Her Sexiest Mistake by Jill Shalvis Read Free Book Online Page B

breath. Kevin rolled to his knees and got up, offering a hand to the kid who’d knocked him on his ass.
    The kid took his hand, stood.
    They eyed each other.
    Then grinned like idiots.
    Kevin ruffled the kid’s hair, then waggled a finger in his face. “Flagrant.”
    “Bull-fucking-shit!”
    “You kiss your mother with that mouth?”
    The kid grinned again. “ Not flagrant, dude.”
    “I’m taking a foul shot. Dudette. ” Dribbling, Kevin moved to the foul line.
    There was just something about his easy rhythmic movements that utterly captivated Mia. He looked down at the ball, then up at the basket, a line of sweat running down his temple, his shirt sticking to him like a second skin.
    He made the shot, and the roughhouse game continued.
    Mia had no idea how long she stood there captivated, entranced, watching Kevin move on the court with the grace and ease of a cat, but for the life of her, she couldn’t walk away. Someone blocked his next shot, but he got the rebound and went up again, taking an elbow to the cheek but making his shot. His team cheered as he came down on both feet. When the other team tossed the ball in, Kevin again snatched it away, then fired the ball to a member of his team. It was immediately passed back to him. Someone tried to take the ball away, but he simply moved faster, his face tightening into an expression that said Back off, sucker.
    When he got into the key, he passed the ball to his brother in a bulletlike throw, and the shot was made.
    “Yeeees!” Kevin said, looking extremely satisfied.
    Whooping and high-fiving ensued, and some manly butt-slapping, leaving Mia to assume game over, victory declared.
    Kevin grabbed the ball and executed some sort of victory dance, and deep within Mia something quivered. Oh, damn. Oh, damn, this was bad, bad, bad.
    Despite his easygoing demeanor, he was a fellow hard-core competitor.
    How sexy was that?
    Kevin swiped a towel over his face. His shirt was stuck to him, his arms and throat gleaming. He had a bruise gathering beneath one eye and a cut on his lip. And he was smiling, as if he’d just had the time of his life. His brother nudged his shoulder, and they began a conversation.
    With their hands.
    The brother was deaf. No big deal, but the sight of them, eloquently and easily signing, felt addicting. Even knowing she was invading their privacy, Mia stood there transfixed by their quickly moving hands, their fast smiles, the easy affection…
    Then Kevin brushed his hand over his brother’s hair, messing it up, rubbing his knuckles over his head in the affectionate age-old noogie.
    The brother tossed back his head, his mouth carved in a laughing smile, then pushed away and walked off. Kevin watched him go, his smile fading, replaced by an expression of worry and concern.
    Mia’s smile faded, too, and she wondered what she’d missed.
    Then suddenly Kevin turned his head and saw her. The hand holding the towel dropped to his side. His worry and concern faded, replaced by an expression she was fairly certain could be read as annoyance.
    She would have winced, but she preferred not to show her hand, that being she felt something almost foreign—true regret at how she’d treated him this morning. But if she didn’t like to repeat men, she really didn’t like looking back, and so she turned away, moving up the sidewalk toward her house.
    The evening had begun to cool. She couldn’t believe nearly half an hour had passed since she’d parked, she’d gotten so lost in their game.
    “Running. What a surprise,” he said.
    Slowly she turned back to face the low, husky voice she knew so intimately, thanks to last night. Kevin must have hustled to catch up with her, and yet he wasn’t even breathing hard. “I’m not running,” she said.
    “Yeah, you are. Well, as much as you can in those ridiculous shoes, anyway.”
    She looked down at her favorite heels. “Ridiculous?”
    “What’s the hurry? Your cookies burning?”
    No, but, oddly