Читать книгу Hot Target - Lisa Renee Jones - Страница 9

EVEN SEX HAD lost its appeal.

And damn if he thought he would ever see that day. But the simple fact was—sex now came with too many hidden agendas.

Gone were the days when sex was just sex, two people’s mutual desire to share their bodies, a release that came with pleasure and maybe some sincere emotion if it was with the right person.

He let out a disgusted snort.

Who was the last woman he was with who hadn’t thought he was a score because he was a pitcher in the majors? He couldn’t even remember. The less naive he’d become, the more he had looked back at the past and realized there had been a lot of bull in most of his adult relationships.

Luke Winter stood behind the mahogany wet bar in the far corner of the basement-level den of his Los Angeles home. It was his room of peace, the place he always chose to unwind and embrace being by himself, a sanctuary of sorts.

A place where he pretended to be normal.

But he wasn’t normal or he wouldn’t be getting death threats from a crazy fan. No, he was a pro baseball player, a pitcher even. He had it all.

Or so everyone thought.

An old television hung from the ceiling, just above the bar, even though a massive big-screen sat in the center of the room. Luke never wanted to miss a major sporting moment because he was across the room. He needed to see the action up close and personal.

Leaning his palms against the railing of the bar, he struggled to stay focused on the television. It was April twenty-sixth, and the Texas Rangers were playing their last preseason game, which normally would have held his interest. He had a special fondness for several of their players. After all, he’d played, side by side, with them for years.

He’d never forget the day he’d gotten the call, the day he was told he was going to the big leagues, pitching for the Rockets. Even years after, and two teams later, playing for the California Hawks, he still loved the Rockets.

Yet today, his mind lingered on the upcoming meeting that his manager had arranged with some security specialist. Katie Lyons.

A woman.

Why had he agreed to meet her? He wasn’t even slightly inclined to agree to extra security. What he really wanted was to be left the hell alone.

What was making him so dissatisfied with life in general? Most people would kill for what he had. Of course, very few understood the things that were lost when you were in the public eye.

He stared in the direction of the television without really seeing it, absentmindedly tapping a finger on the bar.

An impending feeling of capriciousness had consumed his thoughts the majority of the day. He hated feeling as if he didn’t have control over his own existence. Feeling out of sorts, he ran one hand roughly through his hair.

He was known as a nice guy. Well, damn it, maybe that was his problem. He was a walking target. Maybe taking back control would put an end to his sense of dissatisfaction.

Katie Lyons would be the first to witness a new Luke. He didn’t want extra security, plain and simple. So he’d make sure this Katie Lyons hated him so much she not only refused the job, but ran all the way home.