Necessary Roughness (HotShots Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

she closes her door.
    In my face.
    I’m stunned, and then I just start to laugh.
    I must look so ridiculous, standing in the hallway, outside some chick’s door, and laughing like an idiot.
    But I don’t even care.
    I just find myself looking forward to dinner with this woman.
    And damned if it won’t be Mexican.

8
    Chapter Six
    S ophie

    I look in the mirror .
    I’m not sure what I’m doing, but I do know I’m going to look my best while doing it.
    I’m wearing an off-the-shoulder white summer sweater, and short shorts. My legs look longer in them than they are, and I wear a pair of kick-ass heels.
    My hair is brushed out long and shiny, and mascara makes my eyes pop with caramel.
    Nicky Chase could eat me for Breakfast and then want seconds, but I can’t seem to stop wanting him. It’s not smart. I know that. But for once in my life, I want to do what I want without worrying about it.
    The mere memory of his kiss… the way his hands gripped me possessively, like I was his … Lord, it makes me hot even now.
    When I walk into the dining room, Nicky has dinner laid out on the table in a gorgeous way, with flowers and a candle.
    He eyes me up and down, and appreciation burns in his dark eyes like a flame.
    “You look beautiful,” he says simply.
    “Thank you,” I murmur, and he pulls my chair out for me. I sit and he slides it back in.
    Sitting across from me, he picks up his napkin.
    “How’s your knee?” I ask him politely. “We worked it pretty hard this afternoon.”
    “It’s perfect,” he lies.
    “On a scale of one to ten?”
    He shrugs. “Near perfect.”
    I roll my eyes. “Ok. We don’t have to talk about your knee tonight.”
    “What would you like to talk about, then?” he asks, and his eyes are so so intense.
    I look at my plate, then the candle, then the flowers, then back to Nicky freaking Chase. I’m sitting across from Nicky Chase. My stomach does a flip-flop because his lips are so unbelievably perfect.
    “I… I seem to be attracted to you,” I tell him simply and bluntly.
    The corner of his mouth tilts upward.
    “You don’t say?”
    I blush.
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, you might have noticed this afternoon, but I’m attracted to you, too.”
    “You’re attracted to everyone though. I’m usually not.”
    He whips his head up, in mock outrage. “And how would you know that?”
    “Everyone knows,” I shrug.
    “And what, pray tell, does everyone know?”
    He calmly butters a roll and hands it to me.
    “Uh. That you… I mean, you like women.”
    He pauses. “Damn. You mean to tell me that people know I’m heterosexual? What the hell? And I thought I was hiding that so well, too.”
    I blush and I don’t know why.
    “You know what I mean.”
    He takes a bite and chews it thoroughly. His muscled arm lays on the table. “If you mean that I thoroughly enjoy the company of beautiful women from time to time, then that’s true. But none of them were are beautiful as you.”
    “Oh my God,” I snort. “You know how to lay it on thick.”
    He winks.
    “Eat your dinner. You don’t eat enough.”
    “How would you know that?”
    I take a bite for emphasis.
    “Because I notice things.”
    “What else do you notice?”
    He thinks on that. “I notice that you don’t drink caffeine after breakfast, you only have one glass of wine, you never drink to excess. You are very careful, very cautious, and you’re easily angered.”
    I stare at him. “I’ve never lost my temper with you.”
    “Nope. But you’ve wanted to.”
    I have to give him that one. “It’s my Italian blood,” I sigh. “It makes me volatile.”
    He chuckles out loud at that.
    “I’d prefer to think of it as passionate.”
    “I wouldn’t know much about that.”
    He pauses at my words, staring at me, his gaze concentrated.
    “What do you mean?”
    “I just mean…I don’t have a lot of experience in that department.”
    He’s completely still now.
    “Surely you can’t mean… you’re a