SNEAKING AROUND WITH #34 (Hockey Hotties #4)

Chapter 2

“Whoa!” Jana shuts the door of her office after we return from the ice rink. “Okay, I’ve heard some rumors, and I saw the fight at Ford’s wedding, but I’ve never felt that.”

Her office is all girl boss with gold, pink, and black decor. Signs on the walls read Hustle, Grind, and Execute, along with other motivational sayings. She walks over to her mini-fridge and pulls out two cans of sparkling water, then meets me at her white couch.

“Felt what?” I ask, accepting the sparkling water. This job is my chance to make something of myself without using my family name, and although I love Jana and she’s more friend than boss, I don’t want her thinking I’ll be distracted by Warner. Especially since I have a meeting in an hour with Mr. Gerhardt to discuss how to make Warner Florida Fury’s “it man.”

She stares at me with wide eyes as she opens her can. “Don’t pretend with me. I’m older and wiser, remember?” After slipping off her heels, she tucks her legs under her as if we’re about to have girl time.

I love the way Jana can move seamlessly between professional businesswoman to a girl’s girl. Maybe that’s why I feel a kinship with Jana. She’s so much like my friends back home in New York. Friends I was never able to be honest with about what actually happened between Warner and me.

“Come on. If you don’t tell me what’s going on with him, then you’re fired.”

I balk, and she laughs.

“I’m kidding, but I am here if you need me. You look like you need to talk.”

I sip my sparkling water, the raspberry flavor a delight. “We just, um… well, he was Ford’s best friend in high school.”

She waits with her eyebrows arched toward her hairline. “Everyone knows that. There’s so much speculation about why they hate each other.”

“I’d say Ford hates Warner. I’m not sure Warner ever hated anyone.”

Jana licks her lips as though I gave her some bit of juicy gossip to nibble on. “Especially not his best friend’s sister.”

I shrug, sipping my drink to distract myself. Or act like maybe she’s right, but I’m not confirming either way.

“I mean, I’m an only child, but I always wanted an older brother who had friends. Friends who looked like Warner Langley.”

“Uh-huh.” I sip my water again.

“Okay, I see you’re not into this, but if you need to talk, let me know. Ask Paisley. I’m a good friend, and I can tell when someone needs one.” Sitting back up, she slips her perfectly manicured toes back into her heels. “Hate to break it to you, but we have to go through some marketing things that involve the man.”

“Please don’t think I’m unable to handle the job. I can be around him. It’s not a problem.”

She stops behind her desk, grabbing a remote that shuts the shades of her office and brings a big screen down from the ceiling. She presses some buttons on her computer and an image of Warner from when he was drafted shows on the screen. My heart plummets like an elevator with the cables cut. I was not prepared to see him like this, because that eighteen-year-old kid is the boy I fell in love with in what seems like another lifetime.

“I’m thinking about really digging deep into his story, so it’s good that you know him.”

“What?” My voice is quiet because the last thing Warner would ever want is anyone digging around in his past. He keeps that part of his life quiet, and even if I don’t check up on what’s going on in his life now, it’s clear that he still keeps the ones he loves out of the spotlight.

“Did you know there’s barely anything about him anywhere? Sure, he graduated from the same Upper East Side Manhattan private school as you and Ford, but other than that, nothing. I think we need to dig deeper with our guys. What made them want to play hockey? Who did they look up to as kids? What is their family like and who are the loved ones they left behind? A deep dive to pull on the heartstrings. Warner has that boy next door who grew up into a sexy man vibe that’ll put butts in seats and sell merchandise.” She sits down and a video plays of an interview he did shortly after he was drafted.

In the clip, he’s humble and kind and the arrogance that this league has instilled in him hasn’t been developed yet, but I still see a glimpse of his cocky side from being the popular kid in high school… at least until everything went to s**t. Everyone thought they knew him, but they really didn’t. While Ford went to college, Warner was drafted into the pros. I wonder what it must have been like for him to be thrust into the spotlight at that age after everything that went down in his senior year at school.

“God, he’s a magnet. Guys are gonna want to be him and women are going to want to f**k him,” Jana says.

I quietly drink my seltzer water, pushing back the memories from that time in my life. A time when I felt as though everything I’d lived for was stripped away. It wasn’t until years later that I realized that’s the power of young love.

As Jana talks about what a marketing dream Warner is, I’m reminded of the first time I saw him. Hell, the first time I heard someone speak his name, I knew there was something special about him.

I was just leaving American lit when Cici hooked her arm through mine and leaned in close, lowering her voice. “New guy. Senior. Warner Langley. I bet his family owns Langley Wines.”

If he was a senior, that meant he was Ford’s age, which also meant my brother would make sure to tell the new guy I was off-limits. Ford had restrictions about who I dated—I could only date sophomores or younger. No one older than that because he said then I’d be going into his territory. I swear he’s like the rescue pug Mom brought home for Morgan once. He peed on everything from plants, to furniture, to people’s legs. Nothing was safe in our house. Rest in peace, Wrinky.

“How hot are we talking?” I asked.

Cici looked around and leaned in so close I could smell her strawberry ChapStick. “I haven’t actually seen him yet. Eloise told me he was in her chemistry class. Quiet, sat in the back, but tall, built, and a set of mysterious eyes.” She giggled.

“He can’t be that hot. And I’ve never heard of a Langley.” I stopped at my locker and opened it.

“I just told you, Langley Wines.”

I’d heard of the brand. My parents owned some bottles.

“I don’t know. No way he’s that hot.” I looked at myself in the mirror and reapplied my berry lipstick. In the middle of puckering my lips, Cici nudged me, and I stood straight.

“There he is,” she whispered.

I turned and locked eyes with Warner.

Jumbled words floated in my head, and I was unable to form a coherent thought. The boy was drop-dead gorgeous. He had it all, even in Lauder’s uniform of khaki pants, white shirt, plaid tie, and blue blazer. Somehow it looked droolworthy on him.

The instant a smile crept over his lips, a rush of heat traveled down my body. With a cocky nod in my direction, he passed by us.

As soon as I heard the voice when he passed, all the marshmallow gooeyness in my body transformed to stone.

“That’s my little sister, so it goes without saying… turn your f*****g head around unless you want it shoved into the lockers.”

Ford was beside him. I hadn’t even noticed.

“Ford, you’re such an asshole,” Cici called to him.

He flipped her off and the two of them turned the corner, heading down the stairs.

“I swear, one day I’m going to dropkick your brother on his ass.”

She hadn’t known then that it was Warner she’d end up wanting to dropkick.

“Hello!”

I blink and look at Jana, who’s all smiles.

“I lost you for a minute there. Still not ready to give me all the deets on what went down between you and Warner?”

Jana seems trustworthy, but she’s also my boss—my new boss—and I am not going to pull out old baggage that could jeopardize my new position. The minute she offered me this job when we were at Ford’s wedding, I felt it in my soul that this position was meant for me. After getting an art history degree, working some at Jacobs Enterprises, and never finding anything that lit me up inside, somehow this woman in front of me knew before I did that this was the position for me. If I tell her about my history with Warner, she’s sure to bring it up with her dad. And one thing I know about Mr. Gerhardt is that the boys on the ice always come first.

“We just went to school together. I was just remembering when he transferred in. He was definitely the ‘it man’ on campus.”

“So he’s always been charismatic? I kind of hoped he was some nerdy guy turned hot jock.” She laughs and sips her drink.

“Nerdy guy, no. Never.” I shake my head.

“Okay, I told you my thoughts. What are you thinking?”

I glance at my empty page. Damn it all to hell. This is not a good start. I rack my brain for anything she might bite on.

“Well, right now I’m assuming men are primarily the ones who buy the tickets and the merchandise, but if we can get their wives or girlfriends involved, it should increase profitability and demand. Then we’ve expanded our market. Maybe we even have a chance to get groups of women talking about the Fury the same way they talk about The Bachelor the day after it airs. And what’s going to get a woman who isn’t a hockey fan into the arena? A gorgeous guy with a good story. But they have to get to know him.”

She nods. “I like the direction you’re heading, but be more specific.”

Feeling my confidence push to the surface, I go on. “They need to see interviews with him. Candid ones, and not just the usual ones where he uses all the hockey lingo about getting pucks deep and creating traffic in front of the net. They need to see more, like how he handles himself when he’s not prepared. Impromptu stuff. Like meet and greets. Fun social media videos. Win a date and donate to a charity. He can pick a charity and talk about why it’s so important to him.”

She points her pen at me and starts scribbling. “I love this.”

“Are you sure he’ll agree to it? The Warner I used to know was pretty private.” I hate to bring it up, but I’d hate even more for us to do all this leg work just for him to give us a big f**k you.

“My dad is clear with anyone who joins the team—they are to participate in any marketing activity we request, within reason. I think there’s a meeting scheduled with him tomorrow, so we’ll go over all this then. If you could really hammer out these ideas tonight, what they’ll look like, how we’ll pull them off, we’ll go over them in the afternoon and present them to my dad and Warner right before the team flies out to Chicago.”

“Sure thing.” I stand from the couch.

Jana continues, smiling at me. “Last chance?”

I shake my head. “I swear there’s nothing there.”

At least not anymore. That’s what I’ll tell myself for the rest of my life. Sometimes people don’t come into your life for any other reason than to teach you a lesson. And Warner Langley taught me never to trust a man.