Chapter 1
Maisie Whitmore
Brooks Madden was going to be the death of me.
The guy was irritating.
Relentless.
Hot.
Shit.
No.
Back it up, Maisie.
Not that.
I grabbed at my hair in frustration.
He’d been making my life a living hell these past few months.
And I was pretty damn sure I knew what he wanted.
To fuck me.
Then move on to the next girl.
Because that’s what Brooks Madden did.
But I’d become a challenge for him.
The one girl he couldn’t touch.
The one girl who didn’t put up with his shit.
And apparently?
That only made him try harder.
Princess this.
Princess that.
Jesus Christ.
If I heard him call me Princess one more fucking time, I was going to lose my mind.
I’d love to show him exactly where he could shove that nickname.
Preferably somewhere painful.
A knock came at my door.
I looked up.
And literally wanted to scream.
“What the hell do you want, Madden?”
He grinned.
That damn grin.
The one every girl seemed to fall for.
And trust me, I’d witnessed that shit firsthand.
I’d been working with the team for a few months now, and Brooks Madden had never been shy about flirting.
With anyone.
But lately?
I’d noticed something.
Something I really wished I hadn’t.
He wasn’t flirting back anymore.
Not when women approached him after games.
Not when they practically threw themselves at him.
And as far as I’d seen?
He hadn’t gone home with anyone either.
Which was strange.
Really fucking strange.
Not that I was keeping track.
Because I wasn’t.
Absolutely fucking not.
“Well, good morning to you too, Princess.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Don’t call me that.”
His grin widened.
“Miss me?”
“Like a fucking toothache.”
He crossed his arms and looked me up and down.
“What do you want?” I finally asked.
“So, your dad wanted me to tell you to check your email.”
I blinked.
“Really?”
“Check it, Princess.”
I sighed and clicked on my email icon.
I scanned through the messages.
And stopped.
One from my dad.
I gritted my teeth.
This couldn’t be good.
I opened it and skimmed over the email.
Then read it again.
What. The. Fuck.
“My dad wants me to shadow you?”
He grinned.
“Appears that way.”
“Why?” I glared at him.
He shrugged.
“Because the world loves Brooks Madden, and they want a day in the life.”
I blinked.
“Not my job.”
He laughed.
Actually fucking laughed.
Like this was the funniest thing he’d heard all morning.
Then he strolled into my office like he owned the damn place.
He stopped at my desk and picked up my nameplate.
Studied it.
Then turned it toward me.
Maisie Whitmore.
“Baby doll? I think it is.”
He leaned over my desk.
Right into my personal space.
That stupid grin still plastered across his face.
And God help me.
He smelled good.
Of course he fucking did.
Because apparently, the universe hated me.
I shoved him out of my face.
“Can someone else do it?”
I stood and rounded my desk, intending to leave.
But Brooks stepped in front of me.
Blocking my path.
Our chests were practically touching.
My eyes flew up to his.
And something had changed.
That playful glint in his eyes?
Gone.
His gaze dropped to my mouth for half a second before returning to my eyes.
Oh.
Well, wasn’t that interesting?
I was affecting him.
Brooks fucking Madden.
I slowly lifted my hand and ran my fingers down the front of his jersey.
His eyes followed the movement.
And he could deny it all he wanted.
But I felt him shudder beneath my touch.
Holy shit.
Well, lookie here.
One of the Kings’ blond playboys was actually affected by a woman.
And apparently?
I had him under my fucking spell.
Now, what the hell was I supposed to do with that?
I watched him swallow.
“Princess,” he warned.
Oh, this was fun.
I grinned and patted his chest.
“Find someone else to bother, Madden.”
Then I walked right out of my office.
And I grinned the entire way down the hallway.
Because for once?
I’d gotten the upper hand on Brooks Madden.
Or so I thought.
Until the bastard caught up with me.
He leaned down toward my ear as we walked.
His breath brushed against my skin.
“Wanna play with fire, Princess? We can.”
I stopped.
Whirled around.
And glared at him.
“Fuck you.”
He grinned.
“That’s part of the plan.”
Oh, I wanted to smack him.
Right across that stupidly handsome face.
“Look here, Madden. I’ll shadow you, but after that, you leave me the fuck alone.”
His grin widened.
“If you say so.”
I narrowed my eyes.
Because something about the way he said that told me he had absolutely no intention of leaving me alone.
And why the hell did I not want him to?
Ugh.
I needed to get away from this man.
Preferably before I did something stupid.
“When?” I asked, crossing my arms.
His eyes immediately dropped to my boobs.
I gasped.
“You are a damn pig.”
He shrugged.
“I’m a guy, Princess. And they’re kinda on display.”
My mouth fell open.
I looked down at my shirt.
Son of a bitch.
One of my buttons was definitely undone.
When the hell had that happened?
I quickly fastened it.
Then closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“Don’t kill him,” I muttered.
“What’s that, Princess?”
I opened my eyes.
And there he stood.
Grinning.
Again.
Like he hadn’t just taken another five years off my life.
“When?” I repeated through gritted teeth.
He leaned toward me.
“Tomorrow. I’ll text you.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Fine.”
“See you then, Princess.”
Then he turned and walked off toward practice.
I tried to convince myself I was glaring at his back.
Really, I did.
But my eyes?
They had other fucking plans.
Because they drifted.
Right down to his ass.
And damn it.
The man had a nice ass.
Of course he fucking did.
He suddenly turned around.
My eyes snapped up.
Too late.
“Caught you.”
Then the bastard winked.
And just like that?
He was gone.
I had never wanted to commit murder so badly in my entire life.
But something about Brooks Madden made me question that decision.
Which was ridiculous.
Because the man was irritating as hell.
I took a deep breath and headed toward the clubhouse.
I needed to speak with Coach about some upcoming campaigns the team wanted to be involved in.
Actual work.
Something productive.
Something that didn’t involve Brooks fucking Madden.
Except, of course, I was heading in the exact same direction he’d just gone.
Wonderful.
Just fucking wonderful.
I rounded the corner.
Coach Sullivan was standing outside his office, talking to Tate Holloway.
I walked over.
Coach looked up.
“Miss Whitmore.”
“Hey, Coach S,” I said.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?”
I glanced at Tate.
“Hello, Holloway.”
“Hey, Maise.” He grinned.
“Can you excuse Coach and me for a moment?”
He nodded.
“I’ll catch up with you after practice, Coach.”
“Sounds good, son.”
Tate gave me another grin before heading down the hallway.
“Yes, Maisie?” Coach finally asked.
I laughed.
“Can’t call me that around Tate?”
He shrugged.
“I’m trying to be respectful of the higher-ups.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t.”
His smile softened.
“You sure?”
I nodded.
“Positive.”
I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.
A few players were coming out of the locker room.
I turned my attention back to Coach.
“So, I’m going to send you an email with all the details, but we’ve got some upcoming campaigns that need player involvement.”
He nodded.
“I’ll take a look at it tonight.”
My eyes drifted toward the locker room again.
And of course.
Brooks fucking Madden.
He was walking out with his shirt barely buttoned.
Damn.
The guy had so many tattoos.
Across his chest.
Down his arms.
And I hated how badly I wanted to look at every single one.
He glanced up.
Caught me staring.
And winked.
That bastard.
I glared at him before turning back to Coach.
“Just wanted to give you a heads-up.”
He glanced toward Brooks, then back at me.
“He causing issues?”
I laughed.
“He’s Brooks. When doesn’t he?”
Coach chuckled.
“He’s actually a decent guy. Just needs to leave the women alone.”
I coughed out a laugh.
“You said it, not me.”
My eyes drifted toward Brooks again.
He was watching us.
Of course he fucking was.
Cam Rhodes stepped up beside him and whispered something in his ear.
Brooks immediately shoved him.
Cam burst out laughing.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
Whatever he’d said, I had a feeling I didn’t want to know.
And judging by the way Brooks was still looking at me?
I was probably the topic of conversation.
I looked back at Coach.
That was my cue to leave.
“I’ll be waiting for your response.”
He nodded.
“Later, Maisie.”
“Bye,” I said as I started toward the door.
I glanced over my shoulder.
Yep.
He was so staring at my ass.
I narrowed my eyes.
He just shrugged.
Like he hadn’t been caught red-handed.
Cam leaned over and said something else to him.
Brooks flipped him off.
Yep.
I was done.
Back to my office I went.
