“Maybe we could feed them the questions to ask.”

Savannah shook her head. “You can’t limit the media. That will only make them suspicious and more difficult to deal with. It’s best to be an open book. The more honest you are, the less negative they’ll be.”

Before he could object, Liz piped up with, “This is why we brought Savannah in. She’s an expert in this area.”

He knew he was going to get ganged up on. Good thing he’d already eaten lunch because just thinking about sitting down with sports media had his stomach clenching. “Fine. When?”

Savannah checked her phone. “In about two hours. They want it for the broadcast tonight.”

“You set me up so I wouldn’t have time to think about it.”

“Of course we set you up,” Liz said with a sly grin. “What kind of an agent would I be if I didn’t maneuver you into doing my bidding?”

He turned to Savannah. “How long have you known about this?”

She frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“That date we had last night. Was that to mellow me out and make it more likely I’d be cooperative?”

She frowned. “I didn’t know anything about the interview last night. Liz called me this morning about it.”

Liz glanced from him to Savannah. “What date?”

Savannah waved her hand. “It was nothing. An exercise.”

“Uh-huh. Whatever. I’ll leave you two to work on the specifics of the interview. I have wedding stuff.”

Liz kissed Savannah’s cheek and stood, glaring at Cole with her fiercest agent look. “Behave and don’t f**k this up.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I’m serious. And I need you to take this seriously.”

“Jesus. I said I would and I will. You two are like my grandmother. Nags. Go play bride-to-be and leave me alone. I’ll be good.”

She laughed. “See you later.”

After Liz left, he turned to Savannah. “Okay, get me the hell ready for this inquisition.”

She stood. “Let’s go to the studio. They’ve offered us private space for preparation prior to the interview.”

“I don’t think so. We’ll go to my place. I don’t want them bugging the room or popping in to see how we’re doing and asking a bunch of nosy questions. They’ll get my time for the interview and nothing before that.”

“Paranoid much?”

“Yeah, totally. I don’t trust the media. They’ve screwed me over too many times.”

She followed him back to his condo. He cleared a spot at the table and they grabbed some water and sat.

“All right,” Savannah said, pulling a sheet of paper from her briefcase. “Since this is local news and not national, they’re likely just going to ask you about you being with the Traders this season. Remember, their job is to talk up their local team, not just you. I’ve met Hal Marbrook and have worked with him on behalf of the team before. He’s been with this network sports outlet for fifteen years. He’s a nice man, and also very knowledgeable about the Traders. He’s aware of the team’s needs and what they’ve risked bringing you on board. So while he’ll cut you some slack because of his dedication to the Traders, he might press you about your past altercations. Be prepared for that.”

“I’m always prepared for anything when it comes to the media. And I don’t doubt for a second that no matter how nice a guy Hal Marbrook is, it’s his job to get a juicy story.”

“Just don’t go into it thinking negatively. He could make you look good.”

He wasn’t buying it. “It’s not the media’s job to make players look good. It’s their job to gain viewership. Controversy gains viewers. If you got him an interview with me as an exclusive, I can guarantee you he’s coming after me.”

She nodded. “It’s a possibility, but I don’t think so. So don’t plan on a fight when you might not get one. Be pleasant, be courteous, and above all, smile. Take a lot of deep breaths and pause before you answer each question. Think about your answer. Remember, you need your hometown in your corner. You’re not going to get them if you piss them off before you ever take the field for your first preseason game.”

He couldn’t tell if this was her normal way of dealing with her clients, or if she was covering all her bases because she was afraid he was going to explode into some chair-throwing maniac on the air.

“You know, just because I got into a few altercations with some of the media doesn’t mean I’m going to implode every time someone with the press interviews me. I really do know how to handle myself in an interview.”

“Really? Because you haven’t shown much of that lately.”

Okay, she had him there. “Trust me. I’ll prove it to you.”

“You’re going to have to, because I was hired to rework your image, and a large part of that involves your relationship with the media, which you have to admit hasn’t always been a friendly one.”

“I’ll admit to that.”

“Upper management expects that to change.”

“And that sounds an awful lot like an ‘or else.’ ”

“I don’t deal in ‘or elses.’ That’s for upper management.”

She leveled a sweet-as-pie smile at him while delivering that not-so-subtle threat. He’d have to be brain-dead to miss it.

He wasn’t brain-dead. “I’ll handle it.”

“I’m sure you will. Would you like to go over some practice questions so we can work on your potential answers?”

He laughed. “Not a chance in hell. I’d rather go off the cuff.”

“Uh-huh. And that’s what’s gotten you into trouble in the past. I’d much rather have you well prepared for any possibility.”

“And you know as well as I do that you can’t prepare for what they might throw at me.”

“No, but we can practice.”

He stood and grabbed his phone. “Look at the time. I should change clothes so we’re not late.”

“Cole.” She stood, the warning tone in her voice making her unhappiness very clear to him.

“I’ll be right back, Peaches.” He stopped, turned to her. “Unless you’d like to come into the bedroom and dress me, too.”

She crossed her arms. “I’ll pass.”

* * *

SAVANNAH HELD HER BREATH AS HAL SHOOK HANDS with Cole. She had to wait outside the recording studio, which seemed like miles away.

Not that she could do anything for Cole even if she was sitting right next to him. She couldn’t put the right answers in his mouth. Whatever he said, he’d have to own.

Hal started slow, talking about Cole’s hometown connection to St. Louis. Obviously tense at first, Cole seemed to relax under Hal’s easygoing style of questions about how Cole would fit into the Trader lineup. Cole handled those answers just fine. He had enthusiasm, really talked up the Traders, kept his points to discussing the team and how excited he was to be a part of such a great organization.

It was perfect.

“So tell me, Cole. Given your past and the fact you’ve often been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons, why do you think the Traders took a gamble on you?” Hal asked.

Uh-oh.

She saw the change in Cole’s expression, the way he leaned back in his chair.

Please think before you answer, Cole.

He opened his mouth, then looked across the room to the booth where she sat. He took a deep breath and said, “Well, Hal, you can’t believe everything you hear about me.”

“So all those previous media reports are lies?”

He gave Hal a grin. “Of course they are.”

Hal gave Cole a disbelieving look. “Nothing printed about you previously is the truth.”

“Hey, I’m no Boy Scout. Like I said, you can’t believe everything that’s been said about me. But some of those things happened when I was younger. I learned a few lessons.”

“So you’re turning over a new leaf with the Traders.”

“Clean slate. New start. And in answer to your question, the Traders took a gamble on me because I’m one of the best wide receivers out there.”

Hal laughed. “Pretty bold statement considering there are three awesome receivers on the team.”

“I’m confident in my skills. Obviously the Traders are, too. Otherwise they wouldn’t have picked me up. But rather than just talking about what I can do, I hope you and the Trader fans will tune in to see what I can do.”

Savannah relaxed her shoulders. Excellent answer. And Hal wasn’t a contentious interviewer, so he didn’t get into the negatives about Cole’s past. Cole and Hal shook hands after the interview and Cole met her outside the booth.

He gave her a smile. “Did I pass?”

“You did okay.”

“I did better than okay and you know it.”

They walked toward the front door and outside. “Hal was easy on you. He’s not going to besmirch anyone with the Traders because he doesn’t want to risk his press pass to the locker room. The real test will come when you have to face national media. But as a first test, you passed.”

“Good enough.”

“We need to work through some of the questions that will come up when you do have those interviews.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her calendar. “I have some free time tomorrow afternoon.”

Cole shook his head. “Can’t. I have Gavin’s wedding coming up and I’m one of the groomsmen. I have all this…wedding stuff to do over the next few days.”

“Oh, that’s right. Fine. We’ll start on Monday.”

“That’ll work.”

“I guess I’ll head out, then.”

She walked to her car and he opened the door. “Savannah.”

She turned. “Yes.”

“You wanna talk about last night?”

“What about last night?”

“That kiss between you and me. And what happened the other night at your place.”

“Nothing happened, Cole. Nothing that’s going to be repeated, anyway, so there’s nothing to talk about.”

“If that’s the way you want to play it.”

“It is. It’s best if we keep our relationship strictly business.” The chemistry between them scared her. She had to be on her guard around him to make sure what happened never happened again.

And he knew she was attracted to him. She caught the hint of a smile, but then it was gone.

“Sure. I’ll see you Monday.”

He turned and she slid into her car. Now it was her turn to smile.

He’d see her well before Monday.

EIGHT

COLE STOOD IN THE SMALL, SUFFOCATING ROOM IN the back of the church, feeling claustrophobic and wishing this were over already so he could be at the bar. But he’d do anything for his cousin Gavin, including hanging back here to wait for the ceremony that was already ten minutes late.

“Leave it to Liz to need to make an entrance,” Gavin said as he looked out the window.

“Maybe she bailed on you.”

Gavin shot his brother, Mick, a glare. “She’ll show up. Or I’ll hunt her down and kill her.”

That made Mick laugh. “You do realize you’re in church.”

“And God knows Elizabeth. He’d forgive me.”

Cole shook his head. Weddings were so not his deal. It was hot and humid today and wearing this tux didn’t help. Nor did being packed in like sardines in this tiny little room with a bunch of men, one of whom was pacing.

Mick’s phone rang and he picked up and listened. “Okay, babe. Smile pretty when you come down the aisle.” He pocketed the phone. “Tara said we’ll start in about ten minutes.”

Gavin groaned.

“Hey, at least she showed up,” Cole said.

“Yup. It’ll be over before you know it. And then your lifetime of servitude begins.”

Dedrick, one of Gavin’s teammates and best friends, shot Gavin a huge grin.

Gavin laughed. “I hope so, Deed, because we have a game on Friday night.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t get married during the off-season,” Cole said.

Gavin gave Cole one of those looks. “You obviously don’t know my soon-to-be wife and your new agent all that well yet. She wanted the wedding now, in July, and by god she was going to have one, even if it’s in the middle of baseball season and on a Wednesday night. She arranged it around the All Star break so there’d be a few days off.”

“She had to plan it around our season,” Tommy, one of the other teammates said as he buttoned and unbuttoned his jacket. “My wife, Haley, said Liz was kind of determined.”

“So I guess you’ll be delaying your honeymoon?”

Gavin shrugged. “Yeah. But we’re heading to Fiji in November.”

“After we win the World Series,” Dedrick said.

“Hell yeah,” Tommy said, high-fiving Dedrick.

“If you don’t have her pregnant by then,” Dedrick added.

Gavin laughed. “I’ll do my best.”

“You guys are crazy.” Mick came over to Gavin and straightened his tie. “And so’s your fiancée.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Gavin said. “But I love her. What can I do? July wedding it is. She doesn’t care that much about the honeymoon, anyway. To her it’s all about the wedding.”