Free Risky Game by Tracy Solheim

for water aerobics at three thirty. That doesn’t leave me time to get a grocery list to your assistant and have the food delivered.”
    “Excuses already?” But he pulled his wallet out of his pocket and handed her a fifty. “Is that enough to get you started?”
    Shay nodded.
    “I’ll have a taxi pick you up because you are
not
riding your bike the ten miles to my house.”
    “I have a car.” She tried not to grin at the look of surprise on his face.
    “Fine. I put the address in your phone. The guard at the gate will be expecting you.”
    Taking the contract back, he folded it up, before gesturing for her to precede him out the door. Shay hesitated, her hand on the doorknob, as she looked over her shoulder at Brody. “You can trust me, Brody. But can I trust you not to sabotage my degree? Or my mama’s livelihood?”
    He looked truly affronted by her question. “This is just insurance. To keep you from spilling my secrets. As long as you don’t go shooting your mouth off, you’ll be okay.”
    Which meant she had to find the team snitch before he or she
did
spill more of Brody’s secrets.
    Shay left the storeroom, Brody on her heels, both of them nearly colliding with the Blaze head coach who was leaning, nonchalantly, against the doorframe.
    “Hello, kids,” Matt Richardson said, a knowing grin on his face.
    She felt Brody inhale sharply behind her before he stepped out to stand next to her.
    “There’s quite a lot of chatter going on back there about you two.” The coach eyed Brody.
    “It’s none of their business.” Brody’s body was rigid with tension beside her, but his face sported that aw-shucks smile he used as a shield.
    Shay’s stomach did a flip-flop. The contract she’d just signed wouldn’t matter if the team dismissed her.
Hell’s bells.
All her work may have been for nothing.
    “Normally, this is when I give the speech about not wanting my players to be distracted by anything or anyone. But right now, this lady”—he nodded toward Shay—“is more important to the team.”
    If Shay wasn’t so mortified by the coach’s incorrect assumption of what they were doing in the storeroom, she might have laughed at the complete look of bafflement on Brody’s face. As she’d already discovered, he wasn’t used to not being the center of the universe.
    Coach Richardson’s gaze softened as he shifted it to Shay. “I’d have a mutiny on my hands if the players didn’t get those shakes you make every day. And my daughter would kill me, too. She got an A-minus on her chemistry quiz and is demanding I hire you as a tutor.”
    A proud smile broke out on Shay’s face. “I’d love to. She’s a sweet girl. Smart, too.”
    Brody draped an arm over her shoulders. “Well, Coach, Shannon’s a pretty busy girl, what with studying and her work here. Did you know she also teaches water aerobics? I’m not sure she has an extra minute in her day for anything else.”
    Shay knew exactly what Brody was up to; he wanted her to be available anytime he hollered. But, by eliminating the need to collect data from the swimmers, he’d inadvertently just given her back an hour and a half to her day. She’d have plenty of free time to tutor Emma.
    “Don’t be silly. I can work with her here in the commissary one or two days a week. Or, I can come to your home on the weekends. Just let me know.”
    Relief spread over the coach’s face. “Great. My wife will bring her by tomorrow after school. Just let her know how much you charge.” He glanced back at Brody. “Practice is in ten minutes, Janik. And remember, don’t do a thing to make this woman unhappy or you’ll answer to me.”
    Brody turned to her, his eyes smoldering—with what, she wasn’t exactly sure. “Oh, that shouldn’t be a problem, Coach,” he said, the smile on his face as fake as the pearls her mama wore to Junior League. Before she knew what he was up to, he leaned over to place an openmouthed kiss on the sensitive skin just