Page 28 of Wild Love
Have a great day with the hockey hotties. I expect roster details. EXPLICIT details.She added six eggplant emojis, a briefcase, and a kissy-face. I love her.
Inside the door, I stop at the front desk and give them my name as I was instructed to do. They make a call and tell me to wait in the lobby, and a few minutes later, Blythe herself appears.
She’s stunning. Even more so in person. Power suit has nothing on the jumper she owns with every long stride of her legs. Her dark skin is beautiful against the cream color of her outfit, but the best part is the bright red heels on her feet. Oh, I think I’ve just found my new role model.
“Dakota.” She smiles and extends her hand. Simple gold jewelry, a bracelet, and a ring—not on her ring finger. “I am so thrilled you’re here.”
“Thank you. I can’t believe it. I keep waiting to wake up and be back in Valley.”
Her dark brown eyes light up as she smiles. She hands me a badge and leads me past the front desk. “This is the main entrance. You can also come in through the back near the training rooms, but this is probably easier coming from the apartment. Did you get settled okay?”
“Yeah. We got in late last night.”
“We?”
“Oh, uh, I drove up with Johnny Maverick.”
“Right. Of course.”
We catch an elevator to the top floor. Everyone we pass smiles at Blythe or tips their head in greeting. I’m happy to see lots of people in more casual attire and lots of sneakers.
“This is me.” She walks into a large corner office. The view from her window looks down to the same street as the apartment and a crossroads. “I’ll run through all the details of your contract tomorrow after orientation, but this is where you can find me if I’m not in a meeting, and if I’m in here, then I’m always available if you have any questions.”
Her office is tastefully and beautifully decorated. Very modern and chic and so her. The white desk has gold metal legs and is entirely clutter-free except for her laptop and a cup of tea. She motions to a large box behind me. “That’s the product for the endorsement. I will bring it down to you this afternoon or tomorrow morning once you get your desk assignment.”
My fingers itch to see what’s in there. Protein bars? Athletic wear? The suspense is killing me.
We head back out of her office, and she leads me to a conference room. “Let me introduce you to the other two interns in our group.”
Inside, people are moving around. Long tables are pushed together and face the front of the room where a projector displays a welcome PowerPoint slide. “Today is a general session for all interns. They’ll go over everything and show you around the building. Lunch is catered and…” she trails off. “Am I talking too fast? Sorry, I tend to do that.”
“No.” I laugh softly. “I think I got it all. I’m really excited.”
She smiles so genuinely at me before stopping next to a girl with shiny brown hair, dressed to kill like those people on the street that looked like they were off to bust through the glass ceiling. Only far more fashionable. She’s career Barbie.
“Dakota, this is Quinn.”
I greet Quinn and get a polite smile and once-over. Blythe takes a step next to a guy wearing a Wildcat tie that I don’t think he’s wearing ironically. “And this is Reese.”
“Hello,” he says and does a one-arm wave that’s a little goofy, but I can tell already suits him.
I take a seat between them. This is so surreal. I cannot believe I’m here.
Blythe grins at her dutiful interns sitting together. “I’ll check in with you all this afternoon. Welcome to the Wildcats.”
10
Dakota
After several more welcomespeeches from various members of the Wildcat front office, we’re given a quick tour of the facilities. We start at the ticket office and then see all the main offices where most of us will be working. From there, we go down to the practice rink, which is sadly not in use, then we’re guided to the game ice, which is also woefully empty, but wow, is it impressive.
Actually, the whole building is remarkable, from the green bleacher seats in the main arena to the fabulous paint job in the hallways with framed black and white photographs of the team over the years. It’s like the Hall of Fame back at Valley decided to have a baby with a hockey arena, and that baby got all the functional qualities of the arena and all the extra fabulous genes of the Hall of Fame. There’s even upbeat music playing softly over the speakers in the hallways.
I am in awe.
There’s a buzz about the upcoming season. These people really love their hockey team, and I grin when Johnny’s name is mentioned several times with other newly signed players they’re excited about.
Admittedly, with every corner we turn that doesn’t have a big, burly hockey player on the other side, I’m more disappointed. It’s increasingly possible that my bestie got in my head with the whole hockey hottie nonsense. But come on, we haven’t had one player sighting this morning.
