Free The Seduction Request by Michelle Celmer

thought she told him everything. And he’d wanted to find the guy who had stolen what should have been his and tear him limb from limb.
    The thought of someone else’s hands on her had burned him with jealousy. They’d been friends for years, and in all that time he’d barely given a physical relationship with her a second thought. That night he could think of nothing else. He wanted to be her first.
    He still remembered how hot she’d felt as he’d entered her, how impossibly tight. Then he’d felt the barrier of her innocence give against his thrust, heard her sharp intake of breath, and he’d known she was his. It was as if the piece of him that had been missing had somehow slipped into place.
    But it could never be more than one night. He had plans, dreams, and she didn’t fit into them. In the morning they would go back to the way things had been. Back to being friends. It wasn’t fair, and he knew he would probably hurt Emily, but it was just the way things had to be.
    Then morning came, and all those feeling he’d experienced the night before, the need to be with Emily, hadn’t burned away with the sunrise. In fact, it was worse. Everything he felt for her was still there, taunting him.
    She would never know how difficult it had been to leave, or how close he’d been to giving it all up for her. Without the scholarship, he never would have been able to afford college. He had to go to UCLA. And without college ball, he never would have made it into the NFL. Had he not finished school and earned his degree, after his injury he would’ve had nothing to fall back on. He simply never had time for the kind of commitment Emily would have wanted. The one she deserved.
    He still didn’t.
    â€œYou’re not what I expected,” Emily said, her inquisitive blue eyes tugging Matt out of the past.
    â€œWhat were you expecting?”
    She shrugged. “I thought you would be more serious.”
    â€œI guess I am when I’m in California. More focused. I would never take time off to play one on one.”
    â€œHow come?”
    â€œToo busy. Weekdays I spend in the office, a couple evenings a week I stop in at the restaurant in L.A. to make an appearance. Every Sunday I fly to one of the other Touchdowns and spend a few hours.”
    â€œEvery Sunday? Why?”
    â€œIt’s good exposure and it draws the customers in.”
    â€œSo when do you take a day off? When do you relax?”
    He could barely recall the concept. “I don’t. I have a condo in Cancun I’ve never been to. I own avilla in Italy I never have time to visit. If you want the honest truth, outside of work, I have no life.”
    Her brow creased, as if the thought was a disturbing one. “Then what’s the point? Why work so hard if you can’t enjoy what you’ve got?”
    â€œWhen I figure that out I’ll let you know.”
    â€œSo what about this Sunday? Which one are you going to?”
    â€œThis Sunday, I was supposed to fly to New York, but my plane is in for repairs.”
    Her eyes widened. “ Your plane, as in the one you own? ”
    â€œIt’s a little plane,” he said. “A Lear.”
    â€œUnless it’s a model plane it’s completely out of the realm of my comprehension. You can afford to buy a plane and you want even more money? When is it enough?”
    He shrugged. He wished he knew. Although he had to admit, he’d felt different since he’d been back. He couldn’t even put a finger on the exact emotion. Being with Emily again just felt…good. And not necessarily in a sexual way. He was just enjoying her companionship. Sitting here with Emily, he felt relaxed. Comfortable.
    Content.
    He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt that way. If only there were a way to capture it, to take it back to California with him.
    â€œI always thought there would be this feeling I would