She deliberately smiled at JP. "Thank you for an incredible night."

Dominic had always been a calm, solid presence on a team full of unpredictable men. But now he looked anything but: his fists were tight, his jaw locked, his eyes narrowed.

She didn't care. Now it's your turn. I hope you're jealous. It was the only power she had over him.

As the blocks ticked away and they drew closer to her apartment, her breathing grew shallow.

She needed to find a subtle way to convince JP to guard her until Dominic got out of the limo and drove away in his Viper. The limo stopped and she said, "JP, I just remembered that we need to discuss a couple of important issues tonight. Do you have a few minutes?"

Dominic remained in his seat in the limo, obviously intent on waiting for her to finish her "business" with JP. No matter how long it took. Or how lame it was.

JP stretched and yawned, his arms ending up around the girls cuddled against him. "I'm too tired. Let's talk tomorrow."

Damn it, he clearly didn't have her back. But then it wasn't his job to protect her from Dominic, who had just stepped out of the limo and was holding the door open for her to make her way past JP's girls. As she stepped out onto the sidewalk, Dominic closed the limo door with an ominous click and it sped away.

"We need to talk," he said in a hard voice.

"Fine," she said, her response clipped and edgy as she rummaged through her bag for her keys.

He followed her silently up the stairs and down the long hall to her door. As she hung her keys on the hook in her foyer, Dominic closed the door behind him.

"Are you thinking straight? What the hell were you doing out there tonight?"

She went on the offensive. "If you're referring to sleeping with you in every possible location through the city this week, no—I definitely am not thinking straight."

"I'm not talking about us," he said in a low, dangerous voice. "I'm talking about JP. Don't you realize you're ruining your career before it even begins? We all saw you and JP out there tonight. The way you were letting him touch you."

Melissa couldn't believe what she was hearing. "We were only dancing together. He went to his harem for other fun."

"No—he wants you. They all do. Someone needs to warn you, before it's too late and you lose everything you've worked for."

Melissa pushed her finger into his hard chest. "I can't believe you actually have the nerve to warn me about JP's motives!" He was the one breaking all the rules, not JP.

"You're nothing to him," Dominic said. "Nothing more than just another fuck."

She felt so cold, as if her blood had all drained away, leaving ice in its wake.

"I get it," she said. "I can't believe it took me this long to get it." A harsh laugh escaped. "Don't worry, I don't want anything from you, Dominic. In fact, I was going to tell you tonight that we're through. Done."

"Shit, that came out all wrong. I'm not talking about us. Being with you has been much more than just a screw."

She laughed bitterly. "I don't believe you."

He was shaking his head, but she was sick and tired of his endless power over her. She put her hand on her doorknob and yanked it open. "Get out."

He remained standing in her foyer. "I love you."

She hated him then, hated him for pulling the one card out of his deck that could break her. "No, you don't. If you loved me, you wouldn't have come into my house and said those horrible things."

Remorse filled his face. "I do love you, Melissa."

"Leave me alone."

An eternity passed, then she watched him walk out of her apartment, out of her life.

Before he went down the hall, he stopped and spoke. "You are my true soul mate, Melissa."

Her tears dropped onto the floor; she wanted to cover her ears and block him out. Couldn't he see that he wasn't being fair?

"One day you'll see it. And when you do, I'll be waiting."

He closed the door and was gone.

She slid to the floor. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she rocked back and forth as sobs twisted her inside out.

Chapter Twenty-Three

During a game, when Dominic screwed up, he didn't waste anyone's time apologizing; he just made it clear to his teammates and coach that he'd make the necessary changes to get the next play right. Making a mistake was human. Making it again was pathetic—and unforgivable.

After fifteen years, he had it all figured out on the football field. But he was an idiotic fuck-up when it came to Melissa. One image after another assaulted him as he got into his car.

Melissa sitting on the bar stool at Barnum's, tipsy and sexy.

Losing control in his living room and taking her incredible naked body up against the window.

The way her face fell the next morning when he told her it was just an aberration.

In Jason's restaurant, where she blew his mind again, with an incredible morning following closely.

The clanging of metal in the locker room as he thrust against her.

The policeman knocking on his fogged-up window after one of the most explosive sexual experiences of his life.

The hatred on her face as he accused her of acting like a whore with JP.

Dominic had never felt like such an asshole. Driving as if on autopilot, he blindly made his way home. He stepped into his condo and it fell cold. Empty. Sure, he was a rich, famous, good-looking man. But without Melissa, his life would be nothing more than a string of empty one-night stands with women who couldn't hold a candle to the one he loved with all his heart.

Somehow, someway, he needed to figure out a way to make it up to her. To convince her that he really and truly loved her, and would never behave so poorly again. Winning Melissa back was all that mattered now.

And unfortunately, he needed JP to get back into her heart.

When Melissa finally fell asleep that night, she dreamed she was living in a castle under attack by marauding bands of outlaws and Dominic was an avenging warrior, willing to give up his life to save hers. As he plunged his sword into the final outlaw, then swept her up into his arms, his lips so close to hers that she could already taste him, she woke up.

It was no use. How could she sleep when he'd finally said the three words she'd longed to hear all her life: I love you? And used those words as a weapon, to get her to forgive the horrible things he'd said and agree to fuck him some more.

Today she had to join the McKnight clients on the practice field for the Outlaws' annual summer scrimmage. It was her job to keep an eye on the players during the off season, to note who looked tired, who needed more rest, who should put in more hours at the gym to build up his strength.

She used to wait all year long for this because it was her one chance to stare at Dominic openly, fantasizing about being with him. Now she questioned everything.

Had she been too easy on him? Had she been so infatuated with the image he presented that she hadn't wanted to see the real man beneath?

Guys like JP and Ty Calhoun didn't hide their arrogance, their womanizing. On the contrary, they almost seemed proud of their flaws.

Suddenly it seemed like Dominic had tried too hard to be the perfect guy.

She took a cab to the practice field, dreading every second to come. Somehow, she needed to keep her shit together when Dominic ran out onto the field.

"Melissa," JP called out as she walked onto the grass. "Thanks for hooking me up with this gig. It'll be good to play a little, show everyone my stuff."