Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
ROXANNE got to the airport ahead of the team and waited for them to board the plane.
She was in first class, but she was the last person to board the plane and took a good look around.
After she took her seat, she got a piece of paper from her bag and scribbled a note.
Once they were in flight and the seat belt lights went out, she flagged the flight attendant.
“Could you do me a favor and give this note to Dave McCall?” she asked the attractive woman. The flight attendant smiled and took the note.
“I suppose it can’t do any harm, but you do realize he’s a married man?” The earnest look of concern in the woman’s eyes could have been her undoing. She held her amusement because the plane wasn’t that big and she knew Brian would recognize her laugh if he heard it.
“No need for concern. Please, go ahead and read the note.” Roxanne took it from the woman’s hand and unfolded it for her. After reading it over quickly, she nodded with a smile.
“Aha. I see. It’s still against my better judgment, but I guess they’re grown men and they can take care of themselves,” she said.
“My sentiments exactly,” Roxanne said.
“I’ll give it to him, but I can’t guarantee anything.” The woman looked skeptical.
“Of course not. Let’s just wait and see what he says.” Roxanne smiled, suppressing another laugh.
The flight attendant walked back to where Dave and Brian were sitting together in business class and delivered the message.
Roxanne watched while Dave read the note.
His head popped up and he looked right at her in surprise.
It was lucky he was sitting in the aisle seat.
She could see from her vantage point that Brian was lying back with his eyes closed.
Dave looked back at the note, glanced once at Brian, then stood up. Brian never moved and Roxanne wondered if maybe he was sleeping already. But she decided it didn’t matter. She would wake him. Dave walked toward her with the flight attendant following behind.
Roxanne stood in the aisle when he got there. “Thanks a lot, Dave. I owe you one. The seat’s all yours.”
“My pleasure.” He went to sit down and then stopped. “Look, I don’t know what you have in mind here, but I think it’s only fair to warn you that he’s not real pleased with himself right now. God only knows why. He played a hell of a game.” He paused. “Lindy’s okay, right?”
She nodded. Dave sat in the spacious seat and spread out. Roxanne smiled, bent toward him and kissed him on the cheek.
“Thanks for the warning. If my mission goes as planned, he’ll be a new man in the morning.” Roxanne winked. As she walked back down the aisle, Dave’s baritone chuckle followed her.
She slipped into the seat next to Brian as quietly as she could, but when she turned to him his eyes opened instantly to meet hers.
“Either I’m hallucinating or Dave McCall has undergone some major changes.”
The gravelly sound of his tired voice soothed her. His mouth formed that half-smile she was beginning to grow fond of.
“None of the above.” She watched the light in his eyes begin to blaze.
She leaned over and kissed him full on the mouth.
His response was surprise at first, but then she felt the need come through and instead of pulling back for a short kiss as she had intended, she opened her mouth, and deepened it.
His hand went to her face, cupping her chin, allowing him to devour her with his mouth. Then he pulled back, nibbling on her lips. His quick, hot gasps for breath should have warned her of his waning control.
She opened her eyes to look at him again and caught her own breath with a sudden gulp of air.
She felt the rush of blood heat her face with the quick pounding of her heart.
His eyes glistened. She couldn’t help the automatic glance aimed at his lap.
“What did you expect?” His grin widened enough for her to catch a rare glimpse of his other dimple.
“I don’t know. I guess I thought you might be too tired.
I should have known better.” She leaned towards him without kissing him.
He put his hand on her thigh and looked down.
She looked around the airplane’s cabin. They should be more discreet.
Her resolve faltered as he drew her attention to the insistent kneading of his fingers on her thigh. He turned to her.
“What’s the plan? Want me to attack you right here in public or are you coming home with me?”
This time her laugh was loud enough to elicit some meaningful stares from everyone in earshot, including some teammates and Coach Benson.
Brian slipped his hand over her mouth, but too late.
He quickly removed it and distanced himself from her as they watched his coach rise from his seat and head in their direction.
“Great,” Brian said under his breath. He swept his hand through his hair and looked out the window.
“Don’t worry.” Roxanne couldn’t help yet another chuckle. She knew she could handle his coach.
“Brian, I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting your friend, although you do look familiar.” The man scrutinized her and Roxanne smiled up at him.
“This is Roxanne Monet. She hosts a TV interview show for Channel 7.”
“I also work with the Children’s Mercy Hospital League doing volunteer fund-raising. I’ll be inviting you to a holiday benefit gala in my home. It’s for a very worthy cause so I hope you’ll consider attending.”
“Wouldn’t miss it. Well I’ll leave you two alone now to enjoy the flight.” He began to walk away, then turned back to Brian. “Don’t enjoy yourself too much, Dennis. Practice bright and early.”
Brian looked at her. “I guess I’ll definitely have to wait and attack you when we get home.”
“Do you really want to wait?” Roxanne considered Brian and the possibilities with a raised brow.
“What do you have in mind?” His grin looked the tiniest bit unsure.
She leaned close to whisper in his ear as she slid her hand to his lap to caress him. He jumped at her touch.
She stifled her laugh this time, as he covered her mouth with his hand in the quickest move she ever saw. He gave her a warning stare before he took his hand away.
“We could rendezvous at the back of the plane in one of the rest rooms,” she whispered.
The look of incredulous surprise that came to his face almost made her laugh again.
“Are you crazy? I can’t even fit in there to take a piss, never mind with you to…forget it.”
This time she covered her own mouth to hide her laugh. She felt like a teenager and it felt delightful. It had been so long.
“So what made you think of the bathroom? Past experience?”
“No. I read about it somewhere. Sounded exciting to me. Good way to liven up a flight.”
It was Brian’s turn to laugh. “You’ll have to pick on someone smaller next time.” His smile faded and she saw the immediate regret in his eyes.
“I’ll do that. Next time.” He deserved a reprimand, but she only raised a mocking brow at him. She couldn’t be upset with his impression of her since she’d behaved so outrageously with him. She looked down at her hands tucked safely away in her own lap and checked her Rolex.
“We’re almost home anyway.”
“You coming with me?”
“That was the plan.”
He was too heart-meltingly tempting, so she leaned toward him to steal one more public kiss and he let her.
He caught the back of her neck with one hand when she would have pulled back and he deepened the kiss.
Then he took her other hand in his and pulled it to his lap.
She nearly groaned with the feel of his mounting excitement, feeling her own desire melt through her.
At the same time she was aware of other people and trying to suffocate the rush of passion made it all the more exquisite.
She touched him, wanting to make him writhe, wanting to make him lose control, to see him struggle to maintain it, and all the while she had to maintain her own control, to make it look like nothing more than an innocent kiss.
Brian pulled back. He struggled to breathe normally. He removed her hand from him. There was a line of sweat across his forehead and he swiped the back of his hand across it.
“That ought to hold me. I only hope I can stand up without embarrassing myself.”
“You asked for it.”
“You know I’m not a sane person when you’re around.”
“Well, then we’re really in trouble, because I’ve never been known for rational behavior,” she said.
He relaxed back into his seat. She looked out the window beyond him to view the Boston skyline on their descent into Logan Airport.
“Boston’s such a romantic-looking city from the sky at night.” She sighed as she said it.
He turned to her half-grin. “I never figured you for the starry-eyed type.”
“I am, but only at night. By the light of day I turn into a cold-blooded bitch. Hadn’t you noticed?”
“Now at least I know to keep the shades drawn. But come to think of it—our last date with Mark what’s his name—that wasn’t your romantic side at play. I’d say that was a prime example of the coldblooded scheming bitch in you.” He frowned.
Roxanne cringed inwardly. She deserved that. “Touché. At least you know. You know my worst side. What’s yours?”
“This is it. Or at least it was before you sat down next to me. The Brian Dennis Basketball Playing Robot. Pure machine, no blood at all—cold or otherwise. Only plays basketball. To win.” He looked at her, unsmiling.
She returned his stare. She couldn’t decide how seriously to take him.
“It’s very odd you haven’t met that side, because every time you show up he disappears. Maybe it’s no coincidence at all.”