Page 32 of On the Power Play

"Sorry, forgot about the time change."

"No, I'm always up late." He grunted like he was pushing up from an easy chair. "Any changes you want to the contract before I have Kels send it over for you to sign?"

"I don't think so." Jack felt like a dog skulking back to his owner with his tail between his legs. "I guess I don't fully understand how this will work. Delia's recording a new album there. I'm playing here. My management team says they can make some accommodations?—"

Tony laughed out loud. "Damn right, they can. Listen, it will take creativity, but we'll make it work. Do you have an agent or?—"

"Head of marketing. Her name's Lisa."

"Perfect. Send me over her info and we'll take care of it. At this point, you just need to sit back and enjoy the ride. And get to the damn airport on time, Kels hates rescheduling flights."

Chapter Nine

Delia chugged an entire glass of water with lemon, then sat down at the table and stared at the string of headlines on her phone. Mary had helped her set up a browser extension to notify her whenever her name or song titles appeared on the World Wide Web. That morning she’d woken up to twenty-two hundred notifications.

Offstage: Delia Melise turns heads with Harrison

Hope for Harrison’s sake Delia's love isn't as fleeting as her last hit single. ????

Someone tell Jack Harrison he’s supposed to dodge the pucks, not date them. #DeliaMelise

Did they or didn’t they? Delia Melise caught doing more than dinner with NHL Star Jack Harrison!

Delia groaned. Let the circus begin.

"Everything okay?" Her mother swooped into the kitchen and grabbed a Tupperware from the fridge with a salad she'd prepped for herself over the weekend.

Delia nodded. "Yeah." It was better than okay, which didn't explain why she needed to chew an antacid. A media explosion was exactly what they’d been hoping for, wasn’t it?

Her phone buzzed.

Mary

Check out these streams ??

Mary had included a screenshot of her Spotify dashboard. Jack's butt in the window had definitely made the impact they'd all hoped for. Scrolling through her social media feeds she'd already come across four different reels with captions like, OMG the way he kept her for himself or Bu-bye bodyguard, hello Jack Harrison.

Delia, of course, knew that every one of those stories about him being protective of her was false. Jack was a nice guy. And he felt strongly about tacos. Or not wasting food. Possibly a combination of both. Still, she found a small part of herself wondering what it would be like to have a guy who would put himself between her and the cameras.

"Delia, is that a picture of you?" Her mother leaned over her shoulder.

Delia dropped the phone on the table. "It—yeah. From the show last night."

"That didn't look like your venue."

Her cheeks flushed, and she reached for a banana from the fruit bowl. "Mary and I went out for dinner after."

Her mother raised an eyebrow. "I know how to Google too, you know."

Delia pressed her thumbnail into the peel and snapped the stem back. "There may have been a hockey player there. Tony thinks it would be good to have a bit of a public relationship."

"Since when do you know hockey players?" Her mother looked either affronted or impressed.

"Since Friday night." She peeled the banana and took a bite.

Her mother's hand lifted to the neckline of her sweater. She looked far too pleased about this turn of events. "So . . . you met him on Friday and now you're in a relationship?"

"It's not real, Mom. It's just for exposure. For both of us." The media headlines had been a surprise, but the biggest shock? The message from Tony saying that Jack had signed the contract the night before without any additions or changes.

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