Playing To Win

By Sami Lee

Publicist Abbi Lehman likes her job—until she finds herself working as a glorified babysitter for cocky-as-the-devil NFL star Sam Cormack. Sam is unpredictable, unruly, impossible—and impossibly sexy. When her boss insists she accompany Sam to a black tie restaurant opening, things really start to heat up. Soon she’s indulging in a hot tryst that threatens her career—and her heart.

Sam has wanted Abbi for a long time, but his bad boy reputation isn’t doing him any favors. She thinks he’s only interested in a fling, when with her he’s starting to see something more is within his grasp. He wants it all with Abbi, if he can only convince her he’s left his playboy days behind him.

That’s going to mean putting his heart on the line in the toughest game he’s ever played—one he can’t afford not to win.

Find out if Abbi can turn Sam into a PR asset for the team in Playing to Win from international award winning Australian romance author Sami Lee.

Previously published: (2015) Kindle Worlds | Original Title: Twice as Daring

• Language: English
• Publisher: Book Boutiques
• Release date: Nov 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781946363923

Sami Lee

Sami's been, in order: a secretary, sales assistant, bar tender, waitress, student, tutor, human resource manager and administration officer, but at heart she's always been a writer. She lives on the outskirts of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia with her husband and two stupendous daughters, where she spends her days juggling family life with work and writing, and frittering away far too much time on social media. Sami is multi-published in contemporary erotic romance, and is now enjoying writing sweet and romantic stories for Escape Publishing.

Book preview

Playing to Win

Sami Lee

Published 2018 by Book Boutiques.

ISBN: 978-1-946363-92-3

Copyright © 2018, Sami Lee.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Book Boutiques.

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, locales, or events is wholly coincidental. The names, characters, dialogue, and events in this book are from the author’s imagination and should not to be construed as real.

Manufactured in the USA.

Email [e-mail] with questions, or inquiries about Book Boutiques.

Blurb

Publicist Abbi Lehman likes her job—until she finds herself working as a glorified babysitter for cocky-as-the-devil NFL star Sam Cormack. Sam is unpredictable, unruly, impossible—and impossibly sexy. When her boss insists she accompany Sam to a black-tie restaurant opening, things really start to heat up. Soon she’s indulging in a hot tryst that threatens her career—and her heart.

Sam has wanted Abbi for a long time, but his bad boy reputation isn’t doing him any favors. She thinks he’s only interested in a fling, when with her he’s starting to see something more is within his grasp. He wants it all with Abbi, if he can only convince her he’s left his playboy days behind him.

That’s going to mean putting his heart on the line in the toughest game he’s ever played—one he can’t afford not to win.

Previously Published

(2015) Kindle Worlds | Original Title: Twice as Daring

Acknowledgements

Cover Artist: Valerie Tibbs, Tibbs Design

Chapter 1

Abbi Lehman knocked on the door to her boss’s office as soundly as she could, given that her hands were shaking.

Come in.

She pushed open the door and walked into the inner sanctum of Larry Prince of Prince PR. The business’s namesake was sitting behind his desk, the phone to his ear as he wrapped up a call. I’m putting my faith in you here, Davis. You screw this up, I’ll have your nuts removed and bronzed. They’ll make a fine paperweight for my office.

Abbi tried to swallow the ball of nerves lodged in her throat, but it wouldn’t budge. Larry Prince had not built his hugely successful public relations company by tolerating failure. She considered faking a sudden stomach ache and sprinting from the office, but she determinedly closed the door behind her, cutting off that option. She was here now, she had to say what she’d come to say and hope that her boss would understand.

After all, she wasn’t a failure. She’d simply been given an utterly impossible task. An utterly impossible man. Sam Cormack. The punter for the Miami Alligators football team—known affectionately to most as the Gators—had been the bane of her existence for three months, and she’d had it with him.

Larry finally ended his phone call and turned his attention fully towards her. He smiled. Abbi Lehman. Abracadabra Abbi. To what do I owe this pleasure?

Abracadabra Abbi. Oh, she wished he’d stop calling her that. It was a pet name he’d coined last month when Sam Cormack had gotten embroiled in a bar brawl in south Florida and had somehow come out of it looking like a hero instead of the hot-headed pain in the ass he was. Larry seemed to think she’d weaved some media magic to spin Sam’s unruly antics into a positive. But the fact was Sam had been defending some local girl from an abusive ex-boyfriend and everyone in the bar had confirmed the story.

And instead of pressing charges against Sam for assaulting a Florida native, the police who’d been called to the scene had asked for autographs. Their selfies with the NFL star had made it onto all the top sports blogs and the story had been played on the evening news. The fact that Sam refused to talk about the event only made legend of his heroism grow. It made him look humble.

Something the cocky Australian most definitely was not.

I was hoping to talk to you about something, Abbi told her boss. It’s a little difficult.

If it’s difficult, you can have five minutes instead of three. Take a load off.

Abbi sat on the black leather chair opposite Larry’s desk, perching on the edge of it. Fifty percent of her still felt like bolting, but then she remembered Sam Cormack’s brash, smug face and she just wanted to—

I can’t do it anymore, she burst out.

Can’t do what?

Sam Cormack.

Oh, that hadn’t come out right. She didn’t want to think the words do and Sam Cormack in the same sentence. It conjured all kinds of mental pictures that she couldn’t handle anymore. The kind of mental images that had been driving her insane since the second she’d laid eyes on him. The man was insufferable, but he was also insufferably hot. With those broad shoulders and twinkling blue eyes, that raspy, sexy Australian accent…

Focus Abbi. Focus.

What I mean is…I think our working relationship has become untenable, and I’d like you to assign Sam to another publicist.

Her satisfaction at having gotten the words out exactly as she’d rehearsed them was tempered by Larry’s raucous laugh. Good one, Abbi.

Abbi clenched her hands in her lap. I wasn’t joking, Mr. Prince.

You must have been. How long have you worked here now, Abbi. Four years?

It’s coming up to seven, Abbi corrected. You hired me for an internship straight out of college.

It’s really been that long? Larry shook his head. Time flies when you’re building an empire, I guess. So after seven years, you don’t know me well enough to figure out I’d never break up a winning team. I thought you were a smart cookie, Abracadabra.

I am smart, sir. Smart enough to know when I should bow out. I’ve never asked you for anything like this before. I’ve always done everything expected of me.

And you’ve done it well. That’s why I put you on such a vital assignment. Ted Maddox is one of our most important clients.

I know that.

Ted Maddox owned the Gators. Last year, he’d contracted Prince PR to run an advertising campaign. Abbi had been lucky enough to work on that campaign and she’d been impressed with how professionally the organization was run.

It had been a good experience and a great addition to her resume. So when Larry had put her in charge of another assignment involving the Gators, she’d been thrilled.

Then she’d met Sam Cormack and everything had turned to crap.

As far as I can tell, you’ve been doing a great job, her boss went on. Cormack’s punting skills are among the best in the league, but the reputation Sam made for himself playing football in Australia was not great. If the man wants to be the team’s regular punter, he needs to keep his nose clean.

I’m very familiar with his reputation. A reputation for partying as hard off the field as he played on it. A history of affairs, fast cars and house parties to which the police had been called could be found with a quick internet search. There was even an ex-wife, to whom he’d only been married six months, who’d claimed emotional abuse.

The woman, a model by the name of Tiffani, had eventually dropped her case against her ex when two of her own friends had backed up Sam’s side of the story. They’d claimed that he was a decent guy and Tiffani had targeted Sam with the express intention of raising her Instagram profile. But some of the mud had stuck, regardless, something that happened when enough people only read headlines. Sam was generally viewed as a hot head with dicey scruples who courted trouble as often as he courted women.

The Gators were impressed with his work last season, but not as won over by his off-field reputation, Larry continued, mirroring Abbi’s own thoughts. They’re paying him big bucks because he averages forty-four yards a punt, but the last thing the team wants is a scandal. If it looks like there might be one—

I know, that’s where I come in, Abbi finished before Larry could. She could feel her hopes of being rid of Sam Cormack slipping away, but she clung to them as long as she could, arguing her case like a lawyer fighting for a hard luck client. "But, Mr. Prince, he’s so…obnoxious. He doesn’t pay any attention to what I say. I ask him not to put himself in situations that have newsworthy potential, but he ignores me. He has a boyish fascination with ridiculously fast sports cars. He’s been cited for speeding three times in three months. And the women."

Abbi tried for a derisive scoff, but she feared it sounded more like a piggish snort. The women throw themselves at him. They send him panties and ask him to sign their cleavage. And he does it. He does it because he’s a shallow, womanizing jerk who loves the attention. He’s a child, and a…a…

An immature, overpaid, overrated dickhead?

With a gasp, Abbi swung her gaze to the doorway. Speak of the devil. Who should be standing there but the man himself. Heat filled her face at having been caught deriding him to her boss, but from the amused grin on Sam’s face, it would seem he wasn’t bothered by what he’d overheard. To the contrary, he was offering suggestions.

Insufferable.

I wouldn’t say overrated, Abbi conceded, knowing that on the field at least the man was damn good at what he did.

Well, that’s something. Sam sauntered into the room and plonked his big body down in the chair next to Abbi’s, dragging a hand through his dark brown hair until it stood on end. The dark shadow of his beard told her he hadn’t shaved that morning and the idea engendered a frustrating temptation to touch his strong jawline.

As he made himself comfortable resting one foot on the opposite knee, he sent Abbi a wink. No offense taken, by the way.

I’m so relieved to hear it, Abbi drawled, glad her voice didn’t betray her sudden breathlessness. But Mr. Prince and I were having a private conversation. You can’t just barge in.

Your secretary wasn’t at her desk. Sam ignored Abbi’s remonstrance and addressed his explanation to Larry. You wanted to see me about something?

I wanted to meet with both of you, Larry said. Your request to see me came at the right time, Abbi.

Larry had let her go on about Sam, all the while knowing he was expected any minute? She struggled to tamp down her annoyance. What is this about?

"Like I was saying