Read The Rider's Dangerous Embrace (An Interracial Bad Boy Romance Story) for Free Online

which package you select, and the number of outside sponsors we are able to pull in…” She had been rehearsing this speech since she first took over the business, but it wasn’t coming out as smoothly as it had in the past. Everything about him made her confused.
    “Yes, but I would lose my agency in all of this. I won’t be able to be independent. You make the choices, you choose the rodeos. You pick the circuits.” “True, that being said we get you into more exclusive circuits, we are able to book better competitions, those with a higher pay out.” She had a point and she knew it. It took connections, skills, and sponsors to get into some of the more profitable shows.
    “For the top three.”
    “You don’t think you will be top three?”
    “That’s not what I am saying. You… you have a point.” Luke seemed almost amused, his body relaxed visibly.
    It only served to enrage her, make her more vigilant in her argument.
    “I know I do. I am trying to show you that this is the best possible solution for you.”
    “I don’t like being told what to do.”
    “I don’t either, but sometimes we all need it.”
    It was an admission she wasn’t ready to give, because it meant she would have to admit to herself that she needed to be told what to do. Luke was all too ready to tell her what she needed, and she barely knew him. Her stubborn nature rallied against his personality, but right then, with her life, with her business it was exactly what she needed.
    He paused, thought about what she said, and then let her go, leaving her in the middle of the dance floor.
    “Let me think about it. Meet me at Ray's tomorrow. We can talk about it some more.”
    Ray's was one of the few real cowboy bars left in this town, the only other one she knew of was Boonies, but it was hours away. She would rather have driven the distance, because Ray's wasn’t known for being particularly friendly. What kind of guy was he, if it was his establishment of choice?
    She couldn’t show fear.
    “Okay. I can do that.” She didn’t know if he heard her, because he made no acknowledgment.
    He just walked away.

“Mary, can you get my mom on the phone?” Jayda asked her secretary from her intercom in the office. Her dad’s office. But hers now, she guessed. She was still trying to get used to it. His leather chair engulfed her. It even smelled like him still.
    That they still had the seventies style intercom was hilarious, but once she got used to using it, it was innately practical.
    She had spent most of her working hours at the office, but she never got used to the ins and outs of it. The way that it was mostly quiet, but at any point in time, a dirty, dusty man could walk through the doors to negotiate training fees, coaching, or even ask for an advance on paycheck. It amused her, while at the same time provided a much needed foil for the very serious backdrop of the office.
    Thomas didn’t even bother to ask her last night how it went with Luke, which meant that he knew what the mostly likely outcome was, and it wasn’t good.
    “You came to talk business, Jayda. Not pleasure. But if you want to mix the two, I am sure I can oblige.” That was what he said, it was burned into her brain, right down to his voice. His dark, sultry voice.
    She knew he was going to be a hard sell, but she was determined to do it, and keep their interactions strictly business. Even if the way he eyed her ample curves did threaten to unravel her at any moment.
    She was a business woman, and she trained for this kind of life. College was all about business and finance, but the last few years of working as a clerk in a few small offices were not enough to prepare her for running a business of this magnitude.
    So much for all those years as a glorified secretary.
    “Ms. Rivers, I have your mother on the line, would you like me to put the call through?” The question came through the intercom, and Jayda nodded, before realizing that she needed to respond.