Extreme Bachelor by Julia London Read Free Book Online Page B

in the temple.
It didn’t hurt at all, but it surprised her, and her feet got
tangled, and down Leah went, somehow ending up on her back.
    Leah was aware of the shrill protests and
boos being bellowed from her teammates, but the fall had knocked
the wind out of her, and she laid there, her eyes closed, trying to
get her breath back, frantically wondering if she’d really seen a
ghost or if he was real.
    “Okay, this is what I’m talking about. Your
team leader said go right, and you went left.” That was Cooper’s
voice, and presumably, Cooper’s hand on her forehead. “You gotta
work like a team out there and listen to your leader, okay?
Anything broken or sprained?”
    Only her pride. Leah shook her head.
    “Are you all right, kiddo?”
    She recognized Eli’s voice. “Yes,” she
sighed, and opened her eyes and pushed herself up on her
elbows.
    Jack’s face was looming above hers,
squinting with concern as he touched her hairline and her temple.
“Think we ought to call the nurse?”
    “No, no, don’t call a nurse,” she said
quickly, mortified by the suggestion. “I’m fine. I just had the
wind knocked out of me.” She tried to get up.
    “Don’t move too fast,” Jack cautioned
her.
    “I’m fine . I’m more embarrassed than
anything else—who gets hurt playing dodgeball, for
Chrissakes?”
    “Good question,” Jack said.
    Someone’s cell phone rang. “Hey. No cell
phones!” Eli shouted. “This isn’t a break. Beth, you sit down over
there.”
    Leah groaned. “Let me up, will you?”
    Jack moved back, and that was when her ghost
came into full view. He was down on his haunches at her feet, his
face as handsome as ever, his expression every bit as stunned as
she felt. He stared at her hard, as if he couldn’t quite make her
out, and then asked incredulously, “Leah Kleinschmidt? Is that
really you?”
    “Kleinschmidt ?” someone
echoed.
    “Oh. My. God,” she said, squeezed her eyes
shut, and wished she’d been knocked out cold.

Chapter Four
     
     
    IT was no nightmare, unfortunately, because
when Leah opened her eyes again, Michael had come closer. Cooper
helped her up and sandwiched her between Michael and himself so
they could walk her over to the bleachers and check her over.
    As if the whole scene wasn’t bone-jarring
enough, Trudy’s frowning head popped up over Cooper’s like a
jack-in-the-box. “Hey, are you all right?” she asked.
    “I’m fine, I’m fine !” Leah said,
jerking back from Michael’s peering at her head. “This is so
stupid. I just tripped and embarrassed the hell out of myself, but
that’s it,” she insisted, swatting Cooper’s hand away from her
jaw.
    “Actually, it looked like you stopped and
then tripped,” Trudy clarified. “Right over your own two feet.”
    Leah wished someone would just shoot her
now. “Thanks, Trudy.”
    “You know, someone ought to do something
about her,” Trudy said, tapping Cooper’s shoulder with her finger
and pointing to Beth. “That chick was aiming for Leah’s head.”
    “We’ll take care of it,” Cooper said. “You
can go back to your army now. We’re going to start another game in
a minute.”
    “You better take care of it, pal, or you’re
going to have a mutiny on your hands. They’re already talking about
it,” she whispered, nodding fiercely in the direction of some of
the Starlets. “Do you want me to stay?” Trudy asked Leah.
    “No. I’m fine.” Leah smiled brightly to
prove it, but she wasn’t fine, how could she be fine? She felt
absolutely ill. A rush of old and long-buried feelings were gushing
up and drowning her—hurt, anger, humiliation, to name a few.
    Trudy shrugged, handed her a bottle of water
before reminding Cooper to do something about that chick, and then
disappeared behind him again.
    Leah didn’t want water,
she wanted a giant shot of tequila and a single minute with no
noise, no one asking her how she was, just so she could think,
because her mind was whirling hard