Her Man Advantage Read Free Page A

before he did something stupid like act on the surprising attraction.
    The woman was seriously hot.
    Shutting down the water, he grabbed a towel and dried off, knowing he’d kept her waiting long enough. Frustrated he hadn’t figured out how to handle her, he’d have to go with his plan B—learn more about her objections to the film series and exploit those until she wanted to leave.
    Except the plan that had made perfect sense in the coach’s office two hours ago, didn’t sound so good anymore. Especially not since meeting Jennifer had been kind of like taking a puck to the chest—minus the padding.
    What was it about her?
    Standing at his locker, he pulled on street clothes. Kyle Murphy plowed through the doors while Axel tied his shoes.
    Kyle was a forward on the team and also Axel’s foster brother. The Murphy family had facilitated Axel’s move to the U.S. the summer before his senior year in high school. Kyle and Axel had attended Boston College together before moving to the pros. But while Kyle had been picked up by the Boston NHL team, Axel had bounced around the league before moving to Kyle’s team last fall. Their combined stats had made them appealing to Nico Cesare as the coach strategized a run at the Stanley Cup, and he’d signed them as a package deal to the Phantoms just before the trade deadline.
    “Hey, bro.” Kyle bumped Axel’s fist with his knuckles before moving to his own locker. “Been simmering in the hot tub?”
    “No.” He figured shooting the breeze with Kyle was a legit way to waste a few more minutes before he had to meet Jennifer again. Hopefully it would be enough time to get his head on straight. “I’m showing the filmmaker around the facility.”
    He hadn’t been kidding about keeping his enemies close. If the woman was going to be filming the Phantoms, he wanted to be sure he knew where she was at all times so he was never caught off guard.
    “More power to you, man. You always did go for the redheads.”
    Auburn hair was the least of Jennifer’s attractions as far as he was concerned. Sure she had sexy, shoulder-length red curls. Vivid green eyes. Cute-as-hell freckles and a build so willowy he could probably wrap his arms around her a few times. But that stuff was window dressing for the spark inside her, a spark that had flared from the moment she stepped out from behind the post to greet him.
    She’d been unashamed to eavesdrop, had called him on his brute behavior without making him feel like a heel, and then she’d invited him to show her around. Keeping up with a woman like that would require more attention than Axel could spare, frankly. But damn. He envied the guy who got the chance to try.
    “So you’ve met her?” Axel tied his shoe, curious what Kyle thought of Jennifer.
    “Just a few minutes ago. She was trying to get up into the rafters to see what kind of wide-range camera angles she can snag from overhead.”
    “You’re kidding.” Axel slammed the locker shut. “She’s here for less than a day and she’s climbing the walls?”
    “Actually, she was trying to con a janitor into bringing her a ladder.”
    “Great. She’ll probably sue us when she breaks her neck.” Tossing his towel in a laundry bin, he jogged toward the door. “Why the hell doesn’t Nico assign someone to guard her?”
    “Didn’t you say you’re supposed to be escorting her around?” Kyle called after him. “Sounds like that job lands in your lap, bro.”
    And wasn’t that an image he didn’t need in his head?
    Axel plowed through the double doors, past the tunnel leading to the ice, toward the viewing area for visitors. At first, he didn’t see anyone. The morning session had been closed to the public and most of the players were long gone by now.
    He shouldn’t have been surprised to hear her voice echo from above his head.
    “Up here!” she called, lying prone on a steel girder that was part of the open web truss system holding up the clear glass arena