Heads snapped around in his direction. If they didn’t recognize him from his commercials, his bulk was pretty unmistakable. Not many people of any race, White, Black, Latino, or Asian walked around at six-five and muscles coming out his ears.
He tried not to smile. His mom had called him a Black Andre the Giant—always the biggest and the strongest around him.
As usual, people blushed and averted their eyes.
Except the woman one easel over. That tiny redhead with hazel eyes didn’t stop staring at him.
It was possible she didn’t look at his face. Was she staring at his crotch?
Despite himself, he’s stiffened under her gaze. Most guys wouldn’t admit it, but the open admiration… hunger in the eyes of a woman… it never failed to get a rise.
He tied his dreads back with a skullcap and caught her eye. He raised eyebrows in warning.
She was undeterred and barred her teeth, which practically screamed ‘I want to devour you.’
Unlikely for sure. He’d break her to pieces the second he touched her.
The class began with its cheerful music and a chat about happy trees. Trevor ignored the woman and kept his mind on his creation. He could never underestimate the importance of focus. There were plenty of crushed quarterbacks who had learned that to their detriment.
His landscape came out pretty well, in his humble opinion. It wouldn’t hang in an art gallery, but it was recognizable as a mountain scene. Not that he’d tell his teammates he’d spent a whole evening painting, but too bad for them.
If the Cleveland Browns wanted their 1995 season to be immortalized, then they needed him in tiptop condition. How he got there was his business, not theirs.
The class ended, and everyone was packing up. He put his vest back on when he realized the woman was standing next to his elbow.
“Hey, you!” her voice was a mid-alto, not the high pitch he’d automatically assumed.
“Yeah?”
“Want to go get a drink?” Her eyes swept over his jeans and white T-shirt and her voice had a mature lilt, letting him know she knew what she was doing.
So few women had the audacity to even talk to him these days, but her audacity… well, damn if he didn’t find it attractive. She was no supermodel, but she had this energy, vitality, almost bursting through her skin, fire in a tiny bottle.
Incendiary.
“You want to have a drink with me?” Trevor repeated, making sure he understood what she was suggesting. His cock was onboard, having become painfully hard, and his brain stopped working.
Her lips said something about her painting skills, but he was imaging her naked up against the wall moaning his name.
“I need to put my picture away,” he managed to say.
“I’m putting mine in the circular file.” She dropped hers in the trash can. “There’s a dive bar two doors down. I’m gonna order two drinks. One for me and one for you. If you don’t come by in fifteen minutes, it will be two drinks for me, and I’ll find my own fun without you.”
His mouth dropped open. She had to be kidding. No woman had ever suggested he was replaceable. “Do you even know my name?”
Her shining hazel eyes focused on his face, bright with lust.
The force of her stare, her full attention, was like getting hit with the power of the entire Packers O-line. He’d underestimated her before. Fire was too tame—she was a live wire, lightning in the freaking bottle.
“Do I need to? See you at the bar, stud.” She walked out as if she hadn’t rocked his world without touching him.
He knew what she wanted.
His body.
And if he didn’t take her up on it, she’d find someone else who wouldn’t tell her no. Someone else would be inside her tight wet heat, pounding her while she begged.
No way in hell was that happening. If that redhead spitfire wanted it, he’d be giving it to her, and no one else.
He was out the door, dropping off his picture in his car, and headed over to the bar before he had time to reconsider.
It was the preseason after all. He could be a little flexible on his rules.
Trevor ignored the voice inside warning him he’d never bent his rules like this. Not for a coach, not for a teammate, and definitely not for a woman.
But there were some things no man could refuse…
***
