Indulgent Pleasures Read online

  God, how cheesy that they’d had sex in the car. Yet it had been the singular most spectacular sexual experience of her life.

  And that had nothing to do with the back seat of a car and everything to do with the man who’d given her such a grand experience. Justin the mystery man.

  “Well, that’s too bad. I’m sure he would be delicious fun if you let him dominate you or let’s say you two have sex in public.” Zoe smiled and let loose a rather wicked laugh. “Honey I haven’t seen you glow like this since you started here. Whatever that guy did, he did it good.”

  “Dominate me?” Stephanie was still stuck on Zoe’s suggestions. She couldn’t imagine Justin trying to dominate her.

  Or wait, maybe she could. Bossing her around, telling her what to do in bed, slapping her bare butt with the wide palm of his hand to make her behave.

  She couldn’t believe it but her sex began to tingle just thinking about it. God, she really was depraved.

  “Well, dominate you or whatever the other fantasies are. Or you could tap into the male fantasies. What were some of those again?”

  “Role playing, oral sex and group sex, to name a few. The list goes on and on.”

  Stephanie whirled around to find Caleb Whitmore standing in the cubicle next to hers, which happened to be where his desk was. She couldn’t stand the guy.

  “Group sex huh? I doubt our Steph would want to do something like that.” Zoe laughed, her cackle reminding Stephanie of a wicked witch.

  “Erm, no.” Stephanie shook her head, a little embarrassed.

  She would never do something like participate in an orgy. She wouldn’t want to share Justin with anyone else.

  Ack, there she went, bringing up Justin again. She needed to get over him for good.

  “I wrote an article about male sexual fantasies. Just like you asked for, Zoe.” Caleb crossed his arms in front of his chest, the knowing smirk on his face making Stephanie want to smack it off.

  “Did you already turn it in?”

  “Emailed it to you a couple of hours ago.” Caleb nodded.

  “Good. I’ll get back to you soon and let you know what I think.” Zoe waved at Stephanie. “Come up with something else and I’ll definitely consider it Steph. I think you’re on the right track.”

  Stephanie watched Zoe walk away, the giddiness that had been bubbling up within her just a few minutes ago now flat like day old champagne.

  Damn it, Zoe wasn’t only giving her this column opportunity. It looked like she was giving Caleb the opportunity as well.

  “I’m going to kick your ass you know.” The smug tone in Caleb’s voice made Stephanie shoot daggers at him with her eyes. “You’ve been too busy writing home and style articles for the past couple of years to pay attention to what’s really going on around in the social world.”

  “A column focusing on what it’s like to be young, female and single in San Francisco is universal, Caleb. That’s the column I presented to Zoe. You just stole my idea and put a male spin on it.”

  He shrugged though he didn’t deny it. The snake. He was always spying on her over their shared partition. She never understood why.

  Now she did.

  “Besides, I already have my article approved. It’ll be going in next week’s issue.” City Magazine was published weekly. “So I’m way ahead of you.”

  “Yeah, your confidence may be way ahead of me but don’t count on your skills.” He leaned in close. Too bad he was such a jerk since Caleb was actually quite handsome in that blond, tanned beach god kind of way. “I’ll have my column in the bag in no time. And you’ll be left spinning your wheels.”

  With that, he slapped the edge of the partition and walked away, all confident swagger and cocky bravado. It made Stephanie want to puke.

  She stared blindly at her monitor, her brain working a million miles a minute. She needed to come up with something new, something different. Zoe wanted her to carry on the sexual fantasy stuff but with who? Not as if she could go find Justin again. She didn’t even know his last name and she had no idea what he did for a living. She was totally in the dark where her mystery lover was concerned.

  “Here’s the latest issue.” The dude who worked in the mailroom tossed a copy of the magazine on top of her desk. He passed them around to all employees when it first came out.

  Stephanie grabbed the magazine, glanced at the cover and immediately dropped it as if it was on fire.

  There smiling up at her was her very own personal savior and resident sex god. The very man she’d just been thinking about. Wearing a San Francisco Miners baseball uniform, for God’s sake.

  She stared at the photo, dumbfounded. He was a professional baseball player? He looked...amazing in that tight uniform. No wonder he had such quick reflexes.

  He must’ve thought she was a complete idiot. She had no clue who he’d been.

  The headline above his face in big bold letters fairly screamed the scandal. “The Demise of Baseball Great Justin Hawkins.”

  Stephanie glanced around and then eagerly opened the magazine, turning right to the article. There was another photo of Justin, this time wearing a dark suit similar to the one she’d seen him in and he looked positively delicious.

  So did the scrumptious, big breasted blond on his arm.

  She shook her head in disbelief. What exactly had he seen in her anyway?

  The article rattled on about Justin’s horrible injury in a motorcycle accident a few months ago that had essentially ruined his career. Now he stood on the sidelines for the rest of the season, coaching his team, helping them create plays and strategies but unable to actually play.

  A team of doctors said he’d never be able to play the game again. After endless abuse on his body and the accident on top of everything else, he couldn’t endure any longer. He was a done deal in his professional baseball career.

  Sadness engulfed her and she shut the magazine with a slap, feeling as if she’d just invaded his privacy. The article was unauthorized, they hadn’t gotten any direct quotes from Justin and the writer even mentioned his well-known hatred for the media. Justin was a very private person.

  He’d probably flip his lid if he found out she was a writer for a magazine. Especially the magazine who just did an unauthorized cover report on him. He’d probably flip even more if he knew she’d written an article with a sexual flavor and he was the anonymous star of it.

  Stephanie closed her eyes and rested her head in her hands. If Zoe found out she’d had sex with one of San Francisco’s favored golden boys, she’d go crazy. Most likely force Stephanie to write an article spelling out all of the sexual exploits they’d shared together.

  Oh, God. No way could she ever see him again, not after this. It was a mess. A big one. She needed to forget Justin Hawkins even existed and move on from what she considered the best night of her life.

  Seeing him would only cause more problems. And she didn’t need anymore problems. She already had enough.

  * * *

  Justin wondered if he could get arrested for loitering. For about the fiftieth time he noticed the twitch of a curtain in the window directly across from where his car was parked. Someone knew he was sitting around and they probably suspected him of stalking or worse, being a predator.

  Seven days had passed since he had sex with Stephanie in the back of a rented Towncar. It was a night he couldn’t blot from his memory no matter how much he tried.

  Her scent, the taste of her lips, her soft skin. The tight, hot clench of her pussy so snug around his cock as he thrust inside her. Just thinking about her at this very moment had him hard and ready.

  He’d jacked off enough to thoughts of Stephanie, of reliving that night. He’d finally decided he was going to find her. Find her and convince her to see him again.

  Shit, he wanted to laugh. Look at the big bad baseball player chasing after a woman. He never chased. He never had to. He could have any woman he wanted.

  With the exception of a freckle faced
, lush lipped woman who haunted his dreams and was his every fantasy come to life.

  Now he sat in the parking lot of her apartment complex waiting for her to come home. He had no clue where she worked or what she did but he’d talked to the sweet little old lady who walked her dog every two hours on the hour.

  When he’d described Stephanie, she knew immediately who he was talking about and had told him she lived just below her and her roommate, as a matter of fact. She came home Monday through Friday around six-thirty.

  Perfect. He’d take her to dinner, stare at her throughout the meal and plot what he’d do to her, then take her back to his place and do it all and then some.

  He couldn’t freaking wait.

  Glancing at his watch, he saw it was almost six-thirty. His heart started to beat double time and he raked a hand through his hair. He was nervous. Nervous like he used to be right before he went to bat. Nervous when he was playing outfield and the opposing team had the bases loaded.

  A nervous he never, ever felt in anticipation of a woman. Only in anticipation of the game.

  A car pulled into the lot, an older model Toyota and he watched as it slipped into a parking space, the lights shutting off. He waited, anticipation making him lean forward against the steering wheel. It was nearly dark and the light posts above cast everything in an eerie orange glow.

  And then she appeared, exiting her car gracefully. Her clothes were dark, her hair pulled back from her face and she was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen.

  How should he approach her? Run up to her and make himself known? Sneak up and tap her on the shoulder? He had no clue.

  But he couldn’t let her go, not like this.

  Justin climbed out of the car and slowly walked toward her, watching as she ambled up the sidewalk and headed toward a row of silver mailboxes nestled in an alcove. As he got closer, he could see she wore a black button-up shirt with a ruffled neckline and little white polka dots all over the fabric. A slim black skirt clung to her pretty ass, showcasing her endless legs and accentuating her curves. And dainty little heels that clicked on the concrete when she walked.

  He wanted to salivate after her like a dog. Wanted to pick his tongue up off the floor and tell her how hot she looked.

  Man, he had it bad, bad, bad.

  Stephanie suddenly turned. She must’ve heard his footsteps and her eyes went as big as saucers, her mouth dropping open and forming a sexy little O.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Her accusing tone made him stop short. “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

  An aggravated sound escaped her and she shut the mailbox with extra force, the slam of the metal loud in the quiet night. “How did you find me?”

  “Well I dropped you off here, remember?” This wasn’t going as he’d planned at all.

  One hand clutched a pile of mail to her chest and the other rested on her hip. She looked...pissed. “And so you’ve been hanging out here waiting for me to come home?”

  “Kind of.” No way was he going to tell her how he drilled her neighbor for information.

  Though knowing the little old lady, she’d probably tell Stephanie all about it anyway.

  “That’s just.” She paused, her nose crinkling. “Weird.”

  God, she was cute. He wanted to yank her into his arms and kiss her until she stopped complaining but he wasn’t sure that would go over so well.

  “I had no other way to get a hold of you. It wasn’t like we exchanged that type of information,” he explained.

  No, they’d just exchanged bodily fluids in the most up close and personal way two people could get. But that was beside the point.

  She watched him, pursing those lush lips he dreamed about. Tonight they were a deep pink, the color only emphasizing their sexy shape and the urge to kiss her was overwhelming.

  The way she looked at him, though, he knew that option was out. At least for now.

  But he was always hopeful.

  “I thought it was just going to be a one time thing.” Her voice was small and she clutched the mail to her like a shield.

  Justin took a step toward her. “So did I.”

  “Why are you here now?”

  “I wanted to see you again.” He studied her, trying to gauge her reaction. She gave away nothing. “I came here to ask if you’d like to have dinner with me, Stephanie.”

  “I know who you are,” she blurted and then she blinked. Twice.

  Shit. He kind of liked that she didn’t know exactly who he was. The anonymity had been enjoyable.

  But then it dawned on him that she didn’t want to see him and she knew who he was. The women he usually encountered felt the exact opposite.

  So maybe this had promise after all. That is, if he could convince her to go out with him.

  “Are you mad I wasn’t honest with you?” He took a step closer toward her.

  She shook her head and he took another step. “No, just a little confused. But I’m sure you had your reasons.”

  “Will you go with me to dinner?” Damn it, he’d already asked her twice and this shit was so unlike him. He felt like he was begging.

  He never begged.

  “It’s probably not a good idea.”

  He had no idea why she just said that. Why wouldn’t it be a good idea? Dinner, a little bit of talking, a whole lot of looking and then a whole bunch of touching followed by way too much fucking.

  That all sounded good to him.

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged, looked confused. “You’re famous. I’m not.”

  “You won’t go to dinner with me because I’m famous?” Well, that was a first. Most of the time women went out with him only because he was famous.

  She pressed her lips together, the mail clutched so tight in her hand he heard it crinkle. “Okay fine. I’ll go to dinner with you.”

  Triumph surged through him. He wanted to pump his fist into the air. She’d said yes.

  He hoped she’d keep saying yes throughout the rest of the night.

  Chapter Six

  Were the planets in perfect alignment? Was there some sort of cosmic energy that brought Justin back to her? Could that explain why everything was unfolding this way?

  She’d thought about Justin, boom, he’d appeared on the cover of the magazine earlier today. She told herself she most definitely couldn’t see him again and wham, he showed up at her apartment tonight. She warned herself she shouldn’t play with fire and blammo, she agreed to accompany Justin the raging inferno to dinner. And by the look on his face, it told her he was more than ready to consume her inch by blessed inch.

  God, she hated to admit it but she’d let him, too. He looked amazing dressed in a navy blue polo shirt and faded jeans, his dark hair mussed by the wind and his eyes sparkling with heat every time he looked at her.

  Ha. Well of course, he looked good. That gorgeous face and amazing body would look good in a paper sack.

  Now she was riding in his equally amazing car, a Mercedes something or other, some rare model that only a select few in the entire world owned or some such thing. That’s what he’d told her, his voice filled with pride as his hand had smoothed over the sleek black hood like a proud father with his precious baby.

  Yes, she’d grown jealous of a car. Watching his hand sliding over what was nothing but a hunk of metal had given her tingles and made her toes curl. Memories flooded her of that one illicit moment they shared. His mouth on hers, his hands on her breasts and his cock buried deep inside her.

  She sighed. Here was her chance to reenact another sexual fantasy. It was as if it was meant to be between her and Justin. She needed to take this opportunity and run with it.

  “So where are we going?” She needed to make idle conversation and try to break the tension that was brewing between them.

  “A little restaurant downtown. It’s a real hole in the wall. I hope you like Italian.” He glanced at her, a tiny smile curving his lips and she sw
ore she melted a little bit in her butter soft leather seat.

  “I love Italian. I just hope I’m dressed right.” She glanced down. He hadn’t let her have a chance to change. She’d never even gone into her apartment. He’d merely whisked her away by the hand and led her to his fancy car. She’d had to shove her mail into her purse.

  Everything had been a complete whirlwind from the moment she set eyes upon him.

  “Trust me you look perfect.”

  His compliment warmed her and she covered her mouth with the tips of her fingers, hiding the smile that grew.

  He was certainly a flatterer and a definite charmer. He knew how to say just the right things to please her. Was it inherent or did he use those lines on every woman he met? She had no way of knowing.

  Her brows furrowed. Her self-doubt was going to eat her up inside. She needed to stop thinking about the bad stuff and go with the flow. Like the fact that she was almost guaranteed another romp with Justin. Justin Hawkins, former professional baseball player.

  Her boss would shit. Her friends would freak. Heck, her father would lose his mind if he knew his daughter was sitting in a car with The Hawk. She’d called her mother earlier, making casual conversation and eventually brought up Justin’s name since she knew her father was a total baseball fanatic.

  The Hawk, her mother had referred to Justin as. One of her father’s favorite players and he’d been devastated when he got in the accident and been forced to retire. The entire team hadn’t played the same since.

  Stephanie wondered how Justin felt. Did he miss playing? Did he hate talking about it? Maybe it made him sad to even think about it. She was afraid to bring the subject up.