Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“That’s disappointing,” I say quietly, and he glares at me. “You’re a cocky son of a bitch. I’d expect a man like you to know your value as a player, and you know damn well anyone who gets you isn’t scraping the bottom of the barrel.”
“The offers haven’t exactly been rolling in,” he grumbles.
“One offer has,” I retort. “And it’s a damn good one. We’re offering you money commensurate with a top-tier netminder. So leave the pity party behind. You’re being handed a chance that few get. It’s on the table for another forty-eight hours. Then it’s gone forever.”
I don’t say another word.
Elegantly turning on the stool, I hop my four-inch heels down to the gummy floor and walk out of the bar without a backward glance.
CHAPTER 2
Drake
There are 2,668 billionaires in the world. The United States has 735, followed by China with 607.
Out of the top fifty, only four are female.
Brienne Norcross is on that list, coming in at number thirteen with a net worth of 47.3 billion dollars.
I googled it for no other reason than to see how out of touch with reality she might be after her surprise visit to my house last month. There’s nothing intimidating about the fact that she’s so rich she could buy her own country if she wanted to.
By all accounts, she’s a driven businesswoman who commands the respect of some of the nation’s—if not the world’s—most powerful men.
That’s right… men.
She’s a woman in a male-dominated business sphere, and she’s got balls of steel. She proved it by walking into that biker bar seven weeks ago and pushing her apology on me.
It’s an understatement to say I didn’t like it, but by the time she walked out the door after giving me forty-eight hours to decide, I at least respected her business savvy.
From an attraction standpoint, the woman had my attention from the moment I walked into the conference room at the Titans’ arena for our first meeting not long after the plane disaster.
My first thought was that she was a cold ice princess until she and I started trading insults and I saw a fire inside her. She’s a woman who would make you want to get burned.
Not ashamed that I’ve had more than one dirty fantasy about her since she sat down on that bar stool and basically handed me my ass. It usually involves me mussing up that sleek hair she wears knotted at her nape while she goes down on me.
Crude as it may be, I know that woman would give great head. Her proclamation that she had a boy toy in Pittsburgh wasn’t as laughable as I made it out to be. It means she loves sex, and as a progressive, confident woman, I bet she’s fucking brilliant at it. She’d be the type who would give it all she’s got and wouldn’t be afraid to demand the same in return.
Not that any of that matters.
I’m at her home now, getting ready to take my place with the Titans, so those dirty little thoughts need to be tucked away. Training camp starts tomorrow, but tonight Brienne is throwing a welcome-back party at her house.
Except it’s not really a house but a mansion. A muted red-brick monstrosity with a gabled roof, a turret, and lots of paned floor-to-ceiling windows ablaze with lights from every room. As I approach the front door, I hear music and laughter.
A lot of hope is circling around this season, and since I’ve committed to this team, I’m going to let myself be hopeful too.
It took me the full forty-eight hours to decide whether to accept Brienne’s offer, not because I was being stubborn and trying to piss her off, but because I truly had to think about the pros and cons. I’m raising three boys on my own. Sure, they have my mom to dote on them whenever she wants, and my sister will babysit in a pinch, but I pretty much care for them twenty-four seven. Having played in the league for nine years before my departure, I managed to invest millions, and now I never need to work a day in my life going forward. Because of that, I’ve had all the time for my boys because they weren’t getting any attention from their drug-addict mother.
Stepping back onto the ice would mean I needed to figure out whether I could do it in a way that kept my boys secure and feeling loved. They are my everything, and my actions are taken only with the total consideration of how my choices will affect them.
Ultimately, it was my sister, Kiera, who convinced me to go for it, and only because she proclaimed she would move to Pittsburgh with me to help out with the boys, as she has the ability to work remotely. She’s a devoted aunt to Jake, Colby, and Tanner, and with her willingness to help, I’d run out of excuses.