She took out her phone and set it down on the small coffee table between them. Ward could see onscreen some app designed to mimic an old-style pocket-tape recorder, and his stomach instinctively tightened. ‘What’s that?’

‘I’m just going to ask you a few questions and all I want is for you to answer them honestly. I know you’re afraid of letting down your guard, Ward, but I promise you that I’m not going to do anything to jeopardise your career or your privacy.’

His jaw tightened. ‘I’m not afraid of anything.’

She seemed to be stifling a smile. ‘Sorry, yes, reluctant is the word I meant to use.’

Suddenly he wanted to get the hell out of there. He’d told himself this was just another interview with just another person from the PR world. Granted, this particular person wasn’t like most of the others, but he was familiar enough with this stuff to understand the rules at least, if not the game itself.

He could handle this. He was a professional.

He guessed now he should feel lucky to have this chance – to be here, able to sit with someone like Hannah, who, it seemed, really did want to help him salvage his career.

Thanks to her straight-talking, he’d been forced to acknowledge that in an alternative reality, he could be some working stiff who had to punch in and out of an office every day chasing a brass ring, and answering to an endless array of middle managers about one meaningless report after another while they timed his lunch breaks. Just like his mom always wanted.

Instead, he was living his dream. Not someone else’s. He didn’t have to fit inside a nameless, faceless box that some corporate overlord dictated. Though to be fair, Panthers owner Craig Sumners pretty much fit that bill. Still, Ward’s office was the rink. His job description required a set of skates, a helmet, a couple of smelly gloves and a badass exterior. He was even allowed to start fights at work. But lately, he had been stupid enough to think that he was invincible.

Hannah’s brutal assessment of him had brought him to his senses. He knew he had to be extremely careful around her though, because he’d already seen she was the kind of person who managed to get people to let their guard down.

He didn’t want to let his guard down. Especially not with her.

All you need to do is stay focused and watch what you say. And chill. She’s not some kind of witch. She’s just a publicist who happens to be very good at her job. And most important of all, she wants to help.