by Virna DePaul
“Yes. The response online has been very favorable,” Ruby said with a nod. “There were naysayers, of course, but I think we’re making good progress on shifting away from his previous issues.”
Previous issues that no one knew about. It was infinitely harder to make the public empathize with her client when they weren’t privy to the real information.
“Good. I know I was hard on you before, Ruby,” her father said. “But I always knew you could handle him.” Phil turned in his chair to face his computer once again. A good thing, too, because Ruby’s cheeks flushed as she imagined herself “handling” Alec in just the right way.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Keep up the good work. And remember: there’s a reason why these football players are so successful.”
“Athletic prowess?”
“No, because they’re charming and people are suckers. Don’t be one of them, my girl.” He winked at Ruby and went back to his work.
Ruby bit the inside of her cheek. She almost felt like she had a scarlet letter A tattooed to her forehead with a blinking sign that said, I slept with Alec LeBrun. He charmed my pants off. Literally.
If Phil ever found out she’d slept with him…
First, he’d kill her. Second, he’d fire her. And third, he’d be disappointed in her as a daughter, and nothing was worse than that in Ruby’s eyes. Her whole life had been about winning Dad’s approval, always proving herself to him. She’d never get to be partner at the firm either. O’Brien PR had strict rules when it came to client relationships, and anyone who crossed that line never got the chance to redeem themselves.
Ever.
As Phil’s daughter, Ruby had even higher expectations to toe the line. One step out of bounds, and she’d bear the brunt of his disapproval. But no worries, because he’d never know. It was a one-time thing, and that’s how it would stay. Now she just had to put an end to Alec’s advances and tell him once and for all that it was over. And no better time to do that than at lunch.
Ruby drove to the Bootleggers’ practice at the stadium. She was shown to a private room, while she waited for Alec to arrive. She might’ve been allowed to hang with him at charity events, but at practices, Coach was adamant about having only players on the field to keep them focused. As the players came in from practice and began dispersing all over the stadium to have their lunches, Ruby stood and welcomed Alec into the rec room.
“Hey, Alec.”
“Red. Were you waiting long?” Alec entered the room, still toweling the sweat from his face. “I wasn’t watching the time.”
To her immense annoyance, she almost couldn’t speak, as she stared at Alec. Today he wore a T-shirt that was practically clinging to his sweaty muscles, and his shorts left little to the imagination. Memories of their night together pummeled her brain. Trying to act like she wasn’t ruffled, she started messing with the papers in front of her.
“No, I wasn’t waiting long at all, actually.” She kept her eyes down, as Alec took a seat in front of her. “Did you want to grab something to eat?”
“Nah, I’ll eat in a bit. So tell me, how are the reviews, Red?”
“Good. Not perfect, but good. Your social media posts have been receiving positive comments and loads of shares, which is great. The more people see these photos, the better it is for us.” She pushed her phone toward him after she’d pulled up a comment thread on a large celebrity blog site. “Read the next to last comment.”
He did, his grin turning into a confused frown. “Alec LeBrun is such a fake,” he read. “Do they think we’ll forget that he assaulted multiple people? No way.” He looked up. “I never assaulted anyone.”
“Alec, punching your teammate is definitely assault.”
“It’s practically sibling rivalry,” he countered, and Ruby sighed.
“I understand, but it’s indicative of what we’re up against. We can’t convince the entire world, but we can convince enough people that you’re serious about this. A lot of people feel you’re just washing away the dirt with a few good deeds. We need to up the ante.”
“Which means?”
“We’re going to have you do another interview, for one. And most definitely more photo ops, although I’m going to have you do some more low-key outings. Like grocery shopping in a quiet neighborhood. Something the average person would do.”
He made a face. “That’s it? I go to the grocery store and buy cereal and people will love me again?” Scoffing, he pushed her phone back to her. “I don’t get this stuff sometimes.”
“Me neither, but that’s it. That’s the gist of it. Considering where you were a few weeks ago, you’ve come a long way. I’d recommend continuing down this path. What we’ve been doing has been working so far, Alec.”
And yet, he didn’t look happy.
He leaned back in his chair contemplatively and blew out a breath. Ruby wondered where this Alec had come from. “What’s wrong, Alec? Tell me.”
“You know what’s wrong.”
“I don’t, unless you tell me.”
“You want me to tell you? Fine. Being with you these past few weeks, Ruby, has been the best time of my life. But it’s also been the worst. I want you so much. Just being with you is damn terrific, but I’m selfish. I want more.”
His eyes were killing her. So deep and soulful, so expressive and sincere. She’d been dealing with him so much lately, she knew when he was telling the truth, and Alec really did want more from Ruby.
“You know we can’t do that.”
He stared at her, looking like he wanted to argue, but then he nodded. “I’m accepting that. For now. But not before I get that kiss.”
“What kiss?”
“The one you owe me from the park.”
She opened her mouth, but quickly shut it. A flood of color reddened her cheeks, and she wished he didn’t have the ability to fluster her so easily. She clucked her tongue. “You’re like a kid with attention issues, you know that?”
“I thought we already established I’m nothing like a kid, Ruby.” He stood and drew close to her. “Now, are you going to have mercy on me and grant me that one kiss?”
She wanted to say yes. He’d done so well these last few weeks, and she really wanted to reward him for his patience—oh, who was she kidding? She wanted him. He was so handsome and charming, and her attraction to him only increased with every moment she spent around him. Ruby shook her head. “You know I can’t,” she whispered, surprised to feel tears in her eyes. “This really is a case of ‘it’s not you, it’s me.’ Or it’s the both of us. You get that, right?”
“No. I don’t get it. Not at all.”
“I think you don’t want to get it. You’re so focused on what you want that you’re not seeing the big picture.”
“Oh, trust me. I get the big picture, Ruby…”
Her phone rang in front of her. Dad was calling. She didn’t want to answer it in the middle of a lunch meeting, so she declined the call.
“Isn’t that a little harsh declining a call from your dad?”
“He knows what I’m doing. I’ll call him back when we’re done.”
“Maybe it’s important,” Alec said.
He was right—maybe it was important. Especially when her father called back a second time instead of leaving a voicemail. “Give me a second.” Ruby got up, walked to the corner of the room, and answered the phone. “Hey, Dad.”
“Ruby, are you with LeBrun now?” His tone was fast and terse, and for a moment, she wondered if she’d been discovered and was about to get the tongue-lashing of the century.
“Yes. What’s up?”
“Okay, tell him…that he got an offer from Sports Armour, the major clothing line. They have a big—I mean, BIG—sponsorship for him, Ruby. Huge!” She’d never heard her dad sound so excited. Her chest deflated with relief. “This is the biggest thing he’s ever gotten offered, the biggest offer to ever come across our desk. They want him fully committed, excellent royalties and a huge
advance. Tell him, and let me know what you both think. Well done, Ruby. Well done.”
Phil hung up while Ruby stared at the corner of the room.
A big sponsorship was what they’d wanted.
But it also meant they’d have to move even farther apart. Under a sponsorship like Sports Armour, there was no room for error. They could never near-kiss under trees in the public again, couldn’t date, and definitely never hook up again.
“Everything okay, Red?” Alec’s deep voice from his seat only drove home how hard this would be.
“Yeah.” She whirled around. “You got an offer. A big one.”
“Who?” His eyes lit up like hope in the dark.
A slow smile spread across her lips. She loved that she would be the one to give him this fabulous news. It meant she could see him happy again, and she hated being the bearer of bad news, especially on a personal level. “Sports Armour.”
Alec yelped, spun once, lifted, and hoisted her in the air, then caught her with a strong hold. All at once. Just like that. No big deal or anything. “Holy shit, Red! Are you kidding me?”
“Not kidding you.” She laughed. Adrenaline shot through her body from having just been tossed around by a big, strong man. And not just any man. The one she so desperately wished she could allow into her life. “The deal is yours for the taking.”
He shook his head like he couldn’t believe it, then slipped his giant hands around her face. “Come here, you.” The kiss was delicious and musky and scintillating and painful all at once. Painful because she wanted it to keep going. Her heart longed to accept his attention, go celebrate somewhere, make out all night, and maybe do a replay of their stadium tryst.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and Vince, one of the assistant coaches, stepped inside.
“Alec, you done yet—oh, hey, Ruby. Sorry, didn’t know I was interrupting something.” Just before he closed the door, he gave Ruby a lingering look that bordered on lascivious. Vince had always been a creep. “I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone,” he cooed before closing the door.
Chapter Eight
“No. No, no, no,” Ruby whispered.
One glance at her, and Alec could tell she was about to lose her shit.
Her face was flushed, her eyes wide, her body frozen.
“Ruby, don’t freak out,” he said quickly.
The truth was, she had every reason to freak out. Not only was Vince a douchebag, but he was also the worst person who could’ve seen them in a lip-lock like that. The dude was a walking social media app, spreading news and lies and shit worse than any town crier. Worse than Nana, Alec’s eighty-year-old grandmother.
“Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out? The question is, why aren’t you freaking out? He just—we just—Oh God.” Her eyes shot to the door Vincent had just shut then skipped to another door across the room that led to a maintenance hallway and then the parking lot. “I’ve gotta get out of here.” Swiftly, she walked toward it, threw it open, then charged through it, Alec trailing close behind.
Before they hit the parking lot, Alec reached out and took her arm, stopping her. “Ruby, we need to talk about this.”
She whirled around, causing Alec to drop his hand and step back. “What’s there to talk about, Alec? He saw us kissing!”
He raked a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, Red. I was excited because of the sponsorship news. Maybe Vince won’t tell anyone.”
“Vince will tell everyone!” Tears welled up in Ruby’s eyes. Her mouth kept opening and closing, like she was trying to find the right words. She shook her head, pools of blue reflecting shame and fear. He hated knowing she found their being caught kissing as shameful.
He wanted so much to hold her, but when he moved toward her she took a step back. She blinked back her tears.
“Everything was going great. Your fans have been supporting you, you’ve been killing it on the field, my father’s been proud of me for the work I’m doing, and then the sponsorship…” She shook her head. “My God, people will think I broke you and Colleen up. You’ll lose the sponsorship before you even get it. And my father… Even if we explain the kiss was just a reaction to good news, that it meant nothing, I’m still screwed.”
Alec scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. Damn it, he knew the kiss meant something to her. That he meant something to her. In fact, he’d begun to suspect that he meant so much to her, it scared her. That his proposing to Colleen had hurt her so much, it was the real reason she’d been holding off starting anything personal with him. Sure, the fact they worked together and she didn’t want to disappoint her father was a convenient excuse, but she was probably far more terrified of what their kisses would lead to and how vulnerable it would leave her heart if she finally opened herself to him completely. He couldn’t really blame her either. The idea of her having that much power over him wasn’t the most settling feeling either. Even engaged to another woman, he’d thought of Ruby all the time, and that was before he’d even kissed her. Now? She was in his blood.
“I saw what those meaningless kisses led to, Ruby. I heard the way your heart beat and the way your hands trembled. You can’t tell me it meant nothing.”
She shook her head and threw her arms in the air. “I never said it meant nothing, Alec. But it’s probably what we should tell people.”
“I disagree. I think we should come clean about everything.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you kidding? Your genius plan is to confess to everyone that we”—she lowered her voice only to hiss—“fucked on the football field because we were drunk off our asses? You’re sure about this, Alec?”
Alec’s jaw clenched. “First of all, we weren’t drunk off our asses. We only had one double whisky each. And no, that’s not what I think we should tell everyone. I think we should tell everyone we’ve been working together this past month, and as a result, we’ve developed feelings for one another.”
“Why should anyone care about our feelings?” Ruby cried.
At least she didn’t deny she had feelings for him. “People love a love story. Think about it. Me finding love again after a failed engagement? With the woman who’s been by my side for the past few months, bringing me back to myself, seeing me at my best, being a positive influence. They’ll root for us.”
“That’s a huge gamble.”
He took her hands and placed them on either side of his face to feel her warmth. She didn’t pull them away. “It’s one I’m willing to take. It’s also the smart move and you know it. Yes, we’ll face criticism by some, and Colleen alone will lose her mind. But you know better than anyone that if we leave it in Vince’s hands and rumors begin to swirl, it could be a thousand times worse. It’s easier to do damage control than skirt around rumors. If we do it this way, our way, by being honest, then we can at least manage things. Play things the way we want to play them.”
She stared at him for a second before closing her eyes and taking a solid breath. “You’re starting to sound like me.”
Alec smiled. “Right. Which means I’m making sense.” He reached out and pushed reddish-orange strands behind her ears. “But I’ll be honest here, Ruby, letting the world know we have real feelings for one another? It’s not just about protecting our careers. I know you wanted to wait, but if this helps us start to explore what’s between us sooner rather than later, I’m thrilled as hell about it.”
She bit her lip, her expression still clouded with doubt.
“Tell me the truth, Ruby. If your job, my job, the public, Colleen, your father—if none of them mattered, if it was just you and me, and it was just a matter of what we wanted, what would you want to do?”
“If none of those things mattered, then yes. Of course I’d want to date you, Alec. I wouldn’t care if the entire world knew it. But my father isn’t going to be one of the people rooting for us. He’s going to see that kiss as irresponsible behavior on my part. Even so, my job isn’t the main thing at stake here. Don’t you want to protect your image? Don
’t you want to protect your chances at winning this sponsorship? If people think you cheated on Colleen with me—”
He swiftly cupped her face, making her gasp. “Ruby, I want you. I let Colleen’s lies mess things up for us before, but I’m not going to let Vincent, or your father, or this potential sponsorship with Sports Armour mess things up again. We’re not fucking criminals, for God’s sake. We didn’t kill anyone. The worst we’ve done is get feelings for one another during a professional relationship. It’s happened before and it will again. People will understand.”
“Maybe at first. But what happens when things don’t work out between us? A month from now—hell, tomorrow—you could be done with me. You could want someone else.”
He cocked his head, wincing. “Is that what you think of me? That I’m that fickle?”
She closed her eyes. “Alec—”
“Ruby, I understand why the thing with Colleen makes you leery, but I told you the truth. It’s you I wanted all along. I vote we take a chance. Take a chance on me. I won’t disappoint you.”
It was all he could do or say. All the cards laid out on the table. He’d made his feelings known. Now the ball was in her court.
She bit her lip. “I don’t know, Alec. I just don’t—”
Ruby’s phone rang. She looked down at it and dread filled her face. “It’s my father. Again. See? Look how quickly it’s gotten to him.”
“You can’t know that.”
“No. But I need to tell him what Vincent saw. I need to give him a heads-up.”
Alec nodded. “Do it. But can I ask one thing? Can you put the call on speaker? Because I kissed you, and if you’re going to have to face the consequences of that, I want to face them together.”
The phone continued to ring.
Ruby stared at it, then at Alec, then at the phone again. Finally she bit her lip and took the call, hitting the speaker button.
“Hi, Dad.”
“Hey, sweetheart. Do you have anything on LeBrun’s schedule for this Friday? I think it’d be a good idea to take him to that racing event that’s in town. It won’t take long and will work wonders in crossover sport publicity.”
