Tempting the Player

Excerpt

Libby Hart eased herself into the piping-hot bath and let lavender-scented bubbles swallow her whole. A dozen flickering candles provided the room’s only light. Relaxing against the fluffy towel she’d laid across the back of the tub, she let out a moan. She’d earned this. In the past two days, she’d achieved nearly everything on her checklist—an unheard-of event. She’d even managed to sneak in a date and a waxing session at the salon.

God it felt good not to have a unibrow.

Every week, she worked a four-day shift, leaving three days to cram her entire life into. She usually spent the first day sleeping and the second and third looking after her baby nephew or hanging out with her friend Matt and the dog they’d adopted together. That didn’t leave much time for tackling important tasks, such as making sure she didn’t resemble a yeti.

This week, though, her sister was visiting their mum in Norfolk, and Matt was playing an away game in Dublin, so she’d had little to distract her. Tomorrow she could relax, drop by her sister’s to clean the place before Mary and baby Caleb got home, and then go to the Bonfire Night event with Matt. A full day enjoying time with the people she loved.

Heaven.

Tiny nails scratched at the enamel tub, and Libby leaned over to find Princess on her hind legs, trying to climb up.

“I don’t think you’ll make it, sweetheart. It’s ten times your size.” She reached down and cupped her hand under the dog’s soft belly, then lifted her so they faced each other. Though she hadn’t named Princess, the poor dog certainly looked like royalty, with her weak chin, wonky teeth and slightly turned-up nose. “See? Lots of bubbles. Hot water. You wouldn’t like it in here.”

Princess gave her chin a lick before pumping her feet in the air and straining to get back to her hot-dog chew toy next to the tub. Libby put her down, slipped earbuds in and flicked through her playlists to one Matt had made her.

Matt, the gorgeous rugby player who’d bizarrely become one of her closest friends, was never far from her mind. He seemed to dominate her thoughts all too readily at intimate moments like these—naked in the bath, with candles lit around the room and Adele belting out songs of desire in her ears. Libby closed her eyes and let her head loll to the side. Tension eased from her shoulders as she pictured Matt sitting behind her, rubbing her shoulders with his strong, capable hands. Imagination not good enough, Libby reached across her chest to rub one of her own shoulders, lending credence to the lie that Matt was touching her. Dream Matt shifted his legs so they stretched alongside hers. His erection nudged the cleft of her bum, making her twitch and turn to give him a stern look, one he answered with his naughty, dimpled grin.

Her hand slipped under the bubbles on its way to romance herself the way only Dream Matt could. Before it reached anywhere special, a hand touched her shoulder.

A hand…not her hand.

Her eyes flew open. A man loomed over her. Libby’s heart exploded—so did his, apparently, since he leaped back against the sink.

“Holy fuck!” She shot up straight, then slid down so the bubbles covered her shoulders as soon as she recognized him. Only her head and knees peeked through the foam. “Matt! Bloody hell, what’re you doing?”