Saturday, September 2, 2017

Saturday Story Spotlight - Tape to Tape (Venom #3)






#MF #IR #Erotic #Hockey #Romance 


Amazon


Blurb:

Venom defensive coach Dot "The Shadow" West has made a nice life for herself. She's found a new position on an up-and-coming women's professional hockey team, her daughter is thriving, she gets along well with her fellow coaches and her players admire and respect her. She's proud to have accomplished so much by herself. Everything is running smoothly in her life with no help from anyone, thank you very much.

Sadly, there's one annoying glitch in Dot's new life, and it's in the form of good-looking Theo Grier, former Wildcat goalie and co-host of a controversial sports talk radio show based in Philadelphia, home of the Venom. When Dot loses her cool and calls in to spar with Theo on the air her structured and solitary existence takes a sudden unexpected turn. Before she can hip check the smug fool out of her life she somehow ends up working with him on a new talk radio sports program.

Can she defend her heart against the unwanted feelings Theo is stirring up? Or will she continue to guard herself, and her past decisions, against the offensive moves being made by the ex-goalie? The only man to ignite her passions - and ire - in years?



Excerpt:


Philip Moore opened the door. I nodded up at the GM. Damn but the man was a handsome thing. Dark hair and deep blue eyes, always dressed in tailored suits that accentuated his well-made frame. He was probably the finest looking man that I had laid my eyes on in quite some— "Good morning, Coach West."

My eyes flew from Philip Moore to Theo Grier rising from his seat next to the Venom owner, Isabelle Lancourt. Scratch my previous statement about Moore being the best-looking man I had seen in years. Theo Grier now wore that crown. The man was tall, easily six and a half feet. "I'm glad to meet you in person." 

His voice moved over me like a warm mist, touching any exposed flesh and making it tingle. His skin was the color of darkly roasted coffee, his eyes brown as toast. He flashed me a smile that nearly made me lean into the doorframe for support. 

He wore his hair cut close to his scalp and a goatee framed his thick lips. The shoulders of his long winter coat were damp from the snow flurries outside, as was the white silken scarf that dangled from under the coats lapels. My gaze slithered back up from his shoes to his mouth. How had I not paid closer attention to his face on the sides of all the SEPTA buses I saw daily? The man looked like Blair Underwood back in his Sex and the City days. Knowing I was staring, I yanked my traitorous gaze from his mouth to his eyes. They traveled down over me, one eyebrow arching as if he liked what he saw under the coaching attire. My breasts grew warm.

 "Won't you come in and have a seat, Coach West?" Isabelle said. Her feminine voice snapped me out of the sensual stupor I had slipped into, and I stepped into the skybox with haste. It looked like we were having our meeting at a large buffet table. That made it feel more professional instead of sitting in the chairs overlooking the ice so far below.

 "What's he doing here?" I asked once I had my bearings. Theo's jaunty eyebrow dropped down at the snap in my voice.

"Mr. Grier has been gracious enough to agree to speak with us about the incident on his show last night." My gaze moved from the ex-goalie to the team owner. Isabelle Lancourt was the most beautiful pregnant woman I had ever laid eyes on. Even with her big belly clearly showing now, she wore her clothing with a fashionable flair that few women could match. "Please, have a seat, Coach West." The owner sounded serious so I sat down across from Grier, my back ramrod straight and my chin held high. 

I should have paid more attention to my appearance this morning, maybe done something with my long brown hair instead of just pulling it into a ponytail. Perhaps some make-up or a nice suit, or even newer sneakers, something that didn`t make me feel like a frump sitting next to the owner in her elegant dark gray maternity suit. Moore took the seat beside me with a long exhalation. I peeked to the side. Our GM looked haggard. He was probably concerned over his pregnant love and unborn child. I had heard the rumors that our owner was having a troublesome pregnancy. And I was now adding to the woman's stress. I felt terrible.

"I, for one, am quite pleased that Mr. Grier expressed interest in trying to put a positive spin on this situation," Isabelle said, one slim handing resting on her round belly. We all looked from the owner when the door to the skybox opened. "Ah, Viviana, come in and have a seat. Dorothy, this is Viviana Land, one of our best PR people."

The curvy brunette waved a hand at the compliment as she sat down on Isabelle's right. 

"Posh, you say that to the entire PR staff because we're always pulling the teams backsides out of the fire. It's a pleasure, Coach West." Viviana smiled at me. She had amazing white grape colored eyes. Her plum toned suit and silver jewelry made her look sparkly and vivacious. And I was in coaching clothes. "I've been trying to track you down for weeks to set up a PR campaign." 

"Looks like you have your chance now," I said then glanced from the PR rep to Isabelle. "Mrs. Lancourt, I know that I stepped over the line last night, but in my defense, this man and his cronies are nothing more than a pack of hyenas snapping and snarling over a wounded team." 

"I take offense to the hyena reference, but will agree that both hockey teams are wounded," Theo said. I threw him a dour look that got me a patronizing smirk in return. The man just rubbed me the wrong way despite how sexy he looked sitting there with one leg over the other and his big hands resting on his thigh. "My colleagues and I are simply speaking the truth. The Wildcats have slipped to third in their league, the Venom are barely holding onto a fourth place standing." 

"You're one of us," I snapped. Theo looked slightly wounded. "You played for the 'Cats. Why would you run down fellow hockey players?" 

"Yes, I am, and as an ex-player I know what I'm looking at. You may not like the truth, Coach West, but I am not going to stop calling it as I see it. My integrity as a sports reporter is on the line every time I go on the air. People expect the truth about our teams, not a watered-down version that comes through public relations first."



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