Stand of Redemption Read Online Free Page B

bit of irritation cross Nicholas’s face, but he covered it very quickly. “Ladies, this is Leah. Leah, this is Ria. She made sure I made it to the hospital after Zane broke my arm. And this is Lacey. She helped set my arm and put the cast on,” he said to her.
    Leah looked down at them with a smile. “I’m so glad you took such good care of him. I hope to see him fighting again very soon,” she crooned up at him.
    Once again, Ria could see he was forcing himself to keep the smile on his face. It was clear to Ria that Leah was annoying the shit out of him. She couldn’t help thinking to herself that the poor woman wouldn’t last long.
    Ria tried to smooth her features before anyone could see her. Glancing at Nicholas, she saw he had recognized her disdain of him. He lost his amicable expression. He didn’t like an yone seeing the real Nicholas. Damn, he was scaring her. No wonder he hadn’t cared if she had been fired. The only interest Nicholas had in women involved the satisfaction they could give him.
    “It was nice to see you ladies; enjoy the rest of your night,” Nicholas said politely as Leah took his hand and pulled him to the door.
    “He is one hot tamale.” Lacey sighed as she watched them leave.
    “Yes, he is.” Hot enough to burn any woman dumb enough to have anything to do with him. “I wonder what she does for a living. Swimsuit model?” Lacey shook her head and rolled her eyes, causing Ria to laugh.
    “Dinner is served!” Peter exclaimed as he set their plates on the table.
    “Thanks, Peter. It looks delicious as always,” Ria said warmly.
    “Enjoy!” Peter left to attend the other tables.
    Ria decided to do just that: enjoy the drink and food, and force herself to forget about the man who’d just walked out the door without even being embarrassed to face her again after he’d had her fired. She should have thrown her drink at him instead of sitting there like a ninny.

 
    Chapter 4
     
    Nick was laying on his back in his king sized bed, looking up at the ceiling. He had given up on trying to get her out of his mind, had even considered going back to the hospital to see if he could learn more about her.
    When he’d caught sight of her tonight, it was everything he could do to keep from staring at her table. Then, when their eyes had met, he had been forced to look away and listen to whatever the hell Leah was boring him with. He thought back. Oh, yeah, she had broken a fi ngernail that morning just hours after getting a manicure.
    He groaned silently to himself. Leah was the classic definition of an airhead. Exactly the type he preferred to date. That was, until he had seen Ria.
    He kept telling himself that the dark-haired woman wasn’t worth the trouble. She was obviously a handful and a smartass. Unfortunately for him, that was what had piqued his interest.
    He was used to women throwing themselves at him and loving the fame that came with him. Ria was the first woman he had met who hadn’t known who he was and thought the sport he had dedicated his life to was a joke. He couldn’t help that it intrigued him.
    Ria . He wondered what her name was short for. It suited her. She seemed like a no-nonsense type of woman, and her name was no different.
    He still remembered the night they had been going to the hospital. He had made an ass of himself—hell, he had become spoiled by his fame and notoriety.
    With her long, shiny, dark hair and those big, brown eyes, she had an exotic look men fantasized about. He thought about how girls like Leah were easy to find. But Ria, she was unique.
    His tired cock stirred. He had to find a way to get close to her. She was dominating his thoughts, and the only way to get rid of them was to fuck her out of his mind. He would lose interest and move on after he had her a few times and found out if the fire in her eyes matched the one in her pussy.
    No woman had ever held his interest very long. He sighed, disappointed she had turned him down. He went