Page 21 of Treat

Brynn snickered, and Jude rolled his eyes and carried the second bottle around the counter. “Here. Don’t feed it to the dog, she’ll shit everywhere.”

“Good to know.” Sprawled on the floor, one hand still stroking Tilly into doggy bliss, he tipped the bottle back for a long drink. When he lowered it, he said, “How’s it going, Brynn?”

“Good.” She swiveled on her stool to look at him, her skirt riding up on her thigh. Not much, just an inch or two, but sweat popped out on Jude’s forehead anyway. “I talked to Angela today.”

“Yeah?”

“She gave me some recommendations for a new cleaning service,” she explained, then lifted her head to look at Jude. “I’ve got interviews set up for tomorrow. Do you want to be here for those?”

He started to say no, then changed his mind. “Yeah, I do. What time?”

She turned to tap at her computer. “One, two-thirty, and four.”

“I can make that work,” he decided.

“That reminds me,” Tommy interjected. “I booked some ice time for this week. Wednesday afternoon, two o’clock. You want in on that?”

“Sure. Just you?”

Tommy tipped his beer back. “Nah, I’ve got a couple of other guys coming too. We should have enough for a full scrimmage.”

“Can I come?” Brynn asked and had both men turning to look at her.

“Sure,” Tommy said.

“Why?” Jude asked.

“Because I want to film it,” she said, looking at Jude. “For your social media.”

Jude grimaced. “Do you have to?”

“Yes,” she said firmly. “You barely posted anything all summer, so I’ve been recycling pics and vids from last season, and I need some fresh stuff. In fact,” she went on, straightening on the stool, “I’m going with you to your workout Wednesday morning, too.”

Ignoring the cackle of laughter from the floor—he never should’ve brought Tommy home with him—he narrowed his eyes. “You’re not filming my workout.”

“Not all of it,” she promised. “Just the parts that are sexy enough for social media.”

“That’ll be easy,” he said drily while Tommy continued to chortle. “None of it is sexy.”

“Yeah, I’ll be the judge of that,” she muttered, and for a moment, her eyes glowed with heat. Then she blinked and adjusted her glasses, and it was gone.

“Come on, Bessie,” Tommy said, yanking Jude’s attention away from Brynn’s Bambi eyes. He was sprawled on the floor, propped up on one elbow and wearing a shit-eating grin. “Let her film you doing lunges. You’ll go viral.”

“I don’t want to go viral,” Jude ground out and vowed to put heat-activated muscle rub in Tommy’s cup at the first opportunity.

“I won’t get in your way,” Brynn said, pulling his gaze back to her. “I swear, you won’t even know I’m there.”

Like that’s possible. Jude sighed. He didn’t love the idea, but he wasn’t going to tell her no. “Fine. But I get the final say on what goes on social media.”

“Oh, absolutely not.”

“Why not?” he asked while Tommy started cackling again.

“Jude, if it was up to you,nothingwould go on social media.”

“I’m a very private person,” he muttered defensively.

“And I respect that,” she said soothingly. “But like it or not, you’re a public figure, and part of my job is making sure the public sees you in a positive light.”

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