Semipro

An
Ellora’s
Cave
Romantica
Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Semipro

ISBN 9781419932373

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Semipro Copyright © 2011 Kit
Tunstall

Edited by Shannon Combs

Cover art by
Syneca

Electronic book publication March 2011

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance
to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely
coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and
used fictitiously.

The terms
Romantica
® and
Quickies® are registered trademarks of
Ellora’s
Cave
Publishing.

With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this
book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing
without written permission from the publisher,
Ellora’s
Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or
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S
EMIPRO

Kit
Tunstall

Trademarks
Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the
trademarked status and trademark owners of the following
wordmarks
mentioned in this work of fiction:

Craigslist: Craigslist, Inc.

The tall, muscular man
walking into the hotel’s lounge drew Sandra Cho’s gaze like a magnet. His sheer
size would have caught her attention anyway, but it was the way the chandelier
accented the golden highlights in his sandy-blond hair that held it. She
couldn’t look away from his solid frame encased in a sports coat and a pair of
khakis. His sleek, handsome features were equally compelling. He was the kind
of man women wanted on sight, and she was no exception. Everything about him
screamed that he was a perfect specimen, except for the slight limp impairing
his gait.

Aware she was staring,
Sandra forced her gaze back to the drink in front of her. The half-melted ice
cubes had diluted the scotch to something undrinkable, but she toyed with the
cork-and-mahogany coaster as the man neared. She caught her breath with a sharp
inhalation when he sat down at the bar near her, leaving just one seat between
them.

Her heart skittered, and
she almost asked if he was Barry, though the picture of the man she was
supposed to meet bore no resemblance to the man beside her. Had he been Barry,
she could have almost forgiven the fact that he was an hour late. As it was,
she had already written off Barry as a no-show and had been prepared to close
out her tab and leave just seconds before the intriguing man had entered the
bar.

Instead, she leaned
forward to order a new drink that she didn’t really want, just to have an
excuse to linger near him. As the bartender approached, he leaned closer,
evidently prepared to order at the same time.

She smiled at him, trying
to indicate he should order first. When he deferred with a wave of his hand,
she asked for another scotch on the rocks.

“I’ll have the same,” he
said.

The bartender poured
their drinks quickly, sliding the cut crystal glasses to each of them with an
expertise born of practice. “Shall I put these on your tab, miss?”

“Yes.” Sandra’s
affirmative echoed the man’s refusal, but she nodded, saying more firmly, “Yes,
please.”

“Well, thank you,” said
the man. He lifted the glass in a half salute toward her before tossing back
the contents as easily as some would swallow water. The glass met the teak bar
with a little more force than necessary, and his brown-eyed gaze raked over
her. “I insist on reciprocating.”

“No, thank you. I’m sure
I won’t be drinking another.” Sandra sipped the scotch, wrinkling her nose at
the aftereffects. She had never acquired a taste for alcohol, so any kind was
as good as the next. Fortunately, she happened to drink what he was drinking,
which had precipitated an opening to speak with him.

“That hardly seems fair.”
He motioned to the bartender for another, adding, “Start a new tab, please.”

“What’s unfair about it?”

He grinned, adding
appealing lines around his mouth and eyes, along with an adorable dimple. “It
isn’t right for me to take a drink from a beautiful lady and not give something
in return.”

Sandra smiled, finding
his grin infectious. “You can give me the pleasure of your company. My intended
companion didn’t show up.”

“I’d be happy to.”

In one smooth motion,
with only a hint of pain in his expression, he twisted and slid across the
chair. She caught the slight tightening of his leg, but quickly looked away.
Clearly, the man wanted no attention directed toward his injury, and she didn’t
want to sabotage what might end up being a pleasant meeting with unwelcome
questions. As he settled, she extended her hand, “I’m Sandra.”

“Jake Reynolds.” His hand
engulfed hers, sending darts of electricity arcing down her arm. He retained it
a few seconds longer than polite, but she made no effort to pull away. When he
let go, his fingers slid across her palms in a deliberately sensual manner. She
shivered at the touch, surprised to have such an instant attraction to him. As
a rule, she was more reserved about dating and men. Not one to jump in without
looking, it was only recently that she’d ventured forth from her protective
cocoon and began internet dating.

As though he’d read her
mind, Jake asked, “What happened to your companion?”

Sandra shrugged, causing
the spaghetti strap of her little black dress to slide halfway down her
shoulder. Before she could correct its alignment, Jake pulled up the strap with
a casual finger. He seemed unaffected by the action, and she tried to calm her
racing heart rate. “I have no idea. I guess he stood me up.” A rueful smile
curved her lips. It was ironic that she had forced herself to look past her
misgivings at meeting in person someone she had known merely through email,
only to have Barry decide not to show.

Jake shook his head.
“Unbelievable. He must be an idiot.”

“Perhaps, but maybe I
should be grateful.” She looked up at him through half-closed eyelids, hoping
the look said sexy instead of sleepy.

A deep chuckle shook his
chest. “Maybe I’m the one who should be grateful. Next time you see him, thank
him for me.”

Sandra took a sip of the
scotch. “I won’t be seeing Barry again. We’ve never met, actually. Tonight was
supposed to be our first date.” She cocked her head to the side. “I suppose
that term covers it.”

He lifted a brow. “How’s
that work?”

“He answered my ad on
Craigslist. I seemed to be what he was looking for, at least for tonight.” She
grinned. “Apparently, he found someone else he wanted more.”

“His
loss.”
He was
examining her with an unreadable expression, one that made her squirm.
Abruptly, his grin returned, and he gestured for another scotch, having
finished his second while she talked.

Sandra watched with a
fair amount of hesitation as he downed that drink almost as quickly as the
previous beverages.

Her uncertainty must have
shown, because he gestured to the empty glass. “It’s strictly therapy, and very
occasional.”

“Ah.” Did all alcoholics
say that? Until the day he died, her father had never admitted he had a
problem. She could feel herself withdrawing from Jake and began looking for
excuses to leave.

“You haven’t asked, but
I’ll tell you why I’m here. It’s related to the scotch.” His lips twisted. “I
was having dinner with my ex-agent. I thought it was going to be a strategy
session to plan out how to attract a new team after my knee heals by next
season. Turns out, it was his attempt to let me down easy.” His eyes darkened
as his gaze settled on the ice cubes in his glass. “At thirty-nine, with an ACL
injury, he doesn’t think I’ll find a new team. I’m no longer viable, so he
dropped me.”

Instinctively, she
reached out to place her hand on his. “I’m sorry. That must be awful.”

Jake shrugged. “Not as
bad as when my ex-fiancée, who broke it off with me while I was still in the
hospital, called Pete’s phone when he was in the bathroom. I answered, she
thought I was him, and spoke pretty intimately. All in one night, I found out
my ex-agent—who used to be my best friend—is screwing the bitch who left me
when she saw my NFL career coming to an abrupt end.”

Sandra winced, unable to
imagine how low Jake must feel after learning that. “Can I get you another?”

Jake laughed.
“Nah.
There’s no answer to what I’ll do with my life in the
bottom of the scotch bottle.”

“No,
definitely not.”
Her hand was still on his, and she squeezed again. “Would you like to bounce
ideas off me? I’m a good listener. I usually charge by the hour, but I’ll give
you a free pass.” Sandra was thankful he hadn’t walked into her office for
therapy sessions, which would have precluded any kind of relationship besides
doctor-patient.

His eyes gleamed with a
strange glint as he shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t want to think about the
future at the moment. I just want to think about tonight.”

The way his pitch lowered
an octave raised the hair on the back of her neck and had her nipples
tightening with excitement. Jake seemed on the brink of propositioning her, and
she planned to accept. A one-night stand had never appealed to her, but that
had changed from the moment she saw him. She ached for Jake with a desire she’d
never experienced before, the intensity of which made her willing to go against
her typical behavior. She licked her lips, leaning closer to him.

“How
much for the pleasure of your company this evening?”