Coach Daddy (Dark Daddies 3)

I step toward her, but stop myself. Someone’s coming down the hall toward us. I clear my throat and put a hand on her shoulder, gently steering her aside, as Atlas Gage walks right up.

“Coach, good game today,” he says.

Leah looks surprised, her face slightly red. “Thanks,” I say to him. “First win of the franchise. A historic day.”

“Just keep it up and you’ll get some kind of statue.”

“I bet I will.” I gesture at my office. “Are you here to talk?”

He hesitates. “Actually, I am, but not with you.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah?”

“I was wondering if I could borrow Leah here for just a second.”

We stand there in stunned silence for a beat before I get myself together. “Uh, yeah, of course. Go ahead.”

Leah looks at me and I turn away from them. I can’t let Atlas see the expression on my face.

They walk away together, and all I want to do is chase after them. I can’t let him go after her, I can’t let him anywhere near her. He’s just some rich kid, some asshole with too much money.

Sure, they’re closer in age. Maybe they even share more than that. He has more money than I do, more cars, better clothes.

But he’s a clown. He’s a boy playing at being a man.

I clench my fists for a second before stepping into my office. I don’t look back.

I don’t trust myself to keep my anger under control.9LeahAtlas leads me away from Cole and I wish I could turn back to him, mouth something, make a face, do anything to let him know that I’m not into this.

Instead, he just heads into his office and shuts the door.

My heart’s beating fast as Atlas leads me back into the empty training room. He’s wearing a tight, slim suit, no tie over his crisp white shirt.

He’s not exactly a bad-looking man. Actually, I think a lot of people would find him attractive. His facial hair is unkempt, although he has a tight haircut. He looks like a hipster lumberjack, which he basically is, I guess. Except he’s also rich as all hell.

I’ve never spoken to Atlas before. Most people haven’t. He’s the owner of the team and he more or less only speaks with Cole.

We all know about him, of course. There are a million rumors about Atlas. About how he owns a hundred cars, has an island in the Bahamas, fills his bathtub with champagne, that sort of stuff.

He’s also a dorky computer guy, although I think he’s working pretty hard to distance himself from that image.

I don’t know what to think as he faces me, a little serious smile on his lips. I glance at the door and wonder if anyone’s going to walk in. I’m not afraid of Atlas, I don’t think he’d do anything inappropriate, but I am worried.

I don’t know what he wants, and he’s my boss. Well, my boss’s boss’s boss’s boss. Just talking to him makes me nervous, even if I haven’t done anything wrong.

Well, nothing wrong that he knows about.

Unless he knows about Cole…

“Hi, Leah,” he says to me, looking almost bashful.

“Hi, Mr. Gage.”

He grins. “Please, call me Atlas.”

“Okay.” I clear my throat, cross my arms. “What can I do for you, Atlas?”

“I was hoping I could talk to you.” He cocks his head. “Well, ask you something.”

“What is it?” I clench my jaw nervously.

“I was wondering if you’d like to get dinner with me sometime.”

I stare at him, my whole world coming to a halt.

“Like… a date?”

He grins bigger. “Exactly like that.”

“Oh.” I blink. “Wow.”

“What do you think?”

“I, uh, yes. Okay. Sure.”

I don’t know why I say it. I guess I’m just afraid and nervous and freaking out a little bit. This is the team owner. He could kick me out, ban me, make sure I never work for the league. I might never see Cole again.

I don’t know if he’s that kind of man. I know it definitely happens. And plus, it doesn’t have to mean anything. It can just be one date…

“Perfect,” he says. “I’m very busy, but how does this Friday sound?”

“Okay,” I say. “Uh, sounds good.”

“Okay then. Here’s my card. I’ll be in touch.” He slips me a business card, turns, and leaves.

I stare at the card. It’s plain, almost absurdly plain. It says his name at the top, and it has two phone numbers. That’s it.

I shake my head and slip the card into my pocket.

I have absolutely no interest in Atlas Gage. I don’t want to date him, don’t want to do anything with him. I have no clue why that just happened.

But here I am, with a date for Friday…

Tessa comes storming into the room, her eyes wide. “Was that just Atlas?” she asks me.

“Uhm, yeah.”

She hurries over to me. “Were you just talking to him?”