Callan Murphy’s on a mission: get his teammate laid.
A night out at Atlanta’s hottest nightclub is all he’ll need to find the perfect woman to blow his goalie’s … mind. But when he catches a glimpse of a dark-haired beauty standing across the dance floor, winging for his friend is the last thing on his mind.
She’s perfect, all right. Perfect for him. Now he just has to convince her of that, something he never expects to be such a challenge.
She’s a mysterious bombshell who’s about to teach him what it’s like to play in the big leagues of the heart.
Roxy Wagner’s on a mission: get her best friend laid.
When they head out to ladies’ night in search of Mr. Right Now, it doesn’t take her long to spot the two tall, dark, and stud-lies watching them from across the club. One look at the bearded hottie with the seductive heat in his eyes tells her she’s about to go up against a real player.
She should know … it takes one to know one. And she’s not interested in playing for keeps.
It starts with a night out winging for friends. How it all ends will depend on whether Callan can find a way to tame Roxy’s wild heart.
Game on.
As Bob shrugged again, Roxy was suddenly overcome by the sensation of eyes fixated intently on her. It felt like someone seductively brushing their fingers over her exposed skin. The powerful sensation drew her attention to her right.
And she saw him.
He stood with one other man, both of them tall and solidly built. Unlike his companion, the man watching her wore his dark hair on the longer side, the edges of the thick, slightly unruly waves brushing the collar of his white dress shirt. A closely trimmed beard covered the strong lines of his jaw and upper lip but left his poetic mouth exposed. When his dark eyes met hers, she knew instantly that he was in an entirely different league than the two guys in front of her. From the quality of his attire to the dangerously alluring pull of that gaze, he exuded sex.
Her lips turned up. Oh, yes … she would definitely be meeting him. But for now, she had to give Bob and Stan a fair shake.
“And they ended up turning the software into the game Sandy Shells,” Bob was saying. “Made ‘em millions.”
Roxy lifted her eyebrows in a way that conveyed interest even though she’d never heard of Sandy Shells. “Good for them.”
“Yeah.”
She kept the sluggish conversation limping along for a few more minutes. Then a light tap against her pinky toe told her Allison wanted an extraction. They used the foot-tap cue as an S.O.S. if things weren’t going well. Roxy immediately implemented their exit strategy, turning to include Allison and Stan in the conversation.
“Well, fellas, this has been fun, but our drinks need replenishing,” she said, lifting the glass of melting ice in her hand. “We’re just gonna head to the—”
“Oh, we’ll take care of that for you,” Stan interrupted, lifting a hand and flagging down a passing cocktail server.
Roxy’s lips pressed together in irritation, both over the rudeness of the interruption and the derailing of her exit strategy. Stan must not be familiar with the etiquette of club mingling. Rather than allowing her and Allison to exit gracefully with an excuse that would have spared the guys’ pride, he was making things more awkward. Before Roxy could voice a protest, the cocktail server strode up to them.
“What can I get you?” she asked.
“Um.” Allison glanced at Roxy and then Stan. Her shoulders drooped when she also realized they couldn’t smoothly get out of this. “A vodka and cranberry juice for me, please.”
“A mojito for me,” Roxy said. “Thanks.”
“A Tom Collins for me and a Mich Ultra for my buddy,” Stan said.
“You got it,” the server said before hurrying off.
“We’ve got you covered, ladies,” Stan said with a suggestive wink.
He and Bob exchanged fist bumps, making Roxy sigh. Allison clearly didn’t want to continue hanging out with these two any more than she did, but if she extricated them now, Allison would feel guilty for the rest of the night, likely giving up on finding Mr. Right Now. That just wouldn’t do.
A thought occurred to her then … one that made her smile. It was time to see if her senses were guiding her true.
Turning back to Tall, Dark, and Sexy, she gave him the green light to indicate he was clear to approach. He nodded, telling her that her silent message had been received.
A delicious shiver of anticipation ran through her as he turned to his companion and then started in her direction. He moved through the people in his path like they weren’t even there. She wasn’t sure if that was because people instinctively moved out of his way because of his size or if he had some kind of innate dexterity, but it was something to behold. She couldn’t remember ever experiencing the kind of raw magnetism she sensed in him. She was eager to find out how he would “rescue” her and Allison.
Hockey has been Christian Reinhardt’s focus since he was nine years old. When an injury threatens to take that from him, he’s forced to start planning a future off the ice. Now the gaming app he’s been coding on the side is priority number one.
The kicker? The woman who can get him access to the beta testers he needs is the one whose heart he once shattered.
She’s a woman on a mission, determined to do whatever it takes to achieve her dreams … until that means aligning with the one guy she hoped never to see again.
Getting rejected by her first love taught Paige O’Connell to focus on her career rather than romance. Now a registered dietician and private chef, she’s met all her goals except getting her food on retail shelves, and it’s looking like it’s going to take a miracle to make that happen.
Go figure that her miracle shows up in the form of Christian Reinhardt. With his squeaky-clean image, huge fan base, and finely-honed physique, he’s exactly the spokesperson she needs.
It starts as a tentative truce that quickly ignites a familiar spark. How it all ends will depend on whether Christian can convince Paige to give him one more chance at protecting her heart.
Game on.
Raine is a hopeless romantic with a background in the fields of mental health and wedding planning...two areas that intersect far more than one would think. Her years working with children and young adults with emotional and behavioral challenges inspired her to create protagonists who overcome their own conflicts. When she isn't writing or glued to e-mail or social networking sites, Raine can usually be found vacationing with her husband and daughter on one of Florida's beautiful beaches or crossing the border to visit with her Canadian friends and relatives.
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