Page 27

In the interview, Chad and the reporter had been talking about the upcoming cookbook, and a small square had popped up in the corner of the screen, revealing him on its cover.

Meanwhile, the drinks clips rolled in the other corner, negating everything he said about diet and taking care of one’s body.

The dull throbbing in Athena’s temples had increased.

She could argue that the photos and clips were taken out of context, but she’d been there. He’d spilled that apple-infused drink on her. She’d been sticky with it and had tasted its sweetness.

She thought about flipping over to her online cooking channel, but didn’t want to see how far her number of subscribers had plummeted thanks to this dietary scandal.

She choked on a laugh. Dietary scandal. Boy, she sure knew how to do sexy, didn’t she? What did Chad even see in her beyond the challenge?

“Athena?” Coach Louis was still standing in her doorway and she jolted, having completely fallen into her own thoughts about Chad. “We need Mullens on board,” he repeated.

“Right.” They’d talked about this before.

“Have you seen the footage from last month’s gala?

” Louis stepped into her office, his sneakers silent on the carpet.

“I’ve put Nuvella on it and I have a call in with his agent.

For now, we’re planning to lie low and let it blow over, but this could get really nasty on us. Overpaid alcoholics on ice, you know?”

Athena pushed back from her desk and nodded. This current angle could give the team a bit of a black eye, plus tank her cookbook’s pre-order sales, or even have it pulled from publication before it hit the shelves in March. She’d never get a book deal again.

“I believe Chad’s actually on board,” she said tentatively, expecting an argument.

“That’s what he tells me.” He took the chair opposite her desk.

“Well,” Athena said carefully, “how’s his performance on the ice?”

“He’s all over the place.” After a short pause, Louis asked, “Are the two of you dating?”

“I’m sorry?” She blinked, her thoughts spiraling into what-if scenarios. Was she supposed to have told human resources they were sort-of-dating?

Maybe they already were. They kissed like they were. They’d shared a few intimate secrets like they were.

And yet they were both so busy they hadn’t even been on what she’d consider an official date.

“You dated Lonnie from Jersey Storm?” Louis asked.

Her face must’ve registered surprise because he leaned back, lifting his hands in the air as though needing to defend himself.

“I’m sorry. I know that’s personal. I’m just trying to get to the bottom of his behavior.

You know, look at the whole enchilada where Mullens is concerned. ”

“And that is a mighty big enchilada.”

He chuckled.

“And yeah, Lonnie and I dated. And Chad and I are…” She sighed, suddenly embarrassed.

From Louis’s point of view, her dating the player who gave her the most amount of grief probably appeared as a lapse in judgment.

“I don’t know. Interested? Trying? Failing?

” She lifted her shoulders in a helpless shrug, hoping she wasn’t blushing.

Louis nodded. “I guess that explains why Mullens attacked Lonnie on the ice the other night. He spent a lot of time in the sin bin rather than out there doing what he’s good at.”

“I’m sorry, I think he believed he was helping me.”

“Got it,” Louis said. He leaned forward, hands on his knees as if he planned to stand. He paused. “Can you confirm he follows your diet plan?”

“Yes.”

Louis settled back in the chair. “So why’s he a jerk to you?”

Athena lowered her head, embarrassed by how she’d let herself be used as a prop to enforce Chad’s reputation.

His rule-breaking illusion was like a magician’s sleight of hand, making you think you saw something, when in fact your brain was simply making assumptions and erroneous cognitive leaps based on what he’d already established—his reputation.

She’d been an unwilling part of the magic trick, and didn’t know how to convince anyone that it wasn’t anything more.

“The team needs to respect you, and they’re taking leadership cues from him. You’re great at what you do, but…” Louis was positioning to stand again. Athena felt a stirring of panic.

But was never a good word, and she was failing the team. She was the easiest person to fire. That would really decimate her own currently declining reputation.

“I’m still digging into why he takes such exception to me and my diet plans,” she said quickly. “But I can confirm that in private he follows them and uses my recipes. He’s serious about his career.”

Louis nodded, thinking that over. He stood. “I’m going to check in again—say, at the end of February? Give you about a month? In the meantime, you know where to find me. We’ve got to get this guy straightened out and the team on board.”

Athena stood as well. “Yes, of course.” She followed him to the door, then closed it behind him. She let out a long sigh, sagging in defeat.

What woman in her right mind would date a man who was in the process of possibly destroying two of her careers? Chad might be different from Lonnie, but he still had the ability to cause significant damage.

She wasn’t just going to lose her heart with this one. She was going to lose everything.

And the more she thought about it, the worse it seemed. His flagrant flouting of her diet rules and plans, his dependence on charm instead of consistent effort, his belief that a few shared childhood wounds were a strong enough foundation for them to trust each other…

She was never going to learn, was she?

New player, new lessons.

But the lessons all led to the same result—a broken heart.

Mullens caught up with Athena near the arena’s employee exit. She was heading to the private parking lot in the back, no doubt ready to go home. He fell into step beside her.

Louis had pulled him aside over the gala clip of him and the men drinking. He couldn’t speak for the other guys, but he’d personally been enjoying some watered-down apple juice that he’d intended to pass for whiskey.

He was pretty sure Louis hadn’t believed him about the juice. Like everyone else, he saw what Mullens had wanted: that rules didn’t apply here.

Coach was mad.

Athena as well, if her marching pace and the grim lines bracketing her luscious mouth were anything to go on.

He’d kind of been hoping she’d laugh at his situation and call him a silly fool for creating such an awful persona in the first place.

He’d also been hoping for another one of those kisses that branded his soul.

Which was dumb. Her cookbook could be on the line. And she’d probably gotten an earful from Louis. All because of him.

But everyone would get over it, right?

“Attention equals money,” he said. “And money equals happy managers and executives.” He’d bet Athena would soon be looking at a raise and a third cookbook contract once this all blew over.

Hopefully.

“And at what cost?”

Okay, so right now it probably looked like he’d sent an exploding torpedo her way. She wasn’t used to having her integrity and professional image under fire the way that he was. She had a right to be upset.

“Truth? The last drink I had was a beer during my summer break, before camp started.”

She let out a snort of disbelief.

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” he said, matching her stride.

She turned, eyes ablaze. “Louis is looking to make cuts.”

Mullens stopped as though he’d slammed into something.

He’d built his personal financial wealth on the strength of his image.

Could it all go terribly wrong on him? Could it not only crash his career, get him kicked off this last-chance team, but also get him punted into the next county by the woman who’d captured his heart?

If there was ever a time to follow his dad’s lead and join the church, it was probably now. Although he didn’t think God would appreciate him coming to him in prayer now that his life was in shambles. Where had he been during the good times? Not in a church.

“You saw the gala clip?” he asked, knowing she had. Her face turned red, and she stopped to face him. “You okay?”

“Well, I’m about to get fired and possibly lose my new cookbook.” With a curt nod she resumed marching toward the exit. “Other than that, I’m just peachy!” She slammed the metal door’s long handle, blasting the heavy door open like it was made of cardboard.

Okay, this was way worse than he’d assumed. This wasn’t just a hammer coming down on him and rippling out to her. She was the one taking the full hit.

He glanced back at the arena, resolving to focus on one problem at a time, to start at the beginning.

“Louis?” he confirmed, falling into step beside her again, the Texas evening sun warm on his skin.

“Yeah. Thanks for standing up for me, by the way.” She unlocked her car and slid into the driver’s seat.

He grabbed the door. “I told him you’re doing your job, that I’m following the plan and that this is all on me.”

“Exactly.” She looked up at him with so much hurt in her eyes that he released the door.

“I’ll fix this. All of it. I promise.”

“Good.” She slammed it shut and left the parking lot with a squeal of tires.

He had to fix…everything. He just had no idea what all that included or where to start.