Page 29 of Third Strike Smitten

Maybe some dry humping?

Fuck, I don’t want to spend the next four months with just my fist.

I can’t worry about that now. I’ll figure it out, but right now I just need Isla to say yes so I can get the front office and Harper off my back. I’m Killian Fucking Haynes. If I can get Isla on my side, I can make this charade work in my favor.

Isla’s expression turns serious as she considers my proposal. I watch her closely, noticing the way she bites her bottom lip when she’s thinking, and how her eyes narrow slightly when she’s weighing her options.

“Alright, Haynes. You’ve got yourself a deal.”

“Wait, seriously?”

She just said yes?

Like, really fucking yes?

She shrugs her shoulders and grins at me, her smile growing wider by the second. “YOLO, right?”

I throw my head back and laugh. “Damn right, Coach. YOLO.”

She offers me her hand to shake with a confident yet playful, “Let’s do this.”

8

ISLA

Iwake up to the sound of my own voice screaming, “Oh my God, I agreed to fake date Killian Haynes!”

The hotel room is dark except for the sliver of light creeping through the curtains. My heart hammers against my ribs as I sit bolt upright in bed, my hair sticking to my face in sweaty clumps. For a moment, I think I might have dreamt the whole conversation. Then I see the empty Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup wrapper on my nightstand, and reality comes crashing back.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I mutter, flopping back onto my pillow. My phone buzzes with a text, and I grab it with the desperate hope that it’s Killian saying he was drunk and we should forget the whole thing.

But that is not the case.

Tara

You alive? You’ve been weirdly quiet since you got to Chicago.

I stare at the message for a full thirty seconds before typing back.

Me

I think I’ve made a terrible mistake.

Three dots appear immediately.

Tara

What kind of mistake? Wait. Let me guess. Did you get drunk and profess your undying love to Killian Haynes?

Me

Worse.

Tara

Worse? Okay umm did you get drunk and KISS Killian Haynes?

Me