by Jamie Wesley
“So what you’re saying is that he’s practically perfect?”
“Yes,” Brady said into the microphone, his eyes laughing.
“Um, no,” Caitlin said. “He’s not Mary Poppins. He has his faults. We all do.”
“Like what?” Brady scoffed.
“Arrogance comes to mind,” she said drily.
“You say arrogance. I say confidence,” he said, playing up to their invisible audience.
Caitlin rolled her eyes. “Whatever, dude,” she said.
“You had your turn. Now it’s my turn,” Brady said.
“Bring it. After all, I am practically perfect in every way.”
“Really?” he asked. “Well, let’s see. I like that you aren’t afraid to speak your mind. You’re always looking out for others.”
“Thank you,” Caitlin said. The compliments warmed her. They probably shouldn’t have. He had to say something nice about her, but he didn’t sound like he was making it up. Still, she couldn’t let the compliments go to her head. She could never forget her history. Or her mom’s.
“But you have faults like we all do,” he continued. “You’re stubborn. You don’t accept help easily. Independence is great, but sometimes you can use the support. We all can.”
She inclined her head. “Thanks for keeping it real.”
“Always.”
They shared a smile. Like they were the only two people in the room. A moment she didn’t want to end.
The next listener’s question jolted her out of her dreamlike state.
“So, Brady, where do you see this going? When are you going to pop the question?”
He coughed. “The question? As in, when am I going to propose marriage?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean,” the caller, Linda, with a thick Texan accent, said.
“Caitlin and I haven’t been dating that long.”
“Okay, sure, but most married men I know say that they knew early on in their relationships with their wives that marriage was in the equation.”
Caitlin held her breath. How in the world was he going to answer this?
Brady adjusted his headphones. “You’re persistent. I like that. I think. You’re putting me on the spot, but I’ve been there plenty of times before and I’ve always survived.” He boldly met her gaze. “Caitlin is the kind of woman any man would be lucky to have. It’s early days yet, but I like where things are and where they’re headed.”
Caitlin couldn’t think, let alone speak.
“That was a fun first show, don’t you think?” Caitlin asked, shutting her office door behind them.
Brady snorted. “Oh yeah, women asking about my love life. Not what I expected, but it was cool.”
“No one can accuse you of not having opinions.” She gestured for him to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk.
He waited until she sat before joining her. “My mouth has gotten me in trouble more than once, but if people don’t want to hear the truth, they shouldn’t ask the question.”
It was Caitlin’s turn to nod. “I’ll remember that.”
He scoffed. “Like you need a reminder. You’re the queen of speaking your mind.”
She playfully punched his arm. “Hey, I try to be nice about it.”
“It’s not a complaint, trust me. When you turn pro, you think it’s great to hear ‘yes’ all the time, but it grows old when you realize they’re kissing your ass, because they’re afraid of getting fired or getting kicked out of the inner circle. You don’t do that and I like it, so don’t stop.”
A genuine smile, the one he loved to see, bloomed across her face. “Okay, I won’t.”
“Did you tell Noelle what was really going on?” The talk show host had been nice, nothing he could complain about, but he’d sensed a certain reserve in her interactions with him. She was still withholding judgment.
“Of course I told her. She’s my best friend.”
He frowned. “Is that smart? She’s trying to get a new show off the ground. No better way to do that than reveal an embarrassing piece of gossip about a famous athlete. I can see the headlines now. ‘Brady Hudson pretends to have a girlfriend because he can’t get a real one.’”
Caitlin shook her head. “She wouldn’t do that. I trust her with my life.” He remained silent. Too silent based on the way she eyed him. “Don’t you have a BFF?”
“No. Stop with the sympathy shit.”
“What? I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to. I can see it on your face.”
The sympathetic look didn’t abate. “You have trouble trusting people, don’t you?”
Yep, sure did. But how could anyone blame him? After everything he’d been through? He shrugged.
Caitlin sighed. “Fine. Be that way. But at least trust me in this. Noelle is my best friend for a reason. There’s very little I could tell her that she wouldn’t take to her grave if I asked her to.”
“Okay. You know her better than I do.”
“See. That trusting thing isn’t so hard, is it?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Silence fell. He glanced at his watch. “I guess I should go.” He didn’t want to leave her, if he was being honest with himself, but there was no reason for him to stay.
“Yeah. The show will be back in a few minutes. I need to be back before then.” She led him out of her office and down the hall to the elevator. He felt eyes on them the entire way, but Caitlin’s stride never faltered. “Nosy co-workers,” she whispered, squeezing his hand. “Ignore them.”
He could do that. In the elevator, he relaxed against the back wall, the adrenaline rush of being a guest host on live radio for the first time coming to an abrupt end. A few seconds later, they arrived at the garage level. Brady stepped out of the elevator and was immediately blinded by a light.
“Oh, my God, it really is you,” someone yelped.
Click.
Brady held up a hand. “Yeah, it’s me, but I might not be me in a second if you don’t stop.”
“Oh, sorry.” The young woman, who couldn’t have been older than twenty, giggled and dropped her camera to her side. Her gaze skittered to where Brady held Caitlin’s hand. How had that happened?
“So, it’s true,” the woman said, drawing his attention back to her. “You really are dating her.”
“Yes, I am,” he said, stepping forward.
“Why don’t you give me your number?” the other woman said with another giggle like she hadn’t heard what he’d just said two seconds ago. “I’ll give you mine, and we can have some fun.”
Caitlin sighed. “Hello. I’m right here.”
Brady shrugged when the other woman looked to him like she didn’t understand why Caitlin was speaking. “She’s the boss. Whatever she says, goes.”
“Your loss. You’re too old for me anyway.” The woman flounced off.
Brady turned to Caitlin. “Staking your territory, huh?”
She glared. “Shut up, old man.”
He waggled a finger. “Tsk, tsk. That’s no way to treat your boyfriend, is it?”
“Keep on, and I’ll show you how I’ll treat you.”
“Can’t wait.” He squeezed her hand. “But seriously don’t let her bother you.”
Her gaze skittered away. “Why would I? We’re just playing pretend, right? There are a million more where she came from.”
“Come on. I’m not like that.” Except he had been once upon a time. Swapping women in and out every few months, never letting any of them get too close. Being okay with that.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Yes, it did. “I broke team rules by dating my last girlfriend only for her to use her connection to me to get a part-time job as a correspondent on an entertainment news show. She said it was a stepping stone to bigger and better things. I didn’t fully accept that I’d been used until she cheated on me with my teammate, who, like her, was on the rise. Then I knew. I punched him and got traded.”
Her eyes widening,
she reached out to squeeze his hand. “Brady. I’m so sorry.”
Drawn to the support in her gaze, he entwined their fingers and stepped closer. “Thanks, but it’s okay.”
“Good to hear.”
Pounding sneakers on the pavement invaded the way-too-intimate circle they’d inadvertently drawn around themselves. Two guys, who looked to be teenagers, whipped their Stampede hats off and held them out to Brady. One of the boys thrust out a pen. “Can we have your autograph?” He sounded out of breath. “We heard you on the radio and took a chance that we would run into you if we came.”
Caitlin withdrew her hand and stepped away. He curled his hand inward, missing the connection. But he shouldn’t. Revealing his secrets, letting someone in, was a foreign concept to him. He didn’t do vulnerable. Even if it had felt good to have Caitlin’s support. He rolled his shoulders and took one of the hats and the pen. “Shouldn’t you be in school? It’s the middle of the day.”
The boys laughed. “We’re in college,” the one with curly brown hair said. “It’s the beauty of setting our own schedule.”
“Are you sure you’re not ditching class?”
The second teenager thrust out his chest. “In this case, we can honestly say no.”
Brady chuckled and scribbled his name on the brims of the hats. “Good to hear.” He handed the caps back to them. The boys looked at him expectantly. “Was there something else?”
The teens looked at each other. The second, the one who’d assured Brady they hadn’t skipped class, jerked his head toward Caitlin. “Can you introduce us to her? She’s hot. That photo was smoking.”
Brady curled an arm around her waist. “Yeah, this is Caitlin.”
“Nice to meet you, gentlemen,” she said with a small wave.
“Hi,” the boys said in unison.
“I guess we’ll go now,” the curly-haired one said. “It was nice meeting you, Brady.”
“It was really nice meeting you, Caitlin,” the other teen said.
The boys high-fived each other and headed toward a beat-up sedan.
Leaving Brady alone with Caitlin. Again. A situation that was entirely too cozy and rife with possibilities. His eyes drifted to her enticing lips. Too many possibilities. He withdrew his arm. “I have to get to practice.”
“Okay,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Oh, and I forgot to say it earlier, but you were great today. Thanks for doing this for me.”
“Strangely enough, I had fun.”
Her lips curved. “It’s always fun telling people what to do. Or so I’ve been told.”
“Yeah, you’re a bossy sort.” He tilted his head to the side. “Why don’t you have your own show?”
She shuddered. “Oh no. That’s not my thing. I like being behind the scenes, making sure everything works the way it’s supposed to.”
Interesting. Everything about her interested him. Something told him there was more to the story than she was letting on. But was it his place to dig it out of her? Their relationship, or acquaintance, or whatever the hell it was, wasn’t supposed to be that deep. So why was he having such a hard time biting his tongue?
He didn’t stop her when she headed back toward the building. When she entered the elevator, she turned and met his eyes. He didn’t move as the doors slid closed. Taking her away from him. Leaving him fighting the urge to go after her.
How was he going to keep this from getting more complicated than it already had? Did he even want to?
Chapter Six
Caitlin collapsed against the elevator wall. What was she doing? How had she gotten involved in this—whatever this was? Keeping Brady at arm’s length was getting harder and harder. And every time she was reminded why that was a good idea—hello, groupie—she was presented with ten more temptations to pursue something more with him. And resisting temptation had never been her strong suit.
She straightened when the elevator bell dinged. No matter. She didn’t have time to think about her conflicted feelings anyway. Noelle Knows was still on the air for another hour and a half, and Noelle would be nearly ready to start her post-midpoint monologue.
Noelle sent her a questioning look when she returned to the studio, but she pretended she didn’t see it and got back to work, determined not to think about Brady. Too bad listeners made that impossible by calling in and asking way too many personal questions about her love life and wondering when Brady was going to return. Which probably meant…no. Not going there.
At the end of the show, she and Noelle high-fived.
“We did it,” Noelle said, wonder in her voice. “Our first syndicated show. And we had callers who weren’t in Dallas and they said they liked the show.”
Caitlin grinned. “Of course we did. We’re us. Was there ever any doubt?”
The studio door opened, and Tate walked in. “Hi, ladies. Fantastic show.” He held up a bottle of wine and plastic cups. “We need to celebrate today’s momentous occasion.”
Caitlin zeroed in on the wine bottle. The “wine” was actually sparkling juice in deference to Noelle, who didn’t drink.
Noelle beamed. “Thanks, honey. Thanks for giving us the chance.” In addition to hosting a sports talk show, Tate owned the station and had proposed syndication.
“I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t know you would knock it out of the park, which you did.”
Caitlin gave it three seconds before they were making out like the love-struck, newly engaged couple they were. She made it to two. She left them to it while she tidied the studio. When Tate and Noelle separated, he poured the juice. “I wasn’t sure about Hudson, but he did great,” he said, handing a cup to Caitlin.
Caitlin peered at him over the top of her cup. “I do know a thing or two about producing a show.” No need for him to know that her nerves had been breakdancing from the moment Brady stepped into the studio until he offered his first bit of advice.
“That you do.” Tate held up his cup. “To the both of you and Noelle Knows. The best is yet to come.”
They clinked cups and downed the juice. Afterward, Caitlin waited outside the studio while Tate gave his fiancée just one more congratulatory kiss. If she wasn’t genuinely happy for them, she’d search out the nearest garbage can to throw up in from all the lovey-doveyness. Finally, Noelle joined her and they high-fived again.
“Hey, you two.”
Caitlin turned toward the woman who’d spoken and was heading their way. Deb Sanchez was a mentor to Caitlin, someone who’d been through the radio wars and come out on top. She was the station programmer of WTLK. She’d been the one to pair Noelle and Caitlin up, Noelle as a new host and Caitlin as a young, hungry producer ready to make her mark. She was enthusiastic, always scheming to make the station and its programming better. “Great show. Do you have a few minutes to talk?”
“Of course,” Caitlin said. She and Noelle followed Deb into her office and settled in the chairs in front of the desk.
“I like what I heard today,” Deb said. “I’m so happy for the both of you. I couldn’t be prouder of what you’ve accomplished. Great idea to get one of, if not the most talked about NBA player in studio as a guest host during launch week. He was a natural.”
Basking in Deb’s approval, Caitlin exchanged a grin with Noelle.
“I was thinking, however.”
At those seemingly innocuous words, Caitlin sat up straighter. Deb was notorious for her ideas—most of them good, none of them designed to make her employees comfortable. Successful yes, comfortable no.
“Yes?” Caitlin was pleased her voice came out strong. Sure.
“Brady giving advice was great, but no doubt the part the audience responded to the most was when he was talking about you and your relationship. When you two interacted.”
“Okay,” Caitlin said slowly, trying to delay the inevitable. She knew what was coming next.
“People are nosy. Y’all haven’t been dating that long, have you?”
Caitlin swallowed, pa
nic tightening her throat. “No.”
Deb clasped her hands together, the gleam in her brown eyes dangerous. To Caitlin anyway. “Perfect. Wouldn’t it be great to extend his time on the show? You would still keep Love Letters to Brady as the focus of his segments, but what if you let the callers ask at least a few personal questions? Talk about what it’s like to be part of a new couple and how you navigate those waters. I think people would really respond to that. Brady was obviously smitten with you. You sounded crazy about him.”
Because we were acting. But, of course, Caitlin couldn’t say that. So she forced the corners of her lips up.
“Doesn’t that sound fabulous?”
It did. If Deb was talking about someone else. Which is why the idea had occurred to her earlier.
“What do you think, Noelle?” Deb continued. “It’s your show.”
Caitlin turned to Noelle. Her best friend looked nervous, but excited. Because it was a great idea. Caitlin’s stomach churned.
“I’m not sure,” Noelle said. Noelle wasn’t into lying to her listeners. She considered her bond with them to be sacred. “I know you’re not at your most comfortable being on the air.”
“Well, it’s just an idea. Think about it,” Deb said.
“We will,” Caitlin said and escaped out of the office as fast as her legs would carry her. Noelle was right behind her. They didn’t speak until they’d reached the privacy of Caitlin’s office.
“You don’t have to do it,” Noelle said.
“Why not?” Caitlin asked, crossing her arms across her chest. “I know you’d love to have Brady back. It was written all over your face when Deb brought it up.”
“Because I care more about you than I do about having him on the show again. You don’t like talking on air much. Plus, I don’t want to mislead my audience since you’re not really dating.”
