Page 30 of Floored

"Did you now?" I murmured, slowly tugging her closer. Her face showed no shock, no awe, no clamoring to know more. My entire being relaxed.

She nodded, keeping her eyes trained on my lips. "They used your name in Beatles lyrics."

"Journalists think they're so clever." I tugged one hand free of hers, sliding it over the curve of her waist, then her hips. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Lia laid her hand on my chest, spreading her fingers wide. "When would you have? After I commented on the way players flopped to the ground all the time?"

Chuckling, I exerted the smallest bit of pressure on her hips. "Fair enough."

"Th-there's a lot we didn't share with each other."

Her slight stutter was triggered by my fingers sliding up under the hem of her shirt, where endless miles of smooth skin greeted me.

"Any husbands or boyfriends?" I asked.

Lia shook her head.

"Do you like animals?" My nose sank into her hair, and I inhaled deep into my lungs.

"Mm-hmm."

The timer dinged on the oven. There was a perfectly good dinner in there, probably getting burned to a crisp, but we both ignored it.

"Jude?"

My name on her lips did strange things to me. As I hummed in response to that, my lips ghosted over her downy soft temples.

"I …" Her voice trailed off when I kissed my way down her cheekbones to the corner of her lips. "Holy shit, you're killing me."

Ducking my head, I sucked her lower lip into my mouth, covering her curves with my palm when her hips tilted toward me.

Here. I'd take her right here the first time. In the kitchen, with the dinner burning and the windows open, and the bright, airy space holding the echo of the sounds she'd make.

Then we could talk all bloody night.

Lia moaned when I did the same thing to her upper lip, soothing the plump pinkness of her mouth with my tongue when I pulled away.

"I'm taking my time with you tonight, love." Fuck, I sounded like a madman, like I'd chewed gravel and knives and acid.

"Jude?"

"Mmm?" I nipped at the edge of her jaw, and she sucked in a sharp breath.

Her hand pushed at my chest, and I backed away to look at her face.

Lia licked her lips, hitting me with the full force of her blue eyes. "I'm pregnant."

9

JUDE

It wasn't until I slammed my fifth door of the morning that someone finally called me on my piss-poor attitude.

"All right," Declan growled, shoving me with his meaty paw, "that's enough. If you don't quit slamming all the bloody doors, I'm going to rip your hands off."

I shrugged him off. "I haven't slammed all of them."

As our teammates passed us, all headed for the showers or the weight room, I got more than one side-eye.