Too Close For Comfort by Lisa Renee Jones(1).pdf

Too Close For Comfort

Lisa Renee Jones

Too Close For Comfort

Lisa Renee Jones

Published 2004

ISBN 1-931761-87-6

Published by Liquid Silver Books, imprint of Atlantic Bridge Publishing, 6280

reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise,

without the prior written permission of the author.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Liquid Silver Books

http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com

Email:

raven@liquidsilverbooks.com

Cover Art

by Donette Smock

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of

the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual

events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

Prologue

Even sex had lost its appeal.

And damn if he thought he would ever see that day. But the simple fact was, sex now

came with too many hidden agendas.

Gone were the days when sex was just sex, two peoples' mutual desire to share their

bodies, a release that came with pleasure and maybe some sincere emotion if it was with

the right person.

He let out a disgusted snort.

Who was the last woman he was with who hadn't thought he was a score because he

was a pitcher in the majors? He couldn't even remember. The less naive he had become,

the more he had looked back at the past and realized there had been a lot of bullshit in

most of his adult relationships.

Corey Evans stood behind the mahogany wet-bar in the far corner of his basement-

level den. It was his room of peace, the place he always chose to unwind and embrace

being by himself, a sanctuary of sorts.

A place he pretended to be normal.

This was his hiding place from the public eye.

But he wasn't normal or he wouldn't be getting death threats from a crazy fan. No, he

was a pro-baseball player, a pitcher even. He had it all.

Or so everyone thought.

A television hung from the ceiling, just above the bar, even though a massive big

screen sat in the center of the room. Corey never wanted to miss a major sporting

moment because he was across the room. He needed to see the action up close and

personal.

Leaning his palms against the railing, he struggled to stay focused on the television.

The Rangers were playing baseball at its finest, which usually held his interest. He had a

special fondness for several of their players. After all, he had played side by side with

them for years.

He'd never forget the day he got the call, the day he was told he was going to the big

show, pitching for the Rangers. Even years after and two teams later, he still loved that

team.

Yet today his mind lingered on the upcoming meeting his manager had arranged with

some security specialist.

Shelby Allen.

A woman.

Why had he agreed to meet her? He wasn't even slightly inclined to agree to extra

security. What he really wanted was to be left the hell alone.

What was making him so dissatisfied with life in general? Most people would kill for

his life. Of course, very few understood the things that were lost when in the public eye.

He stared in the direction of the television without really seeing it, absentmindedly

tapping a finger on the bar.

A feeling of impending impulsiveness had consumed his thoughts the majority of the

day. He hated feeling as if he did not have control over his own existence. Feeling out of

sorts, he ran the fingers of one hand roughly through his hair.

He was known as a nice guy. Well, damn it, maybe that was his problem. He was a

walking target. Did he wear "screw me" plastered on his forehead? He needed to take

control of his life. Maybe that would put an end to his feelings of dissatisfaction.

Shelby Allen would be the first to witness a new Corey. He didn't want extra security

so he'd make sure this Shelby Allen hated him so much she refused the job.

Chapter One

Leave it to a man to get a woman in trouble.

Shelby Allen gritted her teeth just thinking of the loser husband her sister had

hooked up with and now dumped.

Just not soon enough.

Kyle Rogers, the low-down scum-of-the-earth jerk, had hooked her sister, Carrie, on

gambling to the tune of twenty thousand dollars, which Carrie had proceeded to ask

Shelby for as flippantly as if it were a cup of sugar.

Though Allen Security was doing well, it had only opened a year ago, and her money

was tied up in start-up expenses. Twenty thousand dollars was like asking for water in a

desert.

It wasn't happening.

Only it had to happen or Carrie would be in hot water.

Because some wrestler-looking dude kept showing up at all hours of the night,

threatening to use the baseball bat he carried around with him, to influence Carrie's

pocket book.

Shelby sighed heavily, and shoved a long lock of her straight, brunette hair behind

her ear, as she followed her old friend, Dan Mortan, through the foyer of Corey Evan's

house. Dan turned to look at her. "You okay?"

Shelby forced a smile. "As fine as I can be considering I let you talk me into this in

the first place. You know how I feel about working for athletes."

"You don't know what it's like to work with an athlete. You dated Joey; you didn't

work for him." His expression held just a hint of reprimand.

Shelby's lips tightened. "I saw how he treated the people who worked for him, and I

don't want any part of being a doormat for some over-inflated ego."

"Joey Martin was and is a great quarterback, but he's also a crummy person and a

lousy friend. I know this and you know this. I took his abuse professionally; you took it

personally. But one bad relationship with an athlete should not make you pass up good

business opportunities with another. Taking on Corey Evans in place of Joey on my client

roster was one of my best decisions ever. He is the top pitcher in the game of baseball,

yet he's as down-to-earth as they come. Give him a chance, Shelby."

"I have no trouble getting clients," Shelby said, and it was the truth. She worked

mainly in the music industry, having been a dancer for one of the it singers of the

decade—prior to her parent's death.

She had learned all the ins and outs of security for the stars on purpose, knowing one

day she would take her father's law enforcement background and put it to use with a

high-end clientele ... only she had hoped she would be doing it with her father by her

side.

It had been their dream, her and her father's, to open Allen Security together. One he

had never lived to see come to fruition.

"I'm proud of you and how well your business has done. But how many of those jobs

pay what I have offered?"

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