Page 7

Astrid watched Blake go, clutching the notepad to her chest like it might somehow save her from the guilt clawing its way up her throat.

Man , she felt bad.

Really bad.

If she’d learned anything since the post-airport hangover had lifted, it was that she was rubbish at deception. And she hated lying, period.

But you’re not lying, not right this second.

You’re doing your job.

‘He’ll come around.’ Aiden stepped into her field of vision. She hadn’t realised she’d stood when Blake had risen, and now his brother was standing too, blocking her view of Blake’s rear as the door rebounded off the wall.

‘You reckon?’ she said, her eyes narrowing on her true target. The man she wanted to break, not the man she had unintentionally broken by getting him caught up in her scheme.

Caught up in it? You made him the centre of it.

Though technically he was already broken, the question was why.

Sienna had given her titbits of their past. Of an unhappy childhood with an abusive drunk for a father and a mother too terrified to speak out.

Their home under constant threat of foreclosure and a society that shunned them.

But she was hungry for their story, their version.

And was that fair? Not to this guy, but to his brother?

‘I’ll talk to him.’

She suppressed a frown, wishing she could smother the inner wrangling as easily. ‘Thank you.’

‘Hey, don’t let him scare you,’ he said, misreading her reaction. ‘Underneath the tough exterior, he’s really just a pussycat.’

‘A pussycat?’ She gave a hitched laugh. ‘If you say so.’

‘Scout’s honour.’

She cocked her head. ‘Were you actually in the scouts?’

‘We both were for a time, then it became all about the game. Is that going in the article?’

‘Probably.’

He grinned, flashing the infamous Carter dimples – she half expected his teeth to give a cartoon twinkle too. ‘Everyone loves a scout, right.’

‘Right.’

She held his gaze and she realised he wasn’t kidding. He was so desperate for the world to see his brother in a new light, a better light, not for his own sake, but for Blake’s. Ever the protective brother.

If Sienna wasn’t in her head, she’d truly think him Prince Charming with the golden aura. Blake on the other hand…

The images on her laptop had nothing on his presence in real life.

And the way he’d made her feel…

She could breathe fully now he wasn’t in the room. Breathe and strategise as her brain turned over at a more regular pace. Free of all that fire and passion, his blue eyes as rakish as Bella had said, and utterly brazen as they’d devoured her on the spot.

Devoured you? What about you licking your lips?

She swallowed down the memory and focused on golden boy. He was far more contained, measured… Not too warm, not too cold. Just right.

And hell, now she sounded like goldilocks testing out her breakfast.

Though cold was the only way to go when dishing out someone’s just desserts. And her smile in return felt just that.

‘Think you can make him into a talkative one?’ She adjusted her glasses as she adjusted her attitude, dialling up the warmth as she sought to build a connection with the right brother. ‘It’s hard to write a profile piece on the Titan Twins if one half is refusing to speak to me.’

‘Don’t take it personally.’ His grin lifted to one side. ‘He doesn’t like talking to anyone.’

‘And what about you, do you like talking?’

‘If it pulls his reputation back from the brink, I’m game.’

She lifted her chin, ignored the way his impassioned response warmed her through. He was not good. He was bad. Very very bad.

Even if his words made it clear that he was doing this against his will too. That it was all about saving his brother’s skin. That he cared about his brother. That he loved his brother.

Where had that kind of passion been when Sienna had poured her heart out to him?

‘Good.’

‘I can’t promise it won’t be like pulling teeth though.’

‘I have my ways,’ she said, balancing flirtation with professionalism as she remembered their audience.

He gave a choked laugh, his broad frame rumbling with the move. ‘I’m sure you do.’

‘If Blake gives you any trouble, you come to me.’ Preston Walker came up alongside them. Every bit the rich and entitled general manager she’d read about in her research on the team. ‘I’ll make sure he toes the line.’

‘I’m sure that won’t be necessary,’ she said smoothly.

‘You say that now, but knowing Blake like I do, you’ll be needing backup.’

‘That’s what I’m here for,’ Aiden assured them both. ‘You can rest easy, boss. I’ve got this.’

‘I’m sure you have, but just in case, I’ll send my details over so that you can contact me. Any time. Day or night. Anything I can do, just call. Perhaps you’d be interested in a similar article at a management level? I’ll happily clear my schedule for you if you?—’

‘I prefer to work on one article at a time,’ she hurried out, lying through her teeth.

She always had more than one article on the go.

She was a freelance journalist; it paid to have multiple pieces on the go, but it was clear the GM was interested in more than the story she would write, the way his grey eyes now dipped to her chest sealing that suspicion. Awks!

‘The offer is always open.’

‘Thank you.’

‘In the meantime, keep that ID handy.’ He gestured to the card on a lanyard around her neck and she wondered whether it was an excuse to continue dipping south. ‘It gives you access to all areas within the arena.’

‘I will.’

‘And speaking of the arena, why don’t I give you a tour?’ Aiden suggested. ‘When we’re not playing away, we practically live here so it’ll be good for you to know your way around.’

‘That would be great!’ She set her dazzles on him – some alone time already. Perfect! ‘If it’s no trouble?’

‘Not at all, shall we?’

He gestured for her to precede him out. Ever the Prince Charming. She wanted to roll her eyes over the act. The smooth appearance, the warmth in his smile, the blue eyes that made one think of the beach on a bright summer’s day…

Instead, she walked ahead, swaying her hips to draw his gaze…

even if she cursed the pinch of her heels as she did so.

Give her trainers any day of the week. But Aiden liked his women with class.

Class and skyscraper heels according to his track record, so she would suffer the same in the name of karma.

‘So, what’s it like?’ she said as he came up alongside her in the corridor. ‘Working with your brother, living with your bother?’

‘You’ve been doing your research.’

‘What journalist would I be if I hadn’t gleaned all I could beforehand?’

His eyes slid to hers. ‘Maybe it would be useful for you to tell me what you think you know and then I can tell you if you’re hot or cold.’

‘That sounds too much like a game…’

‘I live for games so it works for me.’

He stepped ahead of her, pushing through a door that led into a stairwell and holding it open for her.

‘As much as I love a good game too,’ she said, passing him by, ‘I prefer to get into specifics. That way it’s less open to interpretation and my article will ring true.’

‘Makes sense, I suppose.’

Though he didn’t sound happy about it.

They walked past a group of young players not much older than school age, all of whom gave her a sweeping once-over as the middle one let out a low whistle.

‘Who’s the hot chick, Ice?’

Hot chick? Her inner goddess and karma queen preened, hoping Aiden saw it too .

‘Behave, Eddie,’ he told the kid before addressing her. ‘You’ll have to excuse the rookies, they don’t get out much, do you, boys?’

‘I’d get out more if she is,’ one of them said.

‘I’d stay in more if you are,’ she rebuked before Aiden could intervene again, setting off a string of laughter and a deep-throated chuckle from the man himself.

‘That was probably a bit cruel, wasn’t it?’ She adjusted her glasses as they carried on down the stairs.

‘You’re kidding, right? The sooner they learn to get their head out of their pants the better. I swear Blake and I weren’t that cocky at their age.’

‘You sure about that?’ She couldn’t believe it, not for a second. ‘I thought all lads around that age were bubbling pots of testosterone.’

He huffed. ‘Blake maybe. Me, not so much.’

‘Why do you think that is?’

He shrugged. ‘More important things to be doing with my time than hitting on the next hot thing I see. If your head’s down there, it’s not up here, and if it’s not up here, you’re not playing with your all.’

‘Is that why you haven’t had a relationship that lasted longer than a few months?’

She sensed the tension feed through his limbs, saw the tightness around his mouth and the stilted step he took. ‘I fail to see how that’s relevant to your article?’

No, it was relevant to Sissi’s heartbreak. Relevant to the fact that he’d left her alone in their small town, her mother dead, her father as good as… Her entire life in tatters because he’d found a new one. A more exciting one.

‘I think understanding how focused you are on the game helps people sympathise with your life choices.’

‘And you think my sex life demands sympathy?’

‘I wasn’t referring to your sex life.’

‘No?’

‘I was referring to love, Mr Carter.’

‘Love?’

‘Yes, you know, the kind that sees you married, setting up home, maybe adding a few kids into the mix…’

The kind of future he’d once promised Sienna.

Or had those dreams died with the boy who’d left Ashbury Falls?

Or had he been lying all along? Leading her on?

‘Those idealistic wants are for people who have yet to see life for what it really is.’

‘And what’s that?’

‘One big game. The only way to win is to keep it in your control.’

And hell, didn’t she know that. Didn’t she agree with him wholeheartedly. Not that she was about to admit as much. Because she hadn’t fooled someone else into thinking it was all possible.

‘And how does one go about that?’

‘By keeping your emotions in check. Always.’