Free Beauty and the Blitz by Sosie Frost

and stared at the gardens instead.
    “I have a job to do, Mr. Hawthorne…but I thought about not coming today.”
    “What a coincidence…” I grinned. “I can’t stop thinking about you coming.”
    Piper teetered between insulted and flattered. “Win one game and suddenly you’re a gridiron god?”
    “I’m always available for some worship.”
    “Tempting, but I think that hot tub’s gone and poached your brain.”
    “There’s room for one more.”
    “I prefer to conduct my business dry and clothed, thank you very much.”
    “Your way isn’t as fun. We have a win to celebrate.”
    Piper still hadn’t looked directly at me. “Mr. Hawthorne—”
    “Cole.” I corrected her.
    She wagged a finger. “ Mr. Hawthorne , I’ve come to apologize.”
    Goddamn it. I angled to look into the house. “What did you break now ?”
    “A code of ethics.”
    Oh Christ. I settled in the water, closing my eyes and enjoying the heat on my aching muscles.
    “Just as long as it wasn’t the television,” I said.
    “I’m serious.”
    “I couldn’t care less about your ethics , beautiful.”
    “That’s the difference between us.”
    “One of the many.”
    “It’s the biggest difference.” Piper sighed. “My father ordered me to come here. He told me to make you agree to the trade no matter what. Now that there’s only seven weeks until the trading deadline, you have to put your career first.”
    “I just played the best game of my life, and you’re trying to make me switch teams?”
    She bit her lip. “Our careers are too important to jeopardize.”
    “Your point being?”
    “I can’t represent you anymore.”
    “ What?”
    Piper spoke in a rush, averting her eyes. “We shouldn’t have kissed. I apologize for my behavior.”
    “Don’t apologize for it,” I laughed. “I know you want to do it again.”
    “I do not want to do it again.”
    “You can do better things with those lips than lie.”
    Piper copped an attitude, her hand on her hip. “This agency would run better if we didn’t have cocky, self-righteous, knuckle-headed football players causing so many problems.”
    “What can I say? I’m multi-talented.”
    “That so?”
    “Want me to prove it to you?”
    Piper couldn’t get any more indignant. I hoped that meant her temper would go full circle and she’d loosen up a bit.
    A woman like her needed to be reminded of the finer things in life—a drink in one hand, cock in the other, and considerably less clothing between us.
    “Does every athlete get this insufferable after a game?” she asked.
    “Do all agents insult their biggest client after a victory?”
    Silenced, for once. I reveled in my victory as Piper seethed. When would she learn? A quick tongue like hers was better served celebrating my win than lashing out at me in this constant bickering.
    Piper huffed. “It doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t even be here.”
    “But you are.”
    “I know.”
    “Could have called,” I said.
    “There’s a little thing called etiquette. You should study up on it.”
    “I don’t think that’s it.” I curled a finger for her to approach. She didn’t, but I had her attention. “You wanted to see me.”
    “I meant to apologize and remove you from my representation.”
    “Won’t that make Daddy mad?”
    “Probably.”
    “What will he do?”
    “I’m hoping he’ll put me back on gopher duty around the office.”
    No. That gig didn’t suit a woman like her. She was too beautiful to stuff in a cubicle and too smart to waste on coffee orders and answering phones.
    “Do you even want to be an agent?” I asked.
    “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”
    “Answer the question. Consider it a professional curiosity.”
    She gnawed on her lip before answering. “No. I don’t want to be an agent.”
    “Then why are you doing it?”
    She shrugged. “I needed the job…well, the money. I couldn’t finish my graduate coursework, and my father offered me a position in his agency.”