by Cathryn Fox
His gaze rakes over me, and my goddamn legs nearly give out as those dark eyes ignite my blood from simmer to inferno. What the hell is wrong with me? I do not like football players. I do not like Landon.
Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that, Ella.
“Wait, am I seeing double,” he asks, and looks from me to Ivy and back to me again.
“Ivy is my twin,” I say with an exaggerated sigh, and steal a fast glance at her across the field. As if feeling my eyes on her, her head lifts, and she stares at me. I can’t see her expression from where I’m standing. I can only imagine she’s in shock to see me talking with Landon. Not because I don’t associate with football players, but because a nerd like me would never be worthy of his attention. She has nothing to worry about. He’s all hers.
Have at him, sis.
“How come I’ve never seen you around before?” He shifts from one foot to the other, and I become acutely aware of his height, and of the way his muscles fill out his uniform. Does he even need all that padding? The fresh scent of soap, fabric softener, and something uniquely Landon fills my senses. It’s not a bad scent. Nope, not bad at all. Which really sucks.
“I hang in different circles,” I tell him and like the nerd I am, I snort, and tap the camcorder. “Cinematography.”
“Oh yeah?” Dark eyes leave mine to steal a quick glance at the camcorder, and for a second he almost seems truly interested. “You’re one of those audio/visual students?”
I nod and resist the urge to roll my eyes, because honestly, the fact that he doesn’t know what my major is called isn’t his fault. I don’t know a thing about football, and I kind of get the sense he’s trying to be nice, although for the life of me I can’t figure out why. I’m pretty sure he’s not trying to lure me to the locker room so the team can beat the crap out of me, like those boys in high school did to Jacob.
“You mean nerds?” I ask, with a raised brow, and Peyton kicks my ankle. I whimper, but don’t take my eyes off Landon. God, he’s so alluring, his face brutally interesting, I’m not sure I can.
Something passes over his dark eyes. A hint of sadness? I’m not sure why I suddenly feel like I’ve bruised him somehow. Jeez, I’d never purposely hurt anyone, whether I liked them or not.
“I never said that. I just mean…” He shrugs one of those broad shoulders and it’s all I can do to keep my gaze from dropping…from admiring all his muscles. “You, uh, you like movies, huh?”
“Yes. I like movies,” I respond, and resist the urge to walk through the door he just opened. Once someone brings up movies, I could go on and on about films, rambling about what I like, what I don’t like, but I don’t want to bore him to death. He has a game to play, women to impress.
He rubs a scar beneath his eye, and it flares red. “Seen anything good lately?”
How did he get that? Football, or something else? “Yes,” I say again, and he smiles.
“Any recommendations?”
Porn.
What. The. Hell.
Get yourself together, girl!!
“Depends on what you like.” I say, trying for casual when my stupid brain is conjuring up all kinds of unwanted images. Landon on top of me, underneath me…
“You should come to the party tonight.” He gestures to the field with a nod. “I’ll show you what I like.”
Holy shit, no. He is definitely barking up the wrong tree here. I am not one of his groupies, bunnies, cleat chasers, or whatever the hell they call women who sleep with footballers. Wait! My brain takes a moment to catch up, alerting me that the guy everyone calls torpedo—and not just because he’s lightning fast—invited me to a party. Did I just enter the twilight zone or something? I think I might have heard him wrong.
“I’m busy,” I say.
This time his smile is cocky, full of brazen confidence, and I get it. I really do. I get why women hand their panties over. “Come on, you can’t be too busy to celebrate our win?”
“Pretty sure of yourself,” I say in a bored voice, even though there’s a storm going on inside me.
He cocks his head. “Attitude is half the battle, don’t you think?”
“You don’t want to know what I think,” I mumble.
He grins, and despite myself, my stupid lips twitch. God, why am I acting like a dim-witted moth around him? Yes, he’s a shining star and has his own gravitational pull, but I am not into egotistical football players. My only goal is to keep my head down, finish my degree and get a job in Hollywood. Why I’m suddenly on this guy’s radar is beyond me. Did he lose a bet or something? Have to talk to the nerdy girl? If not, and if there’s something about me that appeals to him, he should go after Ivy. We look alike, except she dyes her hair blonde, and he could have her with a snap of his fingers.
“Her name is Ella,” Peyton says. “She’ll be at that party.”
I spin, and give my former best friend the death glare. She studies her nails, like she doesn’t have a care in the world. From across the field, a whistle blows, and I nearly jump ten feet in the air when a big, strong hand lands on my arm. I spin to face Landon, and he snatches his hand back.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to touch without permission.” He holds both hands up, palms out. “I just ah, I gotta go. Coach is calling.” He pauses for a brief second.
“What?” I ask as I reposition myself at the camcorder and reach for the record button. Wait, why is it on? Rattled, and pretending not to be, as Landon continues to stand there, six feet of sex in a football outfit, looming over my small frame, I flick the record button off, and close my eyes, hoping when I open them again, he’ll be gone.
“Aren’t you going to say good luck?”
Nope not gone, and goddamn that cocky grin of his. I’m going to give my traitorous body—one spot in particular—a good hard lecture when we get home. With my vibrator.
“Good luck,” I murmur, sounding uninterested.
He backs up an inch and I can almost fully refill my lungs again. “See you tonight, Ella.”
“Not going to be there,” I say.
He pauses and I sigh as I look at him. Why won’t he leave already?
“How about this? If I score a touchdown, you come, if I don’t…then it’s my loss. In more ways than one.”
His loss? Okay, I really am in some alternate universe. Football players do not flirt with me, and that’s the way I like it.
“Why would I bargain with you? What could possibly be in it for me?”
“Come tonight.” He flashes perfect white teeth. “Find out.”
“We’ll be there,” Peyton says, finality in her tone, letting us both know it’s going to happen and the conversation is over.
“We will not be there,” I clarify through clenched teeth. We have a better chance of getting snow in Southern California this late September evening. Not. Going. To. Happen.
“See you tonight, Peyton,” Landon says. “See you too, Ella.” He points to the camera. “Now you’d better press record. You don’t want to miss my touchdown.”
My God, could the guy be any hotter…I mean, cockier. Yeah, cockier, that’s what I meant. The guy is not hot. Nope not hot at all.
Much.
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If you want to see what kind of trouble Ella and Landon get into, check it out here Fair Play.
Also by Cathryn Fox
End Zone
Fair Play
Enemy Down
Keeping Score
All In
* * *
Blue Bay Crew
Demolished
Leveled
Hammered
* * *
Single Dad
Single Dad Next Door
Single Dad on Tap
Single Dad Burning Up
* * *
Players on Ice
The Playmaker
The Stick Handler
The Body Checker
The Hard Hitter
The Risk Taker
The Wing Man
The Puck Charmer
The Troublemaker
The Rule Breaker
The Rookie
The Sweet Talker
* * *
In the Line of Duty
His Obsession Next Door
His Strings to Pull
His Trouble in Talulah
His Taste of Temptation
His Moment to Steal
His Best Friend’s Girl
His Reason to Stay
* * *
Confessions
Confessions of a Bad Boy Professor
Confessions of a Bad Boy Officer
Confessions of a Bad Boy Fighter
Confessions of a Bad Boy Doctor
Confessions of a Bad Boy Gamer
Confessions of a Bad Boy Millionaire
Confessions of a Bad Boy Santa
Confessions of a Bad Boy CEO
* * *
Hands On
Hands On
Body Contact
Full Exposure
* * *
Dossier
Private Reserve
House Rules
Under Pressure
Big Catch
Brazilian Fantasy
Improper Proposal
* * *
Boys of Beachville
Good at Being Bad
Igniting the Bad Boy
Bad Girl Therapy
* * *
Stone Cliff Series:
Crashing Down
Wasted Summer
Love Lessons
Wrapped Up
* * *
Eternal Pleasure Series
Instinctive
Impulsive
Indulgent
* * *
Sun Stroked Series
Seaside Seduction
Deep Desire
Private Pleasure
* * *
Captured and Claimed Series:
Yours to Take
Yours to Teach
Yours to Keep
* * *
Firefighter Heat Series
Fever
Siren
Flash Fire
* * *
Playing For Keeps Series
Slow Ride
Wild Ride
Sweet Ride
* * *
Breaking the Rules:
Hold Me Down Hard
Pin Me Up Proper
Tie Me Down Tight
* * *
Stand Alone Title:
Hands on with the CEO
Torn Between Two Brothers
Holiday Spirit
Unleashed
Knocking on Demon’s Door
Web of Desire
About Cathryn
New York Times and USA today Bestselling author, Cathryn is a wife, mom, sister, daughter, and friend. She loves dogs, sunny weather, anything chocolate (she never says no to a brownie) pizza and red wine. She has two teenagers who keep her busy with their never ending activities, and a husband who is convinced he can turn her into a mixed martial arts fan. Cathryn can never find balance in her life, is always trying to find time to go to the gym, can never keep up with emails, Facebook or Twitter and tries to write page-turning books that her readers will love.
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