Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Especially when he opens his mouth.
“Mr. Pierce.” His confidence takes all the air in the room as he stalks closer and takes the seat opposite mine.
I lean back in my chair, holding his gaze and doing everything in my power to show he has no effect on me. He might be hot, but my willpower always holds. “Look at that, you do know how to be respectful.”
His lips quirk. “When it gets me what I want, I do.”
“Is what you want to continue playing for this team? Because if so, your professionalism could use some work.”
I tilt my screen toward him and hit Play, right at the moment things start to heat up. Oskar doesn’t react at all to the footage—not that I thought he would.
“Interesting …” he says.
“Not the first word that comes to my mind.”
He sniggers. “It’s interesting that you’ve watched so much of it. Like what you see?”
“Personally, of course, we both know how good-looking you are.” And for the first time since he walked in, he looks like I’ve said something unexpected. I never should have admitted that, but I’m an openly gay man with eyes. He’d know I was lying if I said otherwise. Good-looking might not be an apt description, or enough of one, because when it comes to Oskar Voyjik, I don’t think there’re enough words in the dictionary to describe how sexy he really is. “Professionally, this makes me want to hit you over the head with a hockey stick.”
“You’re not the first person to say that to me.”
“Not surprising at all.”
Oskar threads his hands through his hair and leans back, lifting the front two legs of the chair from the ground, and mimicking my relaxed posture. “You know, if you’re into corporal punishment, I hear spanking is more effective.”
“I have something better in mind.”
He eyes me. “I’m not a fan of paddling, but I suppose I could give it a try.”
And damn that asshole, a laugh slips from me. “I’ll keep that information in my back pocket. But no. Congratulations, Mr. Voyjik, you’ve been upgraded. You’re looking at your new PR minder.”
“You?” He doesn’t look anywhere near as worried as he should. “Aren’t I below your pay grade?”
“If you’re calling yourself cheap, I’m not going to argue, but don’t worry, I like getting my hands dirty.”
“Cheap and dirty. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were coming on to me.”
“Do you talk to all your PR managers this way? Because it would explain why you’ve been through so many in the last few years.”
“Only the hot ones.” He winks, and he has no right to make it look so smooth. “Cute of you to assume this club revolves around me though.”
I don’t point out that it basically does. It was a fast lesson I learned when I was first accepted for this position and moved to San Jose. It’s why I’m bothering with trying to control him in the first place. The reasons given for the high turnover of my position have been bogus things like scheduling conflicts and culture fits when I know that the actual reason is sitting right in front of me. If San Jose had any other players with even an ounce of Oskar’s talent, I can guarantee he’d be out on his ass already. So the way I see it is I either need to step in and help the coaches find a D-man with Oskar’s talent or keep him under the thumb. And if I can pull Oskar Voyjik in line, I’ll have teams lining up to work with me.
I give him a benign smile. “Feel free to drop off a key whenever you get a chance.”
His calculating eyes narrow. “Key?”
“I know we’ll be together a lot of the time, but I’d like to have the freedom to come and go as I please.”
His chair thunks back to the ground. “Back up. I’m not following.”
“You want to act like a child? Fine. We’re playing by kindergarten rules now, and from today, the buddy system is officially in place.”
“I don’t think I like where this is going.”
“Probably a good thing since this is a punishment.” I tuck my hands behind my head this time because while this isn’t an official dick-measuring contest, I’m sure as hell going to show Oskar who’s in charge. “The buddy system is simple. I know where you are at all times. At all times. You won’t need to call us to clear if you can go out or not, because when you do, I’ll be right there beside you. And the only way for me to monitor you that closely is to move into your spare room.”
The worry I’m expecting doesn’t come. “Technically, if you want twenty-four seven supervision, you really should share my bed. You know, to be safe.”
“We both know sharing a bed would be the furthest thing from safe. And like I said, this is a punishment.”