Page 27 of The Player

Especially a high-needs child.

‘Did you travel much?’

She shook her head. ‘No, I didn’t want to become one of those women who clung to their man.’

And she couldn’t leave Cindy for long stints, not that Wade needed to know that. It was one of the things that had eventually come between her and Jimmy. He needed full-time glam eye candy on his arm wherever he went; she needed to devote time to her sister. They’d parted on amicable terms despite what the press said.

But her heart had been a teeny-weeny bit broken because he was the first guy she’d ever loved, the only guy she’d ever loved.

And he’d walked away, just like her folks.

Thankfully, she’d developed a pragmatic outlook to life over the years and, while Jimmy continued to be plastered over the media, she was glad she’d stepped off his bandwagon.

‘I thought that’s what WAGs do. Pander to the whims of their superstar partners. Hand-feed them grapes. Fan them with palm fronds. Give them facials on demand.’

He was winding her up and her lips curved in an answering grin.

‘You forgot being on call twenty-four-seven.’

He snapped his fingers. ‘Thanks for clarifying.’

‘Actually, you’re not far off the mark.’

He arched a brow and she continued. ‘You’re on show every time you step out. Scrutinised all the time. It felt like a full-time job in the end.’

‘Is that why you broke up?’

‘Something like that.’

She didn’t know if he was asking these questions in a professional capacity or assuaging his curiosity, but for now she was happy to answer. Sticking to the facts was easy. It was the potential landmine questions she’d need to carefully navigate.

‘And then you dated a basketball star.’

She wrinkled her nose and he laughed. ‘That good, huh?’

‘Off the record? Henri and I had a convenient arrangement. Nothing more.’

Confusion creased his brow. ‘How did that work?’

‘He needed a girlfriend. I needed the lifestyle he provided.’

She threw it out there, gauging his reaction.

His eyes widened and his lips tightened, his frown deepening.

‘I don’t understand.’

She shrugged, as if his opinion didn’t matter, when it irked he thought badly of her. Not that it should surprise her. They hardly knew each other, despite one night of amazing sex.

But for someone who’d spent the last umpteen years being judged by everyone, it really pissed her off to add Wade to that list.

‘Our fake dating arrangement was mutually beneficial. That’s all anyone needs to understand.’

He recoiled as if she’d slapped him. ‘I hope you’ll be giving us more than that in the book.’

‘My biography will be comprehensive.’

He continued to stare at her as if she’d morphed from an angel to the devil incarnate and she struggled not to squirm beneath the scrutiny. When the silence grew painfully uncomfortable, she gestured to the stack of paperwork on his desk.

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