Page 20 of Power Pucking Play

I scoff and open the door to my office. "Well, now you'll be seeing me all the time. Lucky you."

As I sit at my desk, turning on my computer and going through emails, Gio lingers in the doorway. His tall, muscular body nearly fills the frame.

"Can I help you with something?" I ask, not looking up from the screen.

"Just waiting for you to give me whatever I need for this 'project' to begin.”

I pick up my desk phone. "I'm already on it." Hitting a few buttons on the phone, I call down to the intern's cubicle. "Hey, Sophie. Can you bring me the files for the new project on Gio? Thanks."

Gio watches me hang up before taking a few steps into my office. "Impressive."

"What is?"

"How you have everything under control. How you seem prepared for all contingencies. No wonder Charlie thinks highly of you." He leans against my desk, crossing one ankle over the other.

I shrug. "It's just part of the job."

"But you're good at it." His voice lowers, almost a whisper. "You're good at other things too."

My cheeks heat up and I look back down at my computer screen, pretending to be busy. Luckily, Sophie arrives, and I don't have to pretend anymore.

The twenty-three-year-old intern's blue eyes widen when she sees Gio standing in my office. "Oh, um, Miss Brookes, here are the files you asked for."

"Thank you, Sophie." I take the files from her, dismissing her with a smile.

Gio watches Sophie leave before turning back to me. "You have quite the effect on your intern. She practically ran out of here."

"That's because a big 'hunky' hockey player was standing in my office."

Gio chuckles. "So, you think I'm hunky?"

"No. But she does." I open the files and start going through them, trying to focus on work and not on Gio's flirtatious comments.

"So you're not affected by me at all?"

The question has a tone of challenge to it, and I can't resist looking up at him. My eyes glance up to meet his emerald gazebriefly. "Of course not. I'm a professional." I separate the files, extending a few documents his way. "By the way, here are the contracts. I'm sure your agent and lawyer have already been sent copies. Your team will look them over, sign them, and get them back to me by next week."

"Next week?"

"Sure. They've already gotten a copy of the contracts beforehand. I'm sure it'll be an easy decision for them to make." I clear my throat. "Just to remind you, I'll have full access to your games, practices, and personal life these next few weeks. I'll be interviewing you, getting to know your teammates and coaches, and basically shadowing you for the feature."

"Ah, so you'll literally be a bug up my butt." He winks, causing me to roll my eyes.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad."

"Depends on how you define 'bad'."

"Well, you're the one that agreed to this interview, Gio. Just remember that." I finish looking through the files and close the folder, placing it on my desk. "One might be suspicious about how just two days ago, you couldn't wait to get rid of me, and now you're all in."

Gio leans back against my desk, crossing one leg over the other. "I have nothing to hide. Besides, maybe I just realized the benefits of having a top reporter in my corner," he says, his voice neutral.

I snort. "Yeah, right. And I'm the Duchess of Cambridge."

"Well, Your Grace," he says with a mock bow, "I guess you'll just have to trust me."

"Trust you? That's rich coming from the guy who once told me I couldn't be trusted to report on a high school bake sale."

"Okay, that was a low blow. But in my defense, you had just written that scathing article about my 'unnecessary roughness' on the ice."

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