“So, basically what you’re saying is people will assume you got access because you were sleeping with me.”
“That’s exactly what I don’t want people assuming.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s bullshit, and I will physically fight anyone who tries to discredit you. You’ve earned this, and I’ll be damned if I become the reason that costs you something you worked so hard for. I also don’t want you to feel like you have to choose between me or your career.”
And just like that, the edges I’d been gripping on to started softening. I didn’t realize how much I needed his understanding until now. He could have told me I was overreacting and thinking too hard, but he didn’t. He wasn’t trying to rush this forward or make this all about him. He was giving me space to handle this on my own. On my terms.
“I don’t want that either. I’d like to choose how to handle both. I’ll talk to her tomorrow and see what she says.”
After we hung up, I lay back, staring up at the ceiling fan. Maybe we hadn’t done anything wrong, but it certainly wasn’t innocent either. I’ve built my reputation carefully, and now I was gambling with it. I was risking everything I had worked for. IfNate and I had any chance at all to move forward, I needed to figure out how to protect us both from the fallout.
CHAPTER 16
BECCA
I pausedoutside Daphene’s door, trying to summon the courage to step inside. It shouldn’t be this hard. Feelings happened. I was human. Just because I was a reporter, that didn’t mean I didn’t have a heart.
I pulled on my black skirt, telling myself that I needed to keep it together.
She was most likely going to remind me how inappropriate the situation was. Given the fact that I was assigned to write this article, I was already under a microscope. A fact, which I understood, even if I hated it.
I tapped my fingers on the door and stepped inside. Daphene was at her desk, glasses perched low while she stared at her computer screen.
“Hi. Do you have a few minutes?”
“Morning.” She glanced up, her expression softened immediately. “You look like you’re about to deliver bad news. Is everything okay?”
I almost laughed at the understatement. “I wanted to talk to you privately. Do you have a minute?”
“Of course.” She waved me over, gesturing toward the chair across from her desk. “Come on in and have a seat.”
I closed the door behind me as the room went suddenly quiet. This was going to sound bad. I’ve been around athletes my entire career. I knew situations like this happened. They have just never happened to me.
“How’s the interview going?” she asked, leaning back in her seat.
“It’s going well, I think.” I stared at her for a minute, taking a moment to collect my thoughts. I spent the better part of last night practicing this speech in my head. Sometime between closing my eyes and the sun rising, I convinced myself I could do this. Now that I was sitting in front her, I wasn’t so sure.
“That’s great to hear.” She leaned back slightly. “Is everything okay? I feel a ‘but’ coming on.”
My fingers tightened on the armrest of the chair. “I wanted to talk to you about something before I go any further.”
Her forehead creased. “I’m listening.”
“It’s about Nate Sandler.”
“What about him?” she asked. “Are the two of you still butting heads? Is he giving you a hard time?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m trying not to make a big deal out of this, but I’ve been spending some time with Nate and somewhere during the sit-down conversations, some personal feelings started developing,” I said carefully.
Surprisingly, she didn’t react. The floor didn’t cave in, and the world didn’t end.
Daphene removed her glasses and set them down on the desk. “Has anything inappropriate happened between the two of you?”
I glanced down at my hands, trying to be as truthful as possible without going into too much detail. Especially about the FaceTime call, because she didn’t need to know about that. “Nothing physical, but I wanted to talk this through with you before it becomes a problem.”
“Okay. I appreciate you coming to me early.”
I stared at the plant behind her desk. “There is no way things could continue as they are. Lines are starting to blur. I didn’t want it to happen, but I also can’t ignore these feelings either.”
