True, since he never seemed to date anyone over twenty-five. Penelope gave the child her sweetest smile. “Of course not, I’m an adult.”
The girl opened her mouth to say something, but Evan shook his head and encircled her wrist. “Go wait for me inside, babe.”
She pouted. “But Evan . . .”
“Go. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Penelope held up her hands. “No, don’t let me bother you. I’m leaving.”
He looked like he was about to say something, but then he stopped, and shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
The girl curled into Evan, draping her perfect Playboy body all over him, and giving Penelope a smug smile. “You didn’t forget your walker, did you?”
Evan’s jaw tightened, and for a fraction of a second Penelope thought he’d be decent and put the girl in her place, but then his expression smoothed over to impassive.
His response stuck like a thorn in her side, reminding her just how much she didn’t like him. She shifted her attention back to the twenty-two-year-old. “By the way, he doesn’t know your name.”
The girl blinked, and her smugness fell away. “Um, yeah, he does.”
Penelope shook her head. “Nope. Sorry. He always calls you girls ‘babe’ when he doesn’t remember.” She flicked a glance at Evan. “Have fun.”
Then, before she could get caught up in any more of his crap, she turned and walked away.
Last thing she heard was “babe” asking Evan what her name was, but Penelope didn’t have to stick around to wait for the answer. She knew Evan, and he had no idea.
Of course, being as he was a famous, bad-boy football player who was reported to be notoriously insatiable and wild, Penelope knew it wouldn’t matter. Evan would get his blow job, and probably a hundred other things before the night was through.
Little things like names didn’t matter in the NFL.
Penelope slipped back inside and hurried down the hallway, searching for a place to collect herself. When she found a tiny alcove at the end of a corridor, she rested against the wall, squeezing her lids tight.
For a smart woman, she sure was stupid.
She had everything she could want from life. A great house, success, respect, friends, and a family who loved her. She had an MBA from Northwestern, and was admired by her colleagues for her logical, analytical brain, which could solve even the toughest of problems.
And what was she doing with all these brains of hers? Still pining for Evan Donovan.
It was so ridiculous and frustrating. Crushes that began at six were supposed to end. They weren’t supposed to plague her at thirty-one.
She rubbed at her temples. She’d tried countless times over the years to talk herself out of him, but it hadn’t worked. Ironically, her heart seemed to be the only impetuous, self-destructive thing about her.
And she’d tried. God knew how hard she’d tried. She’d dated plenty of men—good men who appreciated her and treated her the way she deserved—and still she couldn’t forget Evan, or the past that meant more to her than to him. He lingered in the back of her mind, always present.
She didn’t even like the man he’d become—if he could even be called a man. More like an overgrown frat boy. The grown-up version of Evan, she could get over. Only her memories wouldn’t allow that. No matter how many times she’d told herself the boy she’d known was a figment of her imagination, her heart refused to believe. And, thus, like every bad country song ever written, she pined for a man who would never love her in return.
She hated it, but didn’t know how to stop it from being true.
The one saving grace was that nobody knew. Not her friends. Not her family. No one. She refused to even write his name in her diary, for fear someone would discover the truth. She hid it well. She never reacted. Always played it cool. And no one had ever guessed. In the long list of humiliations she’d suffered at the hands of Evan Donovan, this wouldn’t be one of them.
This secret would follow her to the grave.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer Dawson grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and graduated from DePaul University with a degree in psychology. She met her husband at the public library while they were studying. To this day she still maintains she was NOT checking him out. Now, over twenty years later, they’re married and living in a suburb right outside of Chicago with two awesome kids and a crazy dog.
Despite going through a light-FM, poem-writing phase in high school, Jennifer never grew up wanting to be a writer (she had more practical aspirations of being an international superspy). Then one day, suffering from boredom and disgruntled with a book she’d been reading, she decided to put pen to paper. The rest, as they say, is history.
These days Jennifer can be found sitting behind her computer, writing her next novel, chasing after her kids, keeping an ever-watchful eye on her ever-growing to-do list, and NOT checking out her husband.
TAKE A CHANCE ON ME
Gorgeous runaway brides . . .
When Maddie Donovan runs out on her high school
sweetheart moments before walking down the aisle,
she ends up at a bar in the small town of Revival,
Illinois, with only the wedding dress on her back,
fifty dollars to her name, and her “good girl”
reputation in tatters. Not ready to return to Chicago
and face the music, she accepts hot bartender
Mitch Riley’s offer to stay at his place.
But sharing such close quarters is driving
Maddie insane with desire.
Always drink for free . . .
Mitch thinks he’s seen it all—until Maddie strides
into his bar in full wedding attire and downs three
shots of whiskey. Though the gorgeous knockout
seems tough as nails, he also senses her vulnerability.
With a troubled past of his own, Mitch has no
interest in ties of any kind—yet he can’t help
falling for Maddie. Now he’s got to find a way to
convince her to give love a second chance.
THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL
For two stubborn people . . .
Corporate mogul Shane Donovan sees the
ultra-cool, collected Cecilia Riley as an ice queen—
even if he can’t deny that, on the surface, she’s a
work of perfection his body can’t ignore.
Forced to spend two weeks in the same house for
his sister’s upcoming wedding, Shane senses
that deep down Cecilia mirrors his need.
And he’s determined to draw her into
a sexy game that will melt away her reserve . . .
Losing is not an option . . .
Career-driven Cecilia Riley has just enough free time
in her schedule to head out of town for her brother’s
wedding. But her agenda is thrown for a loop by the
presence of Shane. Though his over-confident
attitude leaves a lot to be desired, his insanely hot
body has kept Cecilia up nights. Unsure what game
Shane is playing, Cecilia takes the bait,
bent on resisting him at all costs.
But as Shane and Cecilia discover,
temptation follows no rules . . .
ZEBRA BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2015 by Jennifer Dawson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware th
at this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
Zebra and the Z logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4201-3429-2
ISBN-10: 1-4201-3429-9
ISBN: 978-1-4201-3429-2
The Name of the Game Page 33
