Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
“Finley,” he muttered, “Brie is ready to go.”
“Okay,” she said sweetly. “I’ll call you—”
“We’re all leaving,” he insisted, still staring daggers at me.
“I’ll make sure she gets home—” I stopped abruptly when Lennox took a threatening step toward me, only to be distracted when his wife put her hand on his arm. Probably saving me from a broken jaw.
“Uncle Lennox, we agreed that I would stay when you left,” Finley insisted, putting her hands on her hips and glaring up at him.
“Finley,” Brie chimed in softly. “Perhaps it would be best if we left and, um, talked about this somewhere more private?”
As frustrated as I was with Lennox’s reaction, I understood Brie’s point that this was neither the time nor the place for this discussion. The last thing we needed was to have our shit plastered all over the news.
Finley pressed her lips together and glanced around before her shoulders fell. “Okay.”
“Hands off,” Lennox snarled.
Because he’d earned my respect as a boss for years, and I could understand him being protective of his niece, I reluctantly let Finley go. For now.
I bent down to reassure her that I’d get in touch, but before I could, Lennox quickly guided her to his other side to stand by Brie.
Then he stood nearly toe-to-toe with me and smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. He put one hand on my shoulder and grasped mine with the other in a shake while leaning in to whisper, “Go near my niece again, and you’ll be spending next season recovering from reconstructive surgery after I break your pretty boy face. And possibly some other shit.”
Finley gasped in outrage, but she was dragged away by her aunt before she could react too much.
I didn’t react at all. Not only couldn’t he intimidate me but I wasn’t about to agree to stay away from my woman.
“Remember, Rhodes. She’s off-limits. Illegal. Is that clear?” He didn’t wait for my answer before stalking off, fake smile still in place.
Cameras went off, reminding me again of all the press attending the event. So I put a cocky smirk on my face and went to the bar for a drink—all the while still planning how to get my girl.
3
FINLEY
As much as I loved my uncle, I was still irritated with him the day after the charity gala. I had never been bothered by his overprotectiveness before, but it was a completely different story when he tried to run off the only man who I’d ever been able to picture myself with. Rhodes hadn’t seemed too worried by Lennox’s warning last night, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d still stay away from me because of it.
With my uncle owning the team he played for, the situation was complicated. And the timing was awful since the Nighthawks were fighting for a spot in the division round in the run up to the big game. The last thing I wanted to do was cause any drama when Rhodes’s focus needed to be on his team. But I also didn’t want to wait a month to explore the spark between us…assuming he was still interested.
Since we didn’t have the opportunity to exchange phone numbers last night, I was limited in my options for reaching out to Rhodes. Although I was the owner’s niece, I couldn’t see anyone in the front office giving me his phone number or address since that would violate his privacy. Not without at least running it past Lennox first, which would make a bigger mess of the situation. However, I did have a pass that gave me access to the stadium—a perk of being the owner’s niece. And I also knew the team’s practice schedule.
About half an hour before I expected Rhodes to exit the stadium, I pulled through the gates of the parking lot reserved for players and front office staff. Lennox had two spots reserved for himself and Brie directly across from the entrance the players used, so I pulled into her spot since I wasn’t sure which vehicle belonged to Rhodes.
Watching the doors, I kept my engine running so I could use the heater. A cold front had come through this morning, and we were expecting a few inches of snow later tonight. My boots, coat, hat, and gloves could only do so much when it came to keeping me warm…and I didn’t really want to bump into anyone while I was waiting for Rhodes. That would just lead to questions I didn’t want to answer. No need to potentially cause a stir when I didn’t even know if Rhodes was interested in me enough to run the risk of making waves with Lennox.
Thirty minutes later, my nerves were getting the better of me when members of the team started trickling out of the stadium. Although my uncle owned the Nighthawks, I hadn’t met many of the players. I’d been too busy with college to attend more than a handful of games since Lennox bought them, and I had sat in the owner’s box each time. Being up there had helped me avoid crowds—which was great since I wasn’t a big fan of them—and I always headed home after the game instead of going down with my uncle to see the players.