Page 15 of Romeo

What?Damn, she needed to stay focused.

She especially had to stay on her toes with the man sitting across from her. Romeo was slick and before she knew it, he could be talking her out of her clothes and right back into his bed.

“Speaking of semantics… I’m not a girl. I wasn’t a girl when you met me the first time and I’m not a girl now, Rome.”

“Woman, then,” he corrected.

“The fact is, there aren’t enough jobs up in Manning Grove for what I do. My options were better closer to Pittsburgh.”

When his head tipped to the side, his gaze raked from the top of her head down her chest, only stopping when the table blocked his view of the rest of her. “What d’ya do?”

Did the man really care? Or was he only trying to work her? “I’m a sports physical therapist.”

“A what?”

“I’m a physical therapist for athletes,” Maddie explained. “You know what an athlete is, right?”

He grunted in response to her question but didn’t take the bait. “Where at?”

“A rehab center, but I’m hoping to get hired by a major sports team.”

His brow dipped low. “What kinda team?”

“A professional one. Preferably with the NFL or MLB.”

“Like the Steelers or Pirates?”

“Since those are professional teams, yes.” She knew she was being a smart ass, but she didn’t feel the need to explain herself, or her career, to Romeo of all people. Since when had he shown real interest in anyone without a dick between their legs? She was damn sure he pretended to care only enough to get them to bend to his will.

His reputation was well known since he used women simply for his own satisfaction.

Maybe in the past five years, he turned over a new leaf.

Wait.She glanced up to the dark sky. Did a pig do a fly-by?

His “Why?” pulled her back to the conversation.

“Why not?” she countered.

“Like workin’ with men?”

Why did he assume all athletes were men? “I like working with… people. All kinds.” She loved helping people either heal from a sports-related injury or to be the best athlete they could be.

No one was more surprised than her mother when she went into this line of work since Maddie had never been an athlete herself. In high school, she never ran track or played on any teams, like volleyball, softball, or field hockey. But she had always appreciated the hard work and dedication it took to become a top-notch athlete.

To her, it seemed like too much pressure to perform.However, she didn’t hold that goal against anyone and in fact, was happy to help people achieve it.

“Make a lot of scratch?”

“I do all right.” But she could do a lot better once she had more experience under her belt. That was why she had to suck it up and stick it out at Smith’s unless something better popped up. She had to keep reminding herself that her current employer was only a stepping stone to bigger and better opportunities.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she echoed softly.

“You touch men?”

She mentally sighed. She should’ve expected that he wouldn’t let that particular point go. “I touch a lot of people.”

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