Ty’s gaze moved from Tim to Mrs. Duffy. “That’s right, Miss July.”
She twisted the pearls around one long finger and Ty’s traitorous brain flashed on the picture of her naked with a string of pearls looped around one of her breasts. “Perhaps the reporters saw something that I didn’t.
Do you have a problem with me, Mr. Savage?”
Other than she didn’t know the difference be tween a defenseman and a forward, and the press tripped all over themselves to get to her? Other than he’d seen her naked peach and couldn’t get it out of his head? “No. No problem.”
“Excellent.” She smiled as her finger continued to twist those damn pearls, her red nails a bright contrast against all that beige.
“This is all very preliminary,” Tim assured him. “We want you to feel comfortable.”
That wasn’t going to happen. “Well Tim, I’m just never going to feel comfortable being some savage beast in a pair of hockey shorts.”
“Would you feel more comfortable if you were a savage beast in a loincloth?” One corner of Faith’s mouth tilted up higher than the other, and he was sure she was just trying to piss him off.
“Christ.” Ty stood and moved toward the door. “Find some other asshole.”
“She was kidding. I think.” Tim looked at Faith. “Weren’t you?”
“Of course.”
“We can come up with something you like better,” the PR manager said in a rush. “We really feel this will boost sales!”
Kidding or not, appearing on a billboard half naked wasn’t his style. His style was playing hard and putting points on the board. He reached for the doorknob. “Forget it.”
“Baby.”
There was a collective gasp as he stopped and turned slowly around. “What did you say?”
Jules leaned over and spoke in her ear. She shook her head and said, “I don’t particularly like the idea of creating friction to sell tickets, but you don’t see me whining and storming out like a baby.”
That was probably because she didn’t have to take off her shirt. Although it certainly wouldn’t have been her first time. “Let me make a few things really clear for you, Mrs. Duffy. First, I’m not a baby and I never whine.” Not even when he fractured bones or pulled tendons. Hell, he’d finished a game against the Rangers with a broken foot. “Second, I play hockey. That’s what you pay me to do. Nowhere in my contract does it stipulate that I have to appear shirtless on billboards and the sides of buses.”
“If you don’t want to take your shirt off, I think that’s fine.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Some people aren’t comfortable with their own sexuality. I understand, but the least you could do is listen to Tim and Bo. They’ve obviously put a lot of work into this, and in such a short time, too.” She turned her attention to the PR director and his assistant. “Thank you.”
“Sure.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Mr. Savage is just being unreasonable,” she added.
Comfortable with his sexuality? Did she just call him gay?
“Ten minutes,” Tim assured him. “Give us ten minutes to change your mind.”
To prove her wrong, and that he wasn’t completely unreasonable, he moved back to his chair and sat. “Ten minutes.” They could talk until they dropped dead from exhaustion, but they weren’t going to change his mind.
Chapter 6
Tilt your chin down just a little, Faith, and look right here.” Faith dipped her chin and raised her gaze to the photographer’s hand a few inches above his head. “Keep your eyes on me, Ty,” he added.
Inside the players’ lounge, Faith stood in the center of the big Chinooks logo and slightly behind the captain of her hockey team. Almost a week had past since she and Ty had sat in the PR meeting. Four days since the Chinooks had beaten Vancouver in game six and advanced to the next round in the playoffs.
It was after 7
P.M., long after the rest of the team had gone home for the day. The lounge had been stripped of furnishings and filled with camera equipment. Faith’s mother made herself useful by holding up a white light reflector. For once, Faith had been able to persuade her mother to leave her dog at home. Although she did fear that Pebbles might retaliate by chewing up the furniture.
“A little more to the right, Faith.”