehead against hers and love the shade of red she’s turned for me.

“Red.” I smirk and trace the pad of my pointer finger from her cheek to the V between her breasts that are on display. She doesn’t slap me away, so that’s a positive.

“Did you want to come in?” she asks. Her question catches me off guard as it was the last thing I expected to come from her lips. To be honest, I was half expecting another slap across the face once she came to her senses and realized that we just made out in the hallway of a hotel.

“Lead the way,” I tell her, my voice a little grittier than it usually is. She turns around, sliding the key along the sensor until we hear the lock disengage. She turns the handle, opening the door into her suite. She shocks me once again when she reaches out, grabbing me by the belt and pulling me along after her. The door slams shut behind me and my resolve snaps right