AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Of course,” he answered, actually sounding offended.
I eyed him as I started poking around on his shoulder again.“Allof them?”
Orion let out a huff as he reached inside his back pocket to produce a piece of paper. “I have all thirteen stretches right here.” He waved the paper in my face. “I’m even doing those damn rhomboid rows.”
“How did your shoulder feel after the game?” I asked. “And don’t lie to me.”
“If you care so much, why didn’t you come to the game and see for yourself?” he asked, those bedroom eyes of his trying to bring me to my knees.
With my mouth open.
“While I know that your ego might suffer from this fact, I have other clients, Mr. Knight,” I sniffed. “You’re not the only one.”
My entire frame froze as I felt his hands on my hips. “Never say those words to me again,” he said, and the blood rushing through my ears had me feeling dizzy.
“Orion, let go of me,” I ordered, his first name automatically falling from my lips.
“Sorry,” he muttered as he let go.
I could feel my heart beating erratically inside my chest, my pulse leaping wildly. Though he had apologized and let go, his eyes held me frozen in place. He wasn’t shying away from what he’d done, nor was he letting me pretend like it hadn’t happened. We were seriously crossing a line here, and there was no way that I was going to let myself break my oath for Orion Knight.
“I don’t date athletes,” I told him, giving him more than he deserved.
“Why not?”
“Why would I?”
His head tilted to the side a bit. “Why do you hate athletes so much?”
“I don’t hate athletes,” I denied. “I just don’t date them.”
“Why not?” he repeated.
“What’s the benefit?” I replied, asking a question of my own.
Orion leaned back on the stool a bit, and I could tell that he wanted to grab me again. “What’s the benefit?” he echoed.
“Do I seem like the kind of woman that would appreciate cameras in her face when she’s just trying to go to lunch with her boyfriend?” I posed. “Do I seem like the kind of woman that would appreciate sleeping alone most nights because her boyfriend travels so much? Do I seem like the kind of woman that wants to spend her nights wondering if her boyfriend is alone in his hotel room? Wondering if someone is helping him celebrate a win or console him after a loss?” I shook my head. “Yeah, no thanks.”
“So, all athletes are cheating assholes,” he replied. “Is that what you’re saying?”
“I’m saying that it’s not worth the risk for me,” I told him honestly. “If a normal guy cheats on me, then that’s between me, him, and his mistress. If a famous athlete cheats on me, then that’s a humiliation that I can’t run from. It’ll be all over the internet and social media, and I’d have no one to blame but myself. I’d rather deal with a heartbreak privately than deal with one at the same time that the entire world is privy to my humiliation.”
“Not all athletes cheat,” he insisted.
“I never said that they did,” I pointed out. “I just said that it wasn’t worth the risk to me.” I shrugged like this topic wasn’t a painful one for me. “I don’t date athletes, and Idon’twantto.”
“So, that’s it?” he asked. “You’re seriously not going to give me a chance based on some pre-conceived sin that you’re already laying at my feet?”
“Orion-”
“That’s bullshit,” he bit out, interrupting me.
I eyed him. “Maybe I’m just not attracted to you,” I suggested. “Ever thought of that?”
Before I knew what he was about, Orion was standing up, grabbing me by my hips, lifting me, then setting me down on the massage table. Like he had every right, he stepped in between my spread legs, and the fucker really was tall, wide, and imposing.
“Don’t lie to me,” he ordered. “I can handle all the viciousness that comes out of those lips of yours, but do not lie to me.”
