Game For Love: Winter Heat (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read online

  A wave of triumph washed over him. She thought he was hot.

  Of course most women thought he was hot. He was supposed to be the "Bad Boy of Snowboarding." The nickname made him laugh. The press was so desperate for a bad boy they saw his black leather jacket and latched right on.

  Until five years ago he'd been a nerd on a skateboard, trying to stay off of everyone's radar. When his dad took him to Vail on vacation and he'd turned out to be a natural snowboarder he was suddenly in the spotlight. It was exciting to be good at something and to have all the approval.

  But when you had a big secret to keep, attention could be hard to handle.

  And although being desired by all those women was supposed to be a guy's dream, he sometimes felt... like an object. Besides, what would the women think if they knew his secret?

  But this girl was different. For some reason he couldn't explain, he felt that she saw him right down to his soul. If she thought he was hot he was really glad.

  He definitely didn't want her to feel bad about it.

  "This is awesome! I love it!"

  "Really?"

  She peeked up at him. There was hope in her sad green eyes. It broke his heart.

  "It's amazing. You did this?"

  She nodded.

  "I love it. Can you do more?"

  "Um, sure, I guess."

  An idea was coming to Samir. He couldn't believe his addled brain was handing him this gem of a thought.

  "I'm actually in need of an artist right now."

  Her jaw dropped open a little.

  Samir almost gave in to the temptation to grab her and slide his tongue into that sweet pink mouth.

  "You are?" she breathed.

  "I'm starting a clothing line. My career won't go on forever - my agent says it's a good idea to make a plan for the future. Anyway, I need a logo and I don't like anything that's been pitched so far. Are you interested in throwing your hat in?"

  She actually blushed, tugging at his heartstrings once again. Then she shook her head, spilling flame colored ringlets over her shoulder.

  "I can't."

  "Look, I want you to know that I'm sorry about before, when you were getting ice. I'm not a jerk. There's been so much press lately I freaked out. But I'm a nice guy – really. I won't be hard to work with, I promise."

  "It's not that – it's just... this thing with my brother, I mean - I don't even have a place to stay."

  Her lips began to tremble again.

  "Stay with me," he said impulsively.

  "I couldn't!"

  "Sure you could. But you have to draft a logo to earn your keep. You can hang out and see what the team is like– that will help."

  He could see her struggling with the decision. Then suddenly she smiled and it was like the sun coming up on a perfect hill of powder.

  "I'll do it!"

  His heart sang and he grabbed her hands, pulling her to her feet.

  Then, on impulse, he lifted her up and swung her around.

  When he set her down she was tottering a little, so he pulled her close.

  She looked up at him and he was mesmerized by the glow of her green eyes. She looked down at his mouth almost like she wanted a kiss.

  His resolve broke and he pushed her up against the wall and pressed his lips against hers. When she melted under him, he opened her mouth with his. She tasted like peppermint too.

  His cock was straining against his zipper, longing to do to her pussy what his tongue was doing to her mouth.

  The girl made a small sound that he was afraid might be protest.

  With herculean effort, he pulled himself back.

  Her eyes were shut, light lashes brushing the tops of her cheeks. Her head was tilted back in surrender.

  As he watched, she opened her eyes. They were slightly unfocused but their intense green color shocked him again.

  "Wow," she said.

  Samir threw his head back and laughed.

  Much as it pained him, he knew he had to let go of her now or he would be peeling off her clothes right out here in the open.

  "Come on, let's get your things upstairs."

  He grabbed her duffel and the other bag. It was heavy.

  "Hey, what's in here?"

  She blushed again.

  "A sewing machine."

  "You have to be kidding me."

  She shook her head.

  "I help with my brother's costumes."

  "Who's your brother?"

  "Christopher McCall."

  No way.

  Samir instinctively drew back.

  Christopher McCall was a superstar of figure skating. He was a very big deal here. The McCalls probably thought Samir and his team were a bunch of hacks.

  He bristled and turned to her.

  Then he saw her face. She was looking down at her hands sadly.

  Samir sighed. McCall had a twin. It was all coming back to him now. They were inseparable. This girl must be hurting.

  "I'm sorry about things with your brother. Do you want to go make up with him? Tomorrow's a big day for him, right?"

  The girl looked up in surprise.

  He could see the emotions move across her face. Then her chin lifted and those green eyes filled with determination.

  "No. I'm doing something for myself."

  He loved the fire in those eyes.

  "Okay then. I'm Samir. Samir Andrews."

  "Becca McCall."

  "Becca McCall, let's go make some new friends."

  She smiled and his heart leapt into his mouth yet again.

  This was going to be a fun week.

  Chapter 5

  Becca followed Samir up a seemingly endless flight of stairs, allowing her mind to wander away from his gorgeous behind.

  She could not believe how this night was turning out. Their mother had pitched a fit when Christopher wanted Becca to accompany him to the village. Annaliese McCall had insisted that if the twins went together their terrible judgement would ruin them.

  "You will drink, because of the peer pressure, that's number one," she said, counting off dire predictions on her fingers.

  "Number two, you will have unprotected sex with strangers, because you're young and you have no judgment."

  "Mom!"

  "Listen to me, Rebecca McCall! And number three, Christopher will go off his diet!"

  "I won't, Mom."

  "This is your big chance. Every one of us has gone without to make this happen. I am not going to stand by and watch the two of you get up to...monkey business... when we're this close."

  Becca and Christopher had laughed so hard at the reference to monkey business that Annaliese had to laugh too.

  "Mom, seriously, this would have made sense a couple of years ago and we appreciate that you're trying to keep us safe. But I want Becca to experience this with me. She's done so much to help me."

  Becca's heart had filled to bursting at hearing that Christopher really did appreciate her.

  What a fool she had been to believe it.

  Now here they were, having only arrived at the IW Games Village two hours ago. Already she could see that the whole list was a lost cause. Becca figured that when he was done having unprotected sex with his lady visitors he would probably be starving and eat something he shouldn't. And if he ate something he shouldn't, Christopher would be frantic about it. And then he would be all the more likely to have a little drink to calm down.

  He'd have completed Mom's trifecta in a single evening.

  Christopher might not regret the first thing. He sure looked like he had been enjoying himself. But the other two would haunt him.

  Maintaining a skater's build was always a struggle for Christopher. Becca had always tended to be curvy and she suspected Christopher's natural frame would be substantially larger than the trim physique he worked so hard to perfect.

  Although they were both adults, Becca and Christopher were both fairly inexperienced when it came to dating. The skating lifestyle kept Christop
her too busy and exhausted to chase girls. And since he had a sizable gay fan base, Becca suspected that her mom was pleased that Christopher didn't take girls out – she wouldn't want him to alienate any fans.

  Becca herself had always been wrapped up in Christopher's life. And if she was honest with herself, hiding out in the shadows and dreaming of her future beginning when Christopher's career ended made it easier not to worry about the fact that she was shy with boys. After all, she had her brother for company.

  But that wasn't true anymore. The worst thing that had happened at the village had nothing to do with sex or food or even alcohol – it had been nowhere near Annaliese's radar.

  Christopher had shown his true colors and Becca had turned her back on him.

  And instead of the sky falling, she had met drop dead gorgeous guy.

  Her insides were still fluttering from the kiss he had given her. He was so focused, so into it. She wished he had kept kissing her. And she wondered when he would do it again.

  A pang of guilt stabbed her chest as she remembered that this wasn't just any man – this was the snowboarder who had stolen Christopher's opportunities.

  But that wasn't Samir's fault. She could tell already that he was a nice guy – even if he'd been odd about his phone call.

  "Here we are!"

  Samir placed her duffel and sewing machine on the floor of his room, then turned and took her hand to lead her in. His hand was so large and warm, the gesture made her feel small and safe.

  Samir's room was much larger than her brother's and had a pretty view of the mountains. She let herself glance over at his bed and was surprised to see a young man in it. He flopped over in a puppyish way to get a look at her. His head was covered in golden curls and he cocked his head inquisitively at her.

  "Hey, who's that, Samir? Need some privacy?"

  "Please don't go," Becca said immediately, blushing for about the twentieth time since she'd met Samir.

  "Taylor, meet Becca, she's going to hang out with us for a while. I want to work with her on a logo for my line."

  "I thought they didn't let anyone but family in here," Taylor said warily.

  "I was here with my brother. But he sort of kicked me out since he had company."

  "Classic!" Tayor threw himself backward on the bed, howling with laughter.

  Samir smiled and rolled his eyes at Becca.

  "What are we watching? Did you decide?" he asked Taylor.

  "Oh man, I meant to pick something but then I got a text from Travis," he explained. "Then I checked Twitter and got bogged down in the IWGames hashtag. Did you know they have a whole app just for all the athletes here to hook up with each other?"

  Becca wondered if that was how her brother met his new friends.

  "Fascinating," said Samir. "Let's find something to watch. Give me the remote. Sit down, Becca. Did you have dinner yet?"

  Samir's presence was so naturally commanding that it didn't occur to Becca or Taylor to argue.

  Taylor tossed Samir the remote and scooted over on the bed. Becca hopped onto the bed next to him, leaving room for Samir. It felt like a night at college.

  "No, I didn't eat – we just got here."

  "Salad okay?"

  "Um...sure."

  Becca was sort of hurt but she supposed that in a sea of female athletes she looked like she could stand to lose a few pounds.

  Samir picked up the phone and ordered room service. He ordered salad for all three of them.

  When he hung up he noticed the expression on her face.

  "What?"

  "Don't you guys normally eat burgers and pizza?"

  Taylor exchanged a look with Samir.

  "You're kidding, right?" Samir asked.

  Becca blushed. She suddenly realized that what she had said was probably super offensive. It was just that the snowboarders seemed to have such a casual attitude.

  "Look, Becca!" Taylor was peeling his t-shirt off. "We're athletes, not ninja turtles!"

  He succeeded in fighting his t-shirt off and opened his arms so she could see his body.

  Suddenly, instead of looking like an angelic teenager he looked like a man.

  Becca was shocked, and must have looked it, because Taylor began howling with laughter again.

  "Put your shirt back on," Samir said in a dark, intense tone.

  Becca and Taylor went silent and turned to him.

  "I...I...was only joking around, big guy," Taylor began.

  "I'm sorry, Samir," Becca said. "I didn't mean to offend you. Snowboarders just seem so...cool...I guess I didn't think you guys had to try as hard as some of the other athletes."

  "I'm not offended, Becca, I just want my teammate to put his shirt back on."

  "Done, man, done," Taylor said, poking his head through the neck of the shirt.

  Samir seemed placated. He sat on the bed next to Becca and began flipping through channels. Becca couldn't help but notice that he rested his hand on the bed behind her possessively.

  Soon they were all laughing away at the array of 80s movies that were inexplicably part of the selection.

  "Dirty Dancing!" Taylor laughed, "My mom loves that one!"

  "Oh look, Raising Arizona," Becca said.

  "That's my dad's favorite. He's always quoting it and none of the quotes ever make sense," Samir said.

  "Go back, go back!" Taylor yelled.

  "What?" Samir said.

  "No, no, one more! Yeah, that one - Harry and the Hendersons, did you guys ever see that?"

  "No, not me," Becca said.

  Samir shook his head.

  "Oh you have to see it! It's a classic!"

  "It's only at 44% on Rotten Tomatoes," Samir pointed out.

  "That's what makes it funny."

  "What's it about?" Becca asked.

  "Bigfoot! A family finds him. It's classic! We have to watch it!"

  Samir shook his head, an odd look crossing his face.

  Becca couldn't figure out what was going on with him. One minute he was so much fun and the next he was all dark and intense.

  It reminded her of Christopher's mood swings. Suddenly, the day hit her and she just felt tired.

  There was a knock on the door. Room service was there with their salads.

  They ate in companionable silence. Even Taylor seemed subdued.

  "You nervous about tomorrow, buddy?" Samir asked him.

  "No. Yeah. I don't know."

  "Don't be. But do get some rest."

  Taylor nodded.

  "I'll see you guys in the morning, I guess."

  In a heartbeat he was gone and Becca was alone with Samir.

  She hadn't really thought too much about their surroundings until now. Suddenly it hit her that she was alone in a hotel room with a man she found irresistible. There was nothing in the room except a bed and a TV.

  And Samir was turning the TV off.

  Chapter 6

  Samir turned to face Becca. She could swear there was fire in his eyes.

  "Now what?" she asked.

  "What do you think?"

  "Um, do you want to talk about your logo?" she squeaked.

  He shook his head. The tips of his inky hair skimmed his t-shirt.

  All the air went out of the room. Becca wasn't sure if she should run away or count her blessings and try not to mess this up.

  At any rate, there wasn't much time because Samir was slowly making his way back across the room.

  Becca remained frozen, sitting on the edge of the bed, looking up at him.

  He gazed into her eyes for a long moment.

  The power in his eyes was almost hypnotic. Becca felt that at that moment she would do anything he asked of her, be whoever he wanted her to be.

  She wasn't sure what he saw in her eyes. But he seemed to make a decision.

  He knelt between her legs and firmly placed his hands down to grip the bed on either side of her.

  Becca shut her eyes but somehow managed to keep breathing. He smelled like p
ine needles and spice, and a scent so masculine her head swam.

  She opened her eyes to see a corner of his mouth turned up in amusement.

  "I'm not going to hurt you."

  "I know."

  "Unless you want me to?"

  "Um, no, no thank you."

  He chuckled and Becca blushed for about the tenth time since they'd met.

  "What do you want?" he asked.

  Becca tried to think. She knew he was toying with her. Her mind wouldn't provide a witty comeback. But she couldn't tell the truth. You, Samir, you, you, you...

  "I don't want to embarrass you, Becca, but I already know what you want. You need to understand that I don't give that to just anyone."

  Becca was beyond being able to reply. She thought she might not be able to speak again ever.

  "In spite of the recent press, I'm a very private person, Becca. I have to be."

  "Why?"

  His face twisted and for the first time he looked a little off-balance.

  Becca figured it was because of his fame. On the other hand, he seemed very comfortable discussing the press. And he ought to have known that with a brother in the spotlight she would understand.

  No, this was something else. Becca leaned forward slightly, studying him.

  But just as she began to search his dark eyes in earnest, it was as if a curtain was drawn across his face. Whatever vulnerable side of him had been opened to her was now closed.

  He stood and stepped away from her.

  "Let's get you unpacked."

  Becca reeled, she had been sure he was going to kiss her again. What had she done wrong?

  She stood and grabbed her duffel bag.

  Samir pointed to one of two dressers in the room.

  "That one's empty. Do what you need to do to get ready for bed. Bathroom's all yours. I'm taking a walk."

  Oh.

  "Okay," she said.

  She tried not to show him that he had hurt her feelings. But she was pretty sure he knew anyway. Becca wished she had more experience with men – maybe she would be able to figure out why he was leaving when it looked like he wanted to stay.

  Chapter 7

  Samir left the room and took the stairs two at a time. He felt exhilarated and claustrophobic all at the same time.