The Dangerous Kiss [H.S]

CHAPTER 1

I was an unapologetic people-watcher. As a sports consultant, working with some of the biggest and most recognizable athletes in sports and business, I had to be able to read the smallest nuances of others. That ability was just one of the unique attributes that set him apart from the competition and made me the go-to person when corpoartions wanted to align themselves with the top professional athletes in the country.

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, I was sipping a nice vinatage wine and helping celebrate the recently announce of Louis Tomlinson, one of my two best friends, in lavish East Hampton home of Louis' elated parents. Just beacuse I was standing with Louis and Niall Horan, my other bestfriend, and enjoying myself didn't mean I'd stopped noticing the people around me, especially those I cared deeply about.

Since I'd long ago developed the ability to listen with one ear while observing - it was critical at sports games, with no much going on - I listened to Louis go on about what a great woman Olivia was and how lucky he was, while I watched Summer Radcliffe chat with a beaming Oliva Callahan, Louis' fianceé, in elegant, French-inspired great room.

The other woman with them was Diana Harrington Horan, the new wife of Niall. Diana, a stunning long-legged former international fashion model, looked happy as Olivia. On the other hand, Summer's usual smile and vibrancy were noticeably missing...at least to me.

I'd first noticed Summer's pensiveness when Diana and Niall were dating and had an argument outside Louis' bar, Tomlison's. Summer had completly stunned me by musing that, when Diana and Niall settled their agreement and kissed, they would later have make up sex.

I couldn't get her startling comment out of my mind. It bothered me that I hadn't been able to tell she'd bee wistful or frustated. Not once in our long friendship had I ever heard her mention sex. Truthfully, it stunned me a bit that she had. She wasnt the type of woman to take intimacy lightly or talk about it openly. Afterward, she'd ignored my attempts to find out if the comment had been offhand or something more, and had gone inside the bar to play pool with Diana.

I traveled a great deal, but I hadn't heard about Summer being in a relationship. Her cousin Louis was as protective of Summer as he was of his younger sister, Ariel. After Summer's parents' death, she had gone to live with her mother's only siblings, Louis' mother.

Louis certainly would have mentioned it if Summer was serious about a man...if he had known. Lately Louis had a full plate with Tomlinson Software, Tomlinson's Bar and Olivia. It disturbed me that some idiot might have slipped past Louis. Worse that idiot didn't appreciate what a wonderful woman he had. My eyes narrowed dangerously. If I found out that was the case, I would take care myself. No one, absolutely no one, took advantage of Summer while I breathed.

From the moment we met when she was just out of high school and dealing with the death of her parents, I'd felt protective of her. Despite her tragic loss, she'd worked her butt off to make her parents' dream of owning a successful upscale restaurant in Manhattan a reality. I admired her dertermination, loyalty and tenacity.

She hadn't had it easy in life. Perhaps because I'd lost my father when I was eighteen and she'd lost her parents at the sam age, I felt a certain empathy and closeness with her. If at all possible, I was going to figure out whar was bothering her and fix it. I didn't like seeing a forced smile on her beautiful face.

At least I knew her pensiveness wasn't due to the unfortunate incident that could damage the reputation of Radcliffe's. It still angered the hell out of me that a woman I'd rebuffed had tried to get back at me by spreading vicious rumors about Summer's restaurant. The spiteful socialite had seen me in the newspaper with my arms around Summer while she was catering at my suite at Yankee Staduima and drawn the wrong conclusion. Once I'd learned of the woman's lies, I'd confronted her at high profile social function and warned her to admit the lies or suffer the consequences.

She'd cave and become the one gossiped about. For a while Summer hadn't been too pleased with me, blaming the incident on me dating so many women. It had taken weeks for her to fully forgive me and for our easy camaraderie to return. I'd do anything for us never to at odds again.

A broad had clasped me on the shoulder, breaking into my thoughts. I looked up into Louis' handsome, clean-shaven face, which had always made him extremly popular with the women. "Thanks for being my best man."

A/N

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