Player's Princess (A Royal Sports Romance) by Abigail Graham Read Free Book Online Page A

his sharp, intelligent eyes. Somehow despite all his size, there is nothing brutish about him. He is lithe, almost graceful, and he is warm.
    Whenever he looks at me, I can feel the desire well inside me. It brings out strange little tics that I never knew I had. I bite my lip, I sweep loose strands of hair aside, I tug on my shirt because it feels too tight around my chest, or perhaps not tight enough.
    I pick up the dice from the board and survey it quickly, sparing Jason the barest glance. I smirk to myself. He probably thinks I am stupid because I have blonde hair. Americans think this, I am told. I weigh them in my fingers, thinking as I survey the state of the board. This game really is trivial, and I am in an excellent position thanks to the foolish trade he made with me earlier.
    "I choose to trade," I announce.
    I turn to Jason.
    "I offer you these three"—I hold up the property cards—"in exchange for those four and that railroad."
    The others look at him nervously.
    "Dude, you already screwed us," Akele sighs.
    Jason evaluates his own meager holdings and counts his cash. He sits back.
    "Make your decision," I say, my voice dripping with impatience.
    He scratches his chin, and his eyes rake over me from head to toe. I feel like his gaze is peeling back every fiber of cloth until it seems the air kisses my skin and I feel naked. I like the feeling and suppress a shiver, cursing myself for the way I feel my cheeks grow hot. I keep my gaze steady and my lips tightly pursed, willing myself not to bite my lip or stick out my tongue or flutter my eyelashes or some other foolish thing.
    He sits and sits, his firm, muscular stomach moving as he breathes.
    I cock my head to the side. "Deal or not?"
    "I'm thinking. It's a big choice."
    "Dude," Akele booms, "don't."
    "I need better terms."
    "I'm not offering you any more properties."
    "Maybe it's not a property I want, Princess."
    I roll my eyes. "Then what?"

    J ason

    I won't make it around the board again even with passing Go. She offers me a trade that would give me a monopoly on the far side of the board, so at least I'd have something. Of course, I'd get dinged every time I roll, practically.
    Late game is like that. I take a moment to think about it.
    "I'll do it if you kiss me."
    "You must be joking," she says, laughing softly. "I'm only allowing you to stay in this game because you amuse me."
    "Oh, really? Trust me, Princess. I can be really amusing."
    "I'm sure you can," she says slyly. "I'll give you a kiss as part of our deal, but I want a favor from you."
    "Great."
    I hand over the properties and she even gives me some cash, enough to cover the rent from my landing on her tile.
    "Where's my kiss?"
    "I didn't say you get it now."
    "Oh yeah? I feel cheated. You don't get your favor until I get my kiss."
    "Duly noted."
    She rolls the dice and nervously pays rent to Aheahe. Anastasia doesn't have much. If one of them doesn't land on her monopoly she won't even be able to put hotels on her new one.
    Thankfully for Ana, Aheahe pays her the top rent from one of her properties. She puts down hotels, and I roll.
    I land on her twice, on one side of the board, then the other. Our house rule says I forfeit everything to her, so I hand over all my properties.
    "Bro, you can mortgage," Akele protests.
    "It's my choice. If this is the price to serve my princess, I pay it gladly."
    Anastasia sticks her tongue out at me and rolls.
    I lean back and watch the game. Dee lasts one more roll, and she's out. Anastasia has a slight edge, but it's gone when Aheahe goes bankrupt on Akele and gives him almost total control of two sides.
    The buzzer on the dryer goes off.
    "Okay, we need to go," Dee announces.
    "But the game isn't over!" Ana protests.
    "We tally up our money and properties and whoever has the most wins," Akele says.
    After adding it all up, Ana is the winner, by ten dollars. Seriously.
    She bounces up and down in her seat and claps, full of excitement.
    "I win!" she