Free Pinned Down: A Triple Threat Sports Romance by Lexi Cross

I lit the candles, put covers over the plates, and hurried to the front door—as much as I could hurry, of course.
     
    “Kendra, it’s good to see you again,” I told her when I opened the door. I couldn’t overstate how refreshing her beautiful eyes and curly hair were, or how kissable those delicious lips were, but I didn’t want to run her off with too many compliments right off the top like that.
     
    “I’m glad to see you’re up and moving around,” she said, giving me her warm smile and a gentle kiss on my cheek.
     
    “Well, you are just in time. I just put our plates on the table when you rang the doorbell,” I told her.
     
    “Wow, you timed that perfectly, didn’t you?”
     
    “I guess I did. I can get your coat if you’d like,” I offered as she entered through the doorway. She was wearing one of her usual skirt suits. I reached for her suit jacket as she shrugged it off of her shoulders. I turned and hung it up on a hook by my front door.
     
    “Where are we eating?” she asked me.
     
    “In the back. I’ve got a table set on the patio for us. Come right this way.” I put a hand on the small of her back and led her through the house to the patio. I pulled the plate covers off to show her what we were having and pulled her chair out so she could sit at the table.
     
    “It looks great, Lucky,” she said. Yes, she called me Lucky again, after all the time she’d been calling me by my real name, and the times she hadn’t called at all. “But, really, you didn’t have to go through all of this trouble,” she added.
     
    “It was no trouble, Kendra,” I said as I took my seat.
     
    “But your leg,” she protested.
     
    “Let me worry about that. So, how have you been doing since the last time we saw each other?” I asked.
     
    She shot me a brief, suspicious look. She knew what I was up to. There was never any doubt of that. She could see straight through me when she wanted to, and it was one of the things I liked about her so much. That and the fact that she was a hard one to crack.
     
    “Just been busy with work. Enrollment is up. More investors have come out of the woodwork. We’ve got a lot going on. We need to get you in there, get you paired up with a Younger Brother finally,” she said.
     
    “Whenever you’re ready. You’ve mentioned it a few times, but we haven’t done anything yet. I’m starting to think you’re just trying to keep me for yourself,” I joked.
     
    “You wish,” she played along.
     
    “A boy can dream, right?” That one earned me another suspicious look.
     
    “I’ll be honest with you, Lucky. I’m still not sure you’ve changed. I’m not sure you’re ready to put all of that stuff behind you,” she said.
     
    I nodded. “Fair enough, but I’ve been trying to show you that I have. I haven’t been out chasing other women. I’ve been putting all of my extra time into you, into us,” I argued.
     
    “But to what end? The last time we were together, you made a very inappropriate move. You tried to kiss me, and it was a deep kiss.” She laughed. “You weren’t playing around, Lucky.”
     
    “No, I’m not playing around,” I told her.
     
    She blushed as the comment landed just like it was supposed to.
     
    “I’m not taking any of this lightly,” I added.
     
    “You shouldn’t be. Any fooling around could get us both in hot water.”
     
    “Yeah, I guess so.” I sighed.
     
    She watched my face while she continued eating her chicken. I figured she was waiting to see how I responded to her comments.
     
    “How’s the food?” I asked, avoiding the topic of taking us to the next level.
     
    “It’s actually really good, Lucky. I never would have pegged you for a good cook,” she said, covering her mouth because she was still chewing. It must have been pretty damn good.
     
    “Why wouldn’t I be? I enjoy cooking for myself and for guests when I can.” Of course I liked to cook. It was an easy way to win women over.