The Project: A Football Romance Story Read online

  Contents

  Freebies + Newsletters

  Copyright

  Blurb

  The Project

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Thanks!

  Our Secret

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Thanks!

  Money Eyes

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  Thanks!

  Trust Fund Bad Boy

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Thank You!

  Stalk The Author

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  Copyright © 2016 by Amber Heart

  All rights reserved.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  All characters in this book are over the age of 18.

  Individuals on the cover are models and are used for illustrative purposes only.

  This is a work of fiction. All events taking place are a result of a role play amongst all parties and all parties are fully consenting adults.

  This story is written for adults. It includes detailed and intense sexual activity between consenting adults.

  Why did I have to get partnered with the football superstar?

  Dean Harper is the best running back our school has had in years. Tall, confident, too handsome for his own good. You know the type I’m talking about.

  All the girls practically worship the ground he walks on. Any one of them would kill to be as ‘lucky’ as me. Who wouldn’t want to be forced to spend the next six weeks with him?

  But I’ve got enough on my plate without having to worry about falling in love with a smoking hot football pro. I’ve just got to hold myself together and not get distracted by his toned, muscular body… Ahh, it’s happening already!

  If he thinks I’m going to do all of the work, he’s got another thing coming. Just because he’s good at throwing a football around, it doesn’t mean he’s getting a free pass with me!

  The professor will fail us both if he doesn’t pull his weight. How do I get this bad boy to cooperate? More importantly, how do I stop myself from falling for his irresistible charm?

  The Project is a football romance with a very HEA. For a limited time, this story features 3 bonus novels: Our Secret, Money Eyes, and Trust Fund Bad Boy!

  The Project

  A Football Romance Story

  By Amber Heart

  Chapter 1

  “The final team will be Leigh Rice and Dean Harper,” Professor Kennedy announced.

  Leigh sighed. She’d started to be afraid of that about halfway through the team assignments. She fixed her eyes on the professor, trying her best to make it clear that she didn’t appreciate this turn of events. The woman only shrugged in response and then glanced over to the other side of the room.

  “Mr. Harper?” Professor Kennedy said sharply.

  “Yeah?” he asked, sounding distracted.

  Leigh rested her chin on her hand and watched Dean Harper. He’d barely looked up from his phone, which was how he spent most of his class time. It was a pet peeve of hers when people walked around with their phones practically glued to their faces. It was just her luck to end up with the king of phone addicts for six weeks.

  “My eyes are up here,” Professor Kennedy said dryly.

  Dean slid his phone into his jacket pocket and sat up. With his back now totally straight and a look of avid interest on his face, he managed to make it look sarcastic instead of respectful. Leigh rolled her eyes.

  For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why everyone fell all over him. Girls had actually transferred into the class after finding out that he was going to be there. Sure, those green eyes were nice and no one could argue that he was tall and built...but come on. If he wasn’t on the football team, he’d never get away with half of this.

  “Did you hear me announce your partner?” Before he could answer, she pressed the subject. “For the project that will form forty percent of your grade? The project that, for some students more than others, could actually make or break whether they pass this class?”

  “Yeah, of course I did,” he answered, sounding shocked that she’d thought he wasn’t listening. “Leigh Rice.”

  “Point to her.” the professor challenged.

  Dean turned around and pointed unerringly at Leigh. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. She honestly hadn’t thought he’d ever looked at her.

  “She’s the only one in here who ever talks,” he said with a grin that lit his eyes up and showed a slash of a dimple in his right cheek. “How could I miss her?”

  Leigh held back a twitch of a smile. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. It was pretty much true though. No one else seemed to care as much about this class as she did. Especially since fully half of it was only there to fall into Dean Harper’s green eyes.

  “As I said,” Professor Kennedy went on, turning away from the football player and addressing all of them now. “This project comprises forty percent of your grade and it’s very important that you actually take the time to do it correctly.” She fixed her eyes on them, a stern gaze that stilled all rustling and chatter. “And together. Do not allow one partner to do all the work. I know most of you think that I won’t know. I will. And I will not hesitate to fail the partner who hasn’t participated.”

  Leigh nodded to herself. That wouldn’t be so bad then. If he didn’t do the work, he’d just receive a failing grade. He wasn’t going to let that happen. And if he did, it wasn’t a big deal to her. Let him flunk out if he wanted.

  “And I will give only half credit to the other partner,” the professor finished smoothly.

  Okay, that was a different story. Leigh bit her lip, twirling a long strand of her hair around her index finger. But still...surely he wouldn’t take the chance.

  “Now I’ll give you some time to meet up with your partners and begin planning. I strongly suggest that you use the rest of the class period to figure out when you’re going to meet up and work. Getting started on your ideas wouldn’t hurt either.”

  Leigh tapped her pen on her notebook as she waited for the rest of the class to swirl around, meeting their partners. Some people seemed happy with their partnerships, but others cast her looks ranging from slight jealousy to pure green eyed monster. She ignored them all. She’d had nothing to do with it, after all.

  “You are so lucky,” Kat Sullivan whispered as she walked past.

  Leigh barely held back a derisive snort. She would have cheerfully killed for the chance to work with anyone but Dean Harper. He was playing with his phone again, clearly expecting her to come to him. It was enough to make her want to sta
y exactly where she was, but that wouldn’t get anything done.

  Her classmates had settled into their new arrangements by now, so she stood and walked down.

  She put her books down and took a breath. They could work together. It didn’t matter how different they were. For forty percent of a grade, she could be nice to Satan himself for a few weeks.

  Determined to put her best foot forward, Leigh smiled as she sat down next to him. “I’m Leigh Rice. Good to--”

  “Hey,” he interrupted, stuffing his notebook into his backpack quickly. “Glad you finally got here. I’ve gotta get out of here a little early today.”

  She blinked. “What?” What did he mean by finally? It had taken less than a minute.

  Dean turned up the charm with a smile that she’d seen nearly melt other girls. Unlike the one he’d given her earlier, this one was slightly crooked, showing that dimple off in full force. “If I’m going to get us to the championship, I’ve got to practice.”

  “And if you want to pass this class, you need to work with me here,” she retorted. Macho jerk.

  For just a second, his green eyes went wide with surprise which made her feel better. Then the smile returned. This one was more of a smirk, actually. She hated it when guys smirked.

  “Look, why don’t you just write down your number and I’ll call you when I have time? We’ve got six weeks on this thing.”

  “Yeah, but it might be complicated and--”

  He pulled his phone out. “Here.”

  She sighed and put her number in his contacts. As she typed, a message popped up.

  “Here,” she said, handing it back quickly. “That’s my number. And somebody named Jacie can’t wait to see you in a few minutes.”

  Dean cleared his throat. “Well...”

  “Does she play football too?” Leigh asked innocently. “Since you’re headed to a super important practice?”

  He narrowed his eyes as he stood up. “I’ll call you later.”

  “Actually, I’ll meet you tomorrow at the coffee shop,” Leigh cut in. “I’ve got a class break at 4. See you there.”

  She smacked her notebook closed and walked away, leaving him standing where he was. He looked a little shocked, but he still walked out of the door. Off to meet Jacie, whoever the hell that was. Leigh walked to the professor's desk.

  “I’m not changing anything,” Professor Kennedy said before she could even open her mouth.

  “I thought you liked me,” Leigh said anyway. If she didn’t let some of the frustration out, she might just track Dean down and smack him upside the head. “I seem to remember being referred to as one of your best students.”

  Professor Kennedy looked up from the paper that she was currently making bleed red ink and smiled. “You are.”

  “So why are you saddling me with tall, dark, and dim witted?”

  The professor looked away for a moment, but Leigh had seen her struggle not to grin. “For one thing, because I don’t believe he’s as dumb as he acts,” she said honestly. “For another, you’re the least likely person in this room to be star struck just because he’s the best running back the Tigers have had in twenty years.”

  “I thought he was a the quarterback,” Leigh said with a slight frown.

  “See?” Professor Kennedy didn’t bother to hold that laugh back. “Everyone else in this room would have been able to tell me not only which position he plays but why he’s God’s gift to the game. And he wouldn’t have had to do a damn thing. Which means that he wouldn’t learn anything. Which means that I wouldn’t be doing my job. Do you follow me, Ms. Rice?”

  Leigh sighed. “Yes.” She did, actually. Which ticked her off. She would have preferred to think that the professor was just being unreasonable or that it was pure bad luck that had put her with Dean. Knowing that there was a good reason was a bummer.

  “It won’t be so bad,” her professor said, going back to eviscerating the paper in front of her. “And it’ll be a good challenge for you. You’ve certainly breezed through everything else in this class.”

  Leigh leaned over the desk. “What’s my grade right now?”

  “Higher than anyone else’s and that’s all I’ll tell you,” the professor replied cooly. “Don’t you have a project to work on?”

  Leigh left the class feeling rejuvenated. She could handle this. She’d make it as easy on him as possible by coming up with several ideas tonight. Then, when they met tomorrow, she’d simply let him take his pick. She’d end up with something she was interested in no matter what he picked and by letting him choose, he’d feel more in control. The more invested he felt in the project the better. And the more work he had to do, the fewer chances he’d have to be a smug asshole.

  She straightened her shoulders. They could do this. And with her taking the lead, they’d do it better than anyone else. There was no way some football player was going to take away her 4.0. With a spring in her step, she headed to her next class. Ideas were already beginning to stir and stretch in her mind and she looked forward to being able to write them down.

  Chapter 2

  “Hey.”

  Leigh glanced up from her notebook to see Dean towering over her. She measured him mentally. He had to be close to six and a half feet tall. Today, like most days, he was wearing jeans and a jersey with a thick coat over it. Unlike most days, he was holding a steaming mug of coffee, which he plunked down on the table. He didn’t look thrilled to be here.

  “Hey,” she said evenly, determined to start out nice. “Have a seat.”

  “We’re going to have to make this fast. I don’t have long,” he replied, dropping into the seat across from her and crossing his arms across his chest.

  “Luckily for you, I have some ideas written down. As soon as we get something worked out, you can go back to...whatever it is you do.” Okay, maybe she wasn’t going to be totally nice. But at least she wouldn’t be mean.

  “Win games?” Dean suggested. “That’s what I usually do, anyway.”

  “Okay.” Leigh shuffled her pages, making sure that he could see her total lack of interest. “My first idea has to do with the importance of good counseling and mental health services for children in foster care.” She glanced up at him. He sipped his coffee without making any comments. “All right. My second suggestion has to do with domestic violence shelters.”

  She ran through the entire list of fifteen subjects that she’d made before going to bed last night. He didn’t say a word.

  “Well?” she demanded after several long moments of silence. There was no way that he hated all of them.

  “What?”

  She took a long drink of her coffee and prayed for patience. “What did you think? What ideas did you hate? What ideas did you like? What interests you?”

  Dean shrugged. “Just pick one. I don’t really care.”

  “Pretend that you do,” Leigh said through clenched teeth. “You’re going to be dealing with the subject for six weeks; I don’t want to hear any bitching if you don’t like it once we’ve started.”

  Dean rearranged himself, stretching his long legs out and putting his hands in his jacket pockets. “Here’s the thing. I’m not going to have a lot of time to work on this with you. So it really doesn’t matter.” He smirked at her. “I doubt we’ll be having coffee again anytime soon.”