Page 18 of Conrad

No greeting, text above a picture?—

Clarice

Did you do this on purpose?

And then a photo of . . .oh boy.Her and Conrad on the dance floor, his big hands on the small of her back, her arms wrapped around his neck, andshootbut he was sweet and handsome and looked down at her with a hint of a smile.

She couldn’t take her eyes off the smile. Because it seemed . . .oh no . . .it seemed like he actually liked her. At least, from the warmth in his gaze.

Hitting Reply:

Penelope

It was just a dance.

She sent it. Set down her phone.

And it didn’t take much for her to remember his chest against hers as they’d danced, the strength of his arms cocooning her, the woodsy scent of him?—

Her phone rang and she swiped open the call, put it on speaker. “I promise, it’s not a thing.”

“Looks like a thing.” Clarice, probably in her cute Franklin, Tennessee home office, already three cups of coffee into her day.

“It was a charity event for EmPowerPlay. He plays hockey?—”

“I know who King Con is, Penelope. And who he should be to you.”

What?

Clarice’s chair squeaked, as if she might be leaning forward. “You should date him.”

“No. What? No, absolutely not.”

“I don’t mean for real. I get it. Conrad Kingston is a player. He stole a teammate’s girlfriend from right under his nose. He has at least one restraining order out on a previous girlfriend. And at least a half dozen shadow Instagram accounts who post sightings. Who knows if he’s behind them, but let’s say his combined reach is nearly double yours.”

It is?

“You post a few pictures of you two out, tag him, and your podcast will explode.”

“Wait. You want me to join the ranks as one of Conrad’s ice bunnies?”

“No. Okay, maybe yes. But frankly, you’d help him too—he needs a bit of a reputation cleanup. I already have a call in to Felicity?—”

“Who?”

“The publicist for the Blue Ox. Listen. It doesn’t have to be forever. Just a few events, you two smiling, and boom, it’s Travis Kelce dating Taylor Swift. Although you’d be Kelce in this situation.”

“The football player?”

“Who had a podcast. That exploded when he started dating Swift.”

“I think he was popular before he started dating her?—”

“Didn’t hurt his reach though, did it?”

A beat. “You want me to use Conrad for his social-media audience? That’s . . . um . . .”

“Done all the time, sweetie. And like I said—it’s a win for Conrad too. To be dating a Pepper? Think of what it might do for your little charity. What’s it called—Power Play?”

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