Pinned Down: A Triple Threat Sports Romance Read Online Free Page A

I was told. Apparently, it’s a pretty popular place, especially with the professional crowd, like yourself.” I was already working my charm to get her to agree to meet for lunch.
     
    “Okay, that sounds good,” she said. “See you around noon?”
     
    “I’ll be there.”
     
    We hung up. I wasn’t really sure where Daily Grind was, and I wasn’t sure what to expect once we got there. All I knew was the description that I’d found when I looked up local favorites for lunch on Google.
     
    Lunch wasn’t that far away. I caught up with Coach Anglin as he was leaving the owner’s office.
     
    “Hey, Coach, I just got off the phone with Kendra at Older Brothers. She wants to meet me for lunch.” I told him just enough to let him hear what he wanted to hear.
     
    “That’s great, kid. Older Brothers will definitely help you present a cleaner, more professional image.” He clapped a hand on my back.
     
    “Well, we haven’t decided anything yet. This meeting is to see if I’m a good fit for the program, I think. Plus, I want to know what all she’s bringing to the table, so to speak.”
     
    He shot me a stern look. “Don’t let this turn into one of your conquests, Cade. You’re running out of luck here.”
     
    That much went without saying. I could feel the luck leaving. So far, the only person still calling me Lucky, besides myself, was Kendra. I was going to run with that for now. She seemed the best bet. I figured if I followed my luck, I’d be able to regain some ground and get back on top of my game, even if that meant having to change it a little.
     
    I hurried to the diner in time to see her arriving. She got out of a small hatchback sedan. It didn’t look ratty, it wasn’t old, but it was still a hatchback. Those cars were good for moving, and I felt like she’d probably done her share of that in the past.
     
    She wore modest business clothes, trading the skirt from the fundraiser for a pair of very professional-looking slacks. Try as she might, she couldn’t hide her beauty from me. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, and she wore a light blue blouse under her navy blue coat. She almost looked like a cop instead of the director of a non-profit charity.
     
    It was a shame I was there to talk business with her. All I wanted was pleasure.
     

Chapter Three
 
    Kendra

 
     
    I walked into Daily Grind, and it was just as I had imagined from what Lucky had explained to me. It was part newsstand, part café, and part diner. Patrons sat at chrome tables and booths with newspapers and magazines while the kitchen staff worked up everything from deli sandwiches to hamburgers, and baristas brewed up nearly anything imaginable. Taking in everything they did, it seemed like such a tall order to put a place like that together, but they made it work in a tiny space that still looked like a newsstand from the outside.
     
    I’d passed by Daily Grind every day heading to and from the office, and I hadn’t noticed it until I was looking for it.
     
    I sat down in a booth along the wall furthest from the kitchen. I sat facing the door so that I could see when Lucky came in. A pretty young server stopped by to take my order, but all I could think to order was a small black coffee with sugar and cream on the side. I preferred to make my own. I liked a lot of sugar and cream. I told her I was waiting for someone, and she said she’d be back to check on me once he showed up.
     
    “Hey, is this seat taken?” someone asked while I was stirring the cream and sugar into my coffee. I looked up, ready to tell them to get lost, and saw that it was Lucky.
     
    I offered him a smile and blushed a little. It was a mostly uncontrollable reaction to him. He was so damn charming.
     
    “Go ahead,” I told him in a dismissive tone, waving my hand aside to let him know I didn’t care if he sat there or not.
     
    “Wow. Thanks for meeting me here,” he said as he sat down.
     
    “You sound surprised,” I told