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“Jesus, Hamilton,” Harvey groaned. “Nice way to get a lawsuit smacked on you.”
“Please.” Aubrey waved a hand. “He’s a football player.”
She said it like he had some sort of serious disease. As if being a football player dismissed his behavior.
Shrugging, feeling a little irritated—again—he looked to Harvey. “What? She seemed perfectly responsive to my so-called lethal charm a few minutes ago. Now she’s denying it? And considering she implied I’m lethal to women, I can only assume she must play for the other team.” Nick shrugged.
“Excuse him, please. He says these sorts of things to shock you,” Harvey murmured to Aubrey, leaning in close to her.
“Hey, I can hear you,” he called, shaking his head.
“Your lethal charm combined with your newfound irritation is not quite the image we want for you, Nick,” Harvey said, his voice smooth as silk as he settled back in his chair. He was good at his job and could spin a positive story out of something most would consider beyond repair so well, every single one of the Hawks players came out smelling like a rose, despite their original actions being far from rose-like. Nick could certainly appreciate Harvey’s talents.
But he always found Harvey a bit sleazy. So if he could have a new, cute publicist instead of the slick talking Price, he’d take her over him any day.
“Do I need an image redo?” Nick gripped the arms of the chair, mentally preparing for what they might say. Damn it, one game where he played fantastically but had a shitty mood throughout and they were ready to give him a makeover.
“Not necessarily. Though Walsh is worried if you continue along this vein, you might need a stern talking-to.” Harvey grinned. “But I’ll hand that duty over to Aubrey here.”
Nick could only imagine the sweet-looking Aubrey giving him a “stern talking-to.” As in, he couldn’t see her doing it whatsoever. “I’ll remember that.”
“I’m sure you will. Don’t give her a bunch of grief. You and Flynn Foley are her main clients right now. I want her to be able to focus on you both without any distractions.” In other words, he needed to keep his so-called attitude in check.
Nick withheld the groan that wanted to escape. Great, so she was handling Foley too? Not like Nick was a total bad boy, but that goody-two-shoes would make him look like a complete ass no matter what. Foley could do no wrong. Amongst the fans, amongst the media, hell amongst the entire team, everyone loved Flynn Foley, the backup quarterback for Jared Quinn.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll both keep me on my toes.” She smiled at him reassuringly.
“So what’s going on with you, Nick? Why were you so cranky the last few days?” Harvey asked, his voice full of overly warm concern.
Like he’d tell Harvey anything about his personal life. “Nothing major. Just having an off week, you know?”
“Well, if you need to talk to anyone, know I’m always here for you,” Harvey continued. “Perhaps playoff pressure is getting to you a little bit? Is that the problem?”
That hadn’t fazed him in the least. He lived for that sort of pressure on the field. Truly believed it made him a better player. “I’m fine, Harv,” Nick said through gritted teeth.
“If you say so.” Harvey sent Aubrey a look. One that said he didn’t believe Nick. She sent him the same look back.
Damn. Felt like everyone was conspiring against him.
“Listen, I gotta go.” He stood and turned to the door. “Gotta head back to Monterey for the night. Have a few things I need to take care of.”
“You’ll be here for practice tomorrow, right?” Aubrey called after him.
He turned to find her standing in front of him. “Yeah, I’ll be there. Of course I will.”
She beamed. “Fantastic. There are a few things I wanted to discuss with you. Planning, strategy-type things. Hopefully I can steal a few minutes of your time?”
“Sure,” he said warily. Seemed she wanted a piece of him, too. Everyone did lately.
And he was fast running out of pieces to give.
…
The text had come approximately thirty minutes ago, short and curt and to the point.
Better be ready. I’ll be at your house in an hour.
Those ten words had irritated the crap out of her. They also secretly aroused her. God, she was hopeless, acting like a needy girlfriend, sending Nick texts asking him if they were on or not for tonight. He’d brushed her off with a quick reply, hadn’t sent her any other sort of response until a few hours later.
