A knock at his door sounded and he grimaced, annoyed that he needed to start his with another training session. His knee seemed to throb in response and the storm cloud over his head grew larger. The last thing he wanted to do was be subjected to Shelley’s borderline physical abuse. Yet another no-nonsense female unwilling to deal with his shit.

As if Pretzel wasn’t bad enough.

Exhaling, he went to open the door and Shelley breezed in with barely a hello.

‘Man, it’s a madhouse out there today,’ she commented as she threw a duffel bag containing workout gear on the couch.

‘In this town what else is new?’

Ward settled down on a yoga mat, and she began her usual machinations on him with a variety of stretches. He did his best to push on through the pain but it wasn’t easy today and it showed on his face.

‘This hurting?’ she asked, digging an elbow into his glute.

‘No,’ he growled. ‘Everything is wonderful.’

She eased off ever so slightly but continued with consistent pressure as if recognising that he still needed to be the tough guy.

‘So,’ she asked then, evidently trying to distract him from the discomfort, ‘Johnny tells me you’re working with a publicist now?’

This earned her another growl. ‘Yeah, what’s it to you?’

Shelley flung her ponytail over her shoulder as she transferred her elbow to Ward’s right glute and dug in. He was tense all over. ‘I’m just … surprised to tell you the truth. You don’t strike me as the PR-hungry type.’

‘I’m not. But I’m being forced to work with this pain-in-the-ass girl. Story of my life.’

Recognizing the not-so-subtle dig, Shelley rolled her eyes, pushed his body to the ground and grabbed his left knee, stretching it high in front of him.

‘Well, whoever she is I’m sure she’s great at her job, but no one’s a miracle worker. Did you know that I work with a lot of pro athletes and none of them whine as much as you do?’ She pushed his leg harder, lengthening his hamstring.

‘She knows what she’s dealing with. I told her straight-up that I wasn’t going along with any lame-ass bullshit, so she’s coming back with a strategy, something I can work with.’

Shelley nodded as she released his leg and began stretching the other.

‘Like I have a strategy personalised to your needs. I guess her job and mine are not so different. I’m trying to help you improve physically and she – what’s her name?’

‘Hannah.’

‘Hannah is trying to improve you reputationally. Both of us treating two very different sides of WildCat Ward McKenzie.’ She grinned. ‘If you ask me, she has the tougher job, way tougher.’

‘Ha. Very funny.’