Page 12 of Rival Hearts

“Back to the subject at hand. Have you done PR relationships before?”

“No.” I frown.

“Are you open to it?”

“Not really.”

“You should consider it. The right pairing? It could help your image.” She flicks a glance at me before she takes another bite.

“I don’t think I have time for PR relationships.”

“You should make time for whatever makes you a successhere. Part of that is having the fans on your side. And right now, they’re not loving the decision. They all had hopes about who their next QB would be, and not many of them wanted to see him come off the team this city hates the most.”

“I’m aware.”

“Okay. I’m at least going to talk to some of my connections. See if there are any movie stars or singers who might be interested in dirtying up their image a little.” She pulls her phone out of her purse. “Which reminds me, how bad are your feeds?”

“How bad?” I frown again.

“Lots of thirst traps and pictures of you working out? Or some of you and your family? Maybe a few of you doing some local charity work back in your former city?”

“There’s a few in there from events.”

“So thirst traps and gym photos then.” She sighs. “That’s okay. We’ll be working on cleaning that up.”

“I have some sponsorships that require it.”

“The thirst traps or the gym photos?

“The gym.”

“Mmm. We’ll get you some new ones. I doubt those are very lucrative anyway.”

“I don’t want to do sponsorships for things I don’t use or don’t do.”

“Noted. I’ll need a list of your hobbies then.”

“Jesus.”

“What?”

“This feels like the most aggressive online dating questionnaire I’ve ever experienced in my life.”

She smiles. “Do a lot of online dating do you?”

“No, but you know what I mean.”

“Good. That would just create more headaches. If these are your public profiles, God knows what you’d put on one of those.” She flashes a smirk, and I shake my head.

“I remember when you were nice.”

“Nice doesn’t save your career. Just count yourself lucky fate put me on your side.”

“Oh, I am.”

So fucking lucky. This woman’s going to be mine again, whatever it takes. If she wants me to complete a list, jump through flaming hoops, and march to the beat of her drum—I’m doing all of it. No matter how much it hurts.

7

---