Though she had been too embarrassed to go back to Frank’s ever since. And now truly hoped that this place wasn’t cash only also.
‘I’m good. But you’re wasting your time if you think you can tap your way out of this one too.’ Her face must have revealed what she’d been thinking because he chuckled and shook his head. ‘Good luck with the apocalypse.’
‘Ah, a conspiracy theorist, I see.’
‘Just because someone has a different opinion they’re automatically a conspiracy theorist? When did the world turn Borg?’
OK, Hannahdefinitelyhadn’t pegged this guy as a Trekkie. And felt herself automatically soften towards him. He truly was full of contradictions. ‘Well, cash aside, if you’re that paranoid about being monitored,’ she pointed out teasingly, ‘I’m assuming you have a smartphone, rendering all this caution pointless anyway?’
‘Nope.’ He reached into his pocket and took out an old-style flip phone that Hannah didn’t think was even operational anymore, sliding it onto the table.
Yep, conspiracy theorist, for sure.
‘Well, it’s pretty apparent that you don’t trust easily anyway,’ she murmured.
‘Hey, aren’t you supposed to be working for me or something? So what’s with the attitude?’
He was right; McKenzie was supposed to be Hannah’s client so what was she thinking, practically goading him like this? Cursing herself for being so unprofessional, she bit down hard on her lip, trying to bring her emotions back under control. Barely a half-hour in his company and this guy was already getting under her skin.
This wasn’t like her. At all.
‘It’s not an attitude. Part of my job is taking charge of how you present yourself to the world, and surely you yourself would admit your current media persona leaves a lot to be desired … ’
He chuckled mirthlessly. ‘I know that you might find this hard to believe, you being in the PR game and all, but I really couldn’t give a damn what anyone thinks of me. I refuse to bend over, for the media or anyone else.That’swho I am.’
Now Hannah tried to bite back a smile at this rather vivid illustration of her job description. This guy was unbelievable. But belligerence aside, she also couldn’t deny how that mesmerising gaze turned upon her was making her feel …
Get a grip, Hannah.
‘OK then. Forget … bending over for the moment,’ she added, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice. ‘Why don’t you just go ahead and tell me more about who you think you are, and we can go from there. Who is Ward McKenzie?’
He leaned back, arms folded and glared at her as if taken aback by her change in stance. This time she looked into his eyes without flinching and after a few moments, he spoke again.
‘OK, you want to know who I think he is? We can go there.’ He leaned forward, squarely meeting her gaze in return, and even in the dim light she could still see those golden flecks in his eyes – if anything they seemed more pronounced. ‘He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t put up with any media bullshit and the last thing in the world he’s gonna do is roll over and play dead for anyone – on or off the ice.’ He shrugged then, dropping his gaze to the table. ‘Does he drink a little too much? Yeah – now and then. If he’s out with the guys and he’s having a good time, he might get a little rowdy. Guess what? There’s nothing wrong with that. We all need to blow off steam now and then. Granted, that might not be something that you’re familiar with, Public RelationsEmma, but out there in the real world, people do that all the time. Anything else you want to know?’
Those goddamn eyes again. But Hannah refused to blink or, worse, show any emotion. ‘You also have a reputation for being something of a womaniser … ’ she challenged.
Something else flared in them then, passing too quickly for her to identify before Ward dropped his gaze and looked down at his watch.
‘I’ve got physio,’ he muttered, but she knew he wasn’t telling the truth. ‘As I’m sure you can appreciate, my recovery is my priority at the moment. So do your worst, Emma. Just don’t expect me to be something I’m not.’
She bit back yet another retort at the intentional misuse of her name but figured there was no point.
‘Fine,’ she said with a pasted-on smile, picking up her purse, only too happy to escape if not McKenzie, then the deeply discombobulating way he was making her feel. ‘I’ll be in touch again once I’ve come up with some ideas.’
Assuming that was even remotely possible.
Chapter 6
WARD
Driving out of the city, Ward did his best to keep his attention on the road. The last thing he needed was to get into a car accident or something. The next thing he knew, the internet would be claiming that he’d been high or drunk off his ass when it happened.
Damn, but he hated the modern world sometimes. Sure, technology gave people all over the world the chance to reach out and connect. That was a good thing. It also gave people from all over the world the chance to insult and tear each other down and he hatedthat.
Especially how the online world came after him and tried to tear him down over the years. Deciding that he was a bozo womaniser, shallow and basically a complete moron. The truth didn’t matter. Nobody cared about the truth.
He thought again about Cannoli Girl. So yeah,thatwas a surprise. And not an entirely unpleasant one, to be fair. While he was still pissed at her for knocking him over that time, Ward had to admit that he liked the way she’d come right at him from the start just now. In the past, other so-called media people typically tried to immediately ‘bond’ with him and act like they were his friend to get him to jump through whatever hoops they decided he needed to.
