Sizzling Read Online Free Page B

other
stuff in the article, that baseball team that went to the state
championships. He said that was just a mix-up with the travel agent.
I didn't know anything about it."

His brothers looked
sympathetic, but that wasn't helping. Maybe because sympathy wasn't
enough. Not when he'd been accused of offering to sponsor a baseball
team and send them to their state championships, only to have the
travel agent forget to include a return ticket. All those kids and
their families had been stranded hundreds of miles from home with no
way to get back.

"I didn't do anything wrong," he
mumbled, knowing in truth, he hadn't done anything at all. "I
told Seth to send me everything. The fan mail, the charity requests.
I'm going to read them myself."

"And then what?"
Cal asked.

"Hell if I know. I'll do something. I have to.
It's one thing for that reporter to say I'm lousy in bed, but it's
another for her to claim I disappoint kids. I'd never do that."

Not
messing up was one of the main reasons he preferred not to get
involved at all.

"This sucks," he said, as he
reached for his beer. "My life is at a new low point."

"Worse
than when you blew out your shoulder?" Walker asked.

"No,"
Reid said quietly. "Not worse than that."

Walker
shrugged. "Just trying to put things in perspective."

No,
this wasn't worse, Reid thought, but it was close. A little too
close.
    * * *
    REID WAITED until close to ten to drive to his houseboat. He'd
borrowed Walker's SUV so he could load up his stuff and transport it
to Gloria's house. Despite the late hour, there were two
photographers waiting on the dock. They snapped pictures of him going
into the houseboat and he heard one of them making a call, saying
he'd been found. He also caught a suggestion about him taking an
Internet class on how to please women.

Twenty minutes later,
he'd packed two suitcases and was backing out of his parking space.
The tow truck he'd hired pulled behind the photographers' cars in the
guest parking section of the lot, preventing Reid from being
followed. The guy would stay there a few more minutes, then leave.
All Reid wanted was a clean getaway.

When he reached Gloria's
place, Walker was waiting there to help him unload. They traded car
keys and Walker left with the SUV. Reid's Corvette was already hidden
in the garage.

"Hell of a way to live," he muttered
as he walked inside.

He started up the stairs only to stop
when he saw a somewhat familiar, tall blonde heading down. She
smiled.

"Hey, Reid. How's it going?"

"Good,"
he lied, as he tried to remember where he knew the woman from. Then
he focused on the scrub shirt and realized she was one of Gloria's
nurses.

"Sandy," the woman said when they were on
the same step. "Sandy Larson. You interviewed me for the
job."

Right. And her beaming smile said the interview had
gone well. He remembered now— Sandy had been eager to sleep
with her favorite player. They'd had a hell of a time on his big desk
at the Downtown Sports Bar.

"I heard you're moving in
here," Sandy said.

"Temporarily."

"Sure.
Makes sense." She touched his arm.

"Listen— I
had a great afternoon with you, but I wanted to let you know I'm with
someone now. It's exclusive. So I'm not going to be interested in a
repeat performance. Please don't take it personally, okay?"

"Of
course not," he said, careful to keep his expression politely
interested.

He couldn't care less about sleeping with Sandy
again, but that wasn't the point. She should be all over him, because
hey, he was Reid Buchanan.

But given how his day had gone, why
was he even surprised?
    * * *
    LORI ARRIVED a few minutes early for her shift. She put her
jacket and purse in the hall closet and found yet another tall,
well-built beauty in the kitchen.

She hated that she instantly
felt short and curveless. Even worse was the cause. She refused to
let a womanizing, brainless twit of a man ruin her day.

"Hi,"
she said cheerfully. "I'm Lori Johnston."

"Kristie
Ellsworth," the stunning brunette