The entire drive home, my mind kept wandering to my job interview. I hated to admit it, but I mostly thought about Bryant. He was a big man, but his domineering personality was what seemed to take up all the oxygen in the room. I doubted any girl could refuse that man. Bryant Sommers was the kind of person I didn’t imagine anyone dared say no to.

I was so confused by my reaction to him. One moment, I wanted to push him as far away from me as humanly possible, and in the next, I wanted him to kiss me. I couldn’t deny my attraction to him. I’d gone on a date here and there, but as soon as they found out I was a single mother, they rarely ever wanted a second date. So after a few of those busts, I decided to focus only on school and Sophie.

She was my reason for being, and any man who wanted to be in my life had to make her a priority. Bryant Sommers didn’t seem like the kind of man who was capable of putting anything before his own needs, however.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against my apartment door. Tomorrow was the first day of this farce.

How was I supposed to spend all that time with him?

How could I resist him?

I will do it because of Sophie.

“Mommy!” As soon as I opened the door, Sophie flung herself into my arms. I held her tightly and inhaled her scent. It was the sweetest smell in the world. I smiled, knowing that whatever Mr. Sommers put me through would all be worth it because it would make Sophie’s life easier.

“It smells good in here.”

“Mrs. Miller has been cooking for hours. I can’t wait until we move in with her, Mommy. The three of us are going to be so happy.” I smiled down at my daughter, saddened that the simplest things would make her happy, while other children had the whole world and still wanted more. She would never know just how much I loved her even if I told her every day.

“Well, Sophie, Mommy got a new job today. So, if it’s okay with you, Mrs. Miller will be tucking you in every night for a few weeks while Mommy goes to this other job.”

“That’s okay, Mommy. I know how hard you work for us. I’m proud of you.” The next words I wanted to say were lodged in my throat, and my eyes had begun to water.

“Sophie Girl, I am so lucky to be your mommy.”

Bryant

I woke up in a heavy sweat, my body damp and my heart rate accelerating. This was the second time tonight I’d dreamed of her. I reached down and touched my cock, the fucker rock-hard. I closed my eyes and thought about her tanned flesh, how the tops of her breasts had been slightly visible in that white dress shirt she had on under her suit.

I held my dick in my hand and pumped my palm over the length, up and down, harder and faster as I thought about her succulent red lips wrapped around me. I could practically feel the warmth of her mouth. I thought about how she would look spread on my bed with her legs wide open, exposing that sweet pussy to me.

God, no doubt that cunt would be so lush, so sexy.

I wanted to have my lips on her, making her so needy that she would beg me for her release.

I felt the pressure in my balls building, and then my own release came rushing forward. I lay there for a moment, letting my mind take in the fact that I’d finally succumbed to a woman. For some reason, she’d gotten under my skin, and it irritated me. I was who I was because I didn’t get distracted by anything. That’s why I found it so fucking ludicrous that I had to prove my commitment to the team.

I was goal-oriented. I had nothing in my life but my sister and Trevor. I liked it like that because it meant I could give my all to the game I loved so much. I didn’t like complications, and that’s what women were.

I also wasn’t the kind of man to take advantage of them for my own gain. It would have been so easy to fuck some random puck bunny every day of the week, but that wouldn’t feel right to me. I’d feel like some asshole…like my father. I’d be just another piece of shit male taking what he wanted from a young woman. Women were to be respected and cherished, not used and discarded like tissue paper.

For the first time in my life, I was distracted by a woman—and not just any woman, but a mother. I knew I should have let her go. I knew she should be completely off-limits, but here I was, longing to make her mine.

From the moment I saw her, I knew I had to claim Holly.