Sweet Spot Read Free Page B

fuzzy thought wafted
through my mind. I think that one was a double. Bloody hell.
    I waved my hand in what I hoped was a dismissive manner. “Oh
n-nothing. Just commiserating with you, that’s all. You should be celebrating
that damn title along with Connolly.”
    “Oh, did I just hear my name? Not taken in vain, I hope?”
    I spun to see Travis and Marie standing beside us, looking
so loved-up it bordered on disgusting. At some point I’d have to find out how they
got away with having a relationship without Marie losing her job. It was all a
bit weird, if you asked me.
    “No, no,” Nadia said, swaying a little. I giggled, glad that
the increasingly loud music drowned it out. I sounded insane and not a little
stupid. “We were just talking about my shitty day, my unceremonious defeat. And
V here was saying that I should be celebrating along with you. Which reminds
me. Sorry, I’ve been a little distracted. Congratulations on your win, Travis.
And also to both of you on your engagement. It seems your day has been as
fantastic as mine has been awful.”
    Understandably the newly engaged couple looked
uncomfortable. What exactly were they supposed to say to that?
    Then Connolly reminded me of how I planned to lift Nadia’s
spirits.
    Inserting a great deal of lightness into his voice, he said,
“Drink?”

Chapter Three
     
    My first thought on waking was, Ow, fuck, my head!
    My second, What’s that bloody noise?
    Then my brain kicked in and I realized someone was thumping
on the door, the hotel room phone was ringing, and my mobile phone was bleeping
alarmingly. Slowly I gained more awareness and something made me turn and look
at the bed behind me. I heaved a sigh of relief. I was alone and the pillows on
that side were mercifully undented.
    God, how horrendous would that have been? Waking up to find
that bloody barman in my bed? Or worse, Nadia. Though of course the first one
would have been terrible full stop—I’d never slept with a man and I didn’t
intend to start, either. The second only because of the circumstances. If I got
lucky enough to have Nadia in my bed, or to be in hers, I wanted to remember
every single second of it.
    Sitting up slowly and hoping my stomach didn’t decide to
empty its contents onto the floor, I carefully edged my way out of bed and
waited until I felt the carpet beneath my feet. Shuffling toward the door, I
grabbed the robe that had been tossed onto the floor and shrugged into it,
tying it tightly around my waist. The banging and two sets of ringing continued
and I flung open the door, hoping that action would make it all stop.
    Thankfully it did. Austin stood outside my room, red-faced
and angry-looking, one hand poised to knock, the other clamping his cell to his
ear. One punch of a button and mine stopped ringing. Then a few taps later and
the main line did too.
    “Oh good,” he said coolly, stepping into the room without
even asking and slamming the door behind him. Which of course did wonders for
my pounding headache. “You’re not dead.”
    His tone of voice made it sound as if he wished I were. Had
I been wearing any shoes my heart would have sunk into them. Instead it
remained bathing in the broiling vat of discomfort that was my stomach. Bollocks,
what did I do last night?
    “Um, no,” I said, sounding like a pathetic little girl—which
I supposed at that moment I was. “I’m not dead. Why? I’m not late for anything.
Our flights back to California aren’t until tomorrow, are they?”
    “Luckily for you, no they’re not. Otherwise you’d have been
paying the transfer fee out of your own pocket. Unluckily for you, though, I’m
here and I’m pissed .”
    He was stating the obvious but there was no way I was going
to say that. Strictly speaking, this man was my boss and he could kick my arse
out of the academy if he chose to. And from the way he was looking at me, I
suspected he was considering it. Christ, I’d done something really bad, hadn’t
I?
    “Um,