Nerdy Girl Nation by Lindsey Gray
Published by Gray Matters Press on October 8th 2015Genres: Contemporary Romance Buy on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo Add to Goodreads
Emma tried to leave the nerdy girl behind as the Vice President of Operations for billionaire venture capitalist, Terrance Hunt, on the hit show Hunt for Life. When double tragedies occur on the same day, Emma is out of a job, but the cameras and a nation of fans continue to follow her.
Rob “Bobby” Breyer lived and breathed the professional wrestling circuit for five years. Rob happens to be a devoted Hunt for Life fan due to a chance meeting with Emma while in high school. When he reaches out to Emma in her time of crisis, he never imagines how much it will change his life. After twelve years, their attraction still sizzles and this time, Rob's not letting Emma get away.
As the cameras roll, Emma's new career and Rob's quest for glory are in the spotlight. When the heat is on, they'll need all the support they can get from the Nerdy Girl Nation.
Excerpt
“Okay.”
Apparently she didn't have a say in whom her driving companions were anymore.
She didn’t mind, but traveling in a confined space with Rob and the cameras was
bound to be trouble.
“Sorry, I had
to take a call.” Rob settled into the seat next to Emma, the dash camera aimed
directly at the two.
“Are you going
to the training facility?” Emma kept an eye on the traffic in front of them.
“Yes. It seems
I need a little more training since I have some pretty competitive matches
coming up.”
They hit a bump and his thigh pressed against hers for a few
seconds. “Sorry. Um . . . I'm meeting Chance. Phil said it wouldn't be a
problem to give me a lift.”
“Not a problem
at all. I'm ahead of schedule for once since the shoot didn't take as long as I
had planned. I need to get a few things done this afternoon so I can be home on
time.”
Rob shifted in
the seat, turned his body toward her and draped his arm across the seat.
“Something special?”
She stared at
his uplifted brow and the quirk of the corner of his mouth before she
responded. “Oh, dinner with the family. I haven't got to spend much time with
my niece and nephew lately.”
“You're the fun
aunt?”
“I’m not sure
fun is the right word. Charlotte seems to think I'm pretty cool. Sam's still a
baby, so he likes anyone who feeds him or changes his diaper when he needs it.”
She laughed a little thinking about the few times she had changed Sam. He was
the first boy she'd ever changed a diaper on and boy, was he a completely
different experience from changing a girl.
“So, kids? You
see yourself having any?”
Emma gulped and
felt her palms dampen. He was asking about their possible future without asking
directly, the sneaky bastard.
“Well, yes, of
course. I would love to with the right man.”
“And what
qualifications would this man need to father your children?”
Her throat went
dry in an instant.
He’s asking me this in front of the cameras. Is he crazy?
“I don't think
this is an appropriate conversation.” What could she say? She sure as hell
wasn't about to admit he ticked off every box on her baby daddy checklist.
“Sorry, I'm
curious. You were with the tightass, the one who wore the fake Gucci suits, for
like a year, right?”
“Yes. Patrick.”
She rolled her eyes. What an utter waste of space he was. After the crap he
pulled with her and Terrance, he would be lucky to get a job writing for a
neighborhood newsletter.
“I wondered if
he was the kind of guy you'd want to make babies with.”
The twinkle in
his eye told her he was doing it on purpose. He was trying to rile her up on
camera and get a reaction out of her.
“A big no. He
was only interested in what I gave him and not at all what he could give me.”
“So, answer my
question.”
“What do I want
in a father for my children? A husband?” He nodded and she ventured to be as
honest as possible. “Someone I can be myself with, I guess. I want a man who
can put his wife and children first. Family is so important to me, especially
since I lost my mom. He'd have to love them too.”
“What about
you?” He slid closer to her, his knee touched her thigh. “Loving you is
important as well.”
Christ on a cracker, she thought. They hadn't even
been on a real date yet, and he was talking about babies, love, and marriage.
She thought while they already had a toe in the fire of Hades, might as well
jump in with both feet.
“Of course. I
wouldn't be able to marry someone I didn't love.” She took her opportunity to
turn the tables on him. “What about you? Any wife and kiddos in your future?”
“With the right
woman. I can't wait to be a dad. I'm ready for the football practices, ballet
lessons, bedtime stories, and all the rest. I loved certain parts of my
childhood, but I would do things differently with my kids. Once I say I do, I
don't want to be separated for weeks at a time like my parents were.”
“What would you
do differently?” she asked before she thought what his answer might be.
“When I was
little, my dad was traveling a lot. We went around with him during the summers
at first. The separation wasn't good for any of us. Mom was still my dad's
manager and doing everything with him hundreds of miles away was hard. When I
was about to go into third grade, we pulled up stakes and went on the road with
dad year round. I was sort of homeschooled on the road for several years.”
“I had no
idea.”
“Yeah. A bunch
of the wrestlers had kids around my age. The mothers would take turns with each
subject. My mom did most of our English and Math, but some of the others would
do History and Science.”
“A little
traveling school?”
He nodded. “Not
much different from what child actors do on a set, I assume. It was fun, but I
don't think I'd want the same life for my kids.”
“Noted.” It
slipped out of her mouth before she could even think. Heat rose up her neck
with embarrassment.
“Would you be
interested in applying for the position? I can assure you, the benefits package
would be amazing.”
Emma gritted
her teeth at the way he knew how to push her buttons, especially in front of
the cameras. She thanked God and all that was holy when Phil pulled into the
IWA parking garage. “And this conversation is over.” She gathered her bag and
what little she had left of her composure before Phil opened her door.
“I'll get you
an application. I'm sure you're more than qualified.”
It took
everything she had in her to get out of the car without emitting another word.
About Lindsey Gray
Lindsey Gray typed her first complete novel at the age of twelve and dreamed of making her writing into a career. When her eighth grade class wrote a twenty year reunion story, casting her as a mystery novelist, she wasn't sure she could make it a reality. After years of writing off and on, she decided to make a go of it. In December of 2010 she finally made her dream come true with her first published novel, Lies Inside. Five years and thousands of written words later, Lindsey is releasing her seventh published work, Nerdy Girl Nation.
When Lindsey takes a break from writing, she spends time with her husband of thirteen years and their two children, reading all kinds of romance novels, and hosting her own weekly radio show, Gray Matters, on TMV Cafe Internet Radio.
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