Title: Scored
By: Marquita Valentine
Publication Date: June
20th, 2017
Genre: Contemporary Romance
BLURB
Scored, a sexy all-new
STANDALONE from Marquita Valentine is available now!!!
Dallas Drake has a big salary and an even bigger…ego…and he’s not afraid
to use either of them to his advantage. As infamous as he is attractive, Dallas
has all the equipment necessary to bring home the win.
The first time I met him, I was in handcuffs.
The second, he saved me when I fell off a ladder.
Now? Now we’re working together to plan a charity event.
I may not be interested in what Dallas has to offer, but as the game
goes on, I’m becoming more open to his passes.
Is he looking for the win, or just determined to score?
The one
good piece of advice my mom gave me concerning men is that their egos are huge
yet fragile and it takes the delicate, yet strong touch of a woman to handle
them.
Leave it
to a man I know only by reputation to drive that point home.
Dallas
sits in my office, an ice pack on his lip and the back of his head. To be nice,
and since it was my fault he’s in pain in the first place, I’m holding the one
on his head, so he can have at least one hand free.
“Sorry,”
I say for what has to be the tenth time in the past twenty minutes. “I didn’t
get to explain myself before, but I wasn’t laughing at you…well, it was at you,
but not your pain. Pain is not funny. When I fell out of a tree and broke my
wrist at the growth plate, I laughed the whole way there because that’s the
only way I could deal with the pain. Finley didn’t order to me stop either.”
Dallas
glances at me, his normally warm eyes icy. “Not sure how that helps.”
“Hopefully,
it lets you know that I’m not laughing all willy-nilly.”
“Willy-nilly,” he mutters. “Who says
willy-nilly?”
“I do,
and to be honest, you’re not that soft. It actually hurt to fall on you.”
He arches
a brow. “You weren’t exactly a pile of feathers.”
“Yeah…
that’s not helping either.” I take the ice pack away and gently inspect the
back of his head. “There’s a tiny,” he hisses, “bump here, but um, I’m sure if you go to the doctor that you’ll get
fixed up in time for your next game.”
“You do
realize that if I have a concussion, I can’t play this week.”
Slowly, I
shake my head. “I didn’t know that.” Now I feel even worse for freaking out
when I fell off the ladder. The dang thing is only three feet off the ground. I
wasn’t falling to my death or into a pit of snakes.
I shiver.
Pushing
away the thoughts of snakes and pits, I focus on Dallas. Although, I plan on
making it up to him, I do need to say something about his sneaky ways.
“This
could have been avoided altogether if you hadn’t sneaked up on me.”
His jaw
works. “I spoke to let you know I was there, so I wasn’t sneaking up on you.”
This
time, I’m the one arching a brow. “Next time, do you mind waiting until you’re
standing on the ladder with me, or I don’t know… wait until I’m done with said
ladder before scaring me to death?”
Dallas
tosses the ice pack on my desk. “I guess you have a point.”
He’s
agreeing with me? From my Google snooping, or Snoogling as I like to call it, everything about Dallas screams he
is a cocky, confident man who has been known to argue with a referee a time or
two. Then again, according to the article I read, Dallas argued with the ref
over not throwing a flag for unnecessary roughness due to player being tackled
after the whistle was blown. That kind of behavior, the other player’s, I mean,
is considered very poor sportsmanship and worth some sort of penalization.
So maybe
he was right to argue… and maybe I’m wrong to assume the worst about him. Even
Finley says he’s not that bad, which for her is practically an endorsement.
But not
for us to date—I’m not that stupid.
Or am I…?
“Is there
any way I can make it up to you?” I ask. Yes, that is a hopeful tone in my
voice. I do want to go out with him, try something new, and see what happens.
Besides, it’s not like he’s going to ask me out again. That ship has sailed
based on his grumpiness.
“Have
drinks with me tonight at 451,” he says.
The ice
pack I’m holding plops onto his head, and he grunts. “Sorry. Dang it.” I grab
the pack and toss it onto my desk, where it slides precariously close to the
edge. “Yes, I’d love to have drinks with you. My treat, of course, since I’m
the cause of your injury and… you can send me any outstanding bills.”
“Why
would I do that? You didn’t make me try to save you, and I sure as hell could
have finessed my approach better.”
“Drinks
only, then?”
“Appetizers,
too. My treat.” His infamous grin
curves his lips. “Don’t want you to think I’m trying to take advantage of you
due to an empty stomach.”
So smooth. I eye
him. “You might want to get your head looked at first because I’m pretty sure
that alcohol and concussions don’t play nice together.”
He
salutes me. “Will do.”
I fist my
hands on my hips. “Did you come by here to see me, or to see the event space?”
He bites
the unbruised side of his lip. “Would it bother you if I said both?”
My
stomach flips at his answer. “No. I like honesty.”
“Then
you’re going to love this,” he says with a serious look in his eyes that is in
direct opposition of his tone, “because I need you to help me win a bet so a
fellow teammate can get some mentoring.”
Intrigued,
I reach across my desk and drag my office chair around. The floor is smooth and
the feet have wheels, so it’s relative easy to do. Plus, I’m pretty sure Dallas
is checking out my butt right now and I kind of like it.
Plopping
down, I cross my legs and lean forward. “Tell me more.”
“You
might not like it,” he warns.
“Do we
have to kill anyone?”
His brows
shoot up to his hairline. “No, but it’s kind of scary and insulting that you’d
go there first.”
“Had to
be asked.” I shrug.
Read Today!
About the Author:
Marquita
Valentine is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Holland
Springs and Boys of the South series.
Since
first taking the plunge in July of 2012 to self publish, Marquita Valentine has
appeared on the Top 100 Bestselling Ebooks Lists on iBooks, Amazon Kindle, and
Barnes&Noble. She's been called "one of the best new voices in
romance" (Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews) and her books have been accused
of being "a sexy, fun, and slightly addicting contemporary read" (The
Book Queen).
When
she's not writing sexy heroes who adore their sassy heroines, she enjoys
shopping, reading, and spending time with her family and friends. Married to
her high school sweetheart, Marquita lives in a seriously small town in the
south with her husband, two kids, and a dog.
Connect with Marquita:
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