Winner Takes All by Erin Kern Read Free Book Online Page A

creek. “Come to a practice and you’ll see. He still has a long way to go, but he shows promise.”
    “I’ve been busy with work. Those early morning practices are hard. It’ll be easier once school starts and you switch to afternoons.”
    A bead of sweat ran down Blake’s temple. “He just needs to work on keeping his focus,” he told Brandon. “He lets his mind wander and that’s when he runs into trouble. Plus I’ve noticed tightness in his neck.”
    Matt loved the game of football. In fact his passion for the sport rivaled Blake’s. But the kid was far from a natural talent. He was tall and bulky, which worked in his favor, but his forty-yard dash was one of the slowest on the team.
    That morning he’d pulled Matt aside and talked to him about hanging back after practices so Blake could work with him on some techniques.
    “He said working with Annabelle has helped,” Brandon said, cutting into Blake’s thoughts.
    The mention of that name almost sent Blake tripping over a boulder on the edge of the path. The same monster, the one created when his career imploded, came scratching to the surface, whispering in the back of his mind that this woman was a stranger. That he didn’t really know her. That this was his team, and he didn’t want strangers encroaching on what was his and his responsibility. He’d learned the hard way not to turn a blind eye to what was most important to him. He didn’t know Annabelle Turner enough—other than that she was tenacious as hell—to allow her around his kids.
    Yeah, despite his efforts to scare her off with his best ornery attitude, she kept showing up. Every. Single. Morning. There she’d be in her yoga pants, practically spray painted on those long slim legs, long and thick ponytail dusting the slight indentation of her backbone. Swinging back and forth whenever she moved. Irritating him. Distracting him.
    Turning him on.
    Okay, yeah, she turned him on. He’d be a liar if he tried to deny it, even if it was only to himself. She was as hot as a Colorado summer and as cool and collected as a boardroom executive.
    Just that morning she’d texted him, way too early in the day for a human being to be awake and functioning. His phone had buzzed as he’d dozed in bed and when he’d finally gotten around to checking it, there had been three messages.
    I’m assuming the reason you haven’t contacted me about the meetings I mentioned is because you either lost my number or you’ve been kidnapped.
    He’d only grunted to himself as he swung his legs out of the bed and read the second message.
    If it’s the former, here’s my number again, after which she repeated the same phone number she’d already given him.
    Blake stood from the bed as he thought about the cell number she’d scrawled on a napkin, which was still sitting on the kitchen counter.
    If it’s the latter, she went on, then the kidnappers have my sympathies.
    One side of Blake’s mouth had twitched. Shit, he hadn’t been about to smile, had he? The woman, who rubbed him all kinds of the wrong way, had been able to pull some emotion from him.
    Blake had sent her a quick reply as he’d readied for his jog with Brandon.
    How did you get this number?
    Her reply had been immediate, probably because she’d had a pencil hovered over her calendar for the moment he’d give her part of his schedule.
    A little birdy.
    Cameron.
    Blake had made a mental note to add ass kicking of assistant coach to his list of things to do.
    A little while later, as Blake had walked out the front door to meet his cousin, his phone had buzzed again.
    So next week then? Sounds good. I’m free Thursday.
    Did the woman just have conversations with herself? He’d never even agreed to meet with her, and she’d gone ahead and set the damn thing up.
    “So, is the lack of comment because you don’t agree?” Brandon asked, pulling Blake out of his morning memories. “Or does the smokin’ hot physical therapist already have you