Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 72764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
When I walked into the front office, Mo was talking to one of the receptionists. She gave me a bright smile.
“Nash, you busted me.”
“Hey, Mo.” I looked at the receptionist. “Hey, Carly.”
Mo looked at the donut in her hand. “I’m supposed to be on a diet, but these donuts have been calling my name from the break room.”
“I’m pretty sure you deserve that donut, Mo.”
“Damn right I do. You guys have been keeping me busy.”
I sighed and shook my head. “Lots of stupid mistakes to analyze from our last few games.”
She furrowed her brow in a look of sympathy. “I heard you guys had a rough practice this morning.”
I nodded. “Hope you don’t have to watch video of that one; it wasn’t pretty.”
“Do you want a donut?”
“I’d love one, thanks.”
“Jelly filled or glazed?”
I considered my choices. “I’ll go with glazed.”
“Be right back.”
“How’s it going, Carly?” I asked as Mo walked toward the break room.
“Good. Hey, I don’t mean to bug you, but do you think you could sign a photo for my niece? She thinks you’re the cat’s pajamas.”
I laughed heartily at that. “High praise. Of course I will.”
She got up and walked over to a wall of cabinets, where she took out a box of photos. It was, of course, one of the photos from the photo shoot I did for the sexiest athlete article. I signed and personalized at least twenty-five of them a week, and when the front office needed me to, I’d sign just my name on a stack of at least one hundred of them.
“Nash!” One of the sales guys, Kevin Gerard, called out to me as I signed the photo for Carly’s niece.
“Hey, man. How’s it going?” I said, passing the photo to Carly.
Kevin was a good dude. I’d attended several lunches with him as a perk for fans that bought premium season ticket packages and VIP boxes.
“Can’t complain.” He shook my hand and gestured behind him. “Nash, I want to introduce you to our newest sales employee, Sariah Ansari.”
Sariah? My heart pounded at the mention of the name. It was unusual, but was I jumping to conclusions for thinking it might be the same Sariah I’d been texting with?
A beautiful brunette approached, smiling and offering me her hand.
“Hi, Nash. It’s great to meet you,” she said.
I was momentarily speechless. Holy shit, please let this be the same Sariah I’ve been talking to.
With an olive complexion and golden-brown eyes, she drew me in without even trying. I had to find out if this was the woman I was slowly getting to know.
“Sariah, great to meet you,” I said, shaking her hand. “How long have you been with the team?”
“About a week now.”
“Really?” I arched a brow, mentally ticking one box. “And what did you do before?”
“I worked in sales for a weekly newspaper and waitressed.”
Bingo. It was all I could do not to show how excited I was. Fuck, I was thrilled. I already liked her just from the conversations we’d had, and now I knew she was legitimately who she said she was. She was also gorgeous.
Did she feel the same attraction I did? Surely she did.
“Nice,” I said.
“Sariah is working on selling her first corporate box,” Kevin said.
“Perfect. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble.”
“Actually,” she said. “I could use your help.”
The pieces were falling into place. I’d join her and the prospective VIPs for lunch and find a way to get some time alone with her.
“Of course. What can I do?” I said, trying to play it cool.
“Can you sign a few…undies photos?” she asked, a light pink flush appearing on her cheeks.
I grinned. “You like the undies ones better than the ones in my uniform?”
“No, it’s not that. The CEO I’m trying to close the deal with has a daughter. He wants them for her and her friends.”
Hmm. I didn’t like how quickly she’d said no. Most women went nuts over those pictures.
“Absolutely, whatever you need,” I said. “You want me to sign one for you, too?”
Sariah burst out laughing. It wasn’t a nervous laugh, either. It was a full-throated, that’s fucking hilarious kind of laugh. Kevin gave her a sideways look and she covered her mouth with her hand, looking a little embarrassed to be caught laughing.
“That’s um, really generous of you,” she said. “Thank you. But we’d better save the photos for fans and clients.”
The front office ordered those photos by the thousands, but I was too aggravated to mention it.
“I’ll take one, Nash,” Carly offered. “You’re my mom’s favorite player. I know she’d love one.”
At least Carly’s mom had good taste. Sariah obviously did not.
“Hey, we have to head out on a sales call,” Kevin said. “Nash, if you go into my office, there’s a Post-it right next to the keyboard with the names of the people we need those photos personalized for.”