Page 92 of Best Kept Secret
“It’s an assistant role,” Hannah says. “So, it’s notgreatmoney, but it’s such a fun place to work, and they’d love having you because you’re Dallas Shaw’s sister, and you’re—” She snaps her mouth shut as if she was about to say something about a particular right wing hockey player.
Fran makes a show of coughing dramatically, slapping herchest hard. Hannah glances at her then at me as if to ask if Fran knows. I nod once, silently confirming her unspoken question. And Hannah reaches over, gently slapping a hand against Fran’s back.
I side-eye Emily, thankful to find her none the wiser.
“Do you have a resume?” Hannah asks, quickly changing the subject back to me and my desperate need for a job.
“Yeah. I can send it to you.”
“I have a meeting tomorrow morning with my boss before he flies back to L.A., so I’ll speak to him. And don’t worry; he listens to me.” She offers me a wink.
My smile is watery. I could actually cry because I’ve never had anyone go out of their way for me the way Hannah is by simply offering to talk to her boss. And to think I hated her. “Thank you.”
She reaches across the table, squeezing my hand. And I startle as the crowd around us cheers again, looking up at the TV as the camera zooms in on Logan celebrating a goal. And I can’t help but feel like maybe that’s a sign. God, I hope so.
CHAPTER 41
MILLIE
Don’t tell him you don’t like sports. Don’t tell him you don’t like sports. Don’t tell him?—
“So how much do you know about SNN, Millie?” Patrick, the Director of Talent Management and Acquisitions offers me a smile as he looks up from my resume.
He’s nice. A little dorky. Definitely not intimidating. Dressed in an SNN hoodie and jeans, he’s relaxed back in his chair, one leg crossed, his sneakered foot resting on his opposite knee. In fact, as I glance around the open-plan office on the forty-ninth floor of the building in Rockefeller Center, this whole place screams casual, with ping pong and foosball tables interwoven between desks and focus pods, and couches where there are actually people lying down with their laptops resting on their chests. And here I am in a goddamn pencil skirt and heels. I’ve never felt more out of place.
“Um—” I swallow around a lump of nerves. “I know SNN is the biggest sports news and entertainment broadcast in the country. And that your quarterly magazine holds the record for the highest selling print publication in the United States for the last five years running.”
Patrick’s smile grows. “You’ve done your research.”
“Research is my specialty. I’m kind of a nerd like that.” I shrug with a self-deprecating laugh.
“Han told me you’re Dallas Shaw’s sister?” He quirks a brow.
“Yeah, but please don’t hold that against me.” I offer a wry smile.
He laughs, and I relax a little.
“Is hockey your sport of choice?”
Oh, great, here we go with the sports questions.
“Um, it’s okay…” I shrug. “Although I grew up around football, being from Texas.”
“You like football?”
“I mean… yeah…?”
Patrick’s brows knit together, and I know it’s likely due to the uncertainty in my tone. I keep my chin held high, but the longer he remains silent, his gaze laser focused on me, the more I’m sure he can see straight through me.
“I don’t like sports,” I admit so quickly the words are all strung together in one big mess of sounds. Snapping my mouth shut, I blink at him, briefly wondering if I can possibly pretend like I just said something else, or nothing at all. Yes, Millie, make the poor guy think you’re going nuts.
Patrick looks from me, down to my resume, and back again. “You…don’tlike sports?”
Oh, my God, Millie. One job. You had one goddamn job. With a resigned sigh, I shake my head because there’s really no use in lying now. “No. I don’t. Not at all. In fact, whenever I’m forced to go to a hockey game to watch my brother, I spend most of the time playingCandy Crushon my phone,” I confess with a grimace.
Patrick glances at his cell phone as the screen lights up. He holds it in the air, standing. “Sorry, Millie. Do you mind if I take this?”
“Go ahead.” Might as well delay the inevitablewe’ll be in touchspiel for as long as I can.
