Page 9 of Hot Damn
“What do you want us to do?” Oakley asks from behind me.
“Nothing. I’m going to chat with Beckett and Whitney then we’ll decide what questions and answers we’ll put on video.” I glance around. “I think I’ll set my phone up on that side table when I’m ready to record.”
“You don’t want one of us to hold it?” Nat asks with a frown. “Wouldn’t it work better that way?”
“No. I want these ten-minute recordings to be completely informal. I want it to appear as though the only people in the room are the ones in front of the camera.” I turn to Walker. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to do your interview after Beckett and Whitney.”
He glances at Oakley before agreeing. “Sure.”
“What time is practice tomorrow?”
“The guys get in anywhere from six to use the training room, but we’re suited up and on the ice at eleven.”
“I’d like to get some candid shots and video. I won’t interview anyone before practice but if you could ask a couple of the players, I’d like to bring them up here one at a time and record their informal interviews after training is done.”
“I want to see everything before you air it,” Nat demands in her tough GM voice. “Nothing goes live or into print without my approval.”
“Of course.” Nat knows me. She knows I wouldn’t put the team or any of the people involved in a bad light but I get that she needs to be the hard-ass GM right now. Although I am surprised the team's marketing and media manager isn’t here. I’m not going to ask because I don’t want anyone else in here right now.
Beckett is agitated enough without adding another possibly hostile person to the room, and Dwight Mitchum would definitely be hostile. I’m still shocked that Oakley hired my ex.
Then again, the man knows what he’s doing when it comes to marketing. It’s the media part of his job I’m not happy about.
But then I’m the silent partner so I have little say in who works for the team my company owns. And I trust Oakley. If she thinks Dwight is the best for the job then he is. I’ve got other things to worry about than a man I dated for four years back in college.
“Okay. Beckett, let’s start with you. Are you happy you made the move to the Rogues?”
He cocks an eyebrow at me. “I was…”
A laugh. “I can imagine you’re not too happy about it right at the moment but then it’s not really the team’s fault your secret daughter has been outed.”
“No. It’s mine.” Every eye swings to Whitney. “Dad has always kept our life and his job separate and I joined them together tonight in a very public way.”
I like this girl. She’s not backing away from her involvement in the scandal of the hockey season. We might only be intothe first few weeks of pre-season but there hasn’t been anything newsworthy before tonight. Except the Rogues franchise itself of course.
“Did you do that on purpose, Whitney?”
“Hey!” Beckett launches to his feet. “That’s enough.”
I tip my head back and lock my gaze with his. “I’m not accusing her, Beckett, I’m asking.”
“It’s okay, Dad.” Whitney puts a hand on her father’s arm. “I get why she’s asking and we’re not recording yet.”
He glances down, the frown on his face smoothing out slightly when his eyes land on his daughter. “I don’t like where she’s going with that question. You’d never do something like that without talking to me about it.”
In one simple exchange, father and daughter have demonstrated their love in a way that tells everyone watching they’re a tight unit.
It’s Beckett and Whitney against the world and as the adult, Beckett has protected her from the harsh realities of that world.
Until now.
Beckett
It takes every ounce of control I have not to fidget in my seat. Whitney sits beside me as though she isn’t about to expose herself to the world, and I’m struggling to keep from picking her up and carrying her out of here.
I don’t want her to do this. Except at seventeen she’s making adult decisions that I might not agree with but have to accept. I’m proud of her. She’s a remarkable young woman and I want to shout that to the world, I really do, I’m just not sure this is how I want to do the shouting.
Cami is on the other side of me, her chair turned a little so she faces us both and we’re in a sort of semi-circle. She’s relaxed and moves easily through our conversation. And that’s what this has felt like, like a conversation between friends.
