Reaching First Read Online Free

every inch the team owner. “Just last year, Rick Thomas got community service after his DUI. When he failed to complete his hours, he ended up in jail. For his full sentence.”
    “That won’t be a problem here,” Tyler said.
    “Your new contract is contingent on your completing this service.”
    “I will,” Tyler said, his voice tighter than before.
    “We’ll have to satisfy a judge, once you’ve finished all one hundred hours.”
    Tyler swallowed hard, bowing his head and looking humble. “You don’t have to worry, Ms. Benson. I won’t embarrass you or the Rockets in front of any court.”
    Emily heard the promise, and she saw Anna nod in tight acceptance. All the while, she kept thinking, one hundred hours . One hundred hours, to spend in the company of the most gorgeous man she’d seen in ages. One hundred hours, to get her own life back on track, to finally put her lay-off behind her and get back to her social work career. One hundred hours to finish Minerva House.
    It seemed like all the time in the world. And like it could never be enough.

CHAPTER 2

    This was bullshit.  
    Tyler was lost in the middle of Raleigh, even though he’d done exactly what he’d always done in Texas. He’d listened carefully when Zach Ormond gave him Emily’s address. He’d repeated it back, setting it in his memory. He’d spoken it into his phone the first chance he got, clearly and precisely, and he’d watched the map spin out across the Raleigh metro area.
    And he’d gotten hopelessly lost driving the goddamn surface streets to goddamn Aunt Minnie’s goddamn house. He’d stopped at a gas station for directions, then asked some woman who was walking along the sidewalk with a baby stroller that looked like it had a better chassis than his crappy rental car. When he finally pulled up in front of the house, he was fifteen minutes late.
    Way to make a great first impression.
    He swore and parked behind a white panel van. Rolling out of his car, he squared his shoulders and checked out the place. It needed a lot of work. The windows were canted in their frames, and all the exterior paint was peeling. He reached for the doorbell and found a bunch of curling wires, tipped with filthy plastic caps that looked like they’d been there for twenty years. He picked up the heavy brass knocker instead and let it fall a few times.  
    The door flew open, and he was face to face with Emily. She was even prettier than he remembered from Ms. Benson’s office. Her blond hair was tangled, like she’d just climbed out of bed a few minutes before. Her green eyes sparked the instant she saw him. She caught her breath in a little sigh, and he could just make out the white line of her teeth as she caught her bottom lip. That plump bottom lip. That extremely kissable bottom lip.  
    He grinned and gave her a mock salute, saying, “Tyler Brock, reporting to duty.”
    “You’re late,” she said.
    So much for kissable. She was pissed off. Well, kissing was a bad idea anyway, when the woman in question had control over his entire future. It was better to play by the rules. He’d show up, put in his time, be done with the damn community service and back to what mattered—baseball. Even if his dick had a distinctly different idea of how he should spend his first few days in Raleigh. Shifting to ease the distinct pressure he felt down below, he shrugged. “I got lost. Haven’t learned my way around town yet.”
    She sighed and stepped back. “Well come in. There’s no reason to air condition all of Raleigh. We’re working in the living room.”
    He stepped inside the dark foyer. A massive staircase hulked in front of him, spinning up toward a second floor lost in shadows. He could make out four large rooms on the ground floor, two on either side of the hallway. The closest ones had windows facing the street. They were gloomy with faded wallpaper. Each had a dusty hardwood floor, marred with scuffs and dull with age.
    But a man stood in