Read Game On (The Bod Squad Series Book 1) for Free Online Page B

tall ladies.”
    Chas cocked his head. “Oh, I do. But that’s the nice thing about you, Legs. The heels are a turn-on, but you’re tall enough without ’em.”
    Susannah blushed, feeling it all the way to the tips of her ears. Ooh, this man. He had her panties tied in knots, and it wasn’t even the beginning of the race. When the horses broke free . . .
    Chas leaned his face down close to hers. “How much did you see of my bedroom last night?”
    “None. And I would have loved to,” she replied without thinking. “Why?”
    “Because I’ve got something to show you,” he said, and held out his arm.
    Feeling quite a bit like the belle of the ball, she allowed him to guide her upstairs. Following the series of Aubusson rugs that perfectly matched the rest of the décor, they came to the end of the hall, the room just past the office she had been in last night. Chas opened the door, and it was as though Susannah’s fantasies sprang to life.
    In the center of the room was an enormous purple-and-gold-decorated king-sized bed. It was appropriately named, as it looked like it belonged to a king. It had a beautiful antique wooden headboard with matching vanity and side tables, and was clearly a family heirloom. But it was obvious from the first glance what Chas wanted to show her. She looked up to see a domed ceiling with multiple dormers and a huge skylight—the very roof she had dreamed of since she was a little girl. When Susannah was growing up, her father had always taken her to the planetarium in the Air and Space Museum—it was one of her most cherished memories of him. Since that time she’d dreamed of having a domed roof that looked up at the sky.
    “Oh,” she whispered, “oh, Chas. It’s like a fairy tale come true.”
    He gave her a tender look as though he were thrilled that he was getting a glimpse of her softer side. “Would you like to lie on the bed and look out the skylight?” he asked her in a low voice. “I always wanted to be an astronomer as a kid; I was the riffraff that spent all my spare time at the planetarium. Growing up, my ceiling was plastered with those glow-in-the-dark stick-on stars, but I always dreamed of the real thing. This was my answer to that dream.”
    “I was the same kind of riffraff,” she said with a grin. Without needing further encouragement, she climbed atop the bed and lay on her back, looking up. Chas joined her. She could hear, faintly, sounds of the New York street and the occasional whirling of the wind against the panes. She looked up and wished she could see into the night.
    “Do you mind if I turn out the lights?” Chas asked. “It’s better for seeing the sky.”
    “Please,” she murmured. And he did.
    Suddenly—through that exquisite skylight—she could see the stars, and it felt like she was looking through a porthole and seeing the entire universe. She sighed in wonder, and Chas shifted, entwining his fingers with hers as they looked up. “My word,” she breathed, “when I was a little girl I used to dream about something like this.”
    “Funny,” he said, “when I was a little boy I used to dream about the same thing . . . but I never thought I’d be lucky enough to have a lady like you to share it with me.”
    She turned to face him—wondering if he was for real—and their lips met. This was not like last night, not the kiss of pursuit or conquest. This was tender, gentle, the stuff of wistful fantasies. She let out a gasp as he nibbled on her lower lip and ran a finger through her hair. “Let’s take this slow, okay?” he asked. And all she could do was nod, speechless. She’d had a string of casual lovers, and she was very comfortable in the bedroom. But something about this guy was really throwing her off balance. It scared her and turned her on in equal measure.
    He took his time with her, kissing every centimeter of her face, trailing his tongue down her neck, twisting his fingers through her hair. Once or twice he