Page 4

Chloe

I think about Grandma May’s words all night and the next morning when I wake up.

I find myself pausing my audiobook after only a few minutes into my commute, so I can let my mind think through Gunner’s particular problem.

“If he had a sudden fiancé,” I muse out loud, thinking back to Grandma May’s suggestion.

“Nobody would believe that this Jenny is legit, especially if he starts appearing everywhere with another woman.” The more I think about it, the more I like the idea.

We’ve already been down this road with both Aiden and Sebastian.

“Okay, so the next thing is to find him a woman.” I don’t really hang out with any women my age, so I don’t have any suggestions.

My thought would be to pull in his closest friends and teammates and ask their wives.

I run through them mentally—Amber, Brielle, and Stephanie.

Surely, one of them has a friend who’d be willing to date the captain of the Green Thunder.

I shake my head.

That’s a dumb thought.

Anybody would jump at a chance to date him.

After parking, I put on my blazer, grab my coffee and bag and stride towards the door.

A quick glance in the glass door shows that everything is on point from my hair that’s pulled back into a bun, to my makeup, my blazer and hot pink blouse, black skirt and black pumps.

I relish the chance to wear something besides green for the day.

These days are few and far between.

As I walk to my office, I make a mental note of all the things I need to add to my to-do list for the day.

The building is mostly quiet, which is perfect, and the reason I come so early.

Once the players, coaches, and staff and everybody else that works in this building get here, it’s a madhouse, and I feel like I have a revolving door.

I live for the quiet hour or so I get in the morning before the chaos starts.

My peace is disrupted before I even get to my office.

My steps slow when I take in the large form standing next to my office door.

“Coftman, what are you doing here so early?”

Gunner turns toward me.

“Waiting for you. Did you figure anything out over the weekend?”

I lift an eyebrow.

“Your desperation is showing.”

I open my office door and stride inside, dropping my bag next to my desk and opening the blinds.

I sit behind my desk and glance at my to-do list for today.

I start adding the four things that came to mind as I walked in this morning.

When I finish writing down the second one, I look up and see Gunner is still standing.

“You can sit.” I motion to one of two chairs in front of my desk.

“I’ll stand.”

I shrug and finish writing what I’m working on.

When I finish, I look up and catch him staring at me.

I quickly look back down.

Looking at Gunner, specifically at his piercing gaze—those eyes that can only be described as bright blue, almost teal—is hazardous for my heart.

All I know is that they’re intense, and when the full force of his attention is focused on me, it always makes me lose the professional cool I pride myself in having.

Needing something to do to keep my focus on besides him, I open my bag and pull out my laptop and open my email.

“I am working on a plan. I will have something concrete for you soon. Check in with me before you leave today.” When he doesn’t say anything, I chance looking back up at him, and take in the look of frustration.

I lean back in my chair.

“I told you I would take care of this Coftman, and I will do just that.”

He gives me a tight nod and walks over to the door.

“I’ll stop by later.”

I absently nod and then remember what I needed to tell him.

“Oh, and SportsStop is asking for an interview.” He stiffens, and I put up my hand.

“Not about the whole Jenny thing. I’ll tell them we’re not addressing that particular issue. They’re doing a segment on leading captains in the league.”

“When?”

“Friday at ten. We have to be at the studio at nine-thirty. I’ll meet you there at nine-fifteen.” The fact that I’m coming doesn’t faze him.

It used to when I first started, but the players are used to me being on-site now for interviews.

He gives me another nod.

“Fine.”

“Can you ask Brooks, Hart, and Garcia to come see me before practice? I won’t keep them long.”

“Yep.” He disappears a moment later, and I get to work.

I’ve already lost precious time.

I’m buried in my work when somebody knocks on my door.

“Come in.” I finish with the press release I’m writing before I look up.

“Gentlemen, thanks for stopping by. Where's Hart?”

“Seb will be here in a minute,” Rico tells me as he takes a seat in front of my desk. Aiden leans against the wall while he waits. I’m used to that from him. I decide to wait for Sebastian because I don’t want to have to repeat myself.

“I’m here,” Sebastain says, nearly throwing the door into the wall.

I glance at the clock. “Cutting it a little close, aren’t we?”

He cringes. “Sorry I was talking to—”

I hold up a hand, and he cuts off. “I don’t need an explanation.” I sit back and eye the three of them. “I need your help.” Before I can say anything else, Sebastian butts in.

“You need our help?” He grins. “The great Chloe, PR agent extraordinaire, needs our help. What can we do to help?”

“Maybe start with shutting your trap,” Rico mutters.

“What he said,” I say. “I don’t have much time, since one of us was late, so I’ll make this quick.” I aim a pointed look a Sebastian. “I need each of you to ask your wives if they have any single friends who would be willing to date one of your teammates in name only. Let me know if you have any names. That’s all; thank you. You can get to practice now.”

I look back down and pull up an email I need to respond to. I only get about three words into it when Sebastian talks. “Which teammate?”

“Does it matter?” I ask without looking up.

“Yes,” at least two of them respond.

I sigh. “It’s for Coftman.”

Sebastian’s brows knit together. “Cap?”

I meet his gaze. “That’s what I said.”

He frowns even more. “Cap is capable of finding his own dates.”

His words irritate me. “Yes, I’m sure he is.”

“Then why does he need the help of our wives?”

“I don’t have time to explain the full story; ask Coftman if you want the details. I just need some names please, names of women that would be willing to date Coftman in name only.” I glance at the clock. “You’d better go. It’s ten fifty-seven; you only have three minutes until practice starts.”

That gets them moving up and out of my office, and I’m left to my peace and quiet once again. I finish my email and then push my chair back. I need to get to the ice and get some shots and videos to work with for the week for the team’s social media posts. Before I get to the ice, I’m stopped by one of the trainers, an intern, and one of the team’s physicians. When I finally make it to practice, there’s only about twenty minutes left. Coach Seers yells at Zac as I approach the ice. I step into the box and sit on the bench. I’ve found this to be the best place for pictures and videos. The guys fly past me on the ice; they’re so used to me by now that no one bothers to even notice me. Well, usually anyway. Today? Not so much. Gunner skates over to me and stops on a dime, spraying ice against the half wall separating the two of us. “You told them?”

I don’t even look up at him. I keep my phone trained on Aiden as he approaches Rico and fires off a shot. Rico blocks it, but it makes for a great shot. Yes. Fans will love that clip. I get a shot of Rico afterward and crop it to how I want it to look.

“Chloe?”

I hadn’t forgotten Gunner standing in front of me, but I was hoping he would get the clue and move on. “Coftman!” Coach Seers shouts across the ice. “Get back to work!”

I look up at him for just a moment. Way up because he’s wearing skates. “I didn’t tell them what was going on. I just told them I need them to ask their wives if they have any suggestions for somebody that would date you in name only, and—”

“No.” He doesn’t even let me finish.

“Coftman!” Coach yells again.

Gunner skates backward. “I’ll talk to you after practice.” Then he skates off to join his team.

“Oh, goody,” I mutter. I push off my interaction with him and go back to taking photos and video. Coach is in a mood, so I don’t stay longer than I need to. Once I have all the videos and photos I want, I head back to my office. My stomach starts growling while I’m working, but I ignore it for now. I need to get a few more things checked off my list before I eat. Not even twenty minutes later, somebody knocks on my door. “Come in.” The door opens, and Gunner walks in, still in his skates and sweaty practice jersey. I raise an eyebrow. “You couldn’t even take a shower first?”

“Why did you ask my teammates about suggestions for women to date?” His voice is low and not happy.

I come around to the front of my desk and lean against it. “I’d offer you a seat, but since you’re all sweaty, no thanks. Okay, so here’s what I’m thinking. We get one of your teammates’ wives’ friends to agree to being your girlfriend, maybe fiancé, if we could pull that off.”

“No.”

I ignore him and keep going. “We have her come to a few games, you two go on a few dates, take some pics for social media, and poof.” I wave my hand. “We have a legitimate couple, and this Jenny fades off the scene.”

“No.”

I cross my arms across my chest and level a look at him. “You asked me to handle this. This is me handling it.”

“Find another way.”

“This is the way, Coftman. You want to get this Jenny girl off your back? Then show the world a real woman. In a perfect word, she’ll have a ring on her finger. It’s a great plan. Why won’t you consider it?”

He takes a step towards me, so that’s there’s only about two feet separating us. “When I put a ring on my woman's finger, it won’t be for show; it will be for real.”

My heart speeds up, but I refuse to acknowledge it. “Well, yes, that would be ideal; but we don’t have ideal in this case, Coftman. We have a woman who is threatening to destroy what you love most. Hockey.”

He studies my face a moment. “You really think this will destroy my career?”

I meet his gaze head-on. “I do. This is the kind of story every PR agent is warned about. She’s crazy, and crazy people do crazy things. It doesn’t matter that it’s not true. If she gets people to believe it’s true, they will start to turn on you.” I go for the jugular. “And then they’ll stop supporting the team.” I watch as his scowl deepens, and I know I hit my mark.