Page 20 of Date with a Devil
The team plane had arrived back in Dallas late Friday night, and Dane was happy to have a much-needed day of rest after another winless road trip. He took full advantage of his open schedule and slept in late on Saturday—a rare treat for a busy athlete.
But a player like Dane didn’t get to his position by lounging around the house. After a hearty breakfast, he hit the gym in his one-point-nine-million-dollar home in Preston Hollow to pump iron.
It was two o’clock when the doorbell rang, interrupting his workout.
Who the hell is that?he wondered. His teammates always called if they wanted to hang out—unless, of course, they were playing a prank.Bet you anything Reavo got bored and wrangled the boys together.
Heart still racing after crushing a set of deadlifts, the hockey player went to the door and opened it cautiously, expecting to get tackled or hit in the face with a pie orwho knewwhat.
But it wasn’t his teammates he saw when he cracked the door open. It was Austen Marlowe standing on his doorstep. Dane put his fist to his forehead and muttered.
Fuck. Date with a Devil.
He had to admit, she looked pretty cute, standing on his doorstep. He was happy to see that she’d worn her wavy hair down, the luxuriant locks reaching to the small of her back. But he wasn’t exactly psyched to see her crew hovering right behind her, camera aimed right at him.
“Dane DeHardt!” She looked just as surprised to see him. “You’re, um, shirtless. And all sweaty.”
“Yeah, uh, I actually—”
She turned and spoke directly into the camera. “Dane DeHardt forgot all about our date. Ouch. Not gonna lie, you guys, I’m bummin’ right now.”
Dane realized that Austen, the unhappy girl he met in the locker room, and Austy Marlowe, the TV personality, were very different people. Of course that was obvious and to be expected, but her act still took him by surprise. What happened to the girl thatdidn’twant to do this interview?
This is gonna suck more than I thought,he thought with a groan.Unless I can get her to drop the shtick.
Dane motioned at the camera crew and quietly asked Austen, “What’s all this?”
She gave him a dumbfounded look but tried to stay in character. “This is my crew, Dane. That’s Johnny with the camera and Frederick with the boom mic. And for the purposes of this interview, it’d be better if you pretend like they’re not even there.”
“That’s gonna be hard.” He eyed the two men suspiciously. “You didn’t say anything about a crew.”
“Are you serious? How’d you expect us to film the interview?”
He shrugged. “I dunno. With your cell phone or a GoPro or something.”
“You’ve never even seen the show before, have you?”
“Guilty as charged.”
“Well, at least that explains why you thought I’d be doing some kind of hit piece on you.” She sighed. “So are you ready to go or what?”
“Look at me.” He spread his arms, proudly displaying his bare upper body. Beads of sweat trickled down his chiseled torso. “Do I look ready?”
Austen’s eyes darted up and down his chest before she forced herself to look away.
“How long do you need?” she muttered, shaking her head.
“Let me rinse off real quick. You wanna wait inside?”
“I guess so.” She shivered, despite the fact that she wore a puffy winter jacket and a bulky knit scarf. “It’s super cold today.”
Dane always laughed when native Texans complained about their forty-degree ‘winters.’ “This isn’t cold. But come on in and warm up anyway.”
He opened the door and stepped aside. Austen walked in, but when her camera crew tried to follow, he threw up his arm and blocked them. “Nope. You guys can wait out there.”
“But we could freeze!” Johnny the cameraman yelped.
Dane shut the door in their faces anyway.
