“Cassie’s fine. I’ll check in on her tomorrow, but honestly, she’s doing really well.”
Those reassuring words made me feel enormously better, for a few minutes at least. Long enough for them to leave and for me to make sure the door was unlocked so Gia could come in, no matter what time it was.
And then I lay back in bed and waited.
Chapter Eighteen
Gia
I tried to be quiet as I entered Connor’s apartment. I’d spent the last three hours creating the Bobcats’ press release and fielding calls from the press. Somehow Sophia had turned Connor’s knee injury into a feel-good piece about a player risking his career to save a child. It matched the frenzy of interest there’d been when Jake had rescued Ellie and a young boy from a burning building, except for one horrible difference. It was a lie.
And that put me in a terrible position. Sophia was obviously working overtime to create media buzz out of thin air. As the Bobcat representative, my job was to encourage all the good press I could, but this was a disaster in the making. I walked a fine line, trying to support Connor’s image without agreeing with anything Sophia said.
It was impossible, and in the end, I did something I never do. I turned off my phone. I abdicated my responsibility and caught an Uber to Connor’s apartment. He’d texted me that my keys were on his kitchen counter and that I should just walk in. No problem, except that once I got inside his apartment, I couldn’t resist checking in on him.
And he, naturally, woke up the second I came near.
“Gia?”
“Yeah. Just getting my keys. How do you feel?”
“Like I’m on the good drugs.”
I smiled. He did sound a little out of it. “Enjoy. I’ll just get—”
“Stay with me.”
Those three words stopped me in my tracks. Why? Because I’d been waiting for him to say them. Part of me had lingered, hoping for the invite. But the other part—the rational part—was getting really pissed. How could he think I was anything like his witch of a sister? Sure, we both played the publicity game, but she was a liar, plain and simple. I might focus attention where I wanted it, but I never outright lied. And I sure as hell never manufactured stories like she had tonight.
“It’s not a good idea, Connor. I don’t think I’m in the right frame of mind.”
He flicked on his bedside lamp, and I got to see him stretched out, naked on his bed. The sheet covered him from the waist down, including his raised knee, but his chest was golden in the soft light, his body on beautiful display. His face was relaxed and open, his gaze fuzzy, and his mouth curved into a smile.
“Stay with me, please. Just for a bit. We can talk about why you’re angry.”
I blinked. “How do you know I’m angry?”
He sighed. “You were dealing with Sophia’s fallout. You have to be angry.”
For a guy who’d maxed out on painkillers, he was damned sharp. I hesitated a moment. He needed his rest. But when would I have a better opportunity to hash this out with him?
I settled down on the bed beside him, facing all that glorious expanse of beautiful man, and wondered if I was about to destroy any chance of ever having a real relationship with him. But I couldn’t keep silent any longer. “How can you put the two of us in the same category?”
He frowned. “I don’t.” He picked up his phone from where it had been lying beside him on the bed. “I’ve been watching the feeds. She’s making me look—”
“Like a hero.”
He nodded. “And you’ve been trying to downplay it. Not exactly calling her a liar, but trying to keep things real.” He took my hand. “Thank you.”
“Why do you allow it? Why do you let her do this to you?” I leaned forward, determined to ask something that had been bothering me for a while. “How did she get those calendar pictures of you?”
“Stalking and Photoshop. She caught me on vacation for some. I didn’t even know she was there. Then later, she hid in my closet.” He arched a brow at me. “Do you honestly think I’d lie naked on a bed for her?”
“No.” But I’d been up close and personal with his body and knew that the photos weren’t far off. He absolutely looked that good.
“Do you really think she’s helping your career?”
He shrugged. “Hard to say. Do you?”
