Page 12 of Wicked Player

I didn’t even know how long that was. And with my knowledge of football, had no clue what a wide receiver was, although I assumed it meant he caught the ball. And Pro-Bowl? Forget about it.

“Oh God.” I dumped my forehead into my hands and groaned. I knewnothingabout football. And while I covered lifestyle pieces, they were usually fluffier. Will was making this guy sound like a local celebrity and I’d never paid attention. Had he done anything like this before? Did he volunteer frequently? I had never covered a piece for the football team before. “I have so much to learn and I have to leave in two hours for the press conference.”

Will smacked the top of my desk. “Then I suppose you start doing what you do best and get to researching.”

Right. Of course. I could look into any story, dig deeper. I could do this. Knowing the game of football wouldn’t be that important, would it? I just had to learn who this guy was. Why the hospital? Why was he spending so much time promoting it beforehand?

This was my job, one I loved, and I could do it easily.

Lifting my head, I gave Will a thankful smile. He was one of the best encouragers we had. His wife was lucky to have him. “Thanks, Will.”

“Anytime.”

I did exactly what Will suggested. I pulled up Wikipedia, not the most relevant source of news but it was a starting point. I read about Gage’s high school, college, and pro career learning he’d been traded to the Raleigh Rough Riders four years ago. He stayed out of the papers. His parents were mentioned, but that was it. No spouse even though he was thirty-two years old. His Instagram feed showed nothing but photos of him on the field and pics of other players. A few he’d clearly reposted and they showed him dressed in the best well-fitting suits I’d ever seen on a man.

I memorized his stats. Six-four, two hundred fifty pounds. Born in 1986. And then I stumbled on a photo spread he’d done forMen’s Healthand my jaw dropped.

Butt freaking naked. A football helmet held in front of him was the only thing covering him. And hot damn. This guy. Chiseled, strong jaw. Straight Roman nose. Piercing eyes.

He was freaking gorgeous. My heart rate kicked into fast gear. My fingertips sizzled. I had to spend weeks followingthisguy around? The very idea sent a pulse of excitement to the tops of my thighs I tried to shake away.

I couldn’t get a crush on this guy. He was a source. A story. But good grief to the high heavens, he was the most beautiful if stern looking man I’d ever seen in my life.

“Holy shit,” I whispered, forgetting we worked in an open office and even though I was quiet, people could hear me.

“What is it, Elizabeth?” That came from Amanda. “Oh dear. You got the Gage story?”

She was already at my back, peering over my shoulder. “Man as sexy as that shouldn’t be allowed to walk free,” I said.

“I know.” She laughed and bumped my shoulder. “He’s God’s gift to women that’s for sure. And yet from what I’ve heard, he’s never had a girlfriend, at least not one he’s gone public with.”

“Really?” I twisted in my chair and faced her. “Never?”

She shrugged. “Not in the four years he’s been here. And I’d know. Rough Riders are my team. I follow all of ‘em on Twitter and Instagram. He posts a pic and gets over four thousand comments, mostly from women, but to the best of my knowledge, he’s never been seen in public with a woman except his mom.”

Wow. That was…that was crazy. Everything leaked.

“Hmm,” I said, tapping my finger to my lips. “So I would imagine the public would want to know if he was involved, right?”

She laughed lightly. “Yeah, but watch yourself. This is a hospital piece, not a gossip column. You go digging too far and you’ll blow your chance. Which by the way, I’m rooting for you.” She stepped back and flipped her red hair over her shoulder. “See you later, Elizabeth. Drinks tomorrow?”

Thursday nights were our nights. The girls at the station always took off and went for an afternoon happy hour once the afternoon news was done.

I lifted my file of events. “I’ll get back to you. Haven’t had much time to study this yet.”

“Sounds good.” She waved her hand and turned her back to me, already walking away.

Five

Gage

“Okay. So, first, you’re going to go out there and stand with the president of the hospital as well as the contracting company who’s been building this addition. They’ll speak first.”

Karen, the hospital administration’s assistant, tapped and swiped her stylus on her tablet with reckless abandon. She was speaking into a mouthpiece just as easily as she was speaking to me.

Except she didn’t have to. We’d been over this for the last hour and her constant hounding was grating on my nerves.

I already knew what was going to happen. We’d talked about it last week. This morning. Two hours ago. Thirty minutes ago. With the way this woman prattled on and on, working herself into a frenetic tizzy, I was thankful we were in the hospital.

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