Free Punt: A British Bad Boy Football Romance by Vivian Wood Page B

dry jokes. Chelsea seemed to size him up right away and take him for just what he was: a terrible flirt with no deeper intentions.
    Still, Liam felt Audrey’s gaze on him time and again. Carson, the poor chap, seemed to be having a terrible time trying to chat Audrey up. She kept giving Carson quick, disinterested smiles until he lost interest and turned away.
    Once Carson abandoned her, Liam began to feel a little guilty. Audrey looked stranded in the middle of the table, everyone coupled off and deep in conversation. This was her dinner, after all. Liam had eavesdropped on her conversation as she planned it.
    A girls’ night out , she’d called it.
    Now she was left out, because Liam had distracted all her friends with a bunch of handsome professional athletes. It was a little unfair, though she could have played along and chatted with Carson if she’d so chosen.
    But Audrey was stubborn. She heaved a sigh, shot Liam a glare across the table, and nimbly got to her feet. She vanished toward the back of the restaurant, and she was gone a good couple minutes before Liam stood and followed her.
    He went around the pagoda bar to the hallway where the restrooms and coat closet lay. No sign of Audrey. He checked the closet, then knocked on both restroom doors. Silence.
    He headed toward the end of the hallway, and was ready to turn around and head back to the table when he saw a strange wood-and-glass door. A vintage phone booth, built seamlessly into the wall.
    When he moved to examine it, he found Audrey standing inside, sticking out her lower lip and scrolling listlessly through her phone. He pulled the door open, startling her.
    “Ugh, go away,” she sighed. When he stepped into the booth, pressing right up against her as he closed the doors, she actually growled at him. “What are you doing, Liam?”
    “Apologizing for crashing your dinner party,” he said, sliding a hand around to her lower back to pull her against his body.
    “I don’t want your apologies,” she snapped. She looked him right in the eye. “I don’t want you, Liam.”
    “No?” he asked, bringing his lips down to her ear. He nipped her earlobe, then kissed her neck. Already he could feel her melting against his chest. “I think you do, Ginger.”
    “Don’t call me that,” she said, her voice dropping to a throaty purr.
    Liam cupped Audrey’s chin, marveling at how petite and delicate she was in his hands. He dragged his thumb over her lips and they parted for him. The look in her eyes, the hunger and conflict he saw there…
    He lowered his lips to hers, taking her mouth in a deep, possessive kiss. She sighed into the kiss, her arms snaking around his neck, fingers burying in the hair at his nape. Her nails gently scraped his scalp, his neck, his shoulders.
    Their teeth clashed, tongues meeting and dancing, breath fleeing as they kissed long and hard.
    Remembering how she’d responded before, he found her nipple and gave it a hard pinch. Audrey’s lips parted from his and she moaned, this irrepressible sound that made Liam want to be inside her, right that bloody minute.
    There was no doubt about it, buttoned-up little Audrey was going to be an absolute fucking wildcat between the sheets.
    Liam dragged one shoulder of her dress down, taking her bra with it, shoving at the fabric until he freed one full, lush breast. He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up, pinning her against the wall so that he could pull her pert pink nipple into his mouth.
    On the first long, hard pull of his lips, the first scrape of his teeth, Audrey pressed her hand to her mouth to smother a loud, passionate cry. He sucked and nipped hard, drawing on her nipple again and again, until her hips were rocking against him, until her eyes were closed and she was moaning over and over.
    Fuck, she was incredible. Now to make his mark, really show her that he could please her. That for once in their short but oh so sweet acquaintance, he could give without