Keeping Score
Page 29
Dear god, he was a good-looking man who’d only gotten better with age. She sat back in her chair and took in the full sight of him. She wasn’t immune to the opposite sex, but Nick Salinger had the kind of rugged sexiness that made heat rush between her thighs and reminded her that her sexual engine could still be revved. Unlike her younger self, she wasn’t ashamed to ogle him. She’d come to realize it was part of her skill as an agent. Her mind immediately cataloged a handful of designers that might be interested in his look for a fashion campaign. She also noticed that, in spite of the cut on his left cheek and slightly crooked nose, he had the kind of bone structure that would make him a great candidate for an endorsement with a sunglasses company. He’d have to shave off the beard, though.
That’d be a shame, her libido whispered like a devil on her shoulder.
The important thing was that she knew how to suppress the instincts screaming at her to shut him up by climbing onto his lap, ripping open his shirt, and riding him like a prized stallion. As with everything else in her life, she let her brain guide her. Salinger was a brawler on and off the ice, and there was no way she would get involved with someone like him personally or professionally.
She cleared her throat and leaned forward with her forearms on the desk. “I can’t work with athletes I don’t care for.”
“You could learn to like me.”
She scoffed. “You’re a thirty-two-year-old brute defenseman on the last year of your contract, and despite all your accolades, you’ve never won the Stanley Cup. Five days ago, you lost your endorsement with Bauer and your agent dumped you because you got into a fistfight with your teammate during practice. Not just any teammate—Sebastian Liakos, who happens to be a first-draft rookie recently engaged to Alexa Whittaker, the daughter of the Vipers’ owner. Liakos also happens to have the press and the fans wrapped around his finger. That is, until you broke that finger by slashing at him with your stick in one of the cheapest moves ever caught on video. And even if the team didn’t suspend you, everyone knows you were the one who threw the first punch.”
She picked up her paperweight and turned it casually in her hand, hoping he would finally leave without having to be thrown out. Getting angry wasn’t her style. It was much easier to use her powers of persuasion.
“He deserved it.”
“Really? Because the media reports of you arguing with Alexa the next morning makes it seem like a pretty clear-cut case of jealous rage to me.”
“Christ, I was trying to warn her about Liakos. Alexa’s just a kid.”
At least he had the decency to look horrified by the accusation. “So is Sebastian Liakos. And the public thinks you wailed on a twenty-year-old for no reason other than your out-of-control ego.”
He shifted in his seat, a scowl forming on his handsome face. “And that’s why I’m here.”
“There’s no question you’re a great player. Probably one of the best. But you’re like a car on the last year of its warranty, and when it comes time to talk trade deals, it’ll be your sorry behind getting shipped off to one of the expansion teams. One that will pay you handsomely but has no hope of ever wining the Cup. Any agent can negotiate a trade deal for you. You don’t need me.”
“You know your stuff, I’ll give you that. But there’s one thing you’re wrong about.”
“What’s that?”
“My agent didn’t dump me. I fired him because he said the exact same thing you just did. I know I’ve only got one, maybe two years left in me to win the Cup, but that’s not going to happen if I’m traded to some third-rate team that can’t even score fans, much less goals. I need an agent who understands it’s not about the money. I don’t care if they never pay me another dime. It’s about my love of the game. I thought that’d be you, but I guess I was wrong. I guess you’re not the same girl from the stairwell after all.” He stood up and set his hands on her creaky desk, glaring at her with piercing dark blue eyes like he expected her to flinch.
She didn’t. At least not physically. But her insides felt like she’d taken a punch to the gut. She never expected him to remember.
But the fact he could still electrify every nerve in her body with a single look wasn’t the only thing that made her falter. This was the first moment he had spoken with any kind of passion or given her a reason to think she was anything but a last-ditch effort to salvage his career. And even though she’d vowed never to let money cloud her judgment, she couldn’t deny that a star hockey player like Salinger made ten times more in a year than each one of her current clients combined.
A panorama of opportunities a client like Salinger could offer opened up in her mind. If she could turn his career around, it would legitimize Nichols Sports Management. With a client like Salinger, the big boys in the league would be forced to finally look past her gender and take her seriously. Most importantly, it’d give her the kind of validation she needed to win the upcoming election for the board of the New York Charter of Professional Sports Agents.
But her existing success was based on three principals. One, never work with arrogant jerks. Two, never work with someone she doesn’t trust. And three, never work with someone she’s pictured naked.
Considering her perpetually single status and her unwholesome appreciation of bad boys, picturing him naked is something she’d done a heck of a lot over the past decade.
Despite the tightness in her throat, she forced herself to ask one more question. “Why did you beat up Liakos?”
He stared at her for a long time, a slight tick in his jaw the only movement.
“It’s not a difficult question. Trust is vital in this business. If we’re going to work together—and I’m not saying I’ve changed my mind—I need to know why you did it.”
“No.”
Strike three. “Then this is the end of our conversation.” She didn’t need to ask him to leave. He had already slammed the door behind him by the time she’d finished her sentence.
Don't miss the rest of the laugh-out-loud, sexy, competitive romances in the Perfect Play series from Sara Rider!
Jillian Nichols has played every game there is to win her spot as the best sports agent out there. But when the rules are changed with NHL badboy Nick Salinger, will she win or lose in the game for her heart?
Going for the Goal
* * *
Pro-soccer stars and rivals Lainey Lukas and Gabe Havelak agree to settle their differences in a Battle of the Sexes competition—a test of skills, fitness, and willpower. But as the friction between them becomes hot enough to spark and smolder, and with both of their careers on the line, they both find that love might just be the toughest opponent of all . . .
For the Win
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acknowledgments
The hugest thank-you goes to my phenomenal editor, Marla Daniels, for your incredible guidance and for letting me inadvertently steal your name! I’m also grateful to the wonderful team at Pocket Star who helped bring this book series to life. I have profound respect for the amazing work of the copy editors and proofreaders, and for the art department for creating the perfect cover. A big thank-you to Theresa Dooley and everyone in the publicity department as well for your enthusiasm in promoting The Perfect Play series. To my agent, Rachael Dugas, thank you for supporting me from day one. To Erica, thank you for letting me pester you with questions about how to make physiotherapy sexy. All errors and deviations from reality are my own. Finally, to my husband and daughters, thank you for giving me the inspiration and the time to follow my dreams.
about the author
Growing up, Sara Rider dreamed of becoming a professional soccer player. When that dream was squashed by her extreme dislike of running, she decided to do the next best thing: write about professional soccer players. By day, Sara spends her time working in the field of research ethics and daydreams about plotlines and character arcs. She s
pends far too much time at public libraries and never leaves the house without a paperback or an e-reader stuffed into her purse.
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR: Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Sara-Rider
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For the Win
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 by Sara O’Shaughnessy
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First Pocket Star Books ebook edition November 2016
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ISBN 978-1-5011-3281-0