Body Check Read Free

glare.
    â€œLet me explain something to you, Miss MacNeil.” His voice was a low rumble, carefully controlled. “Last year, my guys busted their asses out there on the ice night after night, and for one reason: they wanted to win the Cup. When they did win, it was their right to do whatever the hell they wanted with it, whether it was take it to a strip club or let their dog eat Alpo from it. You understand?”
    â€œHow about snorting cocaine from it?” Janna asked sharply. “Were they free to do that?”
    â€œThat story is bull, and you know it.”
    â€œI don’t know it, and neither does Kidco. Ultimately, it really doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. What matters is that a rumor like that hurts the team’s image. It’s unacceptable.”
    â€œAnd so your job is to—what? Turn us into choirboys?”
    â€œKidco doesn’t expect the players to go home at night and bake cookies, no. But they do expect all of you to give a few hours to do some good old-fashioned PR to help offset the party animal image dogging the team.”
    â€œNo offense, but none of the guys on this team, especially me, owe Kidco anything.”
    Janna chuckled, almost a snort. “Oh, really? Who do you think signs your checks now? Who do you think pays that mega salary that makes it possible for you to squire models around? Kidco owns the Blades, which means they own you, whether you like or not.”
    Now it was Ty’s turn to laugh, and it was a contemptuous one. “If it wasn’t for me, all those soft boys in their suits wouldn’t know who the hell the New York Blades were . The only reason they bought the team was because we won the Cup, and the only reason we won the Cup is because I was brought to New York specifically to turn this club back into a winning franchise, which I did. So don’t tell me I owe them. I already did my part for the suits upstairs.”
    Momentarily stunned into silence by his colossal ego, Janna merely blinked in reply. She stared up into his rugged face, which bore small, telltale marks of how he made his living—a tiny scar beneath the chin, another across the bridge of his nose—and then shook her head incredulously. “You don’t get it, do you? Kidco Corporation has very deep pockets, captain. Their money could buy the best talent out there come trade time. But there’s no way they’re going to shell out to build a team that embarrasses them off of the ice. My suggestion to you is that if you want to keep winning Stanley Cups, you’d be wise to play it their way.”
    The icy glare returned. “Are you threatening me?”
    â€œI’m giving you the lay of the land. Your teammates clearly respect you, to the point of asking ‘How high?’ if you ask them to jump. You do PR, and the rest of the guys will follow suit. I don’t think it’s too much to ask.”
    â€œYeah? Well, I do.” He pushed his sunglasses back up so his eyes were once again obscured. “Do me a favor, will you? Tell Kidco to take their ‘involvement in the community’ and shove it. If I feel like doing a good deed, I will. But in the meantime, my humanitarianism isn’t a commodity. You got that?”
    â€œGot it,” Janna replied tersely. Against her will, the nausea she’d been keeping at bay began bubbling in the back of her throat.
    â€œGood. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
    â€œYou, too,” Janna returned through gritted teeth as he strode past her. She waited until she couldn’t hear his footsteps echoing anymore through the empty concrete hallway. Then, gathering up her papers, she hustled briskly out of the locker room and slammed through the door of the nearest ladies room. Quite unceremoniously, and with a force that frightened her, she threw up her breakfast.
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    The sheer obstinance! Driving back to Manhattan, Janna mulled over Ty Gallagher. Here