The Billionaire’s Girlfriend Bet - Leslie North Page 0,1

would.

“Yep. You heard me,” Grayson confirmed, looking as pleased as ever.

“And what’s in it for me?” Blake asked. He wasn’t one to turn down a bet, but he couldn’t think of anything Grayson could give him that would make this one worthwhile.

Daniel grinned suddenly, and Blake swore he could see the mischief collecting in his gaze. “I know what the prize will be.”

Grayson began to look equally as mischievous. “Oh, damn, Daniel, are you about to do what I think you are?”

“It’s something you could only dream of,” Daniel said.

Now the curiosity was killing him. “What? Just spill it, Grayson.”

Daniel caught the ball from Grayson before he explained. “If you can successfully take out the same woman on five dates without her being in on the bet…then I’ll make sure DJ Fiesta is personally present at the nightclub opening.”

The offer hit Blake like a sack of bricks. His mouth parted, and he could only stare at his friend while the offer circulated through him.

So there was one thing Daniel could offer him that he wanted.

And this was it.

Not only was DJ Fiesta the hottest rising DJ of the past year…he was Blake’s personal favorite. His music crush, for sure. And somehow, this jerk also known as his best friend was using that to weasel Blake into the stupidest bet of all time.

“How do you have access to DJ Fiesta—” His words cut off when a loud crack shuddered through his head. His jaw dropped from the shock of the baseball meeting the side of his face. The first thing that registered was heat, and then there was shooting pain. All he could do was stare at Daniel, who was coming toward him with a concerned look on his face.

“Buddy, are you okay?”

“What was that for?” Blake touched the side of his cheek. Hot and probably bruised. But the pounding in his ear was starting to recede, at least.

“I thought you were still going with us! You looked at me—I thought that meant I should throw.”

Both Grayson and Daniel crowded around him, brows knit together as they inspected his head. Blake touched the hot part of his face, but Grayson grimaced, drawing his hand away.

“Wait. Your face might be busted.”

“Busted?” Blake repeated.

“Let’s get you to a trainer,” Grayson urged.

“Am I bleeding?” Blake asked.

His best friends shared a worried glance. “Not bleeding, per se,” Daniel began.

“Actually, yes, you’re bleeding. Come on. In we go.” Grayson steered Blake away by the shoulders, pushing him off the field and down into the dugout.

“Guys, come on. I feel fine,” Blake protested, not wanting to show up to the trainer’s area with an injury. It just seemed like one of the more humiliating things that the owner of a baseball team could do. “I’m not blacking out. There are no sparkles at the edges of my vision.”

“Sparkles?” Daniel asked.

“You know what I mean,” Blake said, and then paused, searching for the word. “Like…”

“Pinpricks?” Grayson offered.

“Right.” Blake frowned as they headed for the big, modern gym lining the edge of the practice field. “Maybe I do have a concussion.”

“That’s for the trainers to figure out,” Daniel said. “Which is who we will be seeing. Immediately.”

Blake grunted, allowing his friends to steer him down the gravel path leading to the gym. The heat and pain had segued into something dull and far-reaching. Like his entire body had been steamrolled. Being injured was exhausting.

“You really throw hard,” Blake said, glancing at Daniel. “Maybe you should ditch the new consulting gig and start thinking about the major leagues.”

Daniel laughed. “Yet another way to ensure that my father actually has a heart attack from my life choices.”

“As if you quitting the family business wasn’t traumatizing enough for him,” Grayson quipped as he pulled open the metal door of the gym. A cool draft of bleach-tinged air reached Blake, clearing his senses slightly.

The gym was thankfully empty, which meant fewer witnesses to Blake’s embarrassing injury. A trainer breezed over to them, a willowy woman that Blake didn’t remember seeing before, much less hiring. Not that he had much hands-on contact with staffing the lower rungs of his businesses. But still. He’d been into the gym before. He visited the training fields. And he’d never seen her before.

“Can you check out Mr. Boss Man?” Daniel asked, jerking his head toward Blake. “He caught a fly ball to the face.”

The blue-eyed beauty had her hair pulled back into a low ponytail. She wore a simple team T-shirt and mesh shorts, the standard workout gear