‘You OK?’ Ward muttered but Hannah was still too dazed to reply. Ward had placed himself directly in front of her, blocking her from Rob, and the golfer immediately recognized the square off. He jutted his chin in response, but it was evident that he had not anticipated such a public showdown. Her ex thrust his chest out defensively, trying to look bigger than he was. While both men were professional athletes, Ward was built for physicality and altercation. After all, it wasn’t as if golfers were ever encouraged to develop a gloves-off mindset while on the links.

Rob sniffed sarcastically. ‘What’s it to you, McKenzie? Can’t see how this is any of your business.’ He glanced over to where Shelley stood, still rooted in the spot at the red carpet side of the media line, all press attention now turned in the other direction. ‘And why would a dude who can pull that sort of tail worry about this?’ He pointed a finger at Hannah and snorted a derisive laugh. ‘Unless … ’ he added nastily, clearly for the benefit of the rapt media present, ‘is little Miss Hannah another side piece then? Mixing work and pleasure like she’s known to do. Get paid and get laid? I should have figured …’

‘Keep her name out of your mouth, asshole … ’ Ward glowered. He turned back to check on Hannah who remained there shocked and speechless, her face painted a deep crimson.

Taking advantage of the fact that his head was turned, Rob moved quickly and punched Ward on the left cheek. Ward stepped backwards a little, into a row of cameramen clicking gleefully. But he recovered quickly, fire blazing in his eyes. And dark delight peppered his face as if this was exactly the invitation he had been waiting for.

No one dared sucker-punch Ward McKenzie.

In one deft movement, and with a wry smile, Ward casually discarded the jacket of his suit, pushed up his sleeves and charged forward.

The wildcat’s claws were out.

His first punch landed squarely on Kendrick’s nose and his mouth twitched at the satisfying crunch of bone and cartilage under his fist. His opponent squealed and swung a return with one arm, while reaching for his face with the other.

Through it all, the cameras flashed – and Hannah felt frozen, watching in dismay. Yes, he might have been trying to defend her honour, but she knew all of her hard work – everything she had tried to do to repair Ward’s image – and salvage her own career, it was all going down the tubes right now. It was Rob’s own fault for daring to attack, there was no way a guy like Ward would let that go, and now everything was completely out of control.

Her mind swam, desperately trying to make sense of it all. Ward had clearly understood she was unsafe just now, but how did he even know about her and Rob?