His mouth was so close to hers she had to restrain herself from leaning that hairs' breadth closer to touch hers to him. She was playing a dangerous game here, enveloped in a charged sexual atmosphere with a total stranger. Except he wasn't really that. Hadn't she seen him plenty of times on television? He was practically an old friend.Just keep telling yourself that. He leaned in so close to her that his breath was a warm breeze on her face. She was mesmerized, locked in place, waiting, waiting, waiting. He tucked one finger beneath her chin to tilt her head to a better angle. Then his mouth touched hers, his firm lips warm against hers, the contact so soft and gentle it was a caress. As light as the contact was it sent lightning sparking through her system and froze her breath in her lungs.She had absolutely no idea how long they sat there like that, completely ignoring the fact they were sitting in a public place. It was Beau who finally broke the contact, lifting his lips from h

Six years laterBeau Perini scrubbed his hands over his face and raked his fingers through his unruly hair. Every bone in his body ached from yesterday's practice and he would have sold his soul for two more hours of sleep. But with a three-year-old in the house, even with a nanny in place, early rising was the norm. Beau was determined that his son would always come first no matter what the circumstances.Coffee. That's what he needed. In sweat pants and tee shirt he made his way to the kitchen and the single serving coffee maker."Hi, Daddy!" Toby waved to him from his high chair where he was entertaining his three-year-old self with a few pieces of dry cereal. Babs, the nanny, was at the sink, Although Beau realized calling her a nanny barely covered what she did. She ran everything in the house including him. "Hi yourself." He bent down and kissed the little boy's smooth forehead."Ceweal." He held up one of the little circles. "Daddy have?"Beau tried not to grimace. Ri

Beau was surprised he could put one foot in front of the other, much less form a halfway coherent thought. He was glad his agent, Dan Leventhal, had his fingers clamped firmly around Beau's elbow, guiding him. And that he, Beau, himself had done enough public kiss ass things that he could flip his switch to automatic. He smiled as they walked the rest of the way to the room where the event was being held, nodding to people.And all the while one thought kept running through his brain.Fuck! Sarah York here? Right here in Tampa?He blinked for a moment, wondering if he'd just conjured her up, since she'd been on his brain every night for the past six years. But no, when he glanced at her, crowding against one wall with some of the staff, he saw people chatting with her, some shaking her hand. She was real. Definitely real.She had blossomed into a mature woman who just blew him away. Her thick auburn hair that he remembered felt like fine silk when he sifted his fingers through it.

At six thirty Sarah closed the folder on her desk, shut down her computer and sent her phone to voice mail. Time to get ready. One of the perks that came with her suite of offices as In House Counsel was a fully outfitted private bathroom. She wished she'd thought to bring a change of clothing with her today, then mentally smacked herself in the head. Slow down, she told herself. She didn't need to shower and change from the inside out. This wasn't a date. It was a drink. That was it. Nothing else. Still, she took time to refresh her makeup, brush her teeth and spritz herself with cologne. She was still not fully recovered from seeing Beau again after all this time. Beau. The star of her many nights of erotic dreams. She was so proud that she'd kept it together, maintaining her cool and not letting him see how much his appearance rattled her. Usually she kept up with the sports news and she'd meant to Google everything she could find about the Tampa Bay Rough Riders. Chris had given

And don't ask about it, was the signal. Oo-kay. Twice she'd asked and both times he'd shut her down. To say her curiosity was piqued was an understatement. Tonight, however, wasn't the time to push it. And if they never saw each other again it wouldn't matter diddlysquat to her.Time for a safer topic, so she switched to football."Tell me how you came to be with the Rough Riders ," she urged. "I knew you were a free agent but I got busy with my new job and lost track after that.""Wow." He drained the rest of his beer. "I would think being part of the Tampa Bay Rough Riders now you'd have picked up on the chatter about it."She laughed. "You'd think, right? From Day One I was running faster than I ever have to catch up. The last In House counsel got a cherry job and left with very little notice, right at the busiest part of the year."As they chatted she could actually see the tension easing from his body. That must be some damn story, she thought. As they chatted she found her