 by Sawyer Bennett.jpg)
Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
After I made the decision to divorce, my ex-wife set out on a smear campaign against me, telling anyone who would listen that I was betting on hockey and throwing games. It wasn’t surprising that my ex told the lies, but the fact that the media, league, and fans chose to believe her baseless claims was unforgivable. I walked away from it all and never looked back.
Having settled into life as a single dad to three boys, I’m content. I have more money than I could ever need, and plenty of time to do whatever I want, whenever I want, and whoever I want. So when Brienne Norcross, the team owner for the Pittsburgh Titans, shows up at my house with a job offer, I have no problem turning her down. But the no-nonsense billionaire, with sinfully seductive red lips and killer heels that would look hot as hell thrown over my shoulders, won’t take “no” for an answer.
Now I need to find balance between hockey, my boys, and the explosive chemistry Brienne and I can no longer deny. A cast-off hockey player and the league’s only female team owner? I can think of a million reasons why it could never work but can’t bring myself to care about a single one of them. Game on.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
CHAPTER 1
Brienne
In all my years of advocation in boardrooms, or getting pleasured in bed, I’ve never implored anyone for anything. I might have said please when it was warranted for politeness or because it turned on my lover, but I’ve never needed something so bad and so far out of reach that I had to beg for it.
I know how to distinguish between wants and needs, and I ignore wants because I’m strong.
If it’s a need, I know how to bargain my way to success because I’m smart.
But right now, I’m desperate, and negotiations aren’t working.
Setting aside the acquisition proposal because I can’t concentrate, I glance up for an appreciative look at the verdant grasses and summer trees punctuated by the corn and soybean crops of southeastern Minnesota.
It took us roughly an hour to get here from the Minneapolis airport, but I barely noticed, as I had work to do.
“About five more minutes,” the driver says as we get closer to the small town of Red Wing.
“Thank you,” I reply, letting my gaze wander over the scenery.
The Town Car my assistant scheduled isn’t a luxury but a necessity. It’s true, I don’t have a driver’s license, but I use a driver purely because there’s never enough time in the day to do all I have to do, and thus I work whenever I can. There’s not a time when I don’t have something major pressing on me. Outside of the four to five hours of sleep I get a night, I’m pretty much nose to the grindstone. I never had enough hours in the day to meet all my obligations before the Titans’ plane crashed, and now the added responsibility of team ownership has stretched me thinner than ever. Thank God for our general manager, Callum Derringer, who’s patiently guided me through the pains of learning how to be a good owner for this hockey team.
I really should use these remaining five minutes to get through the rest of the contract to purchase a small-town bank chain based out of Altoona. As the CEO of Norcross Holdings, the board will look to me for guidance on this matter. Is this is a good deal or should we leave it alone? It’s only one of dozens of major decisions I have to facilitate for my family’s empire.
Although family isn’t quite the right word.
It’s been my empire since my father died two years ago and my brother died in the crash a little over five months ago. I’m the designated Norcross heir left to lead our dynasty. It’s a multibillion-dollar legacy stemming from investments dating back to the early 1800s in coal, steel, oil, and real estate. Modern times led my family to establish Norcross Bank, which is now a national institution, and of course, we own the Pittsburgh Titans.
There are aunts and uncles and cousins galore, but none are qualified to sit in the CEO chair. My father groomed me to run Norcross Holdings, as my brother Adam really only cared about cultivating the Titans’ hockey team. Family members sit on the board and hold positions throughout the multitude of companies that fall under the main umbrella, but I’m the one who manages it all.
A pang of longing hits for Adam, followed by the cold hollowing-out in my chest that I’ve truthfully recognized as loneliness. While I am never alone—surrounded by business peers, acquaintances, some I’d call casual friends—I’m lonelier than anyone could imagine.