‘I called you twice yesterday,’ he grunted by way of a greeting. ‘And texted earlier to check if I was in the right place. I wasn’t even sure if you’d show up.’

‘Why wouldn’t I show up?’ Hannah glanced down at her phone for the first time that morning. Since last night, she’d been treating it like a ticking time bomb. ‘I’m sorry. I switch my phone to silent mode after hours and forgot to take it back off this morning. It’s been blowing up … and my cab driver was a chatterbox. So much traffic, too,’ she lied.

‘Really? I didn’t hit much.’

‘I’m coming from a different part of town though,’ she replied. Her voice was snappy, which was unlike her.

‘Like I said, I called you,’ he grunted. ‘After you posted that article that made me seem like some kind of pathetic loser. And what the hell were you thinking with that picture?’

His all-too-familiar petulance, especially given the night she’d just endured, was the last straw, and despite her best intentions, something in her snapped.

‘Oh, for crying out loud, not this again. You think that because you revealed a little warmth, a little humanity, it makes you a loser? Let me tell you something, Ward McKenzie, the strongest, most incredible men I’ve ever known have all been comfortable with who they are, regardless of how anyone else views them. If you think showing a little vulnerability means that you’re a loser, well, maybe that just proves that you are one.’

All at once she noticed her hands shaking and cursed herself for losing control. Ensuring smooth sailing might be Hannah’s job, but right then she’d had just about enough of trying to keep people – mostly troublesome men of late – in check.

To say nothing of very little sleep.

‘How the hell can you say that?’ Ward shot back. ‘There are already freakin’ memes about me and those cats.’

‘There’s also a lot of people who thought it was one of the best things they’ve seen lately – a tough guy like you not being afraid to show your sensitive side. Step out of the Stone Age, McKenzie. You don’t always have to play the macho jerk.’

‘Just because I don’t like people making fun of me doesn’t mean I’m a macho jerk.’

‘As long as you know who you are, who the hell cares what anyone else thinks?’

‘Come on. It’s more than that and you know it. Guys on the team, to say nothing of opponents, are going to think I’m weak. They’re not going to take me seriously.’

‘If that’s your biggest concern, then you’re not seeing how even that can work out in your favour.’

He frowned. ‘What are you talking about?’