Plating their pasta in silence, he carried their dishes into the dining room.

Melissa took one bite and her eyes grew big. "Dominic! This is amazing. You could give your friend Jason a run for his money."

"I'll pay you to say that next time you see him."

She glanced at him in surprise.

Shit. He needed to watch himself around her. He didn't make women promises, and doing so now was out of the question.

Time to change the subject to something that involved less talking and more fucking.

He pushed his plate away. "I've been thinking."

She put her fork down. "About what?"

"All the jets."

She looked confused. "Jets?"

He nodded. "In my bathtub."

Melissa took a deep breath, and he enjoyed watching her breasts rise. "And?"

"I want to see them in action." He stood up and held out his hand. "With you in the tub."

She took his hand. "And you?" "And me."

He kissed her softly, and they headed for the bathroom, where he turned the faucets on.

"I've never undressed you," he noted quietly.

She smiled. "There usually isn't time."

He laughed. Sex and laughter had never gone together before, only with Melissa. "That's because I'm a greedy bastard," he said as he reached for the hem of her very sexy silk top.

"No complaints here," she murmured as she lifted her arms over her head.

He admired her nearly sheer lace bra with barely contained lust. He wanted to press her against the tiled wall and do a repeat of their first time together.

"You're too good for me," he said as he put his hand on her back and arched her breasts into his waiting mouth.

Her soft moan drove him crazy, as did the tender way she caressed his back with her hands. Instead of yanking up her skirt again, he reached for the zipper. The skirt fell to the floor and he rubbed his hands over her bare ass, all the while sucking her breasts.

He lifted her in his arms, and a moment later they were in the tub, her back to his front.

"I'm still wearing clothes," she said, lifting one garter-clad leg out of the water. Her lace-covered nipples floated into his palms.

"I did my best," he said, running kisses down her neck.

"There's always next time," she said.

"And the time after that," he agreed, unable to go one more second without touching her pussy. He slid his hands between her legs and she bucked into his hand as he delved into her.

"I can't get enough of you," he said, plunging two fingers in deep. His elbow hit the button that controlled the jets, and they were enveloped by tiny bubbles shooting at them from all directions.

"Open your legs, sweetheart." He rubbed his thumb in slow circles over her clit.

Her thighs moved apart and he urged, "Wider." Putting his hands on her hips, he positioned her in front of a jet. "Tell me when it feels good."

She gasped. "It feels good now. Oh, God!" she said. "So good."

"Come for me."

He undid the clasp of her bra and cupped her wet breasts. She moaned with pleasure as he toyed with her nipples and he couldn't stop himself from rubbing his erection into her soft, round ass. His cock was rock-hard and ready to explode as he kissed her neck.

She was breathing heavier, faster, and then suddenly her cries of pleasure were echoing off the walls. Dominic made sure to keep her clit directly over the jet, but as soon as her climax subsided he rammed his cock into her to the hilt. She floated above him in the water as he rocked her up and down on his shaft. He hadn't thought to bring in a condom, and it was going to kill him to pull out.

At the last second he pushed her away, rubbing himself on her soft skin, squeezing her breasts, 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 fucked 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 fucking 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.