The Billionaire Heartbreaker (5 page)

Carter laughed. He gave Reily a wave of acknowledgment. “Obviously, Travis isn't house broken. I'm Carter.”

“Hi,” Reily said. “I'm Reily Martin. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, so you're my brother's keeper,” Carter's knowing tone coaxed a grin to Reily's lips. “It's about time someone kicked his butt into line.”

“I'm trying.” Her gaze slid to Travis and his expression darkened. Apparently he didn't appreciate a little good-natured ribbing, though he seemed to dish it out easily enough. “Your brother's a tough nut to crack.”

“You let me know if he gives you any trouble,” Carter said with a grin that was every bit as wicked as Travis's. “I'll put him in line for you.”

Reily laughed. “Deal.”

*   *   *

Har. Har. Carter was fucking
hilarious
. It was bad enough that his brother pointed out his lack of social graces by not introducing Reily to everyone, but then he had to rub it in that he'd been assigned a babysitter by the team because apparently, he was incapable of taking care of himself.

The more time he spent with Reily, the less he wanted her to see that side of him. He didn't want her to think of him as a fuck-up. A disappointment. Someone who didn't give a shit about anyone or anything. Reily might have appeared stuffy and uptight, but there was more to her than her neat and tidy workwear and serious, upswept ponytail. Travis wanted to get to know her. And not simply as her client. He actually found himself anticipating their time spent together. The only thing Travis had ever felt that sort of excitement about was hockey. And he wasn't really sure what to make of it.

Ever since the day she'd spent making him over, Travis couldn't get Reily out of his head. She was so unlike the women he dated. Hell, she was unlike any woman he'd ever met. She looked like a million dollars tonight in her revised take on standard business attire. She'd traded in her usual slacks for a billowy black ballet-type skirt that she'd paired with a tight-fitting, button-up dress shirt. He doubted she realized how beautiful she was. How striking her blue eyes were in contrast to her dark hair and lashes. She was so put together. So damned savvy. He didn't think he'd ever met a smarter woman. Travis found her stuffy demeanor and conservative clothes a total turn-on. He wanted to peel off every layer of her oh-so-professional suits to reveal the curves that he was sure were hidden beneath.

Maybe it was a testament to his rebel attitude that all he could think of was defiling the woman who'd been hired to keep him in line. That, or he really was as self-destructive as everyone thought he was. Either way, Travis didn't care. The risks he took were what made life worth living. Pushing his luck with Reily was certainly playing with fire, but Travis had always liked the heat. That wasn't ever going to change, no matter how everyone tried to “fix” him.

“Carter and his family are staying here while his house is being remodeled,” Travis said. “But after tonight, I'm thinking they'll be living out of his truck until the work's done.”

“I don't want to live in the truck!” Jane exclaimed.

“Me either!” Jenny chimed in. “Don't make us live in the truck!”

“Okay,” Travis teased. “You two can stay. And maybe Tess. But your dad has to go.”

“Dad, you have to sleep in the truck!” Jenny laughed.

“Yeah, Dad, better be nice to Uncle Travis.”

“Hear that, dude?” Travis called back toward the house. “Even your own kids are abandoning you!”

Carter's answering laughter sounded from inside the house.

“Those drowned rats over there are Jenny,” Travis pointed to his left, and then his right, “and Jane.”

“Hi,” Reily said with a wide smile and a wave. “I'm Reily.”

“Uncle Travis says you'll be mad at him if he gets wet,” Jane said.

“He'll be in big trouble,” Reily agreed with a wry grin.

“Are you really his babysitter?”

Travis cast a narrow-eyed gaze Jenny's way and she returned the look with a smile that showcased the gap of her newly lost tooth.

“I'm not his babysitter,” Reily replied.

“You're not his girlfriend, either?”

Travis turned his attention to Reily. He raised a sardonic brow in question and the corner of his mouth hitched. Just as he expected, a flush crept to Reily's cheeks and she averted her gaze. He was going to have to slip Jane a twenty for that one. He loved to see Reily's feathers ruffled. It made his gut tighten up and his breath catch. Not to mention what it did to his cock. That horny bastard was more than ready to get into one of Reily's prim suits. He'd never thought flustered could be sexy but on Reily, it absolutely was.

“Oh…” She fiddled with her glasses and Travis wondered if it was an involuntary act. “No. I'm not his girlfriend. We work together.”

“Are you his boss?”

Travis cocked a challenging brow. “Yeah, Reily, are you my boss?”

She pursed her lips with disapproval. God, he loved that almost prissy expression. It made him want to tear down the walls of her uptight control and see what she looked like completely undone.

“I'm not his boss,” she said after a moment.

“What do you do, then?”

Jenny and Jane were little gold mines of questions for Reily to field. Travis's smile grew as he waited to see how she'd handle his rambunctious nieces. Screw the money, if they kept it up, he'd buy them each a pony.

“Well, last week, I took him out to buy nice clothes for work and made him get a haircut,” Reily said. “Yesterday, I went to lunch with him and his team. Tonight, I'm taking him to a charity event so that he can talk to sports reporters and people who are interested in hockey.”

“Sounds like a babysitter to me,” Jane said to her sister, who giggled in response.

Smart Aleck. Travis was going to have rethink that pony.

“Travis doesn't need a babysitter,” Reily said. “I'm like an assistant. You know how boys don't know anything about clothes or how to look good or how to act in public?”

The girls nodded in unison. Traitors.

“Well, it's my job to make sure he doesn't act like such a boy when he's at work.”

“Boys are gross,” Jane remarked offhand.

“They have cooties,” Jenny agreed.

“They do.” Reily flashed a mischievous smile. “That's why I don't stand too close to your uncle. I don't want to catch them.”

The girls erupted into laughter. They were definitely sleeping in the truck with their dad tonight. Travis was revoking their refugee status. “All right, let's get out of here. My ego can't take much more of this. There is
way
too much estrogen around here!” he called toward the house.

“You've got that right!” Carter called back.

“You two, out of the pool,” Travis pointed his finger at Jenny and Jane. “I need to leave and you can't swim unless your dad or Tess is out here watching you.”

The girls groused but made their way out of the pool. The slap of their little feet on the wet tiles paired with their pouty expressions coaxed a grin to Travis's face. You'd think they'd have gills as much as they liked to swim.

“Dad! Come watch us!” Jenny shouted. “Uncle Travis is leaving!”

Carter poked his head out of the patio door. “It's almost time for dinner so you two need to dry off and take a break anyway.” He turned his attention to Travis and smirked. “Have fun tonight.”

Travis waited until the girls' attention was diverted and threw up his middle finger. He was sure that his good-as-gold brother was eating this up with a spoon. The last thing Travis wanted to be doing tonight was showcasing his new-and-improved image to the press. His gaze wandered to Reily, totally put together and not a hair out of place. At least the night wouldn't be a total wash. He had a few good hours ahead of him and he planned to use each and every one of them to rattle her chain.

He turned to Riley and graced her with his most flirtatious smile. “Ready?”

Her brow furrowed with suspicion. “Yeah. The car's out front and we're going to be late.”

“The new and improved Travis Christensen is never late!” he exclaimed with dramatic flair.

“That's right,” Reily said, all business. “He isn't. So get a move on.”

Yep. The night was definitely looking up.

Five

Reily had seen another side of Travis tonight. One that the media never portrayed. One that threw her completely off her game. From the moment she'd stepped foot in his backyard, she'd been floored by how down-to-earth he was. Travis had been so sweet with his nieces, playing with them, and then making sure that they were safely out of the pool when no one was around to watch them. She'd known he had a playful side, but with his family, he showed sincerity that she'd never noticed before. It was obvious that his family meant a lot to him. She admired that.

Unfortunately, it was that other side of him that also made Reily want to get to know him much, much better, and that could never happen. She needed to keep their relationship impersonal. This was business, not pleasure. But oh, wow, what would it feel like to be pleasured by Travis Christensen?

“So what's the plan for tonight?”

Travis sat beside her, close enough to touch. Reily's fingers twitched at her side and she grasped her hands in her lap to keep from doing something she'd surely regret. She turned to face Travis and tried not to stare. God, he looked good enough to eat in the gray slacks, deep burgundy dress shirt, and gray vest that Patrice had picked out. The outfit hugged every powerful curve and hard line of his body, only accentuating his powerful build. Travis was larger than life.

“First of all, you'll walk the red carpet. Smile for the cameras, answer as few questions as possible, and be your natural charming self.”

“I knew you thought I was charming,” Travis remarked with a boyish grin that Reily was pretty sure managed to incinerate her underwear. “Say it again.”

“I think you already know all of your attributes and don't need an ego stroking from me.”

Travis's hazel eyes lit with mischief. “My ego might not need stroking, but I can think of something that could use your attention.”

Reily's breath left her lungs in a rush. “That's not what I meant. I was trying to say that … what I mean is … Oh, good lord, Travis! You can't talk to me like that.”

His gaze heated and Riley became so flustered by the intensity of it that she could barely take a breath. “Why not?”

“You know why not.”

His brow furrowed. “No. I don't.”

The car pulled up to the Omni Dallas Hotel and Reily let out a relieved breath. She wanted to tell Travis that it wasn't fair—or nice—of him to flirt and act as though his interest in her was anything other than another ploy to get a rise out of her. She wasn't even close to his type. And besides, he was her
client
. It would be career suicide to get involved with him. Reily swallowed down a snort. Hell would freeze over before that would ever happen. Not even in a parallel universe would someone like Travis truly be interested in someone like her.

“Okay, remember what I said.” Reily waited for their driver to get Travis's door while she coached him. “Smile, be charismatic, but dial it down a notch. You're not coming on to the press, you're just flirting with them. Got it?”

His lips thinned for the barest moment. “I know how to behave.”

“I know that,” Reily said. It wouldn't do her any good to alienate him. “I just want you to
want
to behave.”

“I want a lot of things,” Travis murmured close to her ear. A zing of delicious heat raced through Reily's veins and she sucked in a breath. “Ask me what I want most and I'll tell you.”

Reily opened her mouth but she couldn't push the words past her lips. Holy crap, did she ever want to know. The promise in his tone suffused her with warmth and caused her sex to clench. Travis was just pushing her buttons. But not for the first time, she wished that his playful flirtations truly meant something more.

Even if it did mean the end of her career before it ever got off the ground.

Dear lord. Was this what it felt like to have a self-destructive tendency? Definitely foreign territory for someone who lived her life without breaking any rules.

The driver interrupted the moment when he opened Travis's door to the flash of cameras. Reily took a deep breath and said a silent prayer that tonight would go off without a hitch and that she could keep her lust under control. The second he stepped out of the car, Travis was
on
. A wide, friendly smile curved his lips and he held up his hand in greeting to familiar faces as he made his way to the red carpet.

All but forgotten, Reily let herself out of the car. No one snapped any pictures of her as she rounded the fringe of paparazzi and fans assembled to get a glimpse of their favorite sports stars. She hung back—but not too far back—like a professional handler should, and watched as Travis posed for pictures, signed autographs, and chatted with fans and reporters alike. It was no wonder the world was fascinated with even the smallest detail of his life. His charisma was undeniable. Anyone caught in the orbit of his presence was helpless to pull away. Reily included.

“Travis, what's up with the new look?”

“Who are you wearing?”

“Is it true that you're seeing Alex Morgan from the U.S. Women's soccer team?”

“You ready to face the Devils in the Stanley Cup? Rumors are swirling that all of the partying is going to make you lose your edge.”

The questions rolled in, one after the other. Travis handled them in the way that they'd discussed. He charmed the reporters without giving them any ammo against him.

“I thought it was time for a makeover. Even you guys gotta admit it's a step up.”