Dare To Resist (Dare Nation 1)

She bit down on her lower lip, a habit he remembered from childhood.

“Yeah. We had a father.” Jesse Prescott, who’d died when Austin was twenty-one, had been a decent parent to Austin, the natural-born athlete, to Damon, also a football talent, and to Bri, the only girl.

But to Jaxon, who’d preferred baseball to a contact sport, and to Bri’s twin, Braden, the brain of the bunch and now a doctor, Jesse Prescott had been a hard-ass and often mean. Which meant they were all processing the sperm donor biological father news in different ways. But there’d never been a question that if any of them were a perfect match, they’d donate a kidney to the man who had always been there for them in ways their father hadn’t.

“I can handle a little surgery,” he assured her.

“It’s not little, Austin.” Bri looked up at him with a worried expression.

“It’ll be fine. Go check on Quinn. Make sure she has all her questions answered before she leaves for the day.”

“Worried about her already?” Bri asked.

He rolled his eyes. “Go!”

Bri popped up from her seat and headed out. “I’ll be around for you if you get nervous or anything, you know?”

He glanced at the sister he loved. “Yeah, Bri. I know.”

* * *

Quinn sat alone in a conference room as she filled out myriad forms, shocked she could focus on anything after being alone with Austin Prescott and all that testosterone. She’d thought she’d been ready to meet him. After all, she’d done her research, Googling him before she arrived for her interview. She hadn’t lied about her family’s interest in sports, but the bulk of her current knowledge came from digging around online about Dare Nation’s clients and Austin Prescott himself.

But the online photos hadn’t prepared her for the man in person. He had chiseled features and tanned skin. Dark lashes framed unique indigo eyes. He had full lips she could imagine kissing and a strong, built body beneath his suit, making him the whole package.

“Whew.” She waved a hand in front of her still-flushed face. Her entire body heated in an inappropriate response to her boss.

She swallowed hard and filled in her social security number on the iPad with the forms the office manager had supplied, reminding herself this was her dream job. One she wouldn’t mess up because her boss was hot. She’d grown up being a pseudo-mom to her bucketload of siblings and cousins. If not for her scholarship, she’d have attended college and business school wholly on student loans because her parents couldn’t afford to send all of her siblings to school on their salaries.

She had no intention of being a nanny, despite how well qualified she might be. She loved office work and she intended to make the most of this prime opportunity. She’d pay off her student loans and have an independent life she could be proud of.

Besides, even if she’d met Austin under normal circumstances and had the same intense attraction, he wasn’t the right kind of guy for her. Austin Prescott was a player and not just on the field. In his NFL days, he’d been the consummate ladies’ man, never having a girlfriend, always seen with a different gorgeous woman on his arm. Actresses, models, perfect-looking females who fit his alpha-male image. Now that he was an agent to the stars, he was more discreet but no less discriminating in taste.

Quinn wasn’t vain. She’d been told she was pretty, but she didn’t work at it the way Austin’s typical woman did. And she had no reason to be thinking about herself and Austin linked in any way at all except professional, she thought, and continued to fill out the employment forms.

* * *

Austin wasn’t shocked when Quinn arrived at the office at eight a.m. on her first day. He’d said nine. She obviously wanted to make sure she had time to settle in before he put her to work. So far so good. No complaints on his end except for how much he desired her, but he knew better than to act on it and make her uncomfortable.

She obviously favored those slim skirts that showed off her ass and legs, and her silk tops wrapped perfectly around her curves. So, yeah, his head was on things other than work, but he had to get his shit together.

He’d been talking to his sister about his upcoming surgery and time off, and returning to his office, he passed Quinn’s desk and paused. “Everything okay?” he asked her.

She nodded. “I’m doing as you suggested, reading through client files and getting to know about them.”

“I have lunch with my brother Damon at twelve thirty, more business than personal. Join us. You can meet your first arrogant athlete,” he said with a grin. “Other than me.”

She shook her head and blushed. “You’re not going to let me live that down, are you?”