Page 4 of Game Maker


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She looked back over her shoulder at the bouncer, as if to assure herself that she was still being guarded, and he winced. He really screwed this up if she was that worried.

“It’s all right,” she said, but he could see it wasn’t.

“It’s just, I see you in there every night, and it’s clear you don’t belong there. That’s not you in there.”

She raised her chin and he could see the pride shining in her eyes. “I’ve worked really hard to get where I am, Mr. Kyle. I’m a registered dietician, and I’m damned good at what I do. It just turns out, I’m not very good at running numbers and creating business plans. But, I’ve had a business coach look at my figures now, and if I can keep my head above water for six months, and add two new clients per month for each of those six months, I can make it. Icanmake it.”

He eyed her realizing she was a whole heck of a lot more than she appeared, just as he’d suspected. And, she was damned determined. He liked that about her.

“So,” he said, a plan forming in his head, “you just need twelve more regular clients to be able to quit? If you had twelve more, you’d be all right?” He didn’t know why he thought of it like that. Like he needed for her to beall rightbefore he could walk away and forget he ever saw her, but that’s what he was feeling.

“Yes, if I get twelve over the course of the next six months and keep them,” she said, slowly, nodding her head.

“Done,” he said and held out his hand. “Give me your business card. I’ll have twelve new clients for you tomorrow.”

Twelve at the same time instead of over six months should not only get her what she needed, it should put her over the top with the big influx of income at once. His teammates wouldn’t be thrilled, but he’d make them see it his way.Dang.If he had to, he'd blame it on the curse so they’d go along with it. Because he could tell this woman was too much temptation for him. His best strategy—his only strategy—for resisting the curse, was to stay away from women. And he couldn’t seem to stay away from this one, at least not while she was working here and her job might just depend on him. He’d watched her drop more drinks in three nights than he would have thought possible. And, every time, her boss’s head had turned right toward Aiden.

She laughed at him. Laughed. At him. He narrowed his eyes.

“What’s so funny?”

“You! Why would you do this for me? What is it that you want?”

Now it was his turn to laugh. “What do you know about baseball?” he asked.

“Nothing. Well, that’s not exactly true. I know all about the nutritional and dietary requirements of an athlete’s body and how to balance those needs individually for each specific sport and for the individual player. But, the game? Nothing.” She shrugged a shoulder.

“We have a forty man roster. Each of those forty men treats their bodies as a temple, carefully monitoring what goes into it. But, we’re also busy and most of us are lazy as hell when it comes to things like cooking or grocery shopping. I’ll be doing my teammates a favor by getting them your info. I can get you at least twelve players tomorrow as regular clients. Maybe more. Oh, and I’m also friends with half the Brawler football franchise. I can get you more clients when their season starts.”

Her eyes widened and she seemed frozen, unsure of whether to believe him or not.

“I don’t want anything in exchange, Lily. I just don’t want you to have to work here when you’re so clearly out of your element. Besides,” he said, running a hand through his hair, “I can’t keep coming here every night to make sure Donny keeps his word about not firing you.”

He didn’t tell her why he couldn’t keep coming here. He wouldn’t let her know she was temptation on legs for him, and he couldn’t keep subjecting himself to that when he needed to focus on his game.

“So,” he said, sticking his hand out again, “give me your card and I’ll get your clients. Then, you quit.” He looked over her shoulder once more to the club’s entrance where the bouncer stood, glaring at them.

With a very distrustful glint to her eye and a great deal of skepticism she didn’t seem to be trying to hide, she handed over her business card. He nodded and got into his car, then watched until she got to her car and was inside with the engine running before he pulled away.

He had a lot of favors to call in.

Chapter Five

Aiden was smiling when he walked into the locker room almost a week later. He’d easily convinced more than twelve of his teammates to try Lily’s service, which meant he didn’t need to sit in the strip club and watch men manhandle her night after night. And, more importantly, he didn’t have to see her. Didn’t have to be tempted by her.

His smile slipped a bit when he thought about how she’d starred in his fantasies every time he’d jerked off in the shower that week, but he shoved the thought aside. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t being tempted by the curse right now, and that was all that mattered.

“Hey, man. Thanks for hooking me up with Lily,” Jason Denali said, slapping Aiden on the back, making him freeze.

“What did you say?” he asked, spinning to glare at Jason, who raised his hands in the air in surrender.

“Whoa,” Jason said, backing away. “The food, man. I meant the food.”

Gage chimed in with a moan of pure appreciation. “Did she make you guys the pecan crusted chicken this week? God, that was heaven.”

Several of the other players nodded and grinned, all agreeing the pecan chicken was a favorite before they began shouting out other meals she’d made them that apparently rocked their worlds. They talked about her as though she came to their houses and cooked for them. And suddenly, he had images of her in his kitchen doing just that for him. Naked.

Why was she naked in his fantasy?

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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