At the last second he pushed her away, rubbing himself on her soft skin, squeezing her br**sts, biting into her neck as he came into the water.

When his heart rate returned to normal, Dominic helped Melissa out of the tub, wrapped her in a towel, and carried her to his bed. She was nearly asleep by the time he pulled the covers over her.

From sunup to sunrise, he'd f**ked her four times, none of them in a bed. She deserved her rest.

Chapter Seventeen

When Melissa woke up in Dominic's bed, she instantly knew it would be far too easy to get used to sleeping there. How was she supposed to keep her guard up when he was everything she'd ever dreamed of and so much more?

He lay on the living-room floor doing sit-ups in a T-shirt and shorts, and her mouth watered. He wore headphones and hadn't heard her come down the hall, which gave her the opportunity to stare. Would she ever get used to looking at him? His thighs and calves were well muscled and taut as he pushed through his set.

He opened his eyes and grinned at her, slipping off the headphones. "Good morning."

Her stomach somersaulted like she was a teenage girl. "Hi," she said, getting a glimpse of the clock on the wall. Ten-thirty a.m.? "Is your clock right?"

"You were tired."

She blushed. Anyone would have been tired after that many mind-blowing orgasms. "I'm going to be late to work. And you have practice."

He stood up and walked over to her. "Kiss me."

She immediately complied, going up on her tippy-toes. His mouth was warm and intoxicating and she was panting by the time he ended the kiss.

"I'll drop you off at your apartment on my way to the gym. Are you attending the charity event tonight?"

She nodded and he smiled. "Good."

She was beginning to understand what that wicked gleam in his eyes meant. Somewhere, somehow, at the event tonight he'd be pushing her skirt up to her waist and taking her. The anticipation was already killing her.

Ten minutes later he kissed her long and hard in front of her apartment. "If I didn't have practice, I'd be f**king you on your kitchen table right now."

She forced herself to step away from him. Players were heavily fined for skipping practice, so he couldn't stay, no matter how badly she wanted him to.

"Don't bother wearing panties tonight," he said, then left.

Great. She was already wet and burning for him, with a whole day to get through before she could get any relief.

By the time she'd showered and dressed, it was time to meet her best friend for lunch. Alice owned her own recruitment firm and Melissa greatly admired the way she'd built the company into one of the top firms in San Francisco in five years. Focusing on retraining highly qualified women who were getting back into the workplace once their kids were of school age had quickly given Alice a unique edge. Alice claimed that ex-stay-at-home moms worked harder and faster than any man ever could.

Melissa suddenly imagined herself rocking a blue-eyed baby with Dominic's dark hair and skin.

Oh, God, when was she going to accept the truth? Not only was she not going to have babies with Dominic, she probably wasn't going to share his bed for much longer. Everyone liked novelty, Dominic was no different. He was attracted to her only because she was so different from the standard football groupies. But that didn't mean his attraction would last.

Arriving fifteen minutes early at the Pier 39 restaurant, Melissa ordered a glass of wine and watched the tourists as she sipped it. Happy couples abounded. Young mothers chased toddlers; fathers held video cameras. It was all so normal.

And so out of reach.

Alice walked in, reed thin, wearing impossibly high heels, a red sweater, black slacks, and a funky pair of black glasses with red flecks in them. She wasn't a typical beauty, but there was something intriguing and sensual about her. Melissa had watched dozens of men try to latch on to Alice and fail miserably; Alice wasn't the girlfriend type.

"Honey," Alice said after they hugged, "I don't even need to ask how you are. You're glowing. Whoever he is must be incredible in the sack."

Melissa nearly choked on her wine. "Good to know I'm so transparent."

"Do I know him?" Alice asked.

Melissa shook her head. "No. At least I don't think you do." She cleared her throat and added in a much softer voice, "Although you might have seen him on TV. Or in some magazines."

Alice turned to the nearest waiter."We're going to need a full bottle." She refocused her attention on Melissa. "You didn't sleep with one of the Outlaws, did you?"

Alice didn't have a very high opinion of football players, even though Melissa was pretty sure she'd never been to a game. Melissa's guilty face gave her away.

"His name?"

Melissa looked at her friend. "You won't know who he is, what does it matter?"

"It matters because that way I can hunt him down and kill him if he ever treats you badly."

"Dominic is a good man," Melissa instantly defended him.

Alice tapped one manicured nail on the frame of her glasses. "Dominic. Hmm, that rings a bell. Is he tall, dark, and handsome?"

Melissa giggled. "You've just described half of the team."

"Are you in love with him?"

Melissa closed her eyes. "I don't know," she lied. "I don't think I should be." She opened her eyes. "I'm not sure it matters either way. He's not the marrying type."

Alice topped up their wineglasses. "How soon can I meet him?"

One of the things Melissa had always admired about Alice was her ability to make quick decisions. Melissa liked to mull over things to death, shred her worries to pieces in her mind until she was left with nothing but pulp. Introducing Alice to Dominic was too risky. It would mess with her plan to bury her head in the sand and enjoy all the naughty sex until he found someone else and the decision was taken from her.

On the other hand, what if Alice saw something she'd missed? Maybe Alice's impartial eye was exactly what she needed.

"There's a charity event tonight at the new aquarium," she said. "I suppose you could come with me. I'll have a client with me, though—another football player. So you'll have to promise to be on your best behavior."

Alice smiled, a wicked glint in her eye. "Hell, if sleeping with a football player will make me look half as good as you do right now, I'll be extra nice."

Summer passing camps were usually a vacation from the grueling practices during the season, and Dominic always enjoyed the chance to hone his skills.

Not today. He'd never fumbled so many balls, never lacked chemistry with the quarterback like this. Dominic poured a bottle of water over his head, trying to drown out the inner voice that said he was screwed, that sleeping with Melissa had jinxed him in some way, had stolen his mojo.