Hardball: A Sports Romance Read Online Free PDF

Shifting his duffle back so that it rested on his back, Chance took two large steps forward to minimize the gap between them. Arabella’s eyes widened drastically at the move.
        “What are you doing?” She squeaked out.
        “If there’s one thing that I’m good at is winning people over,” Chance drawled out, thoroughly enjoying the fight drain from Arabella’s face.  “The last time I checked, your trailer is hitched to mine until February at the latest.”
        “That’s if you go to the Super Bowl.”
        “You are hitched to me until February,” he continued on confidently. “So, you can either play little coy games with me, and lose them every single time. Or, we can make this all easier on ourselves like you said on Friday night.”
        Arabella took a step backwards to put some space between them.
        “How do you suggest that we make it easier on ourselves?”
        “For one, you can actually be a girlfriend, and actually sleep with me. I’m giving up a lot more than what you think I am.”
        “Yeah, sure,” she said, letting out a sarcastic laugh. “That’s a lot to give up.”
        He opened his mouth to reply, but a flash of a camera at the end of the parking lot interrupted him. Chance glanced over his shoulder to see a couple of cameras pointed in their direction. A devious idea went through his head.
        “You know what Robert said, right?”
        Arabella stared at him warily. “About what?”
        “About us appearing to be in love.”
        “I remember.”
        “Well, good, because I think we owe the camera’s a kiss.”
        He didn’t give her a chance to argue, or to back away. Chance hooked his fingers on the belt lops of her jeans, tugging her into him so fast that Arabella had to use his chest to catch her balance. He pressed his lips against hers, muffling her protests.
        And to Chance’s dismay and annoyance, he found that Arabella’s lips on his own felt entirely too good to ignore.

***

Chapter Six
 
Arabella
     
    She tried her best to forget about the kiss that had unfortunately stolen the breath right out of her lungs because it was that good. Shoving it from her mind proved to be a difficult task given that pictures of Chance kissing her were spread out on every news and gossip site. The selfish and arrogant man had taken advantage of the moment, and now it was plastered everywhere for Arabella to relive.
        And the cameras never seemed to following the both of them now.
        It was a downright miracle that Arabella had been able to hunker down in the office to do work without the threat of someone throwing a microphone into her face. Robert had yet to decide when it would be best for them to talk to the media, but he also offered little when Arabella asked him what to say if someone asked.
        “Just ignore now it for now,” he had told her. “They’re only going to get more nosey as time goes on.”
        Chance didn’t seem to entirely concerned about anything. The following days after the kiss he was consumed with practices, and paid little attention to her. And that stung only a little bit until she reminded herself the reason she was stuck in the middle of a publicity nightmare that the both of them were ill equipped to handle.
          The first opening season game was in New York City on Sunday morning. Just as Robert had promised, a plane ticket was stapled to her paycheck along with a hotel reservation that was thankfully just for herself. She stood on the sidelines alongside Robert while they watched touchdown after touchdown, the deafening roar of fans filling their ears. If there were one thing that never ceased to amaze Arabella was the time and money fans spent on coming to the games to watch.  Their excited energy filled the entire stadium as Chance led the team forward to a sure victory of 37-7 with only ten seconds left on the clock.
          Robert leaned