Page 9 of Pucking Sweet

Rachel shifts uncomfortably. “Yeah, you know, I can ask.”

Okay, fine. I’ve tortured her enough for this first meeting. I turn to the business at hand. Digging inside my bag, I look for the press events calendars, pausing to shoot Claribel a text.

POPPY: Get back up here. We need pics of Rachel.

She responds in seconds, my phone buzzing in my hand.

CLARIBEL: Can’t. Rookie tripped over camera cords and almost chipped a tooth. Coaches chewed us out. Moving cords now.

I huff in frustration, tugging out the folder marked with Rachel’s name. “Sorry.” I nearly drop my phone as I right myself, folder in hand. “I’ve got, like, three press events this morning, and I’m trying to hunt down Claribel. I wanted her to get a few pics of Rachel in action—oh—do you mind if I call you Rachel?”

Yeah, I just said all that in one breath. Rachel looks at me wide-eyed, like I’m about to pop into a cloud of pink confetti. Honestly, I’m not entirely convinced I won’t. I’m wound so dang tight right now. As soon as I get off work, I need to go for a run…or drink a whole bottle of bubbly champagne…or have a back-breaking orgasm.

All three.

Preferably in that order.

Behind her desk, Vicki laughs. “Poppy, honey,breathe.”

I pause, taking a deep breath. She’s right. I can’t do this job if I’m wrapped up in a ball of jitters. Everything will work out. I’ll have a desk and lights that stay on. I won’t have to fight the players or lock them up in towers to make them behave.

It’s all going to be fine.

As I think it, the lights overhead faintly flicker.

I let out another shaky breath.

This is all perfectly fine.

“Thanks, Vic, I needed that.”

Rachel is still eyeing me like she’s not sure what to make of me.

“I’m sorry,” I say at her. “I’m just a big ole mess these days. I think it’s all this stress leading up to the first game day.”

“We’re all a little on edge,” Vicki assures me.

I step forward, handing Rachel her folder. “I promise I’m not always like this,” I say with a laugh. “I can be normal. You’ll see. Hopefully once the season starts, we’ll all find our rhythm.”

Rachel relaxes a little, taking the folder. “Of course.” She glances down at the calendar, quickly scanning each row. “What’s this?”

“That’s a schedule for some upcoming public relations events,” I explain. “With a new team, we can’t leave it to just the players to help put the Rays on the map.”

Her eyes go wide as she takes in all the colored dots. It’s jam-packed, I know. But we’re going with the “shock and awe” approach here. She glances up at me. “I’m attending all these events?”

I don’t know why she looks so concerned. Her schedule is light. I had to leave room for her to do her actual fellowship hours too. “Yeah, don’t you think it will be great? We’ve got the coaches hitting the town too, the players, even staff. Like I said, it’s all hands on deck.”

For a brief moment, she looks like she might hand her access pass back over to Vicki. Is Rachel Price about to disappoint me? Seeing as she’s a doctor now, I was hoping that she’d come ready to work. The last thing I need is another diva on this team. I already get enough of that with the players.

I mentally bat away the image of Lukas Novikov that floats in front of me. Claribel’s wrong if she thinks I was looking at his butt earlier. It’s those devilish caramel-colored eyes that threaten to make me melt.

“I really hope you’re a team player,” I press, ignoring the repeated buzzing of my phone. “Because we mean to win this game.”

“Which game?” she asks, tucking her calendar back inside the folder.

“Thegame,” I reply. “The only one that matters.”

She searches my face like she’s confused.