It Wasn't Just a One-Night Stand Chapter 2

Two in the morning at the team's training facility. Only one row of cold white lights glowed above the ice.

The Zamboni was making its final lap.

I stopped at the top of the stands, my feet rooted to the floor.

The blade scraped across the surface, leaving behind a thin film of water that gleamed under the lights like a long mirror.

That sound had followed me until I was nineteen.

My father had driven one of these machines for nineteen years. He woke at four every morning, even when the garage was eighteen degrees. Before every shift, he slapped the steering wheel twice.

He'd loved that job with everything he had, and they turned it into a weapon to humiliate his daughter.

"You don't look right."

Nova sat on the bench, his stick across his knees. The bandage on his brow was gone, and a row of black stitches stood out against the cut.

I walked down and slapped my voice recorder on the boards. "Mr. Nova, why did you bring me here?"

"A business deal." He stood up.

"Sixty minutes. An exclusive interview. Something the entire league hasn't been able to get in six years. I'll give it to you."

"But you have to play my girlfriend for one season."

I tightened my grip on my bag strap. "Why me?"

"As you pointed out, I was just photographed with two women at a nightclub last week." His tone was even. "The Youth on Ice Foundation no longer thinks I'm fit to represent them. It's my most lucrative endorsement, and I don't intend to lose it."

"So why me?"

"Because you need this interview more than anyone." He took a step closer, leaning down near my ear, and said softly, "And because you won't fall in love with me."

The instant Nova leaned in, I nearly thought he'd recognized me.

But if he had, he'd want nothing more than to distance himself from me.

Why would he come to me with a deal?

That thought made me laugh in spite of myself. "Sounds like a win-win. Where's the contract?"

Nova handed me the contract. I looked it over.

Attend public events according to the PR schedule. Post photos on social media without captions. Take no relationship questions from any other outlet.

The compensation: ten million dollars.

That number was enough to cover all of my mother's dialysis, clear every debt, and keep her alive for years.

"I'll add one clause," I said. "Sixty minutes, and you answer every question."

He studied me for a long time. "Everything except one question. You'll know which one when the time comes."

I hesitated.

Maybe the question Nova refused to answer was exactly the one I wanted to ask most.

I didn't agree right away. I tucked the contract into my bag and said evenly, "I'll give your offer serious thought."

I turned and walked out without looking back.

In the instant I turned, I thought I caught something unreadable flickering through his eyes, but it was gone too fast for me to hold on to.