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“Not happening,” Larissa told herself cheerfully

Ten minutes later she walked into the offices of Score, the PR firs and plenty of life-size pictures on the wall There was a photo of the four principles of the firs Jack, Kenny and Sam

The three guys had been NFL stars Sa receiver and Jack was the brilliant and gifted quarterback

There were pictures of theame day and others of them at various star-studded events They were suys, who didn’tthemselves for the betterment of their company Taryn, their lone fee, considering the egos she was dealing with Larissa was Jack’s personal assistant She was also the guys’ private masseuse

She enjoyed both aspects of her job Jack was easy to work for and not overly de Best of all, he supported her causes and let herthe coh sport professionally They all had injuries and ongoing pain She knehere they hurt and why and when she got it right, she made them feel better

Now she headed directly for her office She had phone calls to return There would be a Pro-aolf tournament in Fool’s Gold in a feeeks She had to coordinate Jack’s schedule with the publicity folks froo over requests from a charity that helped faan donation—the cause Jack supported the most Sometimes he was asked to reach out to a fa for the family to stay near a child in the hospital He’d done PSAs and been in several print and internet cae how iven time and when it was better for him to simply write a check

Her other duties were of a irlfriends, so there were no gifts to buy or flowers to send Because, in that respect, Jack was a fairly typical guy He liked women and they liked hih his life Lucky for him, his parents lived on the other side of the world So he didn’t have a randchildren

She’d barely taken her seat when Jack walked into her office

“You’re late,” he told her, sitting across fros His words sounded more like a statement than a complaint

“I told you I would be I had to see o pick up Dyna”

One dark eyebrow rose “Dyna?”

“My new cat” She rested her elbows on her desk “I told you about her, remember?”

“No”

Which was so like Jack “That’s because you weren’t listening”

“Very possibly”

“She’s a rescue”

“What else would she be?”

She waited for him to say more or tell her why he was here There was only silence The kind of silence that she understood as clearly as words

She’d first been hired in 2010 when Jack had left the LA Stallions and joined Score He’d been a silent partner since the firm’s inception and Larissa would love to kno Taryn had reacted to Jack changing fro uess there had been fireworks Or maybe not Jack and Taryn had a past

Larissa had graduated fro jobs in her chosen field had been impossible to find and she’d quickly learned she couldn’t support herself on volunteer work So she’d gone looking for another job

She wasn’t the type of person who enjoyed faceless corporations and had settled into waitressing while putting herself through e school Then a friend had told her about a job as a personal assistant at a PR fir option than her shifts at the diner

Her interview had been with Taryn It had lasted two hours and had ended ords that Larissa had never forgotten

“Jack is a good-looking guy with beautiful eyes and a great ass But make no hts with any given woman If you fall for him, you’re an idiot Still interested?”

Larissa had been intrigued Then she’d met Jack and she’d been forced to ad about Jack’s appeal She’d taken one look at his studly manliness and had felt the shivers clear down to her toes But instead of flirting with her, the former quarterback had rubbed his shoulder and sworn

She’d recognized the pain and reacted instinctively She’d dug her fingers into the scarred and tensethat she was only a feeeks away frootten a job offer thirty seconds later

In the past four years Larissa had become a part of the Score family By the end of the second week, she’d ceased to see Jack as anything but her boss Six ularly chided him about his choices in women, made sure he used ice and anti-inflame to any of “the boys” and Taryn She loved her job and she loved that they’dat hoood

She returned her attention to Jack and waited Because that was the kind of silence in the roo to tell her

“You seeing anyone?”

The question surprised her “You mean like a man?”

He shrugged “You never said you dated women, but sure Either sex will do”

“I’ht now I haven’t met anyone in town and besides, I’m too busy”

“But it would be a guy?”

Amusement danced in his dark eyes

Jack was one of thoseHe pretty much had it all What very few people kneas that there were demons he carried around with hi that wasn’t his fault A trait Larissa could relate to, because she did it to herself all the time

“Yes, it would be a guy”

“Good to know” He continued to study her “Your mother is worried about you”

Larissa slumped back in her seat “Tell me she didn’t talk to you Tell me!”

“She talked to me”

“Crap I knew it She stopped by, didn’t she? I knew there was so if not deter anyone I hope you told her you didn’t know Or did you tell her I was? Because that would seriously help”

“She didn’t askanyone”

“Oh” She straightened “What did she ask?”